TDI 140 PD turbo questions

[heyadamhey]

Hi guys, I have a couple of questions regarding servicing/upgrading my turbo.
first off, a little background:
a few times my turbo has 'cut out' i.e. sudden loss of boost. No drama, smoke or noise - just a loss of power. when I turn off and turn back on, everything's fine.
I've noticed some oil drips on my garage floor
Mileage is 103 000km (about 64 000miles)

A mechanic mate said the loss of boost could obviously be any number of things, including a pressure sensor just after the intercooler or the turbo just wearing out and leaking oil (would that explain the oil on my garage floor?).

He suggested a recon turbo might be the solution. Thoughts?

I was thinking though: if I'm gonna have the turbo off, maybe it's worth looking at upgrading it at the same time. Ideally a bolt-on solution would be ideal, as well as something that wouldn't require too much other work like uprated intercooler etc.

I'd like to keep costs to a minimum, so is it worth looking for different/bigger turbo? if so, what are the best options?

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any thoughts and suggestions

Cheers
Adam

 

[smudge_don]

Probably the best option would be to get it reconditioned as a hybrid turbo.

I'm not sure what the availability for this service will be like over in SA, but here in the UK there are hundreds of places that can do it, and with a decent remap you can then look at 200+BHP!

 

[heyadamhey]

Thanks mate, I was kinda thinking Hybrid turbo too.
thing is, I want to buy it before-hand, to make the swap out quicker.
will look around for turbo companies here.

Can anyone suggest part numbers for a hybrid turbo? i.e. which hot side and which cold side

Can anyone confirm whether the oil leak could be coming from the turbo? If a turbo is leaking oil, will it leak 'out' or into the exhaust?

 

[NHN]

Hi guys, I have a couple of questions regarding servicing/upgrading my turbo.
first off, a little background:
a few times my turbo has 'cut out' i.e. sudden loss of boost. No drama, smoke or noise - just a loss of power. when I turn off and turn back on, everything's fine.
I've noticed some oil drips on my garage floor
Mileage is 103 000km (about 64 000miles)

A mechanic mate said the loss of boost could obviously be any number of things, including a pressure sensor just after the intercooler or the turbo just wearing out and leaking oil (would that explain the oil on my garage floor?).

He suggested a recon turbo might be the solution. Thoughts?

I was thinking though: if I'm gonna have the turbo off, maybe it's worth looking at upgrading it at the same time. Ideally a bolt-on solution would be ideal, as well as something that wouldn't require too much other work like uprated intercooler etc.

I'd like to keep costs to a minimum, so is it worth looking for different/bigger turbo? if so, what are the best options?

.

You need to do some tests tbh before condemning turbo, does it actually go into limp mode as such so you lose power but car still runs so its got say 20% of the power, are there any overboost logs from a diag test with say vagcom, any boost leak tests done, number of things to check before thinking of this mate, even the solenoid valve block or N75 valve dependent on your engine code, could be faulty, these are far cheaper checks than turbo trust me, but best thing 1st is to get a vagcom scan on the car & see if any errors are prevalent, then post on here & if there are the errors I know of then I would say turbo at 1st look, but check 1st before we advise on spending a fair chunk of money.

Hybrid turbo & keeping costs to a minimum dont go hand in hand mate, buying a new hybrid is about £1200 over here

Probably the best option would be to get it reconditioned as a hybrid turbo.

I'm not sure what the availability for this service will be like over in SA, but here in the UK there are hundreds of places that can do it, and with a decent remap you can then look at 200+BHP!

220-240 most likely even though 240 is maybe a tad ott overall with stock setup.

I wouldnt say there are hundreds of RELIABLE companies doing this, a few maybe like turbodynamics for one.

Thanks mate, I was kinda thinking Hybrid turbo too.
thing is, I want to buy it before-hand, to make the swap out quicker.
will look around for turbo companies here.

Can anyone suggest part numbers for a hybrid turbo? i.e. which hot side and which cold side

Can anyone confirm whether the oil leak could be coming from the turbo? If a turbo is leaking oil, will it leak 'out' or into the exhaust?

I know a guy that can supply a hybrid turbo & send out to you, but as I said you're looking at £1200 plus delivery & possibly import tax to SA.

It would most likely be the stock turbo but hollowed out with upgraded internals & bigger impeller wheel IIRC, Mikey would advise fully about this.

You need to lift the car & check for any signs of oil around the center core piece, where the oil feed & return connections are, this would probably advise on whats going on with oil, has the oil level dropped dramatically?

Losing oil could be from few places so check bit more.

 

[heyadamhey]

Thanks Nigel!
I'll book my car in with my mate to get vag com diagnostic report and get it up on the lift to check where the oil is coming from. They have the hand-held VAGCOM unit, so might just have to write down any fault codes.

Do you think this http://www.turboneticsinc.com/t3-t4e_turbochargers hybrid would fit? I read about a guy with a TT 1.8T using it. as far as I know, that TT also uses the KO3 as stock.
Reason I ask, is cos I found a place here that stocks them for R7600 (+- £600) which seems pretty reasonable..

Obviously I hope it's NOT the turbo! I'm just thinking about making the best of a bad situation

£1200 would be too much unfortunately. with a new house and wedding on the way, the missus is...

