A3 1.8 T-Sport Turbo Problem??

[adamf200]

Hi all,

This is my first post, didnt know where else to ask so hoping someone here can offer good advice!

Although a petrol head im not very technical when it comes to engines!

Anyway, my wife has a 2000 Audi A3 1.8 T-Sport Quattro that has done 57000 miles.

Recently the engine management light came on and the power in the car has been starved, when you drive it there is little power as though the turbo isnt working. When you try and boot it, it trys to really accelerate then doesnt then goes, as if the petrol is starved!

Anyway, I took it to my local indie and after having it for 2 days he tells me its most likely the turbo! He said that he sees it a lot in Audi turbo engines. He said that these turbos have something on the front of the turbo that stops the turbo lag!(sorry I dont know the technical name!) He says this sticks and needs sorting out and it will cost maybe £500!
The car had been sat for about 4 months without use when we bought it six months ago, he said this is a reason for this problem.

Anyone else think this is true?
Should I let him take my turbo of and be sent away to be sorted at this great expense?
COuld it be anything else?
Any advice and ideas would be much much appreciated.

Cheers
Adam

 

[S3 Paul]

I think the man you have been talikg to thinks your car uses the same turbo as a derv, They have a vaiable vain set up... to reduce lag low down the rev range.

I would point the finger firstly at ... a pipe split or loose ( vacume or boost )
N75 valve not playing the game?
I would fit a boost gauge or use vag com to log the boost the car is making .
I dout its the turbo to be honest

 

[adamf200]

Thats it, he said its a variable vain turbo, is this not the case?
If so I wont be using this indie anymore!
I take it a pipe split or loose valve is not as serious and hopefully cheaper?

 

[S3 Paul]

Does it make any strange noise when tryin to go?
Is the engine management light on all the time?
If its a pipe thats gone/ blown off it will not be anywhere near as bad as a new turbo.
Where are you from?
I would recomend vag com checking the car. I know my car does not have a variable vain turbo.
Try having somebody blip the throttle ( only till it starts to make a little boost ) so you can see if its leaking heavely from somewhere. Make sure the N75 valve is plugged in fully.

 

[adamf200]

Ok cool well I appreciate all the advice, what is the N75 valve? where is it? how do i make sure its plugged in properly?

 

[adamf200]

As for noise, I never noticed any noise when it was running properly but since the problem I have noticed a very quiet almost unnoticeable hiss noise coing from glove box area when i try and boot it. Engine management light comes on for 3 or 4 days then goes of for 3 or 4 days and so on.....

 

[S3 Paul]

erm... well. if you look to the top right of the engine cover,
under it you will see the intake pipe for the turbo ( big hose that goes from airbox down to turbo with lots of little ins and outs ) There will be a smallish solanoid about an inch square that has a plug ontop of it and 3 pipes off the bottom. make sure the plug is fully connected and the hoses are not loose.

 

[S3 Paul]

you realy need the car propperly VAG COMING to see whats what, i would expect the fault would be logged on there.

 

[adamf200]

Can anyone confirm whether or not a 2000 Audi A3 T-Sport Quattro has a variable vane turbo or not?

 

[emery1990]

If you hear hissing then it may be a hose leak, as said try to get someone to press the throttle then take a look with a torch and look everywhere. . ask audi about the turbo but peoples seem pretty sure its not what the indie says it is. i havnt heard about that problem before or read it on here, if it was ommon, there probally would be something on this forum.

 

[adamf200]

EXCELLECT RESOLUTION THANKS TO THIS FORUM!
I just want to say a big thank you to this forum and you guys that adived me.
After your comments I decided to seek out an Audi specialist to take a look.
People on here recomended RSD(Road and Sport Development) in Daventry and they were fantastic! http://www.rsdlimited.com
They had the car for a day and diagnosed the problem. They fitted a new air mass meter and the car is running fantastically well
Nothing wrong with turbo at all as you people rightly said.
Thank you so much again from a very happy forum member.

 

[A3Tom]

Result in avoiding being bent over and reamed by the first people you took it to

 

[Welly]

Just goes to show that not all garages know best! It's a pretty common engine and most garages should know that the Golf, Seat, Audi and Skoda petrol 1.8t engines all have the K03/K04 turbo! It's not like these engines are uncommon in any way, shape or form!

AFMs are common as muck for going as well, something else they should of been able to find out, especially after 2 days! I'd be making a mental note to petrol bomb, no wait, I mean not go there again!

 

[pauldazzle]

I was just going to suggest the MAF sensor, but got beaten to it. Just replaced mine last week. Previous owner had unplugged it, & rested the connector on the socket so I didn't notice it at first. Plugged it in & couldn't even get the car off the driveway.
Glad you got it sorted.