I bought a 2015 fiesta 1.5 TDCI in 2019 at 35k, well maintained before and since.  Mostly used for commuting along A roads and motorways, <10k miles/year.  I had thought that a turbo would usually last around 150k miles, but I've just hit 72k and the wastegate has seized according to the mechanic I've just been to.  Is this normal, or does it mean that there is another problem with the engine that has caused the turbo to fail?  If the car is less than 10 years old, will the part still be covered by ford like their wetbelt engines, or have I just bought a lemon?

The mechanic is quoting me £800 to replace turbo, oil pipe, oil change so it's not a small expense by any measure!  He says that he tried to release it but couldn't.  Any other advice?  Should I have a go at releasing the wastegate myself (I'm a complete novice) before dropping £800?

People seem to obsess over mileage.  Generally it's age that breaks things.  10 years old sounds perfectly reasonable for a wastegate failure.

It was only covered by warranty for the first 3 years.  Unless you've bought an extended or aftermarket warranty.

Given that the car is 10 years old, I'd risk a good used replacement for £100-£200 instead of spending £800 on a brand new one.

You can try releasing the wastegate but would need to remove the turbo to get inside ideally.  If the wastegate is damaged in some way, they aren't sold separately (to the public at least) so you'd still need to replace the whole turbo assembly anyway.

Generally a seized Westgate is due to excessive amounts of soot building up in the Westgate. Although I don't think these have a wastegate. They are variable vane. Could be wrong though. 

Anyway it's still due to excessive soot build up. 

Could be excessive fuel due to worn injectors or the dpf nearing it's end of life or both. 

1.5 TDCI in Fiesta does have a wastegate.  The higher powered version in the Focus is VNT.

9 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

1.5 TDCI in Fiesta does have a wastegate.  The higher powered version in the Focus is VNT.

Then I would imagine the actuator seized?

1 minute ago, Dave202020 said:

Then I would imagine the actuator seized?

I would hope the mechanic disconnected the actuator to test the wastegate directly before quoting £800 for a new turbo.  But if not then it is definitely worth checking that.

The wastegate probably is just rusted solid tbh.  It's not a great design.  The petrol wastegates have the opposite issue, they're loose and rattly, no idea how they're all being built so badly as Ford don't even have a hand in the turbo design.

Thanks guys, I'm taking it to another mechanic tomorrow who says that this model has a variant with a wastegate that can be replaced independent of the main unit, so here's hoping!  I appreciate the car is almost 10 years old (it's actually just under 9), but I would expect a key component like a turbo to be a bit more long-lived than that!

When a diesel like this goes for a full or major service, do they typically service the turbo components, or should I be doing some additional maintenance to improve the longevity?

2 hours ago, retropedro said:

When a diesel like this goes for a full or major service, do they typically service the turbo components, or should I be doing some additional maintenance to improve the longevity?

When I had some performance turbo Japanese imports in the 90s, they had a 'turbo timer' fitted, this automatically kept the engine running at idle for a selected time after switching ignition off. This allowed the turbo to have a chance to cool off a bit rather than a sudden switch off with massive heat soak cooking the internals. I have no idea if this technology is relevant at all - someone smart will be along soon! 😃

This is just an example, not a recommendation!

Turbo timers aren't needed on our tiny European turbos.  Old Jap cars had big laggy ball bearing turbos.

No servicing is done to turbos at all.  They just benefit from the fresh oil as they run on a very thin layer of pressurised oil rather than direct metal to metal bearings.  

For that reason it is recommended to let the engine drop to idle before switching it off.  But who's switching off with their foot on the throttle anyway!?

We would need to know why your wastegate has failed to know what preventative maintenance could be done.  Chances are you're just not driving it hard enough to keep the wastegate opening & closing regularly.

3 hours ago, StephenFord said:

When I had some performance turbo Japanese imports in the 90s, they had a 'turbo timer' fitted, this automatically kept the engine running at idle for a selected time after switching ignition off. This allowed the turbo to have a chance to cool off a bit rather than a sudden switch off with massive heat soak cooking the internals. I have no idea if this technology is relevant at all - someone smart will be along soon! 😃

This is just an example, not a recommendation!

I've driven a Japanese imported Diesel car (in New Zealand)with one of them fitted as well. I guess they are quite common in Japan and to be honest when I had Diesel cars I would let the car Idle for a few seconds especially after a hard run. 

I don't think it is as important with the modern small Engined Turbo Petrol cars because the Turbo hardly ever boosts  in normal driving, unlike a Diesel.

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Turbo timers aren't needed on our tiny European turbos.  Old Jap cars had big laggy ball bearing turbos.

No servicing is done to turbos at all.  They just benefit from the fresh oil as they run on a very thin layer of pressurised oil rather than direct metal to metal bearings.  

For that reason it is recommended to let the engine drop to idle before switching it off.  But who's switching off with their foot on the throttle anyway!?

We would need to know why your wastegate has failed to know what preventative maintenance could be done.  Chances are you're just not driving it hard enough to keep the wastegate opening & closing regularly.

Oh that's an interesting thought... I'm very light on the pedal because I get a kick out of high efficiency, but also because I thought it would improve the life of the engine.  I spend most of my journey at 65mph - is that not fast enough?

