Turbo Problems On My 56 Plate Mondeo Tdci!

[emma150181]

Hi All

I haven't had to use the forum before as my trusty mondeo has always been so reliable. But two days ago the engine light came on and I had partial loss of power. You know your own car's acceleration, and I knew that mine was hugegly decreased in comparison to normal. Took it to my local garage who have taken ages to sort it, thinking it was the fuel filter and other things. They called me this morning to let me know they now think it is the turbo, or a part of the turbo that has a fault!

I have done a little research and have mostly found info that states it needs a new turbo and it is very very expensive. The garage say they are going to have to call Ford Monday to see where they go from here but I am really worried that a), they don't know what theyre doing, or B) if it is the turbo where can I get one cheaper than £900- £1500???!!!

If anyone has any info I would greatly appreciate it

Thank you for reading

I'm very worried and missing my car :-(

Emma

[Danny87]

Hi Emma,

Sorry to hear about this but let's see if we can save you some money. That seems very expensive to me for a turbo, the problem is they are rather complicated (allthough simple in the way they work) and the majority of the time just like a cylinder head a garage would send it off to be refurbished rather than do it on a bench in the workshop. You would probably be able to find a cheaper refurbished unit on eBay on a swap out basis, meaning you may get some money back if you send in your old broken one after the refurbished item has been fitted to your car.

As far as the loss of power and whether the turbo is faulty, can you remember if the car was burning oil? That's one sign a turbo is knackered as oil (which is fed through to lubricate the bearings) can seep through into either the exhaust manifold or inlet manifold and get burnt off. But again oil consumptiom and burning is just one sign of a knackered turbo. As an example on the engine light with loss of power, remember modern ECUs have a 'limp home' safety feature which essentially limits the RPM of the engine should a fault be found and the engine malfunction light is lit. I recently fixed a freinds car which had the engine warning light on and loss of power and it turned out to be a sensor. Once the part was replaced then it was fine.

The garage should have plugged in a fault code reader to read the fault which put the engine light on, it may have pointed them in the right direction without guessing. That way they would be able to tell you with confidence "Yes the turbo is faulty" or whatever, if that makes sense.

Hope that's of some help for now,

Dan

[emma150181]

Danny

Thank you so much for your response. My car was not excessively using/burning oil at all and no other sign that anything was wrong. Yes, I believe the loss of power was limp mode too, so that makes sense. Apparently the garage are still waiting to hear back from Ford re whether its a deffo on the turbo... I will definitely look for one on eBay. The swap thing you mentioned... Is that an eBay shop or just an individual??

Again, many thanks for your help

Emma

[mintalkin]

it allways sounds a bit sus when a garage has to try different things to cure a fault, as danny says get the codes and get to a garage that knows a bit more about the tdci

[emma150181]

Thank you

[Frederick Smith]

Hi Emma

It sounds to me more likely the turbo actuator has failed or it may just have a vacuum leak on the rubber pipe to the actuator, if you need a turbo cheap call my friend John he will do you a good turbo for no more than £100 easy to fit if you know someone with spanners and knowledge Johns NUMBER IS 01795 580454 AND HE WILL POST IT IF YOU WANT IT POSTED

[emma150181]

That's brilliant, thank you. Has been confirmed that I need a new turbo. £100 sounds fab. I take it its a used/refurbished one at that price??

Thanks again

Emma

[emma150181]

Hi there. Gave John a call and he's gone none in and can't help me! The garage are now saying that even if I replace the turbo there could still be more wrong with it!!!!! Grrrr!! Now at a complete loss. Am I better cutting my losses and trying to get another car??

Thanks all