Driving home the other day in my mk1 fabia vrs, pulled onto an A road in 2nd, booted it and had immediate loss of power and the engine died. There was no bang or smoke just a complete loss of power, so I coasted into a very convienent layby and called up green flag.

 

The guy can't get her started until he takes off the oil filler cap.  Then she starts. He says i've got big problems (serious compression issues) and tows me to my local garage. They have a tinker but can't come up with a specific problem, they just say that the turbos probably gone, it's damaged the engine so you'll need to replace both. Their advice was not to bother as the cars fairly old and it will cost too much to fix. Why don't I sell it to a breaker and be done.

 

Thing is, I love this car and want to get her back on the road again. I got the space to do the work and I also fancy a winter project so i'm looking to do the work myself but I need for some advice.

 

Got her back home and took off the turbo and it's knackered; vanes have almost completely gone/only spindle left. So this is looking like the cause.

 

1) If i replace the turbo is it possible that that will sort the problem?

 

I've found small particles of metal in the boost pipe that enters the bottom of the intercooler so I'm guessing that bits of turbo might also have been sucked in through the inlet manifold into the engine.

 

2) If that's happened, what sort of damage could I expect within the engine (valves, cylinders, pistons etc)? 

 

3) If the engine is damaged will it be possible to strip and  refurb it or are we talking new/2nd engine replacement?

 

Long winded I know but any help would be massively appreciated.

 

p.s. she's an 05, mk1, ASZ, Fabia vrs with 90k on the clock and she's not ready for the knackers yard quite yet     

Could be lucky and all the bits are stuck in the intercooler.

 

On the other hand could be a totally goosed engine! 

 

First job I would do is remove the inlet manifold and piping from cooler to inlet and check for bits of turbo, should give u a good idea if any have passed threw the cooler.

1) Yes, you'll need to replace the intercooler as well though.

 

2) The engine will chew up any small bits of alloy that came through the intercooler and spit them out of the exhaust.

 

3) The engine should be fine.

Try and piece as much back together as you can.

Take the top pipe off and look inside, any metal fragments?

Check the egr valve as well, they can catch any fragments and get stuck in the carbon build up.

When the turbo fails you get back pressure out of the crank case, this is normal for a failed turbo anyway.

The intercooler usually acts as a sieve and keeps hold of the metal

My parents turbo blew on their passat, u can still hear bits rattling in the exhaust after the rebuild! 

Thanks for replying so quickly,

 

I've had a look in the pipes above the intercooler and there are a few fragments but they are very small (dandruffy) and not nearly as numerous as in the lower pipe. The EGR valve is clear and shows no sign of impact on valve or spindle. The inlet manifold is also clear, again showing no signs of impact or scratch marks to the black deposits.

 

I won't be able to remove and inspect the intercooler just yet (got to clear some space first in a mates barn so I can get her undercover) but when I do I'll also drain and examine the sump oil.

 

Will I need a new intercooler or will a thorough clean (plus pipes) do the job?

 

Anything else i should look for when I remove the head that would indicate serious damage?

 

 

cheers 

The matrix of the intercooler will have caught the debris, its a close coupled radiator that metal fragments would get caught in readily.

 

My advice, drop the turbo off, replace and clean out boost pipework and give the intercooler a good clean out off the car.

 

Wouldnt even contemplate taking the head off an engine that wouldnt need it, just creating more work. If you start it up and alls well then happy days!

 

Dont forget to change the oil feed pipe to the turbo as well, plus a good oil and filter change.

done loads of these, just replace turbo, remove CAT if not done so already, clean all boost pipes out and remove inlet manifold and de-coke this

 

ideally replace Intercooler or fit aftermarket (i soak mine in 5litres of Coke for 24hrs) then wash out with brake cleaners leave for couple of hrs to dry out

fit new oil feed and gaskets all round

Yeah do as silky16v states, my brother blew his turbo on his 2.0TDI 16v Golf, completly split the turbo in 2 pieces and all we did was replace turbo, new intercooler and cleaned all the pipes, been fine ever since.

The chances are the pipe from the turbo is destroyed.

As for just cleaning the intercooler, that's up to you. I've seen them pitted from the inside, shine a torch into it and you will see metal pushed inside. No amount if washing will get it out but once it's on full boost can get sucked into the engine. It just isn't worth risking.

The matrix of the intercooler will have caught the debris, its a close coupled radiator that metal fragments would get caught in readily.

 

My advice, drop the turbo off, replace and clean out boost pipework and give the intercooler a good clean out off the car.

 

Wouldnt even contemplate taking the head off an engine that wouldnt need it, just creating more work. If you start it up and alls well then happy days!

 

Dont forget to change the oil feed pipe to the turbo as well, plus a good oil and filter change.

 

Unfortunately Lofty, the head was detached by the garage when they were trying to diagnose the problem. Pistons and cylinders seem fine alhough i've found a bit of turbo dandruff on one of the pistons. Gonna change the head gasket when i reassemble the engine. Also, there's a 1mm thick, 10mm wide black carbon deposit at the top of each cylinder. Is it worth cleaning this off? 

 

 

done loads of these, just replace turbo, remove CAT if not done so already, clean all boost pipes out and remove inlet manifold and de-coke this

 

ideally replace Intercooler or fit aftermarket (i soak mine in 5litres of Coke for 24hrs) then wash out with brake cleaners leave for couple of hrs to dry out

fit new oil feed and gaskets all round

 

Silky, you say 'remove CAT', is that to clean or replace?

 

cheers

You'll only need to replace the cat if the turbo went and sent all it's oil through the system thus clogging the cat.

Given your lack of smoke i'd say it's unlikely that you're has done that but you'll be able to tell as soon as you detach the downpipe.

 

Your first post sounds exactly like what happened to Mrs Pasty's car a couple of years back.

As said all we did was change the turbo, and clean the pipes and intercooler and has run flawlessly ever since.

You'll only need to replace the cat if the turbo went and sent all it's oil through the system thus clogging the cat.

Given your lack of smoke i'd say it's unlikely that you're has done that but you'll be able to tell as soon as you detach the downpipe.

Your first post sounds exactly like what happened to Mrs Pasty's car a couple of years back.

As said all we did was change the turbo, and clean the pipes and intercooler and has run flawlessly ever since.

Decat time?

Decat time?

 

yeah that's the other option

certainly cheaper than buying a new cat

luckily mine was fine so i didn't need to worry