TD5 Turbo blown up on a 2005 90 - any advice please

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tyclyd

Active Member
Posts
178
Location
Near Builth Wells
Bit of advice any one please... just meandering along the A55 today at a steady 60 in my 61,000 mile 2005 TD5 90 when all of a sudden something let go and the engine started to race with huge clouds of smoke... I stopped in a few seconds pulled in the clutch and tried to turn the engine off with no effect so I just stalled it. It would not restart and the AA were out in about 30 mins (well done guys) and the Defender is on the way down to BJ Land rovers for repair...
Question is what are my options. Paul reckons it may just be a new turbo but if the conrods are bent he seems to suggest it’s not an economical repair so a new engine may be required. If that’s the case am I better going for a TD5 or some other NA Diesel or a 300tdi retrofit? Any advice or guidance would be welcome... how prone are TD5 turbo’s to going bang as 61,000 on a regularly serviced vehicle seems excessive?
 
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I heard it said that if a turbo manages 80k miles then its doing well. They do wear out. How quickly depends on servicing AND how you drive them. Switching off the engine before allowing the turbo to slow down eats up the bearings as they run dry as soon as the oi pump stops.
You also need to check for diesel in your sump oil as this may have been the cause of the turbo bearing breaking up. This would cause the smoke as the engine oil would be pumped directly into the hot exhaust gases.
If there is evidence of diesel in the sump oil (elevated oil level, oil smells of diesel and oil is thinner than normal, etc) then you need to find and fix the cause as otherwise your new turbo will go bang in not very many miles.
Main causes of this are leaking injector O rings (cheap) or cracked fuel gallery in the cylinder head (expensive as new head required).
 
I now have the diesel in engine oil problem... have put up a new post as it seems I may need a new head and would appreciate any advice on the new design fromTurner Engineering
 
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