Bad Turbo??

[drhoward]

My 90 talon tsi has occasionally given out a puff of white smoke when I was shifting (mostly from 1st to 2nd when I am on the throttle) I just thought that the turbo seals needed to be replaced but it was such a small amount and happened so infrequently I never though much about it, but today on the highway it started to get really bad smoking allot inbetween all shifts, and by the time I got home it looked to be smoking pretty much constintly. I was driving for some time and my temp never went up and down but I did burn a fair bit of oil which makes me think it is the turbo. Do you guys think it is the turbo? and if it is what can I do about it, will a normal repair shop be able to deal with it or do I have to send it away? Sorry for the long post but any help would be appreciated

Cheers
Kev

 

[syclone]

pull the pipe off the exhaust side of the turbo, if the seals are gone it will have oil in the tube specially the lower part where the oil can puddle. this is the only way to know for sure.

Jamie Sanders
1996 GSX most every mod, (stuck as a newbe for 11 months)

 

[drhoward]

do most shops do rebuilds on these thing or do I need to take it to a performance shop, I wouldn't normally care but I am visiting out of town right now in a smaller town and I doubt that there are any speed shops here, why does this have to happen when I am a 10 hour drive from my appartment??????

 

[Jagyr_97gsx]

Most shops don't know what a turbocharger is. Heh. But you can just ask around. If your going to be there a couple days, you could always buy a new turbo and have it express shipped. Depending on your situation it might be a good road. Is it the stock turbo? Might be time for an upgrade! Its all bolt on stuff, really straight forward.

 

[Jagyr_97gsx]

Theres a bunch of 14b's for sale on the site here right now for cheap. You could check that out too.

 

[drhoward]

ya it is a stock turbo, I have done turbo swaps before in other cars so I know it is not to bad, but I am in small city in canada so shipping usually takes a little while longer up here. As far as upgrading I just want this car to run!! it seems like every other day something new goes wrong with it, oh well thats what I get for a 2000 dollar 265,000 km car

Thanks for all your help
Kev

 

[MrBoxx]

Immediately stop driving your car.

Pull off the intake pipe. While there may be some oily residue in the compressor inlet, the proper way to check for blown seals and bearings is to try to wiggle the compressor wheel and see if it has any play in it. A very small amount of side-side shaft/up-down play is all right. ANY in-out play is evidence of a shot turbo. In addition, you can take off the lower intercooler pipe and check for oil. Chances are, you have about half a quart sitting in your pipe and intercooler.

You can check the turbine side for shaft play, but chances are if you don't feel any on the compressor side, there won't be any of the turbine side.

For everyone's future reference: White smoke erupting from your tailpipe after each shift is indicative of a failing turbo. Check your turbos for shaft play. I do this once a month so I know in advance whether my turbo's going to fail anytime soon.