glad to hear you found the problem! I agree with Keegan, I'd stay away from ebay DV's, the quality is usually garbage. you might try a junk yard or part out to get another OEM piece on the cheap just for now, then save up some cash to get something better later? Just my $.02

 

Not post whoring, but I just realized while going to school this morning, my turbo is quite a bit louder/higher pitched than it used to be, but nowhere near the youtube video.. Should I be worried?

 

Depends. You may just be noticing it more after having heard the youtube vid. If you're worried, you could try taking off the T.I.P. and wiggling the compressor shaft in the turbo housing, there should be no play. If you feel it wiggling, that high pitch you're hearing might be the bearings on their way out.

 

you can find DV's all over, the market is flooded with them because everybody is always buying and selling new ones to try them out. it just depends on if you trust craigslist, other guys on this forum, or if you even want a used one at all. An OEM tt Dv works pretty well if you ever wanted to chip your car and it is equally as cheap, like forty or less from a dealer

 

How hard is the DV to replace? Is it a DIY job or should i leave it to the professionals. Ive been thinking of getting one for the sound/better for the car and one less thing to worry about going out/ less to worry about if i ever chip it.

 

you can find all the info on different dv's on this forum alone as far as research for that goes. the job itself is as simple as being able to get under your car and reattach a little hose or two. its very simple

 

Yeah, it looks like it's going to be a simple little swap. For my engine, it's right under the car about 6" or so under the turbo. Earlier b5's look like they have them higher up (not sure what years). There's a diy on audidiy.com for the one that's higer up. Anyways, I found a junkyard that's going to give me one for $30 that I'll use for the meantime. I'll probably just go all out and get the APR R1 DV when I'm ready to get chipped. I hate having to drive like a grandma right now to avoid building too much boost. I guess I've been missing out on power and good gas mileage now that I know I've had a major boost leak. I can't wait to see how the car performs once I get the new one in. I'll make sure to post up the results when I'm done.

 

Ok, sorry I took so long to post up the results. It's kind of funny what happend actually. It turns out that the DV wasn't cracked, it just looked that way how one of the hose clamps cast a shadow over the corner of it. I was pissed off at myself at first for jumping the gun and not taking it off first to get a really good look at it. Anyways, I decided to just put the other one on anyway since I bought it just to see what would happen and WOW, am I glad I did! Turns out the piston must have been stuck open inside the whole time and was wasting almost all of my boost. That's why my car would make that shhhhh sound and then die after a couple of pulls. Now the fricken car pulls like a mother when the turbo kicks in! I really need a boost gauge to see what's going on though because I don't think the car should feel like it has this much power at stock boost levels. Is there like a sticker or something that's usually put on the ecu when it's chipped or something? It's going to be a mystery until I get that gauge. Sorry for the long post, I just felt like I had to share.

 

Glad that all worked out for you... have fun!