Td5 turbo - should there be any play ?

[dooroy]

Have the engine out of my 01 Td5 with 176K on the clock to change flywheel /clutch etc . Also changed injector loom , front and rear crank seals and Loctited the oil pump bolt .

I was checking around this evening and when I checked the turbo I found there was some side movement or play in the shaft . The vanes run very close to the casing ( only an 0.08 feeler gauge would fit ) .

When you move the shaft sideways you can easily see that it moves - there is quite perceptible side to side movement .

Does this mean that the turbo is on the way out ? It hasn't been causing any problems - the Disco was running fine up to when the dual mass packed up .

I read on a forum recently that if a turbo goes it can take the engine with it as some bits of metal can find their way into the engine .

I know some people here work on Disco's all the time and any advice or help would be greatly appreciated .

I thought my spending was over - turbos don't come cheap , especially here . Would having it tested be a good idea - I think there is someone in Dublin who offers such a service .

[lynall]

So long as the vanes atre not rubbing the casing it is okay, what happens is shaft collapses or the seal becomes so worn the engine oil is pumped into the engine and the engine tuns on its own oil and you cannot stop it, to stop it bonnet up air filter lid off and big bundle of rag into inlet pipe, no air = no run.#

My car has done 103k and turbo has play but its okay.

Lynall

[JimAttrill]

.08 feeler gauge is fine. I have felt some where it felt more like 1mm, sometimes even more. If your turbo goes bang the bits go down the exhaust pipe so you are safe on that score. We even had one where the shaft between the compressor and the turbine broke and this caused no damage to the engine, only to the owner's pocket.

[dooroy]

.08 feeler gauge is fine. I have felt some where it felt more like 1mm, sometimes even more. If your turbo goes bang the bits go down the exhaust pipe so you are safe on that score. We even had one where the shaft between the compressor and the turbine broke and this caused no damage to the engine, only to the owner's pocket.

Thanks for your replies - wanted to be sure . There is no hint of the vanes touching the casing so hopefully it will spin quite happily for many more miles . No substitute for experience .

On the question of an engine running on its own oil I changed an engine a few years ago in an Audi dsl which had wrecked itself in that way . I took the head off for a look and 2 pistons had partially melted .

Can the engine be stalled by engaging gear and hard on the brakes ?

The Audi owner switched off and when the engine continued to run she went in home to tell her husband - the engine had plenty of time to wreck itself .

[JimAttrill]

Yes, you can or must stall it if it is a manual. If an auto, the only way to stop it is with a rag (or your best suit jacket) in the inlet. Some people do not think fast enough and the engine will then destroy itself, either when it runs out of oil or just goes bang.

It's a good idea to think about these things in advance, even if it never happens to you. I have only heard about this happening to 200Tdi's where the head gasket would blow between no 4 and a pushrod tube. They have redesigned the gasket since then, so it must be rare nowadays.

Of course I will be told now of exploding 300 tdi's and TD5s

[BogMonster]

Yes I know of a couple of runaway 300s I think one was due to turbo seals and one was due to being upside down for a while and ending up with oil in the intake system and then being restarted.