Big squeel, Lots of smoke, Turbo go Boom

Red_Tdi

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2003
Location
Olympia, Washington
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon Silver
Hello Fellow TDI'ers

With under 20K on the clock, it appears as though my turbo on my 2003 TDI has self destructed, leaving me stranded in the process.

I heard a big squeel followed by a horrendous cloud of smoke from the tailpipe. I immediately shut down the engine. I checked the oil and found none on the dipstick depite ensuring that the oil level was full the day before starting my journey.

At 5K miles on the odometer I noticed that the turbocharger was beginning to get progressively louder as more miles passed. I thought it was just part of the "break-in" process. It actually sounded pretty cool. I could blip the throttle and the turbo would whine and whistle like a big Peterbilt truck. In hindsight I think those cool sounds where the warning signs of impending turbo doom. A friend at work has 70K on his TDI and the turbo is for the most part inaudible.

Can anybody please tell me why a turbo would fail on a meticulously maintained and adult driven car with such low miles??

I just hope that VW warranties the replacement.


Thanks for your input.
 

Wingnut

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Location
Toronto & Whitby
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta Wagon
There are several possible scenarios, but here are two that are most likely. First, the oil leaked out from somewhere, causing oil starvation to the turbo causing it to blow. Where could the oil have gone? Perhaps you hit something on the highway and fractured the fragile oil pan? But I would have thought the low oil would have given you a warning light on the dash before it had time to cook the turbo? Did the light ever come on?

Second possibility is the seal in the turbo failed and all the oil being pumped to the turbo was blowing past the seal & getting burned up. But this would have been quite evident with huge clouds of smoke bellowing out of your tailpipe before the failure. You should have been able to see the smoke and shut down the engine before loosing too much oil.

If the engine was out of oil, I would also be concerned about needing a new engine. Depending on how long it was driven without oil. If the oil pan cracked causing the oil to leak out, you may have difficulty with warranty. It could be considered operator error, not product defect. Not impossible, but tougher than if the turbo is the culprit. That should be covered with very little problem. And given your description about the turbo making noise for a while before the failure, I would bet it is turbo related, which is good news as far as the warranty is concerned.

I wish you luck and hope you get this resolved. Keep us posted.
 

Red_Tdi

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2003
Location
Olympia, Washington
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon Silver
Thank you for the reply Wingnut. Indeed there was a huge cloud of smoke right after the turbo squeel. I had the cruise control set on 55mph (90kph) and was driving on a flat paved and level road. The dying turbo sounded like tearing sheetmetal for just a brief second. It literally sucked the pan almost completely dry before I could get the engine sut down. I guess it took a few seconds to register what was happening before I took action. Besides, I had to slow down to get off the road and onto the soft shoulder of the road. Turning off the key immediately would have locked the steering wheel and I would have wound up in the lake.

The oil pan is fine and there are no oil leaks under the engine. We added more oil the the motor and started it up. Lots of smoke and absolutely no turbo sound at all. We only ran it for a few seconds. Funny thing was, the oil light never came on during even as the turbo was sucking the pan dry. I'm going to install an oil pressure gauge at the next opportunity.
 

VelvetFoot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 17, 2001
Location
Sand Lake, NY
TDI
NB, 2000, Yellow
The concern is that oil gets into the cylinders and can't be compressed so the rods are bent. I think this can be checked with a compression test, for one.

It really went through a lot of oil in a hurry. I hope the rest of the motor is okay.
 

Drivbiwire

Zehntes Jahr der Veteran
Joined
Oct 13, 1998
Location
Boise, Idaho
TDI
2013 Passat TDI, Newmar Ventana 8.3L ISC 3945, 2016 E250 BT, 2000 Jetta TDI
[ QUOTE ]
Modifications Rocketchip 3.0 and PP502's

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you are on your own with this one. Accelerating with the rpms around 2000 or so?

Chip and injectors is asking for trouble. The VNT turbos do not take kindly to boost pressures that deviate from stock. This can be caused by combining modifications such as the ones that you have. Surge or overboost or both are death to the VNT turbos. It's too late to find out but I would be curious if you have ever logged boost pressures. If your car was pumping much more than 16 psi below 2000 more than likely surge got you.

I think its safe to say that the engine is toast. Sucking the sump dry means you were compressing con rods, #2 and #3 cylinders are going to me bent.

Start sourcing a whole motor, its going to be your cheapest option. Warranty wont cover this one...

DB
 

1oldfrt

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Location
Riverview, N.B., Canada
TDI
2005 Passat TDI, silverstone grey w/moonroof
My daughters 2003 Golf has also had the turbo go bad. She only had 3600Km on the car. Dealer could find no reason. Replaced N/C no problem. Then she went for her first oil change at 8000Km, car was fully checked over, everything fine. She drove home. The next morning the car was dead, battery was warm. Called the dealer. They said have it towed in. Only problem is that she lives in Ft. MacMurray, AB and the closest dealer is in Edmonton, Ab - 4 1/2 hours away. She called the 1 800 number for VW and they had a flatbed pick up her car and take it down. A week later she had to take a bus to get her car back. The ECU had shorted. Replaced N/C but they had also changed the oil in her car again since they got her car confused with another customers. Gave her a certificate for another free oil change for their error. Her old 92 Golf had 487000Km trouble free, now she wishes she had bought a truck.
 
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