[Cranium]

I'm having a recon engine fitted to my Defender 90 200dti and the garage doing it has advised me that the blades in the turbo are damaged, see image.
It seemed to work OK before, but does anyone know if the turbo can be repaired or does it have to be replaced?

I'm sure this must be effecting the performance!? [emoji47]

 

[Cranium]

I can answer this myself now, but any more input is more than welcome.

I found this turbo repairer online called Turbo Solutions and gave them a call.

Reconditioned = £300
Send them my turbo to inspect and repair, price would start at £160 and then depending on the parts they need to fit, worse case could rise to £300 the same as the reconditioned turbo.
But if it is only the blades they need to fit, could be cheaper.

I was quoted £580 for a new turbo by another local supplier called Dingo Croft so the repair option could work out a lot cheaper.
http://www.turbocharger-solutions.co.uk

 

[Turboman]

I can answer this myself now, but any more input is more than welcome.

I found this turbo repairer online called Turbo Solutions and gave them a call.

Reconditioned = £300
Send them my turbo to inspect and repair, price would start at £160 and then depending on the parts they need to fit, worse case could rise to £300 the same as the reconditioned turbo.
But if it is only the blades they need to fit, could be cheaper.

I was quoted £580 for a new turbo by another local supplier called Dingo Croft so the repair option could work out a lot cheaper.

That will work out at full recon. price, by the look of it!

That is a good price, I got an exchange unit for mine, which is a smaller, simpler turbo, in 2009, it was about £320, IIRC. Mine came from Turbo Technics, they are very good, dealt with them a few times.

I wouldn't buy on price alone, with a turbocharger, you want it right!

 

[trax]

if you want cheap then ebay cartridge and diy.. but as above.. it mightn't last or perform well..who knows

 

[Turboman]

if you want cheap then ebay cartridge and diy.. but as above.. it mightn't last or perform well..who knows

Live on the edge!


Looking at the rotor on that, I would think there might be quite a bit of damage to the housing as well.

 

[Cranium]

Yeh, I don't want to spend more than I have to but it does need to be done right.
Turbo Solutions sounds like the best way to go, sending them my turbo will ensure I'm only paying what I need to, they can assess it and decide on what needs replaying.

 

[Shifty1962]

That is well and truly knackered.
The damage also looks quite fresh?
I'd be asking what caused it before replacing with a new one.

 

[Turboman]

That is well and truly knackered.
The damage also looks quite fresh?
I'd be asking what caused it before replacing with a new one.

Kind of what I was suggesting, I was trying to break it to him gently!

That rotor is a state, can only think some unwanted foreign matter has gone through, unless it was wobbling about so much it was bouncing off the casing!

OP, are there metal filings visible in or around the turbo, and what is your air filter and intake hose like?

 

[lynall]

How old is that turbo? I ask as it looks recent as the alloy housing is really good nick.

 

[raywin]

Looking at the picture I would say you have managed to pull something into the intake, the damage on the volume tips of the blades seems pretty clear and look how its been bouncing around in the intake.
Didn't you hear it squealing at any stage?
If you didn't find any trace of a foreign body when you took the intake line off then whatever it was may have been chewed up and passed through the line into the intercooler, I would take a look downstream of the turbo before you do anything else, try to stop it going any further.

 

[Cranium]

Looking at the picture I would say you have managed to pull something into the intake, the damage on the volume tips of the blades seems pretty clear and look how its been bouncing around in the intake.
Didn't you hear it squealing at any stage?
If you didn't find any trace of a foreign body when you took the intake line off then whatever it was may have been chewed up and passed through the line into the intercooler, I would take a look downstream of the turbo before you do anything else, try to stop it going any further.

The bare engine is being changed by a garage who noticed the damage to the turbo when they took it off.
I have only had the Land Rover a few weeks so this damage was probably done before I got it.

 

[raywin]

I see, looks like someone must have taken whatever it was out of the turbo intake.
I would get them to wash out the intercooler and connecting hoses to get the bits of turbo blade out of there, last thing you want going into the new engine.

 

[top drive]

id have thrown this through the dealer that sold it to yous window by now.

 

[Turboman]

id have thrown this through the dealer that sold it to yous window by now.

Or just taken it back, and asked for my money back.

I don't believe that damage happened without anyone knowing anything about it.

 

[raywin]

Or just taken it back, and asked for my money back.

I don't believe that damage happened without anyone knowing anything about it.

I am pretty sure of that it would have made a noise and it seems someone removed whatever went in there, so it was known to someone.
If this turbo was still spinning after then it would have been vibrating quite badly with all that blade damage causing imbalance.

 

[lynall]

So long as the turbo has a decent oil supply, they can actually take an awful lot of **** before they self destruct.
Plus lets be honest as they are spinning at silly rpm are you really going to hear any noise over the sound of the tdi lump?

 

[raywin]

I take your point about the engine noise, but it attracted enough attention for someone to take off the intake line and remove whatever had found its way in there.
Looking at the picture with a bit of luck it was too big to go inside and the turbo might be repairable with a cartridge and a bit of a clean up in the intake.

 

[Cranium]

So 8 months later and the replacement turbo is also damaged.

You'd expect that the garage fitting the replacement would clear out all pipes to ensure the original debris does not damage the new turbo, but obviously not!

On further investigation I found this in the pipe from the air filter to turbo...

Turbo has been sent off to be refurbished.

All related pipes are being replaced and an oil change before refitting...

 

[Cranium]

I am pretty sure of that it would have made a noise and it seems someone removed whatever went in there, so it was known to someone.
If this turbo was still spinning after then it would have been vibrating quite badly with all that blade damage causing imbalance.

Obviously whatever went in there wasn't removed...

 

[jamescronin]

Isn't that a blade off the old turbo? (or at least part of a blade) - and by the way there are many places that will refurbish your turbo for you so you don't have to get a new one - will probably be cheaper - this is not something you can do your self if you want it to last as it will need to be balanced up, and have new bearings and oil seals fitted etc.