Turbo Bearing Going?

Rovers_Andy

Rovers_Andy

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I think the Turbo bearing is starting to go on the Astra :'(. There's a a noticable "whine" when the engine is running a steady load on Motorway/Dual Carriageway (50mph and above, and between 1500 and 2200 RPM) gets more noticable as you accelerate and also when decelerating :bang:

Does anyone have experience of getting a bearing changed and a rough cost? Obviously i'd rather get a new set or bearings and seals than a have the turbo let go big style and end up replacing the whole lot
 
I have experience of the seals going - my local garage is close to Midland turbo who do a full turbo refurb including bearings & seals for about £180 + vat.

Obviously factor in garage costs for turbo removal & refitting
 
Thats what im thinking, around £200. Its in for an MOT at the min so he's going to take the intercooler pipes off and have a good feel :naughty: I think i've caught it in time and i'll just need a set of bearings and seals
 
dont forget , if you lose the bearings and seals at any sort of speed you risk pumping all the oil out of the exhaust , then it may not be just a new turbo you need , seen it happen on a mates RS Turbo .............
 
paulyoung666 said:
dont forget , if you lose the bearings and seals at any sort of speed you risk pumping all the oil out of the exhaust , then it may not be just a new turbo you need , seen it happen on a mates RS Turbo .............
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Indeedy, as i say i think i've been lucky and caught it in time, could hear it over the Radio :eek:

Its in the garage as we speak so should find out this afternoon, shame the warranty expired 2 months ago :(
 
paulyoung666 said:
dont forget , if you lose the bearings and seals at any sort of speed you risk pumping all the oil out of the exhaust , then it may not be just a new turbo you need , seen it happen on a mates RS Turbo .............
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Pumping all the oil out of the exhaust is best case scenario - at worse your engine can end up ingesting bits of turbo which is usually pretty terminal.
 
rightio

spoke to the garage and the bearing is just starting to go and is dragging a small amount of oil through. So its booked in to strip the Turbo down and i'll probably go for a recon.

Relieved its been caught in time :)
 
not chipped it yet, and wont be until march when me insurance is up for renewal but yeah its a good job i didnt
 
Well at least you have prevented a hefty bill, there are those that would carry on regardless of strange noises :shake: Worth noting also how people just switch the engine off after using a car with a turbo, letting it idle for a short while will prolong the life of it.
 
Hi Gary

No whine when the engine is at standstill. It really noticable when i'm going above 50MPH (rpm around 1800) and the pitch increases as i apply the throttle.

Its not the "normal" sound of the turbo though, its also noticable when i ease off the throttle, right down to 1500 RPM. even in 1st and 2nd gear

u8myufo Well at least you have prevented a hefty bill, there are those that would carry on regardless of strange noises Worth noting also how people just switch the engine off after using a car with a turbo, letting it idle for a short while will prolong the life of it./QUOTE]

The turbo is one thing i wont take a risk with Rich, i've seen the aftermath of a turbocharger letting go at work, blades came out of the casing and passed through 1/2 In Steel :eek:

far better to change bearings and oil seal now than risk the turbo going and possibly damaging the intercooler and sucking the sump dry
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Rovers_Andy said:
Hi Gary

No whine when the engine is at standstill. It really noticable when i'm going above 50MPH (rpm around 1800) and the pitch increases as i apply the throttle.

Its not the "normal" sound of the turbo though, its also noticable when i ease off the throttle, right down to 1500 RPM. even in 1st and 2nd gear
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IMHO I would say thats not a turbo bearing. Any probs with the turbo bearing should increase in whine at the same as you hear the whilstle when the turbo spins.

are you sure its not transmission related.. maybe a cv joint or a wheel bearing?
 
Im pretty much certain its the turbocharger bearing(s) i can hear it a little from 1600RPM and its very noticable from 1800RPM as in i can hear it over the radio or a cd.

The pitch of the whine increases with RPM and drops off as i decelerate. It sounds like purifiers at work when they are spinning down from working RPM.

How could a transmission problem cause the whine? (i'm trying to educate myself on cars as it will be handy for the future)

It passed the MOT this afternoon so would anything transmission related be picked up?

