Turbo failing

spatuality

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2010
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 1.9L Jetta BRM MKV 5MT
Looking up from under the car, on the driver side of the turbo where the air intake connects, the turbo is covered completely in oil, and there's oil all down the back of the engine, across the back of the oil pan, and a little bit collected on the plastic under belly air tray.

Oil lightly covered the windshield a couple weeks ago, and it seems to keep coming back. It was odd but didn't consider it could be serious, until seeing the back of the block while changing the oil last week.

I haven't seen any additional smoke out the back, so I don't think oil is going inside the intake yet, just all along the outside.

Would this be a sign I caught the turbo oil seals leaking, and this thing is getting ready to blow?

Do these turbo's fail nicely, letting me drive it until failure and then limp home, or is it more of an impending doom and hydro-lock type thing?
 
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sptsailing

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Location
Safety Harbor, FL
TDI
2006 Jetta Manual, stock with Panzer Plate & Franko6 modified EGR cooler & CAM
When my engine looked like what you describe, it turned out to be nothing more than a loose cylinder head cover, as the bolts tend to loosen over time. There is also the possibility that the oil feed line to the turbo might loosen and create the mess you have seen.
 

spatuality

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2010
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 1.9L Jetta BRM MKV 5MT
Well that might save me the cost of a turbo and the time to replace it.

So if I torque to spec the cover and oil line bolts and they move at all, that's likely the problem?

Or should I be looking at replacing the gaskets also?
 

Wmt6820jetta

Active member
Joined
Oct 24, 2018
Location
Sw fla
TDI
2005.5 jetta
Change the vale cover gasket, mine (Brm) did the same thing as you described, the valve cover gasket was quite crispy, new gasket, problem solved
 

spatuality

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2010
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 1.9L Jetta BRM MKV 5MT
Okay thanks. I'll try tightening the valve cover bolts at 7ft/lbs / 84in/lbs first, and see if that works. Then replace the gasket if its still leaking. Hopefully there's no turbo destruction in the process.

Would looking inside the turbo air inlet for oil provide some more clues about any oil leakage issues from the turbo? Is any amount of oil in there bad?
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
If the turbo is leaking internally, oil would collect in the lower charge air pipe. Remove the lower charge air pipe and you should only get about 3 tablespoons of oil. If there is a say 2 cups of oil there, most likely the turbo bearing is leaking.

From the description it does sound more likely that the VC is what's leaking. A bad turbo bearing would not leak oil in the engine compartment.
 
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spatuality

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2010
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 1.9L Jetta BRM MKV 5MT
Every valve cover bolt was loose. So that's fixed now.

Also checked the lower passenger side intercooler rubber pipe. Not a drop of oil in there. Just a barely mentionable dusting of soot. Just a note for anyone else pulling the rubber pipe, make sure to pull the metal locking tabs up all the way, like two clicks, for the hose to be released. The hose pops right out when the metal tab is pulled properly.

Now to see if it leaks in service for the next few weeks.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
Every valve cover bolt was loose. So that's fixed now.
Also checked the lower passenger side intercooler rubber pipe. Not a drop of oil in there. Just a barely mentionable dusting of soot. Just a note for anyone else pulling the rubber pipe, make sure to pull the metal locking tabs up all the way, like two clicks, for the hose to be released. The hose pops right out when the metal tab is pulled properly.
Now to see if it leaks in service for the next few weeks.
The light dusting of soot is the butterfly valve shaft on the EGR cooler leaking exhaust. At some point it will leak enough to cause drivability issues. It's a very common problem on BRM's.

I replaced the EGR cooler at 185K miles because the hiss was getting annoying with one of Franko6's repaired coolers. No more leak and the repair does not set set a CEL fault code.

See posts 45, 46,48, and 51.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=338526&highlight=cooler
 
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