Hello all. It has been a while, but I've had quite a bit of fun rebuilding a blown turbo on my 00 s40 1.9T. About five five weeks ago I started my car and heard a huge pop under the bonnet (I'm not English, but I've read the Haynes manual that was printed there so much that it stuck) and the engine stalled shortly after. I commenced to start the car again and on its own would fluctuate between 3 and 5.5K on the tac. This honestly scared the living crap out of me, but I couldn't just leave my car. I put her into drive and she would hover around 1.5K on the tac when it was stopped and in drive. The brakes got a pretty good workout because it was always pulling. I've been borrowing my parents jeep ever since.
If you haven never rebuilt a turbo for a small sedan like a this car and you have larger hands and arms than the Swedes, then you're going to have a tough time like I did. Even with the Haynes manual, the process is difficult because of the tight room you have to work with. I ended up taking the exhaust manifold off with the turbo because there is a oil or coolant line that runs directly behind a nut that connects the turbo and the manifold. After many maneuvers to get the assembly out of the car I started to disassemble the turbo. Rebuilding the thing is fairly simple and strait forward. There aren't any tiny components in the TD04L-12T that was on my vehicle. I ordered the rebuild kit off of eBay and it has everything you need in it (I strongly advise that you get an inch pounds torque wrench that reads below 100 because that is how I broke my turbine shaft). After many cuss words I found a full unit replacement from a local salvage yard. It only had 75K miles on it and functioned.
This leads me up to the part where I need your help. I have connected the turbo and the manifold back onto the block, connected the exhaust back up, vacuum lines and electrical line back up, and I cannot get the car to start. I have fuel pressure, I have spark, I have timing, I have air, and I have even compression. I was thinking that it may be something with the ECU, but I don't want to have to take it to the dealer to fix that. Please let me know if you have seen something similar to this, or if you know that could possible go wrong.

For those who are weary about the used turbo, I made sure that it was completely functional before I purchased it. I had oil pressure run through it along with the coolant lines and had no leaks. I can spin the turbine shaft freely with no obstructions as well. I followed the wiring diagram and the vacuum connection that I sourced from Vida.

Also I should add that After the pop I heard a vacuum leak. I took the car to a Volvo Specialist in my area and he was the one who told me that it was a blown turbo seal, but refused to work on it because of the rust, time, and frustration that it would cause him. Plus he gave me a price of $1,500 to to do the work for me and I knew I could do it cheaper.

 

Make sure the battery is fully charged. I've had a car that would crank but not start due to a weak battery. The spark color was white instead of blue.

Based on your description I'd guess you left a wiring harness unplugged somewhere. Something like the injector harness. Can you smell fuel when it cranks? Have you tried using starting fluid? (A little goes a long way, don't blow up the engine).

I bet it's something you overlooked. Not that I've ever done that......

 

Thank you hudini. I charged the battery for a day on a wall charger that I have in the garage. I hooked that back up and checked 4 times that my connections were right and were connected. I turned the key and it sputtered and acted like it wanted to turn. I turn the key back to the acc and tried again, but this time i pushed the gas pedal in. She lives!!! She runs, but she is missing sometimes. My thinking is that I when I tried to start it before, that I flooded it and gunked the plugs (they need to be replaced anyway). Also there are some copper washers for the oil line and coolant lines that I tried to reuse, but i'll have to get new washers too. Anyone know if I should have the washers on the body of the turbo, on the top, or buy two for each line and stack them?

 

Never stack washers for a fluid connection. I've found that if it leaks there is always a reason. Dirt, chips, something is keeping the washer from laying flat. They are cheap so go with new.