Rav4 Turbo Charger - £3000?

[TanyaRav4]

Hi all!

I bought my Toyota Rav4'03 diesel with 51,000 miles on the clock for £8,000 6 month ago from a private person, who owned it from new. I had the car inspected by an RAC engineer who said that it was in a good condition and the price was fare. I was very happy with the purchase until yesterday when it suddenly partly lost power (can not make more than 30 m/phr) and yellow engine sign appeared on the dash board. I took it to the Toyota garage today and I was told that it needs turbo charger replacement and the bill is around £3,000! They also offered to buy the car from me for £3,500 :( I am still recovering from shock and desperately need an advise - have anybody had this kind of a problem and what should I do???

Many thanks

[mrbilly]

try this place http://www.turboactive.com/sess/utn;jsessi...urbo.shopscript

[bothwell_buyer]

As far as I know, that price is well over the top.

New one's should cost around £600. But before changing it, other things should be checked to see why it went in the first place. You can also pick them up 2nd hand from write-offs, or get after-market ones...or fly to USA and buy one there and fly back for cheaper than £3000

If nothing else, heed MrBillys link and search around for Jap car specialists in your area...at £3000 you'd be looking at getting a new engine fitted!!!!!

[dawesy]

TBH i would look else where. when a turbo fails its usually accompanied by lots of smoke (and on a diesel the revs will go sky high as the engine will run on engine oil instead of diesel.

if the engine light has come on and the engine has lost power (sounds like it may just be in limp mode) then you need to get the diagnostic code from the ecu.

it could just be any one of a number of sensors that have gone down. may be worth removing the EFI fuse or disconnecting the Battery for half an hour or so and see if it clears or if it comes back.

i recon turbo can be had for about £600 and i doubt its more than 2-3 hours to fit, but like i said i doubt its that any way.

try going to another dealer/ Toyota specialist and get a second opinion.

[nig.xl]

Just a wild thought, can the RAC read fault codes ?

May be an idea to give them a call and get them to diagnose it ;)

[Uncle Bob]

Reading your post above , the dealer seemed a little to keen to buy the vehicle off you i would also get a second opinion and as suggested the a RAC would be a good place to start.

[TanyaRav4]

Thank you everyone who replied to my post. I am now looking for the second opinion.

[TanyaRav4]

Reading your post above , the dealer seemed a little to keen to buy the vehicle off you i would also get a second opinion and as suggested the a RAC would be a good place to start.

Actually RAC did give me the fault code: P1251, but I could not find this code description anywhere.

[Parts-King]

A brand new Toyota genuine turbo is £1455 inc VAT, discounts to TOC members who buy from me

Kingo

[bothwell_buyer]

A brand new Toyota genuine turbo is £1455 inc VAT, discounts to TOC members who buy from me

Kingo

Gie me 7 days notice and I'll nick one from Lindops forecourt......£800 cash!

[TanyaRav4]

A brand new Toyota genuine turbo is £1455 inc VAT, discounts to TOC members who buy from me

Kingo

Gie me 7 days notice and I'll nick one from Lindops forecourt......£800 cash!

How much is labour cost? Toyota dealer says it is 8 hour job ???

[bothwell_buyer]

A brand new Toyota genuine turbo is £1455 inc VAT, discounts to TOC members who buy from me

Kingo

Gie me 7 days notice and I'll nick one from Lindops forecourt......£800 cash!

How much is labour cost? Toyota dealer says it is 8 hour job ???

Nonsense

as dawesy says, 2-3 hours.....4 hours tops. 8 hours will allow them to take the full engine out and put it back in again! Toyota quoted me £600 just to replace the clutch, and that was more than 10 years ago!!! A specialist Jap car garage will do it quickly as they are used to them!

[Parts-King]

More like half that time,

Kingo

[TanyaRav4]

A brand new Toyota genuine turbo is £1455 inc VAT, discounts to TOC members who buy from me

Kingo

Gie me 7 days notice and I'll nick one from Lindops forecourt......£800 cash!

