Local indie has diagnosed that the Turbo has seized. Car is 5 years old and around 30k miles.
What causes a Turbo to seize?
What measures/steps should he take to prevent a replacement Turbo from suffering the same?
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The only thing that I've heard is to let the car idle for a while to cool the turbo down after spirited driving. But I thought that was an 'old' thing.
There's two turbos on the Merc and I did nothing to take care of them. Perhaps I should have done.
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If it seized because of poor oil flow then it's just a matter of (possibly not a lot of) time until turbo 2.0 goes the same way.
Any decent mechanic should be checking that though.
Sometimes stuff just happens of course.
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Had read some conflicting reports that stop/start can kill turbos for the reason mentioned above ie giving it time to cool. And so folk have had the s/s switched off.
But other reports say do you think that VAG don’t know how to build cars to accommodate s/s and turbos??
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>> But other reports say do you think that VAG don't know how to build cars to accommodate s/s and turbos??
Until the warranty has expired - sure.
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Bobby, what engine has it got? I have a 1.4 Golf Tsi with 37k miles,and before that, had similar in my company GTE, and before that had 70-80k mies on a Golf GTD, all without turbo issues. Before that, I had 4 different TDi diesels,all with no issues and no attention paid to letting them idle before switching off. No comfort to you I know but it might be worth a bit of investigation by the dealer and a bit of Internet research.
I have always used stop start on every car for at least 20 years.
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Sorry just noticed the engine size in the title.
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I'm still wondering whether it's petrol or diesel, did I miss it?
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From what I've read, it's necessary to replace the turbo oil feed pipes in case of any debris in them, give the car an oil change and another after a few hundred miles.
You obviously need to have a look at the turbo to understand why it seized.
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It’s petrol.
The 1.8 GTI version of the Polo
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What causes turbos to fail? Has the entire turbo siezed or just the variable vanes? If the bearings are ok, and it's the vane actuator, Mr Muscle can clean it up and free it sometimes
Causes? Too many miles between oil changes, and EGR
Start Stop is not the cause because the issue was prevalent before that came in, and start stop is mostly in use in non high speed hot turbo bearing simmering scenarios,
Most cars have separate cooling for turbos now
I have been driving turbo cars for 27 years and never had one fail
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Car will be 6 years old in December.
Currently on around 26000 miles.
Has a service history for annual dealer services every December for first 3 years and then my trusted indie for last 2.
Last 2 years it has done 4000 and 5000 miles annually.
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That's pretty low mileage and can be equally bad as high mileage potentially giving the oil a hard time. Oil flow and quality is crucial for turbo longevity. Has the oil been changed at every service?
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I believe the oil has been change at every service.
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>> I believe the oil has been change at every service.
I thought that too, when Idris's fiesta was serviced at 3 years and 15,000 miles by the Ford dealer.
When the change oil light came on 3k miles later, I discovered it hadn't. Because the service schedule says its "oil quality dependent". No idea WTF they charge you for these days.
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>> What measures/steps should he take to prevent a replacement Turbo from suffering the same?
Check the turbo oil supply and drain. Make sure the EGR valve is replaced. Also check the PCV valve, that won't have caused the turbo failure but could also be clogged in a car that has never got properly hot.
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A refurbished and guaranteed turbo from a local turbo specialist is around £1200 for the part.
Depending on finding exact model, there seems to be turbos on eBay for a few hundred from breakers yards.
Worth the risk or stay clear of these?
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Have you found out yet, is the turbo itself knackered or is it the variable vane mechanism.
Turbos can be rebuilt to high standards. breakers yard ones are pot luck, you will get your money back if its cack, but they wont pay the mechanics charges for putting it in and taking it out again.
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Not yet.
Getting my list of questions together to go up and see him shortly.
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duplicate
Last edited by: Bobby on Fri 19 Nov 21 at 16:21
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So been up to speak to the mechanic.
He advised me that he had taken whatever needed removed to access the turbo and it was seized solid. Couldnt turn it. He showed me on a diagram how there are "fans" either side of the main thingy and it was this thingy that is seized solid. Should be able to turn it by hand and it wouldnt budge.
Son says that when it happened he was in town, had moved off from stationary at a roundabout, 1st gear, then 2 nd gear, then into 3rd, heard a whoosh noise which then stopped and then a rattle for a short time and then it stopped. Was able to drive it back home and that is when I took it to end of street and back and knew there was no turbo kicking in.
Can get a brand new OEM Turbo from TPS for £1200 and this includes new pipe and gaskets? Mechanic will keep labour down (as he always does for me). He says the process would be
1. Get new turbo delivered
2. Strip turbo off and fully check it to see if there is anything obvious
3. Check all oil and air pipes, flush through to ensure no contamination etc etc
Then refill etc (car is due a service as well so also do whatever is required for that)
He will not fit the new turbo until he has done all of the above checks and investigations in case something else is thrown into the mix, so to speak.
The local turbo specialist apparently wont take these particular turbos in exchange as apparently they are too difficult to "refurbish" due to the specific design of them.
One last port of call, he has a friend of a friend who works in a VW dealer, to see if there is anything he can do even in the way of discount but I don't hold out any hope for that.
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apologies for double post - keep getiing a "bad gateway" message??
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Although it's low mileage and quite modern, it's still a 6-year-old car so realistically halfway through its useful life. If it were mine, I'd be getting an independent mechanic to source a used unit.
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Apologies if I missed it, but what was the outcome?
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Volkswagen Polo V - 15 1.8 Seized Turbo - No FM2R
