***, volkswagen TDI blown turbo

[OdinsRage]

I just bought an 04 golf TDI yesterday with 34k on the clock. **** thing ran perfect... last night, the turbo totally crapped out, lost all boost and made huge smoke clouds...

How could this happen? Its factory stock, i think good maintenance was done, its under warranty but still........

any ideas?

 

[Mud]

What was the actual maintenance record on the car?
Is it available in writing?

If it has had minimal oil changes with a non-spec oil, that turbo could have siezed if the bearings had been repeatedly overheated.

On the other hand, maybe it's something else, hopefully less damage was done.

At least you are under warranty, but I would be pretty PO'd if a car that just bought cratered the following day.

Dealer or private seller?

 

[Winston]

It is strange how cars tend to get major failures right after they are sold. I have no explanation for it, it is just strange. Same thing happens with houses.

 

[BlazerLT]

You are probably loosing boost due to something else.

 

[The Critic]

Is this a PD TDI? Did the previous owner use 505.01? (actually irrelevant since I can't see how it could possibly cause a problem unless the owner used a 5w-30 dino or something)

I don't think turbo failures are that rare on TDIs, as I have heard of a few on TDIclub.

Mike

 

[Willy_G]

Could be a loose intake hose, broken intercooler, boots pressure sensor, broken VNT, MAF, ECM, etc...not just internal catostrophic turbo failure.

After having a bad TDI, this is why I no longer recommend VWs to friends & family...too many complex expensive system to keep the thing rolling down the road.

(My enemies can have all the VWs they want!)

 

[JAG]

Lots of smoke means the problem is not the minor things listed above. It's either a blown turbo or something else serious, but at least it will be covered under warranty. My 03'VW 1.8T GIT has been superbly reliable in the first 52k miles, but I know many VW owners are not so fortunate. Don't regret your purchase yet. It could go very well once this is fixed. Become a member of vwvortex or tdiclub forums so you can learn what to look out for with your engine and what preventative measures you can take to make it most reliable.

 

[kloppilt]

[Q]It is strange how cars tend to get major failures right after they are sold. I have no explanation for it, it is just strange. Same thing happens with houses. [/Q]

Same thing goes with major maintenance, too. I know of two people whose Accords got totalled in accidents right after they had the timing belts changed.

 

[theguru]

Doesn't sound like something minor to me. Fortunately you have a warranty. Rest easy.

 

[rpn453]

It's only a few minutes to go from juiced-to-the-nuts to stock-with-no-evidence-of-anything-otherwise on a turbo-diesel. Sometimes things just break though too. Still on warranty, so no problem!

 

[Willy_G]

Jag,

The KKK turbos on the gassers have nothing in common with the Garrett VNTs on the TDI, other than compressing air.


Smoke and no boost/low power on a TDI can just be a MAF or something in the boost control.