TURBO: 2012-2014 Passat turbo failures [discussion thread]

[NSTDI]

I disagree because this isn't a new problem. They have failed design a more robust turbo and keep installing the same piece of junk. I'm sure the DPF has caused problems for all the brands. But I would bet the turbo failure rate is much higher with VW than most others. There is most likely a VW employee in an office who ran the numbers and decided it will be cheaper to constantly replace turbos than to redesign it to be more robust. I would gladly have payed a few hundred $$ more to have a much better turbo in my Passat. That being said... no issues what so ever for me

I disagree, 2 things, why not design a stronger turbo, they are using a new one in the 2015, they spent the money to design it, they design new turbos all the time. Having TDI's with turbos failing is not good for business and getting the turbo fixed is something VW would want to do.

Second, based on the number of reported failures this past winter on this site being down significantly, it appears the turbo has been improved? Late 2014's and 2015's have not been failing at the same rate as the earlier turbos.

I lost mine at about 40,000 KM's, replacement still working at 84,000 KM's.

Losing 5 turbos in one car makes you wonder how good a job was done cleaning up the mess after each failure. A significant majority of owners never lost their turbo.

Don

 

[tdiatlast]

5 failed turbos? Either the reassembly is getting botched each time, or the driving style of the owner might need to be considered.

 

[jhinsc]

remember its not totally VW's fault- I have several friends who drive everything from Ford powerstrokes to Freightliner semi's who all have been eating many turbo's ever since the word DPF became common. Just had a friend blow his second in his Cummins ISX powered dump truck, and Here is a 2015 chevy that ate a turbo then ran full throttle off the leaking oil until it ran the pan dry and locked up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRG_T580Heo

Watching the video is an observation of pure stupid-in-action. The other situations stated about blown turbo's - don't know anything about and can't comment.

 

[jhinsc]

5 failed turbos? Either the reassembly is getting botched each time, or the driving style of the owner might need to be considered.

Agree. The comment of "floored it" comment after exiting the driveway I think says it all. Do that all the time on the cold diesel, 2 min warm-up or not will do the trick.

 

[NSTDI]

Agree. The comment of "floored it" comment after exiting the driveway I think says it all. Do that all the time on the cold diesel, 2 min warm-up or not will do the trick.

The turbos should be able to take this, flooring it when leaving the driveway, unless it is -10F or colder. While not a good practice to do this every day, hot and cold, doing it once should not blow up a turbo. Especially with a full synthetic oil in May at 75F. It must have been ready to blow anyway.

Don

 

[jackhawk tdi]

2012-2014 Passat turbo issues

I just bought a 2014 Passat tdi last Tuesday. By Friday the car went into limp mode. I had read about all the issues and guessed that it would be a turbo. The dealer confirmed this hopefully it will be done today. How many people are having issues with their passats. Dealer told me the waste gate linkage came apart on mine.

 

[wdb]

2014 follows 2012

I posted the parameters to the tally location.
Like the 2012 before my 2014 had to have its turbo replaced.
Of note the whine was slight - discounted by local dealer - but consumption of oil (2.5qt over 2000mi this followed 1/2qt for the 5000 mi prior) was notable symptom.

Even if the whine is slight (radio off) check your oil level. Oddly there was never and indicator for the low oil.

The loaner was a '15 Passat TSI.
Nice car. Great to have the TDI back.

 

[nord]

2nd 2013 Turbo Blown

This time my younger son's. This time we knew what to expect. Immediate shutdown and I doubt any damage beyond the turbo. Not even a CEL or GP warning... Yet.

So two early 2013's have gone belly up. This one at 27k miles and mine at 14k miles. We're not happy of course but it is what it is.

My replacement 2014 now has 37k miles and is one of the best cars I've ever owned. The turbo issue is one of those things that really puts a damper on the car. My son isn't happy. But even so, should something happen to my 2014 I'd immediately purchase another NMS TDI. They really are that good.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Glad you caught it before bad things happened! Too many people end up making a bad situation much much worse by continuing to drive the car.

 

[pparks1]

This is the one thing that I dislike about this car, everytime I go out and start it up, I have to be on high alert for any of a half dozen things that might be going wrong. I've been fortunate in that my car at 35,400 miles hasn't had any issues but it seems like it's simply a matter of time.

 

[Rico567]

If I might offer another view, the plant that makes the NMS Passat in Chattanooga recently passed a milestone of a half million cars assembled. It's been established on this and a multitude of other forums that the Internet is a magnet for bad news, where someone whose car, stereo, phone, camera or whatever just works the way its supposed to never posts about it. We have a 2013 Passat with 31K on it, and no trouble so far, except for an NOx sensor replaced under warranty. And, no, I do not go out and push the button and cringe every time I want to go somewhere, expecting a problem. I believe the vast majority of the NMS cars are providing reliable daily transportation, and will continue to do so. Will mine have problems? I dunno, but I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over it.

