Wastegate Issues

[Ceposki]

Hello All,

Im brand new to the forum and I am just trying to get some advice on what my options are...

I own a 2003 VW Golf Tdi, 165k miles, I bought it brand new and I recently started having a few issues, which my dealership thinks are significant & expensive but I hope, with your help, to find a way around it.

Yesterday I replaced my EGR valve and had my intake cleaned. Major improvement.

My check engine light is also now off, which is great, but it had been on for a while and I was coding P1556: "Charge pressure not reached. Checked waste gate and found waste gate valve leaking. Will need turbo. Also intake is clogged and will need cleaning with EGR valve."

VW obviously wants to replace the entire turbo. I know that is not necessary. I can still feel it engage, although not properly. The mechanic I use says the wastegate itself can not be replaced or repaired.

Ive browsed enough threads on here to think that is not a true diagnosis. I tried looking at idparts from a suggestion on here but I don't really know what im exactly looking for.

Im no mechanic, and a lot of this very technical information is honestly a bit confusing for me.

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks All!
-Carl

 

[Seatman]

You mean the actuator for the turbo I take it?

http://www.idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=530

A lot of folk don't realise it can be bought on it's own.

But that's the thing on the turbo that works the vnt mechanism.

 

[Joester]

First off, nice car. 2003s are the best!

I'll try to explain in english for someone who hasnt worked on cars too much.

Your turbocharger has 2 sides, the turbine, which is driven by exhaust gasses; and the compressor, which compresses fresh air that is to be fed to the engine. The turbine and the compressor are connected by a shaft.
Most turbochargers have wastegates (yours doesn't. ill get to that in a bit). A wastegate essentially diverts some exhaust gasses around the turbine to regulate boost pressure produced by the turbocharger.

Other turbos (like yours) are variable vane turbos. Instead of a wastegate, they have little vanes, or fins inside the turbo that direct more or less exhaust flow at the turbine to regulate boost pressure. The fins are adjusted by a vacuum actuator which is what your mechanic is probably referring to as a wastegate. This vacuum actuator is able to be bought separately from the turbo like Seatman said.

Take a look at this tutorial on myturbodiesel.com
http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q/a4/VNT-wastegate-adjust.htm
It gives a more in depth description of what I just said and also guides you through repairing a broken vacuum actuator.

It is a very cheap, and easy repair, but you do have to have a mity-vac or some other way to adjust the actuator to open and close at the proper amount of vacuum.

EDIT: your check engine code also confirms this. The fins/vanes in the turbo are normally at a low boost "setting" and only produce more boost when the vacuum actuator is actuating. So if the vanes in the turbo arent moving, then you might be able to feel a little bit of boost coming on, but it will never build as it should.

its worth noting that if your vanes are at a closed position for a long period of time, the soot from the engine could possibly seize the vanes where they are causing the same symptoms even with a functioning actuator. But dont worry about that until you get a new vacuum actuator. It probably wont be an issue, but its something to be wary of.

Both VW and the "mechanic you use" (if they are even separate people?) say that it cannot be replaced, BUT IT CAN! There are 3 reasons i see possible for this: one, they arent well versed with the TDI engine, and truly think that the car has a wastegate (which it doesnt, like i said). two, they want to charge you more for labor of putting a whole new turbo in. Or three, they are super dishonest, they KNOW that the actuator can be fixed, and they plan on just replacing the actuator and charging you for an entire turbo! All three possibilities indicate an uneducated, or dishonest mechanic.

 

[Powder Hound]

...Both VW and the "mechanic you use" (if they are even separate people?) say that it cannot be replaced, BUT IT CAN! There are 3 reasons i see possible for this: one, they arent well versed with the TDI engine, and truly think that the car has a wastegate (which it doesnt, like i said). two, they want to charge you more for labor of putting a whole new turbo in. Or three, they are super dishonest, they KNOW that the actuator can be fixed, and they plan on just replacing the actuator and charging you for an entire turbo! All three possibilities indicate an uneducated, or dishonest mechanic.

It could also be that being a dealer, they are not allowed to offer certain solutions. For example, a dealer is not allowed to touch the innards of the injection pump. So a simple leak in the quantity adjuster area (2 seals out of a $25 kit) will require a new injection pump if the dealer is doing it. A TDI guru (or even me - it isn't a technically difficult job) can do it in 30 minutes with the kit, one special socket, and some paper towels.

Or the alternator: if the voltage is low, or the overrun bearing in the pulley has failed, then instead of replacing the voltage regulator or the pulley, the dealer is forced to replace the entire alternator at the high-as-a-cat's-behind dealer prices.

For the turbocharger, I would bet federal reserve fiat currency notes that a VW dealer is not allowed to buy just the vacuum can actuator for the VNT turbocharger. I could be wrong, but I am betting not.

So sometimes the dealer isn't 100% at fault, it is VW's policy of screw-the-customer-because-our-own-mechanics-are-idiots.

BTW: your mechanic is correct when he says the wastegate cannot be repaired or replaced as it is impossible to do either where no such device exists. In case the nomenclature was messed up to try and save an otherwise uninformed client, the variable nozzle pieces are not available as spare parts except from another scrap unit, so he is still correct. With the labor involved in disassembly and cleaning and then reassembly, the charge (if the VNT mechanism were broken) for a new turbocharger would probably be less than the bill for fixing the current unit.

So, if the actuator can be replaced, then great. If there's so much soot that the VNT needs help, then other solutions should be investigated and your mechanic (whichever flag he flies under) probably won't be able to save you any $$.

 

[PeterV]

You should indicate the transmission it is important.
Also click on the VCDS and trusted mechs. Since you have been supporting the stealer it is now time for you to get he car fixed correctly. Find a guru near you and get the right fixes for your car. Your car is now 10 yrs old and it needs the correct tlc.

 

[belome]

Plus, lord knows you are probably way overdue for a complete timing belt kit if the dealer is the one that replaced it around the 80k mark.

 

[1854sailor]

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks All!
-Carl

You can replace the actuator using the instructions in the myturbodiesel link provided by Joester and one of these:

http://www.worldimpex.com/parts/aftermarket-turbo-actuator-4348550015_916576.html

You will also need a mityvac or similar tool to make the adjustments.

Or, depending on where in New Jersey you are, you could go here:

www.mmautocycle.com

 

[AndyBees]

Been six days, I guess the OP has been successful in getting a personal loan at the bank so he can go back to the dealer.......

 

[n1das]

IIRC, I think the Bentley manual still uses the term "wastegate" even though our VNT turbos don't have a wastegate. So I think it's possible people at the VW dealership were calling it a wastegate according to their documentation.

Hopefully the OP got everything taken care of.

 

[1854sailor]

IIRC, I think the Bentley manual still uses the term "wastegate"...

Yup! They call the actuator the "Pressure unit (servo) for wastegate" even though we all know that it operates with vacuum, not pressure. Well, maybe vacuum got translated to "negative pressure" somewhere along the way.