On the way home from work tonight i lost all power, followed by a big black cloud of smoke, from first impressions , it looks like the turbo gone 🙁
managed to get it into a local dealer on the way home , but they couldnt look at it tonight , so its booked in for tomorrow
Whats the likely cost of a replcment turbo for a 04 nissan primera dci ?

Nissan main dealer:

*sharp intake of breath through teeth*

Well, it's a bit hit and miss with these Nissans. Japanese, innit. Obviously the turbo'll need to come out, but when it went it probably took the intercooler with it. So one of them too. It's would be daft not to check your piston faces for signs of damage, and the actuator will have been damaged with the initial loss of boost pressure. New cat, cos all that oil flying through the engine will have clogged it up. Oh, and while we were looking around, we noticed you need new pads and discs all round. It'd be criminal if we let you drive away with your brakes in as bad a condition as they are….

If you're absolutely sure it's the turbo, try TurboTechnics for an exchange unit. They did me a deal on when my old MR2 turbo died. I sent them my dead one they sent me a new one. Cost me about £500 all in, and that was for a performance turbo so a bog-standard diesel turbo should be a bit less. If you know a friendly mechanic, you should get change from £150 for fitting it.,

are you a home owner ??

singlecrack – Member
are you a home owner ??

Yeah why ?

I've just replaced the intercooler on my X-Trail. Nissan wanted 535 plus vat, plus 2 hours labour. About 700 quid!

Found it really hard to find one to be honest. Got a nearly new one from a later more powerful model, 85 quid. it's much larger than my old one, but just about squeezes in. Need new mounts and hoses though now, just about managed to temporarilly bodge the old ones.

Aren't those engines shared by Renault????

No, they're different. The later 2.0 ones are though.

Kicks that idea into touch 😆

cos if you take it to a main dealer you will need to re-mortgage 😮

on a serious note try turbo technics as someone else has mentioned and get a few quotes to get it fitted my bet is it will be more than half main dealer price

singlecrack – Member

on a serious note try turbo technics as someone else has mentioned and get a few quotes to get it fitted my bet is it will be more than half main dealer price

Yeah i will do as soon as the problems being pin pointed ill give them a ring , i have a mate that owns a clutch center that has said he will fit it for me , just hope its only the turbo and not the intercooler and the cat ! .. otherwise i`ll be scrapping it out , its only done 54k as well 🙁

The intercooler/cat/piston/actuator stuff was just nonsense garage up-sale pish. Sounds believable, doesn't it? I wonder how many people take it as gospel, just cos it came from the mechanic.

If your turbo's gone, it's most likely to be an oil/lubrication thing. I certainly wouldn't expect "wear and tear" failure on a 54k mile turbo, unless it's been abused. Get your mate to check that the oil-feed lines aren't blocked – if they are, you'll trash the new turbo pretty quickly. Maybe an idea to change the oil & filter while it's being worked on. You'd be unlucky to have wrecked the intercooler – if you have impeller vanes missing/cracked when the old turbo comes off, then start worrying about the intercooler.

"i lost all power"

could be the EGR valve is needing replaced. The Exhaust Gas Recirculating valve can get blocked up with so much soot that it will not work.

Macavity – Member
"i lost all power"

could be the EGR valve is needing replaced. The Exhaust Gas Recirculating valve can get blocked up with so much soot that it will not work

would that be a issue with only 54k on the clock ?
It did sound very rattley straight after , so im presuming that its bits of turbo rattling around ?

"would that be a issue with only 54k on the clock ?"
Yes, possibly, maybe, just a suggestion. But just as likely as a blown turbo though. Loss of power is the clue that it could be the EGR, and its easier to get to and check than the turbo so check it first.
The rattling , well its a Nissan so not a major clue.

It did sound very rattley straight after , so im presuming that its bits of turbo rattling around ?

Turbo shaft broken. This happened to my old car (when I wasn't driving it). When I got it out the turbine wheel plopped out onto the floor.

EGR valve can reduce power and make it a bit smokey, but it'll clog over a long period of time. It wouldn't suddenly go and lose all power instantaneously.

Incidentally my neighbour who was driving my old car when the turbo went said it was "a bit down on power". I know for a fact maximum flat out speed with no turbo is about 50mph, and it takes about 5 mins to get there!

How long have you owned the car?

