Replace my Turbo

I have a 2000 Jetta TDI with a manual trans, about 185,000 miles on it. I noticed a while back as I was removing the inter cooler that some oil had collected in it. After posting a rather panicked message, I was told that it isn't unusual to have a little in there with a car my age and with the kind of mileage that I have. Well over the last oil change cycle I would estimate that somewhere I have lost about a quart of oil total which seems pretty excessive to me. With that in mind I think I should get the turbo rebuilt. I have seen several compainies that advertise turbo rebuilding (G-pop in Arkansas is the one that comes to mind) and I wanted to get some thoughts on this. Also is anyone aware of a good set of insrtuctions on removing the old turbo assembly from the car? I have used several other sets I have found on here to remove and clean the intake manifold and fuel injectors but so far nothing on removing the turbo.

Thank

Remove the lower intercooler hose again and check for presence of oil, if didn't do that already. If you find that missing quart in the lower intercooler hose, recommendation is do not run the engine further- you have a failing turbo that could / will result in expensive engine damage.
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Everything I have read indicates these turbos (stock is VNT-15) are not rebuildable to any degree of reliability. Also must be very careful of low dollar vendor who may have several web "storefronts", sells inferior parts advertised as high quality- many disastrous failures of various parts including turbos documented on this web site.
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Recommendation is: Confirm status of turbo (check lower intercooler hose). If new turbo is needed, get a new unit from one of the trusted vendors on this site. Agreed it's not cheap. I got mine from IDparts.

A4 NEW replacement Garrett VNT-15 turbo and exhaust manifold (check web, currently ~ $840)
http://www.idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=388

Note when replacing turbo, it's strongly recommended to replace at least the turbo oil feed line.
Following is information for both the feed and return lines:
A4 Oil feed line ~ $70
http://www.idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=608
A4 Oil return tube ~$70
http://www.idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2335

I am not affiliated with idparts.
There are other vendors on this forum who also have solid reputations for quality.
I have done business with idparts (previously tdiparts) for years and can recommend them.

I pulled the lower hose and found several ounces of oil, definately not a quart. there is an oil residue around the lower intercooler hose and an accumulation on the surrounding parts. I am not sure where a whole quart would have gone. Obviously there is some getting into and out of the intercooler. I don't know if any of it could have made it's wah through and been burned in the combustion chamber over the last 10,000 miles or if some is burning up as a result of wear in the cylinders. The motor runs fine, seems to be plenty of power the turbo is responding well, just want to take care of something before a catastrophic failure of some kind

fireguy1980 said:

I pulled the lower hose and found several ounces of oil, definately not a quart. there is an oil residue around the lower intercooler hose and an accumulation on the surrounding parts. I am not sure where a whole quart would have gone. Obviously there is some getting into and out of the intercooler. I don't know if any of it could have made it's wah through and been burned in the combustion chamber over the last 10,000 miles or if some is burning up as a result of wear in the cylinders. The motor runs fine, seems to be plenty of power the turbo is responding well, just want to take care of something before a catastrophic failure of some kind

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Well all the oil doesn't stay in the IC. A lot/some of it gets pushed out of there into the intake and burnt. More or less depending on how aggressive you are with the go pedal and if the turbo is making proper boost.
I doubt much is getting past the rings, if sythetic oil has been used through the engine's life. When I had the head off the '03 at 167K the cylinders all had nice clean visible hone marking still intact. If the engine has been badly babied by continual low rpm operation, perhaps you could have some piston ring sticking.
I think if it were mine, I would just monitor the consumption and pay attention to the engine and drain the IC every oil change.
If you do decide to eventualy need to replace the turbo, go new. As mentioned rebuild success is spotty and not an awful lot of $ difference, really if you would have to do it more than once. I've had good service/prices from: http://metalmanparts.com/product.sc?productId=260&categoryId=52.

Thanks for your guys help. Is there an easy way to check the turbo to see if there is a bearing wearing out? (I am guessing that may be the source of the oil getting into the intercooler plumbing) Perhaps checking for play in the impeller shaft? Any ideas you can give me are appreciated.

fireguy1980 said:

Thanks for your guys help. Is there an easy way to check the turbo to see if there is a bearing wearing out? (I am guessing that may be the source of the oil getting into the intercooler plumbing) Perhaps checking for play in the impeller shaft? Any ideas you can give me are appreciated.

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"Bearing" is in the center. I believe the shaft actually "floats" on a oil swirl type suspension (labyrinth??) Different than the seals.
Yes, you can check for shaft play/wiggle.
What is the oil consumption rate you have been adding how much how often??

I am going on a 1600 mile round trip in about a week and I am due to change the oil just before I leave. I think this will give me a good oppurtunity to monitor the oil comsumption versus collecction in the intercooler during the trip. I think this will tell me what I need to know. Unfortunately with the chaos in moving and all the miles I have driven as a result I haven't been watching as closely as I should have been during the last 10,000 miles.