2.0 Tdi Turbo gone POP!!

R

rosscotdi

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Hi all,
For the last couple of weeks my turbo has been a bit noisey best way to explain is like an owl noise... ... anyway..

Yesterday morning while changing up from 2nd to 3rd i heard a almighty pop then the most white smoke i have ever seen, like somthing out of stars in their eyes. Total loss of power, no warning lights, and then the engine cut out. I tried to restart but to get it home i was only yards away but the starter moter couldnt turn the engine??

Called the AA then off to preston Audi. Looking like a new turbo but they aint sure about what other damage it has done, i'll have to wait till Monday when they can have a look.

The car is out of warrenty and only done around 45,000 miles so Audi have already said they will pay 100% of any parts req and do a deal on labour costs which i reakon is pretty good.

Has anyone else had this probem before with a 2L tdi 140 before??
 
A lad I know who works at Awsome GTI had warned me that it can be a problem with the A3 2.0 TDI, strangely not so with the Golf MK5 GT TDI.

Mine has done 65,000 miles, I'm hoping it doesn't suffer the same fate.
 
My TDI did 91k without any major issues apart from changing the throttle body which was a piece of **** and wasn't a fortune!

Mine was 2004, so an early TDI! The car is now with my father and will probably go on for another number of miles without anything major required!

Also, my car was remapped for over 50k as well and it was serviced every 10k!
 
hope its not too bad mate! but hey look on the brighter side you wont be folking out over 1k for a new turbo! but just try to bargin the labour costs. plus if its done by audi the work will be guaranteed by audi for like 12 months or so!
 
Sounds like the problem I had 2 months ago, lower seal went, needed a new turbo and intercooler. Audi coughed up 60% of the repair cost and gave an additional year's extended warranty. Car was 3 years 9months old and out of warranty.

Rule 1. Complain (they offer 40% of the cost)
Rule 2. Keep complaining (they up the offer to 60%)
Rule 3. Be nice to the Audi person delaing with your complaint (you get a year's extended warranty)

Hope this helps
 
Mine started to whistle bit like an howl took it to Audi they gave me a a4 cab for a week and did all the repairs for free car has warranty on it.

But the did say somthing about a seal going.

As for the White smoke my brothers BMW the turbo went and you could see the smoke for miles lol it's epic when it breaks.

Unfortunatly the seal will start to go and then break normally within a week so f you hear a whistle normally at idle get it fixed asap!


F
 
i put a new turbo on mine after it popped and it still howls :S

Did you check the oil - i instantly stopped mine when the turbo popped and my oil level dropped by quarter and it went in the exhaust...
 
my turbo went at around 95,000 miles then i spent a huge amount for a new one out of warrenty and then got a lovely nice big remap(once the new turbo was worn in)and now at 109,000 the remap is great and the turbo howls like it use to, but i've been told after a remap the turbo will get louder but does this mean it the turbo will go again soon?

isnt the howling turbo noise the sound of the worn bearing in the turbo?
 
I think it will get louder as more the gasses are being pumped back into the engine and its spinning more..

Mine stil howls but its a new/reconditioned turbo tested to 23000rpm i was told...

It must be normal (or i hope it is) as my car has done it since day one...
 
all turbos whistle and whine but a change of noise may indicate trouble - usually when a turbo goes the seals and/or bearing break up, but bits dont usually break off and those that do usually get caught in the intercooler rather than enter the engine.

they do seem to either go on forever or have a very short lifespan - the vnt bits can get stuck with soot and gunge then pressure control and temperatures seem to go wrong leading to rapid seal/bearing failure- the oil feed pipe is prone to restrictions/gunge as well which probably doesnt help.

you can dump the entire oil contents out into the exhaust though so you really do need to stop once you get the power loss/white/blue smoke of a dead turbo

on slightly different note my turbodynamics stage 2 hybrid has just blown at 13 months and about 6k - TD say its down to bad mapping (no surprises there) so not covered, but they did recommend the mapper so.....never the less, im stick f**ked because i have a supplier, a different fitter and a different mapper involved - ******.
 
wonder why its always diesels i hear popping , more than petrols anyhow ,whats the reason do turbos in diesels work harder or something is the boost set higher from standard
 
Good question Johnnie,

I have noticed the same, and mine is at 80k now... dreading any turbo issues!
 
update...
The dealer has started to strip down the engine and looks like the turbo fins have broken off and damaged stuff???
Tommorrow they are stripping down the cylinderhead to look for damage which they think will be there.
A new engine has been mentioned :(

Ill keep you all updated
 
On the safe side, i hope not!

