Mechanic Said my Turbo Needs to Be Replaced! Does it?

[cmckelvy]

I took my car into an indi shop for what turned out to be a faulty fuel pump. It took them about 3 work days to figure out that’s what it was (after replacing the MAF and trying to convince me it was the brake booster). After that was fixed I drove the car and heard a high pitched swirl coming from the turbo area. Well, after an hour or so of that the car totally lost boost. I took it back in, they spent another day and a half looking at it, and now I apparently have a destroyed turbo.

They “said” that the little screw that is front of the impeller, right in the inlet of the turbo, somehow came off and somehow stripped the turbo impeller to shit making me lose all concentrated air flow. Now I am having to pay them to either rebuild it or buy a new one and pay for all that labor.

Does that sound like it could have logically happened or does it sound shady to you? I am having a hard time with thinking it was just a coincidence. The car does have 98K on it, but I drive about 100 miles a day and it has been driving perfect up until the fuel pump stopped giving me gas.

Am I getting bent over?

[A4Triple Blk]

sounds like someone is going BT earlier than expected lol ... sorry to hear that man ... is the turbo the stock ko3 ? Any other mods ?

[cmckelvy]

Ya, my car was/is stock as far as the turbo goes. It just seems fishy to me for that screw to come off "all of the sudden".

[vdubstreets]

When I hear stories like this I am always skeptical. I'm not understanding which bolt they are claiming to cause the damage (if its the shaft I have never heard that of happening and highly doubt that's the cause). But I'm looking at it this way, the car ran fine previous to the fuel issue. After the fuel pump was replaced they came to the assumption that it was the MAF. They replaced the MAF which is in the pluming to the area of the turbo that is now damaged. All it takes is a small screw or even a large enough fragment of metal, dirt or plastic the turbo will suck it up and destroy the compressor wheel. Its a tough call at this point as to whether or not its the shops fault but it sure does sound fishy to me.

[texasboy21]

sounds fishy to me too. I think you should have a second or even a third shop look at it cause we all know how that goes. as far as rebuilds and new turbo labor goes; there are two ends to the spectrum. the first being a k03/k04 rebuild that may yield some performance gains or a gtrs or the like, but then you HAVE to get some other mods, so its really a price thing. for your sake i hope youve got enough $$$ to spends cause this is a perfect opportunity!! just my .02

barrett

[sinful7]

I don't believe it. And while I drive a 3.0, my last car was a TT RX7 with 90xxx on it. That just doesn't happen on turbos.

Which direction does the impeller spin, and does the impeller retainer nut thread the opposite direction?

[widgget]

Which direction does the impeller spin, and does the impeller retainer nut thread the opposite direction?

yes, so the nut isn't just going to come off, it gets tighter when the turbo spins not looser, they dropped some shit in there when they f-ed with your MAF.

[sinful7]

That's where I am on this whole thing. I would be extremely surprised to find that the nut unthreaded, or the turbo twisted out. Sounds like a foreign object went through the impeller and bashed the hell out of it.

Have you taken off the intake hose to inspect the damage yourself?

[passatkid]

If they had the MAF they dropped something in there,

[widgget]

i would be raising holy fu*king hell with the owner of that shop!!!!!!!

[belinko]

To the OP.

Was this shop recommended to you by anyone on AZ? Does this shop primarily work on Audi, VW, Porsche vehicles? Did you change the fuel filter yet?

First off, fuel pumps don't just die. It is usually a consequence of not changing your fuel filter. As the filter gets clogged, the pump can't drive the fuel through it and thus it overheats and dies. If it hasn't been changed and you've got your new fuel pump on, then DO IT or else you'll be replacing your pump again.

Any experienced Audi mechanic or AZ'er should be able to figure this problem out within a couple of hours, without replacing a $300 maf + labor and damage to the turbo. I'd try to figure out a way for the shop to pay for the turbo. Have them show you the damaged impeller and the stripped threads. Ask them if they've ever seen any damge like this before. Post up the shop name so that in the future some people can avoid this place. Good luck.

[sinful7]

One more thought - if debris (like a screw) were drafted through the impeller, then you'll have impeller fragments and the foreign object in your intake plenum, perhaps in the cylinder(s) itself...

[AudiA4_20T]

One more thought - if debris (like a screw) were drafted through the impeller, then you'll have impeller fragments and the foreign object in your intake plenum, perhaps in the cylinder(s) itself...

wrong... unless it made its way through the SMIC or FMIC

[sinful7]

wrong... unless it made its way through the SMIC or FMIC

Ack you're right.. Dur.

