Runaway 300tdi

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Chr1s

Well-Known Member
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Well, it turns out that taking my Landy for a short drive, in an attempt to clear out whatever was causing it to smoke on startup, was not the wisest of ideas I've had.

At 60mph, the engine started to runaway, with smoke everywhere. Thankfully I was near a junction and the engine cut out just before the end of the slip road, but my poor Landy is now very dead :(

It almost ended up in a crash, as some moron in an Audi decided to accelerate through the cloud of smoke and very nearly ran into the back of me!

So... Am I correct in thinking that I'm going to need a new turbo and will need to clean out the intercooler and pipes, or is it likely to be more serious than this?

Thanks in advance,

Chris (currently sat at the side of the road feeling very sorry for myself)
 
oh dear, glad your ok, when ours did that it took the bottom end out but hopefully yours is just a turbo issue
 
Chr1s said:
Well, it turns out that taking my Landy for a short drive, in an attempt to clear out whatever was causing it to smoke on startup, was not the wisest of ideas I've had.

At 60mph, the engine started to runaway, with smoke everywhere. Thankfully I was near a junction and the engine cut out just before the end of the slip road, but my poor Landy is now very dead :(

It almost ended up in a crash, as some moron in an Audi decided to accelerate through the cloud of smoke and very nearly ran into the back of me!

So... Am I correct in thinking that I'm going to need a new turbo and will need to clean out the intercooler and pipes, or is it likely to be more serious than this?

Thanks in advance,

Chris (currently sat at the side of the road feeling very sorry for myself)
Click to expand...

Take top intercooler pipe off and you should be able to drive home (check oil level first of course)
 
landowner said:
Take top intercooler pipe off and you should be able to drive home (check oil level first of course)
Click to expand...

Sadly no oil or coolant so I had to wait for the AA. Now home and warming up before going out to start to pull the bloody thing to pieces.

And I've just checked ebay for a new turbo! How much??!! :(
 
Chr1s said:
Sadly no oil or coolant so I had to wait for the AA. Now home and warming up before going out to start to pull the bloody thing to pieces.

And I've just checked ebay for a new turbo! How much??!! :(
Click to expand...


Sadly alot,

Mine started to make odd noise's on the way back from london today, taking a look at it when I have some free time,

Going to make the plea to use me mrs's Clio for the week, she can walk lol
 
Chr1s said:
Sadly no oil or coolant so I had to wait for the AA. Now home and warming up before going out to start to pull the bloody thing to pieces.

And I've just checked ebay for a new turbo! How much??!! :(
Click to expand...

I was lucky and got a 300 turbo and manifold from Craddocks for 175 quid, sposed to be recon ex military but was new in a box:)
 
I had a very similar problem. I changed the turbo literally emptied the intercooler into a bucket and topped all the fluids up and run it. Caught it just in time but worth doing before pulling apart. You might be lucky. It smoked for few miles whilst all the residue was burnt away.
 
it will depend on how fast the engine speed, anything over 5000rpm for a considerable time will damage the bottom end. the loss of oil and coolant doesn't bode well for the engine.
 
Last edited:
If the engine cut out its self it's more than likely dead, if you get runaway pull over and stop only using the brake keep braking till it stalls
 
SteNova said:
If the engine cut out its self it's more than likely dead, if you get runaway pull over and stop only using the brake keep braking till it stalls
Click to expand...

Before I spend a small fortune on a new turbo, is there any way that I can test the engine without the turbo connected?

Obviously I could fill the oil and coolant and then turn the engine over, but I'm guessing that would probably end badly if the knackered turbo is still in place!

I'm at the point of trying to decide whether to fix (potentially with an recon engine) or just sell it and move on, so I don't want to spend too much if the engine is likely to be screwed.
 
If I was you I would just buy a 2nd hand engine for it. If its used all the oil and coolant its going to have toasted the head so at very least it will need to come off and either be reconned or replaced. Then you need a turbo. Plus having it run away means its been spinning very fast with no oil in the bottom end so it could be damaged too. You need to think is it really worth spending probably more money than you can get an engine for to find out its knackered.

Mark
 
Chr1s said:
Before I spend a small fortune on a new turbo, is there any way that I can test the engine without the turbo connected?

Obviously I could fill the oil and coolant and then turn the engine over, but I'm guessing that would probably end badly if the knackered turbo is still in place!

I'm at the point of trying to decide whether to fix (potentially with an recon engine) or just sell it and move on, so I don't want to spend too much if the engine is likely to be screwed.
Click to expand...

Just take the top intercooler hose off, engine will run as n/a
 
Mark151151 said:
If I was you I would just buy a 2nd hand engine for it. If its used all the oil and coolant its going to have toasted the head so at very least it will need to come off and either be reconned or replaced. Then you need a turbo. Plus having it run away means its been spinning very fast with no oil in the bottom end so it could be damaged too. You need to think is it really worth spending probably more money than you can get an engine for to find out its knackered.

Mark
Click to expand...

Absolutely right. I don't want to spend anything that I don't have to.

I'm not sure that it makes a huge amount of difference but the coolant was spat out of the expansion tank after the engine stopped. It does sound as though I need a new engine regardless, but I would like to know for certain before going down that route.
 
I would get any type of oil in it as soon as in case the coolant has gone in the chambers it will stop the pistons rusting and siezing.
 
Sure it's the turbo? Would a head gasket do the same? Just wondering why the water blew out. Had a runaway on my dads VW diesel camper last weekend, just bought it and think the past owner had overfilled the oil as it was a good 1" over full. Turbo seems fine though. Hope you get it sorted one way or another.
 
The runaway would cause the head gasket to fail and in doing so blow the coolant out the expansion tank as it over pressurises. During a runaway the engine will significantly over rev and also as its burning oil and reving so high it will run at a much higher temperature. On the basis that engines are so cheap its definitely the approach I would be taking. Especially when its suck an easy job to swap it anyway.

Cheers
 
kes86 said:
Sure it's the turbo? Would a head gasket do the same? Just wondering why the water blew out. Had a runaway on my dads VW diesel camper last weekend, just bought it and think the past owner had overfilled the oil as it was a good 1" over full. Turbo seems fine though. Hope you get it sorted one way or another.
Click to expand...

A failed turbo is the most common cause of a runaway, you could have a failed head gasket between a cylinder and oil port but your gaskets not going to fail on all cylinders at once therefor you'd only be burning oil in 1 cylinder which is unlikely to be ably to runaway. As soon as you realised what was happening if you turned the car off the compression from the other 3 cylinders should be enough to stop the engine.
 
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