A couple of months back I managed to "blow" the turbo on my TDI Leon. BTW - I had carried out a 30000 service myself using genuine Seat parts and castrol oil. Therefore technically voiding my warranty. Interestingly, when I complained to Seat that I would not expect a turbo to die at just over 30000 they were happy enought to carry out the repair under warranty, as long as I had the car serviced at the dealership to re-instate the warranty.
But to my question. I was considerably over the national speed limit when this happened. Power faded, I gave her a bit more juice but nothing happened, car continued to slow, dropped from 5th gear to 4th gear, no more power in 4th, loud pop followed by masses of smoke from the exhaust. I knocked the car out of gear (not clever I know) and coasted across onto the hard shoulder.
Leoness bravely towed me home and on giving the motor the once over, I noticed the oil was off the dipstick. Took a guess that the oil seals had gone on the turbo which sucked the oil out of the engine and blew it down the exhaust.....
Dealership had the car for a week they confirmed the turbo had possibly over boosted causing the seals to fail. They replaced the turbo and other parts with new ones. I asked about consequences regards other damage being caused which may only become evident with time. The Service manger stated these would be covered by warranty.
My warranty has now expired and there have been no obvious after effects. Incidentally a number of sensors were replaced during the repair, resolving an un-diagnosed fault I had complained about from new.
Have racked up another 30,000 since, car does not loose oil or behave any way strangely. Any obvious things I should be keeping an eye on as I don't intend to change this motor for a good few years yet.
Leon
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Make sure the oil & filter are changed at specified time.Preferably slighty before turbo`s rely on oil for thier bearings as they don`t have actual bearings.Not that I`m aware of anyway.The oil supply to the spindle to put it simply is the bearings any bad oil or leaving the oil change too long will cause failure off turbo.you may already know this
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Leon - do you *really* do 15,000 a month?
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Hi Leon,
Not quite sure what your question is, really.
I'm the blike who wrote your service book, in the english version.
I thought I explained the need for a particular oil.
This would lubricate your valves etc and also your turbo, possibly a Garrett Air Research model, with bearings not quite as good as possible.
I wrote that, when stationary, you should not just switch off, but should simmer.
Lots of my friends can take over here.
I have 6 days to do so.
Answers, not on a postcard, but here....
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Not a lover of turbo`s but what sean said is right.as far as leave engine running 30 secs to 1 minute after reaching destination.give`s the turbo time to stop and without any chance of spindle running dry.there are other factor`s here but to keep it simple do that.you will notice the difference.ps I know he didn`t say that but that is what you are supposed to do
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Out of interest, which Castrol was it?
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Did not check and had no intention`s The way of running a turbo has always been make sure oil changed regularly.And use best oil on market.within tolerance of manufacturer in my day the oil change was in or around 5/6000 mile`s please correct me if I am wrong here.also you never turn off engine directly after you stop.won`t give turbo time to stop which means spindle is running dry.if wrong here would be gratefull for any correction`s.Do let me know always listening if wrong
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Thanks for your interest folks, however, I think some of the detail has been lost as this thread has evolved.
I stated this happened a couple of months ago, when I checked just how long ago this happened it was in fact 9 months ago. I really do have no concept of time....
I was aware that you should allow the turbo to cool particularly after darting her on a bit. Followed this religiously on the Impreza but must admit I have been a little slack since moving to TDI's.
This problem occurred flat out on a motorway with the speedo showing close on 130Mph (interestingly the max speed according to the tech spec is 180Kph about 112Mph.) Dealer did say the turbo was likely to have "over boosted" hence knackering the oil seals. Could this account for the extra MPH?
After stopping the car and checking the engine I observed that the oil level had dropped off the dipstick. Presumably the engine oil left via the exhaust when the seals failed?
I suppose my question is - as a result of sudden loss of almost all engine oil, what are the other engine parts that may have suffered damage, which would not have been replaced during the repair. By the way, the Turbo unit, Oil Seals and a sensor (cant recall which sensor) were replaced. I asked the dealer about possible damage to the Cat at the time, the service manager said it would still be covered by warranty for a further 30,000 miles.
Am weighing up whether or not to keep this motor once the finance is cleared on her. If this incident has shortened the life of my engine significantly, I will sell her sooner rather than later. There is nothing evident at the moment, hence my question on which areas I should be focussing my observations.
The oil I used to service her with was Castrol GTD Magnatec - specified for use with diesel engines and equivalent to VW 505 - 4.5 litres of it was about £25 from Halfords. All other parts used were genuine Seat parts.
Regards,
Leon
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Losing most of the oil will cause it to run rough.As oil is needed to lubricate and seal the piston rings.As it hasn`t caused any long lasting problem`s you may well be O`K.Just keep an eye on the oil level.
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My understanding is that it is less important to allow the engine to idle for a while after a hard run with a turbo diesel car than it is with a turbo petrol car.
If the turbo gets very hot then the oil that remains in the bearings/seals when the engine shuts off will carbonise (unless it is fully synthetic oil) and cause damage. With a diesel the exhaust gas temperature is a lower and should not carbonise the oil although from what I have read it is recommended to leave it ticking over for a few seconds if you've really been thrashing it. Driving off the motorway and parking up at a service area is enough time to do the trick apprently.
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Tee hee hee! Sorry, I was OK till I read the bit about 130mph on the motorway.
Which part of Germany was this?
No, but seriously. All that has happened is that the wastegate has not opened adequately, the engine has overpressurised the inlet tract, and the oil seals on the turbine rotor have failed, as designed. Something has to give and this is the safest fail-safe option.
Nothing else should have suffered, depending on how far the oil level dropped. 3 pints left would be OK, so don't worry.
They'll have changed the turbo (or seals if you're lucky, or a cheapskate like me), the wastegate sensor, the oil and any gaskets.
Seat "enjoy yourself". Oh yes. Good luck, mate.
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Oh yes, also don't worry about the catalytic converter. Yours is a simple oxidation cat. Nothing fancy like a petrol engine type. Very, very robust.
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Sean and others, many thanks for your input.
BTW I haven't ventured into three figured MPH since, just in case, as my motor is now out of warranty!?!?!
Incidentally I had a good reason (in my eyes a good reason...Doubt the judge would have seen it in the same light) for having the motor on the limit that day, can't go into detail here, but sitting at 70 just wasn't an option ;) Mind you in the end I would have got where I wanted to go quicker and saved the stress and embarrassment of being towed home by Leoness in her TDI Golf.....
Once again thanks all.
Leon
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