Right.. Have searched but on phone in services waiting for the m1 to free up a bit..

Anyway, my turbo's developed a new noise. Over the last 4 year's and 50k the whistle has slowly and predictably got louder.. Nothing unusual there..

But, very recently it's become more of a hair dryier sounding buzz? Behaves like the whistle.. Once it's warm it goes back to being a whistle as always... No smoke, no power loss..

Got a vid I'll link later. I'm dreading it being the bearing.. It's the only thing I can see the heat helping to settle down as it expands and the oil flows.

Thoughts. Done 85k.

Taa.

Edited 28 October, 201213 yr by Rob.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31259304@N05/8132371108/

Here.. it's on the down spool.. sorry, vids not great but you can make the noise out..

Might be the dreaded 'police siren' noise which is a sign the blower is reaching it's last legs. Was the engine cold it sounds pretty noisy?

Stone cold mate.. 1st start in 3 days.. 1'c.. and the vid makes it sound rougher than it is..

The only thing that I don't get is the fact it goes away when warm... if it were impeller damage, surely it'd be constant.. which is why I'm worried about the bearing..

On the plus side... it jumped to life!

Ok that explains the harshness sound to the engine, you shouldn't be revving with a stone cold motor! tut tut..... lol

My turbo is noisier when it's cold and once warm is just sounds like the normal whistle - I've had four PD 1.9's (one was PD 100) and the turbo noise always seems more pronounced on these motors, 130 especially.

Might be the dreaded 'police siren' noise which is a sign the blower is reaching it's last legs. Was the engine cold it sounds pretty noisy?

I do get the police siren noise, but checked my turbo about a week ago and it felt solid. No excessive play in bearings/impeller and very little oil in all the boost pipes.

What makes you say its on its "last legs" when you get this noise?

Thanks

Yeah.. I know cold revving's bad.. not my normal style, honest.. Just a rare occurrence for demonstration purposes..

It would whistle before when cold.. it's just there's been a definite change.. the noise has suddenly got wheezey/buzzy...

I thought maybe it'd sucked summat in.... but that wouldn't go away when warm.

It's due a big service and belt so I guess I'll get it checked out by the boys at Browns.. sigh... This service is getting huge.. it already needs a battery, ARB bushes and most probably brake fluid.

Edited 28 October, 201213 yr by Rob.

The police siren is used as a common example which may be an indicator that the turbo is poorly, but this doesn't mean it's going to fail instantly or in X amount of time/miles. As mentioned above upon cold starts mine is louder and I suppose you could say you can hear a siren noise mainly in 1st/2nd gears - this fades once the engine is warm. Oil in the boost pipes isn't uncommon either and I wouldn't automatically associate that with turbo failure.

Edited 28 October, 201213 yr by VRSD30

I thought that noise was pretty normal?

I get that noise, and also a slight whistle at a very specific point in the rev range, just after 2k rpm. The whistle disappears as soon as you go under or over a certain point in the revs. I don't remember it doing this a few years ago.

Mine started doing this about 18 months ago (about 40k miles). As you say, it goes away once warmed up. Mine only seems to do it when the weather is over about 8°C but when it's colder it doesn't do it.

I had a dig around on the forums and sent a couple of PM's to other members, and they seemed to say it's not something to worry about too much. One guy said his started at about 40k miles and he has at about 120k miles and it was still going (plus he had it remapped at about 50K miles too). I've noticed quite a few VW TDI's doing this as they drive past so I wouldn't worry too much yet.

I think it could be caused by carbon buildup in the turbo that just touches the impellor blades when the turbo is cold and the oil pressure not quite up to full. The bearing relies on oil pressure to help support the impellor shaft I think. It's just an idea, but mine only does it intermitently so I think it's the likely cause. I found that using the Skoda supplied oil (Quantum) seems to reduce the noise somewhat.

Take it as just a sign of the turbo getting a bit older but just keep an eye (an ear actually!) on it in case it gets worse. Mine's 18 months on and not getting any worse. Hopefully the turbo will give some warning of a potential failure rather than just going bang. At least that way you get chance to replace the turbo before it explodes and puts metal bits into the pipework.

