Almost positive my turbo is done, screwed myself on this one

[MidnightTSI]

I bought the car a week ago and i've driven it about 200 miles. The guy I bought it from told me to check the oil every 2 weeks or so. It burn's oil a little because of the bad valve seals supposedly and yesterday the car starts hesitating. Well i'm really pist at myself for this but I didn't check the oil and kept driving it. It wasn't really bad just a little bit. Well today it got worse of course so I checked the oil and it was below the minimum fill line. So I filled it up drove it and still no power, turbo seems like it's having trouble but still boosts a little. So i'm pretty positive the turbo is done Again it is my fault for being stupid but what can I do about it now. I'm guessing I should just turn the boost down to like 5 pounds until I can get a new turbo? I'm planning on buying the evoIII 16G because it seems like the best all round turbo for me. It has the Big 16G right now. If anyone can just gimme some info that would be great but i'm pretty sure I already know what's wrong with it. Can't wait till I get the new turbo, is it a fairly easy turbo to replace?

 

[diablos991]

First off try checking your turbo for shaftplay. That would tell you if its toast or not. Are you smoking? If your hesitating you may want to look into Plugs and Plug wires.

Oh, and.......Boost leak test!

 

[4BangR-x]

For starters, did you actually look at the turbo to see if it was going bad? Look for shaft play, heavy coking(white stuff), difficulty spinning. Next, I know I dont need to tell you this, but dont just keep buying oil, get whatever is wrong with it fixed, maybe its just a bad valve cover gasket. I mean does you exhaust actually smoke? And finally, since your swapping a 16g with a 16g, it will be cake.

 

[MidnightTSI]

No I didn't check for the white stuff or shaftplay how do I check for shaftplay sorry I'm new with this stuff. I just got the car and was planning on fixing the valve seals soon but it does smoke and quite a bit from the exhaust when you take off then it stops smoking for the most part. Thanks a lot though guys

 

[MidnightTSI]

Oh yah it does also have somewhat newer plugs and wires also, although i'm not sure how new of course but i'm going to go check on the turbo now i'll let u know

 

[diablos991]

To check for shaftplay, grab the wheel in the turbo. A LITTLE side to side movement is ok, but there should be NO in and out play. It there is then your turbo is shot. Sounds like you need to do a compression test on your engine to properly diagnose your smoking problem: http://www.dsmgrrrl.com/FAQs/compression.htm

 

[Dream On]

Pull the intake off of the turbo when the car is cold and put your finger into the inlet of the turbo. See if the compressor blade moves back and forth or up and down. It should be in there pretty solid, but it's probably got some minimal shaft play. Also check to see if the blade spins freely, making sure it isn't hitting on the housing. You could also pull off the lower intercooler pipe from the j pipe and check for oil. There will probably be a thin coating, but if there's a ton, then you've got a problem.

Edit: ^ beat me to it.

 

[4BangR-x]

Pull the intake off of the turbo when the car is cold and put your finger into the inlet of the turbo.

That is key!!!!

 

[MidnightTSI]

Thanks a lot guys for all the help