is my turbo shafted?

[MouseGTD]

every now and then recently i've been getting quite a loud noise coming from   the engine bay when the engine comes on boost, as soon as it comes off boost its gone again. it'll do this for a while or until i park it up for a bit then it seems fine. some times it'll happen a few times in a day then other times it won't happen for a few days, the only way to describe it is like a vibrating or rattling and seems to be coming from the turbo. i've checked the shaft in the turbo for play and there does seem to be quite a bit there but i'm not sure how much play would be classed as excessive. also there is oil in the pipe from the air filter to the turbo, is this normal? the car does still boost but its never seemed like its had as much go as i would of imagined (although the only other td i've driven recently to compare it to was a new golf which seemed to boost much harder than mine), could this be the reason or do they just not boost very hard in pritty much standard spec?


its a 1.6 SB engine from a mk2 GTD with only the boost pin mod and fueling upped a bit. if this turbo is gone what would be a good turbo to upgrade to? i wanna go for more power soon any.

[ObscuredByClouds]

Turbo with alot of shaft play is bad..

[andy2]

It could just be a boost leak somewhere in the system?

[MouseGTD]

i've just been talking to a mate that says the shaft shouldn't have that much play and he says the noise was probably the fan blade hitting the casing, does that like it could be the case?


can any one tell me how they are meant to feel when they boost? mine just feels like a gasser coming into its power range rather than a turbo kicking in. it in no way feels like the later version td felt when it came on boost and turning up the fuel made very little to no difference in performance, surely this shouldn't be the case?

[LoneWolf]

you using a T3 or a KKK turbo?

[MouseGTD]

no idea but i'm pritty sure its a garret (sp), thats as much attention as i've paid to it tbh. would it make much of a difference mr wolf?

[LoneWolf]

my old setup was a Garret T3, it wasnt that slow by any means, it felt quicker than my current AAZ motor setup.

 im suffering similar symptoms to you at the moment, my turbo is suffering what i recon is oil starvation, so its bearings are pretty much none existant, so if i get another bigger turbo then i wont need to use my T3, which may be of some assistance to you?

[MouseGTD]

you using a T3 or a KKK turbo?

i take it my engine should have one of these 2 turbo's on it? if so i think i've found the problem, the turbo on mine is a T2. the turbo also has a yellow spot of paint on it like its been sold through a scrap yard so it's probably been replaced at some point with the T2.


when would you be thinking of letting your T3 go and for how much mr wolf?

[vanbcguy]

The T3 or K24 were the most common to find on a 1.6TD but they're not necessarily the 'best' ones.  The downside of these larger turbos is they really don't produce any boost until around 2000 RPM and don't start hitting enough to open the wastegate until about 2300 RPM or so.  They CAN however produce a lot more boost than the factory ever had them set up for - a K24 will do 15 PSI without even breaking a sweat, and the turbo will happily support far more than that.  Stock setting though was just 9 PSI.

The smaller turbos like the T2 and the K14 top out closer to 15PSI and they're getting out of their efficiency range by that point so they're heating the air more than a larger turbo would.  However due to their smaller size they will spool up quicker providing more boost at lower RPMs.  This means less turbo lag and depending on your driving style, more usable boost.  If you do a lot of stop and go driving then a smaller turbo is a better choice.  If you're planning on keeping the boost below 15 PSI (which if you're not using an intercooler is about the practical limit) then the smaller turbo is the way to go.

Now, if your turbo is a "random" T2 that wasn't necessarily from a diesel application with a similarly sized motor then yes, it'd definitely be a problem.  All turbos of a given family are NOT the same - a K24 from a small displacement diesel application is a totally different beast than a K24 from a gas engine.  Different compressor wheels, etc, optimized for different amounts of exhaust flow.

From the sounds of it, if you've got a lot of shaft play then the problem isn't the size of the turbo, it's the current state of repair.  These turbos ARE rebuildable - parts are available and from the look of it they're not all that complicated.  I've seen a complete teardown and rebuild on one of the VW diesel forums, looked like not too bad of a job.  I'd figure out whether your particular T2 is actually suitable for the engine or not before getting in to it, but as long as the compressor wheels aren't damaged rebuilding it is an option.

Oh yeah, through all of this I don't see any mention of the actual measured pressure you're getting from your turbo.  I'm guessing you don't have a boost gauge?  You can use practically any old pressure gauge to check on your turbo and see what it's actually doing.  I got mine at Princess Auto for about $15...

[MouseGTD]

no i have no boost gauge. i think i'll just keep an eye out for some one breaking a GTD and get the turbo off that, at least that way the turbo will be matched to the engine.

[Mark(The Miser)UK]

every now and then recently i've been getting quite a loud noise coming from   the engine bay when the engine comes on boost, as soon as it comes off boost its gone again. it'll do this for a while or until i park it up for a bit then it seems fine. some times it'll happen a few times in a day then other times it won't happen for a few days, the only way to describe it is like a vibrating or rattling and seems to be coming from the turbo. i've checked the shaft in the turbo for play and there does seem to be quite a bit there but i'm not sure how much play would be classed as excessive. also there is oil in the pipe from the air filter to the turbo, is this normal? the car does still boost but its never seemed like its had as much go as i would of imagined (although the only other td i've driven recently to compare it to was a new golf which seemed to boost much harder than mine), could this be the reason or do they just not boost very hard in pritty much standard spec?


its a 1.6 SB engine from a mk2 GTD with only the boost pin mod and fueling upped a bit. if this turbo is gone what would be a good turbo to upgrade to? i wanna go for more power soon any.

Turbos don't rattle, unless they are not spinning. They scream like a dentist's drill. Before you spend money unneccessarily get a simple 0 to 30psi gauge and check for boost.
Take turbo to inlet hose off and see if there are any bits of metal scrapings . With hose off watch blade to see if it rotates freely on idle when its bearings gorged with oil. Seee if it speeds up nicely when engine revved...

[DYNOMAX]

no i have no boost gauge. i think i'll just keep an eye out for some one breaking a GTD and get the turbo off that, at least that way the turbo will be matched to the engine.

Iīve got some god old used dieselturbos with the VW pattern.
The turbo in the first row to the right thatīs a IHI rhb5 gasolineturbo.

Shipping worldwide no problems  

[MouseGTD]

don't worry about it lads, bought a cheap seat toledo off a mate yesterday to fix up and use as a family car. upon closer inspection it has a 1.9 TD AAZ with a KO3 turbo on it, good news for me, bad news for the toledo lol.


thanks for all the advice