Hello all,

I have a 57 plate TDV8 that has been costing me a bit of money recently. A couple of days ago I noticed a strange whirring sound that was never present before. I thought it was the diff or gearbox so today I put it into command mode to see which gear was making the noise. I was in 2nd gear and the revs went quite high and I suddenly heard a noise like a dump valve releasing pressure followed by a massive cloud of smoke from the exhaust.

I carried on driving for a bit to get to a layby and the car wouldn't go above 50mph. There was smoke billowing everywhere that seems to only be coming from the left side. When I stopped and smelt the smoke it smells like no smoke I've smelt before. Its like a mix of oil and sulfur and it's strong. No warnings lights came on at all.

I've had the car recovered to a garage, just wondering what to expect really, thanks for any input.

If you are lucky, which is very rare owning one of these motors when something goes wrong It could be a split intercooler pipe Worst case scenario, blown turbo as you suspect. Hope you have a rock solid warranty.

Sounds just like when mine blew the turbo. Pulled out of a junction and suddenly no performance at all. Smoke from left exhaust (later from both) and the smoke is unpleasantly smelly.

Doesn't sound good I'm afraid. As Ady says, hope your warranty is good as turbos are c.2k each...  2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

No warranty at all

The garage who has it says that the intercooler split and the air filter is full of oil. They said I need both turbos, how could they know this already?

The only way the air filter could get oil on it from a turbo failure is if the turbo blew oil back against the incoming air flow which seems unlikely as the pipes' routes are quite convoluted. Can't see how else it would get there.

Did they say intercooler or intercooler pipe has split? The latter is not uncommon but shouldn't cause the turbo to fail.

Is the vehicle with a LR dealer, a LR specialist indie or just a general garage? 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Car is with a garage that specialises in 4x4's. The weld on the intercooler itself has split. He took off the air filter in front of me which was covered in oil and some has gotten into the engine. Engine seems to idle fine.

Once he saw the oil in the engine he said 'the turbo seals have gone, you will need 2 new turbos'

Not quite sure how he came to that conclusion.

I still don't see how oil got in to the air filter, especially in quantities you're suggesting. Something doesn't add up for me. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Perhaps Disco Mikey can shed some light on this issue.

How much oil are we talking? A coating of oil, or dripping wet?
You also don't say what colour the smoke was.

First step would be check the oil level.

If it is hugely low, it is likely the have been ingested by one, or both of the turbos. This would be accompanied by clouds of white smoke...

If it was black/grey smoke, and a split intercooler has been found, then the cooler should be replaced, and the car checked, providing there is not litres and litres of oil in the remaining pipework.
An oily residue is perfectly normal, due to the crankcase breather system (CCV) drawing in oil vapour before the turbo

There is a chance that the turbo has been damaged, due to what is known as "overspeed" of the turbo, when the intercooler blew

If the turbo's had gone, the oil has a very distinct smell over being "burnt"

The last turbo I had replaced had seized solid on the shaft, due to lack of oil. The securing nut on the inlet of the turbo had come loose, and was blown back up onto the top of the air filter, along with some turbo fins. Very lucky that was

Unfortunately, remote diagnosis of a fault like this is a but difficult, without having the full story, and the car in front of you. I hope things work out for you with your warranty, and feel free to give me a call if you need any further help

Firstly, thanks for everyones input.

I don't have a warranty so I'm paying for this myself

The air filter was completely soaked with oil, there was zero oil left in the car it had all gone. I couldn't see what colour the smoke was as it was dark but I know it smelt horrible like nothing I've ever smelt before.

When the car is fixed the first thing I will be doing is taking out a warranty, I've learnt my lesson the hard way.

Sorry to hear about this. It would be useful to know what the mileage is now and what it was at each service stamp in the book and whether the services were done by an official LR dealership or a specialist.

Has nothing to do with the fact that I drive a 57 plate TDV8 of course. 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

It was always serviced on time, all with the main dealer apart from 2 at a specialist.

One specialist I spoke to recently said that the oil should be changed every 6 months not every year. Although this wouldn't have helped me as the intercooler has a big tear in it.

Just had a thought. Whilst replacing the turbos, could the garage also blank off the EGR valves? Would there be much more work involved and is there any risks involved in doing this?

Tend to agree with the more frequent oil change but as you say: if it was the intercooler letting go that started a chain of events culminating in turbo failure then wouldn't have helped. Unless of course the turbo seals went first and the pressure of oil filling the induction side split the intercooler.

Is that even possible?

The TDV8 EGRs can't be blanked as it is next generation compared with TDV6. There's been a few posts about BAS working on an emulator so you could contact them about that?

Good luck!  2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

They can be blanked by Alive Tuning, in conjunction with a software modification