Turbo Life Expectancy

When did your Turbo Fail


  • Total voters
    113

Boost_virgin

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Location
Sullivan MO
TDI
2000 Jetta
Turbo Okay I want my car to last as long as possible. I also be leave in predictive maintenance. I want to fix things before they fail if the failed part may cause a chain reaction that will destroy my engine. For example I will replace my oil pump drive chain when I do my timing belt this go around. They will usually fail around 300k miles. With that being said I turn my attention to the turbo.

If the turbo fails most of the time it will spew oil into the intake. This can cause a runaway effect. Also from my research a lot of people shut it down quick, and try to save their engine. They even check things to make sure there are no bent rods, or other internal damage. But it seems like they are back in a few months doing an engine rebuild. I don't want to go down that path. I would rather replace the turbo a little early, and save the engine from run away. Please take the poll and post your thoughts.

This is a stock Jetta 2000, TDI, 5 speed. No chip or bigger nozzles. If your failure was with a tune, bigger nozzles, or both please don't respond.

Thanks
 

frugality

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Location
Spring Lake, Michigan
TDI
none, 2016 GTI
Edit...brain fart...I was confusing oil pump with water pump. :)

I'm on the original turbo, though the VNT actuator has been replaced. It was corroded and wasn't traveling fully. Use the right oil, and the turbo itself will likely last the life of the engine.
 

nicklockard

Torque Dorque
Joined
Aug 15, 2004
Location
Arizona
TDI
SOLD 2010 Touareg Tdi w/factory Tow PCKG
Better quiz:

1. My STOCK turbo failed at ___________miles, and my age is __________.



I think you will find a direct correlation. ;)
 

Boost_virgin

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Location
Sullivan MO
TDI
2000 Jetta
nicklockard said:
Better quiz:

1. My STOCK turbo failed at ___________miles, and my age is __________.



I think you will find a direct correlation. ;)
LOL I don't think so, because my answer would mess up the curve. Thats why I'm not getting a tune, or nozzles. I know how to tear stuff up.
 

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
Here is the problem, a lot of turbos fail BUT they failed because people modified the ECU mapping to exceed the limits of the turbo...BOOOM!

Your question needs to be phrased: How many people have had a STOCK engine turbo fail. Do NOT include issues assoicated with jammed VNT's which are almost always caused by improper driving of the engine ie lugging and short shifting without allowing the turbo to generate sufficient boost to clear the vanes of soot.

I can't say I know of any turbo that has failed that was maintained properly and driven properly.

I have seen MANY turbos that failed due to modification of the motor where the turbo exceeds surge or other pressure/operating limits.

Another issue is too many dealers label a turbo as failed where in fact the turbo was perfectly fine and turned out to be a MAF sensor or other aspect that caused the turbo to underperform and completely unrelated to anything remotely associated with a turbo failure.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I think more turbos' VNT mechanisms get siezed due to people running around with no lower shields, such as you have been doing. However, since you also have an oil leak that makes the back side of your engine look like an opportunity for Exxon, I'd say yours may not suffer such consequences...but the rubber in your dog bone mount looks like chewing gum now, and your control arm bushings won't be far behind, nor the steering rack mounts, sway bar bushings, etc.
 

Boost_virgin

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Location
Sullivan MO
TDI
2000 Jetta
oilhammer said:
I think more turbos' VNT mechanisms get siezed due to people running around with no lower shields, such as you have been doing. However, since you also have an oil leak that makes the back side of your engine look like an opportunity for Exxon, I'd say yours may not suffer such consequences...but the rubber in your dog bone mount looks like chewing gum now, and your control arm bushings won't be far behind, nor the steering rack mounts, sway bar bushings, etc.
What does this have to do with a turbo failure?:rolleyes:

Would love to get lower sheild and other things replaced. Please let me know when money starts growing on trees, or my wife gets a job. Both of which would cause monkeys to fly out of my @$$!
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Boost_virgin said:
What does this have to do with a turbo failure?:rolleyes:
Because your car has no lower shields.

Because your car has a vile oil leak on the back side of the engine.

Sorry, cars are machines, they do not care how much money you have. They just do what they do. ;)

I replace more turbos for stuck/siezed external parts than I do for outright failure, that is why I made that comment.
 

Boost_virgin

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Location
Sullivan MO
TDI
2000 Jetta
Ah I see. So your saying I might have a premature failure of the trubo because of external parts freezing up. Okay when it put it that way it makes since.

Can you share your experance related to what you have seen. Give some insite to the survey.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
For outright turbo internal failure, I would say the chances are quite low on a stock (or even mildly modded) ALH. My Golf has nearly TWICE the mileage as your Jetta and has the original turbocharger.

As far as I have seen, 3 things contribute to VNT15 failures on the ALH:

Lack of undershields causing rusting and siezing of the outside bits.

Driving like a granny and never requesting full boost ever.

Mashing the accelerator to the floor under 2000 RPMs repeatedly (this is where proper driving of a modded TDI is so important).
 
