Hi Guys,

 

Looking for a bit of help!

 

A couple weeks back the cars turbo blew.

 

I was lucky (if that's the word) in that the turbine wheel exploded, but the compressor wheel on the inlet was in near perfect condition.

 

After the turbo had blown the engine was still running, but had a bit of a strange knocking noise coming from it that wasn't there before.

Couldn't really pin down what the noise was...but rightly or wrongly decided to myself that it was the combination of worn cam and followers and blown turbo making the noise more obvious.

 

Anyway - car now has a new turbo on, new cam, new followers and new timing belt too.  Got its first start last night and it still has a bad knocking noise.

 

https://youtu.be/1S2VCrPaFio

 

Any one here have any ideas?

 

Starting to wonder if its the big end...any opinions anyone?

 

 

 

Also, does anyone here know if it is possible to get to the big end bearing caps with the sump off - but engine still in the car?

 

Was wondering if I can get away with removing the head and sump - then doing the big end bearings.

Was also wondering if it is possible to take off the main crank bearing caps and have a look at the condition of them, again with the engine and gearbox still in the car?

 

Would rather not do the main crank bearings as that involves dropping the gearbox + subframe etc etc, but appreciate doing the rod bearings and not the main bearings may be cutting corners somewhat...

 

Have dropped the subframe before when I did the clutch and while it was doable - it was a lot of ballache and certainly not something im in any rush to do again!

 

Any help greatly appreciated! 

 

Thanks,

Jac

you can do the big ends in situ, no need to take the head off really but take the glow plugs out to make it easy to move the rods, it could be a big end as the oil pressure would drop pretty quickly with the turbo gone.

Turbo only had the exhaust side wheel 'explode' lol.  The inlet side wheel seemed more or less fine, doesn't appear that the oil seals in the turbo let go.  Would that still cause a drop in oil pressure with the turbo no longer spinning?

 

But cheers for the above, will try have a look at the big ends on Friday afternoon! 

 

Couple photos of the old turbo...

...another KKK turbo bites the dust lol.

Edited 4 November, 201510 yr by jacissmiling

Bit of an update...

...ended up not having time to drop the sump today (damn sunset just after 4 lol :s) - but instead did a compression test.

 

On cylinders 1, 3 and 4 had 23 bar - but on cylinder 2 only had 12 :s

 

Checked the cam timing on VCDS and it was floating around 0 at idle and 0 when held at a few different rpm's.

 

Got the feeling Il have to take the head off...and drop the sump and see what state things are in.

Will also have to start saving for many many stretch bolts :s

 

Has anyone ever heard of a turbo going - at the same time as something in the head (valve / head gasket) and a big end?

 

Had a 9 year old 2 stroke Italian motorbike in years past (Cagiva Planet) and amazingly it was actually more reliable than the damn Fabia :s - May have the most temperamental Fabia that ever rolled out the factory lol...

I wonder if part of the turbo has found its way thru the EGR pipework and been swallowed by the engine?

A broken piston ring can make a loud clicking noise and will definitely lose compression, you can try putting a little fresh engine oil in number 2 and redo the compression test to see if it comes up at all.

Had a few things on this weekend so didn't have any time to get going on the car :(

 

The EGR is mapped out and blanked off - but that's a fair point - yet another reason to get rid of the EGR in my opinion lol.

 

That's a good shout about a broken piston ring - if that left the engine could certainly have killed the exhaust side of the turbo...will post back my findings at the back side of next weekend once Ive dropped the sump and lifted the head - weather and time permitting lol.

 

Cheers for the help guys, much appreciated!

Interesting...(if that's the word) development this weekend...checked the big ends and they look as near as dammit new, so was pleasantly surprised on that front...

 

...lifted the head this afternoon and...well...its not good lol.

 

Appears that shrapnel has embedded its self in each of the pistons and in the head :S

 

Not from my turbo (which had its exhaust side only fail) - so presumably from the cars previous previous turbo... :S

 

Minor alarm bells started ringing when I was replacing the turbo and found a few different sizes of nuts on the exhaust studs...so im guessing when the previous turbo was replaced on the cheap / quick - no one lifted the head to check the state of things...

 

I'm now presuming that when I was driving a bit of shrapnel decided to leave the engine, damaged a valve and most definitely destroyed my old turbo :(

 

Absolutely amazing to think that even with a home made map the car made 175 horses on a dyno and drove in that state of tune for approx. 15k miles...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question is...what do you think gents?

