Blown my turbo!!

[StuF]

If you can afford to wait maybe try and do it yourself - second hand turbo and some decent reading and you might save yourself several hundred quid
Mine is sat on 175k and touch wood everything is still working as well as it came out of the factory so yours sounds like a very premature failure
Have they diagnosed a reason for the failure? Frequent oil changes and serviced according to the schedule? 

[slix]

Just wondering...

Was the car driven hard? Was it left to idle before turning the engine off after a hard run? And warmed up before having a razz?

[Chris92]

Hope that price includes fresh decent oil and a filter. Yeah that's pretty low for our turbos to fail as they seem very strong units but there is more factors than just milage for a turbo to fail.

[JamieBiz]

Thanks lads, not sure what to do now... there is so many options to think about! i cant even think about it until i can afford it!

[JamieBiz]

Im going to go for a ko4 upgrade i think, so if anyone comes across one please let me know!

Any help will much appreciated because im sh*te at buying the correct parts!

[Dan_FR]

You'll need a fair few bits to go with it, the turbo intake pipe (needs a take-off for the DV return), turbo outlet pipe, throttle pipe, the DV flange and all of its associated pipework, extending wiring for the DV in order to relocate it etc.

Given your situation you would be much better off with a used K03 replacement which will cost you a couple of hundred quid plus fitting, oil change etc.

Has the car had a hard life, booted from cold, poor service regime etc.? 69K isn't a lot for one of these turbos as has already been said.

[JamieBiz]

You'll need a fair few bits to go with it, the turbo intake pipe (needs a take-off for the DV return), turbo outlet pipe, throttle pipe, the DV flange and all of its associated pipework, extending wiring for the DV in order to relocate it etc.

Given your situation you would be much better off with a used K03 replacement which will cost you a couple of hundred quid plus fitting, oil change etc.

Has the car had a hard life, booted from cold, poor service regime etc.? 69K isn't a lot for one of these turbos as has already been said.

No mate, the cars mint. i bought it from a VW salesman and its always had a lot of money spent on it. Full VW service history etc

Ive looked after it in the 6 months ive had it too, it was only serviced 4 weeks ago.... just so annoying.

looking at the ko4 i think its quite a lot of money and hassle that i dont need right now. so ill probably end up with a new ko3 and keep it standard.

[Ricky123]

There's a lot that could cause the premature turbo failure. It may have even had a fault that developed in assembly and has only just given up now.

I'd try and diagnose why the turbo has gone before anything.

I'd then go with a used k03 if you just want to be back on the road as there are quite a lot of parts involved and more work if you were to fit a k04 and then it would also need mapping.

You should be able to get a good used k03 for around £200, you'll be better of with one of them over a cheaply made new unit (there's a lot of them around)

It's not a hard job of your mechanically minded and we're going to fit it yourself

[JamieBiz]

There's a lot that could cause the premature turbo failure. It may have even had a fault that developed in assembly and has only just given up now.

I'd try and diagnose why the turbo has gone before anything.

I'd then go with a used k03 if you just want to be back on the road as there are quite a lot of parts involved and more work if you were to fit a k04 and then it would also need mapping.

You should be able to get a good used k03 for around £200, you'll be better of with one of them over a cheaply made new unit (there's a lot of them around)

It's not a hard job of your mechanically minded and we're going to fit it yourself

Thanks mate,

The garage its in at the moment said they recommend a new turbo & manifold, oil feed pipe and load of other parts.
the turbo is £675 +VAT for a 'decent' one.

Perhaps ill settle for a decent second hand ko3 and get my mate to fit it then.

anything to look for when buying a second hand turbo? and should i buy one with the manifold?

[Dan_FR]

They all come with the manifold, it forms part of the hot side of the turbo

Usual things to check, mileage and service history if available, visual inspection, make sure there are no cracks etc., check shaft for excessive play

You'll want to clean out the boost pipes if they have blown oil through (depending on severity of the failure) and I really would look to establish the cause of failure, oil starvation is a possibility and would quickly kill another turbo etc.

[JamieBiz]

They all come with the manifold, it forms part of the hot side of the turbo

Usual things to check, mileage and service history if available, visual inspection, make sure there are no cracks etc., check shaft for excessive play

You'll want to clean out the boost pipes if they have blown oil through (depending on severity of the failure) and I really would look to establish the cause of failure, oil starvation is a possibility and would quickly kill another turbo etc.

Cheers Dan,

I'm hoping someone on here will have one for sale in the next few weeks.

What about reconditioned turbos? are they more money than theyre worth?

[Dan_FR]

It all depends on who has done it, how well it is machined, assembled and balance and whether they use cheap mickey-mouse Chinese pattern parts or not.

I personally couldn't recommend a reconditioned one and would much rather have a K03 from someone who has removed it due to accident damage or due to going the K04 route etc.

[littco]

Unless £675 is for a new genuine turbo I would say it's quite expensive.

Second hand units go for about £200 on ebay but you take your chance on how good it will be.

K04's are not a straight forward fit but a good upgrade.

Nothing wrong with a recon or refurbed unit as long as it comes from a good source and many of the parts used IE bearings from some companies are better than the original the replace, add in billet compressor wheels etc and you can have a much better turbo than the ones they replace...

[samiul11]

Have you considered a k03 hybrid from beach buggy turbos? Gives you the power of a k04 without the hassle of extra pipework 

[JamieBiz]

So... I left work early yesterday and popped into the AM cars (Ilminster) to find out what was going on. i was quickly told that there is oil in the exhaust and the turbo is making a squealing noise with only 2psi output... NO sh*t! that's exactly what i told them on Monday morning and i asked them to hang it up and get the turbo off to take a look into whether its as bad as it sounds.

When i asked what the CAUSE was they told me 'the bearings went'. now, I'm no mechanic so correct me if I'm wrong, but that isnt a CAUSE & I'm pretty sure if the car hasn't even been up on the ramps they cant be sure that the bearings have gone?? i understand that all things are pointing in that direction and i dont disagree with that. i just dont like the lazy approach to diagnosing this, especially when they're talking about £1400 of my money that, i dont actually have right now.

they're now going to take the turbo off on Friday morning and will expect £1400 from me if a new turbo is required (they are certain that one in needed)

Does anything think that this could be anything else?