Turbo whistle

[tdi_will]

Hi Ladies & Gents,

I have a Seat Ibiza 1.9 TDI sport on a 51 plate, and a problem thats getting worse!

Especially when the cars cold my turbo is making a whistling noise people keep asking me if its a wastegate its the only way to describe the noise, when accellerating through the gears and the turbo comes on boost the whole car shudders and it makes the funny whistle noise (my boost gauge goes up and down) then when changing gears it makes a 'whichhhh cha chaa' kinda noise! then same again it only happens when im on boost so its definetly the turbo.

could it be a leak? or is my turbo on the way out after 90800 miles..

Any advice much appreciated!

 

[benuk]

I wonder if the boost gauge going up and down points to a loss of pressure caused by a leak somewhere along the intercooling piping? Are you getting more smoke than normal?

 

[sssstew]

if its a leak it would be consistent and you would see other factors, like more spoke and a whoosing noise generally. VAG COM log would confirm what the boost was doing at the time.

What sort of RPM is it doing it at? and is it when foot flat down or not?

 

[tdi_will]

No its not generally smoking more, it tends to happen when the turbo is working, so 1500rpm.

And as i said im getting the wastegate noise when letting off the accelerator and when going through the gears, its not when i have my foot down i can be driving like a granny and i get it! when i boot it it doesnt tend to happen as much.

To me it seems like a leak, i think i have the original vaccum hosing on maybe its worth changing that?

 

[willives]

That noise when you lift off sounds like the turbo releasing the excess pressure. These TDI's use a variable vane turbo and don't have wastegates.

I think they all make that noise, mine certainly does. With a straight-through exhaust its really loud. The more boost produced the louder it is, but even slightly accelerating and lifting off it does it.

The turbo whistle is fairly loud on mine as well.

Its been like it for the last 30'000 miles, so I don't think its a problem.

 

[S3 AKR]

Mine did something which I think is similar - a while back I found one of the hoses into the intercooler was not seated correctly and it was leaking. As it boosted it whistled more, and when lifting off it sounded like a DV. Replaced the hose and clip and its been OK since.

 

[Morley86]

Mine did something which I think is similar - a while back I found one of the hoses into the intercooler was not seated correctly and it was leaking. As it boosted it whistled more, and when lifting off it sounded like a DV. Replaced the hose and clip and its been OK since.

dude - where did you get the clip from! the clip on the hose connecting the bottom right (if you're looking at the front of the car (its the long flat intercooler mounted just in front of the main radiator - code '1j0 145 803 h')) of my intercooler has snapped and i just cant find the replacement anywhere! i dont know the product code to ask for it directly and seat seem to think my car has a compact intercooler, plus their system is **** and iv ordered one of each of all the clips that supposedly go on my car and none of them fit. its pissing me right off now cos i cant drive it! its jumping around like crazy.

please let me know where you got the clip from, if it comes with the hose, seperately, or with the intercooler and if you have the part number that would be fantasic! alternatively, if anyone has a spare, i would gladly take it off your hands!

cheers

 

[sssstew]

how is the car driving otherwise, performing ok or quite laggy?

I had a similar sort of thing when a vacuum pipe was left off the reservoir once, so your right about talking about vacuum pipes maybe. Mine was really laggy though so thats how i new something was wrong, it was straight after some work was done on the car.

 

[tdi_will]

Its performing ok, a little laggy like its not getting full boost almost..

It is jumping about all over the place when i have the problem, although it hasnt been so bad the past few days, i can only think because its warmer??

I did notice when doing some work on my car, the rubber pipe into the turbo (bottom) doesnt seem to sit quite flush although its really tight, is this worth trying to take off and fit back on, as its only the case of a few mm?

Willives - its not only when i lift off, its when accellerating the whole car jerks and i seem to be getting a loss in pressure as the boost gauge dips aswell! Its so hard to describe without actually showing some one and its almost impossible to get a sound clip as it only does it when im driving!!

 

[sssstew]

yeah i would deffo check your vac hoses though, including going to the vac reservior on the front of the engine.

I wouldnt bother disturbing the turbo hose unless its actually got a leak, dont want to make trouble for you. Know what you mean about it being tight in the mk3 engine bay getting down the back of the engine from the top involves many scrapes on the hands!

 

[tdi_will]

Time to put on the old clothes and start looking then, just wish this damn miserable weather would let up!

Yeah its V.Tight in the MK3 Bay, absolute nightmare, whenever i do any work i have no knuckles left!

Strange thing, on the way to work this morning didnt do it once.. im sure the temprature affects it.