How much is labour cost? Toyota dealer says it is 8 hour job ???

Nonsense

as dawesy says, 2-3 hours.....4 hours tops. 8 hours will allow them to take the full engine out and put it back in again! Toyota quoted me £600 just to replace the clutch, and that was more than 10 years ago!!! A specialist Jap car garage will do it quickly as they are used to them!

How do I find another specialis garage?

[johnrizla]

A brand new Toyota genuine turbo is £1455 inc VAT, discounts to TOC members who buy from me

Kingo

Gie me 7 days notice and I'll nick one from Lindops forecourt......£800 cash!

How much is labour cost? Toyota dealer says it is 8 hour job ???

Nonsense

as dawesy says, 2-3 hours.....4 hours tops. 8 hours will allow them to take the full engine out and put it back in again! Toyota quoted me £600 just to replace the clutch, and that was more than 10 years ago!!! A specialist Jap car garage will do it quickly as they are used to them!

How do I find another specialis garage?

what dealer where u at cus i must say it sounds like a problemn with that dealer as most would not offer to buy vhecile of you at point of giving you repair bills and secondly that price is out for a dealer. Ring them and ask fro them to break it down into labour eg per hour labour rate and how many hours and then parts to and get quote as it is binding if it works out lower! which it must as this sounds like someone jsut goign it be £3000 and not even looking into it

[bothwell_buyer]

A brand new Toyota genuine turbo is £1455 inc VAT, discounts to TOC members who buy from me

Kingo

Gie me 7 days notice and I'll nick one from Lindops forecourt......£800 cash!

How much is labour cost? Toyota dealer says it is 8 hour job ???

Nonsense

as dawesy says, 2-3 hours.....4 hours tops. 8 hours will allow them to take the full engine out and put it back in again! Toyota quoted me £600 just to replace the clutch, and that was more than 10 years ago!!! A specialist Jap car garage will do it quickly as they are used to them!

How do I find another specialis garage?

If you Google specialist jap garage london turbo then quite a few come up. Me being up here in Glasgow cannae comment about these garages, but if you can phone them for prices; and ask them for the names of happy customers + how long their business has been going, then you won't go far wrong.

The Toyota dealer up here where i bought my Toyotas lost its dealership - and I like to think it was because they ere inept; fraudulent and uselessly expensive - as they were. You're too far away from Mr Parts-King as well although he can supply the Toyota part at discount if thats the route you want to go down.

[TanyaRav4]

A brand new Toyota genuine turbo is £1455 inc VAT, discounts to TOC members who buy from me

Kingo

Gie me 7 days notice and I'll nick one from Lindops forecourt......£800 cash!

How much is labour cost? Toyota dealer says it is 8 hour job ???

Nonsense

as dawesy says, 2-3 hours.....4 hours tops. 8 hours will allow them to take the full engine out and put it back in again! Toyota quoted me £600 just to replace the clutch, and that was more than 10 years ago!!! A specialist Jap car garage will do it quickly as they are used to them!

How do I find another specialis garage?

what dealer where u at cus i must say it sounds like a problemn with that dealer as most would not offer to buy vhecile of you at point of giving you repair bills and secondly that price is out for a dealer. Ring them and ask fro them to break it down into labour eg per hour labour rate and how many hours and then parts to and get quote as it is binding if it works out lower! which it must as this sounds like someone jsut goign it be £3000 and not even looking into it

My car is at Jemca in Edgware road. At first they said the price would be £3000. After I said I will look somwhere else they said they can reduce it to £2,670.

The breakdown is:

turbocharger: 1738.98

gaskets: £15

Labour: £915.32

[Uncle Bob]

They labour charge is all wrong, the Toyota dealer i use in Maidstone charges £85.00 an hour, so you say they quoted an 8 hour job....8 x £85 = £680, even if thats plus vat thats still only £809.00.

Parts-King a question for you...what's the book time for replacing the turbo ?