The mechanic game out in the car with me to listen and he's of the same opinion :shrug:

Any help/advice you can give is appreciated Gary :)

Cheers
 
It's increadible hard to judge these things without being there, but if you know what your feeling (a lot dont and get it wrong) then a turbo is easy to feel and diagnose.

to answer your questions...
transmission whines the same reason at turbo, bearings - and the gearbox has lots more and they tend to whine under different conditions depending on which it is. Gearbox will whine when moving and not at standstill but turbo will whine all the time (although load[extra effort] will cause it to whine more or if it is early stages of failure it may require that load to whine)

Nope MOT is NOT a test of a vehicles health, they will not find engine or gearbox problems. It is a test of saftey. ie will the brakes, lights, tyres, seatbelts, rust, steering fail within the next 12 months.
 
Hmmmmm if its Gearbox that would be really worrying :( and from what you say its a possibility as there's no whine when the engine is in neutral.

:(
 
what position are you in?
Do you still have the car or is it at the garage?
How well do/should you trust the garage?
Might be worth going to another garage and asking a second opinion, its always best to describe symptoms and not provide an opinion on what the problem is, people in general are easily influenced.
Just be careful with unknown garages that want to start ripping things apart and replacing things.

Its very easy for a knowledgible mechanic to diagnose turbo or gearbox without taking things apart.
 
The car is booked in for monday to have the turbo removed and sent to a local company who specialize in recon turbos

I trust the garage as they have done other work on the car before to a high standard. I think however that i should get a 2nd/3rd opinion as the 1st thing i said was that i thought it was a turbo issue.

Thinking about it, it could well be the transmission as there have been a couple of times where i've gone to change from 2nd to 3rd and its jumped into 1st :bang:
 
Just a thought, do you get much smoke on gear change or acceleration?

On a brighter note, a recon turbo will be ripe for a remap :)

paulyoung666 said:
not if you have no oil going to the mains and big ends it aint .........
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Oh, tought one. Ingested turbo component or non lubricated bearings. I honestly don't know which is worse - both are bad mind!

u8myufo said:
Well at least you have prevented a hefty bill, there are those that would carry on regardless of strange noises :shake: Worth noting also how people just switch the engine off after using a car with a turbo, letting it idle for a short while will prolong the life of it.
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Quoting for importance! Even driving the last mile of your journey keeping the revs down below boost will help a great deal.
 
RichardtheSane said:
Just a thought, do you get much smoke on gear change or acceleration?

On a brighter note, a recon turbo will be ripe for a remap :)
Click to expand...

Yes when im accelerating, haven't noticed any smoke when changing down.

Will do the rounds of a few garages today to get 2nd 3rd opinion
 
I'll be honest if you get a whine when the turbo kicks in, smoke when accellerating and there is oil evident in the intercooler then there is a pretty high chance that you need the turbo doing.

There could be a simple explanation for it not happening in neutral. The turbo is powered by exhaust gas pressure. When you rev the engine while in neutral you do get some pressure, but nothing like the pressure when the engine is under load. With this in mind the turbo will spool up a bit while revving in neutral but will spin much faster while under load.
 
RichardtheSane said:
I'll be honest if you get a whine when the turbo kicks in, smoke when accellerating and there is oil evident in the intercooler then there is a pretty high chance that you need the turbo doing.

There could be a simple explanation for it not happening in neutral. The turbo is powered by exhaust gas pressure. When you rev the engine while in neutral you do get some pressure, but nothing like the pressure when the engine is under load. With this in mind the turbo will spool up a bit while revving in neutral but will spin much faster while under load.
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Hi Richard

This was my original line of thinking because the noise is more evident as i move through the power band of the turbocharger. I don't have any experience with this setup so i wasn't confident. I've only worked with Turbochargers that work on constant speed engines (marine medium speeds)


Looks like Vauxhall have the aftersales by the balls :( 650 for a new T/C or 550 for a recon with mine in PX :eek: :'(



EDIT: Can get an recon for £300 + Vat, thats a bit more like it :)
 
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