I'd also try salvage and scrapyards. Its not a 'popular' VW part so you wont get arse-raped. I'd trawl round ebay and make offers:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=nissan+primera+turbo&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Most salvage places sell parts with a 30day guarantee so that you know the part worked when the car was scrapped.

Turbo for a friends Focus was around £800 fitted, colleague at work paid £1100 for a VW Touran turbo fitted

I paid £120 for a used turbo, fitted myself 🙂

Some people find out the reason that a turbo fails, fix that problem then fit a new turbo. Some people just fit a new turbo…..

This is not directly relavant to the Primera but
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/nissan/x-trail-2001/?section=bad
"The following applies to Renault 1.5DCI engines, but may explain why the diesel turbochargers fail: The EGR valve should open to allow carbon dioxide (which acts as a cooling gas) into the combustion chambers when the engine is under load (>30% boost). This allows the combustion chamber temperature to drop and thus the temperature of the exhaust gases. If it sticks in the closed position the exhaust gas temperature will rise causing a) the turbo bearings to fail and b) engine oil into the induction system. This can cause the engine to run on its crankcase oil until it is either stalled or goes bang. Problems with EGR valves are often the cause of rough running when the valve is stuck in the open position as well. In several cases turbos have blown but the EGR valve has not been replaced. Inevitably the new turbo unit will not last long. "

TBH, black smoke doesnt indicate a blown turbo, it indicates over-fueling, possibly from a boost/intercooler pipe blown off? That's happened me before, sounded like a firework going off under the bonnet, zero power, lots of black smoke and car sounded like a tank.

White (water) or blue (oil) smoke indicate a blown turbo.

Hope its the cheaper option for you!

Thanks for all the comments and links , been and had a look at the ebay turbo`s …. its a cheaper option i may have to take
still waiting for nissan to get back to me and then i can source the parts else where
didnt get any white or blue smoke , just a plume of black smoke as i accelerated off the island and then no power ?
car wouldnt rev to more than 2000 and struggled up to 30 mph ..
car went into limp mode apparantly …
didnt get no dash lights, no engine managment light or nothing ?

TBH, black smoke doesnt indicate a blown turbo, it indicates over-fueling, possibly from a boost/intercooler pipe blown off?

Depends on the failure mode. Black smoke = too much fuel for the amount of air – so either too much fuel or not enough air, hence turbo failure. If oil ends up in the air intake (as it did with mine) then you get blue/white smoke. If not then you just get black smoke.

Could well be an intercooler hose though.

Re the above link, I'd be surprised if no EGR would cause the EGT to go so high that it'd cause the turbo to fail. Otherwise towing caravans in the mountains for instance would kill your turbo immediately. In normal driving EGTs should be so far below their design threshold that not having EGR wouldn't make a difference. And if you are booting it then EGR switches off anyway.

A lot of diesel modders remove their EGRs completely. The main reason for EGR is emissions control – reduced combustion temperature means less NOx emissions.

BEWARE of buying turbos on ebay though – loads of variants of model and type and manifold shapes and whatnot. Call a turbo specialist FIRST I'd say. Your old one may well be fixable.

Definitely look around eBay. Long story short the garage replaced the turbo on my diesel bimmer when it wasn't broken. The new turbo cost me £500, I just sold the old one on eBay for £90. That hurt.

TBH, black smoke doesnt indicate a blown turbo, it indicates over-fueling, possibly from a boost/intercooler pipe blown off? That's happened me before, sounded like a firework going off under the bonnet, zero power, lots of black smoke and car sounded like a tank.

When my MR2 died, I got black smoke, no power, and it sounded like a tank. No pop though, just fine one minute and gutless the next. It was also firing little flecks of oil out the exhaust, as indicated by the state of my FIL's garage door when I tried starting it up the next morning. It was the turbo. Oil seal failure on exhaust side.

Just spoke to nissan and they want the best part of £1400 !!
and now my mate has said that he would rather not fit it incase theres problems !!,
so no idea what to do now ??

Where are you? I'd help you fit it – not that hard.. depending on access 🙂

molgrips – Member
Where are you? I'd help you fit it – not that hard.. depending on access

Birmingham
Is it just unbolt and bolt in the new one ?
access is quite good as its at the front of the engine

Ok, I'd do my route.

