Isuzu Trooper Owners Club UK™

[Catrina]

Hello everyone, please be gentle with me I don't normally post on forums just like being nosy! However, I have a problem with my lovely Bighorn 3.1 - my local garage has said I need a new turbo. They said that the problem was only just starting - I get a whinning noise - very noticeable when I turn the ignition off. I haven't got any noticeable lack of power or smoke. Anyway, it is proving hard to get a proper quote from them 'about £1K' they said so I was hoping someone could recommend a good and reasonable garage in the North Worcestershire or West Midlands area?? Sorry to ramble on.... but I love my Bighorn (best car I've ever had) and I want to get her sorted out. I would be grateful for any help.

[Google]

[jonkem]

Welcome catrina,
If you are happy with the diagnosis of needing a new turbo, look for a turbo specialist. Someone like Turbo Technics in Northampton will not only supply a guaranteed recon unit they will give all the expert advice you will ever need.
Good luck
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1994 KZJ70 Cruiser (currently filling the garage and causing some head scratching)
1988 MKI 3.1td Hybrid Van (Ex Bobtail)
1991 SWB Fronty 2.8td Hybrid
2000 Astra Estate (work)
2006 VXR Astra
MK1 SR Nova

[Grandad]

whining noise on turbos is regarded as normal there is a thread under general technical at the moment if its a smooth whining noise rather than a grating noise i wouldn`t worry as you say there is no loss of power
some turbos whine from new and go on for ever
keep your money in your pocket you may not need to spend it on aturbo

[pitrat101]

Trbos often whine away - sometimes its a good inication that it working !! turbos usually give and let oil through causing a good stream of white smoke or just causing loss of power, my friend has has a trooper 3.1td for 5 years and turbo has whined away for years and no effect.

[Catrina]

Two garages have said that the turbo had 'gone' but I was there when the second garage took the hose off and he couldn't feel/see anything wrong with the turbo - he just said that the noise meant it had gone?? I think you may have just saved me £££££s - a big thank you!! I am going back to the garage with this info for another opinion. Will look out for smoke/loss of power but I can definiately live with whine - and will turn up the radio full blast!! Will keep you up-dated (if you are interested )

[gatfaz]

Keep us uo dated we always like to know how people are getting on with things as the odd bit of info might come out that could help us in the future.
did you say that it whinned after you turned the engine off? how long does the noise last?
Good luck!
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Summer is here and the kids wanna be out all night!

[Grandad]

i would keep clear of a garage that doesn`t know that turbos whine the 3.1turbo was noted for it`s whine from new i would have thought most mechanics would have heard one at sometime

keep in touch and good luck

[homeward]

Welcome to the forum!

I had a brand-new turbo fitted a few months ago... -- and couldn't live without its happy tootling!

The last one I had made hardly any noise.. -- and then died horribly over a period of a few weeks, with all the black smoke and lack of grunt that everyone else has described. I therefore feel reassured every time I put my foot down (gently, of course...) and hear singing from under the bonnet!

Good luck...!
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- $.

Currently Isuzu-less; but hoping to be back in a Bighorn soon.

[Catrina]

I can just about hear the whine as I go along - it goes up and down with the revs. It lasts about 5 seconds after I've turned the engine off, winding down to a stop.

[IanP]

[THE QUIET ONE]

do u let the revs die down before turning off the ignition ????
i used to ave a turbo diesle van and if u turned ignition off before revs dropped, it would still sound
and depending on how i drove the van the turbo noise would be heard going up and down with the revs ( well i used to travel from manchester to london 4x a day gotta beat the traffic jams)
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mk1 2.8 ex skippy
mu 3.1 xs turbo
bendy bus
SCUM RUN 2010

[Grandad]

Catrina what you describe sounds normal
after a run let it idle for a few seconds it lets the turbo slow down while the oil is still pumping then switch off

[Roscoe]

One thing Ill say about the 4JX1 engine, the turbo is absolutly silent.

I had a diesel toyota landcruiser many years ago and it had an aftermarket turbo fitted and it really howled while it was boosting but I did over 100, 000 kms in this vehicle and it never went bang.

Ive driven a lot of differant heavy trucks over the years and they all varied as to how much the noise the turbo made.

The main thing is to listen for any changes to the noise that you are used to with your vehicle.

Catrina, First of all a big Hi, The best thing you can do for your Turbo is to feed it good quality clean oil.

A turbo has small, high quality bearings in it that have to be able to spin at very high speed, (Turbos can spin as high as 80,000 RPM under full boost.)

As Grandad says, always idle it briefly until the turbo whistle settles to a constant speed then shut down.

Cheers
Roscoe

[Catrina]

The turbo hasn't always made the noise - it started a couple of weeks ago after a drive on the motorway - only doing about 60mph. I have tried letting the engine idle for a while before turning it off and it doesn't make any difference. I've spoken to my garage - he said he couldn't feel any 'play' in the turbo and it was just the noise he was concerned with, but he agrees with you that I should wait and see if things get worse before I get a new one. Thank you to everyone who has replied

[Catrina]

Forgot to say that I am getting it serviced too - will make sure I use good quality oil!