Fatboy Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Gents, First off, its not mine... but it does belong to a good mate and I did go on and on and on when he was trying to decide what new car to go for. Its 18 months old, 22k miles. Full Dealer Service History. It went in for a service at our local Dealer... It took 3 weeks to get in and there was a protracted saga over battery / starting issues that I won't bore you with but neither the dealer, LR Assist or Customer Services covered themselves with glory. Anyway, he got the car back on Thursday, drove 2 miles and noticed the oil light flickering. Checked the level and there was oil in the sump so took it back. As h approached the garage, it was getting smoky... Initially the dealer suggested it could have been a crimped wire (apparently they have just received an e-mail warning of the issue), then suggested it may be an air lock / dual sump issue? He sat around for an hour and they then told him they couldn't find the problem - they'd need to keep the car - No courtesy car, no lift home.... bye bye. Today they called to say - One of the turbo's is blown and they are not waiting for parts. So, what does the jury think? I'm worried that the blown turbo may be a result of another problem (like oil starvation) rather than the main issue. Their may be other bits (like the other turbo) that are now damaged and waiting to "let go"... Would a failed turbo cause the oil light to flicker? Would the reek from the turbo damage the cats in the exhaust? Any thoughts / tips gratefully received so that we can go suitably armed to the dealer next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco tony Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 No oil to a turbo for a couple of seconds is the same as an engine starved of oil for a couple of minutes, hence, the oil light flicker probably meant worn turbo bearings which meant turbo blew soon afterwards. As for the cats, it depends how much oil was sent in that direction. You would hope that they switched the engine off quicktime but who knows? I know this because I had an Audi which blew its turbo, same scenario. I fixed the turbo and poured petrol down the cat to try and flush any oil through. I cleaned both the lambda sensors in petrol and started her up. Cowboys came over the horizon due to the smoke signals!!!!! there was plumes of it!! It ran like a pig for a week and got some real funny looks but it soon cleared. A long winded way of saying, the cats will probably be ok. Engine management will tell you otherwise but if its given chance to blow through, it will clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatboy Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 Thanks for that reply Tony. Fortunatly it is still under warranty so if the other turbo goes pop, I guess it will get replaced too... I've had a couple of shots in it - its quite a machine, wish I could afford one. The adaptive cruise control is great too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatboy Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 Update: There are two causes for the "known" flickering oil light - One is a chaffed wire behind the heat shield to the sensor at the front RH side of the engine (Oil light stays on all of the time). The other is something to do with the dual sumps (two drain plugs) but that only flickers at idle. This case was neither of them and this Sport does indeed have a blown RH turbo. The two turbo's feed separate chambers on the intercooler and they in turn feed each bank of cylinders. The RH one has oil in it, the exhaust has been off and play is evident in the turbine. In addition to that, it was only blowing smoke out of the RH tailpipe - there is no balance pipe, exhausts are separate, just like the inlets so it has to be the RH turbo. Now for the scarey bit - The body has to come off to replace the RH turbo. Thank goodness its under warranty. Apparently there have been a few Range Rovers with TDV8's with blown RH turbos - theyseem to be more cramped on that side, maybe they get too hot? Who knows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 The body has to come off to replace the RH turbo. I assume this isn't just a case of undoing 4 r-clips, and lifting.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy996 Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I assume this isn't just a case of undoing 4 r-clips, and lifting.... My local non-franchised Land Rover specialist, (an agricultural engineer), works on about a man-week for body off, body on for RR Sport and D3s. This is not a cheap exercise and completely puts me off having one. The engine work itself is almost trivial in comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I assume this isn't just a case of undoing 4 r-clips, and lifting.... There are quite a few jobs these days that require the body to be lifted... of course the vast majority of those jobs can also be done far quicker with the body in place if you know what you are doing. I was talking to a local LR specialist not long ago about a D3 he had in for a new turbo, again it's officially a body off job, he hired a LR dealer mechanic for a day to show him the technique for replacing it with the body in situ, took them about 4 hours to do the job I think. A main dealer would have probably charged 2 days labour for the same (out of warranty) job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatboy Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 Land Rover have "allowed" 10hrs for the job, start to finish.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatboy Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 Despite regular calls and promises from the dealer (unkept), mate still doesn't have the car back We suspect that Land Rover only allow the 10hrs for the job and because the dealer have not managed that and had additional problems (a mystery noise), they've put it to the back of the workshop and are doing priority jobs that "pay", first. As an enthusiast who would like to be proud of "the brand", I think this is a very poor show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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