2.0tdi, whistling/siren noise when revving

matt_hilluk

facebook.com/m9tbh
Joined
May 19, 2011
Messages
230
Reaction score
18
Points
18
Location
Solihull, United Kingdom
today i noticed that when driving slow, or stood still and revving the engine it sounds like a police siren/whistle

it definetly didnt do it before today so must be an issue

turbo gone? boost leak?

any ideas?
 
Boost leak is your best and cheapest though you normally get black smoke if a pipe blows off, or the turbo is on it's last legs. Expensive!
What year is your car and how many miles??
 
I have the same problem, and went to a guy who does tuning on VAG. He told me it was normal.
I was willing to buy a new turbo, but he didn't want to sell me one! :p
 
Sounds like your turbo is going/gone.

Best thing you can do is go to audi and ask if you can have a mechanic have a quick look at it. I had to wait 30 minutes for the mechanic but it was worth it as he came out for 2 mins and told me straight away its the turbo so i got a new one under warranty :)
 
mine has been whistling for a good 8 months and is worse in first and second when it feels like its being strangled

new turbo time for me has your gone in to limp mode at all
 
Sounds like turbo on its way out.
Try and push the car a bit, give it some beans uphill and see if it goes into limp mode and then scan with VCDS and look for overboost codes.
Might not go into limp mode though if the turbo only starting to go.
 
booked into an audi specialist under warrenty now. hopefully i have to get a new turbo, for free... as then i wont have to worry about it for a few years :)
 
There is enough examples on the web of people who have had turbos with no noise failing and turbos making siren noise for years that the noise is not a reliable indicator of imminent turbo death. As already suggested you need to use vcds to check for codes related to boost. Who is your warranty with? Audi or a third party. The small print on third party means it's highly unlikely you will get a new one from them. I see you have a remap, unless Audi mapped it I would keep quiet about that and remove it from your signature- small world these days!
I swapped a turbo for the same reason. On inspection there was no bent shafts no damaged blades, turbine shaft was on the Mark for Garretts diameter and bearings looked like new. I fitted new bearings and seals to it and had it balanced it's on eBay now- shameless plug sorry!
Check your oil level as these turbos need oil not just for lube and cooling but also for taking the slack out between the bearing outer and the bearing housing. The turbo I fitted was another one I fitted bearings and seals and had balanced it whistles a bit in a nice way.
 
A third gear run from around 1200 rpm to the redline on full throttle should see if it will throw a boost code. Unlike some of the things that get monitored the boost code can take a long time to throw under normal driving as most people don't have the throttle planted to the floor for anything longer than a couple of seconds as gear changes or obstacles make your foot lift off.
The issue is unless it's taken off and inspected other than a code it's hard to diagnose failure early on. I think some get changed ahead of time because the risk of failure is too much to think about for the garage,s reputation and the owners wallet/piece of mind. I put myself in this category as well!
 
I think this seems to be a common 'problem' on the BKD engine. and on the 170 bhp engine too.

Mine has been doing it for the last 20k miles that I've had the car. It's got no worse either. I believe places like Turbo Technics will refurb them for £350.
 
That's exactly how mine sounds and has done for a long time.
 

Similar threads

I
Replies
2
Views
935
imported_cd8
I