Turbo whining and smoke from exhaust!

[Sham]

Hi everyone

I recently started getting a whining noise from my turbo I believe and a bit of smoke which smells like burning oil! It was really low on oil when I checked it a few weeks ago and topped it up two litres! As had service coming up anyway. During service obviously it all got drained out and changed along with everything else filters etc. but mechanic said turbo is on way out! Was wondering how long until it goes normally ?? It’s just started making the noise two weeks ago not too bad at the moment but the smoke also started about same time. Is it connected or is that another issue ??

 

[CosmicBlue]

I'm confused - what are you trying to ask with this question: "Was wondering how long until it goes normally ??"

If the turbocharger is b*ggered then you are going to cop some cost for fixing it...

 

[Sham]

Sorry for the confusing question. What I meant was how long from when it starts making a whistling noise (turbo) until it fully dies essentially is it safe to drive even ? Or am I risking killing the engine if the turbo blows whilst I’m driving ?? Side note since full service other day it has not been making the whistling sound as much and not had any smoke out the exhaust so far today !! TBF I haven’t put my foot down. Been taking it easy

 

[Sham]

I'm confused - what are you trying to ask with this question: "Was wondering how long until it goes normally ??"

If the turbocharger is b*ggered then you are going to cop some cost for fixing it...

Also the guy that did my service and told me about the turbo quoted me £500 to replace it is that a fair price ?

 

[CosmicBlue]

Sorry for the confusing question. What I meant was how long from when it starts making a whistling noise (turbo) until it fully dies essentially is it safe to drive even ? Or am I risking killing the engine if the turbo blows whilst I’m driving ?? Side note since full service other day it has not been making the whistling sound as much and not had any smoke out the exhaust so far today !! TBF I haven’t put my foot down. Been taking it easy

Ahhh, I understand.

It's a serious fault and should be fixed ASAP:

- the turbo receives a high pressure oil supply, if bearings are failing that means metallic particles are in the oil, eventually they will get trapped by the oil filter however without a diagram of the engine's oil circuit we won't know by which route the oil flows on the way to the filter.

- dumping oily smoke into the catalytic converter isn't going to do it any good - and emissions are part of the MOT test

- if the turbo were to fail catastrophically then serious engine damage would be inevitable

As to cost, that's hard to judge from here, is your service guy a VAG independent repairer?

 

[Sham]

Ahhh, I understand.

It's a serious fault and should be fixed ASAP:

- the turbo receives a high pressure oil supply, if bearings are failing that means metallic particles are in the oil, eventually they will get trapped by the oil filter however without a diagram of the engine's oil circuit we won't know by which route the oil flows on the way to the filter.

- dumping oily smoke into the catalytic converter isn't going to do it any good - and emissions are part of the MOT test

- if the turbo were to fail catastrophically then serious engine damage would be inevitable

As to cost, that's hard to judge from here, is your service guy a VAG independent repairer?

Hi thanks again for the reply mate much appreciated. That’s another issue my MOT is due on the 18/4/24 so I’m really panicking now and my insurance is due for renewal same date had the timing belt and water pump done about two months ago as car was on 100k but there was no indication in service book it had been done got it from a dealer who didn’t know either so I got it done for £850 !! Who told me after it wasn’t the original so it had obviously been done so was not really necessary !!! I was fuming he could have told me before he changed it that was the case. He was a VAG specialist! So now I steer clear of them. Point being I’m guna have to find the £500 to get it done aswell as all the other bills I have piled up on it lol

 

[Sham]

Hi thanks again for the reply mate much appreciated. That’s another issue my MOT is due on the 18/4/24 so I’m really panicking now and my insurance is due for renewal same date had the timing belt and water pump done about two months ago as car was on 100k but there was no indication in service book it had been done got it from a dealer who didn’t know either so I got it done for £850 !! Who told me after it wasn’t the original so it had obviously been done so was not really necessary !!! I was fuming he could have told me before he changed it that was the case. He was a VAG specialist! So now I steer clear of them. Point being I’m guna have to find the £500 to get it done aswell as all the other bills I have piled up on it lol

Which is why I was hoping if I could run it until next month knowing it wouldn’t kill the engine I would be happy to do so. But by sounds of it that’s not the case!!

