Restricted performance Turbocharger/supercharger issue

[hert]

Hi,

So, I had my car serviced and Moted two days ago at Jag service centre without any issues and today, while driving on motorway it came up with the red restricted performance warning. Was showing decreased acceleration. I took it to Jag centre and they ran diagnostics and informed that Turbocharger needs replacement. Error codes are- P0046, P0047 P2263 

Quoted around £2.5K (ouch!). 

Not an expert, so googled about turbocharger and how long should this last. Some links indicate it could be 100-150K mileage. Jag centre says it's mechanical failure and can't do anything.

It's 6 yrs old with a mileage of <25K. Regularly serviced and have no warranty any longer as did not opt for their expensive extended warranty.

Please could experts/gurus share your comments on what minimum mileage should be expected on turbocharger. Do you think the mechanical failure reason from Jag centre should be acceptable or is there anything that I can do to push back on that. 

Any advice will be highly appreciated!

[Aubrey]

Hi Hert,

I would contact Rac / AAi f your a member and get their legal opinion.

 I think personally it should have lasted longer I read 150k.

Sorry can't be more help.

Julie 

 

 

[PaulT]

They can be rebuilt at far less than £2.5k

[Big John]

Hi

That mileage is very low for a turbo failure. I assume you have checked MOT history and are happy that mileage and service history are genuine...

I would be going to a trusted garage for a diagnostic or even a Jag main dealer who will probably charge around £100 but at least you will be sure it needs doing if you have a second opinion with the same diagnosis.

I would have expected a "mechanical failure" of a turbo to be a little more theatrical than a restricted performace light! At least a bit of a bang and some smoke in the exhaust.

Please let us know how you get on.

Good luck

John

[hert]

Thanks a lot for your replies. 

The diagnostics were run by Jag authorized dealer and quote is from them. So, I guess, I probably need to take it to a trusted garage for second opinion.

There was no big sound or smoke or other issue when "restricted performance" warning came up. MOT history, service history and mileage are reliable as car was bought from and serviced by same Jag authorized dealer. 

The main thing that concerns me is that Jag dealer said it's 6yr old and mechanical failure can happen anytime rather than explaining why it failed at <25K milesage. They obviously denied that it's linked to service done by them just a day ago.  

Does anyone know if ANY car manufacturer mentions lifespan of turbocharger in terms of mileage coverage, somewhere in their brochure/warranty document etc.

If someone knows about it and can kindly share any link, I would be highly grateful for that. I did look at jaguar warranty document and some other places which does mention that turbocharger is covered under their extended warranty but nowhere it is stated that these would lasts for X mileage which does not help unless you pay for warranty each year. 

[Big John]

Hi

Don't think any maker will put in writing how long a part is expected to last but that is a very short life in a main dealer serviced car. These guys are from sussex and seem to have good reviews https://www.arunltd.com/

I would still want some more detail from the diagnostic such as the textual explanation for each of the codes and an explanation of what "bit" has failed to need an entire replacement unit. I would also be chasing Jaguar for a contribution at that mileage and age in a main dealer serviced car. Out of interest did they change the air filter?... something dropped down the air inlet perhaps.....

I think I must be one of the few satisfied with my warranty (warranty 4 life) from Motorparks which do have several Jaguar dealers in the group. Upto 10 years or 100k it pretty well covers everything and after that still covers big stuff like turbos.

Good luck

John

[Jon Hyde]

Another vote for Arun from me!

[hert]

Thanks Big John.

I will certainly look at Arunltd

I don't have much details on the code as yet though I definitely plan to ask them the all the reasons that they are saying, led to this failure. 

Thanks for the note about contacting Jaguar, I'll contact them as well. I can imagine that it's not going to be easy and hope, it would be worth at the end.

 

 

 

[Big John]

Don't forget the air filter. If it was a main service the air filter should have been changed at which point something could have been dropped into the air intake. Anything solid could easily damage a turbo... Perhaps require they give you the damaged turbo as condition of repair which would allow you to have it examined for the cause of damage.

