03TDICommuter
Veteran Member
Decided today was going to be the day I pulled the turbo to clean the VNT mechanism. 318,000 miles on the original turbo (previous owner commuted - all freeway, dealer maintained vehicle). I was having overboost/limp problems when I would 'get on it' especially on the freeway. Last week I took off the actuator to feel the VNT lever for stickiness and it felt good other than I could tell it had slop and likely a worn control ring. User 97Caron sent me a good control ring (thanks again!).
Here's the actuator action when I removed the turbo. You can hear the slop in the movement when I wiggle it.
YouTube - Actuator level slop
Here's the turbine side when I pulled it apart.
Control ring side
Turbine housing side.
Vanes before cleaning
Here's my old control ring on top of the replacement one 97Caron sent me.
Control lever on the inside was a little worn too.
Most everything cleaned up well with Gumout spray and a brass brush. I very lightly sanded the vane assy by turning it over on top of 1500 grit sandpaper on a flat cast iron table. Lots of rust removed around the exhaust housing side where the control ring resides.
All clean and back together.
It's all back together. VNT mechanism feel even better and the slop is a lot smaller. In the end I think my problems were more than just the worn control ring but time will tell if I solved my overboost problem. Hopefully I have so I can get a Malone Stage 1
Here's the actuator action when I removed the turbo. You can hear the slop in the movement when I wiggle it.
YouTube - Actuator level slop
Here's the turbine side when I pulled it apart.
Control ring side
Turbine housing side.
Vanes before cleaning
Here's my old control ring on top of the replacement one 97Caron sent me.
Control lever on the inside was a little worn too.
Most everything cleaned up well with Gumout spray and a brass brush. I very lightly sanded the vane assy by turning it over on top of 1500 grit sandpaper on a flat cast iron table. Lots of rust removed around the exhaust housing side where the control ring resides.
All clean and back together.
It's all back together. VNT mechanism feel even better and the slop is a lot smaller. In the end I think my problems were more than just the worn control ring but time will tell if I solved my overboost problem. Hopefully I have so I can get a Malone Stage 1