Turbo Damage: Causes & Repair Costs

Hi,

The car is a Mazda 6 station wagon, 2.0 CD, top trim level, manufactured in 2003, with 125,000 kilometers on the odometer, and the last oil change was performed 9,000 kilometers ago.

I just got home from work, and something happened on the way:

Left for work as usual, the car started normally and drove like always.

Then I turned on the air conditioning again after a long time and drove onto the highway. Everything was completely normal as always, accelerating to 120 km/h, and the engine performance was as expected.

"Then I drove onto the federal highway, everything was still normal. At around 80 km/h, I shifted from 5th to 4th gear to overtake, and that's when I noticed that the car accelerates in 4th gear up to about 110 km/h, and then it doesn't go any faster; it felt like I was hitting a rubber band. I continued driving normally and turned off the air conditioning again, because I thought it might be related, since I hadn't used it for a long time."

Then, after passing a town, I came to a long straight stretch where I tried to overtake again. I encountered the same problem in 4th gear: I couldn't exceed 110 km/h. As I was almost past the other car (still with my foot fully on the accelerator), there was a jolt, and suddenly the car pulled very strongly and continued accelerating.

(ERROR DESCRIPTION!)

"Then suddenly, there's a complete loss of power, and you hear a loud howling noise that changes with the engine speed. The car struggles to reach even 100 km/h, and it feels like the engine only has 50-70 horsepower. The car starts immediately and runs perfectly smoothly at idle, but the howling begins around 1800-2000 rpm."

I then called Mazda, and they had my car towed and gave me a loaner vehicle. However, I would feel better if you could tell me about similar issues and reassure me that it's probably just a minor problem. Otherwise, I'm worried about potentially having to pay around €2500 for a new turbocharger, which would be financially devastating.

"The Mazda expert, who has been working on these cars for 40 years, said he had never heard of anything like it and couldn't relate it to any specific issue. He did mention that he wouldn't drive a car like that anymore. Three acquaintances (without me having described the problem in detail) were convinced that it was a vacuum hose that had cracked, slipped off, or burst. Another person suggested that the engine might be running in a limp mode, which is why the power was so limited."

What do you professionals think about this?

Thank you in advance for your efforts.

Hi there,
With just the description alone, one can't say anything with absolute certainty.
The mechanic's statement

Quote:

that he wouldn't drive it like that anymore

makes sense; the engine needs to be examined more closely. First, have the error codes read (or have them read). It seems the mechanic had already scheduled an appointment, but postponed it to Tuesday due to Easter. Also, definitely check the hoses in the charge air system.
While I'm not familiar with the Mazda, the drop in performance generally indicates a limp mode. It could just be a burst hose, which also fits with the limp mode scenario.
Sure, here is the translation of the text from German to English:

"vg" translates to "very good" in English.
Herbert.