B4 ran for 2 minutes without oil

Steve Addy · Jan 23, 2020

Be very careful with that turbo, the 'lag' mentioned by the shop is strange if in fact the turbo is in good shape. That's assuming that they know how the car drove before they worked on it. Some will believe there's a lag when in fact it's below the threshold where the turbo responds, also they could have reinstalled something incorrectly too.

The effects of the oil loss, on the turbo, might yet reveal themselves or it could just take several hundred miles until the turbo gets to the point where it does itself in.

We just don't know, there's a lot of unknowns with situations like this. Two minutes is a long time to be without oil, I can't believe there was anything left in there after the two minutes but who knows.

Good luck and keep posting back!

Steve

jdulle · Jan 24, 2020

The garage said they had to add 3 quarts of oil. So it didn't run fully dry, but pretty close. And the turbo was definitely dry. The only saving grace is that my wife doesn't drive too fast. She was probably going 55 after it happened. The oil in there was total synthetic.

The plan as of now is to try driving it back tomorrow. If they are open to it I may try and put it up on the lift to check the play in the turbo shaft. I am hoping the lag they are talking about is the usual low rpm slowness in first and second gear that most of these cars have. Beyond that I have never felt any "lag". I am going to drive it for a minute and if all goes well I am going to head for home. I will bring my tow strap and be ready for a runaway. perhaps it would be smarter to trailer it home.

Steve Addy · Jan 25, 2020

jdulle said:
The garage said they had to add 3 quarts of oil. So it didn't run fully dry, but pretty close. And the turbo was definitely dry. The only saving grace is that my wife doesn't drive too fast. She was probably going 55 after it happened. The oil in there was total synthetic.

The plan as of now is to try driving it back tomorrow. If they are open to it I may try and put it up on the lift to check the play in the turbo shaft. I am hoping the lag they are talking about is the usual low rpm slowness in first and second gear that most of these cars have. Beyond that I have never felt any "lag". I am going to drive it for a minute and if all goes well I am going to head for home. I will bring my tow strap and be ready for a runaway. perhaps it would be smarter to trailer it home.

I don't know how far you are talking but if it were mine I would drive it around a while and see how it behaves and if it felt comfortable and typical for what I remember it feeling like I would head home.

I assume what you meant when you said 'turbo was definitely dry' is that it was dry in the inlet and exhaust side and not the supply line / center section? I would be worried if the center section was dry, that would be a reason not to drive back.

Good luck with your trip and let us know how it goes.

Steve

jdulle · Jan 25, 2020

Well, the car made it back! I checked the oil, took it for a short drive, checked oil again, then headed out, drove 50 miles, checked the oil again, and then went the rest of the way home. The engine sounds about the same. Its always been a bit louder than my other B4 because it is missing the insulation under the hood. I had my friend rev the motor up and it sounds the same as ever, no new noises. Doesn't seem to be losing any oil, and the boost seems the same as it has always been. It was a little harder to start, I think because it had been sitting for the better part of 2 weeks. So I guess for now all is well. When the weather gets better I will put new oil and filter in it. Thanks for all the input, looks like I got lucky.

jdulle · Jan 25, 2020

I don't really know weather the turbo return or inlet was dry, since I didn't do the work...I just assumed if there was no oil pressure, that not much would be getting to it.

Mozambiquer · Jan 25, 2020

jdulle said:
Well, the car made it back! I checked the oil, took it for a short drive, checked oil again, then headed out, drove 50 miles, checked the oil again, and then went the rest of the way home. The engine sounds about the same. Its always been a bit louder than my other B4 because it is missing the insulation under the hood. I had my friend rev the motor up and it sounds the same as ever, no new noises. Doesn't seem to be losing any oil, and the boost seems the same as it has always been. It was a little harder to start, I think because it had been sitting for the better part of 2 weeks. So I guess for now all is well. When the weather gets better I will put new oil and filter in it. Thanks for all the input, looks like I got lucky.

I bet probably the guys at the shop were not used to driving a b4 TDI. If you're used to the variable vane turbo, it would seem like the 1z would have turbo lag.

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B4 ran for 2 minutes without oil

Steve Addy

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jdulle

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jdulle

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jdulle

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