Today I think my turbo died :'(

I had noticed a very feint high pitched siren sound a couple of days ago. So very slight it was barely noticeable. Went for a drive today and engine kept going into limp mode at 3k rpm. Engine off/on cured it for a very short while but came back 3 times. Drove home very slowly.

Engine 47k miles. 54 plate. Oil and filter changed 2x year 507.00 spec. Driven gently. 8k miles per year. Rubbish!

Off to dealer tomorrow for bad news :(

Edited 15 May, 201115 yr by Golf-Fiend

8k a year??.. probably the reason for turbo failure.

8k a year??.. probably the reason for turbo failure.

Why could that possibly be the reason for turbo failure???? You have no idea about my driving habits! Useless post. Sorry.

Why could that possibly be the reason for turbo failure???? You have no idea about my driving habits! Useless post. Sorry.

8k averages 23 miles a day in a TDI thats pointless.

At such low miles it could be sticking vanes on the turbo.

But hey my posts are useless.

Surely if the turbo was gone it wouldn't come back to normal at all after an 'off/on'? More likely a sensor or something else?

Surely if the turbo was gone it wouldn't come back to normal at all after an 'off/on'? More likely a sensor or something else?

it would actually, a sticking vane would log an overboost code, causing limp mode, which would reset after turning off and then on again....

Surely you don't have to rack up interstellar mileages to have to keep the turnbo in fine fettle do you ? On all the turbos I've renews it was a case of bearing failure usually causied by poor lubrication ( usually preventative maintenance schedules not being adhered to) I think as long as oil changes are done every 5 k and the vehicle is driven in a way that will ensure ful vane movement regularly I can't see the turbo going down for years ,I'm convinced most of the trouble is from fleet inspired service intervals that do private long term owners no favours

Being the 2ltr 140 tdi Its a good possibility the turbo has gone if so give this link a look as it could save you loads of money

http://www.turbocentreuk.co.uk/

I'm convinced most of the trouble is from fleet inspired service intervals that do private long term owners no favours

yeah I can see it makes a massive difference.....The OP changes the oil every 4k so that blows that theory out of the water.

Ill stick with my 18-20k services thanks The money saved can go towards a turbo IF the turbo goes....

Edited 16 May, 201115 yr by jrw

Today I think my turbo died :'(

I had noticed a very feint high pitched siren sound a couple of days ago. So very slight it was barely noticeable. Went for a drive today and engine kept going into limp mode at 3k rpm. Engine off/on cured it for a very short while but came back 3 times. Drove home very slowly.

Engine 47k miles. 54 plate. Oil and filter changed 2x year 507.00 spec. Driven gently. 8k miles per year. Rubbish!

Off to dealer tomorrow for bad news :(

Welcome to the club. Its a shame these turbos seem to keep failing, lets hope if its sticky vanes that the dealer can sort it without a huge bill however I suspect they will just charge you for a new turbo.

Mine failed at 60k @ 3yrs old and was run on fleet servicing and had only had 2 services, needless to say mine now gets 2 oil changes per year and my annual mileage has dropped from 30k per year to around 7k-10k with approx 1k towing a caravan.

Was the oil feed pipe replaced when the first turbo went?

It should have been and is usually a condition of the warranty that comes with a new turbo.

Car at garage awaiting diagnostics. No CEL or other warning lights?

Definate siren sound from turbo. I believe this sound is from the bearings becoming worn and causing the impeller to rub the casing of the turbo :(

Car always driven gently when cold and the odd thrash when joining the motorway or other fast roads when fully warm and taking the revs up to a healthy 4.5k before changing to try to prevent this problem. Believe me, I've read all the posts/forums/problems about turbos over the last few years and have tried my utmost to drive/service/change oil/filters etc to prevent this very problem.

I think it is just luck/bad luck at the end of the day.

Did notice last week that instead of using no oil at all I had to top up about 250mls? That could be an idication?

Was the oil feed pipe replaced when the first turbo went?

It should have been and is usually a condition of the warranty that comes with a new turbo.

No previous turbo was replaced?

Edited 16 May, 201115 yr by Golf-Fiend

UPDATE:

Car now fixed and back in my hands. Has only taken 10 days! Mostly due to warranty company being extremely slow and inefficient :( However they have agreed to pay for all parts and labour MINUS a very cheeky 10% discount to themselves. Not sure why yet as the contract says 100% parts and labour covered. Will probe them about this as not happy. Also other things like the new oil feed pipe, manifold nuts, paste, clamp are not covered as well as oil change and filter but that was to be expected.

All in all total bill at the dealers was £1500!!! GULP! Fortunately most of this was covered bar £180. Phew!

Interestingly I never new that the turbo on the 2.0 TDi PD engine is incorporated into the whole exhaust manifold and is replaced as one unit. Also interestingly the bore of the exhaust manifold seems very small compared to all the previous non turbo petrol engines I've played with. I guess it is due to exhaust gas flow speed for the turbo.

