Blown Turbo? Please help!!

Okay, well some of you may have read my first post regarding white smoke coming out of the tailpipe here:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=2671394#post2671394

Now the car is officially dead! As I was driving it, all of a sudden white smoke started pouring out of the exhaust pipe and filled BOTH lanes of traffic! And THIS time I was definitely burning oil. The car slowly chugged to a stop, but didn't stall... it will idle but very roughly and smoke pours out the back end. If I rev it up I can drive it 5-10 feet at a time, but I didn't do that very long just a diagnostic test. I have no power and it doesn't idle... sound like a blown turbo?

There's so much smoke it looks like my rings are bad, but I only have 70K on the car and they are mostly highway miles. Any thoughts!? Please help, I don't want to buy a turbo if that's not the problem...

Thanks again folks!
cheers
John

Sounds like the turbo to me. Take loose the intake pipes to the turbo & reach in to the impeller shaft. Basically you can grab it by a small nut on the end & see if it is loose on the bearings.

I have a '98 1.8T and had the exact same thing going. Slugging like it was going to die but never did. Pooping black smoke out the back cause you are burning SOOOO much fuel from gassing it to get it through the damn intersection. I had the check engine light come on and the techs couldn't pull any codes off of it. Said it was the Mass Air Flow Meter. It wasn't, when they were pulling it out to send the part back they noticed there was a rip in my turbo tube on the bottom side so it wasn't easily noticed. So.... losing all my pressure there. I think the part ran $100 to 150+labor.

Also, not sure what year yours is but I think there was a recall on my car for the turbo and the previous owner had it fixed. Good luck!!!

Black smoke can be a bad turbo or that the correct amount of air is not being pushed into the engine, running rich. Luckily in your case it was just a bad air pipe. White smoke (steam) or grey (oil) billowing means coolant or oil (or both) is leaking past the seals & is being burned.

Driving w/o proper sealing of the air charge system causes the turbo to overboost and blow oil seals if you drive long enough w/o fixing the leak. Even a boost pipe that isnt properly tightened down will eat a turbo. Holes in an intercooler does the same also. I have replaced turbos for both of those reasons before because of customer neglagance to fixing there car because they didnt know if it would be warranty. Its sad that people wont even call a dealer and ask before getting it fixed at an "independent do it all" shop that usually screws the car up more than it already was.

I'm sorry, I didn't read close enough on the white smoke. Mine was BLACK smoke. Oh, wait I said that. Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.

STILL--- GOOD LUCK!!!!

are you interested ?

My daughter's '98 Passat 1.8T turbo failed and you would hear a whining noise when revved up, and no power. We eventually found out that the impeller went bad due to insufficient oil. The line was all clogged up. I have replaced 2 (used) so far and just found out that the line was clogged. I am waiting for another one, this time I have cleaned the oil line with a wire, and everything seems to be ok.

olkswagen to work with dealers to improve guidelines for sludge repairs
RALPH KISIEL | Automotive News
Posted Date: 2/7/05

NEW ORLEANS - Volkswagen of America Inc. will work with dealers to develop less-stringent guidelines on free repairs for vehicles with oil-sludge problems.

Dealers have been asking VW for more lenient guidelines for owners who encounter problems with engine sludge even though they have maintained vehicles properly. The topic arose at VW's make meeting.

"I think we'll see the restrictions relaxed," said Bob Grace, chairman of the VW National Dealer Council. "The bottom line is we need to do the right thing."

In August, VW acknowledged oil sludge problems in some VW Passat and Audi A4 models. It has required customers to show proof that they followed factory recommendations on oil changes.

But sometimes VW owners who have been diligent about maintaining their vehicles don't have all of their receipts, Grace said.

"VW will work with the dealer council - a collaborative effort - to come up with something less restrictive," he said.

Len Hunt, vice president in charge of the VW brand in the United States, said the guidelines should be formulated by the end of February. Hunt said he and Grace will inform dealers then.

"We're going to find a happy medium," Hunt said. "We're not going to cover repairs for someone who drives 80,000 miles without ever servicing the car. But for the owner who has done the reasonable thing, maybe missing one oil change, we will address that owner."

VW dealers also learned that VW will create a rapid-response team to smooth the March 19 launch of the redesigned 2005 Jetta.

"We need a successful launch of the Jetta," said Grace, of Southpoint Volkswagen in Baton Rouge, La. "All our hopes are pinned on it The Jetta is VW's best-selling U.S. model.

"We've never had this kind of launch team. That's pretty important to us," Grace said.

In the past, VW dealers had to endure a launch without getting vehicle owner manuals or other important point-of-sale information, Grace said.

VW's team will have more than 30 quality engineers standing by to solve launch problems, including engineers from the Puebla, Mexico, plant where the Jetta is assembled, Hunt said.

"The idea is to fix it like lightning, should any problem arise," Hunt said.

Team members will be placed in VW headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., and in cities where Jetta sells in high volumes, Hunt said.

VW also told dealers that it would work with them to develop new brand standards to replace the program that is expiring at year end.

Dealers earn cash incentives for adopting the standards, which typically involve investing in exclusive dealerships, building and process improvements.
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