High Pitched Squeal/whine From Turbo?

[SargeRX8]

Hey all,

Ive noticed a high pitch squeal in my car which wasn't there when I got it. I'm certain its not the gearbox and I'm 95% sure its the turbo. I had my rubber induction pipe and the sound was loud. Changed to aluminium and its still audible but hardly, so I know the aluminium tubing is muffling the sound. Anyway, the sound is like a seeeeeeeek sound which happens ONLY at 1800rpm and occurs to 2000rpm, depending on throttle position. If I go harder on the throttle when the sound occurs, it stops. Same as if I ease off slightly. What could it be? I know its a sound coming out of my intake side because the change from rubber to metal induction pipe made a big difference to the sound.

The turbo is a high flowed VL turbo with a GT3071 BB turbine etc. Ive checked for shaft play and there is literally no shaft play. There is no fouling of the comp wheel hitting the comp housing. I cant check the exhaust side though but I doubt it would be as the sound would not have been altered(would it) after the induction pipe had been changed.

It hits boost fine, it holds boost fine, its been like this for a little over 3 months and hasn't really gotten any worse/better.

The turbo wheel spins very freely by hand. What could it be? Should I be worried? Should I be hearing any noises from my turbo? Bearings on their way out?

[JonnoHR31]

sure its not just normal spooling noises? will be louder with a pod filter and smooth intake pipe

[SargeRX8]

It doesn't sound like spool and the boost gauge is barely showing any activity. It sounds more like a friction type of squeal. Kind of like squealy brakes.

[Trozzle]

air leak? check joins in cooler/intake piping, make sure they're tight or take them apart and put back together again ensuring they seal correctly. If you still get induction sound as normal from the turbo, but also getting this high pitched squeal and no boost, sounds like air is leaking out after the turbo

[l0WRB]

doesnt have a port shroud cover or drilled anti surge housing? this will create a whine/whistle prior 2 coming onto boost

[SargeRX8]

There are no leaks as its not when its boosting. It can still be in vacuum and it creates the sound. ^ I have no idea what any of those are but it looks like a standard turbo to me and I doubt it has anti surge housing as it still surges on low boost.

Ive tried recording it, but its not audible. It needs to be heard in person. It sounds like friction, not a whistle.

[Trozzle]

Not a belt squeal? Bearing on alternator or something?

EDIT: yeah I know these aren't turbo related, but what else can we do

Edited July 5, 2010 by Trozzle

[thommo]

exhaust gasket? normally pretty loud tho

[geraus]

Sounds like an exhaust gasket leak, check if the nuts arent loose, or the gasket is not broken.. or check your cooler pipes..

[toddlls]

If its on boost when the noise happens it will be the exhaust manifold gasket. Mine sounded like a banshee was under the bonnet when I gave it some

[tomcio]

^+1

[Aydin]

Mate it sounds exactly like mine.

Mine made that incredible whining noise. CHECK YOUR HOSES and check them quick. check all your hoses going to the boost solenoid and away from the solonoid, check your hoses coming off the turbo, check all your induction hoses basically any hose thats got to do with your turbo.

I didnt and kept driving untill one day the noise dissapeared. I thought i was saved untill i looked in the rear vision mirror and saw so much smoke it was like hiroshima went off again. Lost boost lost basically all power of car. I then pulled all the inlet piping off and looked at the inlet turbine, mate it didnt budge at all it felt absolutely perfect. Spoke to a mechanic he came and looked at it, saw that my boost solenoid inlet hose had come off, this means the turbo was boosting to an infinate boost pressure. He then told me to pull the dump pipe off and look behind the turbo. Mate there was no exhaust turbine to be seen, it had clear broken off the shaft, i picked the bloody thing out of my Cat. So front wheel not moving doesnt mean the back wheel isnt either.

If your still getting a spool and a little bit of boost id say its about to go any minute now. I wouldnt go for long drives if i was you.

Good news is its not a massive job to change the turbo and if it is it can also be a cheap one if you know someone with a turbo. it will take you a day with a few mates. there are some really good do it yourself manuals on SAU that step by step show you how. i used them when changing mine.

good luck mate keep us filled in with what happened.

[skap]

It's the turbo flange gasket starting to leak. In between turbo manifold & turbo!

[skap]

I thought i was saved untill i looked in the rear vision mirror and saw so much smoke it was like hiroshima went off again. Lost boost lost basically all power of car. I then pulled all the inlet piping off and looked at the inlet turbine, mate it didnt budge at all it felt absolutely perfect. Spoke to a mechanic he came and looked at it, saw that my boost solenoid inlet hose had come off, this means the turbo was boosting to an infinate boost pressure. He then told me to pull the dump pipe off and look behind the turbo. Mate there was no exhaust turbine to be seen, it had clear broken off the shaft, i picked the bloody thing out of my Cat. So front wheel not moving doesnt mean the back wheel isnt either.

