Think I need a new turbo? Help!

[mred406]

Hi all,

Today I was driving at around 70mph and all of a sudden my car revs increased along with the speed and huge amount of smoke started coming from the exhaust.

I pulled over and turned off the ignition, the engine ran on for a few seconds.

Then all the lights came on the dash. I left it 20 mins and restarted the car and it was running a little lumpy, so I pulled away and the same thing happened again. This time I stopped the engine but it will not restart.

RAC have towed the car to a local independent and I just want to be prepared for what this could be. Rac guy said he thinks the turbo has had it and its a expensive repair.

The car is a c220 cdi sports coupe on a 54plate. It's only done 74000 miles and is due a service in 600 miles, (this was booked in for next week!)

Any idea guys on what this could cost and labour times costs?

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[panason1c]

Sounds to me like the turbo seals have failed which causes engine oil to bypass the turbo and enter the inlet manifold and fuel the engine independently of the injection system.

You are lucky that you were able to stop the engine and probably only need a new turbo, there are many cases where the engine cannot be stopped and it quickly devours its own engine oil and destroys the engine.

 

[flango]

see my thread on my nephews turbo exactly same thing but on a bmw, cost £400 trade to recon the turbo then was as good as new

 

[mred406]

see my thread on my nephews turbo exactly same thing but on a bmw, cost £400 trade to recon the turbo then was as good as new

Ok, thanks for your help.

Just so I know a little more, as it would help when the garage call and try to blind me with mumbo jumbo, can you tell me what labour time/cost I should expect to replace the turbo and is there any other work that needs doing as a result of this? I work with cars but I am a body man, not a engine man! To me, replacing the turbo really does not look like a big job, maybe 2 - 3 hours?

Should I let them source a refurbished unit or should I look to supply one?

Could my unit be repaired or is it just quicker to get a refurbished unit, I imagine if they source the turbo, it may cost a bit more but IF it goes wrong, then they will need to rectify it.

Will the engine management light clear itself or will this need to be plugged in and cleared?

The car is due an A service, is it worth having this done at the same time?

Sorry for all the questions but the car was towed in there last night and I need to call them in less than an hour!

Thanks

 

[panason1c]

Replacing the turbo is about, plus or minus, a 3 hour job imo. A refurbished turbo should cost in the region of £350 (one from MB would be about £1200!), the engine management light might clear itself once the source of the trigger is rectified (ie...new turbo), otherwise, a basic scan tool will erase it.

You always fit new oil and filter when a turbo is replaced , so yes, A service will be performed.

 

[mred406]

Great thanks for that, I have just spoken to the garage and he said about a 3 hour job to replace the turbo, BUT, he also said the inter cooler will need to be cleaned and the exhaust will need to be removed and cleaned?

When this happened I did check the oil afterwards on the dash and it said the level was ok, so I am hoping it did not do too much damage.

 

[panason1c]

The intercooler might have a certain amount of oil in it due to the blown turbo seals but it seems to me that as the oil level is normal you didnt actually lose much oil into either the intercooler or exhaust (unless the engine was overfull of oil in the first place)................If it was me, i'd remove the intercooler (an easy job) and if there wasnt much oil in it then i wouldnt expect any oil to be in the exhaust, a small amount would soon burn off anyway.

 

[joecash]

a refurb turbo is around £400 plus labour to take it off and replace - but before you replace make sure the cause of the turbo failing is rectified - straight removal and replace couple of hours max - rectifying of underlying fault causing turbo failure anything from nothing to a few hours - my indie reckons a turbo should be good on average for about 100k miles - thats average - nothing wrong with a refurb turbo from a specialist with all the gear - make sure the refurb specialist is reputable

 

[mred406]

a refurb turbo is around £400 plus labour to take it off and replace - but before you replace make sure the cause of the turbo failing is rectified - straight removal and replace couple of hours max - rectifying of underlying fault causing turbo failure anything from nothing to a few hours - my indie reckons a turbo should be good on average for about 100k miles - thats average - nothing wrong with a refurb turbo from a specialist with all the gear - make sure the refurb specialist is reputable

I am wondering if the car had too much oil in it when I bought it 3 weeks ago.

I purchased it from a private dealer who sells cars from home. As there is no dipstick, how are you suppose to know how much to top up the oil with if it says oil low?

Just a thought, but if the oil was to high then this could have caused this and would explain why the oil level still reads ok.

 

[flango]

If the car has dpf then the exhaust will need a clean and I would expect the exhaust to have oil in, however I would also do the intercooler at the same time to be sure you have it all in top order when the new turbo goes on. As already said new oil and filter a must

 

[mred406]

If the car has dpf then the exhaust will need a clean and I would expect the exhaust to have oil in, however I would also do the intercooler at the same time to be sure you have it all in top order when the new turbo goes on. As already said new oil and filter a must

Just spoken with the garage and he does not think it is the turbo. He said that there is no fuel leak off at the injectors and suspects its the high pressure fuel pump?

He is going to take of the pump and take a closer look and have it tested. He said the lift pump in the tank is working ok?

Does this make any sense??

 

[panason1c]

Doesn't make any sense to me, you described an increase in revs and plumes of smoke from the exhaust....typical symptoms of a turbo fault.....a failed HP pump would simply cause the engine to stop.

 

[flango]

Time to plug it into star and find out whats really wrong

 

[mred406]

Perhaps it could be both but he said when he looked at the breather and the hoses he would expect it to be caked in oil but it wasn't which is why he does not think its the turbo, he mentioned about live data and that fuel pressure was way too low.

This company is prestige in Ipswich which are a independent Mercedes specialist, would they have star?!

 

[moonloops]

This company is prestige in Ipswich which are a independent Mercedes specialist, would they have star?!

Yes I would imagine they have given this wording on their website:

"We have the latest diagnostic equipment for Mercedes Benz vehicles and up to date equipment for most other makes. Diagnostics play a very important role in modern cars today, as many faults are logged onto the vehicles control units & can be read by our equipment, helping to solve problems that occur."

 

[mred406]

The car would not start after this happened and would not start this morning either, if it was just the turbo then the car would start?

 

[panason1c]

Usually, just removing the pipe to the turbo and feeling for any play on the turbo impeller should be enough to confirm if the turbo is toast.

 

[E270 Owner]

The symptom is probably diagnosed correctly as being non turbo related,
and more likely a fueling issue.

 

[panason1c]

Didnt think to ask, was the smoke blue or black?..... i initially assumed blue but i now suspect it was black?

Blue smoke would likely be the turbo but black smoke would be fuelling and i would now guess it to be a failed injector causing your problem.

 

[E270 Owner]

I have had more injector related than turbo problems when this has occurred.









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