Turbos letting go - so many lately, why?

[bonesetter]

With reports of so many turbos letting go recently I'm curious to hear the most likely causes, as when mine's sorted out I would like to prevent it happening again

Cheers

[Jonny5ive]

pure coincidence. Around the time mine went (June 2010) there seemed to be loads going too.

just the way it is.

[KenONeill]

Seconded; it's the same thing as buying $model in $colour and suddenly it seems like every other car on the road is one of them (even if it's a Lambourspaghetti Migraino hypercar).

[Brads]

Mine went poof too.

I'm thinking mine was something to do with high oil temps of about 115deg...

Also the fact it was a PD150 turbo running 190~ Bhp

Adam

[AwesomeAl]

There are a few things which can cause the turbo to go. One of the most common causes is oil starvation.

This can often be the unfortunate result of the 'VAG Long-life' service schedule.

We've seen many cars now at 80,000 miles with slight oil pressure issues due to the oil being left so long before having a change. This causes a build up of sludge on the oil pickup pipe in the sump, which reduces the flow of oil and when it comes to changes in oil pressure, Turbos can be incredibly delicate!

Sticking to a Regular service interval every 10k or 12 months is much more ideal and the addition of an Oil Flush solution into your service regime can also help to prevent this a great deal!

Another thing we've seen quite a bit of is a lack of mechanical sympathy. It is unfortunate that quite a few people treat their engine and thus turbo; badly. Thrashing the car from cold and not allowing it to cool down properly once finished driving.

There are any number of other reasons which can cause a turbo to fail, but these seem to be two of the most common causes we've seen.

[bonesetter]

^ That's great info from someone with experience, thanks.

Cool down - yes, some diesel cars have turbo timers, which can be adjusted for time. How long is enough of a cool down? I've heard 30 seconds

Switching off the engine immediately after stopping is something else I've heard. The turbo is still spinning and the engine stops and oil pressure drops to nothing and presto - oil starvation.

Oil flush's scare me

[bonesetter]

A mapped engine will degrade its oil sooner than a std one, right?

Here's a video showing how long a turbo spins for after the engine is turned off

Ok this a turned engine with a masive turbo, but he only blipped the throttle at idle and it still ran on for ages.

Edited 23 September, 2012 by bonesetter

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

No. If two cars are driven the same, a map will not make any difference to how the oil degrades. It`s down to how you drive it to an extent. If you had an unmapped car and ragged it everywhere, and I had a mapped car that gets driven like a granny everywhere i`d suggest you needed an oil change before me.

[bonesetter]

^ I take your point, but those two engines driven the same - let's say in a spirited way (not ragged, or like a granny, but getting a move on sort of thing), the mapped one would need the oil change sooner, no?

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Not as I understand it. If your driving them the same, the same is being asked of both engines, the same wear will occur.

[L33 LHO]

I change my oil every 6 months with out fail, whether ive done 1 mile or 5000 miles

[stuart vrs]

call me modest, i like my engine to at oil temp 90 before i open it out abit, normally that takes at 40mph 4-6 miles, then the a road opens up by then its warmed up i will then put my foot down a little more, i'm on the motorway shortly and up to 50-60mph and in 6th, when i get to my place of work i then wait about a minute or so @ idle then knock it off, oil changes tend to be 10k, which will be reached in a couple of months, am i doing right by this, please advise.

[stregavrs]

^^^^ pretty spot on. I never ever open mine up till its warm and always sit at idle for around 30-60 seconds before turning off. Also as added protection if i given te engine some beans i drive very lightly for around 2 miles just to let things settle again before switching off. Bit anal but i like to look after my engine

[Kiwibacon]

Nailing down the cause of turbo failure first requires an inspection of it and what exactly failed.

For example, if the shaft has broken from fatigue, then it's nothing to do with oil quality. If it coked from too many hot shutdowns, then again more regular oil changes won't help.

[Babs]

Could just be that god hates derv?

