TD4 Turbo.

Good evening all.not long had my I 2005 TD4. It’s got 149000 on clock and runs really well has been well serviced over the years and appears to have been looked after. . Recently did the crankcase breather mod after removing the nasty oiled up filter that was in her. Anyway been reading up on the turbo and if they go wrong then it could be terminal for the engine. Therefore in my position what’s peoples opinions on whether it should be replaced due to the mileage. If people think that its time for a new one then I would probably get the clutch done as well. I know the car is old but I intend to keep it and just wondered what people thought were.

my last FL1 td4 was on 188,000 with the original turbo when I sold it and the turbo had no problems,if a good quality oil is used with regular changes (would recommend 6000mile intervals not 12000 as LR suggest) and there is no blue tinge to the exhaust then leave it be

Great. I will do a check tomorrow. Before I did the crankcase mod there was a small amount of blue smoke but that’s gone now. Think the engine is breathing a lot better. Thanks for the reply.

Remove the manifold, EGR & Map sensor, separate them all and clean them, manifold can be cleaned with oven cleaner spray, let it soak for at least two hours, then jet wash it out.
scrap out most of the gunk first, using hacksaw blade or something else.
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Map sensor just needs a good wipe over with a rag soaked in some carb cleaner, do not poke anything into the hold.
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Your EGR may look like this, or not as bad either way scrap out the sludge first with an old hacksaw blade, then use some Swarfega and an old tooth brush, keep cleaning it until all the gunk as been removed.


EGR cleaning
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You want it like this.
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You can also fit a bypass EGR or gut your original as here.
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All of the above will help your engine breath better, therefore better MPG, change air filter, oil filter, and you will be good for at least 15 months.

Be aware that the cyclone breather mode will increase oil in the intake, so don't assume oil in the boost pipes is from the turbo.

I'd leave it alone, and keep a cheap retractable craft knife in the engine bay fuse box. This can be used to cut the elbow boost pipe, should the turbo compressor oil seal fail, causing the engine runaway out of control.
It's much cheaper to replace a boost pipe and a turbo, than replace the engine should it be left to runaway.

Brilliant. Thank you

My turbo is shot at 163k
Lots of oil in the intercooler pipework
I've removed it today and will be fitting a new one tomorrow

I like other persons prefer the fluffy filter changed regularly over the vortex one.
The turbo on TD4 is very reliable. Only fails when incorrect oil grade used, poor/deferred overall engine maintenance.

Thanks guys. Very reassuring everything that’s been said. Just done the oil something an a bit anal about really. Always believed good oil is way forward. I did look at the EGR when I got her. Did not look clogged but will check again. Managed to get a Haynes manual for £5. Think it’s going to be getting a fair bit of use. Thanks again.

Sorry guys me again. Just out of interest I keep getting advised to blank the EGR off. Just uneasy about that as engine seems fine as it is. Also told to put some oil additive in as it apparently helps. Again not happy about it as always relied on good quality oil on its own. Any thoughts?

Well, blanking egr on td4 is a roll of dice. Some engines suffer a 2k misfire because of that, some don't. A cleaned working egr will do the same as an egr blank. That 2k misfire translates usually into rough idle smoking on cold starts for a minute or two.
Not a big fan of oil additives. I think regular oil changes with a flush every now and then will do.

Your engine and it's buddies have a few things to look for:

- low pressure pump in rear
- flywheel and/or clutch especially slave cylinder
- crankcase breather filter
- injectors
- turbo solenoid/actuator
- crud on inlet manifold
- egr

And the normal bits unrelated to engine:

- vcu
- ird
- rear diff

When the vcu gets stiff it will trash the whole 4x4 system if not fixed right away.
Also make sure you have four matching tyres.

Thank you for the advice. Interestingly enough my clutch is something am a bit concerned about. Got a very low bite feels like your almost riding it when changing gear. Spoke to a guy in my local garage who said clutch could be fine and it may be the slave. Once EGR cleaned etc think the clutch is next on the list. Car looks very clean underneath. Really not doing many miles as it’s something to use to haul my fishing gear around. Plan to get a full service done at some point so will make sure I ask for the points you raise to be checked. Thanks again.

Yes but for the slave it's a gearbox out job so might as well change the clutch and check the flywheel.

Yep. Sounds the right way forward. Thanks.