Exhaust leak at turbo all of a sudden. 2007 GTI. Common problem?

[willanthis]

Hey all,
2007 GTI DSG with 250K miles going strong. All of a sudden I hear an exhaust leak one day as I am driving down the road. I get under the car and it appears to be coming from this area at the turbo circled in red.
I had to sneak under the car to grab this picture and couldn't reach my hand up in to "feel" for the exact spot is it leaking. Anyone have experience with a leak in this area and have any input?
In a perfect world, maybe just a gasket but who knows? I plan to get it up on jack stands so I can feel for the exact spot but figured I would throw out a post to see if anyone else has had this issue in this area.
Any input is appreciated.

 

[GTI's]

Hopefully just a gasket.

 

[ROH ECHT]

Put a shop-vac hose on the blower side. Attach it, and seal it as well as you can, to one of the exhaust tip openings and plug/seal the other. Have a spray bottle filled with a good amount of soap and some water. Spray the area while the shop-vac is on. It will make bubbles where it leaks. Use a lawn pressure sprayer, for the long nozzle, if access is too tight. They are inexpensive if you don't already have one; https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-1-G...n_NxNiFvnWEU1IiqBswaAk9GEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[willanthis]

Put a shop-vac hose on the blower side. Attach it, and seal it as well as you can, to one of the exhaust tip openings and plug/seal the other. Have a spray bottle filled with a good amount of soap and some water. Spray the area while the shop-vac is on. It will make bubbles where it leaks. Use a lawn pressure sprayer, for the long nozzle, if access is too tight. They are inexpensive if you don't already have one; https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-1-G...n_NxNiFvnWEU1IiqBswaAk9GEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

That is a great idea!

 

[BurgerGuy]

It looks like the hot side is cracked where it's all white/sandy colored. I've been told that area of the K03 is a known weak point after finding out mine was cracked in a similar way once the K04 went on the car.

 

[willanthis]

I saw that white area too and figured it might be the case but couldn't get close up to see the hidden area which can be seen in your photo.
This is a daily driver for my girlfriend. Sounds like a fart can muffler is on the car now and you can hear the turbo at any rpm other than idle.

 

[BurgerGuy]

It's working harder to build pressure with a leak in the system. If you zoom in on your photo you can actually see the hairline crack.