T25 lost its 'oomph' on motorways. 1.6TD

[dinovan89]

Hi. So I know lots of people will say 'a 1.6 TD!? what oomph?' but I swear mine had more than this until recently!

I have an 89 T25/T3 1.6 turbo diesel. RECONDITIONED ENGINE AND TURBO fitted just over a year ago. A couple of months ago I thought I noticed it wasn't as good on hills at speed any more. Not that it's ever been great, but now when I'm on the motoroway at 100km per hour or a bit more and I get to the slightest hill it starts slowing down - I have to drop to 4th and it still really struggles, I end up doing less than 50mph at the slightest provocation. I also think that say at 50mph/80kph when i drop from 5th to 4th it doesn't give as much as it used to even on the flat. On the flat I struggle to get over 110kph - it ised to get to 120kph easily. Just seems gutless. However, at slower speeds it all seems as good as ever, even on steep hills.

2 other points - relevant/real/connected? 1. At night when there is someone behind me with headlights on I can see white smoke when I put the engine under load. I never noticed this on my old engine, but this engine has always done that. 2. It runs a bit hot - slightly over half on the gauge on the motorway, and this then rises on hills - is this normal? this enmgine has always done this. (my old engine the thermostat had gone, so it always ran very cold except on motorway hills, so I dont have a good comparison)

ALL THOUGHTS VERY GRATEFULLY RECEIVED! THANK YOU. Dino

[ELVIS]

Usual stuff , is air filter and fuel filter in good fettle?
Pipe connected to LDA ok?
Turbo pipes all good? No air leaks? Pipes not de laminating?

Is the smoke definitely white or could it be blue? White is usually unburnt diesel from a cold engine, blue is oil ( turbo seals?)

If its at night is it possible its black (overfuelling/unburnt diesel) but just looks light in headlights?

Finally has pump been fiddled with recently/cam belt been done? Check cam/pump timing and use a dti to check pump lift.

[discipleofsketch]

It sounds like you are describing the driving characteristics of a non-turbo 1.6 diesel, so I would certainly get the turbo checked out

[dinovan89]

Thanks very much guys. Much appreciated.

To answer your questions:
Yes all in very good fettle. Fuel and air filter clean. this is one very well maintained van (love beyond reason )
LDA? is this the bit of kit that regulates how much fuel goes in? I'll look for disconnected pipes, thanks
It's a reconditioned Turbo fitted a year ago, so I'm assuming pipes etc all good (delaminating hadn;t occured to me). But i guess the fitting of it could have come a bit awry and so there's air leaking.

as for the smoke colour - well it's hard to say. It looks white in the mirrors at night with another cars headlghts on it. But i guess could be any colour. In daylight I cant see it at all. Does anyone think this is normal?

the cam belt was done a couple of years ago, and no fiddling with pump recently. but thats a great tip, thank you.

and finally, yes does feel a bit like the turbo isnt working. But... i can hear it whistling at low speeds, and the temp gauge goes up under strain, so seems like its kicking in. and at low speeds on hills it seems fine, where I'd have thought if the turbo wasn't working it would be much more obvious.

so... from what you guys have said it sounds like it's highly likely a turbo efficiency problem of some kind.

thanks again for your help.
Dino

[ELVIS]

Get a boost guage on it and see what its doing under load maybe? Duff wastegate , also check plastic valve on inlet manifold isn't cracked/knackered /not seated properly?

If its at night only you can see it due to headlights behind and not too thick/heavy I wouldn't worry massively. Most IDIs I have ever driven, even when serviced on on and set up 101% , all appeared to do it.

[tensilekid]

Hi I had this problem and it was the "LDA" the tip is to pull of the pipe off the stub pipe , pull the lda plunger to full deflection and block the metal stub pipe with your thumb . The plunger should not move until pressure is released if it moves before this the lda is leaking so not enough fuel will be given when turbo boost is high.
Oh this is done with engine not running!!!

[Smcknighty]

Have you put on any weight over Christmas? Every pound counts with these engines..

I'm just jealous as mine is the 1.6 na..

[chrisbeck]

Agree with checking the little vacume pipe from the inlet manifold, mines come off or split more than once and it does exactly what you are describing
Chris

[Sagemagoo]

Dinovan89 - did you figure it out?

[Reimotim]

Dinovan89 - did you figure it out?

So?