K04 turbo on its way out - what should I get?

[Nogmeister]

Hey all,

1st thread, so go gentle on me. Had my Noggy S3 just about a week, and shes been health checked today. Basically the turbo is letting oil through, nought major but have been advised to seek a replacement. It is a 75k fsh AMK lump.

Should I just get a new K04 or is there anything else that is a wise move?

I wouldnt mind a bit more oomph but dont have loads of cash kicking about right now should I need to start uprating other things.

Cheers

 

[marty.h]

As its letting oil through I take it you seeing smoke from it on overrun then ?

If the check said there was oil residue in the boost pipes that is perfectly normal for a turbo charged car.

If you not seeing any smoke and its not making any noises I would not be overly concerned if there conclusion the turbo needed replacing is due to oil residue in boost pipes they trying it on


However if you are seeing smoke they are correct

 

[Turbo unit]

^^^^^^^ agree!

 

[Inertiauk]

I would be surprised if its failing at 75k, should have another 50k+ in it.

If you do end up changing it, just swap it for another K04, I made the mistake of having a hybrid fitted and opened the gates of hell.

If you really want to go Hybrid or Big Turbo have a one stop shop such as Badger5 Do it, don't just bolt one on and the other bits required then send it to a mapper, I did that twice and ended up breaking the car. the initial trigger to hybrid mine was a failing K04.

 

[Nogmeister]

Sorry guys, I should have given you a bit more of the story, always the way on the forums!

I bought the car from Blackpool last week, and drove back down to the Isle of Wight with it. On the way down the oil light came up on the DIS, however it was late (midnight ish) so I drove on and the next morning went to Halfords for some top up oil.

She swallowed up about 3.5 litres of oil! Obviously this was a shocker for me, so when she went in for the health check yesterday, this was something that needed investigating!

She went in to see my mechanic who is an independant, and a very close friend. He himself owns an R32 Skyline track car, as well as a Starlet turbo and a Scoob, and he also has a reputation locally for knowing his stuff. He wouldnt be trying it on with me, just to make some money.

He told me he went looking for an oil leak, of which there was nothing evident around the block, so he took off the boost pipe and found it to be wetter than average. He explained that this was most likely the cause of the oil escaping the engine and that it was only very minor. I was advised to check the oil in the engine on a weekly basis (doesnt everyone?) and that the turbo would PROBABLY be fine. He also said that if I really wanted to I could replace the unit like-for-like for approx £350 for a recon.

Now if it were a £1000 ****ter, I probs wouldnt give a ****, but I have just shelled out 4k for her, and I want her to be A1. I have found some brand new K04 turbos on Ebay for around £200 - £220 mark, does anyone have any experience with these?

Linky

Audi QUATTRO Seat Leon BAM BFV turbocharger S3 1.8 TT turbo K04 – 023 turbo | eBay

 

[<tuffty/>]

Chinese copies mate... best to avoid..

<tuffty/>

 

[Welly]

Chinese copies mate... best to avoid..

<tuffty/>

What he said ^^^.

 

[Nogmeister]

Ah right no swearing on here lol my bad!

An ideas on where to go for new / recon K04's?

 

[<tuffty/>]

CR Turbos, Turbo Dynamics...

<tuffty/>

 

[Nogmeister]

Sooo, if I were to fit a slightly uprated turbo, but left doing other bit til later, would it all go bang?

And if uprated turbo was fitted, what are ESSENTIAL upgrades? I think I'd like to aim for 300bhp, but if its daft money I wont bother lol