Hi all,

Ocy 110 tdi with bad oil leak which looks like its coming from the bearing housing

on the turbo. Its done 190000 miles and just had a new head gasket fitted which

is not right as the car is using water and there is a few whisps of

oil in the water, when the gasket first blew it was pressurising the water system,

the head had been skimmed and pressure tested, but thats down to the garage

to put right.

My main consern is the turbo. Is it repairable or could there be some other reason

for the leak ? would it need a new unit.

If a new unit is needed could I upgrade to a PD 130/150 unit, if so would it be

worth the upgrade, the car has been remapped to about 135 ish and has a

green panel filter.

Main consern is oil leak though.

Cheers Keith.

Well if your head gasket went before, it's very probably that the turbo has been damaged aswell.

Firstly due to the fact that if water has got into the oil system, that water will have also have gotten into the bearing housing possibly damaging the contact surfaces.

Also if the oil level got severly low due to the gasket blowing, the turbo may have been starved of oil and damaged the bearings.

The other thing that kills turbos is a pressurised sump. If for some reason the breather hose on the engine is blocked, for example by oily deposits from thousands of miles of use, the crank case will become pressurised. This high pressure oil will force itself out of the bearing housing and into either the turbine or compressor housings. Causing a leak, and eventually destroying the compressor/turbine wheels.

You may still be able to save the turbo if it isn't too late already. You'll need to either take it off, or get a good look at it anyway. Don't let anyone strip the turbo to clean it though!

Check the BTN website for prices on a service repair replacement. You can also download their catalogue, which tells you all you need to know about the turbo unit. Is your turbo water cooled like the ones on the vRS's?

Right you have a Garrett GT1749V Turbo which is aircooled by the looks of things.

Unfortunately its gonna cost you either £566 or £611, depending upon what year your car is, to replace it.

Fingers crossed you can save it mate!

Get it checked by a turbo specialist.

The PD130 uses the same turbo as yours by the way.

Thanks for the advice i will get it checked out and see how we go.