Good luck

John

[Bigvic]

There’s a boost control valve that fails on the turbo

this can be replaced fairly easily for about a tenth of the price if you take it to an independent jag man

[hert]

It was interim service and air filter was not changed.

I'll ask also them about boost control valve while inquiring about actual causes.

Really appreciate receiving all these replies.  

[Bigvic]

I think this valve I mentioned is actually called an actuator - too many weird and wonderful names for an old git like me…

[hert]

An update- 

The Jag dealer said that they contacted the manufacturer - Jaguar on my behalf and Jaguar is offering 50% contribution. No further contribution from the dealer and they are asking me to pay remaining 50% which is still quite a lot based on their quote. Dealer has not provided details on turbocharger failure at this point. Currently, I've not accepted their offer and asked them to see if this can be improved.

I had also tried to contact Jaguar at my end earlier and they also indicated that turbochargers are expected to last for a good >7-8 years but their team won't confirm this in writing. They did say that Jaguar might offer contribution but would deal directly with the dealer. Advice to contact Jaguare was brilliant as it's helping me a lot while discussing this matter with the dealer (thanks Big John again!)

I'm also thinking if this should not be covered under their workmanship warranty as they did complete an interim service a day prior to this issue (and full service in just under 12months), and during service and MOT test, no such issues or advisories came up. I guess the jargon used in service contract is bit technical for me to draw any conclusion. If it was simple purchase of an item, I could understand it better...Thanks in advance if anyone got any suggestions on this point

[Coolcity]

Interesting. I'm here after searching for "Restricted performance" as I have the same warning and reduced performance, but mine is intermittent so I'll open a separate thread. 

Personally I wouldn't accept a failed turbo verdict unless they can provide any specific information. For me, main dealers are now nothing more than fitters, they look at a list of fault codes and are told to fit a new part according to what comes up. I had the same thing when I had a BMW, it was overheating and the main dealer told be it needed a new radiator. Having swapped that, with the fault still remaining it turned out to be nothing more than a stuck thermostat. I tried for weeks to get a refund but they insisted the stat had failed after they had changed the rad. 

Regarding parts failure though, any part can fail at any time, it's an unfortunate fact of life but that's why we have warranties. The problem for the manufacturer/dealer is that there's no way to know how the car is generally treated for the most part, so you're never going to get them to give you a specific lifespan for any part. Of course you would tell them it's been treated with care, but then so would someone who had hammered it. 

[hert]

@coolcity - I very well understand that mechanical parts can fail at any time. However, as a reasonable person, I do believe there's something called "durability". In general, these should not fail and if any manufacturer uses this as an excuse then I would argue that they include it as- "regular maintenance" of such parts which isn't the case as per Jaguar's maintenance schedule. So, if Jaguar doesn't recommend turbocharger being inspected until 100,000 mileage of a good 8-9 years time, it clearly indicates that they believe it would not fail prior to that. 

Well, in my case, dealer does have full history of the car since last 6 years and a very low mileage is a great pointer. 

I do agree with you that the fault codes and a generic reason of mechanical failure is nothing but to cut the corners by manfacturer and simply pass on repair bill to customer. 

I hope, your intermittent warning sign is not creating too much trouble for you at the moment..Good luck with that! 

 

 

 

[Coolcity]

It isn't, it's only when I accelerate hard but I still need to know what it is and sort it before it turns into something worse. 

I'm no expert but in your case I would agree with what Big John said, it certainly doesn't sound as though the turbo had gone completely (you'd know if it had, I would have thought) and it sounds more like a minor part failure to me. 

I understand your point, hence the reason you were offered the 50% deal. The problem manufacturers have is if they cover one part after a relatively short period of time they would, in theory, be expected to do the same with every part for every customer. Ultimately, everything we buy would be much more expensive as a result to cover these failures. I don't think there's any right answer that fits all scenarios.