Wondering if anyone can share their expertise... (06 vf39'ed with Nuke Tune) Over the past month or so when I got on the juice my engine bay would make an odd "whiney chatter" but only occasionally and under certain conditions. The next day I would get on the gas and everything seemed fine - no noise... Last week I got on the gas and heard a much more evident noise when on the gas/getting into boost and the noise is now apparent every time I get on the throttle. The best way I can describe the noise is that it sounds like 'metal flakes' are being sucked through from what sounds like the turbo area. When applying gradual power to the motor the noise is not apparent but upon increased throttle/raised boost the metal flake rattle/chatter increases as well. I have accelerated the car gradually while allowing the rpms to raise slowly between shifts so as not to allow the turbo to spool up to reduce if not eliminate the noise from occurring all together and this has seemingly been "successful." For fear that I do not hurt the motor I have attempted to do my best not to get into boost as this noise is quite concerning to me naturally. After a brief conversation, I decided I would look for a "new" used vf39 for NF to swap in as I have suspected that my issue is a dying/dead turbo - most especially because they would have to remove the turbo to inspect it and why pay for labor 2x. However, as I have continued to read online about dying turbo's and ponder about my situation, I'm concerned that something else may be wrong and thought I would open it up to the MNSubaru community for any input... Thanks in advance...
sounds like your turbo is dying...and doing exactly what you said it sounded like metal flakes...into your engine.
Yeah sounds like the compressor wheel might be hitting the cover from too much shaft play. Hopefully you don't need an engine rebuild but if there are metal flakes in your oil that is bad news if you continue driving around.
Thanks for your input guys... I have not been driving the car since it occurred after limping it home since. I am going to drop the oil today.
Oil looked good/normal. Took the car for a very short drive and didn't hear any abnormal noises as I drove it carefully. At this point I'm not sure what else I can do besides look for a replacement vf39 to have NF performance swap in and hopefully everything checks out ok.
Car was warmed up, drove it around the block carefully, and checked the oil again. I was thinking when I am albe to get a replacement vf39, I could limp the car to NF to have them swap the turbos without risking much?
Honestly at this point I'd just have it flat bedded there...a AAA membership for a year is only $100 much cheaper then a new motor...
Ok, thanks again. So signing up for a AAA membership allows u to get ur car towed for free or for a nominal price?
K thanks - I'll be looking into it. Keeping an eye out for a used vf39 but don't really want to drop $650 on a rebuild before I head to the Cayman Islands this weekend as my wife and I have been saving up for this trip for awhile. I guess I'm fortunate to be able to borrow my old man's Pontiac Vibe commuter until I can find a decent deal. Best deal I have potentially on the table is $375 for a vf39 with 93k but that's a bit too much $ for one with a few more miles on it than I'd prefer...that being said, I know finding a 39 with lower miles is not going to be an easy task on a budget.
Huh last I looked you could get vf39s on nasioc for $300 or less without too many miles but haven't looked in a while. You could pick up a td04 for like $100-150 if you want to do it as cheap as possible.
Yea, I'm going to hold out for now to see if I can find a better deal. I have thought about going back to a td04 but than I'd have to spend $100 on a retune and settle for less power not to mention not utilizing my other upgrades.
Thought about that option as well but reading threads such as this make me think otherwise: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2164804 Did you have your turbo balanced - what did everything run you; $ and time?
Yes. Had it rebalanced down in Burnsville at diesel components. Kit was $75 or so on eBay. That was just for seals and bushing and such. Not sure if u need more with shaft play or not then that came with my kit. Didn't pay much for the rebalance not sure how much it was so that makes me think it was less then $50
You might want to look at to condition of internals of the turbo before deciding to rebuild. If it is too borked it might be less headache to get a used one. Especially if you aren't planning to do the work yourself. You would hate to rebuild the turbo and then have it installed and then crap out again shortly! Obviously it is all up to you. Good luck!
At this point I am not considering rebuilding my turbo. I may consider that option after I remove it and think I can rebuild to resell it but I am planning to replace at this point ...really. Hoping to find a used one with less than 75k for less than $325.
...well for the first time I am dealing with a sketch seller; received the turbo and it has a ton of shaft play side-to-side. Seller advertised and I asked specifically about the shaft play in two back to back private messages before purchasing- he described the shaft play as "a little." Checked into the sellers posts and feedback before buying on NASIOC as I always do before buying. Seller didn't have a ton of feedback but a few that were all positive and had a lot of seemingly legit comments and threads. After exchanging 2 messages (respectfully on my end) defending his turbo saying "it boosted fine in my car" "I promise the turbo is fine" and without any any mention of it on my end "you can take it up with PayPal but you're not going to win. You knew what you were buying." I offered to pay for the sellers shipping expense to me as well as the expense to ship it back to him and I have yet to get a reply since Tuesday... Might be taking this in the arse. If u see DamnDodgeRams on NASIOC beware of his FS ads.
Yup... Praying for a response or taking it up with PayPal. I can assure u I will due diligence with his feedback and check in on his activity NASIOC activity in the future to report him further if need be... I politely attempted to use this as another reason to honor my request in the last message in addition to pointing out that he would literally be out zero $. I'll gladly take the $50-75'ish hit at this point.. Wishing I would have just spent that extra dough and maybe even a bit more on a turbo with advertised less miles/newer... Though hindsight is always 20-20 and than maybe id be out even more dough... Oh Happy Easter!
