Turbo (or lack thereof) question

[cw823]

98 Passat 1.8t with around 90k miles. I used to have a Merkur with Ford's 2.3 Turbo in it....there was a turbo motor I could hear. This one is too quiet....I hear no whine, nothing. In first I get lag up until around 2500rpm...and understandably so, and then a kick.....but no sound. Motor winds up pretty tight, but I don't feel like it's all there.

It's my wife's car, purchased by her dad. He had someone near Mansfield OH replace the water pump / timing belt and supposedly he couldn't get it timed perfectly (which I think is horse, well, poop).

So one day shortly thereafter I notice oil leaking down the drivers side of the motor, and there's a 1 1/4" hose (ie hard plastic) oil line with a big split in it. Upon further inspection the hose from the turbo to the intake is about half off. Unbelieveable. Obviously I have corrected those issues.

Then the car was taken to the local oil change place and they fill it with 10w30.

Having now rescued the car, I need help.

New plugs, all lines and hoses seem good, hit the throttle (while under the hood) and you can hear the typical turbo noise.....it's definitely spinning up....but where is it when I drive? Does it stay in the driveway until I come home? Do I have to take off the hood?

Or do I need a huge spoiler and stripes? I hear those make a car fast nowadays.

[Will12]

I have 99 passat 1.8, i can't hear my turbo at all. Also, passat takes 5w30 (less dense oil)... Also, it's a low end luxury car, what do you expect, nice and quiet ride!!! i would change oil for 5w30 which is good for distribution. Hope I understood your problem.

[cw823]

Originally Posted by Will12

I have 99 passat 1.8, i can't hear my turbo at all. Also, passat takes 5w30 (less dense oil)... Also, it's a low end luxury car, what do you expect, nice and quiet ride!!! i would change oil for 5w30 which is good for distribution. Hope I understood your problem.

I was told 5w40 synthetic by the dealer, which is what I put in. As soon as I found out they took it to a local quick-stop oil change I drained and filled with above suggested.

[veedubmechanic]

The if the line from the turbo to the oil cooler on the driver side where the oil filter is came off... well thats not good. No oil to turbo means turbo go bye bye. 99-01 passat use smaller turbo with 150hp, newer use larger turbo to produce 180hp. sounds like your turbo is shot and its time for a new one. The large plastic line you are talking about is the "PCV" system hose (normally cracks at high mileage). There is about 6 hoses and 3 valves that go with this system. Broken hoses on this part contributes highly to oil sludging and power loss in 1.8t's. I would reccomend repalcing all the vacuum lines for the pcv system. There is a technical bulletin for vw's that states all the lines that should be replaced (a very good illustrated picture) that the parts department can help you with to get all the correct lines and hose clamps. about 300-400.00 for all the hoses and valves.

Also if you dont "time" the timing belt correctly when you install it, than all the valves in the cylinder head will bend and the engine wont run. so guess the guy did time it correctly.