 

[Sham]

Hi thanks again for the reply mate much appreciated. That’s another issue my MOT is due on the 18/4/24 so I’m really panicking now and my insurance is due for renewal same date had the timing belt and water pump done about two months ago as car was on 100k but there was no indication in service book it had been done got it from a dealer who didn’t know either so I got it done for £850 !! Who told me after it wasn’t the original so it had obviously been done so was not really necessary !!! I was fuming he could have told me before he changed it that was the case. He was a VAG specialist! So now I steer clear of them. Point being I’m guna have to find the £500 to get it done aswell as all the other bills I have piled up on it lol

To clarify no service guy wasn’t a VAG specialist but someone that come highly recommended by a friend who’s a car trader and gets all his work done from him so I trust him. He did a full service oil, coolant, air n fuel N cabin filters all for £130! He also told me he would have only charged me £450 for the Cambelt and water pump and used same parts as “VAG specialists” the parts only cost £250 for that job I looked them up online!

 

[GORDYDJ]

Does the whistling sound heard when lifting off between gear changes also relate to a failing turbo?

 

[CosmicBlue]

Hi thanks again for the reply mate much appreciated. That’s another issue my MOT is due on the 18/4/24 so I’m really panicking now and my insurance is due for renewal same date had the timing belt and water pump done about two months ago as car was on 100k but there was no indication in service book it had been done got it from a dealer who didn’t know either so I got it done for £850 !! Who told me after it wasn’t the original so it had obviously been done so was not really necessary !!! I was fuming he could have told me before he changed it that was the case. He was a VAG specialist! So now I steer clear of them. Point being I’m guna have to find the £500 to get it done aswell as all the other bills I have piled up on it lol

Yeah, cars are in expensive luxury/sadly a necessity for sure. One is stuffed either way, if you buy newer then the depreciation gets you, if you buy older then you end up paying for the previous owner's trouble free ownership. Can't win.

 

[GORDYDJ]

Yeah, cars are in expensive luxury/sadly a necessity for sure. One is stuffed either way, if you buy newer then the depreciation gets you, if you buy older then you end up paying for the previous owner's trouble free ownership. Can't win.

Price of insurance is becoming insane. Two weeks ago paid £50 to change from 2006 C4 1.6HDI to 2009 1.9TDI Leon. Due to end 28th April
Got my renewal quote from Swinton of over £1500. On a comparison site I got a price of £1100. Thought I would give Swinton a chance to beat that. On the contrary they came back with a quote of £1700!!
Oh, and the ABI website claims many insurers sell car insurance at a loss

 

[CosmicBlue]

Yeah, tell me about it! Had an Audi RS nicked last year (broke into the house to get the keys), insurance went through the roof - Audi A1 was £850 a year, the Ateca is £1015 - I'm 66, retired and have a clean licence. Insured with NFU who were brilliant with the loss claim - I could have got cheaper elsewhere I know.

 

[Sham]

Does the whistling sound heard when lifting off between gear changes also relate to a failing turbo?

No it’s only makes the noise when the turbo kicks in so iv been trying to keep it at low revs and change gears early so the turbo doesn’t kick in! Have not noticed any smoke though since the service thankfully that’s a good sign!

 

[Sham]

Price of insurance is becoming insane. Two weeks ago paid £50 to change from 2006 C4 1.6HDI to 2009 1.9TDI Leon. Due to end 28th April
Got my renewal quote from Swinton of over £1500. On a comparison site I got a price of £1100. Thought I would give Swinton a chance to beat that. On the contrary they came back with a quote of £1700!!
Oh, and the ABI website claims many insurers sell car insurance at a loss

Yeh the more you search for quotes the more the price goes up how and why is that even acceptable/allowed ? I got a renewal quote with same firm for 1300 down from 1400 last year with 1 years no claim !!