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BleachedBora

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Location
Gresham, Oregon
TDI
'81 DMC-12, '15 GL350 CDI 275 hp/448 tq - '81 Caddy CJAA, '05 E320 CDI 250hp/450 tq, '23 ID4 AWD Pro S Plus
Good ones Brian!
Having sold hundreds of turbos almost everyone knows that I always ask a few questions before sending out a turbo. With that in mind these are the most common failure points that I've been seeing, lately and over time:

1) As DBW said, chip or nozzles--you exceed the design limits. If you're running chip/nozzles etc... make sure you have a boostvalve. It's a good safety device.
2) Wrong oil/hot shutdowns cooking seals; hard to prove hot shutdowns so I tend to group it into the abuse catigory. However, we are seeing a lot of Rotella users lately that have cooked turbos (about 10 in the last 4-months or so). Since they changed the formula of Rotella it appears that it does NOT protect the turbo the way it did in the past. Some of the turbos we've had torn down I was told had blue heat markings internally which tends to support the claim that they are running hot. I wouldn't recommend that oil anymore for those reasons.
3) As OH said, driving like granny and/or compressor surge from full throttle at low RPM.
4) Improper air filtration; usually K&Ns letting foreign matter get through, but there are a fair share of stock snowscreen-less users out there that are sandblasting their turbo over time....this is why I like the cold region air filter regardless of climate.

As a general rule, I'm seeing most failures on VNT15s to be in the 120-200k range, which a few under 100k and some over 300k. I know some people with over 500k on the original VNT15; unmodded.

GT15s/K03s are in the 180-250k range. Had a Passat the other day that was approaching 350k when his went.

And as has been said, treat it well and it'll last a long time.
-BB
 
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40X40

Experienced
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Location
Kansas City area, MO
TDI
2013 Passat SEL Premium
Proper maintenance of the car is required to get maximum life from the various components on the car. (ie, turbo, dogbone) If you can't afford to replace the bottom shield, build one out of available materials. Above all, listen to OH and the other guys here, they are telling you the truth even though it is not what you want to hear. That oil leak is cheap to fix and expensive to ignore, also.

Bill
 

r90sKirk

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2003
Location
CedarTuckey, Michigan
TDI
All TDI's - No gassers! Luxo-Tourer = 13 Passat (hands down, the nicest car we've ever owned), Most fun = MK4 Golf
Almost 274,000 on stock turbo of my 96 B4V.

The newest acquisition (2001 Jetta) for my wife, is going to need the actuator replaced. The body of the actuator is rusted thru all the way around, and she "limps" all day long.

Kirk
 

zurgin1251

Veteran Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Location
Clinton, NY
TDI
2003 Jetta GLS TDI
Interesting observation on the Rotella T BB. Coming up on my first oil change and had planned on using Rotella. Do you see a strong coorelation between its use and turbo failure or is it perhaps coincidence?
 

compu_85

Gadget Guy
Joined
Sep 29, 2003
Location
La Conner, WA
TDI
... None :S
I've had the belly pan for most of the cars life, and for every winter. There isn't one on there right now, but there is a metal skid plate waiting to go on :)
 

Xavior

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2007
Location
Calgary
TDI
04 Golf TDI
Orig

Hey, i may have the lowest KM's here,

04 TDI BEW

165,000KM and the turbo seized up internally and blew to bits. No mods whats so ever, original borge warener or something like that
 

BleachedBora

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Location
Gresham, Oregon
TDI
'81 DMC-12, '15 GL350 CDI 275 hp/448 tq - '81 Caddy CJAA, '05 E320 CDI 250hp/450 tq, '23 ID4 AWD Pro S Plus
No, I get people all the time that have 40-70k miles, it's just not often...

As for the Rotella, I cannot prove that it is the problem. However, the fact that they changed the formula AND we've seen these problems crop up (and a lot of them too) the the time since they changed the formula, I am led to believe that it doesn't do its job anymore.

Any OE type oil will treat you well; Total and FUCHS are OEM, Lubromoly is well respected, and even Castrol will do the trick.

If you have a PD though stick with a 5W40, the 5W30s I'm also confident are contributing to the early camshaft failures.

YMMV,
-BB
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I'd agree with Aaron here: Oil quality, driving habits, engine cover in place (as oilhammer has pointed out). And if some other malfunction (vacuum hose, N75, etc.) had prevented the turbo from making boost for some time they will fail.

I'm often amazed at how long people will drive these cars with the turbo not working. It would make me crazy.

BTW, the turbo came out of IBW at 170K, working fine. Chipped since 30K. Many dyno runs, many track days.
 

Curious Chris

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 11, 2001
Location
Pineview GA
TDI
Jetta Wagon 2003 RIP Rockford IL
Boost_virgin said:
Read the last paragraph. You don't get to vote anyways because of your tune and nozzles.
No fair! I am a good example of how you get a good tune (RC3 limits the sustained boost within the limits of the VNT-15) and have no issues. Of course my compressor vanes get good exercise most every day as I want to see that 18 psi sustained. I change my oil using CI-4+ oil with religious fervor, and I do have a metal skid plate. How about chipped and all is well.
 
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