Technical Turbo wastegate actuator dibber-dobber

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Technical Turbo wastegate actuator dibber-dobber

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Gerrard (1.9 JTD) has a slight oilyness at the front of the motor.

For a long time I thought it was coming from the rocker cover gasket but I recently replaced that and cleaned the motore to get on top of it.

I also noticed a weep from the (turned out to be very slightly loose) oil filter that was dribbling Fuchs' finest 5W40 onto the work paving slabs (I parked in a different bay for a few days so someone else would get the blame).

Anyhow, after the degrease and driving around for a couple of weeks, the beast is no longer incontinent but there it still appears to have a slight leak on or around the turbo wastegate actuator dibber-dobber (looks like a fuel pressure regulator) at the front of the turbo. I can't call it a "leak" but it looks oily, whereas after I cleaned it all up it was dry.

I'm still hoping that the oil is just residual oil that has spread out during the car running.. but it looks too much to be that.... or that it could be a leak from further up the front of the engine, behind the manifold shield where I can't see... but there's no oil anywhere else except on the actuator and around it. The front of the engine looks clean otherwise.


Do actuators leak oil? The blue hose leading to the boost valve was badly oily/grimy beforehand but I cleaned it.. it's not (yet) covered in new oil and as far as I can see/feel it appears to be in good condition, so it's not a split vacuum pipe, for example.

How do I knoe if the actuator is a bit moody/terminally worn out? Apart from it's leaking oil.. :D

Are they easy to fit? It looks like one end has a hole in the actuator rod (to fit on a pin?) and the rod itself seems to be adjustable for length. How do I set the correct length?


Ralf S.
 
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Interesting the actuator itself shouldnt leak oil cause it doesnt have oil in it or i should say shouldnt have. It is driven by vacuum ir i remember correctly and regulated by vacuum valve that is on the other side of blue hose , now i have seen once in my career that the vacuum pump failed and filled the vacuum system with oil but as long as the car is driving good its not the case soo :
Inspection - buy a clear little filter and place it in system to see if you have oil in it, which i dont think is the case, inspect all turbo hoses around actuator usually turbo intake is leaking oil oin turbo and splashing all around cause of the fans in front of turbo.
To check the actuator youll need a vacuum tester its a thing with pump and gauge on it you make vacuum inside the actuator and it shouldnt go away for few seconds. Usual symptom of actuator dying is overboost or underboost errors and poor performance.
If you decide to change it its not hard to do but you have to have vacuum tester then to set the new actuator usually its -0.5 bar to fully closed for other cars .
I dont remember seeing these fail on italian cars as the turbo itself fails more often than actuator so never need to change it although have seen higher mileage cars than yours . good luck ;)
 
My car drives not too bad, so I think the actuator must be reasonably okay.

The oil mist covers the top of the actuator and there's some sludge in the recess where the rod goes. I wasn't sure if that was a leak or just where it was collecting... but from what you described (and because it's sludge, not clean oil) I think it's just collecting there. I'll get a long piece of wire with a cloth on the end of it and try to clean the area this weekend, to make it easier to see where it comes from.

I did have the thought that it might be coming out from one of the turbo hoses - at the last service I noticed oil mist all over the place.. even on the back of the radiator fan support, so it's coming out very fine but unde some pressure.

The main suspect is now the hose clip at the top of the metal air intake pipe. That hose clip was a bit shagged (technical term) and didn't tighten very well. I put a new one on there but I noticed the hose itself (seems to be silicone not plastic/rubber?) had a cut in it, from the clip. I taped it over until I can change it next time but I wonder if it's still blowing a bit. If so, the oil mist is travelling quite a way.. but I suppose it's possible.


Ralf S.
 
The hoses on jtd engine seems to be silicone while original but bevare as the silicone is poor quality and suffers from oil degradation
 
Now that I've cleared up the oil mist problem on the front of the motor (it was weeping from the corner of the sump, next to the crankshaft oil seal), I'm moving on to the next question.

Gerrard has started throwing out 0236 error (actuator boost valve signal). The one in there is down by the airbox still. It was a new Pierburg (OE manufacturer) in 2017 but it's done 90,000 miles since then, so it could well be knackered. The 0236 error comes up fairly reliably whenever I boot the car past 3,300~3,500 rpm.

I cleaned it up when I changed the clutch recently (airbox was out) but it doesn't seem to have helped.

Before I fit a new one, I did wonder whether it can be tested?

Also, the turbo actuator itself (the pepper pot doodah bolted to the turbo) looks fairly rusted and dirty (at least the body, the arm seems okay). I pulled and pushed the arm but I can't get any movement in it. Can these be tested somehow too?

