No wonder it went 'BANG'

My turbo decided to let go last Friday in spectacular fashion, large bang from under the bonnet, loads of smoke and a very rough idle.

The Skoda assist report stated 'Turbo broken in two'. I thought this was a little but exaggerated but I was wrong.

The car had a new turbo, new intercooler, new boost piping system and a few other odds and sods.

I collected the car this afternoon and asked to see the remains of my turbo:

The bit that fell off, looks like the compressor casing.

I'm sure something is missing in this photo

Another shot of the compressor case, you'll see the rest of the turbo to the far right, this of course should all be one piece.

All FOC despite having 79k on the clock, thank god for the 2yr unlimited mile warranty. Drove about in a hired (Skoda Assist) Zafira until Monday when a loan Octavia became available.

That is a pretty amazing failure! :eek:

That is a pretty amazing failure! :eek:

That is exactly what everyone has said so far.

That and "i've never seen anything like it before"

:eek: that one went big style but glad all is well again and FOC

I've got pics of one that did exactly the same from a while back, done a few since.

Makes me glad that mine is currently still working as it should, as I get closer to 70K miles and then beyond I guess I'll be worrying more.

Have Skoda modified the turbos or changed manufacturer to rectify these problems, what turbo is used on the CR

The looks like the casting failed, which is a pretty big failure, but also one that shouldn't have really made it out of the factory.

Are these things made in the PRC these days?

It's a garrett one as well...

It looks like an oil problem has caused this, or to long an interval between changes.I think 18K is far to long I change mine every 10K

A cab owner has the 140 tdi and he had the same problem

The techy did an oil pressure test for exactly that reason. The car has always been topped up with 507.00 oil and has always consumed oil between services, usually something along the lines of 3-4 litres.

It would only take a microscopic defect in the casing from manufacture for this to eventually happen.

Sorry if this spooks anyone but bear in mind turbos are highly strung components at the best of times. And I couldn't NOT post these pics could I!

Its largely down to the turbos are made as cheaply as possible.

Wow. I'd go with metal fatigue failure as well, rather than something variable service related.

Some people just cant believe engine can go such distances safely, without issue. Many manufacturers shun long service intervals for one reason. More frequent servicing = more £££££££

This is the only reason GM and Ford stick to 10-12k intervals.

It's a garrett one as well...

I change more of them than KKK's.

Does anyone know where these are made?

You'd hope that the things would go under x-ray etc inspection to check for metal defects when cast before assembly, but I'm amazed at how many big failures are happening.

I certainly don't recall the old derv turbos causing these issues and a few pence saved on a casting might make it 100 times more likely to fail, but make (numbers sold * a few pence) more for the manufacturer, which would be quite a lot.

There could also be another possibility, when you go on a hard run and dont let the car idle for a short while after to let the turbo cool down naturally this will also cause this.

I was speaking to Andrew Wood the rally driver and thats what he said to do to prevent early turbo failure

As a general rule the car is allowed to cool down for about 2 or 3 minutes before turning the engine off after a hard run. The oil can cook in the turbo if the heat isn't dissipated.

AFAIK there is no auxiliary cooling system for derv turbos after the engine has stopped.