2000 GLX Estate 1.9 Turbo

[matt04]

The local skoda workshop claims that my car is non responsive because the Turbo has packed up and requires a new one. They say this is because the fins have seized. Can someone please help me verify if this is correct and. They have quoted £ 900/- for doing the job inclusive of the cost of a new turbo.
Many thanks for your help.

[chrisvrscrx]

The fins as they say vains they are called. The vains get clogged up with soot and dirt etc that causes them to sick open or closed causing them to over or under boost. what are your syptoms, milleage etc?

[matt04]

Thanks for engaging with my question.
I get very good mileage - upto 53 mpg.
The only symptom is loss of power. On a flat road the max speed I get is 75 mph and on a very slight slope it drops down to 50 mph.

[chrisvrscrx]

Sorry I mean how many miles has the car done.

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=9209&highlight=turbo+problems

Look at this thread this is what happened to my turbo.

[matt04]

The car has done 87,000 miles. Cambelt change was done at 60,000 miles and servicing is done every 15,000 miles. The acceleration is very poor.

I looked at the thread you pointed to. Wonder what you finally ended up doing since it stops abruptly.

[NICK H]

If it is a turbo problem speak to A.R. Turbo.They sorted mine when I had similar problems.I too was quoted silly money for a replacement and it was completely unnessasary.They replaced the VNT section as this was the defective part,the actual turbo itself was fine.Good company,knowledgable staff,and a relatively cheap fix.

http://www.arturbo.co.uk/

[greg123]

Take to a garage or if you want to do it yourself there is a guide on tdiclub.com about removing the turbo and cleaning up the vnt. HOWEVER, run an output test from vag-com to isolate if the n75 and the vnt is operating, it could easily be the car in limp home mode - so do a full fault code scan. This is the procedure I use to isolate what the issue can be. I have a customer's elegance which has a perfectly functioning vanes but gets no boost/power over about 2,200rpm due to 'overboost' sensing and then going into limp home. This is very different to vnt vanes seized in a fully open position. This turbo is fine, so it will be inlet manifold plugged, n75 or the vacuum lines most likely causing the issue - I have a load of silicone line in for the vacuum lines (a good upgrade) and hope to have the car in next week to fix it.

If it is the vanes on the turbo it doesn't need a new turbo. If it's the vanes best way to avoid the problem is to disable egr (though there are issues for this) and drive the car hard regularly and try not to short shift (changing gear too early). Ideally you regularly want a bit of throttle and to be changing gear round 3,000rpm. This allows the turbo vanes to be 'worked' to modulate boost, not sit in one position at low engine speeds and therefore seize up.

Greg.

[Rob G]

I had a period where I had poor performance above about 2,200 revs on my similar model, and feared it was the turbo. Mileage was OK and low rev performance was OK but then there was a brick wall and symptoms much as you say.

I replaced the Mass Air Sensor ( easy to do and about £60) and that was the cure. The hot wire gets pollen etc on it and develops a skin which reduces it's effectiveness.

Rob