Good day, folks!

I came across a nice little early year 1999 A4 a few months ago at a used car dealer. One of it's main selling points was all of the new parts onboard including a new radiator, water pump, timing belt and turbo. It had to go back for warranty a few times and I had a chance to speak with the owner and a few of the mechanics.

The owner first said the replacement turbo is a k03s then later he said its a k04. The mechanic says its a k03s. I went down last night and using a mirror and a light, I was able to glean the perimeter numbers off the housing:
5304 101 50 95c an arrow and a squiggle.

This leads me to the only link on the net
http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx/...a4-18t-20v-_JM

But this is a k03 and not a k03s. Also, the markings on either side seem different (this one has the triple K and mine doesnt)

Is there some definite way to tell? I really cannot get near the blue panel on the turbo face to tell and I am not inclined to take the bumper and radiator off to know for sure.

This is for chipping pruposes. I dont want to short change myself if I have a better turbo.

Thanks for looking!

Pete =)

 

Well I'm just gonna guess this one. Its definetely not a K04 other wise it'd need to be tune properly or else it'd bog out like crap. I thought the KKK was from a brand that rebuilds the turbo's. For a 99 if they replaced it w/ the stock turbo its most likely a K03. Why don't you take it to a shop that'll do the chip and have them figure out what software to install

 

You have a generic k03... Maybe an ebay knockoff. I just installed a new k03 from turbodriven.com. You need the numbers on the blue tag. Ex: k03-0005

 

unless you have a reciept from the origional owner saying its a k03s or k04, assume you have a stock k03. if it doesnt have "KKK", or 3 "K"s in a triangle, or one big K in a triangle cast into the housing, its a garbage Ebay knock off.

also the difference between a k03 and k03s is next to nothing so there would be basicly no difference in tuning.

 

Hey guys, thanks for the quick replies.

It seems to have decent pull but I dont spend much time at WOT so I'm not sure if it bogs or not.....doesnt feel like it though. Feels pretty smooth. I know I have to look at the tag plate but there is a hardline running in front of the turbo and I'm loathe to push or move anything since I just spent the last month and a half chasing leaks and I dont want to disturb any seals. Are there any visual cues that I can use to id this thing? Its pretty tight in there but I can see down one side. Maybe a caliper to check diameters or something.

If it is a cheap knockoff....then it raises the question: Are the cheap knockoff turbos still adequate for a light GIAC chip? I'm not looking for a strip beast, just a few extra ponies to give it a little more pep for passing and getting on the highway and mundane things like that.

Whadda guys think? Is a "mercadolibre" turbo good enough for a stage 1?

 

im sure a few people are running a $200 ebay turbo without problems, however they are few and far between. if you do infact have an ebay turbo, i would spend my $500 on a good used stock turbo rather then a chip. ebay turbos are known to be held together with glue and dreams and can randomly fail. and when a 1.5 pound chunk of metal spinning at 150,000 RPMs fails, its not a simple clunk and loss of power. its an explosion that can take out the rest of the engine as well.

im guessing you have your stock airbox still? just take that off and you should have easy access to the turbo.

 

The only difference between the k03 and k03s is the fins and pin. Their easier turbinal spin is the reason for 20hp gain in 2001. And a bit of a tune from Audi but w/ the chip the differences are minimal. Like ghost said, take out your airbox and the turbo is very noticible there. If its an ebay turbo I'd start looking for a stock k03 in the classifieds from someone that went BT. AZ usually has more snails for sale.

 

The difference for the 20hp for 01 has nothing to do with the turbo. You don't need a special tune for a k04. If it was a k04, it would run the same as a k03 on a k03 tune. It will run the same on stock tuning. It certainly won't bog down... That pic represents a genuine k03 turbo. The "K" symbol is a variation of the kkk branding. If it was a generic pos, this is what it would look like:



But even then, generic "pos" ko3 knock off's have not been proven to be a pos. I have never read of anyone who has had a bad experience with one, so lets not just knock it because we havent tried it or just because it's ebay stuff.

 

As said, the blue plate will give you the part number for the turbo and that will tell you its model. You can also pull the intake off and count the blades on the compressor wheel. As for the difference between the ko3 and ko3s, the compressor wheel on the "s" has an upgraded 8 blade design that is more efficient and is rated at 210hp where the ko3 is rated at 190hp. The other difference is that the "s" has an upgraded wastegate also. FYI, the ko4 is only rated to 215hp so it will perform just like the other 2 in stock or just chipped tuned ecu's.

As for the ebay turbos, they are known for using poor materials and to come unbalanced. Pushing them at an increased psi can and eventually will cause them to fail. People in car scenes like honda using them at a moderate 5-7psi have seen decent results, but its still best to just buy a used stock turbo over an ebay even if the stock BW turbo has 70k+ miles on it since BW makes probably the best and most reliable turbos on the market (yes, better than garrett IMHO).

 

and to be clear, just because a turbo is rated for more power does not mean that it it is the cause for more power. I'm not saying ebay isn't flooded with a bunch of half assed BS parts made in china, but I have honestly never ever seen a complaint from anyone running a k03 knock off.