 

[GORDYDJ]

Yeh the more you search for quotes the more the price goes up how and why is that even acceptable/allowed ? I got a renewal quote with same firm for 1300 down from 1400 last year with 1 years no claim !!

At least yours has come down. My problem is I have 6 penalty points for no insurance. That was back in 2020. My insurance was cancelled as a result of too many missed payments. The penalty points will eventually disappear. However, the fact I had a policy cancelled will follow me as long as I need insurance. And I found this can mean a difference of around £300.

I contacted Which? about this as it's unfair to keep punishing someone for something that was a result of a financial difficulty. And not a deliberate attempt at fraud.
Unfortunately I won't get any updates unless the team at Which? need to speak to me. They did say they are currently looking into the amount of interest charged for paying monthly.

 

[GORDYDJ]

No it’s only makes the noise when the turbo kicks in so iv been trying to keep it at low revs and change gears early so the turbo doesn’t kick in! Have not noticed any smoke though since the service thankfully that’s a good sign!

Still would make sense (and work out cheaper) to get it checked asap.
One check you could do yourself is remove the turbo air intake pipe. That would allow you to feel if there's any play in the impeller. or damage to the blades.

I get a little blue smoke, and lumpy idle for a short time at starting from cold. I put this down to glow plug 1 throwing up an error on my scan tool.

 

[GORDYDJ]

Yeah, tell me about it! Had an Audi RS nicked last year (broke into the house to get the keys), insurance went through the roof - Audi A1 was £850 a year, the Ateca is £1015 - I'm 66, retired and have a clean licence. Insured with NFU who were brilliant with the loss claim - I could have got cheaper elsewhere I know.

There is a graph on the ABI Website showing how age affects price. 65 seems to be the point when prices start to rise again. Something else insurers need to bring into the 21st century.

 

[Sham]

Still would make sense (and work out cheaper) to get it checked asap.
One check you could do yourself is remove the turbo air intake pipe. That would allow you to feel if there's any play in the impeller. or damage to the blades.

I get a little blue smoke, and lumpy idle for a short time at starting from cold. I put this down to glow plug 1 throwing up an error on my scan tool.

Hi thanks for the reply Gord, I’m not very confident working in cars TBH been off the road six years first car since and not sure about the layout of the engine. Where Bouts is the air intake pipe located ?? And would it be worth getting the turbo serviced? Or refurbished ? My cousin who’s a mechanic advised it’s as it’s only just started making the noise and it’s not too bad to not stress over it just yet he also said it could be the previous owner didn’t service it properly and there’s dust and debris got into the turbo pipes damaging the blades or causing blockage so not enough air going in.? Where as the mechanic who did my service told me get it done asap £500 he quoted me but iv been looking at parts and they aren’t cheap! They range from £350-£1200! So unsure what to do atm.

 

[Sham]

Still would make sense (and work out cheaper) to get it checked asap.
One check you could do yourself is remove the turbo air intake pipe. That would allow you to feel if there's any play in the impeller. or damage to the blades.

I get a little blue smoke, and lumpy idle for a short time at starting from cold. I put this down to glow plug 1 throwing up an error on my scan tool.

I also had two faulty glow plug codes for plugs 2 and 4 had them both replaced with the service and the EML has gone off now! I did have a O2 sensor fault some months ago but I stupidly cancelled it with my OBD I should have just got them both changed as my fuel consumption is shocking if I put my foot down a little bit it just goes down so fast! Last Full tank gave me 180 miles range said 415 miles when it was full lol !! I mainly do short journeys work n shopping etc. average 28-32mpg on motorway it’s ok about 50mpg if I don’t go over 70

 

[GORDYDJ]

I recently did a 25 mile journey. When I left home I had about 100 miles of diesel available. When I got to my destination I was down to 30. Admittedly I was touching 80mph in places . I marshal at rallies and was running a bit late to get the (free) breakfast before the briefing.