Blown Turbo ???

[ydbark]

I have a 2004 e46 320d. Whilst on the highway yesterday I experienced a slight jerk followed by one hell of a ball of blue smoke behind the car! I know thwt blue smoke+jerk=turbo failure. But, this is where i'm baffeled... I pulled the turbo and opened up the unit.

1) No abnormal play or wear on the shaft
2) oil seals still look new
3) all the fins are still intact (no signs of touching the housing anywhere)
4) bush is still ok

* the turbo was serviced 10 months ago and pulled like a dream*

Am I missing something small/stupid? Any help please as I need the car running for work on Monday morning!!!

 

[Crash_Nemesis]

I stand corrected, but if the Turbo blew, you would have no power at all, car wouldn't even rev past 3000RPM.

Did that happen?

 

[Twinz]

Put it back and if it still smokes then the problem is elsewhere or it could still be the turbo. Time for a bigger turbo i say :thumbs:

 

[Flex]

Hey Dude, is the following still normal like before:

Idling
Engine temp
Power on acceleration

Did you check all the hoses on the intercooler from the turbo onwards to the intake? Maybe a hose popped off causing the jerk??

Have a look and let us know, then we can try and assist again .......

:=):

 

[ydbark]

Sorry, I forget the mention...

1) There is power loss
2) Checked all the hoses, everything fine
3) Idling still normal
4) Engine temp fine

When it happened I still drove the car home, there is a slight screetching/ratteling noise when revving but no other sounds or uneven idling, just a lot of smoke and no power!

 

[Spy007]

if it was the turbo On the highway you would have know it. Is there any oil in the car?

When Mine went on the highway it was not blue smoke but white and LOTS AND LOTS of it not just a ball.

Good luck

 

[Flex]

Mr Spy is correct, diesel engines with turbo failures = lots of white smoke!!

Blue = oil burn.

Sounds it might be internally then buddy, if the hoses are all & tightened properly, that eliminates the powerloss then. (Together with the turbo checked)

Its difficult, form the noise/rattling with the rpm of the engine, it might be anything on the inside, timing chain tentioner perhaps??

I wouldn't drive the car to more serious damage to occur should that be the case! Best would be to remove the tappet/valve cover and have a look whats abnormal in there.

Maybe somebody else with a similar problem can point you into the right direction.

Hang in there! :=):

 

[ydbark]

I do understand what you are saying but what else would cause oil in the turbo, intercooler, inlets all the way through to the exuast? It's not a smallish residue, it pouring out!!!???

---

Might have had the colour of the smoke a tad wrong, pi was late for a wedding! And as for the ball of smoke... all three lanes of the highway was covered, it lokked like a scene from a james bond movie.

 

[Flex]

So if I understand correctly then the following is present with car's engine:

Power loss
Rattling/screetching noise with rpm
Oil present in the intake, intercooler & turbo?

If possible post a short video so we can hear the noise?

 

[ydbark]

Sorry, i cant post a vid. The turbo is lying stripped on the work bench. The sound resembles a slight touch of metal on metal, but there are no signs of fins rubbing on the housing! All the symptoms you mentioned are present.
As i said everything still looks in good condition. i just dont know what to look for as I cant find any physical damage!?

 

[Flex]

Okay, turbo rubbing you will not be able to hear, they just fail completely in general. That means it must be something bigger & more solid causing the noise.

As for the oil on the intake & other components, I recently change the oil seperator on our 120i, alse 2004 model, and the intake was just as wet with engine oil, also caused excessive blue smoke from time to time. So that can be a contributor of the oil on the intake.

If your are 100% sure that the turbo is spotless, put it back and start looking elsewhere for stuff thats not normal.

Hope that Im of help in a way. :fencelook:

Photo of how blocked the top hose on the oil seperator was on our car......

Good luck buddy!

 

[ydbark]

Here are some pics of core parts.












Can oil through out the system be caused by a damaged oils seal?

 

[Flex]

Those items look okay/in spec to me on the pictures.

Put them all back together,back onto the engine and continue searching.
By the way, that waste gate still servicleble? (working like it should)
Should it get stuck in the open/relieve position, you will also have no power!

The blue smoke is still a mystery .....

Keep us posted!

:thumbs:

 

[ydbark]

the gates were a bit sticky but i've already cleaned them out, now moving very smoothly. might just follow the advice in one of the previous replies... put it back and drive till something significant happens! don't know what else to do?! how would you know if there are any damages to the turbos' oil seal?

 

[Spy007]

Ok. What happened to me.

when I switched off the car you could hear a metal on metal sound. This was the fins of the turbo just bearly touching.

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=30427

And this is what happend a while later.

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=30468


This is just a heads up and give you an idea as there are some pics as well.

Good luck

---

Any chance it might be one of the injectors as that happened after my Turbo was replaced? and was blue smoke.

 

[Peejay]

E46's are notorious for sucking in their swirl flaps. I'm not sure what the symptoms are though. Maybe you should look there?

 

[L~C~G]

One of the blades in pic three, right hand side looks chipped to me.

 

[Andy1GP]

What LCG said, it's quite a bit missing there, the imbalance will cause chaos

 

[Spy007]

Those blades are touching something?