All in all nice to have the car back.

Full marks to my local Skoda dealers, Platinum in Bath and particularly the service manager Mike who was extremely helpful and efficient, kept me informed and dealt with the warranty company on my behalf. Well done Mike!

Just found this thread & it sounds EXACTLY same kind of issue as I have unfortunatley just experienced!

I've posted a new thread in the Octavia II section of this forum, but here's a copy below.

Incidentally I also do around 8,000 miles per annum, but to suggest that this causes premature turbo failure

is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard! I've also heard that you need to wait until the

engine gets to 90C before using the turbo & when you stop teh car, idle it for 5mins before switching the

engine off to allow the turbo to "run down". THIS IS THE 21st CENTURY! See copy of my other thread below:

I currently own a 2006 Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi PD Ambiente which has only just completed 41,000 miles.

It has a FULL SKODA DEALER service history, the timing belt was replaced at 36,000 miles, everything

has been done EXACTLY as Skoda recommend.

The car has NEVER been thrashed or driven in anger.

I used to regularly get 60mpg over a tank of diesel.

3weeks ago whilst driving home, at a busy motorway junction, I was pulling out onto the roundabout and

suddenly, without any warning, noise or indication the car lost ALL POWER, engine dead, electronics alive,

but no engine, no brakes, no steering!!! It could have killed me!

Fortunately the oncoming vehicles managed to avoid my car and eventually some people pushed me to safety.

I have AA cover, so they assisted but the OBD2 laptop didn't report any engine fault codes whatsoever?

The engine still wouldn't start and some smoke was coming out of the turbo air-intake ducting as the AA

turned the engine over. He couldn't fix it at the roadside, so the car was taken to my nearest Skoda dealer,

the same place it goes for all services, timing belt exchange e.t.c.

After 2 days they diagnosed that:

(i) Turbo seized

(ii) Catastrophic turbo failure - turbine/fans disintegrated

(iii) Metal parts from turbo ended up inside intercooler

Their recommendation, to replace turbo £1200 + intercooler £500.

Cannot guarantee this will completely resolve issue, meatal parts may have reached engine!!

Also THEY ARE UNABLE TO CONFIRM THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE TURBO FAILURE!

Now, given that the car is only 5.5 years old, has only done 41,000 miles and has a FULL SKODA DEALER

SERVICE HISTORY, I would expect that Skoda would take some responsibility for this PREMATURE TURBO FAILURE.

However, they are saying that as the car is out of warranty (only 3 years with Skoda!), they are not

willing to pay anything towards the £1700 repair costs! The car is probably only worth £4000, so basically

it's half the value of the car!

I have heard that this particular Volkswagon Audi Group (VAG) turbo design has a known design fault, but

VAG are not admitting to it. The design fault is this:

The turbo relies entirely on engine oil to spin freely, it has no additional bearings, just oil.

The problem is that engine oil is fed to the turbo via a single braided pipe.

If the turbo is starved of oil for just 1 or 2 seconds it will seize and/or destroy itself.

It is easy to imagine that the likelyhood of this happening is fairly high, just a kink in the pipe,

some oil sludge or air bubbles is all it would take!

THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE! There is no warning at all, then complete loss of engine power, brakes &

steering.

I would like to know if anyone has experienced similar issues with early turbo failure.

I personally would NEVER buy ANY VAG car again!

David.

Or any car that has an engine with a turbo on it? Same difference, David... According to Warranty Direct the Octavia is quite a reliable car with better than average ratings... And the thing most likely to go wrong was electrical rather than engine based...

I can imagine you are angry, as I would be, but to tar all VAG cars with the same brush is a wee bit OTT!

Or any car that has an engine with a turbo on it? Same difference, David... According to Warranty Direct the Octavia is quite a reliable car with better than average ratings... And the thing most likely to go wrong was electrical rather than engine based...

I can imagine you are angry, as I would be, but to tar all VAG cars with the same brush is a wee bit OTT!

Ok, then why so many turbo failures on this forum?

There's even a thread with the title "Another turbo failure", hardly a great advert is it?

Because, like you, a lot of people only browse and post on forums when they have a problem and either need advice or need to vent their anger.

A quick look at any other forum will reveal turbo's are a relative weak point on most cars.

Ok, then why so many turbo failures on this forum?

There's even a thread with the title "Another turbo failure", hardly a great advert is it?

I have had to replace the turbo on mine twice, once under warranty and once out of my own pocket, but when you consider mine has covered 407,000kms I am more than satisfied with the cars reliability. My next car will be a Skoda and as long as they keep producing the best value for money cars available, I will continue to buy them.

I really do think your very low mileage will cause you trouble with any turbo diesel car, they really are not suited to such low use.

