P38 DSE with a screaming turbo

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mcapinha

mcapinha

Active Member
Posts
549
Location
Portugal
Hi all!

Last week I bought me a 98 DSE :doh: :D
I drove it for some 200km (120 miles) and now it has a screaming sound, that i believe comes from the turbo. It starts around 2000rpm and it increases in pitch as I rev it up.
All my intercooler hoses have oil, from the exit of the turbo all the way to the intake manifold. I'm going to clean these as well as remove the intercooler and give it a good cleaning. But the turbo also has lots of oil in its inside.
I'm no mechanic wiz altough I know my spanners... but this is my first turbodiesel, so I'm not sure if i would be doing it any good to remove the turbo and try to clean it ? Would I be doing more damage than good ?

Anyone has any hints on the screaming sound? If I run it without the output hose (the one connected to the turbo exit) the sound is quieter, but its still screaming! :frusty: I drove it down the block, with the hose off, and there's a very distinct lack of power, so the turbo is definitely still working.

I'd appreciate any help in troubleshooting this one :)
 
mcapinha said:
Hi all!

Last week I bought me a 98 DSE :doh: :D
I drove it for some 200km (120 miles) and now it has a screaming sound, that i believe comes from the turbo. It starts around 2000rpm and it increases in pitch as I rev it up.
All my intercooler hoses have oil, from the exit of the turbo all the way to the intake manifold. I'm going to clean these as well as remove the intercooler and give it a good cleaning. But the turbo also has lots of oil in its inside.
I'm no mechanic wiz altough I know my spanners... but this is my first turbodiesel, so I'm not sure if i would be doing it any good to remove the turbo and try to clean it ? Would I be doing more damage than good ?

Anyone has any hints on the screaming sound? If I run it without the output hose (the one connected to the turbo exit) the sound is quieter, but its still screaming! :frusty: I drove it down the block, with the hose off, and there's a very distinct lack of power, so the turbo is definitely still working.

I'd appreciate any help in troubleshooting this one :)
Click to expand...

If you are not blowing smoke it maybe safe to assume the turbo is sound. Just to be on safe side when you remove turbo hoses to clean them spin turbo rotor with your finger make sure there is no side to side play or roughness in it. It is normal to have some oil in turbo pipes most of this will come from the cam cover breather. It is a sign of either piston blow by causing over pressure in crankcase or a blocked oil seperator inside cam cover. Or a combination of both. Turbo whistle is usually the sign of a split hose. It maybe a good idea to clean out intercooler whilst your at it. Also check if the over pressure bypass valve on the turbo is working.
 
Hey Wammers,

How do you go about checking the oil sepeator for blockage? Also any knack to taking the cam cover on and off. I took mine off a while back to see if I could find a reason for so much oil coming out the breather and found getting it back on one of the worst jobs I've done on th P38. I now have more leaks than I ever had and didn't find any problem with the breather. But I was looking in hope rather than knowing what to look for.

Cormac
 
SpudH said:
Hey Wammers,

How do you go about checking the oil sepeator for blockage? Also any knack to taking the cam cover on and off. I took mine off a while back to see if I could find a reason for so much oil coming out the breather and found getting it back on one of the worst jobs I've done on th P38. I now have more leaks than I ever had and didn't find any problem with the breather. But I was looking in hope rather than knowing what to look for.

Cormac
Click to expand...

No tricks really, other than cleaning everything and maybe sticking gasket on with a little silicone so it doesn't fall off as you replace cover. The idea of the oil seperator is that the air being drawn from the crankcase flows through it, the wire mesh collects oil and it drips off back into engine. So the mesh needs to be clean and free from crap build up. If you have piston blow by there will be air being pulsed through the breather continuously because the crankcase is being pressurised more than it should be. Air is constantly being sucked from crankcase by the turbo, that is why it is normal to have some oil in turbo pipes. Having a good quality air filter can help, because any restriction in this will cause the turbo to suck harder on the breather, sucking oil mist into the system. A combination of slight piston blow by and a restricted air filter will cause more oil than normal to be injested by turbo. If you have oil leaking on to the outside of the pipes where they join onto the intercooler and steel pipes. Take them off clean them out, apply a little Hylomar around pipe connections and inside rubber hoses then refit and snug up hose clips. That will stop the leaks.
 
Hi Wammers,

First of all, thank you for your reply.
When I took the hose coming from the turbo, I was under the impression that I could not access/reach the turbo rotor. From your advice, I understand that if I stick a finger in the turbo I'll reach the shaft? Also, how would you suggest that I check the overpressure valve ?

Regarding the smoke: there is none, except a small grey puff if I put my foot down heavily. My DSE has a PSI powerbox fitted and this little smoke seems normal (or so I was told).

