Cheap tip -- soaking VNT actuator link in WD40

[monsterevy]

tryed sprayin my VNT over the weekend and what a biatch to get to on the leon 150pd had no chance of getting to it from the top so had to go underneath well i dont know where my "undertray" has gone but it aint there lol!!! found the turbo but still couldnt get to it properly so had to spray were i could using a "hit and hope" method am i missing somthing or is there an easyer way to get to it?

 

[Muttley]

One thing I would recommend is that you not use WD40 to do this job, or if you must u se WD40 to release a stuck actuator, follow it up with masses of spray lubricant. WD 40 is not a lubricant, it is a release/dewatering agent to release stuck and rusted up parts. If left in place it dries up and goes sticky - not what you want on your turbo actuator. "High Performance" spray lubricants, the ones with Teflon in them, are a better choice, I think.

 

[asthpsw]

Is there much to lubricate on the outside ?..............Isn't the problem moreso what is going on inside (soot/carbon on the vanes)...........which part actually can sieze up on the outside ?

Can you give me a name of the spray on lubricant please ?

Paul

 

[Muttley]

Very little to lubricate on the outside, but sometimes the vacuum actuator linkage does get sticky, and there have been reports of lubrication being successful at fixing this. It would be an entirely separate issue from the internal sooting up that causes the variable-geometry vanes to stick inside the exhaust turbine.

I have this spray lubricant, bought from Halfrauds as far as I can remember

 

[TornadoRed]

One thing I would recommend is that you not use WD40 to do this job, or if you must u se WD40 to release a stuck actuator, follow it up with masses of spray lubricant. WD 40 is not a lubricant, it is a release/dewatering agent to release stuck and rusted up parts. If left in place it dries up and goes sticky - not what you want on your turbo actuator. "High Performance" spray lubricants, the ones with Teflon in them, are a better choice, I think.

That sounds like a good plan -- use the WD-40 to free up the actuator, then lube it with something else.

 

[Husbandofstinky]

I wish that people wouldn't use WD40 for other than what it was designed for, as you rightly said it is not a lubricant.

Water displacement - 40th attempt as they say.

 

[carl325]

I have a FR 150 TDI and would like to have a go at this, do i need to get under the car and remove the engine cover?? Also my wife has a B5 130 TDI passat which is suffering from limp mode now and then. Can anyone tell me where the actuator rod is on the passat and on my Leon please?

Cheers

 

[asthpsw]

Just wondering if you guys were still doing this "regular" maintenance ?...........I was wondering if there would be any gains to doing the same operation but using "Spray Oil".

Another thing I regularly do is accelerate hard in 3rd gear up long hills to try & exercise the Turbo vanes.................but can anyone tell me why I get "massive" gains in responsiveness if I drive the car in top gear say at a constant 2500RPM in 5th on flat straight motorways for about 10 miles............is this burning soot off from somewhere or does the constant pressure through the Injectors help clear them ??? It certainly isn't "exercising" the Turbo vanes (or if it is then only a little movement).

or is there some "learning" by the ECU ?

Thanks

Paul

 

[Muttley]

As I said above, if it's stuck and needs freeing use WD40, followed up with a proper lubricant. If it just needs lubricating, use the spray oil.

The problem with sooting up is not really fixed by just waggling the vanes backward and forward, what's needed is to burn the soot off. This gets done if you get the exhaust temperature up high enough. One accepted way of doing this is to drive for a few minutes at high revs in a lower gear - say 70 mph in 3rd for a 5-speed box - which will get things toasty-warm and reduce the soot build-up. Doing this once a month should be more than enough to keep the soot down to acceptable levels.

Most soot accumulation is due to having to use the car for lots of short, low-speed and stop-start motoring e.g. commuting through town. The turbo never gets hot enough to burn the soot off.