Another Turbo Question
 

Hi guys.

This is my first post, so, bear with me.

I bought my daughter a 2003 Audi A4 Quattro 1.8T about 3 years ago. I told her it was a bad idea:

. a: as it would be her first car

. b: the car was dead and needed work

c: she was still a student and when things go bad, they will go EXPENSIVELY bad!

She got her way.

So for the next 6 months or so, dad did all the work to get it back to road worthiness. Yeah. I know... Taught HER a lesson!!

At any rate, I kept up on the maintenance and kept it running fairly smoothly for the next 2 and a half years.

Then my predictions came to roost.

Turbo went bad, injectors started failing, coils were going bad, wiring became hard and brittle and were fraying, hoses became hard and were cracking, intake mani was sucking air...etc. Topped it all off with a blown head gasket...

EXPENSIVELY bad.

I have been building engines for a long time.... I mostly stayed with older V8 Chevys and Mopar. I have been tuning Nissans a lot and have a project car me and my son are building, but, I haven't done anything with any type of turbo before.

All the problems are fixed now and the car is running fine......except.

I replaced the K03 turbo with a K04-015. Speedingrods.com is where it was purchased.
From reading here, it appeared it was not so much an upgrade, just about an even swap.
Turbo works great.
Problem is is that when you try to punch it or give it any type of serious push (Like getting on the freeway) it sounds like the waste gate is opening too soon and it makes the car stutter and lose power.... Like you are stepping on the accelerator and releasing it realy fast.

Any ideas as to why and how I can fix it?

There are no other mods installed so I dont want to remap. Maybe a diverter or a BOV? Or could it be something as simple as an adjustment to the waste gate itself?
If so, what should I do and look for if I adjust in small increments??

Thanks again for reading and all the help you have given so far.

Anyone? No ideas??

I would suggest installing a manifold pressure gauge; some are pretty inexpensive but would be helpful in this case. Anyway, it could be that once manifold pressure exceeds ambient pressure by enough, a split rubber hose is opening, dumping pressurized air. I once had an 80's Audi that would blow open a discharge hose, so take a good look at them. Another thing sometimes done is to use PVC pipe caps from Home Depot, for instance, to block off the end of the throttle body hose (big S curved hose from intercooler), and the turbo's compressor discharge hose. One cap will have a tire schrader valve installed, which allows you to pump up the pressure in that portion of the induction system to look for leaks. That's how I figured that my diverter valve was backwards: it made a weird moaning noise, when it should have been silently shut.

As I mentioned, a defective or incorrectly installed diverter valve might do this. At least on earlier 1.8T's, it could be installed "reversed". A blow-off valve is not recommended, because when open, will cause the mixture to be too rich, since the turbo will continue to pull air through the MAF sensor, without that air actually entering the cylinders. Unlikely to be the wastegate in my opinion, the turbine inertia tends to prevent it from reacting fast enough to "stutter".

Thank you, turbo....

My family and I drove the car into the Bay Area this past weekend and the car was shuddering and shaking up over highway 152. Pacheco Pass to be exact. SO bad, I pulled over close to tthe top of the pass to see what I could do.

No luck...

I pushed through and forced it down the pass to our destination...

The next day, I tore everything out in front of my mother-in-laws house. After about 30 minutes, I found the problem.

Just as you first suggested, a hose had popped off of the end of the wastegate diaphram. It appears as though it happened immediately on first start up. The inside diameter of the hose was too big and it had slipped off even with a hose clamp on it.
I replaced the hose and new clamp.

Driving back home was like driving a new car. Nevcer has it had so much power! (SInce I bought it, anyway)
75 MPH right on up and over the incline. WIth a full trunk from grandmas house, myself, my wife and 3 very big kids! All together, I would say we would weigh about 900 lbs. between the 5 of us!! VERY big kids! Lol!

Thanks for all your help!

I knew I came to the right place for help!

SIncerest thanks to you and this forum....:D :D

i would strongly agree on installing a turbo timer. i believe that the best way to maintain the performance of a turbocharger would be to idle your car. the turbo timer allows your car to idle itself to allow proper oil circulation.

Turbo timer? Like a seperate control module like an APEXi Boost Controller? I read a Manifold Pressure Guage... I didn't notice a mention of a turbo timer?