91 cruiser with 217,000kms, factory turbo diesel and regular services (every 5000-10,000kms) with turbo timer.
I was comming back from sydney a few weeks ago and pulled in at a rest area in Aulbury for about 10 minutes.Motor turned off after a couple of minutes and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
I started it up and went to re-join traffic and it felt as though i was dragging a bus or something, no power above about 1500 RPM with big flat spots, i noticed the little green turbo light was not on when it should have been and at this point relised the turbo had stopped working.
I honestly didnt know what to think as i was sure everything was in order and i had done nothing wrong or in neglect.
Somehow it let me drive it home to melbourne and i investigated it further.
No obstructions in air inlets or aircleaner, oil was fine, coolant was fine, i couldnt find anything wrong until i took off the air inlet elbow right infront of the turbo, it was here i found it completly siezed, no movement at all.
So, about 5-6 hours later it was out. (keep in mind this was spreed out over quite a few days).
What i found was this little bit of metal floating around in the exhaust turbine area as seen below.
http://www.esnips.com/doc/16f3c8db-cdd9 ... C00502.JPG
After about a week of ringing up places for rough quotes i took it to a place in baywater and the guy there very quickly identified where the little piece (and other little bits all different shapes an sizes) had come from.
It used to be a type of spacer which goes in between the 2 parts that make up the exhaust manifold and goes right at the end of the small one after the 2 rings.
http://www.esnips.com/doc/ecd54ceb-0286 ... C00498.JPG
So somehow mine came off and found its way through the manifold and made a nice mess inside the turbo, it broke blades/fins and took out gouges inside the housing.
Its going to cost me something like $1,200 to get it fixed. This includes all gaskets, new bearings/seals, ballancing, cleaning, testing (reco), honing and a new shaft with exhaust turbine wheel (due to damage).
Its a lotta money if you ask me but i want it done properly and back on the road. I mean sure, you could look around for a few weeks (maybee months) and try to find a second hand turbo but for piece of mind you would still want it reconditioned.
Anyway thats just my little story for anyone interested, i have more pics availible of the Removal if you want them or are thinking of undertaking a similar project.
I know it sounds like a lot of work but if you want to save yourself a potential $1,200 take out this evil little spacer ( if not allready removed ) before it causes you some serious damage.I dont mind being contacted if any of you want more info on this.
Im not bagging Toyota but its allmost like they put this spacer in the manifold just so it could eventually find its way through and, bingo, $2,800 for a new turbo thanks. Is it just me or is this a coincedence ?
OK, i will stop crapping on now.
It would be good to hear if anyone else has had this same problem to !
