Is this bent? Or am I paranoid?

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steveo

steveo

Well-Known Member
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Location
north Surrey
In a week where I changed the front downpipe for blowing on the seam, then the the rear box for disassembling itself due to the increased pressure going through it, finding a nice big hole in the rear chassis leg where someone had badly repaired it (on the lowest point, and not left a drain hole), I have had a checkover today prior to a run to the new forest on Friday.

I currently have a rattle under load, high and tinny, like a heat shield, but I don't have any, so I thought I would have a quick inspect of the turbo.

This is a pic of the blades - is one looking bent to you? Could this be causing a rattle?
 

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The blade at the 7 O'clock position does look as though it has a slight wiggle in it. Is there any lateral movement in it? It doesn't look like the blades are touching the body, the blade edges look smooth. Certainly no expert though!
 
Al2O3 said:
The blade at the 7 O'clock position does look as though it has a slight wiggle in it. Is there any lateral movement in it? It doesn't look like the blades are touching the body, the blade edges look smooth. Certainly no expert though!
Click to expand...
No expert here either! There is a little bit of sideways movement - the blades look honed on the edges, would that occur from normal use, and to be expected? 144k on the clock on a 300tdi
 
There should be no sideways movement. A small amount of float, in and out, is normal.
 
Hard to tell from the pic but is there any evidence that it has been hit by something.
Is the curve wear to the blade edge or bending of the blade?
Is there ANY trace of hairline cracks?
 
Jam1 said:
Hard to tell from the pic but is there any evidence that it has been hit by something.
Is the curve wear to the blade edge or bending of the blade?
Is there ANY trace of hairline cracks?
Click to expand...

I cannot see any cracks - the turbo is still on the 110, so difficult to see - and pics are taken by guesswork! Even zooming in on the pic, its hard to tell if there is clearance on the blades in the housing as the pic is not straight on...

I will pop off the intake hose and check for movement again :)

Thanks for the replies :)
 
So, a little while later, and back from a trip to the New Forest... where a whining noise appeared after acceleration, then easing off, so the turbo would be spinning, but not working hard. Re-creatable any time I like, but I don't like.

Paranoid steve appeared, whispering in my ear "the turbo is about to blow - do you know how to stop it if it runs on its own oil? Should you slow down? What will the wife say if you blow up your 50th birthday present?"

In terms of problems, I have 4 that may be one. And may be caused by the previous owner ( I tell the wife...)

1. Oil in the pipe from the top of the intercooler to the inlet manifold (far end of the inlet manifold is also moist). Intercooler probably needs a good clean.
2. What looks like oil seeping from the bottom corner of the intercooler (although this may be ATF from the pipes from the PAS)
3. Lateral play in the turbo shaft - bear with the video - its near the end, done without being able to see!
4. Oil in the air intake from the air filter hose to the turbo - this must be from the breather.

Turbo boost gauge shows almost 20psi if I boot it hard, say 3rd gear, but I don't often do that! Plumbed in to the pipe to the injection pump.I suspect the waste gate has been tampered with.

First steps: turbo?
 
Yup - too much boost. The waste gate is a sod to get to though, to get back to standard. I keep an eye on the boost gauge and ease off if its over 15psi for even a few seconds.
 

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Retroanaconda said:
The bearing is a floating oil type, so a little side-to-side play is normal.
Click to expand...

Beat me to it, in a nutshell if you cannot get the blades to touch the casing with light finger pressure, theres no signs of contact and its not passing oil, its good to go.

I would say from the vid, the turbo is far from new but is perfectly serviecable and is most likely not the source of your noise.

The blade edges show signs of wear from dirt entering the air system, again not the end of the world.

Oil in the intercooler pipework is again perfectly normal in any engine with a closed crankcase breather system, to stop it you need to either fit an oil catch trap or vent to atmosphere.
 
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Thanks guys - I think a good clean of the intercooler is in order first - I think I have a leak at that bottom corner. If I were to replace the intercooler, its not much more money to get an uprated one. I can then monitor the oil coming into the intercooler to see if this is an issue. I don't like the look of the oil in the top pipe at all - this shows that the turbo is blowing oil through with enough pressure to get up the intercooler, but this may be from the breather - catch can required to eliminate the intake pipe oil.

Looking at the Garrett site, it makes sense that an oil lubricated turbo would have some lateral play when stationary, but as you say, if the blades don't touch the sides, then it's not so much of an issue for now, and the money for a new turbo can be saved up!

I can't bear to think of venting the breather to atmosphere - what a mess! :)
 
Weirdly when a breather is vented to atmosphere there is rarely any mess at all, maybe a oil sweat stain but thats it.
My 200 made a mess in the intercooler pipework, vented to atmosphere on the drivers side inner wing, no mess no oil no nothing.
The 200 tdi in my series is vented to atmosphere and all the intercooler pipework is spotless inside.
Just about all hgvs vent to atmosphere.
 
So, the breather is successfully re-routed to a catch bottle, an excellent fit on the pipe is a small plastic white spirit bottle - the pipe seals itself in, so I am happy I remembered to put some vent holes in the top to allow the 'breath' out :)

capped off the intake with the cap and gorilla tape for now!
 
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