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A3 Tdi quattro 140 turbo upgrade


Phipsy101
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Hi, I own a 2006 Audi A3 2.0 Tdi quattro s-line with 68k on the clock, A few months ago i had a custom map put on by a friend. Now i have noticed the turbo making a whining sound and some oil in the lower intercooler pipes.

Im looking for suggestions on what to do next;

Im not really interested in gaining more power, But am woundering wether i should upgrade the turbo to handle to extra power from the remap? Or could it be possible that the turbo unit was on its way out anyway and the remap has made no difference to the life of it.

Upgrade or Recon the unit i currently have?

If upgrade links to suggested units would be appreciated.

Many thanks

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Hi!

Not sure if upgrading the turbo to the next size would make any performanace difference. You would need to remap it again to make the use of the extra.

A bigger turbo will change the characteristics of the drive.

The Remap will be making the turbo work harder so it will make more noise? Does the car drive OK otherwise? The oil in the turbo pipes could mean a seal is on it's way out?

There will be a few other bods along to suggest stuff.

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Thanks for your reply. Up untill now the car has drove perfect since the remap but the past couple of days i have noticed periods when the car seems a little flat as if the turbo isnt working correctly, not sure if its the turbo or not though. I have also noticed a split second loss of power as if the car cuts out and instantly regains power. Not causing any problems at the moment but definatley a fault id like to catch as early as possible.

I Have been advised this could be the turbo beggining to seize causing the engine to momenteraly stall?

Also during dark hours i notice alot of black smoke on pulloff, Can completley cover the road if i pull of fast enough, As you say and i also have been told this sounds like oil seals in the turbo.

My understanding is the whining noise is bearings on the way out which causes the turbine to move, this damages the oil seals causing the oil in the intercooler pipes, causing the smoke. Unless ive got this wrong it im pretty sure i need a new one.

I would just like to be reasured that if i was to get my unit reconditioned i wouldnt have the same problem in a few months time. Hopefully its nothing to do with the remap and its just down to general wear and tear.

Also not sure if its relevant but ill mention it anyway, The noise coming from the turbo is not constant. I notice it more at idle and its pretty loud! Each time i am stationary after about 15-20 seconds the noise starts and can be stopped by a very gentle tap on the revs but returns again after a few seconds. It sounds like a really loud radiator fan!

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  • 2 months later...

Hi,

the problems your having do not really sound turbo related. After just 20 to 30k, any turbo car will have oily pipes. Black smoke on pull away is not oil related smoke, but over fuel related smoke. Depending on how the upgrade was done, if they have increased the fuel amount being injected to cope with the extra boast they would have programmed in, they may have added a little too much, which is why you have black smoke coming out of the exhaust. This is unburnt fuel.

If you were getting smoke caused by a blown Turbo, it would be clearly visible during the day and it would be blue, not black.

If you can hear a noise at idle, it is also unlikely (but not strictly speaking impossible) to be the Turbo, since it will barely be spinning at all at idle speed. A turbo would need to be quite badly shot to cavitate at idle speed, and by that time it would be very easy to check by removing the intake pipe, and moving the rotor rod up and down to see if there is excessive axial play. You should expect around mm, any more could be excessive.

If you listen under the bonnet when it's making the noise, it should also be easy to pinpoint the noise.

Turbos very rarely work and then not work. When they're bust, they're bust.

Hopefully for you, another more likely suspect would be a hole in a pipe somewhere. This will cause loss of go, and depending on where the hole is, will also cause the car to over fuel since the MAFF sensor will see lots of air going in, but the engine won't be getting it all, hence the black smoke. It will also make a rushing whistle noise as the air escapes.

The same would go for a leak in any one of the many vacuum/pressure related small pipes that feed various solenoids for over boost, MAPS sensor, Carbon filter discharge valve (purge valve), EGR valve etc.

Also, again depending on the position of the hole, at idle, when there is large amounts of vacuum, you will get a noise not unlike someone letting air out of a balloon while stretching the neck, but slower sounding.

Turbos are generally considerably more reliable than people give them credit for, and chipping the car doesn't make the Turbo work much harder, since it already spins to a maximum speed, your chipping ECU management just lets the engine use more of the air it produces. It will be producing slightly more usable pressure on the load side, but this is fairly inconsequential as far as the Turbo is concerned.

Good luck.

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Depends whose remap it is, but it should be mapped for that turbo.

Swapping out the turbo isn't as simple as you'd think - you'll likely need to change the oil and water feeds to the turbo and you'll need a remap that's specific to it. You can start spending serious money.

FWIW, I'd get the car running properly with the standard turbo. If it's knackered, swap it out, sell the car, and buy a TDI 170 and have that remapped if you want more grunt.

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  • 1 year later...

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