80k is nothing, mines on 73k and is remapped, id feel confident remapping a 100k car, engines these days should outlast the car.
 
yeah engines do .......but turbos dont diesel ones anyhow , maybe im wrong but quite alot of diesel a3s have had there turbo's go on here and alot are after a map.....
 
i suppose its how you treat the car and turbo by warming it up cool it down properly.....
 
rosscotdi said:
update...
The dealer has started to strip down the engine and looks like the turbo fins have broken off and damaged stuff???
Tommorrow they are stripping down the cylinderhead to look for damage which they think will be there.
A new engine has been mentioned :(

Ill keep you all updated
Click to expand...


Unlucky mate - it will be a new engine if anything has got inbetween the piston and valves. Was there any oil as i think the engine may have seized hence why it didnt turn over...

How long did you drive after the turbo popped?

the turbos on the TDIs are shytt - mine only did 60k and was always warmed up and cooled down and the previous owner cherished her as well as i do but the turbos are just crap - normally turbos are designed to last 4 engines but the one on ours are crap.

I never redlined mine and the car only went down the m62 and all the other miles were mainly motorway as well - mine had no reason to blow (apart from the remap which i think was part of the cause...)

I think there should be a recall on the turbos (as well as the cylinder heads, intake manifold flap, DMF, leaky rads and bearings!) - german build quality eh?
 
dunk said:
on slightly different note my turbodynamics stage 2 hybrid has just blown at 13 months and about 6k - TD say its down to bad mapping (no surprises there) so not covered, but they did recommend the mapper so.....never the less, im stick f**ked because i have a supplier, a different fitter and a different mapper involved - ******.
Click to expand...

****** same with mine - turbo company who refurbish turbo said its the mappers fault as the boost was too high and chippeduk said the turbo was already on its way out before the map....

You cant win either way!

i have a new/refurbed spare turbo if that helps at all...

EDIT***
 
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havent heard alot of petrol one's blowing though do diesel turbos boost more than on petrols or is it the fuel or what id like to know ....

i hope i dont get a lynching now ...lol im just stating the facts of what i hear on asn

and would like to know why , i was thinking of a diesel my self but if they just get out of warrentee and alot of them are blowing also costing daft money to get new turbo's and part's and are not a mechanic it would cost a bomb...... id start crying ...puts me off diesels ..

and i know il get the any turbo pops and any mileage its how you treat it ......etc but fact is diesels blow alot more than petrols ,specially after maps ...
 
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i wonder on petrols and diesels whats the boosts the presure's involved how long do they boost for etc ....

im very thick with engines and turbos but i bet theres quite alot of difference it may be the diesel firing through it that wears it quicker than petrol ...who know's
 
kaz219 said:
How long did you drive after the turbo popped?
Click to expand...
Only yards, but it has emptyied all the oil so you might be right it could be seized.

I know in the bad old days if a engine was stripped to the head it would never be the same due to compresion issues etc is this still case or are engine rebuilds better now??

I can smell a new engine comming:whistle2::whistle2:

Should i just ask them to drop a 3.2 V6 in instead:hubbahubba:
I should find out today the outcome, keep you all posted....
 
i think the diesel turbos are generally running higher boosts - audi diesels are running around 1.3bar and chipped/modded ones will run 1.8 or 1.9 bar, but the turbo builders insist they are rated to run that all day...

petrol ones are usually running less then 1bar, chipped maybe 1 or 1.2bar, that kind of pressure.

i think the vnt part of the diesel turbos causes failures - if the veins get gunged up (which they will with sooty diesel engines) then the boost control goes to pot and they are prone to damage from high exhaust termperatures in chipped or high output diesel cars.
 
rosscotdi said:
Only yards, but it has emptyied all the oil so you might be right it could be seized.

I know in the bad old days if a engine was stripped to the head it would never be the same due to compresion issues etc is this still case or are engine rebuilds better now??

I can smell a new engine comming:whistle2::whistle2:

Should i just ask them to drop a 3.2 V6 in instead:hubbahubba:
I should find out today the outcome, keep you all posted....
Click to expand...