I've also been using redex diesel cleaner for years and recently switched to STP.  They definitely make the engine run smoother, but I don't suppose any of those additives make it through to clean the turbo?

11 hours ago, retropedro said:

Oh that's an interesting thought... I'm very light on the pedal because I get a kick out of high efficiency, but also because I thought it would improve the life of the engine.  I spend most of my journey at 65mph - is that not fast enough?

I've also been using redex diesel cleaner for years and recently switched to STP.  They definitely make the engine run smoother, but I don't suppose any of those additives make it through to clean the turbo?

My guy often tells me I need to do a regular 'italian' tune up - rev the nuts out of it once in a while. I use to have many issues in a previous Celica GT4 by driving too gentle. Seized brakes, turbo issues etc. once in a while, drive her like you stole it 😂

Oh, you can ditch the additives and just use BP Ultimate...

10 hours ago, retropedro said:

Oh that's an interesting thought... I'm very light on the pedal because I get a kick out of high efficiency, but also because I thought it would improve the life of the engine.  I spend most of my journey at 65mph - is that not fast enough?

I've also been using redex diesel cleaner for years and recently switched to STP.  They definitely make the engine run smoother, but I don't suppose any of those additives make it through to clean the turbo?

It's not so much about the speed.  It's more about using the engine to it's full potential, getting all the engine parts moving as much as possible and getting the fuel & exhaust pressures up as high as you can to keep those systems clean.  Cruising on a motorway doesn't really do it.  B roads are ideal for revving the engine exiting corners and braking hard entering them, that helps both the engine and the brakes as Stephen mentioned above.

Cars are designed to be driven.  Far more problems are caused by gentle use than abuse in my experience.

I always drove efficiently, would be disappointed by anything less than 50mpg from a diesel Golf/Focus, but giving them a hard drive once a week or so doesn't make a noticeable difference to the overall average from a full tank.

On 10/5/2024 at 9:11 AM, StephenFord said:

My guy often tells me I need to do a regular 'italian' tune up - rev the nuts out of it once in a while. I use to have many issues in a previous Celica GT4 by driving too gentle. Seized brakes, turbo issues etc. once in a while, drive her like you stole it 😂

Oh, you can ditch the additives and just use BP Ultimate...

Haha I quite like the sound of the Italian tune up... thank you all for your advice, once again.

As an update, I took it to another chap who offered to check if it was the variant that could have the wastegate replaced independent of the turbo but sadly it wasn't one of those.  He did manage to get the wastegate moving again with some force but I think ultimately I'll just have to bite the bullet and replace the whole unit.  Since he released it, the economy has dropped by 10% and it's still not at full power. He did offer to open it up, service the internals and change the solenoid, but that would all come to around £240 so would rather just have a whole new thing, I think.  The £800 includes an oil change, which I need anyway, and the new oil feed line.

Interestingly, when I bought the car in 2019 I noticed some stuttering at certain speeds and took it back to the dealer a couple of times to get it checked. He had his mechanic look it over but they didn't find anything and put it down to the injectors.  Diesel system cleaners settled the stuttering down a lot, but it makes sense now that the turbo was probably already causing issues at that point and the stuttering was the boost coming in and out at highway speeds.  So maybe these additives to make it through to the turbo?  I don't see why they wouldn't, unless you have 100% fuel burned before exhaust?

On 10/5/2024 at 9:42 AM, TomsFocus said:

It's not so much about the speed.  It's more about using the engine to it's full potential, getting all the engine parts moving as much as possible and getting the fuel & exhaust pressures up as high as you can to keep those systems clean.  Cruising on a motorway doesn't really do it.  B roads are ideal for revving the engine exiting corners and braking hard entering them, that helps both the engine and the brakes as Stephen mentioned above.

Cars are designed to be driven.  Far more problems are caused by gentle use than abuse in my experience.

I always drove efficiently, would be disappointed by anything less than 50mpg from a diesel Golf/Focus, but giving them a hard drive once a week or so doesn't make a noticeable difference to the overall average from a full tank.

That makes a lot of sense!  I'll defo do that from now on.  Still not quite sure why a "turbo service" isn't on the maintenance schedule... sounds like these failures could be avoided with refreshing the grease and cleaning off the internals every few years.

Hi, I know this is an old post but I may catch your attention.

I have a 2022 ford focus and I made now 63000 kilometers.

Around 40000 km I started to ear a little vibration while accelerating and the engine reaching 2.5k to 3.0k rpm

The mechanic today told me it could be the westgate valve.

It should be already broken if it’s lasting this long, shouldn’it?

Hello mate, it sounds a lot like mine... bought at 35k, but it stuttered around 60mph in 5th. Sometimes it settled after a bit of driving and sometimes it didn't, but there are video about where the wastegate arm is that you can lubricate and force open and shut to test it. After the first mechanic loosened this up for me it actually drove very well

With regular oil and filter changes plus Archoil additive with detergent etc. (which supposedly gets to the hot parts):
http://18.171.206.223/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Archoil-AR6900-D-MAX-Tech-Sheet-English.pdf
Plus engine oil flush (not a wet belt in sight) plus care to leave it running for a couple of minutes at motorway services before switching off plus not shutting down unless it is at idle we are at 123 000 miles and it's still working like new (Garrett VNT).