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Turbo Diesel issue (P0234)


WillTL

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Hi all. Not sure how active this forum is but I'm a UK Dodge Journey owner and have owned my 2010 model from new. During the last 2 years I've encountered two turbo issues. The first is a “jolt” effect that can be either under acceleration or whilst maintaining speed. The 2nd issue results in the engine warning light showing and the turbo “switching off” but turning off the engine and restarting brings the turbo back on. I have started to experience this in the last 18 months and this seems to only occur whilst in top gear under load. It cannot always be demonstrated on demand, but this happens whilst in 6th gear at higher speeds, typically whilst accelerating to keep the speed at 70mph whilst on an incline. This 2nd problem gives error P0234 (Turbocharger/Supercharger over boost). So far I have had an engine clean, a new MAF sensor, a new actuator and a new turbo hose fitted but these do not seem to have made any difference.

 

The problem I'm encountering is trying to find a diesel turbo specialist that can diagnose this. Unfortunately, Fiat took over the servicing of Dodge in the UK and they are basically useless. This is a bit of a longshot as I suspect there are very few UK members on here, but you have to get a break at some point so maybe, just maybe, there is someone on here from the UK who can point me to a good turbo specialist somewhere in Essex. 

 

Thanks for reading!

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Hi there, good to see another uk dodge driver here. I'm a motor mechanic and can probably help you out here. Everything you describe all goes together. Basically when your turbo overboosts it is putting your car into limp home mode which drastically reduces power and cuts boost. Restarting your engine is clearing the fault and the cars back out of limp mode. The first thing I would check if I was you is the turbo itself. When they wear out they can get a little loose and overboost easily. Take the big hose off the pressure side/outlet of the turbo and check to see how freely the turbo spins and if there is any play in the shaft. Also look for oil while your in there as if the seals go it causes a big mess. Check that first and come back.

 

rossco

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Thanks rossco. I have a little more information that will hopefully change things and as a mechanic, maybe you can confirm. One of the first questions the various places I have taken the car to is "is it serviced regularly" and as I ensure this is done annually, my answer is "yes of course". On Saturday after writing the above post I went back to the garage that changed the hose and asked if they knew of any turbo specialists and they said that they thought they had checked everything and again asked whether the fuel filter had been changed which I responded "yes" to. 

 

On coming home I decided to check the service schedule in the manual and made a bit of a discovery - for the first 2 years of servicing (by Dodge), rather than completing the Diesel schedule section they had been stamping the 2.4 litre petrol section. As a result of this, the people who serviced the car after continued on this schedule and as a result, the fuel filter that is supposed to be changed every 3 years has never been changed (the car is now 8 years old). In addition, the accessory belt that is supposed to be checked and replaced as necessary every 2 years has never been changed and finally the timing belt which should be changed at 60,000 miles or 5 years as you have probably guessed, has never been changed.

 

I've got the car booked in for Friday to have these 3 items replaced and I'm really hoping that the fuel filter is the culprit behind the jolting and overboost error (I'm hoping that it isn't really an overboost but when there is insufficient fuel underload due to a dirty filter the car is just making it's best guess). I have to get these things done anyway, but do you think the filter could be responsible for my problems and I have half a chance that the new one will resolve them?

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Hey, no problem I hope I can be helpful.

The fuel filter being blocked if it is can cause all sorts of strange running issues in my experience and may have something to do with the problem. They are a cheap item and usually easy to change so definitely worth a first punt. Just be sure if you do it yourself to fill the new diesel filter/housing with diesel before installation or it'll run for one min then die and not restart.

 

As for the aux belt and timing belt I don't see them causing an overboost issue. Even if the aux belt had been slipping and not turning the alternator you'd get a low voltage code and it seems you haven't. Also even if the timing belt had slipped or stretched it would run strange most or all of the time.  They are both important belts so your right to get them done ASAP as they will save you sitting at the side of the road awaiting a tow home and a potentially large bill.

 

Personally if it was me I would check the turbo first as it easy and free. Probably only requires a screw driver or small spanner/socket. 

 

If the is turbo fine then I would look at the live data. There will be freeze frames stored in the cars memory of the moment when the overboost happens and the fault code was logged. Looking at these may give away if a sensor I.e map sensor was acting up. Also running the engine whilst observing the maf map etc readings may give away a bad sensor. Those results would dictate the next move. 

 

Seen a golf 1.9 or 2.0 tdi that overboosted constantly and went into limo mode and it's turbo was shot as it was over spinning up to 22 psi boost lol. 

 

Basically when it comes to turbo boost the system relies on certain sensors and actuators to control how much boost is produced. The maf, map, air temp, engine load etc are all taken into account when metering diesel injection with forced induction. 

 

Rossco

 

 

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Oh should have added, I see what your saying about the fuel pressure maybe being low but these common rail diesels have fuel rail pressure sensors so they take fuel pressure into account. So in theory when it sees low fuel pressure I'd expect its diesel injection pulse to be minutely lengthened to compensate. To be honest looking at the fuel rail pressures on live data and the stored logs would answer this very quickly. 

 

Rossco

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Had the work done on Thursday and I'm trying not to be too optimistic but so far, no sign of the jolts. In addition, took the car for an under load run last night and accelerated from 60 to 80 up an incline and no engine management error so looking very good at the moment.

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It is supposed to be changed every 3 years but mine has never been changed. As mentioned above, the car was serviced by a Dodge dealer for the first 2 years (I've had the car since new and after the first 2 years the Dodge dealers disappeared) and they were stamping up the petrol schedule where changing the filter is not a service item!

 

The company that had the Dodge franchise still exist (but are now Mercedes only) so I'm thinking about writing to them to contribute to all of the other unnecessary work I've had done as it is there fault (due to using the wrong service schedule) that the fuel filter was missed in the services that followed.

 

I think the filter was probably clogged and blocking the fuel.

Edited by WillTL
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Hey, well I'm glad your running right again as that's the most important thing. It seems they didn't last long in the uk and I can't seem to find any dodge dealerships around here anywhere. In fact can't even get my hands on an auto box fluid filter which is a long term service item funnily enough. 

Yeah diesel filters catch all sorts including water. Seen all sorts of funny looking gunk come out them too. 

 

Rossco

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Oh and I realised after looking at this one that they don't appear to have a fuel rail pressure sensor so I guess they must follow a map that "assumes" there is a consistent constant fuel pressure so a blocked fuel filter and low pressure will mess up its fuelling etc and easily throw all sorts of codes while the ecu try's to figure what's going on. 

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The Dodge dealerships are gone, but servicing was picked up by Fiat. If you give them a call they should be able to get the part for you. Alternatively, eBay is your friend as there are a number of sellers on there where you can get new parts from (I had to get an actuator from Germany and the Turbo Hose from Poland). If you have the part number, should be easy to find on eBay. If you don't, call Fiat and they should be able to get the part number for you.

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Hey, thanks for the tip. This is the first dodge I've ever worked on so it's been interesting. Never knew fiathad picked up the slack lol, though I know them and Chrysler are one or something similar. Should help me get somewhere as I couldn't get anything here for it. Had to get the map sensor from Italy lol.

 

rossco 

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