Diesel Focus pop - loss of power and smoke

cgrvy

Hi,

I drive a 09 1.6Td Ford Focus.

Drinving into work this morning, I accelerated on the motorway and heard a bit of a pop. The car lost power - could manage to get up to about 100 slowly.

When I move off at lights there is a load of smoke out the back.... any thoughts?

Safe to drive it back home in this state I wonder?

Thanks,

Cee-Jay-Cee

Blown turbo?

You should still be able to drive it back home but I would limit its use until you get the problem diagnosed.

cgrvy

Called the mechanic - he is thinking its the turbo alright - advised not to drive it. (Home is over 100KM away)

Paddypowered

Check boost pipes before you go down the route of a turbo, remove intake pipe to turbo and check for excessive play in turbo shaft...if it is turbo get him/her to replace oil feed/return pipes and check oil strainer....these 1.6 are known to sludge quite a bit....

Farmer

Paddypowered wrote: »

Check boost pipes before you go down the route of a turbo, remove intake pipe to turbo and check for excessive play in turbo shaft...if it is turbo get him/her to replace oil feed/return pipes and check oil strainer....these 1.6 are known to sludge quite a bit....

.......and check around the injectors for blown seals and build up of black tar. Check 7mm injector clamp bolts (carefully) for tightness. If you find tar buildup, replace copper washer and oil seal on that injector, ideally on all

Good article at https://autotechnician.co.uk/workshop-repair-1-6-tdci-turbo-failure-heres-the-real-cause/

shietpilot

Sounds like a classic example of a boost pipe bursting or popping off. I doubt it's the turbo.

Ultimate Seduction

Happend me last week same car same year. The hose pipe going from turbo to air filter fell off. Just tightend the jubilee clip an twas grand again. I was sh!tying myself thinking it was going to be a big expensive problem

Ultimate Seduction

Don't know about the smoke though, I didn't see any smoke coming from mine

cgrvy

Its at the mechanics now - but breakdown mechanic says the turbo is seized.... So its sounding expensive to me! Anyone know how much a turbo will cost?

Henry Ford III

cgrvy wrote:

Its at the mechanics now - but breakdown mechanic says the turbo is seized.... So its sounding expensive to me! Anyone know how much a turbo will cost?

The mechanic should. It'll cost a nice bit unfortunately.

Ultimate Seduction

cgrvy wrote:

Its at the mechanics now - but breakdown mechanic says the turbo is seized.... So its sounding expensive to me! Anyone know how much a turbo will cost?

Try get it reconditioned if you can't afford the new one

shietpilot

cgrvy wrote: »

Its at the mechanics now - but breakdown mechanic says the turbo is seized.... So its sounding expensive to me! Anyone know how much a turbo will cost?

Turbo is seized? How is the car driving? Where are the exhaust gases going?

I would get a second opinion on this.

The smoke would happen after a boost pipe comes off because the ECU is expecting boost but the boost is leaking through a disconnected pipe so there is too much fuel going in which is coming out the exhaust as black smoke.

Ultimate Seduction

shietpilot wrote:

Turbo is seized? How is the car driving? Where are the exhaust gases going?

You can drive without the turbo working, just not very fast.

shietpilot

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

You can drive without the turbo working, just not very fast.

Yes but if the turbo turbo is seized, where are the exhaust gases going? It doesn't make much sense to say the turbo is seized.

Farmer

shietpilot wrote: »

Yes but if the turbo turbo is seized, where are the exhaust gases going? It doesn't make much sense to say the turbo is seized.

The exhaust gases are going out the exhaust, past the fins of the turbo, as they normally would. In this case, the turbo just isn't spinning

shietpilot

Farmer wrote: »

The exhaust gases are going out the exhaust, past the fins of the turbo, as they normally would. In this case, the turbo just isn't spinning

Okay, and how does a pop noise equate to a turbo spinning at 100,000 rpm seizing? OP needs a second opinion is all I will say. He described the classic signs of a boost pipe going and a mechanic is trying to say the turbo has seized.

Farmer

cgrvy wrote: »

Its at the mechanics now - but breakdown mechanic says the turbo is seized.... So its sounding expensive to me! Anyone know how much a turbo will cost?

A reputable replacement turbo "cartridge" i.e. the middle bit of the turbo should be available for about €150, It's not about the price of the actual turbo, more about the labour and ancillaries needed to prevent it happening again in a few hundred miles. Go back to the link I posted earlier

DIY, you'd be allowing around 150 for the turbo cartridge, about 100 for the oil strainer pickup , turbo feed and return pipes etc., the most part of 100 for two complete oil and filter changes, maybe 50 more for sundries and 50 for the injector seal kit if you have the injector problem

It's not terribly difficult overall but is fairly time consuming stuff so I can't imagine what a garage price would look like

It's a common problem so garages should be used to it and the internet and YouTube is full of it

Farmer

shietpilot wrote: »

Okay, and how does a pop noise equate to a turbo spinning at 100,000 rpm seizing? OP needs a second opinion is all I will say. He described the classic signs of a boost pipe going and a mechanic is trying to say the turbo has seized.

No, I'd expect more of a "ping" noise as the blades crash off the turbo casing. Second opinion is simple, pull off the air hose going into the turbo and, with the engine off, feel for play in the turbo shaft and look out for a polished or broken edge to the turbo blades

I'm assuming now that since both a breakdown and garage mechanic have seen it, and it is a common problem with that engine, that they know what they're talking about. A "popped" pipe, most likely in or out of the intercooler should be easy to diagnose

cgrvy

Sorry for the delay in getting back - and thanks for your inputs. Call out guy and my mechanic both confirmed it was a seized turbo. Have it replaced now and motoring again without issue.

rex-x

shietpilot wrote: »

Turbo is seized? How is the car driving? Where are the exhaust gases going?

I would get a second opinion on this.

The smoke would happen after a boost pipe comes off because the ECU is expecting boost but the boost is leaking through a disconnected pipe so there is too much fuel going in which is coming out the exhaust as black smoke.

Thee xhaust gasses can easily escape as they would normally with a siezed turbo, the wheel will just not be spinning. But I do agree it sounds more like a popped boost pipe over a blown turbo but we haven't the benefit of examining the car