Anyone had a turbo failure?

My 2 year old 40,000 miles 66 plate SDV8 lost all power rapidly whilst driving on the motorway. Power lost completely in about 15 seconds together with red engine warning sign. Accompanied by squealing and significant engine vibration.

Initial diagnosis is a stalled turbo/turbo failure. Apparently it is about 30 (yes, thirty!) hours of labour alone. Fortunately, still under warranty but this follows a loss of power 9 months ago and the car being off the road for 5 weeks.

Have I just been unlucky?

PS the Land Rover Assistance re onward mobility was very poor. I do at least now have a RRS Autobiography as a loan vehicle. Current: L460 Autobiography D350 2023, Defender D240 HSE 2020, Defender 110 Adventure 2015, Defender 90 XS 2012, Lightweight Ser III 1975, Aston Martin DBS Manual 2008
Previous: L405 SVAutobiography Dynamic 2018, L405 SDV8 Autobiography (2016 x 2, 2015 x1), 110 V8 1989, Discovery td5 ES Series II 2000

Have not had a turbo failure (fingers crossed) but have noticed a number of threads relating to turbo failure on the forum.
This one and Dr Dill being I think the most recent.
In an earlier life I drove HGV's for many years and we always allowed engines to idle before shut down to help cool the turbo to avoid problems.
I recently pulled off a motorway and stopped at the roundabout at the end of the slip road to give way.
The auto stop/start cut in and turned the engine off whilst I waited my turn to go.
Under normal circumstances following a high speed drive on the motorway you would pull off and there would be a degree of natural turbo cooling as the vehicle was driven at slower speeds and possibly idled in traffic before shutdown.
It occurred to me on this occasion that the turbo would have had no chance to cool before the engine was shut down.
Is it possible that under certain circumstances the auto stop/start could be a contributory factor to turbo failure on these engines?
Or have things now moved on to the degree that turbo's are no longer affected by immediate shutdown after high speed use?

The are still affected by the same issues, but in the name of fuel economy and emissions, mechanical sympathy goes out the window

Switching off after a fast run is the worse thing ever for a Turbo, it kills them. Not only does it allow the Turbo to continue spinning without any oil feed, but the extreme heat can carbonise what oil is left in it, which in the longer term blocks oil feed.

Every Turbo Diesel we have including Defenders, Range Rovers, Tractors and Excavators are always idled prior to shut down - this allows the Turbo to spin down and also cool down.
Most Turbos are spinning at 200,000 to 250,000 rpm - allowing them to spin down makes a huge difference without just switching straight off. 2021 L405 Vogue SE 4.4 V8 DIESEL ~ #17

What's the right spin down time after a hard right foot?

. Cheers, Greg
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2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

Approx 5 mins if possible. The circulating oil also acts as a coolant, drawing the heat out of the turbo, so as long as is practically possible

surely most high speed journeys end with a slower route to your house/office etc thus giving the turbo time to spin down...

Quote:

Irecently pulled off a motorway and stopped at the roundabout at the end of the slip road to give way.
The auto stop/start cut in and turned the engine off whilst I waited my turn to go.
Under normal circumstances following a high speed drive on the motorway you would pull off and there would be a degree of natural turbo cooling as the vehicle was driven at slower speeds and possibly idled in traffic before shutdown.
It occurred to me on this occasion that the turbo would have had no chance to cool before the engine was shut down.
Is it possible that under certain circumstances the auto stop/start could be a contributory factor to turbo failure on these engines?
Or have things now moved on to the degree that turbo's are no longer affected by immediate shutdown after high speed use?

understood..

I've had that argument with my wife - why I insist on leaving the engine running when filling up at a motorway services - the ones in France all seem to have the fuel at the end of the entrance slip road.

Your right Stan , unless your barreling up to your front door at maximum revs , a gentle mile or two is ample to cool the turbo (s) down. To get both turbos spinning on an RR is no easy feat anyway and with these engines motorway speeds barely has the engine ticking over let alone spooling the turbos up. I've had turbo timers on high performance stuff in the past but those had engines that woulnt pull the skin of a pudding without the turbo spooling. RRs have plenty of grunt without spooling so the turbos aren't worked extensively like tuned jap stuff.

My journey home is motorway then a few miles of country roads and by the time the gates have opened its had plenty of time to cool.

Obviously you could argue that the quality of the oil helps too. However i agree that being too cautious is always best 👍👍 2015 4.4 AB
GSXR 1000 K5
R1 1998

I was told that the introduction of intercoolers completely did away with the need to run the engine at idle before shutdown. Was I wrongly informed?

@john..i think that driving habits help as well..i always slow down to a mundane 40/50 mph before my motorway exit ...

never liked this 'stop/start' function on the newer cars .....

@ Huwrhys: All that an intercooler does is cool down the turbo compressed air, to make it more dense, before it enters the combustion chamber. It should have no beneficial affect at all on cooling the turbo’s bearings and oil.

PS: I drive the last bit before stopping gently and then let the engine idle while I close the windows, shut the sunroof, turn the radio off and then switch the motor off for just this reason.

FWIW, we have run plant, equipment and LR and RR’s with Turbo diesels for almost 40 years. All have been allowed to spool down and idle for a minimum of 30 to 60 seconds or more defending on how they have been worked. In 40 years we have never had a Turbo failure, we have had a few engine failures but nothing involving a Turbo. 2021 L405 Vogue SE 4.4 V8 DIESEL ~ #17