If your still getting a spool and a little bit of boost id say its about to go any minute now. I wouldnt go for long drives if i was you.

lol.. your turbo gasket was leaking too, the reason why it stopped squealing is because your turbo blew and it wasn't creating any pressure to cause it to leak anymore. Thats why the noise stopped when the comp wheel broke off.

[TUF250]

mine makes this sound too, the typical situation is lightish throttle in about third gear going up a small incline. Egnine is still only running vaccum (ie not boost) but there is some load on it, interestingly the sounds is not there on proper boost. Its quite loud, I origianlly thought it was the compressor touching the housing as its that sort of high pitched bearing sound/high speed metal contact but have since checked and no shaft play at all.

This might help the diagnosis. interesting that you say a leaking turbo to manifold gasket, would this not get wqorst under full boost?

Kenn to hear back on this one too

[jjman]

yeah mine does exactly this too.

doesnt sound like the aforementioned "Mine made that incredible whining noise" and then blew up scenario.

Its like a barely noticable sound that sounds like a brake pad squeek just for a moment at a certainrpmand pressure combo. But only under a changing condition.

Iv tried to get the sound to stay on by driving it in the condition but cant, which means it must be under a changing condition.

Very weird. Iv given up trying to sort what it might be as its always done it and nothing has ever changed or happened...

interested to know what it might be tho. And a fix if it is out there...

in case any of these things could be similar between our cars i have- pod intake, FMIC, turboback exhaust, EBC @ 10psi, splitfires....

[dyl33]

Hey all,

Ive noticed a high pitch squeal in my car which wasn't there when I got it. I'm certain its not the gearbox and I'm 95% sure its the turbo. I had my rubber induction pipe and the sound was loud. Changed to aluminium and its still audible but hardly, so I know the aluminium tubing is muffling the sound. Anyway, the sound is like a seeeeeeeek sound which happens ONLY at 1800rpm and occurs to 2000rpm, depending on throttle position. If I go harder on the throttle when the sound occurs, it stops. Same as if I ease off slightly. What could it be? I know its a sound coming out of my intake side because the change from rubber to metal induction pipe made a big difference to the sound.

The turbo is a high flowed VL turbo with a GT3071 BB turbine etc. Ive checked for shaft play and there is literally no shaft play. There is no fouling of the comp wheel hitting the comp housing. I cant check the exhaust side though but I doubt it would be as the sound would not have been altered(would it) after the induction pipe had been changed.

It hits boost fine, it holds boost fine, its been like this for a little over 3 months and hasn't really gotten any worse/better.

The turbo wheel spins very freely by hand. What could it be? Should I be worried? Should I be hearing any noises from my turbo? Bearings on their way out?

mine makes this sound too, the typical situation is lightish throttle in about third gear going up a small incline. Egnine is still only running vaccum (ie not boost) but there is some load on it, interestingly the sounds is not there on proper boost. Its quite loud, I origianlly thought it was the compressor touching the housing as its that sort of high pitched bearing sound/high speed metal contact but have since checked and no shaft play at all.

This might help the diagnosis. interesting that you say a leaking turbo to manifold gasket, would this not get wqorst under full boost?

Kenn to hear back on this one too

Bump thread

I have noticed a short sharp grindy/squeal high pitched noise it's not very loud but is audible when driving around 2000-3000rpm lasts for 200-300rpm . When cruising not on boost It sounds as if it comes from the turbo area. sounds similar to the above posts. Any ideas?

Would it most likely be a turbo/exhaust gasket being a 16 y/o car. Is there a way to check them out? Or could it be like a gearbox throw out bearing noise? It dose sound like it comes from passenger side engine bay tho.

Edited May 4, 2014 by dyl33

[ehnto]

I know this is an old thread, but thought I would bump it instead of making a new one. Could this not be resonance from the worsening shaft play?

This happened on a stock R33 I had years ago, and it never got worse, but the car was rear ended so I never got to see how it turned out. Now it's happening on my new R33, which had never made the noise before. I've had exhaust leaks before and it doesn't sound like that, and if it were an exhaust leak wouldn't it stick around under load?

This sound lasts for about a second, and it's during transient throttle, like the turbo was spooling a bit but is now slowing down. It seems to me like the turbine is spinning up, under load so it doesn't wiggle, then when you're off throttle, it's briefly unloaded as it's between vacuum and boost, so it can wiggle a bit and begin to resonate.

Edited March 1, 2020 by ehnto