Help Mkv Oiler is sick!

[Mkv TDI]

Hi Guys,
I've been a reader of these forums for some time but this is my first post. I have a Mkv 2ltr TDI Comfortline 2005 which I bought second hand in October last year. The car has been a real pleasure to own and drive up until Thursday afternoon.
I pulled out of a shopping centre car park onto a priority road (briskly to get into a gap in traffic but not too quickly), when I went for a gearchange into second (manual) there was a metallic pinging noise from the front of the car (still had foot on clutch) and I thought maybe the clutch had blown or I had gearbox problems but second did engage. The problem being that the engine had very little power wouldn't accelerate and huge volumes of white smoke were billowing from the rear. I pulled over as soon as I could get off the major road (approx. 100 metres) and shut her down, there was a burning smell (like burnt oil). After a couple of minutes I tried starting her again but she ran even worse and still smoked really badly. I checked the oil and it didn't show on the dipstick (has just ticked over 79k serviced at 77k) so I walked to a petrol station and bought 1 litre of oil, put it in (now appeared on bottom of dipstick) and tried to restart her but she wouldn't turn over (battery is fine).
I got her towed to a mechanic who has started to investigate. He's found more than a litre of oil in the intercooler hoses and now suspects that the cylinders may be full of oil (from the turbo?) causing compression lock and stopping the engine from turning over. He thinks I've got turbo issues and isn't sure about the engine but reckons I should now take it up with Volkswagen as the car is only just out of warranty.

Anyone ever heard of problems like this with a TDI before? Could a turbo seal have blown and filled the engine with oil causing it to compression lock?

[Tim]

hopefully not something like this!

http://golfmk5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57784

[Mkv TDI]

hopefully not something like this!

http://golfmk5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57784

Thanks for the reply Tim, is does look scaringly familiar! I guess I'll find out next week

[gldgti]

sounds bad mate.

white smoke - steam? or burning oil as you thought. did it loose coolant?

its possible that the turbo has failed massively and started leaking lots of oil into the intake... could definately be the problem.

i hope it doesnt cost you too much. most importantly, i hope you havnt bent a rod due to compression lock if the cylinders got really full.

luck to you,

aydan

[Mkv TDI]

sounds bad mate.

white smoke - steam? or burning oil as you thought. did it loose coolant?

its possible that the turbo has failed massively and started leaking lots of oil into the intake... could definately be the problem.

i hope it doesnt cost you too much. most importantly, i hope you havnt bent a rod due to compression lock if the cylinders got really full.

luck to you,

aydan

Yeh, Hi Aydan, it hasn't lost coolant, no water in oil or oil in water that I can see and the smell was like burning oil so I think the oil was getting into the intake in large volumes and being burnt off.

[Greg Roles]

Sounds like you've done your turbo, either a bearing ( best case ) or sheared the shaft ( not as pretty ). Depending on the repair bill, your best bet may be a complete new turbo, once you get a prognosis.

Sad to hear, sounds like no fun at all!

[Mischa]

if you need parts call brian at gti imports he's the man 96531114 or 0429208713 tell him michael with the mk1 mk2 and mk5 sent you

[Mkv TDI]

The verdict is in, the local Volkswagen Dealership reckon the turbo has blown and needs replacing along with the intercooler and the front and rear exhaust including the catalytic converter, it and the exhaust are swamped and contaminated with oil. Why would you need to replace your exhaust? The cat maybe but surely you could wash out the exhaust with a solvent (or at least the straight pipes?).

They do not believe the motor is damaged but until they get a new turbo on it they won't know!! So it's a case of suck it and see.

Anyway the price to supply and fit a new turbo, intercooler and exhaust is $8972!!! Does this amount seem right to you guys?

This dealership (John Hughes Volkswagen) are not interested in helping out in any way as the car is 3 months out of warranty. Too bad that a volkswagen turbo has detonated with only 79,000km on the clock with no explanation, it's out of warranty so I'm on my own. They even went as far as to say the car has had several owners (they later conceded that I was only the second) and that either one of us could have been using Bio Diesel (I only use BP Ultimate diesel). Then they suggested that the car had not been regularly serviced stating that it hadn't been serviced since 54,000k! After arguing with them they conceded that they had in fact performed a major service at 54,000k and that they had a record of when I phoned up about the 70k service when they recommended leaving it until 75,000km!

I sincerely hope that all VW turbo owners don't suffer the same fate as myself where your turbo dies a few months outside of the warranty period because it makes a Golf TDI a very expensive car to own and certainly negates the potential fuel savings that you might make over an extended period.

Personally, even if the motor is ok, how can I have faith in the next turbo or any other part of the car for that matter? This is my third turbo car, I've had a Mazda and still own a Toyota both with far more K's than the golf (the Toyota is a 93 model) and I've had no turbo issues whatsoever before this.
It leaves a very bad taste in your mouth

[Tim]

I would contact VW direct. Sometimes they are willing to help out customers who have had their warranty recently expire. Worth a try anyways

[Mischa]

thats a very hard number to stomache i feel for you but please whatever you do DONT GET IT FIXED BY A DEALERSHIP. go to an independent vw specialist workshop. and if you like your money i would give brian a call (2 posts up) for the supply of the parts. why not go to an aftermarket exhaust and intercooler while you're at it? intercooler and all piping can be done for around 1k and if you're lucky you could get the exhaust and all parts done for about 1500. then you've got 6.5k left from the dealership quote to have a new turbo installed.