I have a 2004 Forester XT with 140,000KM. Recently I heard a grinding noise that sounds like metal on metal and it feels like I am loosing performance. The problem seems to come and go. Can someone tell me what turbo failure sounds like and what the symptoms are? Also how bad will this be to fix and do I have any other options? I'm thinking of dumping the car quickly before it goes on me an I'm stuck with what I assume to be a big turbo bill. What dealer scams should I watch for on this?

I have a 2004 Forester XT with 140,000KM. Recently I heard a grinding noise that sounds like metal on metal and it feels like I am loosing performance. The problem seems to come and go. Can someone tell me what turbo failure sounds like and what the symptoms are? Also how bad will this be to fix and do I have any other options? I'm thinking of dumping the car quickly before it goes on me an I'm stuck with what I assume to be a big turbo bill. What dealer scams should I watch for on this?

 

Without hearing the noises, it is hard to say online. I would suggest you let your local Subaru dealer look at it.

 

I am "pretty sure" that the turbo for the 04 Forester was the TD04-13t, which is also used in the WRX. Used, they can be found pretty cheap since most WRX people want to upgrade rather quickly.

 

Install is more time consuming than it is difficult.

Turbos smoke when they go bad from leaking seals, noise is usually the wheel hitting the housing.

 

The forester xt uses the same turbo as the wrx. Lucky for you a good portion of wrx owners upgrade to bigger turbos. You can pick up a low mileage used turbo cheap, the going rate is about $100. Look on http://www.nasioc.com for one.

It's possible that some material from inside the catalytic convertor on the up pipe was sucked into the turbo. It happens frequently with WRXs, hence the wide availability of catless up pipes.

turbo replacement is really quite simple, just have it fixed. it's nothing spectacular, difficult or indicating that anything serious is wrong.