A4 turbo failure?

ntlbell

I was wondering if anyone any obvious signs of turbo failure?

I was leaving work today and conked out as i was about to drive off, i heard a bit of a noise but wasn't sure if it was just me stalling the car or not.

no strange noises while driving and the car seems to be driving fine, but when i get up to 2/2.5k rev's i'm not feeling the turbo kick in.

any ideas/pointers?

giant_midget

This happened my volvo and it turned out to be the turbo, Could be your boost control valve...if you are fairly handy you could take the jubilee clip and pipe off the turbo and if there is oil in the pipe it's your turbo. Is there a lot of smoke coming from exhaust?

giant_midget

By the way these turbo's are also on passats so you would (if lucky) expect to pay between 200 - 300 for a new one, Lots of them on ebay.

ntlbell

jesusinaglanza wrote: »

This happened my volvo and it turned out to be the turbo, Could be your boost control valve...if you are fairly handy you could take the jubilee clip and pipe off the turbo and if there is oil in the pipe it's your turbo. Is there a lot of smoke coming from exhaust?

I'd struggle to open the bonnet

exhaust seem's normal, no excess smoke, no noises.

is it safe to drive the car if it is the turbo or?

giant_midget

ntlbell wrote: »

I'd struggle to open the bonnet

exhaust seem's normal, no excess smoke, no noises.

is it safe to drive the car if it is the turbo or?

That's strange, If it's the turbo it will let go fairly soon.

If you go visit a cheap local garage of yours, They should be able to read your cars faults and that will tell them straight away what the problem is. My guess...if your still driving it and it doesn't let go in the next 2 days it's the boost control valve.. if it is cheap and easy fix for you.

sean1141

could be gone into limp mode...????

bbability

check air flow meter it could be something like that.

T83

As above, far more likely it's your MAF given that they're a well known weak point in all turbo VAG engines and there doesnt seem to be any other sign of turbo failure (ie smoke etc)

shamwari

Is your car a petrol or diesel? If diesel, get the EGR valve checked. It might be stuck open, especially if the car has gotten smokey since the onset of this fault.

ntlbell

shamwari wrote: »

Is your car a petrol or diesel? If diesel, get the EGR valve checked. It might be stuck open, especially if the car has gotten smokey since the onset of this fault.

Diesel

I listened today a bit more closely, there's a bit of a faint sort of whistle in second gear as she goes up past 2000RPM couldn't hear it in any other gear.

ntlbell

sean1141 wrote: »

could be gone into limp mode...????

What I know of limp mode it doesn't allow the car go over 3k RPM.

I can get up past it, just without the UNF.

whiterebel

Sounds like the Air flow meter - happened to a Passat TDi of mine, and is well known to go in VAG engines. Cost me about €125 + 15 labour to fix, but it is literally a 2 minute job top do yourself, if its located in the same place.

tobsey

A lad I work with has a 2.0tdi A6 and a similar thing happened to him recently. He couldn't get any extra power that he normally gets from the turbo. He managed to get the car home and when he popped the bonnet he found that one of the pipes had come loose. Once he connected it back up and tightened the jubilee clip the car worked fine. I'd suggest leaving the engine running and popping the bonnet, see if you can see a loose rubber pipe or hear a whistling sound. Hopefully it's something simple like that.

giant_midget

tobsey wrote: »

A lad I work with has a 2.0tdi A6 and a similar thing happened to him recently. He couldn't get any extra power that he normally gets from the turbo. He managed to get the car home and when he popped the bonnet he found that one of the pipes had come loose. Once he connected it back up and tightened the jubilee clip the car worked fine. I'd suggest leaving the engine running and popping the bonnet, see if you can see a loose rubber pipe or hear a whistling sound. Hopefully it's something simple like that.

Never actually thought of that, Im an idiot.. An intercooler pipe could have popped

AzureAuto

do check for any air leaks before anything else, especially if you can hear a whistle. As above, the N95 boost control valve is a favourite, it effectually keeps the dump valve open all the time when it fails, hence no boost. Alternatively there is a jungle of vacuum pipes that would need to be checked. The turbo, though common enough, is the most expensive part of the system, so the last yu should consider replacing befoer excluding everything else.

ntlbell

Thanks for all the advice,

I brought it to my mechanic who took it for a spin yesterday and said everything is fine and working is as it should

so i'm a bit confused, still feels to me like no turbo is kicking in

thewools

ntlbell wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice,

I brought it to my mechanic who took it for a spin yesterday and said everything is fine and working is as it should

so i'm a bit confused, still feels to me like no turbo is kicking in

I was having similar issues with my mondeo over the past week - stalled a few time when accelerating, warning lights etc

Had no power over the past week but I stuggled on...

Anyways I got it checked last night for loose hoses + splits etc, checked airflow meter, turbo etc. But all seemed ok.

So we changed the fuel filter and I'm flying again... My filter must have clogged; thereby restricting the fuel to the injectors

Its a cheap solution if thats your issue.