SaabCentral Forums banner

Is my turbo going bad?

604 views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  Cap'n P.Zazz 
#1 ·
Lately when I accelerate a bit hard I hear this kind of wooshing noise I didn't use to hear. I don't know if it's the noise of my clutch slipping (didn't use to do that so maybe it's getting rapidly worse) or if the turbo is having issues. My car has been burning oil more than usual lately. As for the acceleration being worse, I thought the clutch was slipping but maybe it's the turbo going bad? Or both? The turbo gauge is still working & moving like it used to...

You can hear it in this video I just took around the 5s and 10s marks. It's a little faint so it's not easy to hear, need to turn the volume up a bit...
 
#3 ·
It's a little tricky to answer because of the clutch situation, but overall I don't really think the power has noticeably dropped... oil consumption has definitely increased though, and I don't see any on the garage floor, ever. I need to look at the exhaust see if there's any unusual smoke.
 
#4 ·
when my turbo went out on my 01 9-3, the car consumed some oil as well. One day when I went to pass, there was no power and a cloud of smoke from a "smoked" turbo. The power was close to the same up until that point. From my research with my own 9-3, the bearings of the turbo are oil bearings in that, when the turbo has oil pressure, the actual shaft floats in that film of oil. When my turbo died, it didn't make a noise like that beforehand. On your video, it sounded to me like a leak of some kind. Maybe try a mechanics stethoscope and a helper to rev the engine in park, (if the noise is there when in park as well), to narrow down the location. On the '99 wagon I am currently giving a "refit" to, I used a stethoscope to locate the problem, which was a broken flywheel. Initially the sound's location seemed to be coming from inside the engine, but using the scope helped me to disprove that. In a couple days, I will have to use the stethoscope again, since I have a "noise" from one of the components the serpentine belt drives. GOOD LUCK :D
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top