I am pretty sure that my turbos are leaking oil. I was wondering if someone would give me confirmation that this is really were the oil is coming from. The oil is located between the turbo and the intercooler. My mechanic found about 1/2 liter in both sides. The car seems to be still running fine, but has that nice burnt oil smell coming from the exhaust. Is this something that could hurt the motor? I am assuming the turbos would need to be changed to fix the problem.

 

When you say found 1/2 litre "in" both sides, where exactly was the oil, inside the pipe between the turbo and intercooler?

 

Yeah, the oil was found inside the boost tubes between the turbos and the intercoolers. I personally did not see the exact location, but there must be some kind of dip in the piping to allow for this amount of oil to be allowed to collect.

 

The piping does indeed bend a bit, but 1/2 a litre per side seems like a lot to me. Depending upon the amount of time during which this amount was collected I'd say you want to watch your oil consumption. And yes, it does unfortunately sound like your turbos are on their way out. Have you heard the telltale "sewing machine" sound yet?

 

1/2 a litre may be on the high side and I am not sure how long it has taken to build up that much oil as I have only owned the car for a couple of months. The car is my wife's so I don't drive it much. Although I did just get back from a couple hour trip with it and it worked great. And no sounds coming from the turbos. Since the mechanic removed the oil and cleaned the pipes, even the smoke smell has been lowered alot. I am wondering if I would be able to keep driving it, make sure to watch the oil level, and see if I would be able to get a few more months and miles out of it before having to change the turbos? It would be nice to save up some cash before having to do the job.

 

Yes, definitely check your oil level frequently, at least until you're able to determine how rapidly the oil is leaking. Although the turbo's sound like they're starting to go, I wouldn't worry too much about them just yet. Being a little bit easier on the boost will also help to extend their life, and give you some more time to save the cash for their replacement.

Good luck.

 

Hey thanks very much for the help. I have done a bit of research on replacement turbos. Has you or any one else heard anything about the RPTURBO SO4 units? Did see some discussion on the US Audi forum. Just wondering is anyone in Canada is using them.

 

I've certainly heard of RP Turbo, but I haven't had any first hand experience with their own branded KO4 turbos. Did you "hear" good things?