I think my turbo is blown

LegacyGT

LegacyGT

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Just wanted to vent a little.

At my last service I mentioned that i had been hearing some chattering noise when the engine temp was cold, but that it went away once the vehicle was up to temp. I even took the service manager for a test drive and he heard the noise and told me that noisy turbos were a common problem and not to worry about it.

Lately (close to 3k later) the clattering noise has been more present even as the car warms up. This afternoon while having to do a hard acceleration on an on ramp I now have a loud whistling noise coming from the passenger side where the turbo is located. Some research shows a lot of issues with the '05 model, though mine is an '06. I am also starting to think the noise I was hearing was due to oil starvation possibably from a clogged banjo bolt filter that was missed by the dealer.

I am not sure there is anything I can do, no fluids are leaking, so I think i can limp it to a shop. I am halfway tempted to use this as an excuse for an upgraded turbo, but I am not aware of any good tuning shops located in Iowa.

Whatever the case may be it looks like i will soon be out a grand minimum for a replacement. :rant:
 
Hmm, definitely not fun. Unless you can afford to get an upgraded turbo with the accompanying mods. I was in that situation before with my car, and I decided to go bigger. If you were planning on upgrading it in the future now would be the time do so!
 
LegacyGT said:
Whatever the case may be it looks like i will soon be out a grand minimum for a replacement. :rant:
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Wouldn't that depend if the bearing were run out? Or are you assuming the turbo has been starved for the past 3k miles? If that's the case, I can understand, but I wonder if you can't just get oil flowing and see if the turbo works any better.
 
aerogt01 said:
Wouldn't that depend if the bearing were run out? Or are you assuming the turbo has been starved for the past 3k miles? If that's the case, I can understand, but I wonder if you can't just get oil flowing and see if the turbo works any better.
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That was my thought exactly! Unless your really just looking for an excuse to upgrade your turbo. But if you can get some oil flowing in there it may solve your problems and be a lot cheaper than buying a new one.
 
Just a note most Turbo's at idle spin around 10K RPM . The main shaft that connects the both side of the turbo actually floats the oil supply allows that . If you loose oil pressure or the motor has sludge the shaft drops and burns up the bearing or the ceramic coating . Every turbo is designed different but most work the same way . Before you replace the turbo you need to make sure the oil feed line and return are clean .
Also make sure you change your oil and filter right after replacement . If you know about tuning and cars that have turbo's the aftermarket makes a kit that supplies oil just too the turbo so when you shut your car off the turbo doesn't run dry . These kits are really for hard core driving and or racing .
One thing I always tell my customers that own a turbo car is when they are ready to turn off there car wait a minute or so to let the turbo spool down then turn off the engine .
Do they listen very rarely but it helps extend the life of the turbo .

Also do the same when you start the engine just wait a few seconds before you drive off so the oil is flowing to the turbo .

I've never been able to bring a turbo back to life after a oil change .

There is one more thing you can look at if you have access you can remove the hose on the intake side of the turbo and see how much end play the shaft has also checking the up and down play .
 
Solid post Adam. :xyxthumbs:

I always leave my car running for a few extra minutes after a long or hard drive to let the turbo cool before cutting it's oil supply.
 
Sorry to hear man. This is what I'm waiting on so that I can upgrade without hearing chatter from, well I'm sure you understand ;). I really have a problem with the statement "Noisy turbos are a common problem". That to me sounds like disaster. A service manager saying something like that needs a new occupation, not in automotive repair. "That knocking in your engine, that's common for cars that leave our shop". That's going to be his next line. :laughing:
 
I have Turbo driven cars out on the road for well over a 100,000 miles that are as good now as they were years ago . And on the other hand i've replaced turbo's that have 30K on them . Most turbo failures are from the abuse customers give them . Oil Changes, Not letting the turbo idle down, It also has too do with who makes the turbo .
Back in the 80's most of the turbo's were just oil cooled today they are oil and water cooled .
 
Well this is the first I have heard of letting the turbo spin down before shutting down the engine, makes sense, but not something I have done in the past. I made it into work fine this morning, just made sure to keep it out of boost range, so now I am going to call a few shops and hopefully get it in tomorrow.

I have always kept up on the maintenance and even taken an aggressive maintenance schedule ahead of the manf. recommendations. I have also run mobile synthetic since the first fill after getting it home from the dealer.

Thanks for the tips, once this is fixed up I will modify some of my habits. To be honest I have driven this car pretty hard and it now has 84k on the clock, so maybe it is just time. I still feel like I got some bad advice from the dealer, but I will wait to see what is actually wrong before going down that road.
 
Well, Mobil 1 is not the oil it used to be, if you believe what you read on Bob Is The Oil Guy (which I haven't browsed in some time). That frying pan ad sold me on Mobil 1 being cheap insurance against an overheat, but that was the old Mobil 1, not sure if it would do that now (this has to do with the FTC semantics over the use of the term "synthetic").

As far as the maintenance, it sounds like you missed that banjo bolt filter...although that sounds like a "last chance" filter that isn't really supposed to get clogged.

BTW the "spool down" that has been recommended is to let the turbo cool off to prevent coking of the oil from (heat) soakback after shutdown.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
As far as the maintenance, it sounds like you missed that banjo bolt filter...although that sounds like a "last chance" filter that isn't really supposed to get clogged.
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I should clarify, I take the car in to the dealer for the major service intervals 30/60/90 etc, so I need to figure out if they missed it at 60k ... That was a pretty big one. The small stuff like oil change and tire rotation, brakes I do myself if I have the time, otherwise I take it in.
 
