1.6 td jetta sounds like an old vw bug, lost power, no turbo noise? - IDI Engine - VWDiesel.net The IDI, TDI, and mTDI source.

• 1.6 td jetta sounds like an old vw bug, lost power, no turbo noise? by damac on 16 Jun, 2011 14:25
• Car has been driving fine and this happened all of a sudden.  I noticed on first cold start now I can see white smoke come from the trunk as well but I can't see where its coming from, even though when reving while under the hood.
  
  I am no techie but was wondering how I diagnose this because I need to keep the car on the road
  
  I took it for another drive a while ago and noticed from start to stop whether the car is rolling or not I hear some kind of light marble in a can, scratching noise from the engine bay.
  
  Also when I was cruising steady in 2nd gear at about 2000 rpm and sometimes when at idle the car sounded perfectly normal so I just assumed it had nothing to do with the engine timing which appears to be ok as well as the ip timing.
  
  There has been no change in the smoke patterns out of the tailpipe?  I can still get up to freeway speed, it just takes longer and I assume what a na engine is like?
  
  I can't hear the turbo make a noise at all and at those speeds I cannot say that the scratching noise gets any louder, the other noises seem to drown it out.
  
  Thanks any information.
• #1 by Fredrikkk on 16 Jun, 2011 15:52
• I bet you blew your turbo.
• #2 by 745 turbogreasel on 16 Jun, 2011 21:09
• Remove some tubing, and try to spin the turbo by hand.
• #3 by damac on 16 Jun, 2011 22:26
• Ok I took all the connections apart just to make sure there was no crud or anything.  All my hoses are intact and seated and clamped.  New air filter and I found that even with my inline oil baffle pvc container that has a drain going down to the block port, that I could scoop a finger full of oil from the intake hose.  A trace of a little run of oil at the inlet of the turbo fins.
  
  I looked in there as best I could and the turbo looks the same as when I brought the car home last year and broke everything down to clean.  Can't detect any scratches with a fingernail, no materials in there.  It spins easy, feels lubed and if I get a good grip and turn it will spin a bit on its own.  If I grab the shaft nut I can't really get it to move in and out, but I can wobble it around side to side to each side of the wall.  It looks real similar to a video I have seen posted on these forums about how even new units have some play and aren't a positive seal?
  
  I got underneath the car and I think I found that constant turbo noise.  When I was underneath the passenger side of the car looking up at the turbo, on the end of I think the exhaust manifold there is a nut on top, washer and then this thin metal shield type piece.  I am not sure if that is broken from a bigger piece or just stand alone but it has enough room to jump around and constantly clang around with the engine vibration.  So I noticed the noise from inside and out of the engine even though it was faint.  So I am assuming it has nothing to do with the turbo.
  
  So I am assuming since I can't catch a hint of that smoke from the top that something on the exhaust manifold is breached and smoking and filling up the engine bay?  I never touched those bolts before and things were tight at one point.  I couldn't move that bolt but obviously something happened.  A gasket or the manifold cracked?  I still can't pinpoint where, it just seems to pool up.
  
  If that is where the smoke is coming from and I have a big leak, would this have anything to do with all the cackling noise and the lack of turbo power?
  
  Thanks for any info!  I have no clue what I am doing
• #4 by BillyWillicker on 17 Jun, 2011 07:18
• Sounds like the exhaust manifold studs and gaskets let go.  I had this problem on my old audi 5kq after I put a built engine in it.  It got loud and lost power/boost, when I checked it out I could chuck the whole manifold/turbo/wastegate around the studs were so bad/loose. 
  
  The best thing to do would be to remove the exhaust manifold and replace all the studs and use the factory copper coated nuts and special washers.  Was the only thing that actually fixed my issue like that.
  
  Jason