1.8T 163 Turbo help please

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A4sportMrT

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Firstly I would like to say I have done a little bit of research but I am struggling to get a definitive answer, or perhaps im reading wrong or not read the right threads.
Anyway, as per my other post about my high pitched screaming noise, I took the car back to the garage for diagnostics and they found that there was play in turbo bearing and wanted £700 to repair, (not replace) I have a few questions to ask you guys
1. Is my turbo a K03S? I'm pretty sure it is but I need confirmation
2. I'm going to attempt to replace the turbo my self once I've identified the turbo, It seems a fairly simple? job to do, 6 bolts and oil feed pipes. so - is it fairly simple?
3. What should be checked and or replaced whilst I've got good access
4. Is it a good idea to upgrade to the K04-015? as its a bolt on fitment with nothing extra required.

Do you have any other suggestions, tips/advice for me.

Any help is much appreciated

Thanks in advance!

Just for reference http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a4-a4-...s/201867-high-pitched-scream-under-boost.html

Edit - Reading on here, Bearings fail from Oil starvation or badly built turbo, I wouldn't of thought it would be a badly built turbo as it was running fine, no codes according to my fault reader. so my guess would be something has damaged the internals when I originally tried fitting the K&N cone filter or it may well be oil starvation. could be non related but I have got slight oil leak from Rocker cover gasket.
 
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Your turbo will be the ko3 not the ko3s, this was fitted to the 190. Turbo replacement is straight forward enough but as to your other questions I can't help sorry but someone else will sort you out I'm sure. And I'm quite interested in some of these questions. As I have the same car.
 
That's great, just the confirmation I was needing. Dunno why but I seemed to be hoping it was the k03s. thank you :thumbsup:

Being a K03, is it a K03-052? is there a chance I could just replace the internals in my Turbo housing?

another thing confusing me about the turbo identification was that I see a turbo on ebay which states 1.8t 190bhp K03
 
audi upgrades
all a4 turbos of this era are still designated as k03 turbos. BUT the BEX unit is closer to the spec of a transverse k03s. AVOID ebay K04-15-s they are made from chocolate.

I'd deffo get the sump off the car and the pickup cleaned out or replaced before fitting a new turbo of any kind. The rebuild will probably be OEM spec, but a replacement is likely to be a chinese copy
 
thanks for the tip I'll note it down.

Yeah, I'd rather not cut corners. it needs to be done right to prevent any future problems. I'm trying to find a correct part number and I've got 5303-970-0029 is this correct? or K03 - 2072GAA5.88KCAXK
 
Stock Turbocharger K03 Part Number 058145703J

BEX Turbocharger K03S Part Number 06B145703B

These were the part numbers I had when I had a new one in my 190bhp version, which was a ko3s. I was told at the time that the standard 163bhp version is a KO3 and only the BEX 190bhp version was KO3s.
 
tom2 said:
Stock Turbocharger K03 Part Number 058145703J

BEX Turbocharger K03S Part Number 06B145703B

These were the part numbers I had when I had a new one in my 190bhp version, which was a ko3s
Click to expand...

odd, but good info, not as i expected
 
Thanks for the above, My options at the moment are to replace the Core/cartridge (I'd rather use the word internals) get a recon Turbo, or upgrade the turbo. I've got some info from above posts :thumbsup: but if anyone has advice on upgrading the turbo, what else is needed.

Of-course I am searching the internet and this forum for other info. but picking at this forums brains has really helped
 
A4sportMrT said:
Thanks for the above, My options at the moment are to replace the Core/cartridge (I'd rather use the word internals) get a recon Turbo, or upgrade the turbo. I've got some info from above posts :thumbsup: but if anyone has advice on upgrading the turbo, what else is needed.

Of-course I am searching the internet and this forum for other info. but picking at this forums brains has really helped
Click to expand...

I think you would be better off getting a good quality k03s and a remap if your considering upgrading, a decent k03s will handle as much power as these engines can reliably put out without going bang. Maybe see if the bex's double inter cooler arrangement is easily transplantable
 
What makes you think the turbo is dying ?
 
tom2 said:
I think you would be better off getting a good quality k03s and a remap if your considering upgrading, a decent k03s will handle as much power as these engines can reliably put out without going bang. Maybe see if the bex's double inter cooler arrangement is easily transplantable
Click to expand...

Any idea on cost?
 
I'd try new hoses and original air filter back in first tbh mate. Have you checked inter cooler pipes/seals. I've had similar noises on mine several times when I first bought it and twice it was a vacuum leak and once it was a split dv
 
My neighbour is a retired vw mech and when it first happened he found it by running the car on tick over and spraying easy start over all the pipes he could get at and just listening for a change in the engine note, took him 2 minutes to find.
 
