Turbo advice needed please (Warning Voxall content)

[I_am_Diesel]

Well Gentlemen, here follows a tale of woe.

 

On the way to visit my SWMBO last week and celebrate the dogs birthday my 51' 1.7 DTi Astravan royally noshed it's engine down a dark dark Norfolk back road. Just before the untimely demise there was a sudden vibration followed by a sensation of running on three cylinders, then two cylinders (I was desperately looking for somewhere safe to pull off the road by now) and then suddenly a whoosh, a pop and I coasted to a stop on some godforsaken track only surrounded by muntjack deer, hares, rabbits, badgers and not a lot else. The starter span like it wasn't facing any real resistance so I removed the filler cap noted the position of the cams and spun it over again, the cams didn't budge. Also the injector pipe seal in the rocker cover had blown spectacularly at No.1 cylinder spreading a coat of oil all over the master cylinder and bulkhead. To compound my misery it then started to rain. After a lonely couple of hours with only Simon Mayo for company until a very nice RAC man dollied me back home.

 

There it sat looking forlorn on the drive as I attempted to source a second hand engine. As luck would have it I managed to find one on flea bay, reasonably priced and fairly local with a claimed 30K less miles than my defunct engine. Meanwhile a Haynes manual was procured to help me on my way with the tricky bits. The new second hand engine was collected this morning so I set about the initial steps of removing the corpse engine from its oily grave. As curiosity got the better of me as to the cause of the Isuzu suicide, I removed the rocker cover to find that No.1 and No.2 injectors had worked loose as the nut holding them down was nealy off its threads, breaking the metal injector return pipe in the process and dropping the pieces into the rocker housing. Although the cam belt was still there, the pulley was on the piss and I'm guessing the camshaft  is just spinning on toothless cam belt caused by hydraulic damage from an oil and diesel mixture pouring into the cylinders.

 

Anyway, I removed the pipe from the turbo to the intercooler and a fair amount of oily liquid manifested itself onto the workshop floor. My question is, has the oil come from too much oil pressure due to the addition of the diesel and the seals blowing? ........or is this oil that has been back forced through the inlet valves as 1 & 2 cylinders filled up from the loose injectors?

 

I am really begrudged to spend any more money, the engine was £225, I'm looking at around another £140 for a clutch and cam belt kit plus about another £50 on sundries and for a £900ish Vauxhall van it's becoming financially unviable. Can some wise old sage put my mind at rest or do I scurry to evil bay and spunk my on call bonus that I have just earned on a second hand turbocharger?

 

Thank you in advance you wonderful people.

[Dave_Q]

Could be either.

 

As long as there isn't excessive play in the turbo shaft, I'd be cleaning out the intake, putting it back on and seeing how you go.

 

Has the Haynes got any specs for checking the turbo?

[I_am_Diesel]

It's at work but I will have a look.

[Pillock]

Wiggle the turbo shaft. If there's no (or not much) movement inny-outy or uppy-downy (stop me if I get too technical) it should be at least worth a try.

[New POD]

There should be a bit of free play when cold IIRC