2003 Seat Leon 1.9 TDI 110 ASV - Turbo Failure

[warond]

I have an ASV 110 TDI Leon and I am sure the turbo has gone.

Had a loss of power, then suddenly horrible fluttering noises coming from the turbo when on boost. Slowly drove the car home out of boost (as much as possible, and was close to home at the time) and car was running smoothly off boost and on idle - switched the car off ASAP. I am sure nothing has got into the engine as it is running smoothly.

Now - replacing the turbo. I am thinking about fitting a 130 TDI turbo, is this possible? (As this car is a non PD engine). Will I have to change other pipes, and change the fueling (remapped to suit)?

Bearing in mind that this car has now done 142,000 miles, maybe the best option is to just replace this with a 110 turbo?

Does the ASV engine need a specific replacement turbo (110), or is this the same as an AHF engine etc?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dgjdrummer]

Before thinking of replacing the turbo, are you sure it's not just a blown or split pipe? Did you have a huge plume of smoke when you lost power? It might be worth checking there are no loose pipes or leaking connections first.

As for the turbo, have a check on tdiclub as there's loads more info on there regarding the different turbos and any upgrade options.

 

[warond]

Loads of smoke out of the back under boost. Turbo whistle had been getting progressively louder over the last few weeks so I thought it might be on its way out, just thought it might have lasted a little longer!

Had a quick look at all of the pipes, none of them looked to be split and all hoses were connected securely.

I'll check tdiclub in that case, thanks for the reply. Any other thoughts? Does this sound like the turbo to you? As it seems like the most likely culprit.

 

[dgjdrummer]

Loads of smoke sounds like a boost leak/blown seal, and the progressive whistling could be that as well. If the turbo had properly gone there would have been a lot of crunching and the engine would probably have been chewed up by turbo blades!

Try taking off the TIP and check the blades, if these are ok, check for excess oil in the inlet side or excess blue smoke from the exhaust as these would shows turbo on it's way or already gone. Also try changing the seals and clips on the end of the intercooler pipes, it'll be fat cheaper than a turbo replacement and is worth doin anyway die to the age of the car.

If I think of anythin else I'll let you know, but it's worth starting with small (cheap) fixes first before forking out loads of time/money.

 

[warond]

Thanks for the reply.

Taken off the TIP to view the blades - look okay. Fair bit of oil in the pipe and around the turbo. Felt the shaft of the turbo and it wobbles around a fair amount, in all directions - would this be enough to cause the symptoms that I'm having perhaps?

I have checked all of the pipes that I can see, no splits, all pipes securely connected. Seems that the culprit could indeed be the turbo.

Any thoughts on this?

Cheers

 

[dgjdrummer]

Hey mate, the shaft should move side to side a mm or so each way, this is because the oil that flows through the turbo is what acts as the bearing so under high speed and pressure the shaft is held quite firmly in place. Did you try pushing the shaft in and out, ie pressing on the end and pulling it again? If it has movement in this direction then thats a sign of impending turbo failure.

I'm still not sure that's the case on yours though as the black smoke and hissing noise is usually a boost leak cause by split pipe or leaky connections. Double check them all, try replacing o-rings and clips and whatever else you can do cheaply and then if you're still having problems it may be time to look at sorting the turbo itself!

 

[warond]

Hi,

The shaft is able to move from side to side quite a bit. The shaft is also able to move in and out a little bit - enough to make a noise from pulling in and out. Could this movement make the noise that I was hearing when the turbo was spooling? The noise was also coming when revving the car at a standstill - only when spooling the turbo however.

Please take a look at the video I have posted. It shows the turbo after taking off the TIP:

youtube.com/watch?v=-sx28KLGvjk&list=UUcZlVlUy0F1erCmegd-Gumg

I have had another look at all of the pipes - none of which are split. All hoses were attached correctly before removing these.

Thanks guys

 

[matty_fr]

If the turbo had gone you would of known about it. If the smoke coming out the back was white then it's most probably a boost leak. Did you check the pipes joining onto the intercooler?

 

[warond]

The sound definitely did not sound like a boost leak, more like a grinding/rattle. Noticeably loud whenever I went near the throttle - no noise from it at all on idle.

Checked the pipes all round the turbo and on the intercooler - no sign of any splits and the hoses seemed to be attached correctly.

For a while I have had problems of the car shutting into limp mode when accelerating uphill - I put this down to sticky vanes on the turbo. Perhaps its best to replace the turbo anyway (as I have had previous problems with this), have this fitted and check all pipes when replacing it?

Thanks

 

[matty_fr]

Ok, didn't know it made a grinding/rattle noise. Is the car mapped?

 

[warond]

No remap on this car, everything is completely standard. Its my daily commuter which isn't driven hard at all (I have an LCR at the weekends for that).

 

[warond]

Hi all,

So i've gone ahead and replaced the turbo. The old one had definitely gone! Both sides of the turbo were wobbling around all over the place (luckily the turbo blades were still intact).

However i've done the work at home with someone else, and have followed a guide on how to replace the turbo on my vehicle.

Finally finished the job yesterday evening. Started the car, ran a little rough for 2-3 seconds and died. Car will now not start at all. Oil light is flashing on cranking the engine over (there is plenty of oil showing on the dipstick). Perhaps this is due to the oil not reaching the sender as the car will not start?

Any thoughts? The job had been done over a few weekends, so tissue was put in each of the ports after each day. It is a thought that a piece of tissue may have been left in, even though we were pretty certain we had removed it all.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Cupra Ross]

Was the turbo primed with oil? Maybe an air lock stopping oil from circulating.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[warond]

Would that stop the car from starting? As it is only cranking over at the moment.

I dropped around 50ml of oil into the oil union on the top of the turbo before attaching the oil feed pipe, so that some oil would drop into the turbo on start up.

After everything was back together, my intentions were to start the car and let it idle for a while so that the oil would circulate properly.

 

[Cupra Ross]

Would that stop the car from starting? As it is only cranking over at the moment.

I dropped around 50ml of oil into the oil union on the top of the turbo before attaching the oil feed pipe, so that some oil would drop into the turbo on start up.

After everything was back together, my intentions were to start the car and let it idle for a while so that the oil would circulate properly.

Fuel pipes disturbed and air introduced to the filter? Are there bubbles in the clear fuel supply line?

 

[warond]

All checked - fuel lines were never touched. Just got back in from removing the inlet manifold.. I can feel tissue wedged in one of the ports to the engine! Removed what I could with a wire grabbing tool.. however I am not sure how much is still left in there.. absolute nightmare. The only way I can think of removing all of this is to take the engine apart. Any other thoughts?


I was surprised that the engine would not run on 3 cylinders as only one is blocked? I am hoping that the tissue has not been pulled through deeper into the engine..