Original air filter is back on, I have checked visible hoses and they seem ok, apart from one as mentioned in my other post. I haven't checked intercooler pipes no. I still want to get it smoke tested but can't find anyone local who can do it. And this thread is purely based on what garage have charged me labour for. Play in the bearing. I'll be ringing them tomorrow to see if they noticed any split hoses. I thought it could be a vacuum leak or the recirc and a friend told me definitely not due to it making the noise when it's sucking the air in. I'm not all that sure if I'm honest. It's the reason I'm here.
 
tom2 said:
My neighbour is a retired vw mech and when it first happened he found it by running the car on tick over and spraying easy start over all the pipes he could get at and just listening for a change in the engine note, took him 2 minutes to find.
Click to expand...

Did you have the exact same noise as me? Sorry to ask it's just reading the comments on the videos I found with the same symptoms as I've got and spending hours searching the net to see if it could be something that isn't gonna break the bank
 
I've had a split in one of the vac hoses that made similar noises, I even had the front off the car checking pulleys/bearings etc etc
 
I'll look for a diagram so I can follow pipe work and see if I can find anything. What else I have noticed is that the pipe work going to and coming off the recirc valve is that they are really oily and covered in grime but I have got a slight rocker cover gasket leak which is on the to do list this week. I'm not ruling out split hoses just yet I want to explore all possibilities and rectify the problem
 
Hmm your problems seem worse than mine, my car makes the noise at 2000 rpm and will continue to do so until I let of the throttle, have had no EML on and no codes as I've checked. No running issues either. But as my post above I'm not going to rule it out. I think best bet is to get it smoke tested/ or make up a bung and pressurize the system. I find the engine bay to be tight in places. When engine is running it's fine, no idle problems at all. I guess I need to find a VAG specialists garage. I just don't want to keep chucking money away in labour charges. For all I know the garage I bought it from might not even checked the turbo for play. I will know if they have as I marked the bolts up.
 
So, according to that website I have a K03s Turbo. Only way one way to be 100% sure and that's to take it off myself or try and find the stamp without taking it off
 
Yep as it's telling me I have a ko3s aswell a4 1.8t 163
 
Mini dan said:
Yep as it's telling me I have a ko3s aswell a4 1.8t 163
Click to expand...

My 163 bhp has the k03 s turbo.mine has avj bottom end with a bam head and mines making this noise now after fitting a 710n diverter valve brand new and my induction kit.no running issues no fault codes .
Rocker cover gasket is leaking though and turbo oil return pipe is leaking o ring area I'm told.

Easy way I've been told is k03s turbo has twin oil feed in .not sure if that's true but it does pull well.
 
Exact problems I'm having then although Mine was trying to fit cone filter so my guess is I've caused a split on one of the pipes on intake. I'm going tackle this again this weekend by taking the intake hose completely off.
 
Im tackling this Sunday, And will be removing the intake hose and inspecting all associated hoses for splits. I will be removing a couple of hoses connected to intake but they have those stupid metal pinched clip, so can I replace those with a jubilee clip? I will be checking intercooler pipework so any pointers in where to look would be great! Going back to that loose pipe I found last Sunday, its connected to the black metal pipe which follows the airbox and disappears into the drivers wing.. what is this for?
ImageFollwing my Red line, the end of that is a rubber hose piece connected to TIP, that is the one which feels soft/loose compared to others connected on intake pipe
Looks like ill be car sharing on Saturday when I go to Santa Pod :(
 
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Ok.. Thinking about this, I had my passenger CV boot replaced by the garage would there be any chance they have knocked something to do with the intercooler piping?
 
A little update on this,
I've checked that what I thought was a split hose, but it isn't it's just more flexible than others.
Definitely need rocker cover gasket replacement
My engine code is BFB as it's stamped on a plate under engine cover
I've checked all other visible hoses again and no sign of splits
So it's gotta be the turbo wanting to be replaced.
 
Ordered a recon turbo, should be here this week. Does anyone have info.on what I should get replaced when the turbo is being fitted??
 
Ok. So I've got new turbo on, and looking at old turbo something has bent one of the fins, I'll get a picture up later. Fingers crossed she runs alright when all back together
 
Just for future reference, Here's what the turbo looked like Uploadfromtaptalk1390765867610

You can see the damaged fins, new turbo on and it's great to drive again especially now I can go above 2k rpm lol
Just to add, this is the details for the Turbo
5303-970-0029
 
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