Hey guys, so I have a '91 MK3 just finished installing a 3" exhaust from the DP back. After the exhaust I tore into the engine a bit to replace my wastegate actuator. Put everything back together and it start and runs great (sounds pretty decent too!) however my turbo seems a lot more sluggish when spooling and as soon as I start to make boost I get a grinding noise. I was thinking maybe a gasket on the downpipe or something but I really don't know where to begin to look. If it helps I also have a pretty big exhaust leak somewhere and the grinding is metal on metal.
Weird sound when in boost..
- Thread starter Boosted MK3
- Start date
hvyman;1954728 said:
That's what I've been doing for the past few hours found a bolt or two that needed an extra snug but everything else is fine. I feel I should add the car runs and drives flawlessly as long as I stay in vaccum and even when I made boost (only 2 times, made the same sound both times) it pulled fine except the noise, no smoke, nothing.
Pokey2301;1954789 said:
Yes I did, there is no shaft play at all. Starting to think maybe the turbo is going/ gone but wouldn't I be blowing smoke if that was the case?
Turbo seems sluggish and you're getting a weird noise. When you say you tore into the engine bit to replace the wastegate actuator, what did you take off to replace it?
Boosted MK3;1954848 said:
If you blew the seals it would smoke.
What wg actuator did you replace yours with? Did you check that it was functioning properly? Perhaps it is holding the wastegate open a little which would cause your turbo to spool slower and feel "sluggish". How much boost are you making? Also, is your exhaust leak from the manifold? Because if it is that can cause poor spooling as well.
As far as the "grinding noise", not sure what to tell you. Check your turbo's inducer wheel for shaft play as it may be hitting the housing. If your replacement actuator caused the flapper to bind shut, you could have overboosted and damaged the turbo.
Kinda just throwing scenerios out there....
Winner winner chicken dinner!
You posted that there was no shaft play when you checked and that it wasn't smoking. How did you know it was blown? Did you find any physical damage?
You posted that there was no shaft play when you checked and that it wasn't smoking. How did you know it was blown? Did you find any physical damage?
MarkIII4Me;1955031 said:
Drove the car to work against my better judgement (only about 5 miles total) drove like a granny the whole way never leaving vacuum and by the time I got home it was smoking, took the intake off and my impeller wheel is now bent and tore up.
My guess at this point is somehow something made its way into the turbo causing the grinding sound before destroying the impeller wheel.
If something made its way to the turbo, you should be able to find it in the pipes. I would also check to make sure nothing went inside the motor and pictures would be great