My oil dropped around a quarter and i turned it off straight away and coasted to the side of the road as i had read a fair bit about them blowing and the oil issue...

They'll probs drop a new engine in.

Around £5000 for the engine, £800 for the turbo plus fitting and VAT.

Hope you get a massive good will gesture mate because your going to need it...

But at the end of it, you will have pretty much a 0 mileage engine...

i got f-all from Audi so just got it done privately..

But good luck with everything - hope it works out for the best!
 
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dunk said:
i think the diesel turbos are generally running higher boosts - audi diesels are running around 1.3bar and chipped/modded ones will run 1.8 or 1.9 bar, but the turbo builders insist they are rated to run that all day...

petrol ones are usually running less then 1bar, chipped maybe 1 or 1.2bar, that kind of pressure.

i think the vnt part of the diesel turbos causes failures - if the veins get gunged up (which they will with sooty diesel engines) then the boost control goes to pot and they are prone to damage from high exhaust termperatures in chipped or high output diesel cars.
Click to expand...

Diesels ones are defo running higherboost - i looked into a boost gauge and i found out i needed one that went up to 3 bar so between 2 and 3 bar which is a lot.

That could partially explain what happened to mine - the boost control got stuck open and it was boosting high all the time and pop.. Shaft snapped, propellers smashed, seals gone.

TBH, i really should have gone for a Hybrid and ran it on stage 1 remap (not custom) then that should have been bulletproof but i thought this turbo done 60k and even if this makes another 60k, it wont be my prob as i wont have her for that long! But it shouldnt goin the first place - hope the new CR engines dont have this prob.
 
wonder if thats why diesels have so much torque because the turbo is always spinning , when i got mine mapped for the day the difference was ridiculas , loved it ....but i wonder why audi do this ??? to sell em ..?
 
UPDATE....
After 6 tonight the good news came through or bad news, not sure yet:think:

Yeah new engine, turbo and cat convertor and other various bits.

Total cost without any goodwill, around £8,000

Since Audi uk (thank god!) are paying for the parts, Audi preston have done a well good job by only charging me £1000 for labour. Hopefully getting it back by the end of the week.

Parts on order tonight, should be in tommorrow early doors.

So new engine it is, hopefully everything will be ok from now on.

I'll keep everyone up to date
 
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rosscotdi said:
UPDATE....
After 6 tonight the good news came through or bad news, not sure yet:think:

Yeah new engine, turbo and cat convertor and other various bits.

Total cost without any goodwill, around £8,000

Since Audi uk (thank god!) are paying for the parts, Audi preston have done a well good job by only charging me £1000 for labour. Hopefully getting it back by the end of the week.

Parts on order tonight, should be in tommorrow early doors.

So new engine it is, hopefully everything will be ok from now on.

I'll keep everyone up to date
Click to expand...


£1000 is an awesome price - would have cost you around that much to put a new turbo on so a new engine is a masssiiveee bonus :D

Hope they do a good job and everything goes as planned :thumbsup:
 
Dunk, let me understand this right, you get a hybrid of TD, then they recommend the mapper, you get done, 13 months later the turbo goes & TD say oh its bad mapping, but they recommended the mapper, wtf is all that about mate, seriously, I would push them a bit more cause thats just completely wrong in many ways.
 
Stinks, I'd be fecking livid mate given they recommended them in 1st place, I would certainly go as far as needed as thats absolutely shocking service, I seriously would be very ****** at them.
 
Thats good news rosscotdi! hopefully the car will drive like new again! lol

hope u get sorted dunk!
 
Update...
Well not much really, apart from all the parts arrived this morning and a guy has been on the car today.
The job should be done by Thursday night but after testing i'll not get it till Friday after which it will be an all newish car (well engine anyway)
Roll on Friday...
 
nice one pall id be buzzing if it happened to me....... cars getting a new heart :rock:
 
rosscotdi said:
Update...
Well not much really, apart from all the parts arrived this morning and a guy has been on the car today.
The job should be done by Thursday night but after testing i'll not get it till Friday after which it will be an all newish car (well engine anyway)
Roll on Friday...
Click to expand...

Just dont forget to run it in 1st before threashing the feck out of it, lol
 
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