Tdi Turbo Whine

[ferguscawley]

My 1997 Sharan TDI 110 seems to have developped a strong turbo whine. While I could always hear it 'in the distance' with the windows open, it seems to have increased substantially in volume. Performance seems unaffected. I have just had a quick look under the bonnet (over my lunch break) and cannot see any obvious leaks or splits in manifold hoses etc.

Is this a sign of a turbo on the way out or is there something else that I should be looking for ?. I do not have a boost guage installed so I cannot say for sure whether boost pressure has dropped or not.

My gut feeling tells me turbo is starting to fail - somebody please tell me otherwise.

Mileage is 83K miles. Full VWSH plus since owning the car I have changed oil and filters every 5k miles (including air filter).

 

Many thanks

 

Fergus

[seatkid]

It is possible that some contamination has got in and is stuck to a vane. Whine is due to impeller imbalance. If it has increased dramatically, its likely to be a prelude to failure....

 

Why do you change filters so often?? Not only overkill, changing the air filter so often not only has no benefit, but increases the likelyhood of contamination getting in in the first place...

[ferguscawley]

I change the filters as a matter of course. They are cheap so I usually do the whole lot together in one go.

One thing I did notice when last servicing the car was that the intake air manifold seems to be missing an O-ring just where it joins the maf sensor (the flange where the 2 allen-headed bolts attach to the maf sensor). Is it possible that I might be hearing the whine through here ?. I have been meaning to get an o-ring over the past few days but with Easter etc it slipped my mind. (Just grasping at straws really).

[seatkid]

Could be a whistle from a (lack of) O ring leak....

 

:o Not refitting the O ring somewhat defeats the point of changing the cheap? air filter