Mornin' all,


TLDR (check below the questions for the long versions): Turbo hoses / pipe are split and loosing pressure. Almost no turbo boost at the moment. Drove like this about 80 km. Several questions on this turbo problem and replacements:

1) Any likelihood of permanent damage to the turbine if it was carefully driven for ~70 km while loosing pressure from the pipes? No grinding or similar noises were observed outside the pressure leak noises

2) Any advantage in getting silicon-based turbo hoses over OE/OEM replacements? Looking at durability under load etc. since I use the car for both tarmac and offroading (greenlaning, forrest roads)

3) Puffs of black smoke when accelerating - can this be caused by split turbo pipes / hoses or only by damage to the turbine itself?

4) Considering the "long version" from below, should I make sure to check anything else besides turbo and hoses?


What happened (the long version)

After some bad forrest roads the past weekend, I noticed the turbo whine (rather subdued) with some fluttering, but no actual power loss. Guess at the time was some hose / pipe that split under strain. I was bound for home next day so I said that driven carefully it should last until I get home (350km though).

On the road next day, the hole / pipe split got worse and turbo started loosing pressure and on heavy acceleration it was sending out small puffs of black smoke. No reduced power lights, but it was obvious the turbine was providing lower than 50% of its usual boost.

80km before reaching home turbine boost got worse and Check Engine light came on. Pulled over, checked fluids, checked for spills around the engine bay or overheated components. In the absence of visible signs of impending disasters, I decided to carefully (max speed 90km/h) make my way home.

During the last 50 kms, the turbo whine and flutter disappeared because the turbo hoses leaked all pressure and was replaced by subdued whooshing sound and less and less boost from the turbine especially in lower gears.

Clearly I need to replace turbo hoses and have a sanity check performed on the turbine itself (just in case...) over the following days, but I have some questions for you lot that knows more about diesels (I come from petrol cars).

Much obliged for your help

1. No.
2. No, besides looking good. Use instead ones with multiple reinforced layers.
3. Yes. Generated by the smaller intake pressure, until the ECU compensates reducing the fueling.
4. You may clean up the oil mess in the crack area.

Which one split? The upper or lower pipe? Upper easier to replace, lower one will need some nerves to do it.
I, for one, had the upper one split and I went to a junk yard, picked one with two layers of wire reinforcing and cut it to dimension.
See that there are some threads in our language at:
www.freel2.com/forum/topic20202.html
www.freel2.com/forum/topic21240.html

Actually I need to check which one needs replacing. I just noticed the symptoms. Good news is that I don't think the actual pipes are cracked and it's just the hoses

I was thinking to replace both; car is at 177,500 km so far and it worth it in the long run to just replace both inter-cooler hoses.

On second thought, it might be that I had some fair warning 1 month ago when I had some fluttering and turbo did some noise like pressure was leaking somewhere but it never clicked for me since this is my first car with turbo on it.

Multam fain de ajutor

PS: Constanta is even more crowded that I remembered!