 

[tdi-man]

my turbo was doing that was the vains in the turbo. had it completely reconed for £300.00 trade....
is back on car now and turbo is all ok again....

TURBO TECHNICS in northampton done mine...
they can make a hybrid at of your turbo a well as long as it's not to far gone.

 

[NHN]

Thanks Nigel!
I'll book my car in with my mate to get vag com diagnostic report and get it up on the lift to check where the oil is coming from. They have the hand-held VAGCOM unit, so might just have to write down any fault codes.

No such thing as a handheld vagcom unit, but do yourself a big favour & buy vagcom for yourself mate, if interested PM me as I sell the genuine kit & can send to SA.

I lived in CT for a year with few trips upto Joey & Klerksdorp/Potch, CT was fun though, lol.

 

[heyadamhey]

oh, I presumed it was "vagcom", but they definitely used a handheld unit to check for faults when my radiator fan wouldn't turn off.
will PM you about VCDS - something I've been thinking about for a while actually

What did you go to Klerksdorp and Potch for? can't have been for the night life

anyone know about that turbonetics hybrid?

 

[NHN]

Yeah tell me about it, old school afrikaans huh, damn it was like an old texan town with tumbleweeds rolling across the streets, lol.

The missus at that time was afrikaans, but lived in CT mate, so we went up there to say hello to the family, wish didnt now as the old man pointed his gun at me, typical stupid old school attitude, he insulted her & I stood up for her, he was ******, to say the least we both left that evening

 

[devonmikeyboy]

anyone know about that turbonetics hybrid?

Turbo Active,Turbo dynamics, C R Turbos, Finturbo can all make a hybrid unit. All that is done really is the exhaust housing is milled and a larger exhaust wheel fitted, simple job. If you want a new turbo there is one on ebay at the moment with £600 buy it now price but bidding has started at £350. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110450421586&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

[heyadamhey]

Turbo Active,Turbo dynamics, C R Turbos, Finturbo can all make a hybrid unit. All that is done really is the exhaust housing is milled and a larger exhaust wheel fitted, simple job. If you want a new turbo there is one on ebay at the moment with £600 buy it now price but bidding has started at £350. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110450421586&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Thanks man, the reason I was asking about that turbonetics one in particular is because there's a supplier here in Johannesburg that stocks them.
Oh I do miss the days of living in London where eBay was my friend. Now it just taunts me with awesome stuff that will never arrive

 

[heyadamhey]

the old man pointed his gun at me, typical stupid old school attitude, he insulted her & I stood up for her, he was ******, to say the least we both left that evening

jeez mate, that's rough! Those old skool Afrikaans guys are something else. I assume he was wearing khaki

 

[heyadamhey]

So I finally got round to finding where the oil is leaking from. Seems like it's leaking from one side of the intercooler, just where the boost pipe connects. see pics:

at the bottom of the pic you can see the sump protector hanging down
from where I unbolted it. next pic is looking up from directly underneath

so... if there's oil leaking from the boost pipe, does this suggest that it's coming from the turbo? if so, would that explain the car going into "limp mode"? and uh is it likely to pop without warning?

I just got a tax rebate, so I'm looking at finding a replacement turbo (hopefully hybrid) and have a couple of questions regarding a "non oem" replacement:
do all A3 TDIs have a one-piece manifold/turbo? so if I got a T3/T4 turbo would I need a new manifold like this.
or should I specifically look for a K03/K04 ?
what about a complete K04 if I could find a recon unit? or does that just mean worse turbo lag?

 

[devonmikeyboy]

Oil in the inlet pipe could come from the turbo or from the oil breather pipe tyhat comes from the cam cover. KO3/KO4 is a petrol turbo not suited for diesel cars and the stock turbo does come with the manifold built on. Why can you not send your turbo to England or any other country to get hybrid treatment if nobody in your country does it?

 

[heyadamhey]

but I thought the PD140 uses a K03?

sending my turbo anywhere for hybrid treatment is not an option really, due to time. what I'm hoping for is to find a (relatively) bolt-on solution, then get mine recon'ed and sell it.

I found a place locally that stock K03s, K04s, manifolds etc and I've asked them about a K03/K04 hybrid

what turbo(s) would you recommend I look at then?

 

[heyadamhey]

ahhh, I see from here that the TDIs all use Garretts...

 

[Mr V]

It may be a little late now but if you're still looking for a turbo i've got a brand new Audi one for sale in the classifieds. It's on Ebay too but PM me if you want it and i'll do a cheaper deal for you. Cheers.

 

[heyadamhey]

So I finally got a VCDS cable and did a scan:

16618 - Boost Pressure Regulation: Limit Exceeded (Overboost Condition)
P0234 - 000 - - - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 2772 /min
Torque: 314.0 Nm
Speed: 95.0 km/h
Load: 67.8 %
Voltage: 13.91 V
Bin. Bits: 11000000
Absolute Pres.: 2029.8 mbar
Absolute Pres.: 2590.8 mbar

I am planning on having the turbo reconned and hybrid'ed which hopefully will solve it, but does anyone have any thought on why there would be overboost? could the vanes 'stick' and cause too much boost?
anything not directly turbo-related that can cause over boost?

Thanks
Adam