Focus TDCI whistling noise

Widget · 27 Feb 2010 at 18:31

I have a 2003 Focus TDCI which I noticed today has started making a high pitched whistling noise from 2000 rpm and above which is about when the turbo kicks in and dies away when you lift off the accelerator The car still pulls fine as normal above 2000rpm apart from the noise which is concerning me incase the turbo is on the way out.

Does anyone have any ideas as to the problem may be? :confused:

iaind · 27 Feb 2010 at 18:32

Boost leak probably

mjt · 27 Feb 2010 at 18:47

Boost leak or the turbo itself.
Check all the pipes and see if there's any cracks, splits or if anything has worked itself loose.

If not, welcome to the club

Jonny ///M · 27 Feb 2010 at 19:23

The world of cheap diesels

deus3x · 27 Feb 2010 at 19:27

My friend had this on his Focus and it was the Turbo on its way out, hope its just a leak

baron02 · 27 Feb 2010 at 19:52

It either a turbo or a split pipe / loose pipe around turbo area.. I had the pipe replaced under warranty on my ford mondeo and my previous Ford Focus 1.8tdci

Widget · 27 Feb 2010 at 20:45

I will have a look at the pipes in the morning and see what I can find.

Widget · 3 Mar 2010 at 20:02

I took it into the garage today and they diagnosed it as the bearings in the Turbo on the way out! They want £1200 to replace, time to get some quotes. :-(

Berger · 3 Mar 2010 at 20:18

Widget said:
I took it into the garage today and they diagnosed it as the bearings in the Turbo on the way out! They want £1200 to replace, time to get some quotes.

Take it somewhere else for a second opinion, they could just be trying it on?

Will · 3 Mar 2010 at 20:22

Widget said:
I took it into the garage today and they diagnosed it as the bearings in the Turbo on the way out! They want £1200 to replace, time to get some quotes.

Reconditioned turbo would be considerably cheaper, although I would want one from a reputable refurbisher rather than one taken from a scrapyard or similar!

Amoeba · 3 Mar 2010 at 20:35

The GT2871R is less than that!!!

[TW]Fox · 3 Mar 2010 at 20:40

Widget said:
I took it into the garage today and they diagnosed it as the bearings in the Turbo on the way out! They want £1200 to replace, time to get some quotes.

Dont worry, you can use all the money you saved in fuel economy over buying the petrol one to fix the turbo!

mattyprice4004 · 3 Mar 2010 at 20:42

[TW]Fox;16082685 said:
Dont worry, you can use all the money you saved in fuel economy over buying the petrol one to fix the turbo!

The petrol / diesel war is showing now, DMFs, turbo's, DPFs etc seem to be failing all the time!

Shame because diesels used to have a rep for being ultra-reliable.

Rybo89 · 3 Mar 2010 at 20:44

1200 quid

iaind · 3 Mar 2010 at 20:45

Really? Who else has had a failure? I'm seeing many more people with broken petrol engines!

killsta · 3 Mar 2010 at 21:36

What's the difference between a normal healthy turbo whistle and a broken turbo whistle?

mjt · 3 Mar 2010 at 22:03

iaind said:
Really? Who else has had a failure? I'm seeing many more people with broken petrol engines!

I'm currently awaiting a second opinion.
Hopefully it's a split or loose pipe, but it could also be the turbo failing.

craigieboy · 3 Mar 2010 at 22:43

killsta said:
What's the difference between a normal healthy turbo whistle and a broken turbo whistle?

£1200

Enfield · 3 Mar 2010 at 22:47

As someone said above, definitely get a second opinion on that. Could be trying to pull one. If it's as something simple as a split hose and you've forked out that kind of money when you didn't need to...

If it is, wouldn't it be cheaper to get one from a scrappy then get that fitted surely?

iaind · 4 Mar 2010 at 08:17

That also sounds like a main dealer price

Scrappy is a bit far, but a recon unit should cost less than half that after fitting