This is my first post on here so please bear with me. First off I am a proud owner of a 2001 Audi A4 quattro 1.8t 5 speed. It has 104,500 miles. The engine code is AWM. I was driving it the other day and when it spooled up/started to spool, it made a noise almost of a belt squealing. It made this sound ONLY when i was under-load/spooling. I reved the motor in neutral/ first gear clutch in, with the air on, with out the air on, and i never heard the noise unless the turbo was working. After examining the belts i believed it was a turbo issue. My good friend and I removed the hoses from the intercooler and there wasn't a major amount of oil or debris. Then we took the hose that goes from the turbo into the airbox off and pressurized it to see it there was a boost leak. After 10 psi, the air would come out of the oil fill cap. There wasn't a noise, whistle, or bubble. After removing the hose and spinning the tiny finned turbo, we noticed it still spun pretty easy. After further examination, we noticed that the turbo shaft had play up and down but in and out. I never owned a turbo car before and it was very hard to see exactly how much play it had. A friend of mine said my turbo could be smoked. Is this possible???? After reassembling everything and driving the car back to my house it never made the noise again. It still spools, i can hear the slight whistle. It doesn't feel that much slower like the turbo isn't working. Anyone have any ideas what this problem could have been or still is? Do i need a new turbo? Its an everyday driver and if i need a new turbo i don't wanna spend too much money ( if possible ). Can anyone direct me to someone that could assist me? PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!



-Mike

 

If you have shaft play you might want to change the turbo out to at least a k04 bc its not worth buying a new k03

 

+1

and went you a pressure testing also called boost leak testing you need to remoce the pcv valve aka the pancake vale and plug the hole i usally use a mini mag flashlight to plug the hole.


http://www.audidiy.com/b5a4phps/b5a4...?currentpage=1

look at the tennis ball method diy

sometimes if you look in the classfields on this site you may find a k03-s (which is the turbo you have) for sale pretty cheap

good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of Audi

 

Turbo is definitely on the way out.

 

ok, so we narrowed it down to the turbo going out. What is the difference between the k03-s and k04? will it bolt on? are we looking at a huge price difference? will i have to change anything else? Also can i hurt the car by still driving it? I do own a motorcycle but since i live in the new seattle ( New Jersey ) its been hard to go for a ride

 

its not that big of a price diff its like 200 bux....if your gunna change it either find a mad cheap k03s or buy a new k04 which will make your car feel more alive, k03s ~ $800 brand new,$300-$600 rebuilt, a k04 is about a grand brand new, but god luck on everything and welcome to the forums

 

ha, ur car needs a grand of work, this IS the wonderful world of audis and german autos.