SJR wrote:

Just out of interest, of the people who voted that they have had a new turbo fitted, how many of you had got a remap on your car when the turbo failed

Just wondering if having a remap and the more spirited driving that it sometimes encourages would actually help avoid the turbo failing through sunday afternoon type slow driving, anmd if there is any anecdotal evidence for or against it

I got mine Remapped after, but I am the second owner and cannot be certain if the previous owner had.

MacLeod 313 wrote:

Been trying to find the link from RonP, who also had to source his own replacement, but I think it was a link to a turbo re-manufacturer that repairs these vanes.

Yep I did do a post, but the cybermods removed it
They must've deemed it as a commercial post
Of course it wasn't, it was just a pointer to those who had Turbo issues.

buzz wrote:

this is probably a stupid question........but.........is there any way of checking soot build up on the vanes while the turbo is in situ????i.e. by taking off a hose or two and getting in with a torch

Not a stupid question. Dont worry about that
Its not really possible to check them, you can take the downpipe off and check how much soot is in there,but you still cant see any of the VNT mech. inside the turbo housing. THe only part visible is the external linkage etc. attached to the electronic actuator.
Im not 100% sure, but i would say it is more than likely the build up of soot inside the turbo the causes the VNT to stick, casuing the fault, unless the car isnt used much. Then it is more inclined to be the external part seizing up due to lack of use...

I had a few PM's from people also asking if the mechanism can be lubricated. Cant say I have ever tried it, as it is a bit to get into, and off the top of my head, its not even that visible once you get into it...

DSL wrote:

Apart from being knackered at manufacture, what else would cause a turbo to fail?? High speed use, low power use, low oil, high oil, not warming up, shutting down too quickly???

All of the above, apart from the first one
They are designed to run at high speed and at high temperatures. And even remapped, they are still within the same limits of a stock turbo.

A turbo can fail for a few reasons.
Low oil level, leading to oil starvation of the bearings, and consequent damage

High oil level, leading to overpressurising the turbo seals, causing them to 'pop', which could also cause the engine to run on its own oil, causing severe engine damage if you cant get it shut down

Not warming up and not cooling down is a biggy. Remeber that even at idle, the turbo is spinning, albeit, relatively slow. If you start up, and drive off straight away, the oil hasnt found its way through the whole engine. I remember reading that turbo's can spin at upto 240,000 RPM ( ). Imagine the damage that could do...
And for not cooling down, or not letting it idle before switching it off. Same reasoning again. If you switch it off after say, a motorway run. The oil temp in the turbo is much higher than in the engine, and causes the oil in the bearings to pretty much evaporate with the latent heat. And if you rev it before switching off, the oil evaporates/drains away from the bearings, leaving them spinning with no oil again...

High/Low power use, high power use will NOT kill a turbo, low power use will. Reson being that the turbo is desgined to run at high power, and at high power, the actuator and VNT mech. gets a good workout as its pretty much moving all the time, especially on overboost.
Constant low power use will not get the mechanism moving as needed, and over time, the excess soot WILL jam the VNT inside the turbo. That is why LR introduced the software update the excercise the VNT during start up/shut down. They will only carrry out this download under warranty if you have a genuine Turbo fault, unless you know a friendly dealer or tech. who can carry it out for you

Obviously, there are more reason than that, but they are probably not worth worrying about.

On my own car, which the forums say has a weak turbo (heard stories about turbos being replaced after 5k) I have done nearly 26k (ontop of the 44k it had already done before I got it), and had no issues whatsoever. I religiously let it idle for 10-15 secs after startup before touching the throttle pedal, enough time to get your seatbelt on, fiddle with CD's/stereo/lighs/whatever, and same again on switch off, undo seatbelt/face off CD player, carp out the boot/back seats, then switch off and lock. My missus think im a sad for doing that...
Then every Friday on my way to work, i take the car for a 20 mile drive to get everything up to full temperature, find a nice big long hill, 4th gear from about 2k, and floor it to the top of the hil, letting the engine rev out to 4.5k. Smokes like a mofo,but gets everything working the way it should, and I have had no issues at all

Anyway, if your still awake after reading that, i will say, its early so i apologise in advance if it doesnt make sense

EDIT: Link to a turbo re-manufacturing company explaining the above soot build-up also. http://www.turbotechnics.com/docs/news/vnt_clean.htm

I am not connected to TT in any way, and any turbo re-manufacturer can carry out this work, that site is the first one I clicked on...