Omega Owners Forum

Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Fiona on 01 October 2013, 12:07:16

Title: Turbo go boom
Post by: Fiona on 01 October 2013, 12:07:16
So eh I kinda killed my car at the weekend.

I was on a long motorway spin on Friday evening and my exhuast emmissions / engine management light came on along with a jolt in the engine and then went off again.

Then it came back on along with a tiny whining noise and a lot of smoke, had to pull in straight away, I turned off the ignition but the car was still reving furiously. Two men pulled in and one of the stalled the car and the other popped the bonnet and disconnect the battery for me.

I never got such a fright in all my life I didn't know what was happening, I couldn't for the life of my understand why the car was running but yet I had the keys in my hand, I was just standing there in shock watching and waiting for it to go on fire  :'(

So I now know how to stop a runaway car and how to kill a turbo  :-[

Himself was working on the car last night, the turbo 100% wrecked but going to pick up a second hand one tonight along with a manifold.

He has drained 3 litres of oil from the engine, no signs of any metal in the oil so I am hoping that is a positive sign that the car was stopped manually before it stopped itself by running dry of oil, the service done the week before had to of saved it perhaps since she would have been full?

Is there anything that we need to be looking out for before the new turbo is fitted?
From what I have read turbo's don't just go something causes them to pop?

I think the service may have put the car into shock  ;D I doubt an oil change has been done on the car in a very long time, I like to take on challenges but took on more than I can chew with this little (big!) project!!

The car still starts, we were able to get it started to get her on and off trailer but naturally of course reluctant to leave running any length of time with the broken turbo, he said there was no bottom end rattle in it, I dunno much about cars but I think bottom end rattles are badddddd

So Omega ownership has most definitely started with a bang  :y
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Kevin Wood on 01 October 2013, 12:15:59
Sounds like a classic diesel engine runaway, probably due to failure of the turbo's oil seal and ingestion of engine oil which is what continued to fuel the engine. I would be investigating any other areas where the oil could have got in just in case. Breathers might be a possibility, but I'm not that familiar with diesel engines.

The question is whether the engine has been damaged. It might well have been over-revved in the process, but the fact that you stopped it before it seized gives some hope.

I think I'd be looking to run it up without the turbo connected to the intake just to ascertain if the engine sounds healthy before spending any money on fixing it. Keep a pile of rags handy that you can stuff into the intake and block the air supply if it takes off again, though!

The other component that could have suffered during this process is the clutch, of course.
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Fiona on 01 October 2013, 12:20:54
The other component that could have suffered during this process is the clutch, of course.

Stupid question but can you explain the reason why to me I am sure it's very simple and I will feel stupid once you explain it :)
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Kevin Wood on 01 October 2013, 12:37:37
As the clutch was effectively used to stall the engine running at full power, it might have got quite hot in the process, which may have glazed the friction surfaces. I guess you can only really assess that once it's running again, though.
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Fiona on 01 October 2013, 12:50:10
Ahhhh I see.

Oh well sure fingers crossed, have a second hand engine sorted as well for decent money if we need it. I hate cars*  >:(



*said no one ever!
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: henryd on 01 October 2013, 12:53:45
Make sure you clean all of the intake pipes and intercooler of oil build up inside them,seen turbo's replaced and first good rev up the engine takes off again as the oil in pipes etc is blown into the manifold  :-\
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: 05omegav6 on 01 October 2013, 13:04:37
The clutches can take a fair amount of abuse in isolated doses :-X
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Gaffers on 01 October 2013, 13:33:30
The clutches can take a fair amount of abuse in isolated doses :-X

Is that with or without TC on ::)
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: 05omegav6 on 01 October 2013, 14:25:33
The clutches can take a fair amount of abuse in isolated doses :-X

Is that with or without TC on ::)
:P was actually thinking of Joshs' black saloon which to a bit of a hammering whilst rescuing a stranded damsel in a Porsche Boxter...
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Simon.rose1 on 01 October 2013, 19:32:57
Check the intercooler for oil and the exhaust or you might find you get a lot of smoke on start up and the oil may of collected in the silencers on cooling
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: VXL V6 on 01 October 2013, 22:27:49
Very occasionally they damage the camshaft when they've run flat out on their own oil.

Obviously you'll find out when you try and start it.

Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: dbug on 01 October 2013, 22:27:56
Check the intercooler for oil and the exhaust or you might find you get a lot of smoke on start up and the oil may of collected in the silencers on cooling

?? see reply #5 above ???
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Fiona on 02 October 2013, 13:16:15
Went and looked at a replacement turbo last night, there was no play in the shaft but the turbines were damaged on it so himself didn't want to risk replacing it with that. The search continues!

Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 02 October 2013, 14:20:35
Must be plenty of them around as there a rare failure plus there are pretty common Garett GT1849V with minor variations so they fit.
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Fiona on 02 October 2013, 15:05:23
Must be plenty of them around as there a rare failure plus there are pretty common Garett GT1849V with minor variations so they fit.

We found out last night that Frontera turbos will fit so think himself might have sourced one so fingers crossed, they are not that bad to buy from new €350 I was expecting them to be a lot more, to recondition them is approx. €300, for that price would you not be better off just buying a new one instead of getting old one fixed  ???
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 02 October 2013, 16:05:16
Depends if the new one is a genuine Honeywell/Garett part or a cheap copy.  :y

Reality is, turbos are pretty simple items and when refurbing, they tend to fit new seals, bearings and spindle so the only thing let is the castings.

The turbo on these are a variable vain device which is the only other semi complicated part.
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Chuckg84 on 02 October 2013, 22:43:42
Hello, Fi's better half here.

Okay, so far ive figured out the same turbo is in the Omega, Frontera, Vectra and Saab. All 2.2 Dti/Tid models.

The frontera exhaust housing needs to be swapped from our old turbo so id prefer to just sit one in(i have a tendency to break things).

So my question is, are they all the same? They look the same. Only difference between all vehicles is the BHP.

Thanks
Title: Re: Turbo go boom
Post by: Fiona on 07 October 2013, 14:12:51
Got a secondhand Omega turbo on Friday and replaced the dead on on Saturday and put in fresh oil and a fresh oil filter.

Car appears to be driving ok, not a hugeee difference in power to be honest, have done 200 miles and no warning lights so I hope that's a good sign!

I will attempt to describe something did happen once or twice but forgive me if it comes out all wrong......

At times, it did feel like the car was having a momentary loss of power, and then it would feel like it was gasping for air when the feeling of driving returned ??? ???

I didn't drive her over 100kph once on the way home, I suppose I am just afraid I am going to blow it up again  :-[