BRE Engine, sticking turbo vanes - Where to apply Mr Muscle?

[captainchoas]

Getting occasional overboost limp mode problems around 3000 - 4000 rpm, it's also a bit gutless at low revs. Been reliably informed that it's likely sticking vanes in the turbo. One option is to take the turbo off and clean it, which is a bitch of a job, the other is to get a can of Mr Muscle oven cleaner (Sodium Hydroxide foam) and a silicon tube and squirt it into the hot side of the turbo (after taking the EGR valve pipe off), leave to bake for 30 mins and then start it up and take it for a decent run.

Decided on the later option.. Thought I knew what to do, however after taking the engine cover off, not so sure anymore. (the pictures I have seen are for B6 and B5 based cars, and now I am scratching my head!!)

Can someone direct me to the what I need to remove, and where to squirt. Here are some pics of my engine bay.

Many Thanks.

IMG_20150725_094845.jpg IMG_20150725_094855.jpg IMG_20150725_094904.jpg

[Gazwould]

Bottom of a removed egr pipe , middle pic , do on a cold engine only .

[captainchoas]

Here????

Untitled.jpg

If so I am guessing airbox out, and I should be able to see those two bolts, remove the EGR mounting bolts and lift it off?

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated!

[Gazwould]

Yes .

Remove, yes, to make it easier .

Wiggle turbo actuator rod every 15 mins .

[captainchoas]

Many thanks. Totally clear now. Just took airbox off and soaked bolts in WD40, will leave it an hour and then tackle the job...

[Doctle Odd]

Or you could use the Mr muscle on your oven, take the turbo off and clean it properly

[zollaf]

if you had ever stripped a vnt turbo then you would know that the cleaner won't get to the bits that need to be cleaned. first off, how reliably have you been informed, what computer did they use and what fault code was flagged up.

[captainchoas]

The original fault code:

Pending Fault Log
------------------
P0234: Turbo/Super Charger Overboost Condition

I did strip the turbo on my old Passat and cleaned it, and it lasted for the duration of that cars ownership, I also know it was a fair amount of work to get it out, at this particular point I can't afford that time and effort (and risk of something going wrong), as it is, this seems to have fixed it, it only took an hour, and if it only lasts 3 months before it comes back, then I will do the full turbo off job, if it lasts a year, then it's good enough to be part of the cars annual service.

The tips I can offer others, is take the EGR manifold off (5x spine-head screws), then it's a doddle to lift up the egr and get the tube in. Make sure the tube goes downwards into the turbo. Bung the hole (I used my nitrex glove). It's also easier if you also the plastic turbo pipe off the inlet side, you can get to the actuator easier, and manipulate it with a 13mm spanner. It also means you can turn the inlet side of the turbo, which will move the foam around in the outlet side.

I left it an hour, and then reassembled everything with the foam still in there, so it was about 90 minutes in total before I started it back up and took it for a run. It's made a hell of a difference. Will it last? Who knows, but for £3 outlay it's a good start, and I know a bit more about where everything is, if it comes to taking the turbo off entirely and cleaning it up. (I gave all the screws in there a good soaking of WD40 just in case I am taking it all apart again in a month's time)

IMG_20150725_125906.jpg

[zollaf]

the foam has probably done nothing, working the actuator has probably just freed it up enough to work. funnily enough i had a merc vito in last week with the same problem. starting the engine caused a small movement of the actuator, as did removing the vac pipe. i decided to work the actautor by hand and thats when i found the pin between the actuator and the rod had siezed, so couldn't turn, thus restricted the movement. it took a while to free it off but the fault was gone.

[captainchoas]

Sorta related, I have an ELM327 based Bluetooth scanner and Torque Pro for Android, I was trying to log commanded boost and measured boost, but didn't see it listed. Anyone know it it's possible to do such a thing with a cheapo-scanner?

I was hoping to get before and after logs out of it, but I guess the moment has gone. Still would be nice to know if it's possible to set it to log data, so it's clear to see something like a stuck VNT actuator.

My car in on 107k at the moment, will update this post in future if/when it starts playing up, as a gauge of how effective it was.