oorladuk Posted May 25, 2014 Report Share Posted May 25, 2014 Hi folks, I don't want to worry you (as I think this was a one off). I just want to share my experience. (Sorry this has turned into a bit of war & peace!) Just over 4 weeks ago I started to hear a squeaking noise from my R (2 months old with about 3500 miles on the clock), so I popped into my local dealer (where I bought the car). Their senior mechanic took it for a test drive and confirmed the noise, at the time he couldn't pinpoint it but said it was ok to continue driving for a couple of weeks (first available slot for car to be booked in). I continued to drive the car, a bit unsure as to where the noise was coming from myself. You only really heard it when loading the engine and between 1800 and 2500 rpm. It sounded like a nasty rotating rubbing noise. I just took it easy as I thought it was perhaps something to do with the DSG. I wasn't 100% happy about driving the car but didn't have a choice as I needed it, and wasn't given another option - I was told if it got worse, or failed I was covered under VW assist!! Not really the point! Anyway, surprise surprise, 3 days prior to the car going into the garage - I was driving down the dual carriageway, with the cruse set at 70, when all of a sudden I had total loss of power, plumes of white smoke coming out of the exhaust and all manner of warning lights on. Quick call to VW assist, and a few hours later, one very unwell R trucked to the dealer and a rental supplied to me. Just over 2 weeks later and I now have my R back, seems good as new! The diagnosis - failed turbo bearing on the exhaust side, along with a damaged Cat. Both items were replaced with new (not sure what else was done). In hindsight, perhaps I should have pushed harder to get the car booked into the dealer sooner (there and then when I first heard the noise). I must admit I did ask repeatedly if it was ok to continue driving. Luckily, in this case it was only a slight inconvenience to me and a few replacement parts for VW. However if the failure had been on the induction side for the turbo I suspect there could have been major implications (foreign bodies in the cylinders is a no no). I served my time working on heavy diesel engines, and I've seen a few turbos go in my time. I have also replaced a fair few. I suspect this was a one off bearing failure, most likely from a manufacturing or assembly anomaly. Unless anyone else has heard of another occurrence? I think it's a different turbo from the MK7 so you probably can't compare. And before anyone asks - no, I haven't been ragging the tits off the car! I've been careful about taking her up to at least 90degs before pushing near & past 3000rpm. A few lessons for others: Stop the car as soon as you see the smoke! I assume this is common sense to most of you on here. When first calling VW assist, make sure you tell them the car has had a major engine failure - don't take any shit from them, you want a recovery truck straight away. Tell them you are a mechanic and the cylinder head has gone! Otherwise they try to send out an inspection guy only, this just wastes time. In an ideal world keep the paper part of your license with you at all times! Getting a hire car sorted out on a Saturday afternoon (when dvla is closed) without it is a non starter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC14RKE Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Hi folks, I don't want to worry you (as I think this was a one off). I just want to share my experience. (Sorry this has turned into a bit of war & peace!) Just over 4 weeks ago I started to hear a squeaking noise from my R (2 months old with about 3500 miles on the clock), so I popped into my local dealer (where I bought the car). Their senior mechanic took it for a test drive and confirmed the noise, at the time he couldn't pinpoint it but said it was ok to continue driving for a couple of weeks (first available slot for car to be booked in). I continued to drive the car, a bit unsure as to where the noise was coming from myself. You only really heard it when loading the engine and between 1800 and 2500 rpm. It sounded like a nasty rotating rubbing noise. I just took it easy as I thought it was perhaps something to do with the DSG. I wasn't 100% happy about driving the car but didn't have a choice as I needed it, and wasn't given another option - I was told if it got worse, or failed I was covered under VW assist!! Not really the point! Anyway, surprise surprise, 3 days prior to the car going into the garage - I was driving down the dual carriageway, with the cruse set at 70, when all of a sudden I had total loss of power, plumes of white smoke coming out of the exhaust and all manner of warning lights on. Quick call to VW assist, and a few hours later, one very unwell R trucked to the dealer and a rental supplied to me. Just over 2 weeks later and I now have my R back, seems good as new! The diagnosis - failed turbo bearing on the exhaust side, along with a damaged Cat. Both items were replaced with new (not sure what else was done). In hindsight, perhaps I should have pushed harder to get the car booked into the dealer sooner (there and then when I first heard the noise). I must admit I did ask repeatedly if it was ok to continue driving. Luckily, in this case it was only a slight inconvenience to me and a few replacement parts for VW. However if the failure had been on the induction side for the turbo I suspect there could have been major implications (foreign bodies in the cylinders is a no no). I served my time working on heavy diesel engines, and I've seen a few turbos go in my time. I have also replaced a fair few. I suspect this was a one off bearing failure, most likely from a manufacturing or assembly anomaly. Unless anyone else has heard of another occurrence? I think it's a different turbo from the MK7 so you probably can't compare. And before anyone asks - no, I haven't been ragging the tits off the car! I've been careful about taking her up to at least 90degs before pushing near & past 3000rpm. A few lessons for others: Stop the car as soon as you see the smoke! I assume this is common sense to most of you on here. When first calling VW assist, make sure you tell them the car has had a major engine failure - don't take any shit from them, you want a recovery truck straight away. Tell them you are a mechanic and the cylinder head has gone! Otherwise they try to send out an inspection guy only, this just wastes time. In an ideal world keep the paper part of your license with you at all times! Getting a hire car sorted out on a Saturday afternoon (when dvla is closed) without it is a non starter! That's very worrying. I hope it was a one off problem with the turbo and not a design fault that will occur come time..... ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryhackenbacker Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Sorry to hear about that ,Poor dealer Initial response (2 week wait on engine noise unknown ) . The VW assist probably have a call out routine ,see your point though and good point to those who don't always carry both parts of your driving Licence with you More and more dealers will fob you off with "see how it goes " a Pain yes but you have to Insist on them sorting problems ,not we will have a listen ,have a look ,then re-Book later . Glad it's sorted and hope it goes well ,thanks for sharing the points Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vagmotorsport Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Sorry to hear about this. Are there any other incidents like this in the UK as we have a few with popped turbos here but they all had piggybacks installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
182_blue Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Nobody else has reported it that I have seen but I am sure it will create mass hysteria like the alloy and paint gate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonno .:R Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 I've also heard of this happening on another Mk7 R. I was hoping yours was the same one I had heard of and this was a one off but given your location is Scotland it probably isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertrotter Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Wow! no hysteria from these quarters however thanks for the heads up re strange noises and what they might be/what to do. Glad all sorted for you now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quattrogmbh Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 I had a BMW 335d which blew both turbos at 1500 miles. BMW replaced the car as they wanted it returned to Germany for analysis In my view you get turbo failure at low mileage from manufacturing defects or at high mileage from general wear. There seem to be few reports of failure between 10k and 60k for example. I have a metallic sound on the R but I don't think its the turbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oorladuk Posted May 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Thanks for the comments folks. I believe the turbo has been sent back to Germany for analysis. I'm pretty sure it's a rare occurrence, I don't think people need to panic just yet! You have to put stuff in perspective, the car uses a mass produced turbo, they are bound to have a small %age of failures. Quattrogmbh - I know the sound you mention, I believe all the R's have this, like you said nothing to do with the failure. The noise I had was closer to a water pump bearing going. Now that I know what happened I'm surprised I didn't pick up on it sooner - and very surprised VW mechanic missed it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Blimey! Fingers crossed we don't have a common problem here... Good tips. Thanks for the sage advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlteredCarbon Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Useful post - thanks for sharing your experience. Will be very interested to hear of any others with a similar experience and if you get any further info back from VW or the dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chubby Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 As you have a mechanical background, I'm sure you don't need me to suggest changing the sump plug for one with a magnet inside of it........ If the bearing did break up, the oil system could also have been contaminated and you know what that means for the engine. VW have surely changed the oil filter and oil, but if I was keeping that car for a while (as in past the warranty expiry date), I'd have been happier with a new engine unit Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryhackenbacker Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Here we go TurboGate Having had numerous turbo failures over the years ( mostly Audi ) never known an engine failure ,or a manufacturer changing an engine just in case Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oorladuk Posted May 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Yes Chubby, I did have some concerns. I raised these at the time. The dealers mechanic assured me they gave the engine a thorough check (not too sure what that entailed). I believe the oil and filter were also changed. I think given the tolerances involved with these modern performance engines, if something else (down the line) was a miss, it would have reared it's ugly head by now. - here's hoping anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chubby Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Here we go TurboGate Having had numerous turbo failures over the years ( mostly Audi ) neverknown an engine failure ,or a manufacturer changing an engine just in case Mike - I don't believe my post was attempting to start "Turbogate". It was a perfectly valid post to another member who has a mechanical background and his response confirms that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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