Turbo noise on start up

[johnouellette]

My turbo whines and squeals when I start it for 30 seconds to a minute or so when the engine is cold. I thought the bearing in the factory original K03 was going bad since the car does have 90K miles on it. I just had it replaced and it's still making the same noise.

I have no idea what's wrong with the car at this point Any idea's guys? I'm seriously about to give up and bring it to the dealership to trade it in for anything none VW/AUDI at this point.

[johnouellette]

It's so frustrating, other than this the car is running great. Actually the best it's ever run since I bought it at 60K miles. In fact, I'm actually getting about 5mpg more than i used on the highway, and the car pulls as stronger than it ever has.

I've been worried that it might be an issue with the turbo not getting enough oil due to a sludge issue. But if that were the case, wouldn't the care kinda run poorly?

[gdawg'05a4]

It's the SAI (secondary air injector) pump running to help warm the car up quicker when the engine is cold. Yours is just making more noise than it should, probably on it's way out.

[alexza4]

^^ agreed with gdawg.

[rocketheavy]

yeah, its your secondary air injection pump. It freaked me out too. sounds like its coming from the turbo but its not. Ended up being that the output hose wasnt clipped on all the way on the pump. PHEW!! check it out. If you get underneath your car on a creeper, its the black thing on the right that has 2 hoses going to it. its right in the corner. youll see it. Check for cracks or loose fittings

[johnouellette]

Thanks guys, I'll check it out.

Anyone know where to get one cheaply? I've spent thousands of dollars trying to fix this, and can't afford to keep throwing money at it.

[johnouellette]

Thanks guys, I'll check it out.

Anyone know where to get one cheaply? I've spent thousands of dollars trying to fix this, and can't afford to keep throwing money at it.

The noise does increase/decrease with engine rpm's. would the SAI really do that?

[johnouellette]

could i unplug the electrical connection to the pump to see if it still makes the noise? I'm guessing I'll get a cel with it unplugged?

[johnouellette]

it's hard to get answers here unless it's a coilpack failure or a BT question

[rocketheavy]

on a cold start, have a buddy start it while your underneath. youll be able to pin point it. if you listen from the top then its useless. it goes away after you hit second gear right?

[johnouellette]

ya it goes away about the time I get to second gear, or if I let it idle until it's reach normal temp.

[johnouellette]

do I need to use a creeper, or can I just pull my fog light out? I'm hoping to disconnect it and try starting the car up.

The SAI has been pretty loud the past year or so. Wouldn't be a big surprise if it was bad after all.

[gdawg'05a4]

You may fit under the car without jacking it up. Best to remove the belly pan and look up behind the fog light, kind of hard to tell with the small opening of the fog light area.

People have disconnected their SAI IIRC (or maybe I'm thinking of something else), maybe do a search on that.

[johnouellette]

assuming mine is bad, I'm wondering how necessary of a system it really is. I could probably tie a resistor in to let the ECU think it's still in place.

removing it would also provide some space to maybe route some more cold air to the intake.

[pondside36]

SAI can be removed all together, the BAT guys do it all the time to clean up/make room. Check A4ringedone's build thread about 13 pages in and it shows how he did it. GL...

[johnouellette]

So I finally got a day off and got around to unplugging the SAI pump to see if I still get the horrible noise when I start the car.......yup.

I stuck my head under the car while it was making the noise to see if I could figure out exactly where it's coming from and it does sounds like it's coming from the turbo.

Anyone have any other ideas beside leaving the car parked in a bad neighborhood with the keys in the ignition and a sign on the roof that says "PLEASE GOD SOMEONE STEAL ME!"

[Killerteve]

I used to have this problem, but my turbo died before I ever found out what it was. It certainly could be the SAI since I had to mess with it for my AFE intake install and I couldn't hear anything from above and it fit all the symptoms you guys mentioned above. I'll have to see if it still does it after I install the new turbo.

[johnouellette]

no it's not the SAI. I unplugged it and still get the same noise. To me it sounds like the turbo doesn't have enough oil on startup. I'm wondering if my oil lines may be a little clogged.

It started making the noise after I seafoamed the engine in april. Two turbo's and $4k latter.....still have the same noise. The only part I haven't replaced is the oil lines.

[johnouellette]

Killerteve, did you replace the oil lines when you swapped out turbo?