Passat minus the Turbo

lafors

My dads car (his taxi) 00 VW Passat 1.8TD had just passed its NCT, he had to get a shock replaced before it and got its full service at the same time.

Last week (post nct) he was out and white smoke started coming out the exhaust, he brought it home and dropped it down to our local friendly backstreet mechanic. The mechanic has traced the problem to the turbo, something to do with oil. The turbo needs to be replaced, which would cost in the region of 1k (afai remember). So the mechanic is going to try to get one from up north cheaper. So mechanic called today and gave my Dad the car back (minus the turbo) for a few days until he can get the new part.

So is there any problem with driving it without the turbo....other than the lag?
Do you think its worth replacing the turbo in this car for 1k (or approx 700 from NI) or should he be looking at putting the money towards a newer car? (BTW the car is in great condition, he keeps it spotless)

colm_mcm

aren't they bringing in regulations regarding the maximum age of a taxi, mightn't be worth fixing.

crosstownk

colm_mcm wrote: »

aren't they bringing in regulations regarding the maximum age of a taxi, mightn't be worth fixing.

Not of any concern just yet.

But not having the turbo in the loop may affect the emissions. Even if the car passes, it will be seriously down on power if the turbo is offline.

peasant

How did the mechanic "minus" the turbo?

Weld in a bit of pipe or leave the buggered one in?

I'm no mechanic (so could be wrong) but I would think that driving without the turbo or a knackered turbo is not a good idea.

If the turbo is bypassed, all the ECU settings will be wrong, best case scenario is massive emissions, damaging your cat along the way ...worst case scenario is totally wrong fuel mixture resulting in "hot" burns that eventually will damage your pistons and valve seats.

If the turbo is still in it ...worst case scenario is disintegration of the turbine wheels and ingestion of the debris into the combustion chamber ...engine also kaputt.

carchaeologist

peasant wrote: »

How did the mechanic "minus" the turbo?

Weld in a bit of pipe or leave the buggered one in?

I'm no mechanic (so could be wrong) but I would think that driving without the turbo or a knackered turbo is not a good idea.

If the turbo is bypassed, all the ECU settings will be wrong, best case scenario is massive emissions, damaging your cat along the way ...worst case scenario is totally wrong fuel mixture resulting in "hot" burns that eventually will damage your pistons and valve seats.

If the turbo is still in it ...worst case scenario is disintegration of the turbine wheels and ingestion of the debris into the combustion chamber ...engine also kaputt.

Agreed....

JHMEG

ECU would have a failed turbo map. Otherwise engine would run badly/not run when something as prone to failure as a turbo fails. Good job it's VW and not you lads that are designing engines:D

OP is it a 1.8T or a 1.9TDI?

lafors

JHMEG wrote: »

ECU would have a failed turbo map. Otherwise engine would run badly/not run when something as prone to failure as a turbo fails. Good job it's VW and not you lads that are designing engines:D

OP is it a 1.8T or a 1.9TDI?

......Its the 1.8T.
I haven't a clue how he bypassed it, never thought of the ecu map, must ask him if the mechanic did that.
Afaik the turbo is out of the car completely.

The engine was just replaced last year with a fully refurb engine so I don't think he'll want it to go kaput :eek:

Biro

He might as well get rid of it. They're a sh1t engine.

carchaeologist

The VW TDI engines do seem to be the benchmark for diesels these days, though the citroen/peugeot HDIs are a close second id say.

Biro

carchaeologist wrote: »

The VW TDI engines do seem to be the benchmark for diesels these days, though the citroen/peugeot HDIs are a close second id say.

It's a 1.8T petrol in this Passat.

Oilrig

carchaeologist wrote: »

The VW TDI engines do seem to be the benchmark for diesels these days, though the citroen/peugeot HDIs are a close second id say.

VAG were never even close to the mark in terms of Diesel engines and cutting edge technology. Check out the CO2 emissions vs their opposition...

Noisy, dog rough, short powerband, expensive oil and expensive dealer back up.

Oilrig. TDI driver.