Turbo fault

[louise06031963]

New to this forum think so here goes.
I have a 2002 Megane Fidji 1.9dci 5 door hatchback, manual, not the shake your ass style, but the model before.
A few weeks ago it developed an intermittent engine fault, big loss of power, 2nd gear 20mph up hill. I took the car to a local garage who couldn’t find the fault, subsequently the AA towed it to the nearest Renault dealer. After a few days they changed the EGR valve {£400}. On collecting the car and driving it for a few days I discovered that it still had the same problem, so back to the Renault dealer who then changed the air flow meter and glow plugs {£350}. Collected the car to discover that it still had intermittent loss of power and the glow plug light came on at the same time. So back to the garage, who now tell me the turbo has gone and needs replacing at a cost of some £1,200! As the cars done about 150,000 miles and isn’t worth any where near that my question is how difficult or easy is it to replace the turbo. Are there special tools required or any particular problems to look out for when replacing it. I’m sure I can get a recon or second hand one off ebay and if the jobs not too difficult then I’ll give it a go myself. Anybody out there who can offer advice, I would be most grateful.
Franco.

[fraser]

To be honest this sounds more like a blocked exhaust, if all of the parts, except the turbo have been changed. The CAT or back box can collapse thus not allowing exhaust gases to flow properly, hence the lack of power.

Cheers

Fraser

[IainMW]

New to this forum think so here goes.
I have a 2002 Megane Fidji 1.9dci 5 door hatchback, manual, not the shake your ass style, but the model before.
A few weeks ago it developed an intermittent engine fault, big loss of power, 2nd gear 20mph up hill. I took the car to a local garage who couldn’t find the fault, subsequently the AA towed it to the nearest Renault dealer. After a few days they changed the EGR valve {£400}. On collecting the car and driving it for a few days I discovered that it still had the same problem, so back to the Renault dealer who then changed the air flow meter and glow plugs {£350}. Collected the car to discover that it still had intermittent loss of power and the glow plug light came on at the same time. So back to the garage, who now tell me the turbo has gone and needs replacing at a cost of some £1,200! As the cars done about 150,000 miles and isn’t worth any where near that my question is how difficult or easy is it to replace the turbo. Are there special tools required or any particular problems to look out for when replacing it. I’m sure I can get a recon or second hand one off ebay and if the jobs not too difficult then I’ll give it a go myself. Anybody out there who can offer advice, I would be most grateful.
Franco.

Hi and welcome to the forum

Can I suggest you have a look at these 2 threads
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1524
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4518

Unfortunately early Renault 1.9dCi's (not just Megane's) had issues with Turbo failures. The Parkers forum has pages and pages on this subject

I am really surprised that the Renault garage has charged you so much for the items replaced, it seems a lot to me. particularly as they have now diagnosed Turbo failure.

It sounds like your EGR has been gummed up for a while and this has cooked your turbo.

150,000 is a fair amount and it could be argued that this is an acceptable mileage for a Turbo to last but given Renault's past history then it's not.

All I can say is do not buy a turbo off eBay unless it's a quality remanufactured product that has a warranty. I'm sure that you could find a good independant garage to replace the turbo and associated parts for less than £1200

[AlexB]

Hello Louise,

I think you should consider claiming your money back from the garage on the grounds that they did not fix the fault.

After that the issue of changing turbo will look £750 better. You will need to have your turbo checked for play in bearings. It may happen that the problem lies with control of the turbo (vacuum pump, pipes, wires, etc.), dirt inside it or some sensors. Did your turbo whistle as in the sticky thread in this topic?

I would not trust a garage which replaces glow plugs (affects cold engine operation) when a customer complains about power loss when engine is hot. They are thieves unless the glow plug issue was explained clearly to you.

[louise06031963]

Thanks to everybody for the advice, into the garage tomorrow to pick the car up and ask about compensation. I'll post how I get on over the weekend.
Franco.

[louise06031963]

Just a thought but is it likely to be an intermittent turbo fault? I thought that when a turbo goes it blows it's self to pieces, no whining or other strange noises from the engine so I wonder if the turbo is okay but there may be an intermittent electrical fault, any body got any ideas?
Franco.