Advice once new turbo fitted

[Tony_Essex]

Ok having a new turbo fitted to my 2.0TDI passat, today, thankfully under warranty :-) due to build up of carbon on the vanes which resulted in overboost when lifting off following acceleration, and the dreaded limp mode. The car has only done 35000 so i am somewhat surprised.

So my question is how do I minimise the risk of carbon build up in the turbo in future?...because next time I expect I will be paying for it.

FYI..only purchased the car a few weeks ago, had it for 5 days. since then it has been at dealers because of this problem... So realling looking forward to picking it up...strangely the polo isn't quite as comfy as I am 6'3.

[james_tiger_woo]

Perhaps it needs to be "cooled" when you've done a run - when you finish a journey, take a few moments (a minute or so) to idle the car to let the oil in the turbo to cool a bit before turning off.

It's what I do anyway...

(Waits to be corrected)

[Tony_Essex]

Yes that could help.. I certainly did the same with the Seat leon cupra I used to own as the turbo got very hot. Diesel turbos should run cooler, but I agree if you don't let them cool down then there can be problems.

I was wondering if build up was due to too many short journeys or too much hard acceleration?

Hard acceleration in a diesel causes more smoke, and hence more carbon to stick to your turbo...

Too short journeys dont allow components to clean up properly after startup.

I guess I could simply never drive it, then I would never get this problem

If someone has managed 80000 miles plus without a turbo change,please tell me what sort of driving they do, as that may answer my question.

[james_tiger_woo]

My Passat had 73k and never missed a beat - mostly motorway driving though and I didn't do hard acceleration that often. I always avoided short journeys though as I hated the thought of not warming the car up properly...

[Tony_Essex]

Thanks James....I think I'll use my wifes C-max for short journeys then

[james_tiger_woo]

Thanks James....I think I'll use my wifes C-max for short journeys then

Quite right - I use the OH's Honda Jazz for that very purpose too

[barryareef]

The importance of the correct stop/start procedure cannot be overstressed.

Turbochargers spin at speeds of up to 250,00 RPM.

During operation the turbocharger bearings are constantly fed with regulary changed cooled oil.

As the engine idles at the end of a journey it is still feeding the turbocharger cool oil as the turbo slows down and cools, if you just turn the engine off it gets hot and carbonises some of the oil which results in the eveentual build up of carbon.

Most VNT units can be dismantled and cleaned. However you should let an experienced turbo reconditioners do this for you as once reassembled it will need to be balanced.

[Tony_Essex]

Thanks Barry...I will take care to let the turbo cool..and not just switch off. Obviously the previous owners were slightly less careful.