2004 mk5 gt tdi turbo failure how common

[t5psr]

Hi, my brother has brought a mk5 gttdi about 2mths ago its a aug 04 with fvwsh has done 69k and had a major service/cambelt change at 65k, basically the car went into limp mode, he switched it off then restarted and it was fine but came back again, seems worse when on motorway at about 80mph had a diagnostic done by a reputable guy and it came up with fault code 16618 excessive pressure probable wastegate/turbo failure. GUTTED!! price for replacement turbo approx £450+labour have been also told that vw have since done a mod on the later ones and to fit this type it would cost about £1000!!! Is this common for a turbo to fail at this age & mileage? have they done the mod to the later ones because there has been several failures?? We are trying to get some info so we can get onto VW UK and try and get some help from them yes its just out of warranty but this should'nt happen at this mileage his previous mk4 gttdi 130 (98k)had no majos issues any help/advice greatly apprieciated
thanks phil :1zhelp:

[BuyanythingbutaVW]

Phil,

My 55 plate golf gt tdi had a new turbo just under two years old (45,000 miles approx) and was replaced under warranty by VW.

Good luck getting yours done as a goodwill gesture by VW, or at least VW helping out with the cost.

Jamie

[Crasher]

Sticking VNT vanes are common on TDI turbo’s, but they can often be freed off using VAG-COM and tapping the vane actuator rod at the right moment but it needs to be done buy someone who knows what to do.

[mickymunn]

How do you know when it fails? i have an 04 gt tdi and my car goes ok but i get an owling kind of noise if im driving through traffic and at certain revs, have taken it into vw and a technician drove it and told me that its fine?

[BuyanythingbutaVW]

When my turbo 'failed' the car was still running relatively well, but it was very noticeable when the turbo engaged or disengaged. However the main tell tale was that when the turbo kicked in, the turbo sounded like a siren and also whistled.

VW technician said the turbo could have kept going but then it would eventually have failed and the parts could get sucked into the engine. Not sure if the VW technician was winding me up as he sussed my lack of technical knowledge, but after the turbo was replaced the noises didn't exist. Also my fuel economy improved marginally, but not sure if the two where related.

[mickymunn]

Siren? mines like an owling noise, similar?

[Crasher]

The howling/whistling noise is a good sign of failure. I recently serviced seven Octavia 2 2.0TDI 140's that were coming out of taxi use and being retailed and three of them were showing signs of turbo failure indicated by this noise.

[mickymunn]

So what do you suggest i say to vw when i take it in there, sothey dont fob me off and just say that its ok?

thanks

[Crasher]

Whatever you say they will ignore you until it actually fails which may take a while; it is the way warranties work. The only other choice would be to have the turbo replaced, the noise to go away and them present them with the bill. You would have to get someone to acknowledge the nose as being there before you started and the same person to agree the noise has gone/diminished (it is always there to a certain extent) when the job is done. It is possible (using VAG-COM) to generate the noise at an engine ECU pre-determined point so in theory you could even record it before and after but this is all sounding a little stressful for you to set up. Would it be possible to get them to put an identical car besides yours for comparison?

[mickymunn]

They said to me some do it some dont, so if i did drive another same model they have on forecourt they could just tirn around and say so, some have it some dont????

[Crasher]

Do you have an alternative dealer near you.

[mickymunn]

yeah been to both and both say the same, although taking it in on thursday as i get a slight juddering on idle, (slight misfire). will ask them to check it then

[Crasher]

If no codes are stored, the usual reason for the idle judder (if there are no power delivery problems) is the dual mass flywheel breaking up, we call it the DMF shudder.

[mickymunn]

Is that something to do with the clutch, there abouts? should the clutch be replaced aswell?

[Crasher]

It isn't the clutch as such but what the clutch runs on and if a DMF fails it is common sense to replace the clutch and if the clutch goes, we always replace the DMF as they are so much trouble. Other people say they do one without the other and end up with problems, we always replace both and so avoid problems but we do less clutches than other garages as our way costs much more.