woodstock dave Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 The van lost power and exhausted blue-white smoke. eventually restarted after a resting it for a few minutes and but engine lumpy, smokey and not revving. I shut it off and called rescue. No overheating or overflow from water header tank. No liquids leaking below. No nasty noises. Nothing loose. Recovery examined and ran the engine and very soon said he suspected the turbo, but wouldn't rule anything out . He was aware that the vehicles were prone to this issue. The gut reaction of that experienced man to the fault was convincing. I had the day before put in Barrs stops leaks, as the heater matrix was weeping slightly in the cab. The van had 6 weeks laid up for damp repairs and ALKO suspension torsion rods replacement, so wasn't run. We are usually out in it weekly and is nearly 80,000 miles. I will report further when my mechanic has inspected, but looking at my Peter Russek manual, the replacement procedure seems straightforward. SO, WHAT ABOUT A REPLACEMENT if it is proven. Where best to get new at best price? Can refurb's be had and who to trust? Is used an option? Thank you for reading this and for your input. Dave. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My maiden post was MORE POWER PLEASE. I am most grateful to all those respondents. In the end I found the van had so many original extras, heavy awning (now removed), Roof air-con, massive towbar and a top box full, that the recent weighbridge showed me 300k over my 3.4 tonnes. Now we are legal (just) and vigilant on the issue. I have also changed my driving style and expectations thanks to the forumites. I asked my engineer, a fellow motor-homer that tows a trailer to test drive my van and he said it's fine.. Just watching him drive effortlessly has made me change my driving style So I'm not so perfect after all. Oh, and I will try to be more active in the forums to help those who I can. Dave -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 First things first, of course, is to accurately diagnose the cause of your motorhome's problem. If it turns out that the turbocharger is the culprit, I suggest you begin by contacting Turbo Technics (undoubtedly the UK expert in the turbocharging field) for advice about the best way forward and likely costs. http://www.turbotechnics.com/www/ It would appear from their catalogue http://www.turbotechnics.com/docs/catalogue.pdf that there were variations in the type of turbocharger fitted to 2.5litre Boxer motors, so you'd need to be careful about identification if you need a replacement. If you GOOGLE-search on "turbocharger suppliers", you'll find plenty of companies offering repairs or exchange units, but Turbo Technics go back over 30 years, have an excellent reputation, and cleaned my Transit's turbo at a reasonable price when the variable-geometry mechanism jammed. Obviously fitting a secondhand turbocharger is an option and, if the unit were cheap and is (as you are suggesting) straightforward and quick to fit, might be worth risking. What you don't want to do is spend not much on a used turbo, a lot of money on labour charges to fit the thing and then discover the unit doesn't work properly or soon fails. It would also be worth you checking the price of a 'genuine' new (or refurbished) turbo obtained through a Peugeot agency. This would allow you to assess whether a repair or exchange would make financial sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 It may not be the turbo (IMHO). You would usually hear noises like a manic buzzsaw and have black smoke (unburnt fuel) from the exhaust. If they really go you might have engine oil smoke (blueish) as well. I assume the recovery man will have checked all the turbo hoses for splits and coming off? Peering hard into my crystal ball I think the head gasket or a piston might have gone. The message I get from my balls is that you will be spending lots of money soon :-( H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I am with 'H' on this I am afraid. You stated that engine is "lumpy, smoking and won't rev up". The turbo will, at idle, be just spinning gently in the breeze and will have no influence on how the engine runs. If the seals on the turbo are gone, there will be smoke but the engine should still run smoothly and rev freely (just without turbo boost which only really comes in under load anyway). There is more to this than just a turbo. It actually sounds more likely that the intercooler has a hole in it or there is a damaged pipe which one would hope has already been looked into? Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyinghigh Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I unfortunately have to agree that it doesn't sound like a turbo failure, have just replaced mine using turbo technics, and have to say they have done a Stirling job of rebuilding my old unit at a fair price and would recommend them unreservedly, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Your problem sounds very muchl ike those that we had with our 1993 Hymer. We had a recon turbo fitted at a cost of about £800 all in. Afterwards it went like a bat out of hell. Incidentally, we had driven onto the drive a few weeks earlier with no sign of problems, but next time I started the engine a few weeks later just smoke and no power. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coachman Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Now I am not on about a commercial van engine so do not know whether they have what I had three weeks ago on my Skoda, mine had a whine like the police siren but not as loud. At first Skoda said its the turbo booster valve which has stuck ( it would not go over 60mph). They cleaned it but it only lasted a few miles before it started again . On this turbo you cannot buy the booster on its own as these are only about £28 each according to model, so had to have the complete turbo from Skoda which was £765 plus labour, other things which had to be done ended up with paying £ 1976 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodstock dave Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 SINCERE APOLOGIES forumites. The initial suspicion of turbo failure by recovery and engineer were premature. Engineer searched www, asked his repairer and factors. All said it,s pretty unheard of for these to fail (on my engine type). No recons available. new £1,620.00 (gulp) However, the discussion turned to possible alternative diagnosis that would likely invilve some dismantling. Just at that point a picture came into my head. It was me picking up a green fuel pump. I instantly demanded of "The Boss" the fuel receipt. THAT CLEARLY SHOWED THAT THIS SPECIMEN HAD ADDED HALF A TANK OF PETROL TO THE REMAINING HALF OF DIESEL. GRR. I had only refueled 10 miles before stopping, and was travelling behind a 40 MPH car. Engineer said that the petrol was only just being seen by the engine. We siphoned out the contaminated tankfull via the floor access and then drained the fuel filter and fitted a new one (after removing air filter and air pipes). Put half a tank of fresh diesel in, cracked the injectors . The engine was craned for 5 seconds and again until diesel was ejected (Don't do this at home without an engineer competent with high pressure fueling systems). The injectors were torqued down and the engine turnrd over. It ran sweetly after half a minute just as usual. That was a lucky escape. Now to get a couple of these devices for the fuel fillers that I said only idiots would buy. One for the petrol Kangoo and one for the van. That's All - Case closed - hand slapped. Thanks Again So Sorry for wasting your time, but good info all the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Wonderful news Dave and probably the best Christmas present you will ever get! Whilst I only ever did it once almost 10 years ago and I do have a good excuse for my stupidity at that time I too am amongst the ranks of mis-fueling victims of our own doings! Betcha neither of us will ever do it again!! Happy Christmas and safe travels for the coming year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Dave, You won't need a misfuelling device for your petrol Kangoo as you cannot get a diesel nozzle into a petrol filler neck. you can only get it wrong the other way around as you have just found out to your (near) cost. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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