Just got back from helping a friend with terrible power loss.

His 5 door has 170,000 on the clock and the last few years have been hard because my friend has owned it, he's not kind to his cars.

I suspected some sort of boost leak so I lay on my belly with a torch a spotted a pipe hanging down, the one that connects to the oil trap on the bottom of the air box. Oil trap was gone so air and rain water was being sucked up pipe "B". Not only was this sending all sorts of stuff, water, dirt, bricks etc. directly into the turbo but it was also allowing air to bypass the MAF. The car was almost undriveable so I taped a poly bag over the hole in the bottom of the airbox and blocked up the pipe.

We managed to get the car home ok but I'm wondering what damage this could have done, and what I should be checking in the morning?

There also seemed to be a lot of oil coming down pipe "A" which I think is the engine breather..

i haven't got a clue but it reinforces my point about a lot of problems with cars comes from poor maintnance. Your friend may have saved a few hundred by not replacing worn out parts but may now be faced with a huge bill.

Good luck, i'll have a pint while your out in the cold trying to sort it

Possible foreign object damage to turbo compressor wheel,at that Milage is it worth spending?
For free the oil trap under air filter can be cleaned out, as can the maf and all pipe work oil breather, turbo inlet and inter cooler then the intercooler itself as this should have caught most of the large crap.
I cleaned all mine out in a plastic storage tub with hot water and some dishwasher soap/fairy liquid rinse till clean let dry before refitting.
Took a couple of hours to get all pipe work off clean and refit, longer for intercooler also as bumper off.
If pipe work broke beyond repair, get replacement from breakers and clean that instead.
Edit, just re read oil trap gone, a plastic bottle could be used temporarily or blank better with a bottle cap maybe.

When dirt hit the hot MAF with some force it's almost likely to be dead.
Make a testdrive with the MAF disconnected.

gr J

Shouldnt unduly worry about the oil trap, i didnt have one on mine for 2 years or more just bent the pipe up in front/behind rad fan and taped over the end.

Never had any problems with it like that.

Certainly drop any fault codes and maybe disconnect the maf to see if that makes any difference.
Might be worth taking the ducting off the airside of the turbo and seeing if you can see for damage and see the vains. These turbos are fairly strong i have found and will take some abuse before failing.

rattystilo said:

i haven't got a clue but it reinforces my point about a lot of problems with cars comes from poor maintnance. Your friend may have saved a few hundred by not replacing worn out parts but may now be faced with a huge bill.

Good luck, i'll have a pint while your out in the cold trying to sort it

Click to expand...

Lying on my belly under a car in the rain last night wasn't pleasant so I had not intention of doing it again today.
Fortunately no rain now but it is a little cold.

A3jeroen said:

When dirt hit the hot MAF with some force it's almost likely to be dead.
Make a testdrive with the MAF disconnected.

gr J

Click to expand...

Both pipes(A & B) are after the MAF and I think the air filter protected it from anything trying to get in through the the hole the oil catcher left in the bottom of the air filter box.

sussexa said:

Possible foreign object damage to turbo compressor wheel,at that Milage is it worth spending?
For free the oil trap under air filter can be cleaned out, as can the maf and all pipe work oil breather, turbo inlet and inter cooler then the intercooler itself as this should have caught most of the large crap.
I cleaned all mine out in a plastic storage tub with hot water and some dishwasher soap/fairy liquid rinse till clean let dry before refitting.
Took a couple of hours to get all pipe work off clean and refit, longer for intercooler also as bumper off.
If pipe work broke beyond repair, get replacement from breakers and clean that instead.
Edit, just re read oil trap gone, a plastic bottle could be used temporarily or blank better with a bottle cap maybe.

Click to expand...

Took the ducting completely off and checked the turbo, it looks fine but I'm no expert.
Water and road dirt/grit had been sucked up and forced thought the induction into the engine, I could see water marks and dirt throughout the whole induction system. The intercooler had what looked like bits of leaves and sweet wrappers stuck in it.
Cleaned everything out, blocked the oil catcher pipe and covered the hole in the air box with some heavy latex. Started the car, it sounded strange at first but after 5 - 10 minutes and a quick drive around the block the car felt ok but down on power, according to my friend.
I'm guessing any damage is internal, cylinders, pistons, valves etc. caused by dirt/grit and water.
He said the car lost power for a few miles then the engine stopped suddenly after a surge of power which confused me?