# Turbo blown



## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

So, start out by saying I have a 2012 beetle turbo with dsg. My only mods are traction control button, downpipe, and resonator delete. I was driving to work today, and as I pulled up to the gate to get on base my car was smoking from the exhaust a lot! Turns out... My turbo seals are blown. Looks like I'll be replacing it this week. Fml. Btw my car has 13,700 miles on it.


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## Vwguy026 (May 1, 2013)

Wow, I can't believe that.


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## drtechy (Jun 3, 2009)

What is the dealership saying? Gotta be a defective turbo that's for sure


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## PooLeArMor (Aug 13, 2008)

I hope u have a mod friendly dealer, since u have dowpipe on it....


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

I got the mechanic at my work to look at it today and he's the one that confirmed the turbo seals being blown. But the thing is, I drove it home tonight and it didn't smoke at all. Or, not that I could tell. idk what to do. I was going to put the stock downpipe back on and take it to the dealership and let them diagnosis and fix it. But if it isn't smoking now... Could that mean it was something else that made it act up?


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## drtechy (Jun 3, 2009)

AustinBell91 said:


> I got the mechanic at my work to look at it today and he's the one that confirmed the turbo seals being blown. But the thing is, I drove it home tonight and it didn't smoke at all. Or, not that I could tell. idk what to do. I was going to put the stock downpipe back on and take it to the dealership and let them diagnosis and fix it. But if it isn't smoking now... Could that mean it was something else that made it act up?


Did the mechanic mention what lead him to that conclusion? I seem to remember someone else posting about a lot of smoke one day and then none the next, not sure what happened with that person though.


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

drtechy said:


> Did the mechanic mention what lead him to that conclusion? I seem to remember someone else posting about a lot of smoke one day and then none the next, not sure what happened with that person though.


Yeah, I remembered seeing that and I just looked it up again. I may message them and see, but as they said in the forum they never got a solution or had the issue again. The mechanic saw it while it was smoking and decided from that and the smell and just how everything looked. I was working so I didn't inspect it with him. I honestly do not know what to do. I'm at a loss. I'm to the point to where I can replace the turbo myself... but idk. I just honestly don't know. I want my car 100% okay.


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## hech54 (Nov 1, 2008)

If your turbo was "blown" I highly doubt a modern car would even start let alone run badly. I suspect it's the same type of intermittent problem that occasionally plagues the VW Caddy (in my case the TDi). Occasionally it will feel a bit sluggish and you will notice something that smells like burning rubber while stopped at a red light, then after you get home and turn off the motor the radiator fan will continue running for up to about 5 minutes.
When I talked about it to a VW mechanic at a VW dealer here in Wolfsburg, he told me that it was an occasional "mixed signals" problem from various sensored components in the exhaust system....and that the smell was not burning rubber/plastic.
I've had 3 or 4 TDi Caddys and they've all done this...some more than others.


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## ridgemanron (Sep 27, 2011)

It is possible while driving and the car is fully warmed up, you wind up attracting some foreign
plastic bag or other similar type debris that attaches itself underneath and then begins burning.
Check to see if there is any abnormal burnish marks under the length of the car and if posibly
some of the debris has actually remained stuck under there.


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## VWNDAHS (Jun 20, 2002)

ridgemanron said:


> It is possible while driving and the car is fully warmed up, you wind up attracting some foreign
> plastic bag or other similar type debris that attaches itself underneath and then begins burning.
> Check to see if there is any abnormal burnish marks under the length of the car and if posibly
> some of the debris has actually remained stuck under there.


This


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## IndyTTom (Oct 23, 2007)

AustinBell91 said:


> Yeah, I remembered seeing that and I just looked it up again. I may message them and see, but as they said in the forum they never got a solution or had the issue again. The mechanic saw it while it was smoking and decided from that and the smell and just how everything looked. I was working so I didn't inspect it with him. I honestly do not know what to do. I'm at a loss. I'm to the point to where I can replace the turbo myself... but idk. I just honestly don't know. I want my car 100% okay.


Your mechanic is fishing. There is no way he could make a diagnosis merely by looking at the smoking exhaust and smell. Did he hook it up to a Vac Com at all? Any codes? These little Turbos are pretty darn tough and I highly doubt that it's a blown turbo. If it would be your car would not only be smoking but it would run like crap or not at all. So I would get another mechanic that knows his way around VW's and have him make a proper diagnosis. Did you check your oil level? How does that look? Any recent oil changes? Perhaps someone overfilled your crankcase and some of the oil was backflushed into the intake and through the turbo which caused the smoking?


