Hi,

Car details: Belgian car from 2005 (Furby VRS), mapped on rolling road to approx. 175bhp.

Car has done 80k miles, always dealer serviced.

Was driving on the motorway at NSL (120 km/h = +- 75mph) whilst passing a lorry, when I saw a car gaining on me at some speed (hard to judge quite how fast). I decide to accelerate a bit to let him pass without needing to slow down lots - thinking this was safer than the driver maybe getting annoyed. Someone in a hurry = let them pass.

I did not floor it, maybe 50% throttle, when a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) white cloud comes out of the exhaust........a bit of quick thinking: cluth, hazards, look for the safest escape route (let truck pass inside me) and onto the hard shoulder.

Engine off, put on lovely bright yellow safety vest and check the car: no oil or water under the car, plenty of coolant, oil fine... must be turbo.

Got towed away and am hoping to get it sorted through the remaining warranty (my dealer knows about the mapping and is willing to help me out... ).

Now: I have always looked after my car in the sense that I let the engine warm up gently, and after a harder drive, let the car run a few mins to let the turbo get oiled and cool down. In the 80k miles, I have driven fast a lot of the time (live next to German border), so did I just wear out the turbo? The map has been on for about 40k miles... Am not a boy racer (am 32), but like to use the in gear surge a lot .

So hope to get it sorted cheap as I am buying a house tomorrow . Gf was fine with the turbo blowing . Had to use my motorbike to get to work - not really a chore neither, shame about the rain.

If I get it sorted, I'll go back to the standard map me thinks.

Anyway, no moral to the story...just wanted to share....

It might be a simple as the pipe blowing off. They are very common.

It might be a simple as the pipe blowing off. They are very common.

Would that result in white smoke? Thought that was always black smoke (as there's suddenly very little air)?

Chris

Should we start a poll.

Whos not blown a fabia turbo.

Whos not blown a fabia turbo.

Am I the only one who hasn't?! :eek: Must be my pipe and slippers driving

Chris

Am I the only one who hasn't?! :eek: Must be my pipe and slippers driving

Chris

And me. IAM driving really slower nowadays

Ive blown 2 in the last 2 years one on my furby and one on my polo 1.4 tdi.:(

Mine went but replaced with something nicer

Excessive boost and not letting it cool down after a run are reasons for premature turbo failure. Also not changing the oil often too, resulting in gunky deposits in the feed pipes and thus starving the turbo of oil can kill it.

IMO, a map is definitely going to add extra strain to a turbo and wear it out quicker as the levels of boost it produces are above normal.

Another problem with variable vane turbo's is not using them enough, which can lead to the vanes sticking. Would be interesting to find out if the failed turbos were all linked to oil starvation or if there is another problem with the turbo itself.

Chris

i think its just the kkk unit thats rubbish. the mechanic at the dealer said that they had been swapping alot of vrs turbos latley.

Once mines out of warrenty bring on the hybrid! or might even just get a garret gt1749vb off the pd150/160.

It might be a simple as the pipe blowing off. They are very common.

Can u get an upgraded/uprates pipe to try and prevent this? It would seem that this is very common so preventing it happening in the first place would save alot of hassle. I assume that if your car is remapped then the chances of the boost hose coming off are greater due to the greater pressure

Thanks

Mark

Once mines out of warrenty bring on the hybrid! or might even just get a garret gt1749vb off the pd150/160.

Is this a straight swap?

Can u get an upgraded/uprates pipe to try and prevent this? It would seem that this is very common so preventing it happening in the first place would save alot of hassle. I assume that if your car is remapped then the chances of the boost hose coming off are greater due to the greater pressure

Not sure if it's the pipe at fault or the jubilee clips? I'd suspect the clips and look at getting stronger ones

Chris

Is this a straight swap?

Not quite some of the hybrids are straight swaps, but iirc the gt1749vb needs rotating on its manifold before being fitted to the fabia?

The car would also need a custom map and fmic to make use of the turbo.

Jesus that was quick. Thanks to ya both :thumbup:

Mark

I've not blown mine yet!

Where there any warning signs?

this seems very common on the Fabia vRS, maybe tuners are pushing them too far with the remaps?

Nope, no signs...

Car was driving perfectly up to that exact point (no extra whistling, other noise, same power output). I accelerated and then just smoke.......

The car did go into safe mode twice months before, but I read on here that can happen (turbo pressure too high).

But I do agree that maybe tuners are pushing things a bit (but, it was me who was after a nice power output....), then again, that's what we are after I suppose.

Shame, car has been absolutely perfect since the start for the rest. All my fault....

Ive blown 2 in the last 2 years one on my furby and one on my polo 1.4 tdi.:(

Crikey. I've blown none, despite having:

Ibiza TDI 90

A3 TDI 110

Fabia vRS

Polo 1.4TDI (and driving that one like a hire car).

Another problem with variable vane turbo's is not using them enough, which can lead to the vanes sticking. Would be interesting to find out if the failed turbos were all linked to oil starvation or if there is another problem with the turbo itself.

Chris

That's been a problem with VNT turbos all along. I've never had any problem though, but I use the boost, and with my A3 I used to work the VNT mechanism back and forth while underneath cahnging the oil.

Some people on TDIClub have had success stripping the turbo and cleaning the vane mechanism, but Turbo Technics reckon that's a no-no due to calibration.

A chap on audi-sport.net had sticking vanes at 140K miles- apparently the oild seals were going, and the oil/soot sludge jammed the vanes, so he kept getting an overboost error.

Mine went during normal overtaking. When Skoda looked they said it was oil starvation, but when it was removed by APS the impeller shaft (if that's what it's called) was snapped in half and they were weary about it being oil starvation but oh well that was the past, hybrids are the future. I also regularly check my oil levels and it hasn't dropped in the last near on 3k miles which is good.

I reckon it's just the pipe. The sign a turbo has gone big time usually involves a large amount of mechanical grinding, A simple billowing of smoke without any audible clues usually points to popped intercooler hose somewhere (hence lack of boost, and sudden lack of power & lots of smoke) - Never had one pop on mine but then I use clips rated to 8 bar on my system.

when the turbo went on my 1.8T it made a horrible high pitch whine and had unreliable power at times as well as a slight dip compared to normal, no smoke though.

On Johns car his turbo had gone and it simply dumped a lot of oil into the IC and was low on power. Also he had 'boosting'.....the cars revs varying when holding the throttle steady and you could hear the turbo spooling up and down.

I agree with the above - a sudden drop in power and lots of smoke suggests a pipe has come off due to the clips being weak.