Not the Surf but does anybody know about turbo's ?

[Predictable Bob]

My local Ford stealer has diagnosed my Focus as needing a new turbo - at the miserly cost of £1200 ........

Surprisingly enough I'm not willing to just roll over and let them shaft me but I know next to bugger all about engines so I'm after a bit of a steer from the great and good amongst you

Apparently the turbo is overboosting and putting the car into 'limp' mode resulting in a lack of power and limited revs. The suspicion is that the wastegate is not opening but Mr Ford's solution is to replace the entire turbo rather than repair it.

I've been led to believe that the car may not have a conventional wastegate but has a Variable Nozzle Turbocharger

Tha car is an early (March) 2004 Focus 1.8TDCi estate (115bhp) and the exam question is:

Can anybody point me at somebody reliable in North Hampshire that can do the job for a sensible price or a turbocharger specialist that will actually work on the turbo in the car ?

[MadcapMagician]

Not in Hampshire but your best bet is Turbo Technics in Northampton.

I believe they'll charge you £200, £300 or £500 depending on what needs doing.

clickety-click

[Karma Supra]

Turbo technics are good...

I don't know much about diesel turbo management though... if it was a regular wategate setup I'd say check the actuator lines, and if they are ok, change the actuators.

I'd get a cheapy fleabay boost gauge and measure how much it is boosting, -that will confrm if it is actually running at too much boost!

[ben2611]

Hi there,

Good advice given so far,I would check out your local directory for a turbo specialist for their view of it. Ford dealers are like all others nowadays, they have no mechanics just fitters(who put new parts on) or `technicians` to sound impressive. My guess is once the `technician` put the new turbo on and the problem wasn`t solved you will then get another diagnosis(and quote) for new parts. Overboosting issues are usually actuator or Ecu based, but should be easily rectified by a specialist.

Ben.

[Predictable Bob]

Turbo technics are good...

I'd get a cheapy fleabay boost gauge and measure how much it is boosting, -that will confrm if it is actually running at too much boost!

Cheers guys !

I suspect they actually checked the boost pressure as the guy told me it was running at 2.4 bar however as far as I'm concerned they've already reached the limits of their combined ability which is why I'm looking for somebody that's actually got a clue !

[nero279]

as has already been suggested, try a turbo specialist turbo tecnics has already been mentioned, but there are others, i don't know but i don't think turbo tecnics wouldn't be the cheapest solely because they are popular and well reputed
http://www.midlandturbo.com/index2.php?search=FORD
http://www.originalturbosdirectltd.co.uk/
http://www.power-steering.co.uk/

[joker??]

had my surf one rebuilt by turbo technics £500 ,
estimation over the phone £180 lo and behold once they had it "mmmm needs this that and hes aunt that will be £500 thank you " what can you do ??

[pete-w-]

the motor industry is proffit driven, the dealership probably wont bother messing about and just fit a new turbo, cause soon as yer done and out they can get the next one in to make money on, makes sense as a proffit making company and they probably dont need yer work either as ford dealers tend to have enough work of warranty alone, then you have the specialist who only deals in turbos etc so is gonna do it right but sure as hell will charge you for the pleasure as has already bin stated, then theres the back street garage who aint got the equipment to fix it have a go at a cheaper price but tends to cost more fixin it a couple of months down the line as they made a balls up lol, unless you, a family member or a very close friend that knows how to fix it, yer gonna get yer trollys pulled down no matter what, findin the cheapest way of havin yerr trolly's yanked down to yer ankles is the fun bit lol good luck anyway

[BUSHWHACKER]

Cheers guys !

I suspect they actually checked the boost pressure as the guy told me it was running at 2.4 bar however as far as I'm concerned they've already reached the limits of their combined ability which is why I'm looking for somebody that's actually got a clue !

OK, I've been reading up on VNTs, and it seems to me that there must be an actuator solenoid somewhere that controls the boost is sticking and not opening the variable vanes in the turbo, so it may not be the turbo that is at fault but a sensor or solenoid.
Heres a illustration to what goes on inside a variable nozzle turbo (VNT)

http://paultan.org/archives/2006/08/...geometry-work/

[pete-w-]

i may stand corrected if im wrong as its bin a while since i used it, but im sure wds/ids would throw a fault code indicating it was anythin eletrical ie sensor solenoid, if there were no fault codes and overboosting it would suggest mechanical failure somewere

[Predictable Bob]

I left out a chunk of the story for brevity but given Pete's comment .....

The problem originally showed up while I was on my way to work with the engine management light coming on. Since I wasn't too bothered about working and wanted to get it sorted asap I called out Britannia Rescue and their local agent turned up and suggested we drive to their workshop just down the road in Newbury.

They had a look, cleared a fault code that indicated a MECHANICAL fault and had a fiddle about for a while. They said the wastegate was behaving erratically and they'd cleaned it up and lubricated it. In addition to this a guy mentioned that it was a TCi engine not the TDCi which struck me as strange

I dunno if that affects the price of fish at all ....

I've been driving like a saint for the last few months keeping the revs low and hardly using the turbo at all - is it likely that this may have been the cause ?

[pete-w-]

the engines changed on 04 from tdi to tdci if i remeber righlty not tci, like i said earlier bin a while scince i worked on em so its only off memory.

[hurtinit]

mate I know this might be a little late.. but if it overboost then its the wastegate ...... you can do a number of things here .. find a second hand one...should be cheap as chips, buy a second hand one and modify...
make sure to check the the wastegate can open and close correctly..
if you need more advice let me know..
Justin

[hurtinit]

mate just read the thread .. i skipped though it at first.

gates dont usually go..esperically internal.. exernal the diaphrams are known to break..

ps Ping is Powa haha

[da SLUG man]

has a previous owner modified it?

quite often with modified cars, the management light will come on with variable boost settings.

it might be fine!