2013 JSW TDI turbo failing...?

Joined
May 15, 2020
Location
Washington
TDI
2013 JSW
Hoping to get some insight into the appropriate response to oil found in my intercooler pipes.

I purchased a 2013 Jetta Sportwagen from a local dealer in October 2019. I love the car, it’s comfortable and great fun to drive. I placed ~10,000 miles on it over the winter and take it into my independent mechanic to do the 90k service last week. They recommend a few things over the 90k, fuel filter which was overdue and to look at the EGR / manifold as the mechanic thought the car was underpowered. Cheap enough, so I have them take a look and determine if they need to be cleaned.

I get a call the next day from the mechanic stating the manifold is fine, but the intercooler and piping has oil in it. They send a photo and state that this is usually indicative of turbo failure, which will require a drastic change in the quote (~2500$). I know the car is covered under the 4 year / 48,000 mile ‘dieselgate’ warranty, so I did some research and sure enough the turbo is a covered component. I have the independent mechanic finish the other work and deliver the car to the dealer.

I get a call this afternoon from a mechanic at the dealer, the very abbreviated gist of which is as follows:

Dealer: “I drove the car; another mechanic drove it, and the shop foreman. None of us feel that the car is underpowered”
Me: “ Ok, I can appreciate that. But I do have photos of oil in the intercooler”
Dealer: “We usually don’t replace things under warranty unless the car is throwing a code”
Me: “I would really rather not be stranded on the side of the road when the car goes into limp mode due to turbo failure (or worse, is runaway still a thing for this generation?). I am going to send you the photos this evening. Can you contact VWUSA next week to determine if we can get this fixed?”
Dealer: ”Yep, we can hold it over the weekend and see what they say next week”

That’s where I left it this afternoon. I previously took the car to the dealer right after purchasing it have them look into some 1st gear shifting issues. It hated, and occasionally still hates going into 1st. I have learned to live with it. They were “unable to replicate”.

So, I have a mechanic who is telling me my turbo is failing and a dealer who is essentially saying they won’t/can’t do anything until it has failed. The local mechanic has photos, but the dealer says it drives fine… I am leaning towards the local mechanic on this one… Given the photos below, how concerned should I be about turbo failure?



 

asgoodasdead

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2019
Location
NJ
TDI
2011 Jettta Sportwagen TDI
is there another vw dealer around you can take it to? thats the opposite of how I've heard most dealers dealing with dieselgate cars. usually they replace everything no questions asked cause vw has dealt with enough headache with these cars
 
Joined
May 15, 2020
Location
Washington
TDI
2013 JSW
thats a good point. There are certainly a few around that I can get to. this dealer has been "pushy" twice now... so i guess i should cut my losses...
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
Looks like the typical intake splooge from a tdi that doesn't get to see redline often enough. Unless it's throwing codes or running poorly I wouldn't worry too much about it.
 

asgoodasdead

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2019
Location
NJ
TDI
2011 Jettta Sportwagen TDI
i do baby it, thanks for the response!
yeah its been talked about in other threads on this board, but diesels are made to be driven hard. if you baby them you just clog up the system. especially the emissions system with soot. gotta run it hot and blow it out
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
that seems like normal oil froth in the ic tubes. mines that way and i know the turbo is good. also with the dieselgate scandle the trans shift points were remapped. if your rolling it wont shift into first untill under 8mph or so. they lug the motor. Before i got mine tuned i would drive around in sport mode and it helped. The underpowered your feeling might just be turbo lag. These will still run away. I would call VWOA and tell them the dealer refuses to check runout in the turbo because you feel it might be on its way out.

once a week or so you must acclerate WOT to clean out the ic and it helps keep the vanes clean. if you baby it, you will have problems. Eventually build up enough oil in the ic and gulp it. if your lucky it wont bend a rod. And your Turbo vanes will eventually stick. The one thing that helps reset your trans. accelerator wot, turn key on, count to 15, turn key off. do it twice. if i remembered correctly it should tell your trans to relearn. That and a clutch relearn needs to be done in the dsg cars. (every 40k miles?) its like adjusting a cable clutch on something. You can have the trans tuned by malone without having to worry about warranty being voided.
 
Joined
May 15, 2020
Location
Washington
TDI
2013 JSW
thanks DivineChaos, i am new to tdis. my wrx never had a drop of oil in the intercooler and it had 200,000 miles on it. However... i didnt exactly baby that car...

i appreciate the feedback. i think the solution here is an easy one.

i dont have the dsg, so no tune for me there. it hates physically being slid into the 1st gear slot. to the point where i naturally slide into 2nd, then 1st. this seems to work, but every once in a while we have an annoying moment at a light....
 

asgoodasdead

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2019
Location
NJ
TDI
2011 Jettta Sportwagen TDI
thanks DivineChaos, i am new to tdis. my wrx never had a drop of oil in the intercooler and it had 200,000 miles on it. However... i didnt exactly baby that car...



i appreciate the feedback. i think the solution here is an easy one.



i dont have the dsg, so no tune for me there. it hates physically being slid into the 1st gear slot. to the point where i naturally slide into 2nd, then 1st. this seems to work, but every once in a while we have an annoying moment at a light....
I forget which company it is, but one of them makes a "first gear finder" shifter upgrade for this reason
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
ah you got a manual. first thing i would do is bleed the clutch. if it has been slowly getting worse... these also have egr which crud up the intake. you only have to worry if you see a pool of oil in the ic. The white foamy stuff in yours is totally normal. you can add a catch can. you can tune the ecu and always flash it to stock if you bring it in. a stage 2 is 600usd and the tuner is 200. it totally changes the car.
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
And tuning it will up the boost which will help keep the intake more clear. when you get on the hwy floor it and shift at 3500. Everyone that has these long term will say the same thing. push them every month. or if you can pull a trailer. i pulled my dads ice house around the block. bit overloaded but i could sure hear the turbo spool. A diesel is built to be loaded.
 

akjdouglass

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2013
Location
Jefferson City, Missouri
TDI
2012 Jetta w/premium (sold to VW); 2014 Jetta Value Edition; 2015 Jetta SEL; 2003 Jetta GL
Either the "mechanic" (I'm not one) doesn't know TDI's or he's trying to take you to the cleaners. That oily sludge looks just like the goop, along with a couple tablespoons of water, that drains out of my intercooler every time I drop the lower hose. (and I do drive mine hard on a regular basis)
Look up threads that discuss the intercooler icing issues and you'll find pics there just like the ones you posted.
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
You can also drill a small hole in the plastic ic coupler and it will blow much of the spooge out of that hole.
 
Joined
May 15, 2020
Location
Washington
TDI
2013 JSW
i am for sure getting a new mechanic for the tdi. the dealer is too hard to work with, and i no longer trust the group i have been using. live and learn!

thanks for the shifter device recommendation, found it here: https://www.dieselgeek.com/products/super-pin-for-mk6-vw-and-audi-seat-and-skoda

i will definitely run it out a little harder, still on the fence about a tune. I was going to wait until the warranty let out, but now i am thinking about it...

thanks again for the responses. i really appreciate the feedback, its a huge help to get third party (informed) perspective. this is a great forum, thank you.
 
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