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## Chris659 (Nov 16, 2012)

ridgemanron said:


> It is possible while driving and the car is fully warmed up, you wind up attracting some foreign
> plastic bag or other similar type debris that attaches itself underneath and then begins burning.
> Check to see if there is any abnormal burnish marks under the length of the car and if posibly
> some of the debris has actually remained stuck under there.



Had this happen before! Ran over a plastic bag accidentally and it got stuck to the cat converter and burned/ smoked for a while


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

I know I didn't run over a bag or anything. I did just go around a sharp turn (maybe the oil level got pushed more to one side or something?) btw, I went to the gas station today and got someone to follow me... and there was no smoke, and it was running normal. Also, when it started smoking bad it did start to run bad and hesitate a lot. But after I parked and it sat some it ran fine even though it was still smoking some. If my car is fine, then I'm happy! But seeing your car pull a James Bond and pour smoke out the exhaust is very scary. So, maybe the mechanic was wrong...that's okay by me. Was just very scary.


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## IndyTTom (Oct 23, 2007)

AustinBell91 said:


> I know I didn't run over a bag or anything. I did just go around a sharp turn (maybe the oil level got pushed more to one side or something?) btw, I went to the gas station today and got someone to follow me... and there was no smoke, and it was running normal. Also, when it started smoking bad it did start to run bad and hesitate a lot. But after I parked and it sat some it ran fine even though it was still smoking some. If my car is fine, then I'm happy! But seeing your car pull a James Bond and pour smoke out the exhaust is very scary. So, maybe the mechanic was wrong...that's okay by me. Was just very scary.


Even if the mechanic was wrong about his diagnosis, there still had to be a cause for the smoke out of the exhaust and the hesitation etc. What was the color of the smoke? It's possible that your car was misfiring in one or more cylinders. Did it smell of fuel at all? If so it could be emission related. 
Did you take off the plastic engine cover and inspect all of the hoses? Perhaps you have a clogged injector or two. Can't hurt to put a bottle of SEAFOAM in the gas tank next time you fill up and see if it helps. I think it's too early for carbon build up on your engine but you could try running it in 4th gear at highway speeds for a few minutes to clear up carbon deposits. Since our engines are direct injection SEAFOAM and other cleaners do not work on the back part of the valves. 
Couple of other suggestions. Never top off your gas tank. Overfilling is very bad for these engines and can lead to fuel going to places it shouldn't. Use the proper type of oil and don't overfill your crankcase. Again, overfilling the oil is bad for the EGR system and can cause problems. 

Keep us posted. I am curious on what the actual cause was.


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

IndyTTom said:


> Even if the mechanic was wrong about his diagnosis, there still had to be a cause for the smoke out of the exhaust and the hesitation etc. What was the color of the smoke? It's possible that your car was misfiring in one or more cylinders. Did it smell of fuel at all? If so it could be emission related.
> Did you take off the plastic engine cover and inspect all of the hoses? Perhaps you have a clogged injector or two. Can't hurt to put a bottle of SEAFOAM in the gas tank next time you fill up and see if it helps. I think it's too early for carbon build up on your engine but you could try running it in 4th gear at highway speeds for a few minutes to clear up carbon deposits. Since our engines are direct injection SEAFOAM and other cleaners do not work on the back part of the valves.
> Couple of other suggestions. Never top off your gas tank. Overfilling is very bad for these engines and can lead to fuel going to places it shouldn't. Use the proper type of oil and don't overfill your crankcase. Again, overfilling the oil is bad for the EGR system and can cause problems.
> 
> Keep us posted. I am curious on what the actual cause was.


I have a downpipe that I installed a week and a half ago, so my exhaust fumes smell a little more "rich". It was white smoke, literally just pouring out the exhaust. Now the car is running fine, boost is fine, oil and coolant temps are fine. The dealership does all my oil changes and what not, and I check the oil level on a regular basis. All of my fluids are filled where they should be and not over filled... This is why I'm at a loss. I have no clue what it could have been.


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## ridgemanron (Sep 27, 2011)

It's still possible that debris could have been drawn to the underbody of the car but then
fell away when the car cooled down. My downpipe didn't have any kind of sticker from the
supplier when it was installed but could it be possible that sometimes one is attached to the
downpipe and then falls away? I would do an in depth visual inspection along the complete
length of the underbody and see if any burnish like discoloring is present.


