Polo TDI recall - not in Oz

[Sharkie]

All Polo's with the 96kw TDI engine in South Africa has been recalled after multiple turbo failures for turbo replacements.

In 1 respect it is probably then a good thing this motor never made it to Oz in a Polo. GTD Polo was a good thing from a performance perspective though. Pity about the variable vane turbo's inability to handle high temperature conditions continuusly. (Not unlike Oz's temps ....)

Makes you uneasy about future use of variable vane turbos ..... I know some issues with 2.0TDIs ets have been experienced in Oz already,

[GoLfMan]

yeh those turbos are the VNT17a.

the turbo that doesnt have many problems is the VNT17b which from what i've heard is the turbo of choice over there, and which also will be my turbo upgrade when the 15 goes poop!

[Buller_Scott]

hey guys,

yeah as Josh mentioned the GT1749vA turbo has been known to be unreliable in general, and has reportedly shat itself multiple times within the warranty period on the 96kw ZA pog diesel.

apparently the gt1525 in ours is pretty reliable, as is the gt1749b that i think comes in the gt sport diesel golf?

as for the 2.0 diesel golfs experiencing problems- i think i read somewhere that it was due to the issues with boring things out from 1.9L to 2.0L?

either way, i think we're pretty lucky in aus (polo tdi owners). i think the new CR in the next gen polo with have DPF etc?

[JK8]

Its mainly in Johannesburg.
The higher altitude affects the turbo.

[vdude]

Its mainly in Johannesburg.
The higher altitude affects the turbo.

So, the dumb question has to be asked and since no one else is asking, let me ask why (and no smart jokes!)? The only thing I can think of is lack of air density equals faster turbo speed for same air mass flow. Is that it? If so, then there needs to be turbo speed sensor to cut down air flow which in turn is going to cut down power, till you just coast along with the turbo at its max speed.

I asked VW about the recall (why SA and not OZ) and was told that the cars here are of a different spec. I have an '07 1.9TDI assembled/built in SA. The polite VW Customer Assist lady couldn't tell me in what way they were different but only that they were and the recall doesn't affect OZ cars.
Cheers

[Buller_Scott]

your theory is sound, however i think good tuning (quite a few of the boys with the pd130 had tunes, in the forum i read) should fix this problem/ adjust for atmospheric pressure so that computer can run turbo accordingly (i think). im not sure if there is also something that can be done with VAG-COM.

the ones in s.a. have pd 130 injectors, and a pd130 turbo/ manifold setup, if i recall correctly.

the turbo in the pd100 (ours) is commonly referred to as a vnt15- i think its either a vnt1525 or a vnt1749, but either way, the vnt 15 is a tried and true turbo and has been reliable as fork for many people- check out tdiclub.com and the number of people running increased fuelling via injectors, and remaps, then clutch, exhaust, etc, on the vnt 15... its tried and true.

the vnt1749va (or pd130 turbo) however, is renound to be unreliable by comparison. there are quite a few threads of guys in ZA who have had continual turbo replacements within the warranty period- one guy said between him and his friend, 5 turbos within the warranty period.

the vnt1749vb, or pd150 turbo, is in the golf gt tdi, and that seems to be more reliable both in stock form, and as an upgrade for us 1.9 litre oilers.

[gtimonkey]

I imagine that the lower density at altitude could affect the Air to fuel ratio

[vdude]

your theory is sound, however i think good tuning (quite a few of the boys with the pd130 had tunes, in the forum i read) should fix this problem/ adjust for atmospheric pressure so that computer can run turbo accordingly (i think). im not sure if there is also something that can be done with VAG-COM....

So, it looks like the reliable components go to the larger markets while the more experimental ones gets tried out elsewhere where the risk of recalls is lessened? The Good is that we get tried-and-true but the Bad is that we don't get to test out the latest.

Surely there's an altitude sensor to deal with the fuel-air ratio issue? So, the problem must be constant spinning of the rotor at the upper end to keep up the air mass flow?
Cheers

[Buller_Scott]

air fuel ratios dont really matter when it comes to diesels- countless 'tuning' boxes out there that increase fuelling without increasing boost, and many people in the states, as their first upgrade, put in higher-flow injectors and run their cars like that for a while BEFORE getting a tune with boost to match (they just get more smoke).

and as far as the experimental components go, i dont know why, but the gt tdi (pd130) polo never got the go-ahead for the uk or australia. beats me, as i would have got that instead of mine (and had to warranty turbos, haha).

to be honest, i've read people on forums attributing the pd130 turbo failures to high altitude, some said its because people are driving their cars too hard too often (as though diesels werent designed to be punished for hours on end), others said its because people didnt know how to drive them (jamming foot down when car is below 1800rpm) and some even said its because the owners of these cars might not have been careful to let their engines run down for a couple of minutes after every journey, which resulted in too-hot oil heat soaking the turbo bearings.

but if you do some reading on the club (tdiclub), you'll find that the north americans wouldnt go near the pd130 turbo with yours. they seem to be running either stock turbo, injectors, remap, exhaust, or pd150 (golf gt tdi vnt 1749vb) turbo, injectors, exhaust, uprated smic, some pipework (r32 airbox, maf) and remap.

(some on the club will call you a poser for having a fmic for anything less than a gt17/22 hybrid, iirc).

[JK8]

So Ive heard some of the Polo TDis have had their turbos replaced with a new one, same K03.
Other just a re map, same power out 96kw as per dyno readings but some guys reported that 1st gear is not as strong as it was, it picks up at higher revs and second and third is stronger.