Can a turbocharger be fubar'd by overfilling the engine oil?
Discussion
Potentially a daft question, but my knowledge of turbocharger trickery is limited!
Basically a friend of the wife has a Renault (Scenic I think) turbo diesel. Fairly recent one.
It suffered major engine failure a few weeks back and the issue was diagnosed as the turbo. I assume it broke up or something. The car was covered by warranty and the garage proceeded to change the engine etc....a bill of some £3k or so in total.
Fast forward to today....warranty claim has been rejected as they are claiming the damage was caused by overfilling the engine with oil.
I don't know any more than this and this stage, but with my limited knowledge I'm not sure I can work out how overfilling the engine with oil could kill the turbo. Surely the turbo is lubed via hoses and pipes, which are only so big and can only carry so much oil? Sure overfilling the engine isn't going to do it any good, but kill the turbo?
The only other option I can think of is somehow they've killed the engine, which has in turn killed the turbo, possibly by throwing bits of valve into it. Or something. Like I say, I know fairly little about what's actually gone on at this stage, so it was really a check to see if anyone thinks it's worth following it up at all? I'm not sure I can apply logic to it at the moment!
Cheers
Basically a friend of the wife has a Renault (Scenic I think) turbo diesel. Fairly recent one.
It suffered major engine failure a few weeks back and the issue was diagnosed as the turbo. I assume it broke up or something. The car was covered by warranty and the garage proceeded to change the engine etc....a bill of some £3k or so in total.
Fast forward to today....warranty claim has been rejected as they are claiming the damage was caused by overfilling the engine with oil.
I don't know any more than this and this stage, but with my limited knowledge I'm not sure I can work out how overfilling the engine with oil could kill the turbo. Surely the turbo is lubed via hoses and pipes, which are only so big and can only carry so much oil? Sure overfilling the engine isn't going to do it any good, but kill the turbo?
The only other option I can think of is somehow they've killed the engine, which has in turn killed the turbo, possibly by throwing bits of valve into it. Or something. Like I say, I know fairly little about what's actually gone on at this stage, so it was really a check to see if anyone thinks it's worth following it up at all? I'm not sure I can apply logic to it at the moment!
Cheers
Nowhere near enough information.
An engine could be damaged by overfilling with oil....but you'd need to be incredibly stupid to actually put that much oil in.
So how much oil was in it ? How much of an overfill was there ?
In general the chances of a turbocharger failure destroying an engine is very slim. So exactly what was the damage ?
Usually even if it did blow itself to bits, the intercooler would catch any debris before it gets to the engine.
But really, before any comment could be made, a hell of a lot more information is needed.
An engine could be damaged by overfilling with oil....but you'd need to be incredibly stupid to actually put that much oil in.
So how much oil was in it ? How much of an overfill was there ?
In general the chances of a turbocharger failure destroying an engine is very slim. So exactly what was the damage ?
Usually even if it did blow itself to bits, the intercooler would catch any debris before it gets to the engine.
But really, before any comment could be made, a hell of a lot more information is needed.
Yes you can.
To much oil could cause high oil pressure, which could blow the seals in the turbo, which could lead to the engine running on its own oil. That will result in the engine reving up on its own and if left will just feck itself.
If that was to happen the car would be smoking quite badly.
If they insist thats the trouble you can always get a indipendant engineers report done, ask them for the engine back.
To much oil could cause high oil pressure, which could blow the seals in the turbo, which could lead to the engine running on its own oil. That will result in the engine reving up on its own and if left will just feck itself.
If that was to happen the car would be smoking quite badly.
If they insist thats the trouble you can always get a indipendant engineers report done, ask them for the engine back.
I was told the engine just conked out. I don't think it ran away (surely even the most mechanically numb would have mentioned that one!)
Anyway, like I said I don't have a lot of info. I just wanted to know whether overfilling an engine with oil can wreck a turbo, and if it can in what way(s). Running away is one which I hadn't thought of, any others?
Anyway, like I said I don't have a lot of info. I just wanted to know whether overfilling an engine with oil can wreck a turbo, and if it can in what way(s). Running away is one which I hadn't thought of, any others?
- edit: By mechanically numb I don't mean you guys who suggested it, I meant the owner of the car would have noticed a diesel doing 7000rpm with smoke spewing everywhere followed by bits of metal on the road. I just re-read what I wrote and it looked like I was being
ish!
Edited by Kitchski on Wednesday 22 May 17:38
AF1 said:
The turbo seals let go and the engine runs on its own oil until it seizes or grenades itself. I've witnessed it twice. On one the engine threw a rod and the second time the engine eventually stopped and on dropping the sump 5 of the liners had broken up. Makes a fair old mess!
That can (and usually does) happen simply through the turbo being worn out. You don't need to have overfilled the engine oil.
Mr2Mike said:
AF1 said:
The turbo seals let go and the engine runs on its own oil until it seizes or grenades itself. I've witnessed it twice. On one the engine threw a rod and the second time the engine eventually stopped and on dropping the sump 5 of the liners had broken up. Makes a fair old mess!
That can (and usually does) happen simply through the turbo being worn out. You don't need to have overfilled the engine oil.We still don't know if the oil was overfilled or not...
Luther Blisset said:
But if you have overfilled the engine oil you'll blow seals left right and centre and the same thing will happen.
We still don't know if the oil was overfilled or not...
Have you ever seen turbo seals? You won't "blow" them by overfilling with oil, though you'll certainly get a lot of oil getting through them if you overfill the engine so much that the bearing housing can't drain adequately. That would have to be quite a lot of extra oil.We still don't know if the oil was overfilled or not...
Mr2Mike said:
Have you ever seen turbo seals? You won't "blow" them by overfilling with oil, though you'll certainly get a lot of oil getting through them if you overfill the engine so much that the bearing housing can't drain adequately. That would have to be quite a lot of extra oil.
Well, I know of someone who put 5 litres in a Peugeot XUD9 which take 4.5 litres apparently, and they ended up with a hole in the block.Luther Blisset said:
Well, I know of someone who put 5 litres in a Peugeot XUD9 which take 4.5 litres apparently, and they ended up with a hole in the block.
And you can bet your life the hole in the side of the block had absolutely nothing to do with an extra 1/2 litre of oil.Unless you mean he poured 5 litres into an engine that already had 4.5 litres in it.
Need to know what the oil drain strategy is on that engine. Whether excess oil is pulled out via the oil pump like a VAG turbo, or if it has a gravity drain above sump level. Overfilling the sump to the point of blocking the gravity method would obviously cause problems with oil backing up but you'd need a good couple of litres over max I reckon?
Either way, the words "Overfilling can seriously damage X,Y,Z" on most oil caps these days should be a warning to all but the most clueless of car owners.
Either way, the words "Overfilling can seriously damage X,Y,Z" on most oil caps these days should be a warning to all but the most clueless of car owners.
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