Hey all,

I started out simply wanting to replace the gaskets on the stock turbo since it was leaking. Long story short I'm now doing a k04-15 upgrade. The car is setup as a stage 1 right now...91 octane chip 198 hp. Full 2.5" exhaust, k&n. I actually was planning on just putting the k03-005 back on but it's so tiny. I glanced over at my 89 mustang with a 2.3 turbo swap and saw the .57 A/R t04e and back at the k03 and was like that's just a little guy. LOL. I know the k04 isin't a BT but it's better than the little stock guy with 200k on it and it is a direct bolt on. My question is in regards to tuning. Do I need to rechip or will it run decently on a k03 stage 1 tune? It's a 1 bar tune 14.5 psi if my math is right. Mechanically it's sound but it is a old audi with 200k so I'm not looking to dump even 1k into it at this point. Also most of the posts ive read say replace the oil line...what's the reason for this? Sludge? I'm meticulous about oil...every 5k miles with full synthetic and good filters. Every 3rd I'll do an engine flush as well.

 

Oh and I also ported the stock exhaust manifold because why not...went from 38.4 mm to 40.8 on the head side and from 40.1 mm to 42.6 mm on the turbo side...all to match the gaskets. It's actually not a bad stock manifold. It did have the normal crack on the turbo side...nothing all the way through.

Is porting the turbo itself worth anything? From what I've read that mostly involves the hot side and even then it look like only minor work.

 

I can only tell you my experience from installing my FT and running a Motoza Stage 1+ tune. I finished installing the F4 and decided to see if everything was installed ok and headed out for a spin. I floored the throttle and it immediately spiked and pinned my boost gauge at 30PSI. I stopped doing that right away and went home to flash my Motoza hybrid tune. Now it spikes at 21 and holds at 20. All you can really do is try it and see if it reacts the same way but it most likely won't because the tune is for a smaller turbo. Yes you can baby it by not flooring it but with a new turbo, you will always want to.

Doug

 

Almost done...ran into one problem you guys might be able to help me out with. I did't tighten the banjo bolt on the turbo for the water line and it was leaking when I first fired it up. I had everything back together and now can't get a wrench or socket onto the bolt to tighten it up. Are there any special tools??? Or do I need to take it apart again? I'm gonna pick up a 19mm socket after work and try do like I did with the 17mm I milled for the turbo to manifold bolts. Basically mill the socket down from 5/8" deep to less than 1/2" to shrink the clearance and maybe try and find a very low profile or angled wrench to deal with the tight clearance. All I need is about a half a turn. Super frustrating when I can get the socket on and the wrench almost into position but not enough clearance to get the wrench onto the socket. Oh and I wasted half of my expensive coolant....sorry now I'm just ranting

Needless to say there was quite a few curse works and skinned knuckles trying to tighten that damn bolt last night.

Any advice would be much appreciated

 

Alright! Finished! I ended up making a tool to fit the bolt. I let it warm up and cool down to get the oil off the manifold. No leaks. Run a few errands driving slowly. Let it cool off for a while and then ran it about 75% on the freeway. It runs pretty good on the 91 chip for the k03. Noticeable power gains through the whole rpm range. Not monstrous by any means but it feels like the 30-40hp most others have reported. And it does hold good power up to about 6500 rpm. Idle is better (I also replaced the cheap bov with a good dv) I'd post pictures but it looks exactly the same as stock. It is really a direct bolt on as well.

 

Do you have a boost gauge? If you get into it, what does the boost spike to? Just curious.

Doug