I'm wondering whether the actuator is seized, say.. and the 0236 is a duff signal because the electro boost valve can't move it, so throws an unusual error.

A new Pierburg is aboot £65 whereas a boost actuator is about half that price. I could just change both of them, since the time/trouble is more aggro than the money but it'd be interesting to know if they're both/either knackered, or just which one.


Ralf S.
 
The car is throwing up an 0236 every time I go to 3500rpm, so rather than fight what the computer is telling me, I've had to prise open my wallet and buy a new Pierburg whizz-bang motor (£58) for the turbo actuator.

The existing one (c.2017) may or may not be okay; it's done about 90,000 miles despite being quite young so could be worn out/knackered even if everything else with the turbo is fine. On the other hand, the physical state of the actuator pot on the turbo makes me wonder whether the whizz-bang motor been working with a stiff and semi-seized and/or otherwise reluctant actuator, which has made it die sooner than it might have.

Since the bigger faff is removing the undertray and airbox to fit the whizz-bang rather than an additional mere 32 quids for a new actuator, I've also bought a new actuator to fit at the same time It's obviously not OE.. but it's shiny :cool: and it offers me a chance to see how they work. It'll be interesting to compare this new one with my old one, when I get round to fitting it.

Anyhow, I'm hoping the new whizz-bang and actuator might a) solve the 0236 .. MOT is in January and it won't pass if it throws an error on the day.. b) suddenly discover me some lost BHP, if the whizz-bang and/or actuator are a bit tired and c) potentially solve some of my "smoking problem" which is gradually getting worse, although more like old age/lingering death rather than a heart attack.

I'll have to get round to fitting them soon...


Ralf S.
 
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I made a bit of progress.. 😇

I removed the airbox completely, to properly get under there.

Since Gerrard has his annual brush withDr Death the MOT man in a couple of weeks, I fitted a new air filter and made sure all the hoses and clamps were tight. A bit of oil was in the intercooler pipe, but nothing too severe.. and I wiped it out.

I fitted the new actuator boost valve motor aka Pierburg 7.00607.02.0. I made sure the two hoses on it were very airtight, with a spot of gasket goo on the stems and then a new clamp on the hose that has a clamp. The connector looked okay.. not too wet/dirty or horrible. The old motor dates from 2017 and has 95,000 miles on it.

The actuator boost valve itself was moving freely when I tugged on the little stem. The bracket bolts on to the engine behind the turbo.. and the arm is held onto a shaft via a circlip, also behind the turbo. To fit a new one looks like a turbo-off job.

I did think about removing the new cup part from the new bracket and attaching it to the old bracket and old arm.. but the weather was moody/I was getting wet, the prospects of breaking some rusted fastener etc. or damaging the new actuator when trying to cram it onto the old parts while those are still on the car, and the old actuator still moving freely, made me put that off for another day, so I left the old actuator on there.

I also fitted a new fuel filter - old one has done its miles - and had a "comedy moment" when I forgot to re-attach one of the fuel lines (you need to disconnect one to get the filter out without spilling all the fuel inside it). When I went to start the car, it sprayed diesel everywhere 😲😲and I could smell it for the next three days, no matter how many showers I took. When the car did start, it was flooded a bit from too much cranking/while the pressure built up and the cloud of black smoke out the back was pretty spectacular.. 🚗💨💨

Anyway.. the test drive was positive. The red EM warning light on the dashboard went out, the car felt better to drive, like it was boosting, strangely.. and best news of all is that there is substantially less smoke out the back. I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, so I did boot it a few times, trying to replicate the worst horrors I've been seeing lately and while it smokes (pre-DPF and all) it only does it under load and only for a while. Dr Death will have the final say, obviously.. but it looks "sorted" to me..

On the other hand, the Universe had a couple of spare banana skins. I noticed a knock from the R/H front on the bigger bumps so I had a look at the suspension. Sure enough.. the wishbone arm rear bush is KIA. :whistle: Luckily, I have a pair of new arms and new bolts since I could see the arms have been looking tired for a while... but it was raining by then, so that'll be a job for next weekend / hoping it's dry.

And then last night I noticed the right-rear tyre was a bit low. When I looked at the tread, there was a nail/screw in it. Luckily I had that gasket goo handy from when I fitted the boost actuator motor, so I left the screw in there, just sealed it with some gasket goo to keep the air in a bit better.. pumped it up to 2.2 Bar and then drove it back to The Land that Time Forgot. It'll go for a repair today.



Ralf S.
 
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