Chaps,

Having trawled the Wiki as well as forum posts, I am seeking a little advice.

With this year's service my Indy and I decided it was time to look again at what had been a relatively minor oil leak when I first acquired the car just over 4 years ago. A "weep" appearing at the time to come from the sump gasket.

A more in depth investigation revealed the primary turbocharger as the source. Replacement was recommended. And with that the secondary likely warranting investigation also.

For info, mileage is now 65k.

With availability of replacements proving tricky, I've starting looking around myself. I've found sourcing the primary relatively straightforward, albeit expensive. And really expensive if we're looking at genuine LR - even with site sponsor discount.

But I'm not sure that a replacement secondary turbo is available anywhere. Certainly lead time for genuine LR is potentially months.

Which brings me to refurbishment. There are plenty of firms out there offering refurbished units on an exchange basis. But how good/reliable are the outcomes ? Does anyone have any experience or recommendations that they might care to share ?

A point to note is that whilst refurbished units are offered on an exchange basis, this also applies to all of the other options I've looked at so far, including genuine LR. Which would seem to suggest that even new offerings might actually be "remanufactured" / refurbished ?

I shall be grateful for any thoughts.

Warwick 2011 L322 TDV8 A/b Orkney Grey
2008 Defender 90 XS TDCi Java Black
2002 L322 TD6 Vogue Zambezi Silver (gone but not forgotten)
And one or two bikes - Ok, maybe more than one or two....

So I know a few people who have refurbished through turbo technics with good results….. I think a good refurb may be the most economical option with parts being so crazy at the moment.

I think they are based in Northampton…. I don’t know what is involved with removal though? I hope it’s better than the discovery! They were never designed to be easily got at on the sdv6…. I hope the tdv8 is doable without body removal!

If you can get the turbo removed they offer a free collection and re delivery service…. May be worth a call to get an estimate at least?

65k miles is very low for a turbocharger fail unless it has been severely abused and had zero oil changes. Also worn turbo’s leak internally on the shaft seals and generally not externally so I’d be very tempted to get a 2nd opinion on this or if the leak is minor just live with it. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Kiss My Carbon Footprint wrote:

Chaps,

A point to note is that whilst refurbished units are offered on an exchange basis, this also applies to all of the other options I've looked at so far, including genuine LR. Which would seem to suggest that even new offerings might actually be "remanufactured" / refurbished ?

I shall be grateful for any thoughts.

Warwick

They did a turbo refurb on an old Saab many, many years ago so good to hear they are still going. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Not just a leaking gasket on the drain or the hose clamp not tight enough?

Does the secondary turbo get a frequent work-out to keep the whole inlet tract clean of residual oil?

Has the hose been removed from the bottom of the i/c to drain accumulated oil?

JayGee wrote:

65k miles is very low for a turbocharger fail unless it has been severely abused and had zero oil changes. Also worn turbo’s leak internally on the shaft seals and generally not externally so I’d be very tempted to get a 2nd opinion on this or if the leak is minor just live with it.

Not sure how bad your leak is but mine has a receipt from a service before I bought it advising that a new turbo was needed due to an oil leak. It had 30odd tousand miles on it at the time. I've put nearly 100K miles on it and it still has the same leak.
Is it something you can live with?

Thanks to S60R and AJGalaxy2012.
Turbo Technics and Midland Turbos were already on my shortlist based on online reviews.
Your endorsements being closer to home are the reassurance that I was hoping for.

My thanks also to JayGee, GraemeS and GaryRR for your thoughts. Agreed, mileage is low for a possible turbo failure. That said the problem ostensibly predates my tenure and so prior treatment of the turbos is an unknown. Additionally the oil leak does appear to have worsened over the last four years.

With regard to other possible causes you will appreciate that I've not conducted the investigative work myself. I do have faith in the garage undertaking the work. A family firm of qualified automotive engineers with whom my family have entrusted all of our vehicles for more than three decades.

I would then expect that they have undertaken the proper due diligence.
That said, I must of course take note of your recommendations and so I shall be asking further questions.

A second opinion may be tricky however as I believe that a certain amount of dismantling, necessary for the purpose of diagnosis, has already been performed.

As I say, the secondary turbo being implicated in this is not yet certain.

Cass - living with the oil leak is kind of what I've been doing to date. A "watching brief" as it were. Were it apparently stable, we'd perhaps not be having this conversation. But as I say, it does seem to be worsening. The increasing resulting oil coverage worsening also as a consequence. My point here is that were something else to happen, adding to this, then this might not be apparent in time to avoid serious damage.

And the oil staining to my driveway although not the primary motivation here, is becoming more noticeable....

I think that's all for now.
Next step - back to the garage for a chat.

Thanks again everyone for your help. Is much appreciated.

Warwick 2011 L322 TDV8 A/b Orkney Grey
2008 Defender 90 XS TDCi Java Black
2002 L322 TD6 Vogue Zambezi Silver (gone but not forgotten)
And one or two bikes - Ok, maybe more than one or two....