Sorry for your troubles.

Ok, then why so many turbo failures on this forum?

There's even a thread with the title "Another turbo failure", hardly a great advert is it?

I had a Nissan 200sx that had premature turbo failure.

my dad has a 55plate Citroen Picasso with only 55k that had terminal turbo-itis.

.....see, its not just VAG cars.

As for warming up / cooling down turbo's, I thought this was common knowledge that turbos are sensitive bits of kit that like to be looked after, but you dont have to be too OCD about it, just be sensible. This isnt VAG specific!

I think you have just been unlucky, these turbos are fairly generic and unfortunately on rare occasions fail early.

If you keep your head, approach Skoda UK with a sensible narrative, they may (big may) look favourably at you and contribute towards the cost of repair.

However, I do not think ranting and raving on this forum will help. In general we love Skodas here, and will usually try to help, and offer a bit of advise if we can.

Ok, then why so many turbo failures on this forum?

There's even a thread with the title "Another turbo failure", hardly a great advert is it?

Compared to the millions of VAG turbo-powered engines that have sold failures are a very small percentage, and in many cases they are not VAG's fault, after-market tuning, for instance, can cause premature failure, as can lack of servicing, both probably more likely than low mileage... and as others have said its not just limited to VAG engines, turbo failures are not that uncommon in petrol or diesel engines, but certainly not as endemic as you seem to think!

Lets get realistic, there are a heck of a lot of complicated parts on a car which are subject to a lot of stresses and strains, no manufacturing industry can guarantee perfection (just ask the Airline industry which probably gets closest!) so from time to time things can break... As said before you have been unlucky, but the fact that there's a post on a forum about it does not mean that its a "common" issue...

I take it you didn't take out a warranty after Skoda's ran out...

Edited 5 September, 201114 yr by The PM

You are indeed correct to point out that " failures " are a tiny percentage of production and it would seem that many are unlucky , misinformed or even left in the dark as to how these products perform under certain conditions as evidenced by the posts on this forum , leading to poor choices .

However , if these incidents are so rare why does the manufacturer not automatically repair them as a goodwill factor ?

Far more diesel Octavias than should , are now liable to suffer at least one of three major problems , DMF , turbo and ABS ( Teves 60 ) relatively early in their life . Being retired there is no way that I can play this lottery again when I come to renew my car , which is a shame for I have loved the 4*4 estates and indeed ordered my first one in October 2000 six months before they came to this country .

Homework on the achilles heels of modern cars is going to mandatory , rather than time previously spent on drooling over the standard and options list of a new car .

Steve W

Compared to the millions of VAG turbo-powered engines that have sold failures are a very small percentage, and in many cases they are not VAG's fault, after-market tuning, for instance, can cause premature failure, as can lack of servicing, both probably more likely than low mileage... and as others have said its not just limited to VAG engines, turbo failures are not that uncommon in petrol or diesel engines, but certainly not as endemic as you seem to think!

Lets get realistic, there are a heck of a lot of complicated parts on a car which are subject to a lot of stresses and strains, no manufacturing industry can guarantee perfection (just ask the Airline industry which probably gets closest!) so from time to time things can break... As said before you have been unlucky, but the fact that there's a post on a forum about it does not mean that its a "common" issue...

I take it you didn't take out a warranty after Skoda's ran out...

However , if these incidents are so rare why does the manufacturer not automatically repair them as a goodwill factor ?

Not sure where you're coming from on that. Steve... Are you suggesting that if any fault happens on any car, no matter how rare, the manufacturer should repair them?

The manufacturers already do provide a repair/goodwill payment if its proven its a manufacturing fault... It can be difficult to get it in some cases as the manufacturers have to ensure that they aren't being "taken for a ride" by the owner who may have messed up themselves and are trying it on, especially when the car is an older one and out of warranty... I'd expect that to happen, after all if you or I were in business we'd do the same thing... But evidence on here would suggest that goodwill payments are not that uncommon, for that ABS fault for a start...

Homework on the achilles heels of modern cars is going to mandatory

I'd hope for secondhand cars out of warranty it already is... There are companies who do Warranties for cars which are out of their manufacturer's warranty period... Like all insurance policies you either take the risk and buy one or you save the money and hope for the best, its your choice...

However I still feel that the "turbo" issue is being blown out of all proportion, yes they do fail, but quite rarely and that is reflected in the cost of a warranty, for instance on my TDi, would cost me less than £200 including cover for the turbo... If it was as endemic as some people say that cost would be a lot higher...

Just a general question - Where is evidence that low mileage cars suffer more turbo failures, btw? Apart from hearsay, that is! Bear in mind that not all low mileage is the same... someone may do a 2 mile commute most days and only 8k a year but someone else could do a regular long distance thrash and cover the same mileage... another generalization, perhaps?

Edited 5 September, 201114 yr by The PM