[diagnosticator]

I agree with prior replies that the scenario offered by the shop is unlikely in the extreme. While it's not impossible for the nut to work loose, things like that usually only happen soon after first placing in service if it's going to happen at all, not 90K+ miles later. And, the thread of the nut is opposite the rotation of the turbo to help prevent loosening. In addition, the nut is a "prevailing torque" type self locking nut, and it won't free spin on the threads. The story doesn't add up at all.

[JMRQuattro]

ok if your car has run for 98k miles without the bolt just falling off, i think from the fact the bolt tightens as the turbo spins doesn't make any sense at all. I would take it to another shop and have them investigate what the actual cause for the turbo being destroyed is. Because who knows it might not be the bolt at all, they could just be saying that to cover their mistakes.

[dewey527]

i feel you pain. i would raise holy cain too with the shop...screws and such don't just appear in the piping! someone fat fingered it. i installed the afe TIP and a rubber groment broke off and caused bent fins and the whirling noise i know i should have gone BT but i am happy with k04.

[CyberPMG]

To belinko: There is a well known defect with the fuel pump for 2003-2004 B6 A4s. Audi did a recall on all 2003 A4s. Mine died and is a 2004 (built in 2003) - the fuel filter was replaced too.

To the OP: Since the shop/mechanic was working around the area of the turbo, I would be suspicious that maybe the turbo wasn't removed for inspection and then not properly installed (or allowed some item to get into the impeller). There's no mistaking the dentist drill sound to know the turbo is shot.

Having the fuel pump and filter replaced is the right call for your original problem. I feel that in their efforts to determine this, something may have been introduced to cause the turbo issue. You could argue this, but it's mostly hearsay and no hard evidence to proove it one way or another.

I put about 30k miles on my car each year. I replaced my K03 turbo at 93k miles (upgraded to K04). It was in perfect shape. I later sold it to a VW owner who needed to replace his blown turbo. It continues to run perfectly.

As long as you were staying on top of routine maintenance, the turbo should last a whole lot longer than 98k miles.

[diagnosticator]

"I took my car into an indi shop for what turned out to be a faulty fuel pump. It took them about 3 work days to figure out that’s what it was (after replacing the MAF and trying to convince me it was the brake booster)."

Too me, this sounds like the shop is unqualified to work on cars.

When a car with fuel injection won't start/run, one of the first things to check besides the presence of spark, is if there is enough fuel pressure at the injectors or not. It doesn't take 3 days to do this, it's standard procedure. Replacing parts and promoting theories is not appropriate before confirming if there is fuel and ignition or not first.

[F16HTON]

No shit...I call it diagnosing with darts...

Throw parts at the dart board and see if it fixes it. There are very few issues that the A4 can throw you engine wise that cannot be figured out in a couple of hours.

[Papachristou]

"I took my car into an indi shop for what turned out to be a faulty fuel pump. It took them about 3 work days to figure out that’s what it was (after replacing the MAF and trying to convince me it was the brake booster)."

Too me, this sounds like the shop is unqualified to work on cars.

When a car with fuel injection won't start/run, one of the first things to check besides the presence of spark, is if there is enough fuel pressure at the injectors or not. It doesn't take 3 days to do this, it's standard procedure. Replacing parts and promoting theories is not appropriate before confirming if there is fuel and ignition or not first.

my mechanical expertise is far below yours however my car died last year and i was able to diagnose it as the fuel pump in under an hour with NO fault codes! put a new one in that afternoon and back on the road.....

the shop is clearly unqualified to do general diagnostical work or milking you for money....

and like others have said, the likely hood of that screw falling off randomly is extremely low.... they almost certainly dropped a screw from the MAF or something else in there and thought oh well

[cmckelvy]

Update: After listening to you guys I explained to the owner of the shop the logic behind what went down and how it sounded really wrong. They were very responsive and told me that they would fix it at no charge. It took several more days, but once they got a new impeller and nut...they took care of it. They were really cool about it because they want me to bring them my upgrade business (Brakes, new BT setup). I am really torn now because of how nice they were. I might give them another chance, but after reading this I am realizing that i got bent over on the price of the new fuel pump, fuel filter, and MAF that I didn't need.

Live and learn I guess.

Thanks guys,

[CyberPMG]

Glad the problem got resolved. The shop did the right thing to step up and fix their own problem. I would do some shopping around to see what other shops are in your area.

[Papachristou]

good news....