Audi Turbo Issues - Ideas?

[rturbo 930]

Hey guys, my mom's car (2000 A4 1.8T) is having some issues, need a little help with diagnosis.

Symptoms:
- Odd noise, sort of a rattle/flutter? See video.
- Seems like it's down on power, less punch when the turbo spools up than it used to.

I'm thinking bad turbo, boost leak, bad diverter valve? Kinda leaning toward a bad diverter valve at the moment. Thoughts appreciated, thanks guys.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Sounds like a large boost leak to me. Set up a leak tester, if it's stock you only need to pressurize it to 10psi or so.

That car is easy though to check the turbo. Pull the airbox out and remove the turbo inlet hose. Check for shaft play and binding when spinning the turbine. Should be next to zero in and out play. These turbos do have a bit of side to side play but it shouldn't be so bad that the blades contact the housing.

[rturbo 930]

Thanks man, I was hoping you'd reply. Looks like a leak test is pretty easy to do, I'll see about doing that this weekend. Will check for shaft play as well.

[rturbo 930]

Finally got around to checking the turbo tonight, and it's bad. Dad wants to buy a turbo rebuild kit and/or a used turbo to reduce downtime. Can you tell me if all 1.8T turbos are more or less the same, or if they all have little differences that will interfere with fitment?

[MikeK]

Sounds like it's time to upgrade to a bigger turbo ;-)

[Exodus_2pt0]

I wouldn't bother rebuilding unless you know someone who can balance it afterwards.

If you sign up on Audizine, you could probably find a good k03 takeoff for the price of shipping.

[rturbo 930]

Sounds like it's time to upgrade to a bigger turbo ;-)

Yeah, trust me, I looked into it. Then reality set in again. Ugh. I also realized that the K04 "big" turbo is actually tiny. If I'm gonna go to the trouble of upgrading it's gonna need to be in the range of a GT28/30.

I wouldn't bother rebuilding unless you know someone who can balance it afterwards.

If you sign up on Audizine, you could probably find a good k03 takeoff for the price of shipping.

Yeah, we've kinda ruled out rebuilding it due to the list of unknowns, and his lack of free time. My dad found a replacement turbo made by Dorman for ~$400. I've never heard of them, but he has, and they're apparently good. Or were. I found the turbo on Amazon, and apparently it comes from china. I also checked car-part.com, but they were mostly more than I wanted to pay for a used turbo.

I'll check on Audizine. I'm probably already a member. I've signed up on so many sites I've lost count.

Edit: also found a turbo made by rotomaster for ~400. Chinese?

[Exodus_2pt0]

I would be weary of generic Chinese turbos. Dorman sells a lot of odd and end parts.

I have Chinese turbos, but Frankenturbo has pretty good end Quality control. The other companies out there selling drop shipped Chinese units have a less than desirable failure rate.

If it's just a stock DD, I would seriously consider throwing a used turbo with reasonable mileage on there.

[rturbo 930]

I would be weary of generic Chinese turbos. Dorman sells a lot of odd and end parts.

I have Chinese turbos, but Frankenturbo has pretty good end Quality control. The other companies out there selling drop shipped Chinese units have a less than desirable failure rate.

If it's just a stock DD, I would seriously consider throwing a used turbo with reasonable mileage on there.

I'll look at Frankenturbo. I saw the name last night, and was gonna look into it but got distracted.

And yes it's just a stock DD... at the moment. Thing is, my dad's current DD is a POS '92 Jetta that is returning to earth, and my mom has made it known that she is looking for a replacement. Money is an issue at the moment, but won't be for much longer. Dad has also told me he wants something fast to play with, and I saw some 1.8Ts with GT30s on youtube that seemed pretty damn fast and you can probably see where this is going.

Used replacement is looking good right now.

Also, apparently I registered on Audizine over 10 years ago lol.

[rturbo 930]

Alright. Found a used turbo with 70k on it. Paid more than I wanted to but fuck it. Couldn't find anything on Audizine and my dad wants this taken care of ASAP.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Get an install kit off of ECS tuning.

[rturbo 930]

Good call, thanks.