Manuel
 
mcapinha said:
Hi Wammers,

First of all, thank you for your reply.
When I took the hose coming from the turbo, I was under the impression that I could not access/reach the turbo rotor. From your advice, I understand that if I stick a finger in the turbo I'll reach the shaft? Also, how would you suggest that I check the overpressure valve ?

Regarding the smoke: there is none, except a small grey puff if I put my foot down heavily. My DSE has a PSI powerbox fitted and this little smoke seems normal (or so I was told).

Manuel
Click to expand...

If you remove the suction hose you should be able to reach the rotor. But from what you say it it may not be required. Just check that ALL hoses are intact no splits in any of the rubber ones and no internal delaminations. If your car has done a few miles and you have a power box a little smoke on hard acceleration is nothing to worry about. The oil in your turbo and pipes may be no more than normal build up. Land Rover recommend the system and intercooler are flushed every 48,000 miles. As for valve you will have to look closely at turbo to see lever move as max pressure is reached.
 
Last edited:
Removed all the hoses and checked them. Could find anything odd.. no delamination, no cracks, all looked 100%
Removed the grill and almost got to the intercooler. I need a bigger extension to undo one of the bolts on the right side :( On the plus side, i now have a nice permanent "Hood open" message in the dash, and three beeps to keep me company :D

Wammers, I'll try to take a look at the valve tomorrow, if the misses feels like helping :)
Thanks for the pointers!
 
mcapinha said:
Removed all the hoses and checked them. Could find anything odd.. no delamination, no cracks, all looked 100%
Removed the grill and almost got to the intercooler. I need a bigger extension to undo one of the bolts on the right side :( On the plus side, i now have a nice permanent "Hood open" message in the dash, and three beeps to keep me company :D

Wammers, I'll try to take a look at the valve tomorrow, if the misses feels like helping :)
Thanks for the pointers!
Click to expand...

To be honest valve should not be a problem they fail very rarely indeed. As long as you see some movement in it close to max RPM it will be fine. Just blip throttle upto max and you should see it move, don't hold it there.
 
Datatek said:
Silly question, have you checked the air filter? A blocked air filter will cause strange noises as the turbo struggles to get air.
Click to expand...

I covered that earlier, but it maybe an idea to remove air filter and see if he still gets the noise. It can also cause some strange things if the turbo is trying to push air through a partially blocked intercooler.
 
Sounds like the oil seals have gone on the ompressor side if no smoke on the exhaust side . I dont have an oil burner, but I do have a Fiat Coupe turbo and the general assumption when that happens is the seals have gone. New turbo if so. Maybe your crank breather is pushing it through the inlet side. This would explain the sound as it would be unbalanced.
 
Last edited:
Willos, thanks for your input.
If I understand correctly, you're suggesting that the oil in the turbo could be coming from the oil seals. I believe it is coming from the breather as the inlet pipe is covered in oil.
If everything goes according to plan, I'll have the turbo out tomorrow, so.. how can I check if the oil seals are OK ?
Also, with the turbo out, besides trying to check for slack in the shaft, is there anything else I can try to look for?

The air filter is brand new and the sound hasn't changed. I'll also wash the intercooler tomorrow and I've ordered a complete set of gaskets, including the inlet manifold, to rule out a broken manifold in the system.
 
Good night all,

Finally got around to doing the exhaust manifold gaskets. Turns out that from the 6 only 1 was still intact :doh::doh::doh:

The P38 sounds nice now and I can actually drive it around town without being harassed by fellow drivers :cool:

Thanks for all the help!
 
Hi all, this is the only thread i could find that might help my problem. Last week we travelled 400 miles through France, another 400 miles touring, then half way back the turbo gave up, no accelleration and every hill on the way back was climbed at 30mph. the turbo whistled when accellerating, but no power. Got to the Eurotunnel, had a quick look and couldnt see anything standing out. By the time we drove off the Eurotunnel, the turbo was working again and we drove just over 100 miles home without a problem. Any ideas what could have happened, and what to look for first? Steve
 
Stevetheplant said:
Hi all, this is the only thread i could find that might help my problem. Last week we travelled 400 miles through France, another 400 miles touring, then half way back the turbo gave up, no accelleration and every hill on the way back was climbed at 30mph. the turbo whistled when accellerating, but no power. Got to the Eurotunnel, had a quick look and couldnt see anything standing out. By the time we drove off the Eurotunnel, the turbo was working again and we drove just over 100 miles home without a problem. Any ideas what could have happened, and what to look for first? Steve
Click to expand...
The Turbo unit does have a bypass valve to maintain boost pressure - any over pressure forces this valve open to regulate boost pressure - if it stuck open you will lose boost pressure....

I attach the turbo cutaway drawing....
 

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