Turbo gone twice - 2004 A3 2.0TDI

[Nickyboy54]

Hi all,

The turbo on my A3 went when I bought the car at 58,000 miles, Feb 08. Symptoms were a faint whine similar to a police/ambulance siren when I test drove the car, then the inevitable lack of power and also an engine management light. It was replaced with a new but non-audi turbo by the garage that were selling it.

Car has been fine until a month or so ago. Under medium to heavy acceleration I lost turbo power but had no other symptoms. I turned ignition off then car was fine again as soon as I re-started the engine. This has happened a couple of times over a month or so. Then last week, at 92,000 miles, the turbo went again, no noise to speak of and no engine light but plenty of oily white smoke out the back.

Turbo now replaced by warranty company, at an Audi dealer but again not with an original Audi part (they insisted on supplying their own, but it was a new one).

My concern is that with it going twice in 90,000 miles is there something causing it? The AA guy said there could be something starving it of oil but I suspect I'll be able to get better advice from someone on here. If anyone reading this can help, even if it's just an idea, I'd be very grateful.

Cheers,

Nick

[hollow]

2.0 tdi a3 are prone to turbo failure , they used the weak 1749va unit as used on the pd130 .

[flycoops]

Hi. I have an AUDI A3 2.oTDi (2005) and after leaving it the garage for 4 months, the Turbo is cutting out on occassion and I need to pull over and re-start the car. The car has only done 32,000 miles.The Audi dealer said that because it has been garaged for 4 months it may need breaking in again...but it has been a month now.Any ideas - does it need a new turbo or just an oil and oil filter change?Thanks.

[Crasher]

Oil and filter are not going to help. The BKD engine uses an 03G 253 014 H (Garrett 724930-0008) whereas the 130 PD ASZ uses an 03G 253 016 Q (Garrett 720855-0006), two quite different units based on a GT1749V turbo core but I find the one on the ASZ infinitely more reliable, possibly due to its orientation being different but it is difficult to say why they fail so often on the BKD.

[Nickyboy54]

Thanks for posts guys...

Crasher and hollow; are you guys saying that my problem could just be down to bad luck/reliability of the turbos fitted and that there may not actually be anything wrong elsewhere in the engine causing the turbos to blow?

[FUNKYCLIFF]

Hi. I have an AUDI A3 2.oTDi (2005) and after leaving it the garage for 4 months, the Turbo is cutting out on occassion and I need to pull over and re-start the car. The car has only done 32,000 miles.The Audi dealer said that because it has been garaged for 4 months it may need breaking in again...but it has been a month now.Any ideas - does it need a new turbo or just an oil and oil filter change?Thanks.


Is it cutting out when you get to 75-80 miles per hour ??? if so it sounds like the common turbo limp mode problem. I had the same problem with my old A4 tdi se which had a fault code P1557 which turned out to be sticky vanes which my mechanic sorted for me for £30 labour, hopefully it is something like that :D

[Crasher]

Unfortunately the over boost issue on the BKD turbo does not respond to cleaning, the unit has to be replaced.

[flycoops]

My girlfriend says it is cutting out going up hills when accelerating hard (so not at fast speeds necesserily). I'm not a mechanic so is the "over-boost" a unit seperate to the turbo or does the whole turbo need replaced? To both those questions, any idea on cost? Thanks.

[hollow]

its the vnt mechanism that is stuck on the turbo causing the overboost try giving the operating lever fromthe actuator a squirt with wd40 as it enters the turbo housing .

[Crasher]

The boost control ring is integral with the turbo but the problem with these units often goes deeper than just soot in the vane system, the cost varies from £500 ish to £2000 depending on where it is done and how you want it done, i.e. a cheap recon turbo or a genuine VAG exchange unit with a two year warranty.

[flycoops]

Just thinking about this. If the turbo is working the majority of the time and is only cutting out on occassion, does that quantify the turbo as being unserviceable...do they typically do that. Surely if it was broken, it wouldn't work everytime I thrashed the car? I'm wondering why the audi mechanic suggested "breaking the car in again" after it was in the garage for 4 months? Before I garaged the car, there was never once a problem with the turbo...how can it be broken if it hasn't been used if you know what I mean. Thanks guys.

[hollow]

brand new unit from vag is £1280 , but sticking vanes can be released succesfully by partially stripping the turbo and cleaning it , alot of the vnt turbos from the 140 suffer from melted exhaust turbine vanes and vnt mechanisms , so is best stripped to look for this