However, I have had the vanes jam. They coke up. And the actuator mechanism can seize if the car sits for a while. Eventually, my vanes sheared right off and went through the turbine.
Ha, interesting you should say that. That was my first thought when you, or whoever it was, brought up VNT turbos. I used to rebuild turbos and have seen the damage that happens when something is ingested, or fails in the compressor housing (which often also happens when something is ingested in the turbine housing as it knocks the turbine wheel out of balance and causes the compressor wheel to crash in to the housing).
Yes, wastegates can fail, but never seen one destroy a turbo when it did.
It's sort of like the mechanical vs. electronics argument.
People talk about electronics being more reliable, or no less likely to fail than mechanical, but it's one additional thing to fail (rarely, at least in Land Rovers, do the electronics reduce the number of mechanical components, they just change the controls of them and add more complexity).
For instance, electric windows, which was mentioned, in Discos you have one or two switches, 10-20 feet of wiring, relays, ECU's, multiple electrical connections and a motor to replace a splined shaft and handle. The actual operation of the window is basically the same inside the door.
I too have had manual windows fail, by the handle stripping off. Mole-grips were the answer.
From personal experience I can say that diagnosing and fixing an electric window issue takes a
lot longer.
So yes, for me, the proper fix for a dead electric window is to convert them to manual.
And I love the sliding windows in my Series Rovers. :victory:
