Turbo replaced with CR170 hybrid

tumbleweed

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2025
Location
TX
TDI
2011 JSW CJAA
I posted a little while back about going to do this. I finally got the work completed, and I am pretty happy with the results so far. Figured I would share some of the issues I ran into for anyone else who goes through this process.

My stock turbo died on me with a horrible whine. After pulling the old turbo you can see the damage on the impeller here.



I ordered a CR170 hybrid from XMAN, along with a new oil feed line, intake damper upgrade, CR170 air tube inlet, turbo gasket installation kit, and 4 bar MAP sensor. In these next pictures you can see the old turbo and the new one side by side. The gasket kit came with new studs for the turbo but I elected to reuse the old ones instead. I didn't want to take a chance of snapping one of these off. XMAN was awesome at answering my questions before purchase, and shipping was quick. Not to bash another company, but I reached out to Performance TDI with a question about availability of their CR170 hybrid, and they never even responded to me. That made my decision pretty easy.





I worked with Malone to get my tune upgraded from stage 2 to stage 3. Malone has been nothing but exceptional so far in answering all of my questions.

While putting the new oil feed line to the turbo on, I should have pulled the oil pressure switch that sits next to it first. I tried to tighten down the new line with a crows foot on an extension and ended up cracking the connector that goes onto the oil pressure switch. When I finally got everything together I started the vehicle, flashed the new tune, and went for a test drive. The oil pressure light started flashing almost immediately. I ordered a new switch and new connector from idparts and got these replaced. Oil pressure light is now gone.

Starting to test the vehicle I had issues with the intercooler to turbo hose popping off. After thinking I had these tightened down good enough and then popping off again, I decided to order some t-bolt clamps. Here is the clamps before and after being installed.





I've now put almost 500 miles on the car and things are mostly good. If I really get on it and accelerate hard, I've discovered an issue where the RPM's will drop a bit for a second before catching back up. Hard to explain but feels like starved for air. If you let off the throttle, no issues. If you accelerate without acting like a madman, no issues. I have reached out to Malone about this to see what they think. I was recommended to run some live logs with VCDS. The thought is that I might have an EGT issue. I'm currently using the stock intercooler, and fuel rail sensor. I hope to get some live logs soon and see what those show. I also thought it might be the clutch not holding properly under load but I'm not sure. When I purchased this vehicle at 100k miles a few years ago, the clutch was blown. My mechanic put a single mass flywheel clutch in, but I do not know what exact model was installed. I assume it is probably the valeo since I have heard this kit has the least issues? I've read the horror stories about others trying a single mass flywheel but (knock on wood) I haven't had any issues after 50k miles on it.

Lastly, I pulled the intake manifold to have a look at things. There is some carbon buildup but not that bad after 150k miles. I ordered a Passat intake manifold (part number 03L-129-711-AR) that is currently on the way, and I'll be swapping this out to get rid of the swirl flaps in the near future. Here is a picture of the intake manifold right after I pulled it off. Sorry for the upside down picture,



Car is a different animal now. I'm pretty pleased so far.
 

calimustang

Veteran Member
Joined
May 17, 2010
Location
Central FL
TDI
2011 JSW DSG (buyback, RIP), 2014 JSW TDI, 2015 Passat TDI, 2013 Jetta TDI.
wow! your old intake manifold looks dang good being 150k miles. I've seen worse with lesser miles. kudos to you! I have the CKRA Passat intake manifold on the shelf, needs new gasket and the top one that mates to the deleted swirl flap, I got it off a wrecked Passat. I now have the gasket for the swirl flap delete but not the top one, I cant source anywhere for that.

a tip for you, save the old actuator from your CR140 turbo.... just never know. mine failed a year after installing Xman CR170 turbo. I found his actuator had no metal sheild on the bottom of the actuator, so I used my original turbo actuator and problem solved. its a lot hotter here in FL so the rubber boot didn't protect the internal parts of the actuator and slowly killed it.

other friend got same turbo and failed him on the same day of the install. they are hit and miss. otherwise the XMan turbos are stout!
 

borninabus

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2020
Location
Arizona
TDI
-2013 JSW 6MT- -2012 Touareg Sport- -2015 Jetta 6MT-
sorry to report that the XMan hybrid turbo i used on my MK5 car was leaking @ the housing and dangerously near failure at 40k+ miles. pretty disappointed.
 

tumbleweed

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2025
Location
TX
TDI
2011 JSW CJAA
wow! your old intake manifold looks dang good being 150k miles. I've seen worse with lesser miles. kudos to you! I have the CKRA Passat intake manifold on the shelf, needs new gasket and the top one that mates to the deleted swirl flap, I got it off a wrecked Passat. I now have the gasket for the swirl flap delete but not the top one, I cant source anywhere for that.

a tip for you, save the old actuator from your CR140 turbo.... just never know. mine failed a year after installing Xman CR170 turbo. I found his actuator had no metal sheild on the bottom of the actuator, so I used my original turbo actuator and problem solved. its a lot hotter here in FL so the rubber boot didn't protect the internal parts of the actuator and slowly killed it.

other friend got same turbo and failed him on the same day of the install. they are hit and miss. otherwise the XMan turbos are stout!
I expected much more build up in the intake too. I was a bit shocked. The EGR valve was probably the nastiest but it is no longer an issue. Looking forward to swapping to the CKRA intake once it arrives. I have been trying to do what I can to make this vehicle as reliable as possible within my means.

Great tip on the actuator. I was just thinking the other day what I should do with that old turbo. If I get rid of the old turbo, I will definitely pull the actuator and keep it after you mentioned that.

I'll admit, I was pretty nervous on first start up, and first test drives. So far pretty good. Sorry your friend had to go through that. Did XMAN send him a new turbo without issue?
 

tumbleweed

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2025
Location
TX
TDI
2011 JSW CJAA
sorry to report that the XMan hybrid turbo i used on my MK5 car was leaking @ the housing and dangerously near failure at 40k+ miles. pretty disappointed.
That is unfortunate to hear about your XMan turbo. What did you replace it with? Main reason I went with this turbo was that it was not much more than replacing the stock CR140. I figured I might get a little more boost since I was already having to replace. Hopefully this one holds up.
 

borninabus

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2020
Location
Arizona
TDI
-2013 JSW 6MT- -2012 Touareg Sport- -2015 Jetta 6MT-
i thought all the same things when i got the car with a blown turbo and my mechanics were on board--except they warned me about the xman turbo. i didn't listen and they were right. i replaced the nearly blown turbo with a 2015 jetta. i hope you have better results.
 

Tuheeden

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2022
Location
North Carolina
TDI
2013 & 2014 Jetta sportwagon
That is unfortunate to hear about your XMan turbo. What did you replace it with? Main reason I went with this turbo was that it was not much more than replacing the stock CR140. I figured I might get a little more boost since I was already having to replace. Hopefully this one holds up.
I have installed two of the Xman CR 170 turbos (CJAABV43BOLTON52) running 30 psi boost and both have over 25k miles with no issues. I have another on the way so I my experience has been good.
 

borninabus

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2020
Location
Arizona
TDI
-2013 JSW 6MT- -2012 Touareg Sport- -2015 Jetta 6MT-
I have installed two of the Xman CR 170 turbos (CJAABV43BOLTON52) running 30 psi boost and both have over 25k miles with no issues. I have another on the way so I my experience has been good.
i'm not trying to knock Xman and i understand that the turbo AND engine being discussed here are different than my application. i genuinely hope that others have a better experience than i did. just sharing the reminder that "you don't always get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"
 

Bob S.

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Location
Central MD.
TDI
A B4V, some ALHs & BRMs
i'm not trying to knock Xman and i understand that the turbo AND engine being discussed here are different than my application. i genuinely hope that others have a better experience than i did. just sharing the reminder that "you don't always get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"
My first order from Xman arrived last week. Prior to the order, XMan promptly replied, provided excellent counsel and guidance/details to include if I ordered. I ordered following his guidance, he promptly confirmed, payment was made, the part was prompt shipped and received within a week. XMan's service was as good as I hoped and equal to the many other trusted vendors & suppliers I have come to know from this site.
 

borninabus

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2020
Location
Arizona
TDI
-2013 JSW 6MT- -2012 Touareg Sport- -2015 Jetta 6MT-
again: i'm not trying to hammer on Xman. i exerienced good communication and received what i ordered in a prompt manner as well. i was disappointed when the turbo was dangerously near failure at about 40k miles. my mechanic warned me about having previously seen premature failures from their products, but i chose not to listen. this was MY experiencea and i hope OTHERS have a differnt one. maybe someone who has an Xman with 100k+ on it will chime in here to relate THIER exerience.
 

Speedmaster_102

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Location
Southwestern Ontario, Canada
TDI
2014 Golf Sportwagen TDI
Nicely done! You're going to want to upgrade your fuel rail pressure sensor to 2200 bar to improve the overall engine efficiency w the hybrid. Also, maybe look into investing into a nice intercooler to keep the EGT on the cooler side bc the hybrid will make the EGT hotter than the sun.
 

calimustang

Veteran Member
Joined
May 17, 2010
Location
Central FL
TDI
2011 JSW DSG (buyback, RIP), 2014 JSW TDI, 2015 Passat TDI, 2013 Jetta TDI.
LOL valid point but Darkside.... ehhhh.... loves to rub on the oil pan for DSG equipped cars. 6MT fit just fine because 6MT body is thinner than the DSG.
 

tumbleweed

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2025
Location
TX
TDI
2011 JSW CJAA
Nicely done! You're going to want to upgrade your fuel rail pressure sensor to 2200 bar to improve the overall engine efficiency w the hybrid. Also, maybe look into investing into a nice intercooler to keep the EGT on the cooler side bc the hybrid will make the EGT hotter than the sun.
Both of those upgrades are on my list of to do's. I'm planning to purchase the fuel rail sensor soon. Intercooler will have to wait a bit for my funds to catch back up.

On a side note, what are most people using to monitor EGT's? Live logs with VCDS or something else?

edit: I also noticed that Josh's Jetta on youtube just recently did a video about this exact same upgrade, for installing a XMan CR170 hybrid.
 
Last edited:

McGuirk

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Location
Florida
TDI
Audi A3 TDI, 2011 Golf TDI 2dr(sold), 2012 Golf TDI 4dr(sold), 2011 Jetta Sportswagon TDI(sold)
LOL valid point but Darkside.... ehhhh.... loves to rub on the oil pan for DSG equipped cars. 6MT fit just fine because 6MT body is thinner than the DSG.
I run the darkside intercooler and don't have any of those rubbing issues. It does fit with less clearance between the cooling fan and the engine though. AC lines are very close to the fan. Had to use plastic spacers for my skid plate though because the 70mm outlets are so huge and the clamps rub on the aluminum plate. Works good now though. Been running this way for about 50k miles. Maybe it's because I'm in an A3? Might be slightly different engine bay room.
 
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