Turbo is Dying!!! (ko4 help)

[m5racer]

Well my dam KO3's is diying. I can hear a little clicking noice as the car idles. I was told its some kind of little door inside that turbo that opens and closes during boost and was told this is somewhat common failpoint on these turbos.
Soooooo, i was thinking about all the stuff i could do once this trubo stops preforming. Before everyone says k04 is a waste and yada yada yada, i have thought this threw long and hard. I dont want to go gt28 beucase thats too bt for me. This is my daily car and i depend on it to work all the time beucase i need it to be able to go to and from school every day (uni) and i cant afford haveing any relibality issues.
Now i dont know where to start or even what kind of K04 i need. Also i was looking at the Awe websight and i felt that paying 1899 + shipping and duties is gonna be way to killer for me. Is there any other places i can get a ko4 kit or turbo + all nessessary extras. Is what AWE shows exactly what i need? I already have:
Exhaust with larger DP
intercooler
Intake
Upgraded DV

IF you guys could help me out that would be great beucase i dont know where to go from here.

Thanks

Anthony

[audiness]

the k04 is definitely not a waste, i don't know any logical person who would say that.

it's a great upgrade, and it's really easy. I think its the turbo that our cars should have come with

[hoganalley]

Borg Warner K04-15

check out GPopshop. I think they're in Poland or something, you can buy an upgraded K04 from them and send yours back once it's installed. There's a guy in the UK....docurley.....who has done it. There's threads on here about it. Only problem is I think you need a custom tune. Not sure.

K04's are in short supply right now anyway, might be tough to find one. Keep your eyes on the classifieds would be your best best. New K04's if you can find one won't be cheap.

[m5racer]

ya i know they are expensive, im looking on buying a new one as i want to stay away from used stuff for a while. Any palces that have kits assembled like AWE without the 2,000 price tag

[diablooffire03]

Clicking noise from turbo, little door...? Only door I think of is the wastegate. But Ive never heard a turbo click. You sure its not just the motor being noisy?

[Seerlah]

The wastegate of your turbo is going bad . Mine was stuck open and my mechanic fixed it with a screw driver for free. Your turbo is still fine. But if you are looking for an upgrade, I was looking into the GT28r. I am thinking it can get you ~230whp on pump gas. It bolts up to your stock manifold (t25) and you would just need accompanying upgrades (injectors, tune, Tip, fpr, fmic,mbc).

GT28r-$935
Oil and coolant lines-$200
Tune-$700 (cheaper if APR has a tune you can upgrade with)
Injectors-$150
AFPR-$100
MBC-$100 (for good one such as Turbo XS)
Tip-$200
FMIC-$500
Miscalaneous-$200 (fittings, bolts, gaskets, etc)
=~$3,085

And I was looking at the exhaust of the turbo and it seems that you would need an adapter. At this point, may would just say go GTRS. But you could easily source out parts and have this set up for maybe $1400-2000.

[vic]

I would make sure the turbo is going out.
Do you have any other complains, like increased oil consumption, lack of power, poor gas millage? Clicking sound from the turbo is interesting effect.

If you really come up to buy new one, try G-pop shop. They are US based and do decent job for reasonable money. Recently a kind of Chinese replica becomes popular, but I would not recommend it, although it is really cheap.

[m5racer]

see with a gt28 i dont want any relibility issues, i do a lot of city driving and i need my car on a daily basis. Would a gt28 running low boost be the same as a ko4?

[Seerlah]

You could run it at full boost and really have no issues other than what the car stock will give you (as any owner knows what that entails). Same problems, different turbo. You would not need to worry about internals, because it is only rated at ~310hp. The only thing I would be concerned about is the manifold cracking due to over heating, but that really should not be of a major concern unless you drive the car as if you want to enjoy your turbo. Other than that, install it properly and there should be real no issues. It is the same set up as the k04 would have been. Just a Garrett GT28r instead of a Borg Warner K04-15. The only thing upon install that might trouble you is the exhaust from the turbo. But I am sure there is an adapter for that.

The only reason I mentioned this set up, is that I was looking into it upon the same concern that if I were to blow my turbo. And FYI, your turbo is not dead. Just the wastegate needs repair.

Edit: I just read that you already have the intercooler. So you would need tune, turbo, lines, injectors, fpr, Tip, and mbc. That really can be sourced out to around $1500 if you bought the turbo brand new (which is more than less usually advised). Then call APR to see if they have a tune you could upgrade with.

[m5racer]

alright thanks guys. Seerlah. what kind of power would i be getting out of a gt28? i want to stay conservative and not run crazy boost or power. My #1 concern is 100% reliability. Is the GT28 setup really something that will stay as reliable as the K04?

Also my turbo still works fine. I can hear a little noise commeing from the turbo. Nothing under boost. Still works fine. But if something does happen i need t be prepared and do as much reserch. Thats why i started researching now. Planning on buying one near Christmas time.

#1 thing was Relibality!

