Inter cooler or turbo failure?

A2A2

Member
Request for advice: driving my 1.4TDi today there was a progressively louder air noise under acceleration. I thought it was a blown exhaust at first as it appeared to be coming from under the engine, but eventually after one particularly loud noise all went quiet. The engine was still running but maxed out at 70 with foot to the floor and any acceleration was distinctly lethargic. I suspect this is symptomatic of a blown turbo, inter cooler or associated piping. Advice appreciated. Thank you
 
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Request for advice: driving my 1.4TDi today there was a progressively louder air noise under acceleration. I thought it was a blown exhaust at first as it appeared to be coming from under the engine, but eventually after one particularly loud noise all went quiet. The engine was still running but maxed out at 70 with foot to the floor and any acceleration was distinctly lethargic. I suspect this is symptomatic of a blown turbo, inter cooler or associated piping. Advice appreciated. Thank you


First check the easy options and keep your fingers crossed.

Look at the intercooler, especially at the bottom seal, is there signs of any oil?

Also get someone to keep an ear to the front of the car, preferably with the bonnet off and listen to see if there is the sound of air escaping under pressure. BUT make sure the handbrake is on and keep away from the gearchange and don't let anything get near the cambelt area.

Let us know about the intercooler first.

Steve B
 
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I took the car to AVIT in Slough. They said some exhaust or manifolding had come adrift and consequently the turbo was not being driven. They fixed it same day for a very reasonable price. The car then ran perfectly four 4 months until yesterday when it gave me a very unpleasant birthday present. Filtering out onto a motorway into fast traffic, the turbo died again, reducing me to a 50 mph crawler in the slow lane.
AVIT now say the turbo has had it. The computer is showing a turbo drive fault. I'm awaiting the shock of how much Audi will quote for a new part tomorrow. Any observations, fixes, turbo suppliers anyone can suggest meanwhile please?
 
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unsure if your tdi is a 75 or a 90 as would help get to the problem better, but if its a 75 it sounds like its gone into limp mode , the wastegate valves can become sticky and mine used to go into limp mode as soon as you floored it when one of the boost / vacume hoses had perished , £10 for some new hose and replaced them all.. another regular fault seems to be intercoolers failing which would also make the ecu put the engine into limp mode , which bassically cuts all power and stops the engine from reving
 
As birchall says look at the bottom of the intercooler for signs of the plastic bottom coming off the aluminium also you will see a thin rubber gasket pertruding and oil sprayed backwards over the bottom hose, this causes low turbo boost pressure and limp mode, later a2s had variable vein turbos fitted earlier ones fixed vein. I hope it's not the turbo if it is I'd get an exchange unit fitted by a reputable mechanic not a main dealer genuine part by audi tech unless you want heart palpitations or like frights.

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That is a pic of my intercooler when mine went as an example mines fixed now.

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The computer is showing a turbo drive fault.

Hi A2A2,

Sorry to hear about the problems you're having with your A2.

There are absolutely no electronic sensors attached to the A2's turbo. If AVIT have told you that "the computer is showing a turbo drive fault", I suspect they're either out of their depth, feeding you nonsense, grasping at straws, dumbing things down, catastrophising or some similar explanation. I also cannot see how the exhaust manifold would "come adrift". I wouldn't wish to be too critical of a company with whom I've never had any dealings, but the second-hand information we're getting from them is not inspiring confidence. Quite the reverse!
There are loads of reasons why the car might be going into limp mode. There could be a problem wih the variable nozzle control unit or any of the associated pneumatic/vacuum tubing. There could be a split in a rubber pipe carrying the turbo's compressed air. The intercooler could have a split in it, as can be seen in JustJust73's post above. The MAP sensor could be faulty. I could continue to list reasons, but we'd be here a while. Although the TDI90's turbo is known for its fragility, replacing the turbo itself should be the absolute last resort, only once every other possible cause for the car's fault has been eliminated.
Have AVIT shown you the diagnostic scan results? When the car goes into limp mode, a fault code is stored in the engine management unit. The fault code can be vague, but it'd certainly help to narrow things down. On a vast majority of occasions, limp mode is trying to protect the turbo from failure rather than being caused by turbo failure.

If a new turbo is needed, don't get one from the Audi dealerships. I kid you not, they add a margin of £600 or more. The TDI90's turbo was made by KKK, which has since been bought by BorgWarner (a huge player in the turbo manufacturing market, alongside Garrett, etc). Buying directly or from one of their retailers will save you a small fortune.

May I ask, where is the car now?

Cheers,

Tom
 
A little late with this:

firstly thanks to all who offered advice on this problem. It’s a long story but I had AVIT fit another turbo. The car ran fine for a while but eventually began to have poor pick up and the engine did not have the urge it had previously. After a number of solutions were tried by changing bits and pieces of the intake system, I eventually left the car with Stealth Racing to look at the issue. It turned out that the turbo was not the correct type and while I had a gear box rebuild and a clutch change a new (correct) turbo was fitted. The car is now running perfectly. I have to go back to AVIT now to see what they have to say....
 
A little late with this:

firstly thanks to all who offered advice on this problem. It’s a long story but I had AVIT fit another turbo. The car ran fine for a while but eventually began to have poor pick up and the engine did not have the urge it had previously. After a number of solutions were tried by changing bits and pieces of the intake system, I eventually left the car with Stealth Racing to look at the issue. It turned out that the turbo was not the correct type and while I had a gear box rebuild and a clutch change a new (correct) turbo was fitted. The car is now running perfectly. I have to go back to AVIT now to see what they have to say....
Good luck.
 
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