turbo whine

mookers · May 4, 2008

(I did a search, didn't find anything.)

Is it normal to hear the turbos spooling when you accelerate? Since changing the engine oil (which I imagine wouldn't be relevant at all!), I've noticed the turbo whine where it wasn't audible before. It sounds like a distant police siren is following me!

I can distinctly tell how it spools up when the engine is loaded, and calms down again when the car stops accelerating, even if the RPMs don't drop.

My wife has noticed it as well and says it's annoying (she's kind of correct there).

I could just turn the stereo up, but you know, just in case it's not a normal sound...

Any thoughts? Something wrong with my turbos?

bradc · May 4, 2008

I've only really been able to hear it when cruising along at a constant speed and slowing pushing the throttle down to accelerate. What oil was in there and what did you change it to?

mookers · May 4, 2008

Kamikaze said they changed the oil at compliance but it was very very dirty according to my mechanic. I put Penrite SIN 0w50 in it.

I don't see how the engine oil would affect the turbo whine though, unless it's SO much quieter now that I can hear stuff that was getting drowned out before. But the engine was never really loud, and is not noticeably quieter than it was before the oil change - the only thing missing is the lifter noise, and that was only transient at startup anyway.

Scottie · May 4, 2008

Do you have a bleed valve?

All my tubro cars have done it. More so when i drive up a hill when the engine is cold.

Adding a bleed valve makes a bit more noise too.

It most likely would be the fresh oil but it isn't anything to worry about.

Most people love this noise...

Robotnik123 · May 4, 2008

Mine has an audible whine on cold mornings (like say below 10C), always has. Probably nothing to worry about.

mookers · May 4, 2008

No extras on the turbo plumbing; 100% stock.

It *has* been a bit colder lately. Maybe that's it. I'm not really that worried about it as I've heard that turbo cars do this sometimes. Just wondering why I might suddenly hear it when I couldn't before.

Guest · May 4, 2008

What does it sound like ? Loud spooling sound ?
In the S14 200sx which has a samllish turbo they tell to shake the bolts loose when u put a bit of horse power through them, the turbo actually seperates slightly from the manifold so u hear awesome Spooling sounds. I have never heard of this happening on a VR4 ... but might be worth checking into ?

Dr_Josh001 · May 4, 2008

Had exactly the same sound on my Cordia; more audible when cold but still loud when driving in traffic at op temp. Would always depend on the loading of the engine or boost pressure with how high pitched it was but always was in the pitch range of a police siren. Had me looking around for a day or so when I first got the car!

I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with engine oil viscosity and causes the turbos to work a bit harder against the oil resistance inside the turbo bearings which is why letting the car warm up before boosting is imperative! Otherwise your journal bearings will poo themselves.

mookers · May 4, 2008

It's not that loud at all... sounds like a police car about two blocks away.

So the turbos are lubricated by the engine oil? I never thought about it but for some reason I pictured them having separate isolated bearings...

Dr_Josh001 · May 4, 2008

Hey Derek,

This is 100% of the reason why regular oil changes (5000km min) are important as the engine oil is "churned" and "cooked" so much more than a non-turbo car. It's also the reason why the right engine oil needs to be used. I've gone with Dave Thomas's recommendation of 15w40 oil and I have had no turbo noise and no head/tappet noise.

Hope this helps.

Guest · May 5, 2008

The police siren sound has been mentioned a few times on ClubVR4 with nonbody actually reporting problems with the sound as far as I remember

mookers · May 5, 2008

Cool... I can just tell my kids that I drive a secretly disguised police car - they'd love it! lol

frozen · May 5, 2008

i'd have thought with steady accelleration it would be a solid pitch? i can definately hear my turbos spooling, alot more noticable if i got barriers or cars or whatever beside me for the sound to bounce off, and mine doesnt go 'up and down' kinda thing like a siren, unless i put my foot on and off the accelerator (which i sometimes do for the sound of it haha)

