Diagnosing Oil in Intercooler

kevrobster · May 18, 2017

Hey guys, I've got a BHW Passat blowing white smoke and has oil in the intercooler (not sure how much, yet, until I get home and can drain it), as well as low oil level in the engine. Seems like the seal has gone out of the turbo, but what would be the best way to confirm this? There doesn't seem to be any significant loss of power as I would have thought, but is it possible for the seal to fail only partially, holding some of the oil but not all?

To my knowledge this is still the original turbo at 270k miles.

If indeed the turbo has failed, what is the best route for repair? I am planning to sell this car shortly, so I'm not concerned with extreme longevity, or performance upgrades or anything, but I do want to fix it properly. I've seen posts advising against rebuilding the turbo--is "rebuilding" equivalent to purchasing one of the "cartridges" I've seen available and installing it in the existing body? Or would that be a suitable way to fix this and get it going? Trying to save as much money as I can, but I don't want to cause any major problems for the future owner either.

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Windex · May 18, 2017

The best way to diagnose would be checking how much oil is in the intercooler

Also, remove the inlet pipe from the air cleaner to the turbo and check the impeller for play. if you can grasp the impeller with two fingers, there should be no in-and-out (axial) play on the shaft, and a very small amount of side to side (radial) play.

kevrobster · May 18, 2017

Thanks. If there is axial play, I assume that indicates a bearing is gone? In that event do I need a whole new turbo? Can I purchase a cartridge such as this one:
https://www.wolfsburgtuning.com/tdi-turbocharger-cartridge-bhw.html

and install it in the existing body?

Anyone ever went with a rebuilt turbo from these guys? http://www.hansautoparts.com/RebuiltBHWTurbocharger.aspx

kevrobster said:
Hey guys, I've got a BHW Passat blowing white smoke and has oil in the intercooler (not sure how much, yet, until I get home and can drain it), as well as low oil level in the engine. Seems like the seal has gone out of the turbo, but what would be the best way to confirm this? There doesn't seem to be any significant loss of power as I would have thought, but is it possible for the seal to fail only partially, holding some of the oil but not all?

To my knowledge this is still the original turbo at 270k miles.

If indeed the turbo has failed, what is the best route for repair? I am planning to sell this car shortly, so I'm not concerned with extreme longevity, or performance upgrades or anything, but I do want to fix it properly. I've seen posts advising against rebuilding the turbo--is "rebuilding" equivalent to purchasing one of the "cartridges" I've seen available and installing it in the existing body? Or would that be a suitable way to fix this and get it going? Trying to save as much money as I can, but I don't want to cause any major problems for the future owner either.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Windex · May 18, 2017

Yes, if there is axial play, the turbo is done - it means that the thrust surfaces int eh cartridge are gone.

Never buy anything from hans/prothe. He peddles crap and has destroyed countless engines with bad timing belts and shoddy rebuilt parts.

If my turbo was on the way out on my passat, I would bite the bullet and get OEM from one of the this sites reputable suppliers, or try to find a used one from a TDIclub member or salvage yard.

vwztips · May 19, 2017

For oil blow by you can also pull the O2 sensor to see if it is wet.

Diagnosing Oil in Intercooler

kevrobster

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Windex

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kevrobster

Active member

Windex

Top Post Dawg

vwztips

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