I have a local turbo supplier that can get a standard Garret for £495 plus vat and uses a local garage to fit for £200. The Garrett's are meant to be stronger than the standard fit KKK's but need 'clocking' to fit the Fabia (part of the turbo body rotating so that the ports line up).

Mine sounded the same as your but got louder over a few weeks, decided to get it checked out and turbo technics inspected my turbo.

Barings were going so it has a full recon and now the noise has stopped

If ya don't mind me asking.. how much did that set you back? And was it all the time or only when cold on your turbo?

Edited 29 October, 201213 yr by Rob.

Mine has sounded like this since I got it at 61000 miles and its now 76000 with no problems, I think it's a very normal noise.

My pd100 sounds almost identical to that. Thought it was normal. Also the Mrs's seat ibiza sounds the same, although not quite as loud as mine. Although hers has done half the mileage.

Edited 29 October, 201213 yr by Medivac

Well mine sounded like that when i had the egr deleted from software. It bugged me so much i flashed back to a non erg deleted map and it no longer makes that sound spooling down. I do however have a faint siren sound for about 60 sec's when driving off from cold then it goes away, Has done this from around 52k.. Can a egr delete damage the turbo?. More input from others would be nice as that 'OWL' sound seems rather common after searching round a few forums.

Edited 31 October, 201213 yr by RAPTURE

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/224323-suspected-turbo-failure/

Same sound here, come on people, turbo dying, leak, or bad maf?.

Well that could be interesting for me! I've just replaced the turbo and all pipes around the intercooler and turbo.

So what could this noise possibly be? Can't afford to replace another turbo!!

Well after speaking to Turbo Dynamics they reckon this noise is the impellars. Apparently a way to test it is by taking off the intake pipe and seeing if there's movement inside the turbo.

If there is movement inside the turbo, I'm assuming it means either:

1. I have a faulty turbo

2. Bits travelled around the system when the last turbo popped and the garage didn't clean it properly or

3. Something has travelled into the turbo from when the pipes were split

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's time to sell the Fabia as I've spent far too much money on this car. If I take the turbo off and send it back under warranty, it makes me wonder if they'll blame it on something getting into it, which will set me back another turbo cost!!

If you have any other thoughts or recommendations, it would be much appreciated, as this'll be decision time on keeping the car.

It was done under warranty but i think the cost was just over 1k for all the work to be done.

Mine was only making that noise when it was spooling back down after boost

Edited 12 November, 201213 yr by Jon_woo

The problem is this turbo is only approx 8 weeks old, so I can't see them doing it under warranty if a blade is bent! Think they will use the excuse that the garage didn't clean the system properly, so I probably won't be covered!! So it'll be a £2k jobby, by the time I've finished :(

Maybe time for a garrett upgrade, hmm anyone know if this would fit ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/01-05-AUDI-A4-1-9-130HP-TURBOCHARGER-TURBO-GT1749V-/110585794465?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item19bf6d4fa1

only closer inspection i can't see Garrett written on the body of the Turbo so im asuming this is not a genuine Garrett turbo?.

only closer inspection i can't see Garrett written on the body of the Turbo so im asuming this is not a genuine Garrett turbo?.

Where did you purchase your turbo?

I'm slightly concerned about mine now!

Edited 14 November, 201213 yr by Mounty

I have not replaced it yet , mine only does it faintly from cold then goes away. If it gets louder then i will replace it.

I have not replaced it yet , mine only does it faintly from cold then goes away. If it gets louder then i will replace it.

Ah, no worries.

Mine's making that noise all the time, up to about 2000 rpm and then can't be heard after this. Maybe that's due to road noise and rattles inside the car etc!

All my mates keep saying is, 'stop looking on that forum, it's not helping you'! But when you see and hear of it being a sign of the turbo going, then you want to know the facts. I've also got OCD from when the first turbo popped, so that won't be helping my situation!!

Edited 14 November, 201213 yr by Mounty