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

ridgemanron said:


> It's still possible that debris could have been drawn to the underbody of the car but then
> fell away when the car cooled down. My downpipe didn't have any kind of sticker from the
> supplier when it was installed but could it be possible that sometimes one is attached to the
> downpipe and then falls away? I would do an in depth visual inspection along the complete
> length of the underbody and see if any burnish like discoloring is present.


Let me be clear when I say this. And don't take this to offense. I know my car up and down. I've detailed and looked at every inch of my car. Debris being stuck under the car, as you're suggesting, would not cause smoke to be coming out of the exhaust pipes. Smoke was not coming from under the car, or under the hood, or anything like that. My car is pampered and so when I got under the car yesterday to look, no there was nothing. When I installed the downpipe, there were not any papers or stickers or anything on, or inside of it. I appreciate your help and suggestions, but I already inspected under the car, under the hood, all of the fluids. This is why I'm at such a loss. And as stated in http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5992767-Plume-of-Smoke it looks like I'm not the only one who had the issue. Only thing is, what caused it?


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## ridgemanron (Sep 27, 2011)

Sporadic tailpipe smoke could be caused by a malfuctioning PCV valve. If the ball check
isn't properly seating, it allows small amounts of oil to sneak past and into the combustion
chamber. Perhaps your car was doing this and now the ball check is seating properly again.
A new PCV valve is a cheap and easy fix.


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## Chrisho (Dec 1, 2012)

no warning lights?


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

Chrisho said:


> no warning lights?


No, nothing at all.


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## IndyTTom (Oct 23, 2007)

AustinBell91 said:


> No, nothing at all.


 Certain codes don't throw a check engine light. Did you have it scanned for codes. 

Very strange indeed. Keep us posted and let us know if you ever found the actual cause of your
issue.


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## silverspeedbuggy (Aug 8, 2001)

ridgemanron said:


> Sporadic tailpipe smoke could be caused by a malfuctioning PCV valve. If the ball check
> isn't properly seating, it allows small amounts of oil to sneak past and into the combustion
> chamber. Perhaps your car was doing this and now the ball check is seating properly again.
> A new PCV valve is a cheap and easy fix.





Chrisho said:


> no warning lights?





AustinBell91 said:


> No, nothing at all.


 For what it's worth: my GLI was sluggish off the line for quite some time back in '07. No CEL, no codes, but sure enough when I pulled the PCV, there was a very small tear in it. I replaced it with a better one from ECS Tuning. I've logged 50K on the new PCV with no issues and much improved performance.


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

IndyTTom said:


> Certain codes don't throw a check engine light. Did you have it scanned for codes.
> 
> Very strange indeed. Keep us posted and let us know if you ever found the actual cause of your
> issue.


 Yes I scanned it with codes. I have vag com and another form of obd2 plug in which runs live footage of all your sensors, temperatures, etc. It's pretty cool. Nothing showed, or has shown up yet. Hasn't been smoking any more either. I took it out today for a little spirited driving to see if I could make it begin to smoke again or anything at all, and it wouldn't. It just, handled the curves and constant romping on the throttle just fine. And trust me, if it would've started to smoke, I would have noticed. When it was smoking Saturday afternoon, it was like someone had a fog machine hooked up to the exhaust. The smoke was just pouring out of the exhaust. But now, everything seems normal.


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## IndyTTom (Oct 23, 2007)

AustinBell91 said:


> Yes I scanned it with codes. I have vag com and another form of obd2 plug in which runs live footage of all your sensors, temperatures, etc. It's pretty cool. Nothing showed, or has shown up yet. Hasn't been smoking any more either. I took it out today for a little spirited driving to see if I could make it begin to smoke again or anything at all, and it wouldn't. It just, handled the curves and constant romping on the throttle just fine. And trust me, if it would've started to smoke, I would have noticed. When it was smoking Saturday afternoon, it was like someone had a fog machine hooked up to the exhaust. The smoke was just pouring out of the exhaust. But now, everything seems normal.


 Maybe The Smoke Machine is a secret option your dealer didn't tell you about. You just need to remember the right combination of buttons to push and Voila ...


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## silverspeedbuggy (Aug 8, 2001)

IndyTTom said:


> Maybe The Smoke Machine is a secret option your dealer didn't tell you about. You just need to remember the right combination of buttons to push and Voila ...


 Smokescreen option just like a James Bond car!


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

silverspeedbuggy said:


> Smokescreen option just like a James Bond car!


 yeah literally! I just wish I knew what the heck it was that caused it. lol.


