Blown Turbo - New Engine?

Hi there - I'm new on here and this is my first post. Had a real fright on the motorway yesterday when my TD5 Defender lost power, began to rev through the roof and starting billowing huge clouds of smoke out of the exhaust. I got onto the hard shoulder and turned the ignition off but it didn't stop. The noise was deafening and the smoke was blowing all over, we couldn't see a thing. We got out and ran beyond the barrier and called 999. I didn't really want to go anywhere near the van but the smoke covered all 6 lanes of the motorway so I went back to rip the power off the battery, which thankfully shut it all down.

I'm assuming the turbo was jammed on full power so that clearly needs replacing, but I don't know what state my engine is going to be in. It was completely rebuilt just over 12 months ago including a new cylinder head and I had the ecu mapped.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before and if so how terminal was the engine?

I can't decide whether to buy a turbo and see how the engine runs, or whether to cut my losses and buy a complete engine with turbo? I was worried about buying a turbo to find out afterwards that the engine also needs replacing.

Any advice would be greately appreciated.

Firstly congratulations on stopping it and that gives some hope.
If it had been a complete runaway with the engine running on it's own oil then disconnecting the battery should not have stopped it. I'd dip the oil and if you've still got any try running the engine without the turbo. Quite simply, if it sounds like a bag of spanners well . . . . Otherwise it might be worth a trying just a turbo.

I really appreciate you taking the time to post a reply. I'm off to do just that now. Fingers crossed it's only a turbo!

Sorry mate but I reckon the engine will most likely be knackered.

TD5s are tougher than you think. The bottom end is bullet proof. Sounds like a turbo seal failure feeding full pressure oil into the intake. As said, check the engine oil and try starting it with the intercooler hose off the inlet manifold and see what happens. You may/will have to clean out the intercooler.

Other problem could have been elevated sump level caused by diesel leaking into sump in which case oil may have been forced past the rings. Either way so long as the engine never ran dry the bottom end should be OK. The top however is another story.

Thanks all for your help with this. Topped up the oil, which took around 5 litres to reach the min level. Also topped up the coolant because it had started to overheat. Engine started, oil pressure seemed ok but it was pretty rough and smoking badly. It wasn't rattling but it didnt sound or smell very good really.
Still don't know whether to try a new turbo first rather than a complete engine change?

Sorry to say but it's not looking good.
5 litres of oil means that, before you stopped it, the engine was over-revving with little lubrication and the coolant loss shows that it got mighty hot.
Good oil pressure only proves that your oil pump has survived.
The nasty smell is hardly surprising considering what the engine has been through but the noises are the real issue. If you're not a mechanic then it might be worth getting one to have a good listen, you might have got away with only head damage. Personally I would doubt it and be looking at either a complete re-build or a replacement engine.

Cheers dogsbody. As luck would have it my neighbour owns a garage and he specialises in land rovers. He's had a listen and he seems to think he might be able to salvage it with a new turbo, seals and oil. Mind you he also said if the complete engine i've seen comes with a turbo i should buy it!

The smoke will be the residual oil left in the intake. Did you run it with the inlet manifold hose off? The fact that it started is some good news.

I'm guessing the whole experience went something like this:

Runaway Diesel Defender 200 TDI - YouTube

Mark L said:

I'm guessing the whole experience went something like this:

Runaway Diesel Defender 200 TDI - YouTube

Click to expand...

Yeah that looks all too familiar although I have to say mine wasn't blowing out of the engine compartment anything like this one, it was pretty much all coming out of the exhaust. You can see why I was reluctant to go back to that smoking, revving monster to disconnect the battery to shut it off. I just hope I got there soon enough!

I've got my fingers crossed with this one. There is no doubting it's going to be expensive, I'm just hoping the expense ends with a turbo and possibly a cylinder head. I really don't need the expense of a new engine!

Someone I know is possibly breaking a TD5 next week.
I'm ringing him on Wednesday to see if he got it or not, so I'll keep you posted if worse comes to worse.

Whereabouts in the world are you?

I'm in west cumbria near whitehaven. I should know how much i need by the end of the week! Cheers.

Got the defender back today. Got away with a turbo and a big clean up job. Apparently the intercooler was full of oil. Bit gutted with it because it's smoking badly and the power feels well done. It used to pull well after i had it mapped!