So long 😞 Forum LCBL Star '05 Audi A8 D3 3.0TDi

[Schaefft]

Yeah, I remember the turbo looking quite accessible, probably one of the easier once to work on.

[Split_Pin]

No harm in looking! 

I only have 50% operational fleet at present as the E46 OSR caliper is binding badly. New one is here though so hopefully have that fixed by tomorrow night and then I can look at this. 

[Split_Pin]

7 minutes ago, Spiny Norman said:

I heard nothing when my Saab 9-5 did exactly the same thing. Must be worth eliminating what might be fixed with a £2.99  Jubilee clip before condemning the turbo?

Interesting, I would have expected a racket from it!

[Split_Pin]

Took the cover off WTF, the turbo is tiny and also fully accessible.

Definitely diyable replacement-wise anyway. Replacement refurb ones are £350 on ebay.

Actuator is definitely working:

I gave it a good blast with penetrative spray and then silicone. No light at the moment but we will see.

Revs cleanly, no smoke. The only 2 things I can think of are an electrical issue on the actuator or turbo vanes.

To be continued.

 

[New POD]

On 22/07/2024 at 22:47, Split_Pin said:

It's designed for the A8 though and fits perfectly into the jacking point. 

I didn't use an axle stand as I'm not going under the car, but will do for next time 👍

At least slide the wheel under the sill next to the jack.  

[Dave_Q]

Like @SiC mentioned on the for sale thread it's definitely worth trying Mr muscle in the turbine side in case it's just soot sticking up the vanes before condemning the turbo or actuator.

That or a boost leak, is there somewhere local who can smoke test the inlet side for you?

Totally understand if you're just done with it but replacing the turbo or actuator is a fairly nuclear option for a one-off (so far) underboost code. If one of those things works you could be sorted for minimal outlay and at least get more when you sell it.

[Split_Pin]

I used the red Audi last night and I was just thinking how nice the turbo worked on that one and how glad I was that's it's new!

[Dave_Q]

27 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I used the red Audi last night and I was just thinking how nice the turbo worked on that one and how glad I was that's it's new!

£140 the turbo cost me on that for a refurb unit from Slovakia or summat from eBay.

But a decent chunk of the cost of the A8 one is the actuator, the A4 one is just a metal can with a spring and a diaphragm in it.

[Dave_Q]

Honestly though try the Mr muscle, if you can easily disconnect the downpipe under that heat shield just fire it into the turbo exhaust side, fill it up, leave it a few hours and manually work the actuator, you'll hopefully find it gets a lot easier to move as it dissolves the carbon. Mr Muscle foaming oven cleaner, it's like £2 from B&M or home bargains type places

[Split_Pin]

Went out in this at lunchtime to go and get a few bits from the supermarket including a can of Mr Muscle.

Car warmed up fine and I tried to take it on a backroad to hoof it a bit to see if it would go back into limp mode but a ditherer in a Juke thwarted me. Annoyingly he wanted to use the motorway as well and dawdled on at 40mph. This meant my frustration and seeing a gap both resulted in MASSIVE BEANS being given with no lights and excellent performance.

I tried another standing start but no limp mode or lights as yet. I dint normally drive like that so I was surprised how quick it is. Gears are nice and smooth under load too.

When I got back I scanned for codes but nothing current.

2 are stored in amongst some other very historic codes (you'll just have to deal with the sight of my leg 😂):

If the actuator is slowly going senile and it becomes more of an issue, I honestly don't think it's beyond my capabilities to change the turbo, as long as the ones on ebay are calibrated like the description claims. It's literally right on top of the engine so thinks like oil and coolant feeds shouldn't be too far away for small hands like mine to reach.

 

[Split_Pin]

this is an A6 but it's a similar engine and tje same turbo set up. Doesn't look a horrendous job.

 

[cort16]

Would this 3.0tdi At upullit have the same turbo?

https://u-pull-it.co.uk/product/breaker-parts/audi-a6-2006/63568414

[Split_Pin]

21 minutes ago, cort16 said:

Would this 3.0tdi At upullit have the same turbo?

https://u-pull-it.co.uk/product/breaker-parts/audi-a6-2006/63568414

Good spot

Yes it would seem that the ASB engine is in this car. 

[cort16]

1 minute ago, Split_Pin said:

Good spot

Yes it would seem that the ASB engine is in this car. 

Taking it out would at least let you practise on someone else’s car 😂

[Split_Pin]

5 minutes ago, cort16 said:

Taking it out would at least let you practise on someone else’s car 😂

Yeah that's how I usually learn now 😅

[SiC]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I dint normally drive like that so I was surprised how quick it is.

I honestly think this might be one of the problems. Modern diesels do like to be hoofed on occasion. The increased airflow, fuel flow, extra heat and all the actuators getting full movement will work it and help free everything up. Doing it all the time will put strain on everything but certainly good to do on occasions. Motorway on ramps, traffic lights GPs onto dual carriageways, etc are all good places to stretch it's legs.