LegacyGT said:
Well this is the first I have heard of letting the turbo spin down before shutting down the engine, makes sense, but not something I have done in the past. I made it into work fine this morning, just made sure to keep it out of boost range, so now I am going to call a few shops and hopefully get it in tomorrow.

I have always kept up on the maintenance and even taken an aggressive maintenance schedule ahead of the manf. recommendations. I have also run mobile synthetic since the first fill after getting it home from the dealer.

Thanks for the tips, once this is fixed up I will modify some of my habits. To be honest I have driven this car pretty hard and it now has 84k on the clock, so maybe it is just time. I still feel like I got some bad advice from the dealer, but I will wait to see what is actually wrong before going down that road.
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Adam is right. I heard the same advice about turbos on the show Motorweek over a decade ago. The guy also talked about adding something that keeps the oil pressurized in order for the turbos to have oil in it at all times, but like I said, that was over a decade ago and I've never owned a turbocharged car.
 
LegacyGT said:
I should clarify, I take the car in to the dealer for the major service intervals 30/60/90 etc, so I need to figure out if they missed it at 60k ... That was a pretty big one. The small stuff like oil change and tire rotation, brakes I do myself if I have the time, otherwise I take it in.
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It may not be your fault if you did the oil changes and change the filter it was out of your control . Just for the heck of it try and find out the failure rate of the turbo they use on your car . Check some of the forums and you can ask the dealer how offen they fail . It doesn't hurt to ask Matter of fact depending on the customers service history with my dealership and how good of customer they are I've called the factory and had the parts Good Willed and the customer pays the labor we have done this with cars well over 100K on them . Most manufactures have some sort of program like that you have to ask the service manager . They don't tell customers about it since it's some that is handle case by case . If you bring the car to the dealer and done major services there it doesn't hurt to ask .:xyxthumbs:
 
I'm glad you posted this here, but might also try a Subaru forum, or even an STI specific forum. Most of those (STI forums) are packed with some seriously knowledgeable people who can likely help diagnose and make suggestions for your problem.

As far as idle down, if you drive the car a mile or 2 on the way home (before parking) without boosting, it will have the same effect.
 
rfinkle2 said:
I'm glad you posted this here, but might also try a Subaru forum, or even an STI specific forum. Most of those (STI forums) are packed with some seriously knowledgeable people who can likely help diagnose and make suggestions for your problem.

As far as idle down, if you drive the car a mile or 2 on the way home (before parking) without boosting, it will have the same effect.
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I beg to differ with you on that . As soon as you step on the gas the turbo starts to spool up ,Sure it's not going to go too full boast but anything off idle the turbo increases in speed . So to say to drive a mile or so then turn it off isn't doing the turbo any good . Without some sort of gauge that measures R.P.M.S of the turbo which I've never seen you have no idea what the turbo is spinning at I rather be safe then sorry and just wait until some time before I turn off the engine .
 
Harleyguy said:
I beg to differ with you on that . As soon as you step on the gas the turbo starts to spool up ,Sure it's not going to go too full boast but anything off idle the turbo increases in speed . So to say to drive a mile or so then turn it off isn't doing the turbo any good . Without some sort of gauge that measures R.P.M.S of the turbo which I've never seen you have no idea what the turbo is spinning at I rather be safe then sorry and just wait until some time before I turn off the engine .
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I don't want to argue but I've driven an Audi TT225, Evo IX, Evo X and Mazdaspeed3, all of which are turbocharged cars, and never once had a problem using this method.

The point of my post was more hoping the OP would check out an STI forum, and consult some others with knowledge of Subaru engines, turbochargers and their problems.
 
rfinkle2 said:
The point of my post was more hoping the OP would check out an STI forum, and consult some others with knowledge of Subaru engines, turbochargers and their problems.
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I did some searching on a few other forums, and found turbo issues to be a very commonly reported issue with the '05 year ... I bought mine Dec '05 ('06 model) so I am not sure if it falls into the same category.

Regardless I dropped it off at a shop this morning and have not heard back yet. I need to call and see what is going on. I'll post back.

My trip home at night does involve a mile stretch of residential road, which I just idle for the entire stretch due to the number of kids in the area, so the car has gotten a good 60-90 second period to wind down before it is stopped.
 
I'm not sure of the years but I believe there was a TSB for the banjo filter. If they overlooked it when you brought it in it sounds like you might have a case for it to be covered under warranty. I thought I saw a post about it on 3GWRX. I'll have to take a look and see if I can find it.
edit:
I think this might be the TSB I was talking about. http://store.forcedperformance.net/merchant2/graphics/subaru_oil/02-103-07.pdf
Hope it helps I am not super knowledgeable I just remember reading a post that sounded similar. Good Luck!

I bought a WRX recently because my 05 Legacy wasn't a GT and after my 1998 GT I was really missing my turbo. I just didn't care for the new Legacy styling though so I went WRX.
 
Harleyguy said:
I beg to differ with you on that . As soon as you step on the gas the turbo starts to spool up ,Sure it's not going to go too full boast but anything off idle the turbo increases in speed . So to say to drive a mile or so then turn it off isn't doing the turbo any good . Without some sort of gauge that measures R.P.M.S of the turbo which I've never seen you have no idea what the turbo is spinning at I rather be safe then sorry and just wait until some time before I turn off the engine .
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so what you are trying to argue is that you don't want to hit the throttle right before shutting your car off? thanks captain obvious......

I think what you are arguing is different than what rfinkle2 is stating. He is more or less referring to not needing a turbo timer to 'cool' the turbo down after hard driving.

either way, I think most people that drive any sort of car, don't have their foot on the gas at the exact time they are turning the car off
 
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