You make a good point, however the person that installed my turbo has been ASE certified and working on Audi's for over 22 years, I can nearly guarantee he did everything properly...

 

Would be an extremely easy thing to check, literally you can pop the good and look at it. I'm not saying he installed something wrong, but it's worth a check before messing with the wastegate

 

Not too easy if you don't know what to look for What exactly am I looking for?

 

If you look at step 5 I show the lines leading the n75:
https://www.audiforums.com/forum/diy...535/?styleid=2
The line that is not hooked up in the picture should go to the compressor housing, the other line goes to the waste gate

 

[QUOTE=Pbcrazy;1466415]If you look at step 5 I show the lines leading the n75:
https://www.audiforums.com/forum/diy...535/?styleid=2
The line that is not hooked up in the picture should go to the compressor housing, the other line goes to the waste gate[/QUOTE

Yup, after checking it out, it looks good.

 

That's a shame, it would be a lot easier to switch lines then possibly replaceing the turbo again. Let me know how your wastegate testing/adjusting goes

 

Yea, it sucks but I strongly feel that simply adjusting the wastegate will do the trick, versus an entire replacement. From what I've gathered, there's plenty of people that have run into the same issue I'm having with the ability to make an adjustment with good results, and without having to remove the turbo to do so either. I'll definitely keep you updated.

 

I contacted BuyAutoParts today where I purchased their replica K04 turbo (Chinese). I explained my possible (most likely) Wastegate/Flapper/Actuator issue immediately upon install.

The sales/service guy asked me for my name/address/etc. and said that I received one of their better "batches" of turbos. I asked him what in the world that meant, and his explanation was that they use various suppliers in China, and based on their number of turbos sold vs returned, determine one supplier better than another. The guy said that my particular turbo was one of the last ones left on the shelf from the more reliable dealer, compared to some others from another dealer that have been coming back more often.

I was surprised he openly admitted they have some issues with their Chinese turbos, but was intrigued by the fact they track their turbo sales/returns based on each supplier. They use those numbers in determining who to use in the future since they purchase in bulk. Maybe I'm being too gullable with the whole story, but to actually have someone in sales mention ANY of their stuff is crap leads me to believe some of what he's telling me may actually be legit....anyway....

This guy was telling me that the largest issue they have with the replica turbos is the wastegate and/or actuator. He said many times the flapper will be stuck, and you simply have to open it a few times to break it in, this is the case more often than not according to him, but some people simply return them to avoid the headache or because they just don't know better.

I found this video that pretty much supports this theory.....

 

Kinda surprising he openly admitted all of that, also surprising they don't just buy from the reliable suppliers only and forget the crap ones. Anyways, it's possible he is telling the truth, blow a few puffs of compressed air into the wastegate hose or take a pair of pliers and move the wastegate rod.

 

They do sell Borg Warner turbos as well, however they cannot let them go for as cheap, $930 I believe for the K04. I've found a few people running their Chinese K04's on Audizine and a couple VW forums that have put over 20K on them without issue (one guy has over 30K), although neither of them had to adjust their wastegate either. What defines a reliable supplier? Don't you have a thread titled "My FrankenTurbo after 1,000 miles, what a POS" on audizine? Correct me if I'm wrong, however didn't you have to install a MBC due to overboost on your FT? Sure, the BuyAutoParts sales personnel told me they have had multiple returns on some of their "k04-15" turbos specifically, but given their excellent reputation on Ebay, not too mention their A+ BBB rating, I think it's also safe to say they make things right if issues come about. What I failed to mention in my last post was that fact he said "if you're unable to fix/adjust the turbo, we'll send another to you same day no problem." I think their willingness to make things right also says a lot in terms of building a positive customer service reputation.

Like Metal explained to me before, even FT has had wastegate issues right from their factory, the same can be said for any turbo company really. I'm sure you've heard of BW, among various other "big name" companies selling defective units, it's bound to happen when something is mass produced. Obviously, Chinese turbos probably have a higher ratio of failure vs big name/far more expensive competitors, however in my time researching multiple tuner forums, there's plenty of happy campers as well.

In my situation specifically, I have 250K on my 01, and my mechanic doesn't charge labor since it's family, so taking a chance on my first replacement from the stock K03 isn't a big deal to me. Am I being forced to drive right now staying out of boost to keep things healthy? Absolutely! But by Friday/Saturday I strongly believe my issue will be resolved with some wastegate related adjustments, and when that time comes, I also feel that my decision to spend $330 on a aftermarket K04 will be worthwhile given my current situation.