After replacing the turbocharger on my Audi A3, due to the ongoing P0234 overboost code I was receiving.
I now have a spare Turbocharger that I can rebuild if it was in good condition.
I decided to do a teardown of it, to inspect if the vanes were indeed seized or if it was another issue entirely (they were for info) and see if was worth repairing, or even if it could be repaired.
Now that the Turbocharger has been removed, I can buy a rebuild kit, clean it up, and add some grease. I may even give it a fresh lick of paint. Maybe something heat resistant in a bright colour, simply because I can. The rebuild kits are about £30, so even if I never fit it, I’ll always have a good working spare for next to nothing. The turbo will be fitted with some antisize for high temperatures too which will help
As you can see in the pictures below, there’s a lot of crap on the exhaust housing side of things (as to be expected). There’s a bit of Oil on the compressor side, but I figured this was because the seal was leaking. The main problem was the VNT assembly.
I could apply 25mh of Vacuum to the VNT asembly, and it holds (so actuator sems good), however when releasing it seemed “sticky” or “slow” in response to going back to its original stop.
This suggested it did have a vane issue. after removing the actuator and doing it manually it was still stiff.
I ended up removing the Exhausting housing and Compressor housing exposing the entire CHRA core. After the exhaust housing was removed, the VNT arm moved freely. So definately a seized VNT issue. As you can see from the pics, not surprised.
My car had 135k miles on the Turbo when it was changed. Factory GT1749V turbocharger from Garrett.
Browse eBay to buy rebuild kits, new CHRA cores, new Turbos, or Turbo parts [ AFFILIATE LINK – OPENS IN NEW WINDOW ]
On with the pics
