burning lots of engine oil and clouds of smoke.....

[KeirL]

Thanks Arctic
And presumably, if I can swill out the intercooler with petrol to clean it, could I also suspend the intercooler vertically (with the hose openings at the top), fill with petrol and monitor for leaks by looking for drips - as I suspect it may be leaking due to physical damage at the opposite end to the hoses.

[RogerHeinz57]

Its very possible that the plastic end of the intercooler has been compromised in it's ability to make a good seal/join to the core, this can be associated also with the fuel burning heater wiring rubbing against the fins of the core, and eventually that area will leak.
So even if you managed to clean out the intercooler with something like brake cleaner, it is unlikely to fix the leak, also the intercooler is moderately unrepairable.
For me, I would make a start by ordering up PCV filter and air filter to fit and re-check the oil burning / running issue, may also be worth disconnecting the maf sensor at the same time as these can suddenly fail with no plausible reason which will affect performance in terms of fuelling.
There is a likelyhood it will still smoke for a time after changing the PCV filter, but remember that much of what we see in terms of smoke, is likely to be soot lining the exhaust system,m so allow a time for the soot to be blown through befor drawing any real conclusions.

[KeirL]

Thanks all
I'm beginning to think some dark thoughts.... and perhaps call time on the old lady. She's done 200K and been a real trooper for the time I've had her. Just checking around the turbo area and there is a lot of oil covering the turbo and local hoses.... Does this indicate that the turbo has had a catastrophic failure or could I expect such an impact from a blocked PCV filter. With serious leaks around the turbo and the intercooler and the shear amount of oil loss it suffers over such a short distance of travel then I feel I'm likely to be for ongoing issues which I could do without.
I'm a little torn as a replacement turbo (I'd need to chance an ebay job) could be as little as £50 - perhaps this?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROVER-75-...6/223707180097
And a replacement intercooler for £60 again https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174079339314 ??

So, for a little over £100 and a weekends work I could be back in business

I tough choice, perhaps, as I could do all that and still be in a bad place - I really don't have the money to take this to a garage but do hopefully have the skills and tools to do this myself (I can read the manual anyway) - just lack a bit of experience with this kind of work.

thanks again for all the help

[T-Cut]

From what you've described, I gather things were OK before the intercooler accident and the rapid oil loss/smoke situation (almost certainly the turbo seals). If so, then isn't it worth spending £100 and a few days' work getting it back? The devil you know and all that? If (a big 'if' I reckon) there's no return to normal, get rid.


TC

[KeirL]

Thanks T-Cut
Good to get this into some kind of perspective. you're right on all accounts - things were fine prior to this episode and she'll typically sail through an MOT with minimal fuss. And she's definitely worth a £100 gamble to save her.
If I knew it would definitely sort the issue then I wouldn't have any second thoughts on spending £100. In fact, with a replacement intercooler, a replacement turbo, new filters, and the EGR, hoses and inlet manifold all cleaned of crud- - what else is there it could be......the only question is the integrity of that turbo and intercooler I need to buy - but that's the gamble I need to take I guess

I've just removed the intercooler now it has a massive leak - I was filling it with petrol to swill it out and it was pretty much coming out as fast as I could put it in. Having cleaned it up a little I can see a couple of holes in the core - looks to me that something has hit this. I don't know if this has been there for a while and so probably not the only cause of my problems.

[KeirL]

So the Turbo is now out the car - not as bad a job as I thought it might be.
I know these aren't serviceable, but is there anything I can check to confirm it's shot?

thanks

[T-Cut]

You can check the turbocharger for any slight play in the rotating spindle that holds the turbine blades. Press on the end with your finger any try to waggle it side to side. This basically checks the shaft bearings rather than the oil seals. If the bearings fail, the seals will definitely leak oil into the exhaust flow. The blue smoke is caused by oil mixing with hot (1000C+) exhaust gas. The fractured intercooler is the cause of the power loss you've described, but not the massive oil consumption.

The petrol turbochargers can be brought back like new by replacing the rotating assembly (the CHRA). I've no idea whether they're available for the 75 diesel's but certainly worth checking out. Having said that, you're unlikely to get one much below £80-£100, so a good second hand turbocharger is better on your budget.

TC

[Rover 75 Tourer]

For what it's worth I had very same problem with a 54 plate cdti on 209000 miles. Turbo fine, intrecooler rings changed as matter of course,main culprit was the PCV filter totaly blocked. No smoke on way down to NEC but large amount on way back plus large amount of oil top ups to get home. As this filter is not mentioned in most if not all serviceing schedules it almost never gets changed. This is the 1st place I would go to.

[marinabrian]

It's amazing really the amount of suspect advice going on here.

The PCV filter should have been removed when the car started burning oil, the chances are there is nothing wrong with the turbocharger.

I have seen thousands of diesel 75 and ZT models, and only one with a failed turbo.

As a rule of thumb, blue smoke is oil burning, black smoke is the product of incomplete combustion of the fuel injected into the engine, by a reduction of the air charge.

Having a defective air intake system will not result in oil being consumed, a blocked crankcase breather forcing oil into the intake system will

A really easy check is to slowly release the oil filler cap with the engine idling, if the PCV is defective there will be an audible hiss heard.

Brian

[KeirL]

Thanks Brian
That sounds very encouraging - I'd love for my turbo to be fine.
So I pulled a few things from the car today as it was a nice day and I wasn't working - The PCV filter looked in a bad way and afaik has probably not been changed before (not 100% sure). There was a lot of oily tar stuff in the EGR and inlet manifold - which I assume means that oil must be getting past the turbo oil seals??? is that correct?
However, I have often checked and cleaned the EGR and it's always this way - it didn't seem much worse today than the last time I checked it.
When you say "a blocked crankcase breather forcing oil into the intake system will" is that by forcing the oil past the turbo oil seals or is it some other route into the intake system. If it's by pushing past the oil seals, then won't this damage\weaken the seals in the turbo or can they still perform normally once the crankcase breathing issue has been resolved?

I removed the intercooler today which I then found had a hole in it (at the opposite end to the elbow pipe) and oil was leaking from this - so the intercooler definitely needs replacing and I will fit Viton seals whilst doing this, but there was also a lot of oil at the back of the engine - around the turbo itself - is this also expected when the breather is blocked?
I also removed the turbo today - actually only about 30mins work - as I had already done most of the pre-requisite work in taking out the PCV etc. So there's no hardship in checking the bearings as T-Cut has suggested, cleaning up all the oil around the back of the block and re-installing it for testing once I've got a replacement intercooler.

I don't recall hearing a hiss when opening the oil cap - but then I wasn't listening for one and not yet in a position to test for that now.

Thanks again for your input and happy to follow any further advice or thoughts that you (or anyone else) may have

Keir