Last though of the day, Jemca have disappointed both me and my father ( he has a late Corolla )in the past, i for one will never use them again

A Toyota specialist thats in Rayleigh Essex is WESTFIELD MOTORS.....

http://www.westfieldmotors.co.uk/ they advertise in one of my other Toyota car club magazines, worth a phone call to price up the job.

[dawesy]

seem to remember hearing bad things about Jemca on here. plain and simple rip off prices and as said they seem a little keen to buy it off you!

have you tried resetting the ecu to see if it has righted itself?

[TanyaRav4]

seem to remember hearing bad things about Jemca on here. plain and simple rip off prices and as said they seem a little keen to buy it off you!

have you tried resetting the ecu to see if it has righted itself?

I have not tried to do anything as I have no idea how :-)

Jemca can't even say what coursed the break down. As they explained to me they attached a device to it which gave them a fault code and the recommended fix - new turbocharger. I think I could do the same job myself with no training :-)

[bothwell_buyer]

seem to remember hearing bad things about Jemca on here. plain and simple rip off prices and as said they seem a little keen to buy it off you!

have you tried resetting the ecu to see if it has righted itself?

I have not tried to do anything as I have no idea how :-)

Jemca can't even say what coursed the break down. As they explained to me they attached a device to it which gave them a fault code and the recommended fix - new turbocharger. I think I could do the same job myself with no training :-)

Thats it!!!!!

Yer hired !!!!

[TanyaRav4]

I found a company in Midlands http://www.midlandturbo.com

they said they can repair my turbocharger for £150 - £600 depending on the fault. It looks like a better option to me

[anchorman]

The fault code P1251 means turbo charger overboost condition. The chart lists several causes,

VRV (Variable rate valve)

VRV circuit problem

Turbo pressure sensor

Turbo

EGR valve

Vacuum hose

There are faults that would take them straight to the turbo like heavy smoke as dawesy said but you haven't described those symptoms. I would be looking for a good diesel engine workshop - there must be hundreds in your area. Go and talk to a good local garage that you have used before or comes recommended. You could do worse than phone around more London Toyota Centres and ask for a worst case quote for a P1251 fault code.

Beware of garages quoting too low. If kingos price is £1500 for the turbo only you might find a copy part at a grand shopping around but not for £600 fitted. However, if it is the VRV or EGR valve you might get it done for that price. I would hate you to get it shipped all the way to the midlands for them to pull it apart and then tell you its going to be £1000's.

Remember kingo is offering you a genuine guaranteed one at that price (or better). You could always get a good local garage to price you for fitting it (after they have determined that really is the fault).

Good luck.

[Parts-King]

We dont do too many turbos, it could be a number of faults as Anchorman says. Ours is a brand new unit, although it is exchange, there maybe some possibility of a factory recon unit sometime in the future as they are making them exchange, at a whopping £500 surcharge too in order to get old units in. If it does turn out to be the turbo, just be careful what you buy and what warranty do you get, important questions to ask! A number of "Exchange" companies I have dealt with in the past do as little as possible to old units, paint them up to make them shiney looking and flog them on again. Good luck. You are welcome to phone me during working hours, you have the number

Kingo

[dawesy]

if its an overboost problem then the turbo itself is very unlikely at fault.

the turbos speed, and therefore pressure is controlled by a wastegate, a flap that when opened allows exhaust gas to bypass the turbine wheel thus reducing its speed. the wastegate flap is operated by an actuator, basically a diaphragm connected to a rod that opens the gate. a spring inside the actuator keeps the gate shut when more boost is needed. the actuator is in turn controlled buy the ecu by a VSV ( vacuum switching valve) this opens and closes to control the signal to the actuator. as you can see it could be any one of these components that is at fault. it is possible that the acuator has failed but these are available separately (not from Toyota though) or even a vacuum line has come off .

i certainly wouldn't be changing the whole turbo for it

just been corrected. i forgot the turbo on the D4D is of the variable vane type. it dosnt have a wastegate, it is the vanes position in relation to the turbine wheel that controls boost. that said it is still possible for the vane assembly to stick which would cause the over boost problem

Edited January 22, 2008 by dawesy