Potentially turbo issues

Mobo

Active Member
Jan 20, 2010
328
4
West midlands
Ive gone out and bought myself a oldish 07 plate leon tdi fr,
Ive noticed a whine coming from the engine once it warms up which is unusual, It doesnt sound like turbo whine and more like raspy which makes me think its a loose gasket, However, i took it to the garage and they told me its the alt pulley, but on closer inspection they realised the pulleys fine, So belive it to be turbo related
How would i go about testing if theres any air leaks, Loose gaskets etc as they can't get me in to do a smoke test until next week at the earliest
any help would be appreicated
 

saveoursouls

Active Member
Jul 4, 2018
415
234
36
Manchester
I was going to say smoke test but you beat me to it. The only thing I can think of, is get someone to rev the engine, then feel around the engine bay for any air, sometimes isolating the sound can help in pin pointing it.

Another thing to look for is carbon build up around EGR, exhaust manifold and turbo as there could be a loose bolt around there.

I left a bolt loose between the manifold and EGR, the sound was awful. I thought my car was screwed
 

Mobo

Active Member
Jan 20, 2010
328
4
West midlands
I was going to say smoke test but you beat me to it. The only thing I can think of, is get someone to rev the engine, then feel around the engine bay for any air, sometimes isolating the sound can help in pin pointing it.

Another thing to look for is carbon build up around EGR, exhaust manifold and turbo as there could be a loose bolt around there.

I left a bolt loose between the manifold and EGR, the sound was awful. I thought my car was screwed
cheers i done the same once when cleaning out my sticky vain on my old leon, it kind of reminds me of that sound, but i knew what to check then as i did the work myself lol,
Ill have a look in them areas you stated
 

saveoursouls

Active Member
Jul 4, 2018
415
234
36
Manchester
cheers i done the same once when cleaning out my sticky vain on my old leon, it kind of reminds me of that sound, but i knew what to check then as i did the work myself lol,
Ill have a look in them areas you stated
How easy was it to clean the sticky vein? I've got a sticky vein on my turbo, imagine the labour being a pain. I've no access to a lift or pit.
 

Mobo

Active Member
Jan 20, 2010
328
4
West midlands
How easy was it to clean the sticky vein? I've got a sticky vein on my turbo, imagine the labour being a pain. I've no access to a lift or pit.
i did it on a mk1 1.9tdi so there was enough space at the back of the engine, but first time i didnt do a great job of it
its more time consuming cause its awkward. 2nd time around i took the whole manifold off and cleaned that out it was practically clogged up.
once you get everything off just give it time to get rid of the crap. it took me a afternoon.
 

saveoursouls

Active Member
Jul 4, 2018
415
234
36
Manchester
MK2 is a pain to work on, the components are tightly packed in. Simply gaining access to the turbo intake was a pain (Mr Muscle clean) but alas this didn't really help.

Part of the issue is, no mechanic will want to take the turbo off an clean it, I believe they simply always say to replace.
 

Mobo

Active Member
Jan 20, 2010
328
4
West midlands
MK2 is a pain to work on, the components are tightly packed in. Simply gaining access to the turbo intake was a pain (Mr Muscle clean) but alas this didn't really help.

Part of the issue is, no mechanic will want to take the turbo off an clean it, I believe they simply always say to replace.
Try letting the mr muscle soak in for an hour or so and then some,
 
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Mobo

Active Member
Jan 20, 2010
328
4
West midlands
Aye, that's exactly what I did. I'm thinking I possibly didn't work the actuator enough. For the cost it's worth giving it another go before stripping the turbo.
definitely lucky im breaking my vrs im same engine going to take the turbo off that and send it off for a refurb in case i need it
 
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