A few month ago I noticed a new whine from the engine (2.0tdi), in time with the revs but about one second behind. Not too loud though to be concerned.

Over the last couple of weeks the noise had increased. I have also gained extra "boost" around 3k revs.Tried to drive the car at over 3k revs today and it kicked into limp home mode, Restarting the engine seemed to clear the fault. When back home I checked under the bonnet, and noticed a five second "whine" then pop when switching off the engine, Dont know whether that has someting to do with it or not.

Reading posts on here I would conclude sticking vanes on the turbo? Or is there a problem with the egr valve causing the whine / pop noise after switching off?

Either way I feel a large bill about to land on my door step.:(

Edited 16 September, 200916 yr by stacon

tape your letterbox if I were you, doesn't sound good.

The whine will be the EGR valve closing

Didn,t know an EGR valve makes a whining noise :confused:

I only had this a couple of weeks ago, don't kid yourself into thinking it is anything less than the Turbo thats gone. It sounds like its the vanes stuck in one position, from my research this is a very common problem with that turbo. Get it done before it causes other damage. I can recomend a TurboTechnics recon unit as they modify them slightly to prevent the vanes from sticking so easily and they also give a two year warranty. Get it checked out to be sure, just don't leave it too long.

Didn,t know an EGR valve makes a whining noise :confused:

When you switch off the EGR valve closes and that is what you can hear moving once you hear the engine switch off. My old one did it before it died and the new one does as well. Becuase it is at the front of the engine you can hear it quite clearly (unlike the 1.9 PDs where it is at the back of the engine)

Yeah, ,it's not actually the EGR valve that makes the noise, it is the Throttle body. This contains a flap that is permanently held open by a spring. When the engine is shut off this valve is closed with a solenoid motor that cuts all air to the engine. It remains closed for about 10 seconds. The noise you hear is the little motor holding it closed and the pop will probably be the motor releasing and the flap springing shut.

You wont hear the turbo at idle, or anytime immediately after the engine is off. It will have spooled down long before that.

Edited 17 September, 200916 yr by Golf-Fiend

Looks pretty sure its the turbo then.

Phoned dealer today and they gave me a budget cost of £1000. :eek:. Time for the backup plan.

Eventually booked it in with a local specialist independant who currently have a free diagnostic offer on at the moment.

Is the turbo liable to completely fail?

I take it there is major engine damage if does?

Apart from the noises, this sounds very similar to a problem I experienced a few weeks ago. Extra boost down low, but then basically no boost after ~5k (felt as if I was driving without a turbo). I was up in Birmingham at the time, but managed to nurse it home. I was lucky to get it to the garage the following morning (limp mode).

In my case the issue was the boost sensor (thrust sensor according to the guy at Gillingham Skoda which sounded kind of cool). Don't know the cost as it was covered under warranty.

Looks pretty sure its the turbo then.

Phoned dealer today and they gave me a budget cost of £1000. :eek:. Time for the backup plan.

Eventually booked it in with a local specialist independant who currently have a free diagnostic offer on at the moment.

Is the turbo liable to completely fail?

I take it there is major engine damage if does?

The Turbo can completely fail and "can" cause engine damage, if it is the vanes sticking,it shouldn't completely let go for a while yet. Get it to a garage as soon as you can, if you have to drive it, drive very gently below 2000rpm. I would definitely try Turbo Technics or Turbo Dynamics for the Turbo if you find out you need one. Best of luck. ps - there should not be more than 3 - 4 hours labour for this job, walk away from anyone trying to charge for more.

Edited 17 September, 200916 yr by k.young
trying to give as much info as I can.

I had the whining noise that got increasingly louder as time went by, had a few overboost situations cured by a restart, took it to a dealer and they found no problems, 2 weeks later I pulled out of a side road and booted it - big bang from under the bonnet and that was it.

The compressor casing cracked in two and was found lying in the engine undertray. Most likely caused by an overspeed situation casuing the impeller vanes to fly apart. New turbo, new intercooler, new boost pipes etc etc, car was off the road for almost a week.

Just about winged it under warranty but don't let it get this far, it'll cost twice as much in the long run.

I have had the second turbo in for about 36000 miles now and the whining is back.....................

Another thing to listen out for is a gentle turbo whine that slowly builds up when the engine is idle for 5-10 minutes once hot. A dab of the accelerator sorts it out but its something I noticed about 10k before the catastrophic failure.

If you get a situation where you put your foot down and hear a high pitched whine from the engine along with reluctance to accelerate you should lift off immediately as that is exactly what I experienced just before the overboost and the failure.

Thought that I would post some turbo quotes for reference 2.0Tdi BKD engine:

Turbo Solutions (recon) £320 + Vat 1 year warranty

Turbo Technics (recon) £450 + Vat 2 year warranty

Skoda (new) £1149 (cannot remember + Vat or not, was in shock)

Turbo Solutions could also do a new one for 650 + Vat.

When speaking to Turbo Techics they confirmed they do slight mods to the vanes which prolong turbo life.

The part code is 03G 253 014H.

I know I probably dont need to say this but I hope that no one would buy a turbo based on this info without checking their car out first.

Handy info there, cheeers

Most people run straight to their nearest main dealer with non warranty turbo worries and forget about the independent boys who could be half the price with a good recon turbo.

Do main dealers ever fit recon turbos under warranty I wonder?

Just a big thumbs up to DLM Auto in Darlington who fitted my recon turbo from Turbo Solutions today. Great service and price, highly recommended.

Siren noise is now gone and acceleration is a lot smoother, as you would expect. Look forward to another 50K miles before it blows!