Guest · May 5, 2008

Dr_Josh001 said:
Hey Derek,

This is 100% of the reason why regular oil changes (5000km min) are important as the engine oil is "churned" and "cooked" so much more than a non-turbo car. It's also the reason why the right engine oil needs to be used.

thats also why we use turbo timers to warm down the oil so it dont cook in the hot turbo..

no need to fret bout the noise its just doing what its suposto.

mookers · May 5, 2008

frozen said:
i'd have thought with steady accelleration it would be a solid pitch? i can definately hear my turbos spooling, alot more noticable if i got barriers or cars or whatever beside me for the sound to bounce off, and mine doesnt go 'up and down' kinda thing like a siren, unless i put my foot on and off the accelerator (which i sometimes do for the sound of it haha)

Steady acceleration is not the same thing as steady cruising. Accleration puts a load on the engine, and the turbos will spool. They will of course hit a maximum (as you say, solid) pitch when they hit whatever boost limit you have set, but if you accelerate lightly and then ease off, you can hear the pitch go up and down like a siren.

By steady cruising I mean flat road, steady 100 km/h. No turbo whine at all unless you open the throttle and start accelerating again, then you hear the turbos rise quickly.

jungle · May 5, 2008

joe said:
Dr_Josh001 said:

Hey Derek,

This is 100% of the reason why regular oil changes (5000km min) are important as the engine oil is "churned" and "cooked" so much more than a non-turbo car. It's also the reason why the right engine oil needs to be used.

thats also why we use turbo timers to warm down the oil so it dont cook in the hot turbo..

no need to fret bout the noise its just doing what its suposto.

Click to expand...

Sorry to jack the thread but a few points.

Joe- Wrong mate. This is the most common error people think they need turbo timers. The reason you let the car idle before turning it off is to let the turbo's spool down to whatever speed they rotate at idle. You aren't cooling anything down at all, but reducing the rpm the turbo's are spinning at before turning the engine off and as a result stopping the oil supply to the turbo's bearings. Obviously there is some residual oil there but not a lot, also reducing coaking

Mookers, have you also replaced the air filter recently? If not, then i can't help you, if yes, then it's possible that a bit of crap has taken a small nick in one of the compressor blades and that's the reason for your now audible turbo's. Unforunately it's quite difficult to check on these cars. I wouldn't worry about it, if it's still performing like normal.

Changing your oil wont have any effect.

mookers · May 5, 2008

I have indeed changed the air filter, so maybe that's the cause of the turbo whine.

However, the car is not in fact performing like normal...

jungle · May 5, 2008

mookers said:
I have indeed changed the air filter, so maybe that's the cause of the turbo whine.

However, the car is not in fact performing like normal...

Ok, what was in there and what did you replace it with? i noticed that when i replaced the compliance filter with a K&N the audible turbo noise disappeared!

mookers · May 6, 2008

jungle said:
Ok, what was in there and what did you replace it with? i noticed that when i replaced the compliance filter with a K&N the audible turbo noise disappeared!

To be honest I don't know what was there, nor what the new one is. I shall have to find out...

Jimmy_EC5W · Jan 3, 2011

Bump.

A few of you guys may have noticed I mentioned a few issued with my car after an oil change in the "what work did you do on your car today" thread.

Anyway, after the oil change I noticed my turbos make a 'deeper' 'louder' whine. Previously this only occurred when the engine was cold and only half as quiet.

The only reason I am concerned is because when I owned a '96 Audi A4, when the turbo made that exact same deep sounding whine, it got louder and louder, started to loose power and the turbo blew up.

Low end Acceleration power is there, but I've noticed in higher speeds, changing down a gear and accelerating, there isn't much power, but only slightly slower. The throttle is still responsive but you can still notice.

I'm planning to take my car to chasers to get checked out (unless someone recommend I take it elsewhere) but can anyone shed some light on this? I used the same oil as last time, Nulon 5w-30. But a z56b to a z142a oil filter. The oil change was delayed about 3-4,000km past it's usual 5,000k oil change.

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