Sourcing a replacement Turbo

[666markyboy]

Just had a phone call off my Lad and it sounds like the turbo has expired on his A4 TDi AWX.... I'm fine with the spanners but need to get this sorted for him as cheap as possible ... I see lots of cartridges for sale on eBay but i'm guessing they are all made of Chinese Pig Iron and will expire as soon as the key is turned... I'm more inclined for him to get a genuine second hand turbo from the scrappers but again your still taking a risk... Any pointers and info would be welcome , My own father recently had to have his turbo replaced and he shelled out a lot of money to have his old one refurbished but it was never the same and when we part exed the car the garage suspected it had turbo problems even though it was brand new, i suspect the recondition was to just chuck in one of these cheapo ebay cartridges so i'm very wary about what direction to go in as i said any info or experiences please share

regards Mark

 

[pauldazzle]

What symptoms of a blown turbo is it showing?

 

[666markyboy]

I've not seen the car yet but from what he's said lots of Blue/Black smoke suddenly and he noticed a whining noise last week which he neglected to tell me about

 

[adamss24]

I will not use anything but a genuine turbo or one With a Mellett cartridge. It still needs setting on a flow bench to get it to Work properly ?!

 

[666markyboy]

When you say it needs setting on a flow bench do you mean any kind of cartridge ? ... if that's the case I'm just gonna try and find a good second hand genuine ... the cars only worth about 1500 at best

 

[adamss24]

Yep, the stop screw needs adjusting for good spool and low Exhaust Manifold Pressure. Too far dialed in will result in slow spool, too far out will damage the turbo and could take the engine out !
2nd hand known good turbo is what I would suggest however it's pot luck though to get something half decent especially as them cars are getting on a bit ! I might have one in my pile of turbos at the garage- on holiday now but back this weekend ! If not too late then I would check for you when I am back !

 

[666markyboy]

If you could Adam that would be great, I would imagine it's going to be a week or 2 before he gets any money together, we have a local Audi Breaker so I would probably try and use them as at least I can look at it before committing and more chance of them swapping it if I end up with another faulty one....let me know how you get on Adam, Cheers

regards Mark

 

[adamss24]

Sure Mark, let me get back to uk and I will look for one...I do have a fair stash of turbo's in the workshop, all I keep is in good working order...

 

[666markyboy]

Hi Adam.... Thanks for your kind offer I'll bear you in mind if I have future problems , However I got to investigate the car myself today and it turns out one of the boost pipes had come unclipped, Kids ehh, who'd have em ,, anyway clipped back on and all is good... happy days and an easy fix

 

[adamss24]

Good to know the car is fine...