Xantia RHZ turbo dying slowly Help!

[c.morewood]

On my 310k Xantia 110, I've come to the conclusion that my turbo is slowly dying. Its way down on power, 15-20%, compared with the 44k one, but a better car to drive.
It started a couple of years ago with a smell of burning oil in the exhaust. A few months later I found oil coming out of the EGR in a sticky tarry mess. I'm assuming this was the start of the bearing seals going. I tried cleaning up the EGR and only succeeded in making the problem worse as the EML light came on all the time having made a hole in the underside of the EGR
Down on power and not wanting to start very well below 3C, (oily injectors probably) I put in a pre heating system on to the hot water side, which cured the cold starts.
Recently the EML has started coming on and limp home mode, after periods of idling after a run or revving over 3500RPM, with excessive turbo pressure at 830rpm (1500 millibars when it should be just over 1000) it clears after the engine has a chance to cool. yesterday I could hear a slight light noise under acceleration. When I investigated under the bonnet I found the noise was coming from the right hand side of the engine at the back, turbo or vacuum pump area.
My MOT is due on Monday with my biggest worry, the emissions test, with that oil leaking into the exhaust.
How long does a turbo take to change on a Hdi Xantia? Does the engine have to come out?
Can you remove the turbo and exhaust manifold, (EGR replacement) with the engine in situ?
I couldn't find anything specifically Xantia related in the search engine so I though I'd ask.
Thanks in anticipation

[c.morewood]

Well she passed the MOT with only one advisory, the NS bottom ball joint. I'm amazed, as the light oil being burnt really smells now and I thought she'd have failed on emissions. I'm getting a recon turbo next month. Any recommendations where to source it from?

[Zelandeth]

Afraid I can't offer any input on the specifics of this car - but would advise that if you've got a turbo that's letting enough oil into the intake that you can clearly smell it or are getting smoke - especially smoke at idle - to get the job done sooner rather than later as it's a fault that can very easily result in an engine runaway. If it were my car I'd have a look around the engine bay and figure out if there's a safe, rapid way you can choke the engine to shut it down should that happen.

The issue is that a diesel engine will run quite happily on engine oil as a fuel, so if enough gets pulled into the intake you effectively end up with an uncontrolled fuel source, meaning you can't stop the engine by any means other than cutting off the air supply.

Stalling it by putting it in gear isn't guaranteed to work with a diesel due to the torque involved - especially in a runaway situation - and may well result in a shredded clutch and the engine still running.

I was lucky last time I encountered this situation unfolding to have a CO2 fire extinguisher to hand which I unloaded straight into the air intake of the car in question.

The biggest challenge I see in physically blocking off the intake (which will work just as well) is the time taken to do it, and that it involves you having to fiddle around in the engine bay - quite possibly next to an engine that's revving several thousand rpm higher than its intended rev limiter and likely to throw a con rod through the side of the block - and if you were unfortunate enough to be in the way - through your head, at any given moment. Let's not also forget the fact that there's likely to be other systems that are vastly over stressed and likely to pop as well, cooling system for one, or how about that rattly old aux belt tensioner? It might decide that's a good time to let go.

A runaway diesel engine is a downright terrifying thing...and is the one reason I bought a CO2 fire extinguisher for my garage pretty much as soon as a diesel joined my fleet.

[RichardW]

I think CitroenXm has done a turbo on one of these - it's not easy as I recall. Might be worth a PM to him to see what he thinks. In the end it might be easier to pull the engine, given the probability of seized fasteners!

[CitroJim]

Chris, just caught up with this...

I'm in full agreemnent with Zel on getting it dobe ASAP...

Great news on the MOT, she's definitely worth a replacement turbo

[c.morewood]

I heard a story from Bovington camp, where in the early '80s they were loading a tank onto a low loader. It had a runaway, climbed all over the cab down the other side , destroyed a few cars and even though they tried stuffing jackets into the intake, it just spat them out the exhaust in bits. It only stopped because of the Quarry? walls the tank went almost vertical and stalled presumably because the oil couldn't get into the cylinders anymore.
Thanks for the concern. the oil in my case at the moment seems to be on the exhaust side rather than going through the engine, with the EGR having split is coming slowly down the back of the engine in the form of carbon.
I'll PM Paul, thanks Richard and Jim.