 

Ive not taken the pistons out yet (next weekend as I was running out of daylight lifting the head :( ), so will have a look at the bores when I do - but if they look ok, then new head (or skim old one), new pistons and rings then jobs a good un?

 

Will also check all the intercooler pipework and intercooler its self...find it hard to believe the engine could have ran in that state for so long...but seeing as its lots of small bits all spread across each cylinder im presuming whatever it was, was broken before it got into the engine -  hence my thinking it may have been a previously burst inlet side of a turbo....

Wow, that's a MESS.

 

Bad luck, there is a strong argument to just replace the entire engine and turbo with a good guaranteed secondhand unit.

 

You won't get a good ring seal without glaze busting the block and running in the new rings which means engine out anyway so you might as well just swap the whole lump and scrap the old unit.

:'(

 

Was hoping to avoid a new engine as it means Il need to rent an engine crane :(

 

Do have a nice new shiny GT1756 hybrid that I put on the engine right enough, only had about 30 odd minutes run time so far...glad nothing came out the engine to kill it!!!

 

Remember reading a piece a while back saying the SAE (society of automotive engineers) have found no benefit to honing a used bore when putting in new rings...which makes me wonder if i could get away without honing the bores...but I suspect with my luck id have engine that drank oil lol :s

 

Seen ball hones that can be used for breaking the glaze too, don't suppose you've got any experience of them? 

Seen that they can be used just by running up and down the block attached to a hand drill...but never seen or used one myself :(

 

...If only id have bought an Alpha...i would have been expecting crazy **** like this lol :s

All honing is done with a cordless on low speed.

 

Glaze busting means using a coarser stone before using the ball hone to finish, when I refresh a race engine I generally only use the ball hone to lightly scratch the bore so that the new rings will bed in quicker.

Daft question...but why does the block need to be out to be able to hone it?

 

Would it be possible to do it with the engine in the car?

By just blocking off all coolant / oil passages and then having a glamorous assistant pour a steady stream of oil down the bore to keep things cool?

http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-368221/sealey-vs162.html?gclid=CPiSz-iDlckCFSgFwwodqTsG7Q

 

Something like this be roughly what is required?

 

Or the above plus a quick run over with a finer ball hone?

Daft question...but why does the block need to be out to be able to hone it?

 

Would it be possible to do it with the engine in the car?

By just blocking off all coolant / oil passages and then having a glamorous assistant pour a steady stream of oil down the bore to keep things cool?

 

Because of honing grit, it gets everywhere, you can't take the crank out with the block in the car to wash the block thoroughly enough.

 

Renting or even buying an engine crane is your best option, you can resell it on the bay once the job is done. You'll save a fortune in time and money, an engine rebuild is a big project, swapping engines is less than half the work and much cheaper.

 

You'll be back on the road in a few days if you buy a complete engine and a crane.

Cheers Sepulchrave - knew it would be a simple reason lol...just a bit gutted lol :(

 

Will get pricing everything up over the next few days - may even stick a few photos up this coming weekend when I get the pistons out the bores (weather permitting) - then set about turning the old engine into paper weights and furniture lol - as well as keeping good bits for spares lol.

 

Cheers for all the help!

Whilst "everything" is out of the car, would suggest checking/flushing/reverse flushing the intercooler and pipework. If that much shrap was in the engine, it's almost certain there's more elsewhere too.

There's a complete engine for sale here

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/378722-skoda-fabia-vrs-mk1-complete-engine-asz-injectors-etc-all-there-%C2%A3300/#entry4441906

You could sell the injectors etc and make some of your money back

Whilst "everything" is out of the car, would suggest checking/flushing/reverse flushing the intercooler and pipework. If that much shrap was in the engine, it's almost certain there's more elsewhere too.

 

Im running an FMIC with hardpipes now (and have been for quite a long time), but when I got the car it had the standard SMIC and pipes.

So at least if the I/C hadn't been changed since when that happened to the old old turbo, the old IC is off the car now anyway.

 

Although as above got that in the plan for this coming weekend to have good look at the core and double check there is nothing in any of the pipes.

 

Dont see how it could be from my old turbo though, as the inlet side looked spot on - was just the exhaust side that disintegrated lol - even if it had been an errant bit of something that somehow sneaked through the air filter and turbo, it is lots of small bits spread across the cylinders rather than just one errant 'bit' that has made a mess of one cylinder.

 

Cheers for the link to the engine though...but regrettably Ive no chance of being back on the road this side of Christmas :( 

No more overtime = very little money for the car :(

 

Will keep an eye out though and if the engine is still there come the new year its only 60 miles away from me