[m5racer]

G-pop shop i heard is very iffy. I herd about people whos turbos blew up a week/month after they got the turbo. I want something brand new no used or rebuilt shit.

[onepoint8tee]

How about posting the source to wherever you read this about gpopshop. Hearsay means nothing. Also, a ball bearing turbo will perform better and be as reliable or more reliable than a kkk journal bearing turd. It's hard for most people to justify $800ish for a k04 when you can get a gt series/eliminator for just a little more. If you go with a k04, it's only a little better than a k03 unless you are getting an agressive tune (pc16, etc.) for it that requires other supporting mods. If you do that, the turbo is maxed out. At least with a non kkk product you will have room to grow in the future if you want, without having to purchase a different turbo again.

[Seerlah]

As long as you buy reliable parts, it is rather a simple swap. The GT28R is rated at 310 hp, so I would expect you to have ~230whp. Reliablity is of the owners content. It is how you drive the car, how you cool the turbo, etc. All components are upgrades (better than) from stock components. Just do not find some cheap ebay item, and all should be good.

It will be as reliable as your stock set up. You are simply placing a new turbo w/ a Garrett GT28r and the new oil&coolant lines. Stonger TIP could be done on a stock turbo, but will be necessary for the added vacuum pressure of the bigger turbo. You would replace the N75 with the MBC (do not get a cheap one. even forge is not all the great when it comes to boost controlers. try a Turbo XS bleeder w/ball&spring). New FPR and injectors, for whatever bar or psi the tune requires. And you have everything else. other than the tune itself.

Reliability should not be a question. Unless it was reason by poor installation, neglagence (ie not proper cooling) or not quality parts. The only thing that would be a concern is the exhuast manifold (could crack as it would be bolted to the stock one), but you can always get a high flow one w/t25 flange to be safe. And the only concern about installation is the 4 bolt exhaust. But I am sure there is an adaptor for that.

How about posting the source to wherever you read this about gpopshop.

Audizine Thread

[audiness]

How about posting the source to wherever you read this about gpopshop. Hearsay means nothing. Also, a ball bearing turbo will perform better and be as reliable or more reliable than a kkk journal bearing turd. It's hard for most people to justify $800ish for a k04 when you can get a gt series/eliminator for just a little more. If you go with a k04, it's only a little better than a k03 unless you are getting an agressive tune (pc16, etc.) for it that requires other supporting mods. If you do that, the turbo is maxed out. At least with a non kkk product you will have room to grow in the future if you want, without having to purchase a different turbo again.

i agree with that, but for a person who wants an easy upgrade, with the least amount of supporting mods, the k04 is better. Anthing bigger requires a diff exh manifold, re-worked cat converter,exhaust, injectors, etc. etc.

[onepoint8tee]

Which is an excellent reason to stick with a k03/k03S with a chip. A new $800 k04 without an agressive tune and supporting mods is not worthwhile for most people. $800+ for an additional 40 or so hp is a rip imo. Even the lesser expensive gpopshop k04 is hard to justify for the gains. I would get a water/meth kit and tweak the timing with lemi if I wanted anything more than a k03/chip, but did not want to go BT.

[biketsai]

I pieced together my complete T28 kit for $2200 (had to pay $700 for tuning though).
IF you can find a good deal on a used eliminator, id take it.

[karmad]

I pieced together my complete T28 kit for $2200 (had to pay $700 for tuning though).
IF you can find a good deal on a used eliminator, id take it.

From where im really interested those kits go for 5,000 dont they? and low does your boost come on i read it comes on faster than k03 and k04

[biketsai]

From where im really interested those kits go for 5,000 dont they? and low does your boost come on i read it comes on faster than k03 and k04

Well the NEW kit is $4300, but I pieced mine together. I bought the injectors, tune, manifold seperately and got the turbo and lines/TIP together. Just do a little searching in the classifieds and im sure you will eventually come across something. My boost doesnt come on till 2500, but after that it is a beast.

[onepoint8tee]

My boost doesnt come on till 2500

you say that like it's a bad thing... ? :)

[biketsai]

you say that like it's a bad thing... ? :)

It is if I want to race from a dig.

[onepoint8tee]

Oh I just noticed you have tip. Well it still doesn't get much better than 2500 rpm's. Thats on par with the k03 turd as far as spool up time.

[biketsai]

Oh I just noticed you have tip. Well it still doesn't get much better than 2500 rpm's. Thats on par with the k03 turd as far as spool up time.

Well, the thing is that I dont hit full boost till around 4kish rpm compared to the k03 which hits full boost quick.

[onepoint8tee]

Gotcha. Still not terrible. I would be fearful of my tip tranny crapping itself with your setup though.

[biketsai]

Gotcha. Still not terrible. I would be fearful of my tip tranny crapping itself with your setup though.

Not even close

[onepoint8tee]

How many miles have you had your bt? Do you take it to the track often or otherwise drive it like you stole it on a daily basis?