Mercedes C320cdi - Replacement turbo on C320cdi - athos

My merc '07 c320cdi ocassionally hiccups under hard acceleration if I've been on the motorway, stop for petrol, and start again. I had my independent dealer hook it up to the diagnostics and it reported 'Check component Y77/1 (Boost pressure regulator). Positioner signals fault.'

The garage says this means it needs a new turbo, estimated at £1500+vat+labour, which seems a great deal to spend on a car at this stage of its life. Its done 72k miles and I had the oil seals around the turbo replaced a year ago because of leaks. The symptoms are only ocasionally, meaking the cost even more difficult! I'd be temped to live with it, only I suspect it'll get worse - if so, would it cause a bigger bill?

I've always been careful to idle the car after a run, hoping to extend turbo life.

I've seen a lot a sites on the internet advertising reconditional services. I'm guessing they might be a lot cheaper - www.essexturbos.com/ for example offer a 24 month warranty. Is it worth looking at reconditioned parts and what would a reasonable cost be do you know?

Mercedes C320cdi - Replacement turbo on C320cdi - Peter.N.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turbo-Turbocharger-Mercedes-E320-S320-CDI-2002-2006-150-Kw-204-Hp-/201056291283?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2ecfe389d3

Mercedes C320cdi - Replacement turbo on C320cdi - cws

Was it a specialist Mercedes independent that diagnosed the fault? Reason is I'd only be trusting a garage that had used the official Mercedes diagnostic tool - STAR - to diagnose the fault. STAR does loads more than most other diagnostic tools eg those from Snap-On. The first thing I would be investigating is the turbo actuator - pretty certain on this engine/turbo, the actuator will be electronically (as opposed to older vacuum operated) controlled. The motors for the actuators can seize up over time, leading to turbo issues. If the garage who diagnosed the fault are using STAR then the actuator can be dry-run from the diagnostic tool, to check the function.

If it is the actuator, these can be replaced (as opposed to the whole turbo) - if you do get a new actuator, they can not just be bolted-on/plugged in - they have to be calibrated to work with the turbo, in-situ (again, you'll need someone with Mercedes STAR or a turbo specialist), as the actuator has something like 200+ individual positions for boost control.

Only once I'd ruled out the actuator/had the car thoroughly checked via STAR, would I start looking at new turbos. Also be weary of remanufactured turbos that aren't supplied by an official turbo dealer ie Garrett or Borg Warner. I'm sure many have bought cheap ones from ebay and they have been fine, but I got one and it failed prematurely (and the reasons why matched the warnings given by Garrett about using non-official reman turbo's).

Turbo Dynamics in Poole are a good source of parts/info/service.

Edited by cws on 31/03/2014 at 16:09

Mercedes C320cdi - Replacement turbo on C320cdi - cws

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=120691