Turbo Actuator

Hi all,

I had what seems to be the common problem where the check engine light came on intermittently, the power would drop but no error codes. I've finaly pinned mine down but to give you the history I also had a leaking HP fuel pump and a leaky injector so I thought if I had to strip so much out of the engine bay anyway I might as well apply as many of the fixes I read on the forum as I could while I was at it so I replaced the following:

- Injectors cleaned and new seals
- HP Fuel Pump seals
- Full service kit
- LP Fuel Pump
- EGR blanking
-Crank Case filter changed for an oil seperator
- Full set of Silicon Hoses including vaccum hoses
- Crank Sensor
- MAF Sensor
- Turbo Actuator

So long story short, it was like driving a brand new car its going really well, except I still get the check engine light over 3000 revs.

This weekend I noticed the vaccum hose from the turbo to the actuator had come off so assumed that was the reason the light was coming on and I reconnected it and Immediately suffered the loss of power agian, took it back off and it drives fine.

So given its a new actuator, hoses and filter does this mean my turbo is on the way out or is it more likely a vaccum issue and what are the concequences of just leaving the hose off other than the check engine light being an MOT fail?

What year is it?

Are the vac hoses in the correct places on the boost control valve?
Is the vent filter clear.

Thanks for the replies,

It's an 05 and the hoses are in the same order as I took them off so I would guess thats a yes but I don't have RAVE so I can't be 100% sure on that.

I moved the vent filter, I live on a farm with about a mile of dirt track for a front drive so it used to get blocked a lot with mud in winter and dust in the summer but it was new with the service kit and I did blow it out when I moved it.

There is a diagram somewhere on the site that shows the correct orientation of the actuator hoses (I think Nodge posted it up) I presume you have the vent filter the right way round?

matty2332 said:

I think Nodge posted it up

Click to expand...

This one?

Yeah, then all the hoses are in the correct order but I just checked and the filter isn't in the best condition but still relatively free flowing

Its a strange one given that if the vacuum is there it would keep the pipe on so for me its pointing to a turbo issue building pressure somehow and popping the pipe off. I would bite the bullet and whip the turbo off and check the mechanism etc or buy a second hand one or reconditioned. I swapped mine myself following the guide on here, bit of a swine but doable.

I was afraid of that, so far I just threw cash at hoping one of the fixes would work because they weren't particularly expensive but a new, even second hand turbo is a lot of cash to throw at something that might fix it but I don't see that I have much of a choice.

I know, its a difficult decision, but given what you've done already I would bite the bullet. As you still don't know 100% it is the turbo, i would get a second hand one of ebay. I paid £65 for mine and it was ok. Garrett turbos are generally quite robust. I would be looking for one with very little play in the shaft, etc. When you take yours off and give it a good clean and de carbon it, you could sell it on for parts. Make sure you get the turbo gasket set ad well. If you have any problems give me a shout. As i only did mine a month ago its still pretty fresh in my mind !

Thanks Matty, I'll look at getting one at the end of the month, is it worth replacing bolts/studs while I'm there? Given mine are always caked in mud I'm guessing they're not going to give up easily

The gasket kit I bought of ebay contained all new nuts & bolts - BMW E46 E90 E39 E60 E61 E65 E66 E67 E83 E53 Turbocharger Fitting / Gasket Kit*
The 3 main securing bolts that are located under the air filter housing are pretty well protected so you shouldn't have any issues getting these out. Id use the time now to read and re read the instructions on here and allow yourself a day to do it. Now I've done it I could probably do it gain in 2 to 3 hours !