Oh no!

Well, driving to work this morning in my '94 TDi 300 Auto, the fuel light had been on for no more than 15 miles, and stopped at some traffic lights (on an incline) and the car started to judder badly in Drive, so I put it in Park, where the juddering lessened. I pulled away, and the car was a it lethargic, although it did seem to be hunting slightly. I nursed it to a fuel stop, put £10 worth of diesel in (yes it was diesel, the receipt backs this up!), and drove on to work, with the car still showing the same symptoms. As I pulled closer to work, clouds and clouds of white smoke started pouring out of the exhaust, so nursed it to a stop at work.

That was an hour ago. I just started the car, and it still runs ragged, and white smoke is still pouring out the back, albiet not in cumulonimbus cloud form, more like cirrocumulus!

I'm not risking driving it, so have called out the RAC, who will no doubt want to take it to a garage. So, I'll have it taken to Nick Kerner's at Winkfield. I haven't used his garage before, so has anyone had any experience of his work?

More importantly, can anyone pinpoint why this has happened, or has anyone experienced it before?

Well, white smoke would be water...

Go check the coolant see if its low.

Well, Mr RAC just turned up, turned the engine on and we had a runaway turbo

Scary for 4 seconds, I can tell you!

So, its the turbo oil seal, and Nick Kerners 4 x 4 Specialist tell me that the turbo needs replacing. He's quoting me about £600 all in, and thats with a new turbo. It seems that there aren't many refurbished turbo's out there, and his garage won't touch them as they have had problems in the past.

I hear say that you can get Garrett turbos, which are the same as the OEM part, just not a branded Landrover part. They cost about £400 +VAT, so a small saving.

Anyone know of a cheaper option? Can the oil seals just be replaced without replacing the turbo?

Yes you can get a turbo seal kit.

White smoke from a turbo?

discomania said:

Yes you can get a turbo seal kit.

White smoke from a turbo?

Click to expand...

That's what the RAC man said!

I've managed to get the new turbo quote down to £340 + VAT, which is a lot easier on my wallet. I would do the job myself, but as its only an hours labour (£70), and I am currently knackered through a lack of sleep (courtesy of a week old screaming baby boy ), I'll let then garage do it. I tentatively asked whether they would just replace the seals, but I got a polite refusal.

your turbo is running on engine oil. you need a new turbo or a seal kit. i wuld plum fora turbo recon from a diesel specialist

Yea, when they saved us once they told us we needed a new fan belt, I knew what the problem was, just wanted recovered. We were told, "the fan belt is damaged, so the starter can't start the engine properly"... the alternator had seized, burning the belt out.