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## Prturb'd (Feb 4, 2013)

AustinBell91 said:


> Yes I scanned it with codes. I have vag com and another form of obd2 plug in which runs live footage of all your sensors, temperatures, etc. It's pretty cool. Nothing showed, or has shown up yet. Hasn't been smoking any more either. I took it out today for a little spirited driving to see if I could make it begin to smoke again or anything at all, and it wouldn't. It just, handled the curves and constant romping on the throttle just fine. And trust me, if it would've started to smoke, I would have noticed. When it was smoking Saturday afternoon, it was like someone had a fog machine hooked up to the exhaust. The smoke was just pouring out of the exhaust. But now, everything seems normal.


 Good to know that no codes showed. I never really delved into it further since it never happened again and I haven't had a single issue since that day, just got my 10k done yesterday too. I will say, I don't recall any sluggishness or hesitation when or after it happened. Then again, I drove gingerly towards a McD down the street to let it sit for a bit. You did say you were making a sharp turn, was it left or right? I wonder if it was just fluids being thrown around.


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## IndyTTom (Oct 23, 2007)

silverspeedbuggy said:


> Smokescreen option just like a James Bond car!


 Hey, I bet it's the Button next to the Traction Control button.


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## Jedidub (Oct 6, 2010)

Maybe your car is Herbie the love bug reincarnated


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

Prturb'd said:


> Good to know that no codes showed. I never really delved into it further since it never happened again and I haven't had a single issue since that day, just got my 10k done yesterday too. I will say, I don't recall any sluggishness or hesitation when or after it happened. Then again, I drove gingerly towards a McD down the street to let it sit for a bit. You did say you were making a sharp turn, was it left or right? I wonder if it was just fluids being thrown around.


 I was making about a sharp right turn. I thought that also, about it throwing the fluids somewhere or whatever. But I wasn't taking the turn that fast. No faster than I do almost every day since it's my exit ramp for work.


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## IndyTTom (Oct 23, 2007)

AustinBell91 said:


> I was making about a sharp right turn. I thought that also, about it throwing the fluids somewhere or whatever. But I wasn't taking the turn that fast. No faster than I do almost every day since it's my exit ramp for work.


 I don't think the fluids being slushed around would cause a smoke screen a mile wide. I guess unless it happens again we will probably never know what caused it. 

Are you sure you didn't feed your car some Irish Coffee the night before?


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

IndyTTom said:


> I don't think the fluids being slushed around would cause a smoke screen a mile wide. I guess unless it happens again we will probably never know what caused it.
> 
> Are you sure you didn't feed your car some Irish Coffee the night before?


 Haha. I wish that was the scenario! Then I'd know where the problem lies. Lol. If it happened to Prturb'd, and now me... It'll happen to someone else.


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## PooLeArMor (Aug 13, 2008)

AustinBell91 said:


> Haha. I wish that was the scenario! Then I'd know where the problem lies. Lol. If it happened to Prturb'd, and now me... It'll happen to someone else.


 

did u seaform ur car ??


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## AustinBell91 (Mar 12, 2013)

PooLeArMor said:


> did u seaform ur car ??


 Nope. Wish it was that simple to diagnose.


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## IndyTTom (Oct 23, 2007)

PooLeArMor said:


> did u seaform ur car ??


 SEAFOAM is Great stuff. Not sure what Seaform is  But as he said, it's not that simple. SEAFOAM only smokes if you inject it directly into the intake via a vacuum source and then it usually goes away pretty quickly. I am thinking some sticky Emission control valve of some sort. Perhaps the radiation in the Warp Core was getting a tad too high and they had to cool it and vent the dangerous gases to atmosphere. By any chance did you have Mexican Food prior to this incident? :laugh:


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## OEMplus.com (May 27, 2003)

wow, sounds like mfg defect to me! good luck with the dealer. 

[email protected]


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## beataborg (Sep 4, 2013)

IndyTTom said:


> SEAFOAM is Great stuff. Not sure what Seaform is  But as he said, it's not that simple. SEAFOAM only smokes if you inject it directly into the intake via a vacuum source and then it usually goes away pretty quickly. I am thinking some sticky Emission control valve of some sort. Perhaps the radiation in the Warp Core was getting a tad too high and they had to cool it and vent the dangerous gases to atmosphere. By any chance did you have Mexican Food prior to this incident? :laugh:


To keep the valves clean on these direct injected cars, it needs to be revved high once in a while, not to the red line though. I call it the Italian tune up.
May be an oil consumption engine if it's consuming oil.


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