Dead 04 C5 2.0 HDi VTR

[jaip]

hi all,

any help or advice would be much appreciated as i am at wits end, unsure what to do for the best

basically my c5 2.0hdi is dead, i heard a loud wizzing that i believed to be the turbo, followed by some rather horrible rattles, clouds of smoke, major loss of power, then total death.

where would i beging to start getting this repaired, as could be turbo only, or more likely to be turbo and possibly engine by the sounds of it. or is it ready for the scrap heap?

can anyone reccomend a decent garage, or enthusiast localish to peterborough?

Regards

Paul.

[SaabC5]

Did the engine rev its nuts off?

[Gibbo2286]

Have you checked the timing belt? The symptoms could suggest a broken belt and broken valve rockers.

[jaip]

Cambelt was changed 1000 miles ago and is still intact, no it didnt over rev, if anything it just lost power, just before it stalled the information screen said low oil pressure.

[jaip]

The turbo noise did stop, before it died, am i right in beleiving if the turbo seized the oil would just flow through as its only sealed when spinning?

[Northern_Mike]

Have you checked the timing belt? The symptoms could suggest a broken belt and broken valve rockers.

Or the belt wasn't tensioned, properly, has jumped a few teeth and had much the same effect. Sounds like it could be belt-related judging by the description and that it was only done 1000 miles ago.

Turbo failure probably isn't too bad if it's anything like as accessible as the Xantia HDI 110. 2nd hand turbos aren't dear, providing it's not injested too many bits of the turbo through the engine. I say this from the experience of having a Saab 900 Turbo eat parts of it's turbocharger with no ill effects..

[jaip]

Would the turbo failing cause low oil pressure warning?

[Northern_Mike]

Would the turbo failing cause low oil pressure warning?

It could do, depending on how the turbo had failed, and if all the oil had suddenly been dumped into the exhaust side of the turbo, but I'd not expect it to do so immediately. My Saab ran literally for weeks with failing turbo oil seals. It was fine while driven, but idling at lights could eventually disappear in a cloud of it's own oil smoke from oil leaking past the turbo seals.

[jaip]

Managed to check the turbo shaft and there is loads of play in it, in out and up and down, and no oil left in the car, it was fine and full in the morning.

[Northern_Mike]

Managed to check the turbo shaft and there is loads of play in it, in out and up and down, and no oil left in the car, it was fine and full in the morning.

Is there evidence the oil's gone down the exhaust? If you've lost 4 1/2 litres, there will be, I'm sure..

[jaip]

Ive not got that far yet, although there was plenty of black crap covering the rear window, i will see if i can get the exhaust off... Found a turbo for under £100 second hand so it may be worth the risk of trying that. Looks a bugger to get to though.

[Xantidote]

As Mike suggested earlier, might be good idea to check other parts of engine for any other damage (ie. cam belt & timing, camshaft integrity etc), before replacing the turbo. How long from the warning of low oil pressure, to the engine giving up - thinking here of crankshaft bearings

[Northern_Mike]

As Mike suggested earlier, might be good idea to check other parts of engine for any other damage (ie. cam belt & timing, camshaft integrity etc), before replacing the turbo. How long from the warning of low oil pressure, to the engine giving up - thinking here of crankshaft bearings

From experience, it also matters whether bits of the turbo have broken off and been sucked in and been smashed up by the pistons and been spat out down the exhaust - my Saab evenutally did this, and sparks were emitted from the tailpipe. Obviously a HDi has rather more compression than my 8.5:1 Saab did and it might have done damage to the valve gear and pistons.

If it were me, I'd be tempted to put some oil in it and see if it does actually turn over ok. If it does, all well and good, if not, it was broken already, so nothing to lose either way:)

[jaip]

Good idea ) thanks i will give that a go, got plenty of time off over crimbo so if gets past tuning over and starting i will get a turbo, there is one local at the breakers with 67k so hopefully get it with bits like the manifold and downpipe, should make it easier... If it comes out that is.

[Xantidote]

got plenty of time off over crimbo

Well, good luck with your investigations. Hope it's not too difficult or costly a repair job.