Common Turbo Faults

Whilst we’ve already explored some of the most common causes of turbocharger damage on the blog before, like oil problems, foreign objects and over-speeding, these aren’t the only things that can cause expensive problems! In this post, we look at how overheating and excessive exhaust gas temperatures can damage turbochargers, and the kind of damage they cause, before looking at the symptoms, and what can be done to protect your vehicle. How temperature can damage your turbo Turbochargers work by using the kinetic energy of hot exhaust gases, and operate at incredibly high speeds of up to 180,000rpm (which generates...

Oil problems, debris, overspeeding, wear and tear…there are a number of different things that can cause a turbocharger to fail, but catching a problem early can save you a lot of time, money and hassle in the long run. At AET, we’ve been turbo reconditioning since 1974, and in this post, we explore some of the tell tale signs that your turbo might be on the way out, or in need of urgent repairs/maintenance by one of our turbocharging experts. Sluggish performance One of the key indicators that something isn’t quite right with your turbo is a reduction in your vehicle’s performance. You may notice that...

Broken Turbine Wheel Base This image shows a damaged turbine wheel base – look closely and you can see that the base has several sections cut out of it, which have been chipped off. Damage like this is caused by excessive thrust bearing wear, which has caused the turbine wheel base to grind up against the heat shield – breaking off big pieces of the wheel base in the process. This kind of damage will significantly affect the operation of any turbo, heavily reducing its effectiveness and efficiency, and is fairly likely to prevent the turbo from operating at all....

Carbonised Oil Blockage in the Galleries In this example, you can see that the bearing housing galleries have become completely blocked and choked up with carbonised oil. Whilst build up of oil in the bearing housing like this has a number of causes, the most common are a lack of regular servicing, infrequent oil changes, overheating of oil, and engine breather problems that cause oil to be held in the bearing housing as opposed to flowing through it. In addition to affecting the efficiency and output of the turbocharger, carbonised oil build up will also cause wear damage, as the...

Faulty or damaged actuators are the cause of many of the turbo problems we see at AET, but they can be easy to overlook. The wastegate actuator acts as a pressure relief valve, which ultimately controls the boost output of a turbocharger. It works by holding the wastegate shut until the required boost level is reached, and then opening, releasing the exhaust gases and slowing the turbine. After prolonged use, the actuator can become worn, corroded and weakened, which is what you see in this picture. When this happens, the actuator will stop working properly, and can allow the exhaust...