whistle from turbo

KingPuck

My car is a 2005 passat saloon (new shape) with 65k miles. 1.9 tdi 105bhp, not chipped or anything.

I bought it about a year ago. There was always a slight whistle when I accelerated which I attributed to the turbo.

I asked a main VW dealer mechanic about the whistle about 6 months ago when it was in for a service and he said it was normal. I haven't heard this whistle in any other passat before.

I had an oil and filter change in a different vw dealers a few weeks ago and i noticed that the whistle wasn't as loud for a day or two but it suddenly came back.

I haven't noticed any lack of power. The whistle sounds a bit like a "wolf whistle" (only way i can describe it). It whistles when I touch the accelerator even when in neutral.

Can anyone give me advise on this as I haave been told that it may be a turbo replacement job.

v300

All turbos whistle, but when the compressor blades get worn or damaged or chipped
from FOD Foreign Object Damage, this noise gets a lot louder.
There may be a loose connection on the intake system allowing boost air t
o leak out and make a whistle too.

IF the car is not consuming more than the normal amount of oil, and power remains good,
then I would drive her on, until it gets worse.

To ask your local mechanic or dealer to inspect the turbo compressor scroll / turbine for damage
at the next service might be a good idea too.

GTE

On my TDI I notice that the whistles pitch when crusing can change a lot when the accelerator pedal is moved just a few millimetres or so and in the 2500 to 3000 rpm range.

If it was a break in the turbo hose or any turbo problem would the car not go into limp mode?
The tdiclub forums could be a good place to search for this problem.

Ferris

KingPuck wrote: »

My car is a 2005 passat saloon (new shape) with 65k miles. 1.9 tdi 105bhp, not chipped or anything.

I bought it about a year ago. There was always a slight whistle when I accelerated which I attributed to the turbo.

I asked a main VW dealer mechanic about the whistle about 6 months ago when it was in for a service and he said it was normal. I haven't heard this whistle in any other passat before.

I had an oil and filter change in a different vw dealers a few weeks ago and i noticed that the whistle wasn't as loud for a day or two but it suddenly came back.

I haven't noticed any lack of power. The whistle sounds a bit like a "wolf whistle" (only way i can describe it). It whistles when I touch the accelerator even when in neutral.

Can anyone give me advise on this as I haave been told that it may be a turbo replacement job.

I had a turbo go on me on a 1.9tdi before. You should get a drop off in power before it goes if its the seals. You will also get an increase in oil consumption which is either burnt (blue smoke from exhaust) or drips into your intercooler. In serious cases oil will drip from the pressure pipe to the intercooler.

My turbo whistled for 60k before it blew and the noise never varied.

GTE

Ferris wrote: »

My turbo whistled for 60k before it blew and the noise never varied.

Did the noise kick in when the turbo did? About 2000 rpm?

KingPuck

I would only have to be driving out the drivway, 5-10 mph and the whistling would start. It wouldn't any louder if I was doing 30-60mph.

Thanks for the replies

Ferris

KingPuck wrote: »

I would only have to be driving out the drivway, 5-10 mph and the whistling would start. It wouldn't any louder if I was doing 30-60mph.

Thanks for the replies

The car was a '98 tdi btw but that shouldn't mean much of a difference. Generally the whistle could be heard just by blipping the throttle.

Really the only way to accurately assess turbo damage/wear is to take it out and check for damage to the vanes and check for play in the shaft. Other than that you can only check for indications like I mentioned before. Mine actually broke the bearing and the shaft was literally rattling about in the housing, see below.