Replacement Turbo and Rear Diff

[s3_will]

Morning all,

I picked my S3 up yesterday after it went in to Audi for a few bits buy they also gave me some alarming news. My rear diff is shot and the turbo is on the way out. The price to have these rectified is over £4k.

Has anyone changed the rear diff or turbo on their car? I can't afford to have this done so am looking for cheaper alternatives or worst case I'll have to take a big hit on the car and sell it as is.

Cheers

Will

 

[Dani_B19]

Or take it back to who you bought it from. Thats a joke.

 

[<tuffty/>]

There are loads of people that have changed turbo's on this forum mate lol... its why most of us are here

4k is a dealer extortion/price... you would never have to pay this at an independent...

You can get one of Beach Buggy Turbo's refurb K04's for less than 500 quid and you need to be more specific over the diff though... the diff's rarely go wrong but the haldex unit does... you can buy a secondhand complete diff/haldex for around 150 quid on eBay (check the classifieds as there are a few cars being broken)

Both jobs are 'awkward' but not insurmountable for the average home mechanic...

Probably looking at a couple of days work to do these jobs so you will be looking at just under 2k with a BBT and a decent secondhand diff unit at an independent or under 1k if you can do it yourself

Trouble is with the dealer approach is they are just fitters... they keep fitting parts until the problem goes away rather than diagnose it and make a reasoned decision to fixing the issue...

What is actually wrong with the 'diff'?

<tuffty/>

 

[s3_will]

Thanks for the replies. The problem with the diff is when you turn full lock the car judders and almost drags a wheel. It feels reluctant at times too. The turbo just has a small amount of whine but the mechanic said there was too much play.

I took it in to have a couple of boost pipes replaced to hopefully fix the whine problem.

 

[JudderMan]

Judders

Yes mate?

 

[<tuffty/>]

Thanks for the replies. The problem with the diff is when you turn full lock the car Judders and almost drags a wheel. It feels reluctant at times too. The turbo just has a small amount of whine but the mechanic said there was too much play.

I took it in to have a couple of boost pipes replaced to hopefully fix the whine problem.

Try pulling the haldex fuse out (fuse 31) and see if its still doing it... if not its normally an issue with the controller and/or the precharge pump... last car Bill had in with this was fixed with a secondhand controller

As for the turbo... side to side play is fine within reason... in and out is the one to look for as this is worn thrust plates etc...

If the turbo is boosting ok and the throttle body area not full of oil then the turbo is serviceable but difficult to say without looking at it tbh

<tuffty/>

 

[s3_will]

The turbo has the in out play so he said. The whining started roughly a month ago.

I'll take the fuse out shortly and see if that makes any difference.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[s3_will]

Yes mate?

Sorry mate, looks like it put your name in! I did mean to say 'judders' though!

 

[kwistof]

I had my turbo changed when I had my engine fully rebuilt a few years ago now - think I had a receipt for about £600 for that and it was an OEM replacement.

Then last year it turned out my diff was shot.

I purchased a second hand one of ebay for around a couple of hundred quid and paid my friendly mechanic friend to fit it. Think he charged about a few hours labour. All in for the rear diff and fitting it cost around £400.

 

[d-9]

Audi quoted me £800 to replace my rear discs, take their quotes with a pinch of reality.

 

[s3_will]

I called an independent garage I've been to before and they said it could be a bearing in the rear diff and they could put a new core in my turbo. Does that sound like a reasonable solution?

 

[kwistof]

I called an independent garage I've been to before and they said it could be a bearing in the rear diff and they could put a new core in my turbo. Does that sound like a reasonable solution?

Yes - but it would also be worth asking if the work/repair comes with any guarantee.

By the time you pay for the labour/repair it might be cheaper to buy a second hand part or even new part for a little bit more but with a guarantee/warranty. All depends on how much they are asking for an if they can warrant the repair work IMO

 

[Lavis89]

It might be worth servicing the haldex, mine used to have the same problem till I got it serviced, all is fine now

 

[s3_will]

I'm looking at that before anything with the diff is done. For now the turbo is the priority.

 

[s33nyboy12]

Don't panic!

If your planning on keeping the car a while then I would get a beach buggy turbo like tuffty said. Then look at haldex or diff problem, a filter and fluid is £32 iirc from tps and you can do it yourself there are threads on here to show you how or if that doesn't work then buy a second hand one off ebay or in classifieds here . Sorted! I reckon you can solve both problems for between £1300 - £1750 way less than half the dealer quoted

Sean

 

[s3_will]

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into a new turbo or getting mine rebuilt from/by Beach Buggy Turbos. My plan for the diff was to drain the it and see if there is anything metallic in the oil. If not then I know it's not a really serious problem. I have heard you need to drop the Quattro system to get access to the turbo, is that right?

I would like to keep the car for a while yet, buying a house is next followed by a newer S(something) in a few years or make mine into a bit of a track car

 

[Gops]

Service the haldex! Audi once told a TTRS owner that he would need a new haldex unit costing £4k!! He took it to a independant specialist and it only ended up being the pump and a service! Audi don't know nowt!!

 

[s33nyboy12]

Audi don't know nowt!!

I love this statement! How how do I make it in my signature?... :-D

Sean