[Chorlton]

"Sticking to a Regular service interval every 10k or 12 months is much more ideal and the addition of an Oil Flush solution into your service regime can also help to prevent this a great deal!"

I thought engine flush was never meant to come within 1 mile of a PD engine on pain of death!

[vertrider06]

Just taken my car to garage and they think the turbo is on it's way out :/ only done 67k miles and has FSSH. Remapped around 8k miles ago with no issues. Also i let is warm up before booting and cool down plus only had the camshaft bearings and tappets changed a few months back under warranty.

Smoke seems to come out the exhaust at idle and smokes when driving, never use to do this. Plus my MPG is terrible, no way near as good as it use to be. Was hoping for it to be a boost pipe however it will be inspected tomorrow. Fingers crossed as i can;t afford a turbo replacement

Weird thing is that recently when i boot it i can hear a whine from inside the car, thought it was the speakers to begin with but turned the stereo off and the noise is still there...

[wilsy7]

Regarding the oil thing I doubt even mapped cars will outperform the oil put in these cars. I believe it's worth changing the oil feed pipe if your worried about it.

[bonesetter]

Let's face it VAG turbos are just chocolate.

Since mine went I've read many many reports of turbos on VAG engines letting go, and at low mileage too

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Wouldn't say vag just the KKK's

[Tech1e]

Agreed, KKK ones are crud.

Ive changed a few Garrets on the A4 ASZ engines but no where near the ammount of KKKs. That might be as they are more popular, who knows.

As for the longlife view, maybe. But then Fabia 1 doesnt run variable servicing however neither do SEAT and I changed far far fewer turbos on Leons tha Octavia and Golfs. Again that maybe a popularity thing rather than product but I dont think so.

[AwesomeAl]

As for the longlife view, maybe. But then Fabia 1 doesnt run variable servicing however neither do SEAT and I changed far far fewer turbos on Leons tha Octavia and Golfs. Again that maybe a popularity thing rather than product but I dont think so.

I do apologise. I was speaking in general about my experience surrounding VW / Audi / Seat and Skoda rather than directly relating to Fabia models. Although oddly we have seen a couple of Fabia vRS's on Longlife servicing!

[@Lee]

Could just be that god hates derv?

meh :p

[vRSAnt]

Do all engines use the allegedly poor KKK ?

Just wondered as mines the BLT and I'm approaching 100k and touching firmly on wood, still on 1st turbo, not bad eh ?

What do I do ?

I tend to never do short journeys for a start.

Has reduced a bit lately but still 10miles min and used to be double that each direction, I dont do town car.

Cool down ? Well I didn't even know I had to to start with. Its only something I've started doing moreso the last 50k or so but certainly not in the first life of the turbo.

Drive like a gimmer ? Hardly. I don't tend to do stop/start thrashing but do like to get the car to speed (so maybe getting to speed and staying there even cruising at high speeds doesnt do any harm possibly the opposite), but also don't drive like I've got front cover on the latest lax bowels magazine either. I'm not exactly a full petrol head but there are people on the A roads on my way to work that could attest that I'm certainly no slug

Warm up ? I think I'm less likely to do than the cool down but again have tried to do that moreso the older the turbo gets, allowing a little mechanical sympathy.

I've always serviced the car at the intervals though, with the proper oil. Either myself or dealer or equivalent. Anything more than the recommended I'd consider a waste of oil.

Maybe more luck than judgement perhaps and maybe also a bit about your age and your driving habits too ?

Unmodded by the way (other than EGR 9mm gasket and elephant mod which I consider improvements rather than modifications).

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

All fabia`s had the KKK turbo fitted from factory.

Warm it up, keep the oil fresh & it`ll last as well as you can make it. Cool down isnt really a huge issue on the road, its not often you go from all out flooring it to turning it off in a second. A min or two of gentle driving and it`ll be cool enough to switch off. If you drive like a mini cab driver give it a good thrashing once a week, but I doubt thats an issue for most of use!