Big 16G Turbo sound?

[My90TSIAWD]

Ok I bought this 1g TSI AWD and it has a Big 16G turbo on it. I have no idea what it is suppossed to sound like, but when it spools up it makes a loud whinning sound. Not a hissing sound. Is this normal?

 

[CyberEye]

Ok I bought this 1g TSI AWD and it has a Big 16G turbo on it. I have no idea what it is suppossed to sound like, but when it spools up it makes a loud whinning sound. Not a hissing sound. Is this normal?

Pull off the air intake pipe on the turbo, reach into the turbo with two fingers (for the love of god not while the car is running) and grab onto the bolt that sticks out a little ways. Give that a wiggle every which way. If it moves much at all, I'd think about getting it replaced or rebuilt. You should be able to hear some "whistling noise" from those little fins spinning so bloody fast, but a loud whining sound is usually from inducer or compressor wheel rubbing against the housing.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

All the 16g's I ever ran, Both big and small.. Sounded like a vaccume cleaner. A loud high pitched VRRRRRRRRRRRRRR... It's hard to sound it out on a computer I suppose. My ported 14b on my car now also sounds the same, It's a high pitched VIRRRR... And no, They were not broken or used. Brand new. You should hear the way a huge turbo sounds spooling....

 

[Talesin]

I never hear mine unless I'm going on an uphill... at which point it sounds a lot like a distant 747 idling on the tarmac. Stomping on it from a steady pace gives a short rising whistle.

Neither my stock 14b nor my B16g ever 'hissed'.

Not to be offensive or anything, but are you sure you aren't thinking of the 'Fast and Furious' hissing noise, which would be an atmospheric-vent blow-off valve, which our cars don't use by default, and can't without running like crap or specific modification to the MAS system?
For reference, the hissing noise usually comes at a shift, not when it's spooling up, as the valve pops open and vents all of the compressed air (to atmosphere) so as not to damage the compressor.
Our cars use a CBV.. compressor bypass valve, which recirculates the air into the intake snorkel, as all of the air that comes through is already metered, or should be. Without recirc, you'd run stupid-rich during a shift, leading to large problems.

If you listen close while fully letting off the gas after boosting hard, you'll hear a soft 'whoosh' or honk/whistling noise, like an apathetic clown. That's the CBV letting go. It's NOT loud on these cars.

 

[dave99gst]

when i went froma stock tubo to a b16g - it sounded like a jet engine taking off to me.
( ive sence gotten used to it )

 

[TalonJohn94]

All the 16g's I ever ran, Both big and small.. Sounded like a vaccume cleaner. A loud high pitched VRRRRRRRRRRRRRR... It's hard to sound it out on a computer I suppose. My ported 14b on my car now also sounds the same, It's a high pitched VIRRRR... And no, They were not broken or used. Brand new. You should hear the way a huge turbo sounds spooling....

Yeah, I noticed a very big difference in sound when I switched turbos -especially with an open-element filter.

1993eclipseGS: I am still waiting on that heat shield I bought from you. Please PM.

 

[Syndicate13]

My car hasn't run in so long I'm not sure if what I remember of it's sound is conjured up or not. My small 16g was just a moderate whistle building in pitch as boost would rise. Mt T25 for some unknown reason was the loudest turbo I've heard, ever. It didn't have any shaftplay or broken fins that I could see but it was louder than large diesels. That thing would hurt other driver's ears if I was passing under throttle. Too bad it's "bark" was worse than it's bite.

 

[wimploki]

Ok I bought this 1g TSI AWD and it has a Big 16G turbo on it. I have no idea what it is suppossed to sound like, but when it spools up it makes a loud whinning sound. Not a hissing sound. Is this normal?

If it sounds like a whining or meowing CAT then it would the the compressor wheel rubbing against the housing. This is a bad thing! You might want to check for bent fins as well when this occurs.

As for the quote "for the love of God not while the car is running"... Definately second that. Make sure the car is not running when checking for shaft play.

 

[Arod]

A little side to side play is ok, unless its a ball bearing turbo, as long as the fins don't touch the housing however any in and out play is bad bad and the turbo needs a rebuild.

 

[mach4g63t]

My car hasn't run in so long I'm not sure if what I remember of it's sound is conjured up or not. My small 16g was just a moderate whistle building in pitch as boost would rise. Mt T25 for some unknown reason was the loudest turbo I've heard, ever. It didn't have any shaftplay or broken fins that I could see but it was louder than large diesels. That thing would hurt other driver's ears if I was passing under throttle. Too bad it's "bark" was worse than it's bite.

Yea, my old 95 TSi AWD was like that. ESPECIALLY once I got all hard-piping. It just seemed to make it resonate even more. It was a blast pulling up to big diesel trucks in the middle of the winter. Slick, icey roads and I would drive off from a stop light just as quickly (and with a louder turbo squeel) if not faster, all the way making that guy think I had some monstrous turbo... in reality I was barley pushing 12 PSI.

 

[Black_Bullet]

I think a lot of the intake noise has to do with the 16g compressor side being small but still being able to pull in a good amount of air through it and the sound is more so friction of air passing over the compressor side and thru the intercooler etc... How I look at it is say if you blow in a big straw its sort of a hollow sound. If you blow in a small straw the air noise gets high pitched due to the air trying to squeeze itself in fast. This theory could be way entirely wrong and Id like to be corrected if it is, but my old gst with e3 16g and full 3in straight pipe exhaust w/ completely stock intercooler and hoses would make an incredibly loud spooling whistling sound. Friends compared it to a jet engine, but my laser with open downpipe and fmic w/ the same turbo whistles at low rpms but never once have I heard the turbo spooling despite that im running more boost on this car...? Possibly the fmic gave the air the big straw effect since it had more room to fill up in due to the gst w/ the stock smic.
So at least thats my theory.