HeywoodFloyd
Active Member
- Posts
- 273
- Location
- Essex, UK
1987 Defender 90 with a 300 TDi conversion (prior to purchase).
Recently it's been kicking out more smoke than usual - then a significant oil leak appeared. Identified the leak as coming from the lower pipe out of the intercooler. Disconnected both the pipes from the intercooler and discovered what can only be described as a "sh*t load of oil" in there!
Also then noticed loads of oil had been "spitting" out of the join from the t-piece type connector that feeds to the EGR. Underneath, as a result, was a very black looking alternator.
It's not taking a genius to start realising what the deal is here.
I'm not a mechanic, I'm learning as I go, and after a bit of research, I've learned that:
So, with the Turbo, it seems my options are:
I quite like the idea of the cartridge, I'm trying to learn everything myself and not shy away from something more tricky - but is this really something I'm likely to achieve with my limited experience? If so, can anyone recommend a reliable place to get the replacement part? ebay is full of them but I'm struggling to understand if there's good quality ones and bad ones, and how to identify them? Trusted shops (craddock, paddocks, etc.) don't seem to stock them.
Or should I just replace the whole turbo, and if so, what should I go for? New, 2nd hand, or recon?
Recently it's been kicking out more smoke than usual - then a significant oil leak appeared. Identified the leak as coming from the lower pipe out of the intercooler. Disconnected both the pipes from the intercooler and discovered what can only be described as a "sh*t load of oil" in there!
Also then noticed loads of oil had been "spitting" out of the join from the t-piece type connector that feeds to the EGR. Underneath, as a result, was a very black looking alternator.
It's not taking a genius to start realising what the deal is here.
I'm not a mechanic, I'm learning as I go, and after a bit of research, I've learned that:
- a) I might as well get rid of the EGR set up - that's fine, I've bought the bits to do it - seems straight forward, will clean the intercooler at the same time
- b) the Turbo will be the reason for the excess oil and smoke, it's probably failed bearings or something similar
So, with the Turbo, it seems my options are:
- Get a brand new turbo
- Get a second hand turbo
- Get a reconditioned/re-manufactured turbo
- Get a new cartridge and try and replace it within the turbo myself
I quite like the idea of the cartridge, I'm trying to learn everything myself and not shy away from something more tricky - but is this really something I'm likely to achieve with my limited experience? If so, can anyone recommend a reliable place to get the replacement part? ebay is full of them but I'm struggling to understand if there's good quality ones and bad ones, and how to identify them? Trusted shops (craddock, paddocks, etc.) don't seem to stock them.
Or should I just replace the whole turbo, and if so, what should I go for? New, 2nd hand, or recon?