No turbo power!

Hi all, this is my first post and very pleased to be part of the group! I've have been an avid Porsche owner for about ten years and been the very proud owner of a 2004 manual 996 turbo X50 for the last couple of years. The car has been amazing and other than routine maintenance has been trouble free. In early December I parked it up and as I wasn't going to run it for a few weeks until the Christmas holidays I connected it to the trickle charger so it would be fully charged and ready to go. Before that it drove perfectly and was pulling like a train! I started it up and after a short while of driving I realised that something wasn't right... no turbo power! I got it on an open road and I managed to get 0.1 bar boost, but that was the last! I was convinced it was just a major boost leak and so I booked it in to Steve & Warren at JAZ in St Albans for their first available slot in the new year for diagnosis. Its the first time I've used them but must say that they really do live up to their great reputation. After a few days the call came through to tell me that it was not a boost leak but the offside turbo was completely seized!! I instructed them to go ahead with the repair and so they explained that they would outsource the turbo work to specialists AET turbo who asked to see both. AET suggested that one would just need a minor overhaul whilst the seized one would need a refurbishment so we sent them off. Once examined they called to say that both turbos are seriously corroded and the bearings had collapsed on the offside turbo and the nearside turbo was heading the same way. From the initial overhaul they are now saying that they both need to be fully rebuilt. Apparently this is very common but I've not seen any other examples of this on the internet/forums. The car has covered just 54k miles so a massive shame to get this news, especially when it ain't coming in cheap. They said it was just wear and tear and not resulting from any other specific component failure like oil starvation etc. Would be great to hear if anyone else has experienced this or knows of another who has. Thanks very much John

Hi John, Sorry to hear that. My engine is out at the moment ('05 Turbo S, K24s) for some other work but as a result we've had a chance to look at both turbos. I was fearing the worst as the car is approaching 80K but all looks good inside with no float. Only problem was a waste-gate seizure on one side which caused the actuator to break. The OPC managed to free the waste-gate (phew) but I needed new actuators. Surprised to hear your problem explained as common though as mine show no such damage and I'm pretty sure from the looks that they are original. Sure, they're corroded externally but internally they still seem strong (touch wood ). If the bearings are fed with oil - maybe someone with a bit more technical insight can chip in - and that lubrication has failed at some point then that could be why it seized? Would be interested to hear how the rebuilds go though - just in case ... hope it all comes good Cheers Gary

Hi John I just recently helped a mate change both (one was corroded to the point of a hole in it) turbo's as well as frames & oil lines + re-working various other corroded items whilst the back end was completely stripped. the only thing we didn't do was drop the engine completely. We are now in the process of doing the front end!! to the extreme of fuel tank out. Having spent last year looking for either a 996 or 997TT, turbo's being corroded is quite common from what I've seen it's just to what extent. my mate decided to tackle this himself when faced with a 10k+ bill & that was for just the back end. Regards Karl

Thanks for your responses guys. Glad to hear it was just your actuators Karl. Mine were also changed in the past. I will definitely keep you posted once I find out more. Jaz have told me that they will get a report from AET on exactly what has gone wrong and cause and I asked if they can get some photos. I'll report back on whatever I receive. I agree with you Gary - because of their location they're always superficially corroded, its just a case of the extent of corrosion and wear. There's no way of telling unless you got a dated receipt telling you when they've been worked on. As you say the cost quickly racks up! Good to hear you're getting hands on with it though. Will definitely save some money. Just part and parcel of owning these great cars though!

"Good to hear you're getting hands on with it though. Will definitely save some money" - LOL, I wish. My garage doesn't have that kind of space nor allow access and TBH I don't want to be touching anything like this in case I get something wrong. Definitely something for the professionals to tackle AFAIC. It's expensive no doubt but I feel I'm getting VFM which is all that counts. Beast of an engine though ....

Judging by that picture Karl, yours looks in really good condition. Looks like a beast just sat on the bench lol. The diy comment was directed to Gary who sounds like he's rolled up his sleeves with his mate. Although I don't mind getting hands on, I have agree that I'd leave this sort of repair to the pros.

You now need to be careful when buying 996TT as the lack of engine cover is causing the outer skins of the Turbos to rot through. Ring AET as they are the experts how often they are seeing them.

Thanks for your input Gordon, I might just do that and see what AET have to say.

Hi everyone, just to give an update on my car. Finally collected it today after one very long month at JAZ. In the end one turbo was entirely seized with collapsed bearings whilst the other was heading the same way and so had to have them both completely rebuilt. By the time the nuts and bolts and all the corroded oil lines were changed it turned into a huge job. Looks fantastic underneath there now though. I'm pleased to say that JAZ did a great job of putting it all back together, paying great attention to detail. Apparently there was no specific cause for they're demise reported back from AET and just down to wear and tear and corrosion resulting from where they're located. Only downside is that now it's running at full boost the clutch slips slightly! Its pulling like a train so can't wait to see what it'll be like once that's done too! I've added it to my list though, as there's only so much my wallet can take for now! If anybody is interested in the details of what this massive job involves to have done properly please get in touch and I'll be happy to run through the specifics. Cheers John.