I had a drive shaft fail on my old Forester. Subaru wanted £900+VAT. I had it replaced for £160 inc VAT.

Its worth trawling round, making calls and waiting for the part. In the meantime phone a number of garages and ask for a quote if you supply the part. Be prepared to be without the car for a couple of weeks.

It just means instead of getting the work done asap you have a lag.

Minus's? EVEN if a dealer fitted a new turbo at massive cost it doesnt mean its a guarantee that its sorted the problem(s) with your car. Its always an open chequebook with dealers. So chancing it first with a salvaged unit (say from acar that was sideswipped or rear ended) wouldnt damage the part.

Well, yeah, just unbolt and bolt on basically, I think. I don't think any fancy electronics would get in the way but I don't know.

1) Remove the oil feed hose/pipe and the oil drain hose
2) Remove air hoses
3) Support exhaust and unbolt it from turbo
4) Disconnect any wastegate/variable geometry vane actuators, whatever you can see
5) Unbolt from manifold and remove
6) Fitting, as they say, is the reverse of removal 🙂 I used gasket sealant instead of new gaskets as it was an old car and that was deemed good enough 🙂

Issues I had:

1) Mess – oil everywhere from feed hose
2) Access to the return hose was a bit awkward
3) Unbolting the thing from the manifold was an absolute b*tch because the bolts were under the exhaust manifold and facing away from me in towards the block.. argh…
4) The turbo I had was the exact right kind, but the air output nozzle from the fan was in slightly the wrong place because the turbo was from a different vehicle – fortunately, the hose stretched just enough.
5) The worst one – the wastegate actuator arm was also a slightly different shape, so I had to remove the arm from the old turbo and re-fit it to the new one. and bend the bracket a bit.

All done with a basic knowledge and experience of spannering, but a THOROUGH understanding of how it all worked on that particular car, gained from reading forums and wikipedia articles on turbos.

Only trouble is i need the car back on the road asap , as ive just started a new job , been there just over a week and cant get there without the bloody car .. ive already had today off and it will be tomorrow now …. hate to say this but i may have to get them to do it ! 😥

But yes, +1 for hora – make damn sure you know what the original issue is. Most likely oil feed problems. You can test this by turning the car over with the oil feed hose off (with the OLD turbo fitted!) and seeing if oil spews out. Also check the return hose is clear.

Turbos (mostly) have fluid bearings ie the shaft spins on a cushion of oil, not on ball bearings. So no oil = instant death at 100,000 rpm.

For this reason (forgot to add) if you do manage to get it fitted, disconnect the fuel cut-off solenoid and turn the car over a fair bit to get oil in everything before it fires up.

Right

1) hire a car
2) call a turbo specialist and get turbo
3) call a mobile mechanic and get them to come round your house and do it

Stumpy, where are you based? I'm no mechanic but if your localish I'd be more than willing to muck in and learn/fit.

Birmingham

Bugger.

Post on here :http://www.nissanprimera.net/forum/default.asp
http://www.clubnissan.co.uk/forum/
and
http://www.npoc.co.uk/forum/forums.html

There may be local mechanics who could do the work for minimal cost on these as well.

Be aware that the same "type" of turbo can have a variety of different trims on the compressor wheel and the inlet and outlet on the compressor housing can be in different orientations for different vehicles. Also the orientation of the compressor and turbine housing can be different orientations.

I would whip it off and have a look at it before you spend any money. See what has happened to it. See if its just the bearing that has gone or if you have had a turbine/compressor break up.

If its a bearing then consider getting a rebuild kit and doing it your self. There are some issues with shaft balancing but if you mark everything it can be done without re-balancing.

There are pages on the web detailing this if you google it.

This is a rebuild kit for the Turbo on my Westfield Busa Turbo

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Turbo-Rebuild-Kit-TD04-TD04L-TD04HL-VOLVO-850-T5-V70-/130346838066

Hope this help

Barry

Buy a really cheap car tonight/at the weekend. Autotrader will have something for £500. It might be horrible, but it'll run for a while.

That'll give you enough time to get your car sorted without paying stupid money. You can then sell your £500 shed for hopefully £500 (may even make on the deal if you really clean it up, advertise it well etc).

Alternative is to get a mobile mechanic out to do it. They won't need particularly specialist tools, might well be a good solution.

Yeah im on autotrader at the mo ..

Thanks for all the advise