 

[kydsid]

The vast majority of those half million cars were gassers.

 

[MichaelB]

This is the one thing that I dislike about this car, everytime I go out and start it up, I have to be on high alert for any of a half dozen things that might be going wrong. I've been fortunate in that my car at 35,400 miles hasn't had any issues but it seems like it's simply a matter of time.

The failure propaganda on this site breeds fear. We should all sell our TDI's and run for the hills. If these thoughts continue the forum should be renamed Fred's ALH forum and if you read many of the posts here they are all about how to repair a broken ALH.........go ahead count them and report back. I guess VW TDI's are just junk eh?

No silly, you should make the calculations on parameters that are important to YOU and your family (as was said somewhere above I think). For me, something about a failure mode that can pretty much financially wipe out so much so fast with so little warning and there's not a dang lot you can do about it just doesn't sit well with me.

If my entire car grenades, it cost me less to replace than your HPFP.

Read Nick's Sig and he is a moderator here.

nicklockard
Torque Dorque



Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Arizona
TDI(s): SOLD the 'o3 and '99.5 Jetta's. Now I drive a reliable car (318ti)
Fuel Economy: BMW avg 10 CPM and practically NO MAINTENANCE! Aprilia Shiver avg. 44mpg

 

[jrm]

over the last 12 months I have had the chance to meet 3 more 2013 nms ckra owners and all drive the car like they stole it, 2 of them are at 100k plus and haven't even gotten the 40k service done yet! all have had zero problems. All 3 looked at me strange when I told them about tdi club. I love my job that requires me to bs with every customer for at least 20 minutes

 

[phlfly]

well, I have 39,000 with tune ECU for more power, plus driving fast, I don't care about if I will have 32 mpg to work or drive slow with 38 mpg.
So I have no problem with turbo, but it whistles, I can hear when near the wall or curb.

 

[knownikko]

Pretty sure my turbo just went to the big ball bearing factory in the sky.

Wife was driving the car. Sudden loss of power, flashing glow plug light, then it died and wouldn't start again.

Towed to dealer, but of course they're closed until Monday. Guess we'll find out then.

2014 6M, just hit 50k mi. Not a single problem until now.

 

[jrm]

how many miles on the current oil, seen most are close to 10k on the oil when this happens.

 

[knownikko]

how many miles on the current oil, seen most are close to 10k on the oil when this happens.

Yup, had an appointment for the 50k service next week. Also crossed my mind.

 

[tdiatlast]

Hey guys, with all the "sky is falling" that can happen here, probably best not to speculate until the problem is accurately diagnosed. Your engine failed, wouldn't start. Lots of possibilities, right?
Hope it's something simple...
...just my opinion, of course!

 

[knownikko]

Hey guys, with all the "sky is falling" that can happen here, probably best not to speculate until the problem is accurately diagnosed. Your engine failed, wouldn't start. Lots of possibilities, right?
Hope it's something simple...
...just my opinion, of course!

Good call, best not to jump to conclusions, because it can always be worse.

Dealer just called, HPFP exploded, not the turbo.

1-2 weeks, they're ordering parts now but have to wait for results of fuel test to come back before they can start work.

 

[tdiatlast]

YIKES! Sorry to hear that, knownikko. Hope they take care of you.

 

[kjclow]

Look at the bright side, you now get to post in a different thread.

 

[donDavide]

Good call, best not to jump to conclusions, because it can always be worse.

Dealer just called, HPFP exploded, not the turbo.

1-2 weeks, they're ordering parts now but have to wait for results of fuel test to come back before they can start work.

Do you use a Power Service or optilube or any other?

 

[jrm]

I plan on driving to Disneyland in feb. I'll throw a quart of B100 in the spare tire well

 

[knownikko]

Do you use a Power Service or optilube or any other?

Nope. Just diesel.

Guess I should start a thread about this. I looked around a bit for a NMS HPFP thread but it seems I'm one of the few lucky ones in this regard.

 

[jrm]

No way to do that, trust me- some dealers took days of denial and some even continued to test drive cars with blown turbos before admitting the turbo was the problem.

 

[kmrenken]

I'm not sure what would be accomplished by "forcing" the computer to "throw the code so it looks like the turbo is bad/failing". Wouldn't the actual condition of the turbo be visually evident to the mechanic?

 

[tdiatlast]

craigpaul2000: Look up the definition of "fraud". Seriously.

 

[NSTDI]

With the new NHTSA issue on VW cheating on the emissions in TDI's since 2009, maybe ask VW for their definition of "fraud"?

 

[tdiatlast]

^^^...ahhh....good point! I just looked it up: definition of FRAUD: VAG!