2002 TDI needs turbo? fix or sell?

[Brianfromutah]

I have a 2002 jetta tdi. It has 322k miles, is a little beat up, needs tires, and probably due for a timing belt. (So its not worth much) I THINK it needs a turbo... here is why:

On hard acceleration it will severely hesitate then spew black smoke, and not Rev up (and sometimes die) once the smoke clears out it will run ok again. One time on hard acceleration it actually ran away (rpms pegged the gage for about 3 seconds before I shut it off) there was about 5 Oz of oil in the intercooler. It also idles really rough and emits lots of smoke when it's a cold start, but smooths out after a minute or less.

My theory is that on heavy boost oil is getting sucked into the intake and burned making it run rough, or even run away. When it sits overnight oil leaks into the intake from the turbo and gets burned when I first start it making it smoke and idle poorly.

Does this sound conducive to a bad turbo? There are no check engine lights on. It has a new maf sensor and turbo actuator and n75 valve. The kicker is that I rebuilt the turbo 45k miles ago. It got new seals, bushings, oil line, cleaned out waste gate vanes, and cleaned gunky intake manifold. Maybe I did a bad job? Or maybe the shaft is too worn?

Since I recently had it off and rebuilt I could buy a new turbo cartridge for $200. Should I bother or look for a new car?
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'89 Westy Syncro w/ '09 Subaru 2.5

[TDCTDI]

The cylinder head is "uphill" from the turbocharger, oil from the turbo only leaks & pools into the intercooler or exhaust but would get sucked into the intake upon acceleration. Your "light" runaway scenario may have damaged the pistons, rings, or connecting rods causing low compression in one or two cylinders which would cause a rough run/smoking until the engine got enough heat to start firing those cylinders.

Unless someone overfilled the oil, it sounds like the turbocharger is the culprit for the excessive oil pooling in the intercooler.

Do, or have someone do a compression check to see if this might be the cause of your rough run, if it is, source a used engine or get rid of the car. Weigh your options, it'll be hard to find a replacement that gets as good MPG for the price of an engine, but you might be able to find a cleaner/lower mileage example for a bit more.
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[Brianfromutah]

Thanks, I didn't really think about doing a compression check. I think it was idling erratic before the run away though, but I don't remember. I actually still drive the car 80 miles a day. I will see if I can get a compression test done and determine from there if I should replace the turbo or junk the car.
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'89 Westy Syncro w/ '09 Subaru 2.5