My suspicion is that the actuator is possibly just getting a bit stuck from crud building up in the vanes.

Personally I'd just monitor for now and not touch anything. Disturbing stuff, especially hot sides of turbos with associated gaskets + fasteners can make a whole world of additional work, cost and pain if stuff breaks or snaps. Especially risky if it's only a really intermittent problem.

If it keeps doing it then further investigation and/or parts change maybe necessary. However on these old German cars, if things are slightly out of whack on a brief occasion, they go into error light melt down.

It's why I carry a code reader permanently in my BMWs. So if it has a tizzy, I can check to see if it's something major or if I can reset and continue on my journey.

[cort16]

3 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Yeah that's how I usually learn now 😅

Might be worth snagging it if it's £45 quid just incase. 

[SiC]

No brainer at that price. Just make sure it spins nicely and the blades aren't damaged! Could always be the real possibility it was scrapped over the turbo failing.

Also I'd be trying to keep all the fasteners and fittings as you remove it. 

[Split_Pin]

Not sure when I'll get up there but there's always a good supply of Audis and the price for a turbo isn't likely to change much. I always keep an eye on their website for stock.

[Popsicle]

22 hours ago, SiC said:

I honestly think this might be one of the problems. Modern diesels do like to be hoofed on occasion. The increased airflow, fuel flow, extra heat and all the actuators getting full movement will work it and help free everything up. Doing it all the time will put strain on everything but certainly good to do on occasions. Motorway on ramps, traffic lights GPs onto dual carriageways, etc are all good places to stretch it's legs.

My suspicion is that the actuator is possibly just getting a bit stuck from crud building up in the vanes.

Personally I'd just monitor for now and not touch anything. Disturbing stuff, especially hot sides of turbos with associated gaskets + fasteners can make a whole world of additional work, cost and pain if stuff breaks or snaps. Especially risky if it's only a really intermittent problem.

If it keeps doing it then further investigation and/or parts change maybe necessary. However on these old German cars, if things are slightly out of whack on a brief occasion, they go into error light melt down.

It's why I carry a code reader permanently in my BMWs. So if it has a tizzy, I can check to see if it's something major or if I can reset and continue on my journey.

This is how my tdi Caddy behaves. It spends most of its life at a steady 60-70 mph for thousands of miles, if I don't push it through the rev range every now and then everything seems to clog up and l get the P0229 under/overboost code. Off and on again and its all good, weekly blasts through the rev range stops the reduced performance from happening.

It was losing boost constantly a few years ago so I did replace the turbo at 130k, likely the diaphragm split, its north of 350k miles now.

@Split_Pin I'd deffo look at a few good thrashings, when its nice and hot, before changing the turbo.

[Split_Pin]

The new turbo and my wife's driving style means that turbo on the A4 will be fine for 150,000 more miles 😅

[Split_Pin]

So I've been driving this about with no issues. I took a longer trip to my mum's last night and it drove perfectly. Hard throttle, light throttle, up hills, all sorts and it just drove with no issues.

But tonight on exactly THE SAME piece of road, accelerating onto the start of the M876 from a roundabout at 20mph, it did it again. I could feel the acceleration drop away and about 10 seconds later the flashing glow plug light came on. When I came off the motorway I pulled over, turned it off and on again and it drove perfectly the rest of the way home and the light was off. 

It's almost like there's some kind of weird interference at that spot in Larbert!

I'm happy to try some Mr Muscle, even one of those refurbed Lithuanian turbos from ebay but, equally, if someone wants to buy it for £1400 they can. I've seen something else on the forum I'd like so it's not all bad.

If not I'll just carry on with it and see.

[bangernomics]

Going to be hard getting into a white skoda saloon after this.

[320touring]

3 minutes ago, bangernomics said:

Going to be hard getting into a white skoda saloon after this.

It's a hatchback 🤣

[Split_Pin]

Ah no it's a brand I am more used to 🤣. Although it's a saloon that looks a bit like a hatch!

[garbaldy]

I've got a lovely lexarse here would suit you well with it's dancing dash 😄

[Split_Pin]

No more top-end prestige* cars for me, a 5 series or similar is going to be my limit.

It's not sitting that well with me losing £500 plus what I spent on it but that's the LCBL game I guess. I'll build myself up to it slowly 🙃

[garbaldy]

I missed out on the audi last time and now I need to shift this darn car as its in the last space 😫 

 

[MAF260]

12 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Ah no it's a brand I am more used to 🤣. Although it's a saloon that looks a bit like a hatch!

Saloon Auto And Big?

[Split_Pin]

10 minutes ago, MAF260 said:

Saloon Auto And Big?

Of course!