ford transit turbo diesel

[avril1952]

i recentely test drove a 1999 ford transit turbo diesel motorhome with 30,000 miles. i could notice no differance from a non turbo and could only achieve around 60 mph with effort. is this normal as i am comparing it with a v.w. t4 2.5 tdi

[d0gsb0dy]

I always thought that turbos didn't kick in until you had driven for about 20 mins. Anyone else heard that?

[BillyNoMates]

Errm - NO !

Turbos work on the principle of using energy from the exhaust gases. If the engine's running there are exhaust gases and the turbo should work.

Obviosuly if there is a fault such as a bad leak in a manifold or a seized turbo it won't work.

[v64paul]

they aint a racing car but this one does sound a bit flat. have heard of some people messing with the fuel pump timing to get more mpg. who knows? my instincts always seem to be right and this is telling me somethings up, stay away.

[jake-the-peg]

You're most likely to see the effect of a turbo when starting off from a standstill. For example going onto a roundabout.

If you use the accelerator quite firmly, you'll get a slight lag and then a sudden acceleration as the turbo kicks in.

This is the so called "turbo lag" and is due to the engine's need to generate enough exaust gas to get the turbo running.

It's possible that if you're a very gentle driver this might get smoothed out and you might just not have noticed however it does sound doubtfull.

Turbochargers spin at very high rates and get very hot. Consequently they really need regular oil changes and dont appreciate having the engine switched off quickly after having been running at speed (not normally a problem if youre coming home through residential areas but stopping at motorway services letting the engine idle  for a minute or so is wise).

Under these circumstances I'd pay particular attention to the service record - check *all* the oil change dates and consider an RAC/AA inspection especially if this is a private sale

[KebabMeister]

As jake-the-peg mentions, you should feel the turbo come in, pretty much like a dull put-you-in-the-back-of-the-seat type feeling.  You may also hear it, like a whistling noise.

Turbos spin at up to 150,000 RPM so it's advisable to let the engine idle for about 30 seconds before switching the engine off.  This is because as soon as the engine is switched off the oil pump stops working.  This means the turbo could be spinning at high RPM without any oil pressure which would eventually wear the bearings out.  Even in residential areas the turbo could take awhile to stop spinning after the engine is switched off.

Anyway, the tranny you describe does sound exceptionally sluggish.

[jake-the-peg]

Guess it depends on how you drive through residential areas eh?

:c)