My VRS broke down for the first time today. Boo. Its on 145,000 miles (90% motorway) and is well maintained.

I was travelling about 60mph, with the aircon on and a very loud whine started. This would get louder when I pressed the accelerator, but the rev counter would not go above 2000rpm, but the engine sound got louder and the whine got louder and higher pitched.

This happened in or out of gear, there was a loss of power, no smoke

I pulled over and the whining noise would continue when stationary, again in or out of gear, no smoke

After 10 minutes the loud whine stopped, so I drove it down the layby a few times. Whine was gone, but there was a strong smell of clutch-type burning. This slowly went as I left the bonnet open and would not return if I revved the car when stationary.

The engine would idle well, no different from normal. The engine sounded ok when the accelerator was pressed.

AA turned up, said that the engine sounded ok, no leaks, coolant ok, temperature ok, oil ok. AA chap test drove it (was very impressed at the performance!) and said that it certainy drove well, no power loss, no unexpected noises and said that the problem could not be specifically diagnosed.

No warning lights at all

Possibilities discussed were:

Turbo :- possible waste-gate sticking, hence loud noise on revs, not affected by in/out of gear. However, no smoke and the car certainly drives well. However I have noticed that the normal turbo whine, which is normally only audible when the windows are open is a very small amount louder than normal. Even though it still pulls like a train (like it normally does) it "may" be a tiny bit down on acceleration, but that may be may brain playing a trick on me.

Air Con :- aircon was 15 minutes in cooling down to ice cold today (was 25 degrees though), but then worked ok. The whining noise may have been the clutch-type thing sticking, which then released itself (after a burning smell). This now works well and is ice cold again.

Alternator :- AA said unlikely as there was no electrical acrid type smell and all systems working ok

Clutch :- Transmission is working well, no change in "bite" point. Despite doing 145,000 miles, 90% of this is 70mph motorway work.

So now my car seems to be running well again, albiet with a very slightly louder turbo whine (still relatively quiet though), there may be a very slight lack of acceleration (but somehow I don't feel that its a loss of overall engine power, sounds odd I know!).

So does anyone have any ideas on what this could have been?

Also, should I be expecting my turbo to go soon, if it was indeed a turbo related fault. Its not mapped and I doubt that EVERY VAG TDI turbo goes before 150,000 miles, despite the reports on this site.

or same conclusion, but with the clutch?

or same conclusion, but with the aircon?

or something else altogether?

I'm preparing myself for another breakdown somewhere, then a hefty bill.

In terms of the car's worth, I'd throw £1000 at it, as I know its well maintained, I like it a lot and I really don't need to be spending £8k on a replacement car at this time.

Thanks

Edited 24 May, 201214 yr by iamrcb

Could be turbo related.

Sticking vanes?

Clutch release bearing?

Thanks so far, much appreciated. I need some help to keep my VRS running beyond 200,000 miles!

Suggeations we have:

Turbo: Sticking vanes? (I had this on my 52 Toledo SE 110 TDI, but it didn't have the loud whine or smell, just a loss of power) 2x

Clutch: Clutch release bearing? (Clutch certainly feels good now)

I'll add more to the list as they come in. This question is also on Pistonheads.

Edited 24 May, 201214 yr by iamrcb

id go with sticky vanes

id go with sticky vanes

Would this explain the loud whining noise?

Alternator belt?

If you've not detected any clutch slip I'd doubt a problem there. A release bearing would get worse with the pedal down. Dunno, maybe turbo.

Any error codes on the ECU?

Are the oil and water levels OK?

Edited 24 May, 201214 yr by Steve Neate

I would go with air con clutch. Have you used it much this year? Perhaps it was slipping and sorted itself with a little internal heat treatment. May not be fully gassed and not well lubed. It's just a compressor with an electrically operated clutch

I would go with air con clutch. Have you used it much this year? Perhaps it was slipping and sorted itself with a little internal heat treatment. May not be fully gassed and not well lubed. It's just a compressor with an electrically operated clutch

The air con compressor works all the time in the vrs so is always under load. I wouldn't think its anything to do with the workings of that.

Garage has looked at it. They think its the turbo, says there is some play in turbine wheel (my words, not theirs)

I'm not going to drive it, due to the risk of it blowing up and making a mess, so it stays with them until the end of next week. They are a VAG independent garage that I trust and have looked at my car for the last 100k miles.

The big bad news is that its around £1000!

The car isn't worth much (despite running well and being in good nick), but a nice replacement car would be a lot more, so I'm going to have it fixed and run it for at least another 50k miles. I know the rest of it is well maintained, with all consumables fairly new.

The new turbo will be a standard part, I'm not interested in trying to get more performance out of the car, especially when its at this age.

Edited 25 May, 201214 yr by iamrcb

dont worry mate i feel your pain, i had to replace my turbo back in october and cost me 800 notes

I'm guessing that a 04 VRS on 145,000 miles with a whistling turbo isn't worth a great deal.

The only other option is to part-ex it against something newer, but I assume that i'd only be offered a small amount for it, say £2000?

That means i'd need to find £5 to 7k for a replacement car

any opinions on this?

in my opinion, yes 1k is alot of money to replace a turbo but would you rather spend 7-8k or 1k? lol

What about a second hand turbo and DIY it?

i would never put anything like a second hand turbo in my car, what if it blows in 2-3 months time, then hes got the extra cost of getting that one off, getting another turbo and having it fitted, maybe alot of money but i buy new everytime

I'll take the weekend to decide on one of the following.

1) fix it for £1000, keep for at least another year and a half (200k miles) risk is that something else may go.

2) part ex it against something cheap but lower miles, say £2000+px, keep that for two years

3) part ex it for a lower miles nice car, keep that for 4 years minimum, say £6000+px

If I didnt do 30k miles a year I'd get a mk1 Octavia vrs for under £2500

If the car has had every service at a dealer skoda may cover some of the cost

Serviced at a local VAG independent specialist since 40k miles. Not at a main dealer.

I'm starting my research into KEEP vs SELL now.

I want the same car, just a different shape (for a change)

It really doesn't read as being a turbo problem to me.

If it had given up the ghost, I wouldn't expect it to recover and be fine thereafter. Reads more like some sort of brake binding problem...

Only noticeable problem now is the louder turbo noise.

Serviced at a local VAG independent specialist since 40k miles. Not at a main dealer.

I'm starting my research into KEEP vs SELL now.

I want the same car, just a different shape (for a change)

Shame as Skoda have quite often contributed heavily towards replacement turbos, but only with 100% dealer history.

I'm very tempted to fix it.

With new turbos being so expensive what are the alternatives considering that I only "need" it to do another 60k or so miles.

Recon turbo with warranty is going to be a cheaper option.