B8 A4 Avant: HELP!!! Turbo Bearing Failing

[Joey9]

Took my car into the dealership to have some stuff checked out, and when I went to go pick up the car they said the turbo bearing was failing. Im not quiet sure that that means but I am looking into a new turbo. What could have caused this? I am Eurodyne Stage 2 if that makes a difference. The dealership quoted me $1400 for a new turbo, 7.5 hours of labor equalling ~$2400, plus or minus $200 for miscellaneous fasteners, fluids etc. Im assuming something is bound to go wrong and it will probably cost around $2600 or possibly even more. My only thought is that the ko4 kit is $2400 new from CTS Turbo. Should I just buy the ko4 kit and install it myself or just go with the ko3 from the dealership? I am wanting to upgrade to ko4 in the future so i feel like now is the time to do it. Will the ko4 hold up better/longer than the ko3? Would there be any advantages going ko4 instead of ko3 in this situation besides power? I would be tuning with the Eurodyne ko4 file if I did go ko4. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm trying to get all of this figured out before the European Experience car show in Savannah. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Thanks! Joey


Heres a pic of my car. Instagram @joeyjacobss

[pierreb]

Are you able to install your own k04? CTS kit also means HFC and DP work. In your shoes I would do the k04.

[lettuce]

Frankenturbos are $1500 and bolt right up. Also you already have Eurodyne which comes with a Frankenturbo tune which is amazing.

Just saying.

Also what's all that stuff under your car?

[adamazing]

I'd definitely use the same funds to upgrade, regardless of whether you go Frankenturbo, K04, EFR, etc.

[Project Quattro]

^ This. If X fails, upgrade X with a better aftermarket component. K04 time.


Sent from the Pedal Responce boardroom

[Joey9]

Are you able to install your own k04? CTS kit also means HFC and DP work. In your shoes I would do the k04.

yeah i am, and it comes with a catless dp already

Frankenturbos are $1500 and bolt right up. Also you already have Eurodyne which comes with a Frankenturbo tune which is amazing.

Just saying.

Also what's all that stuff under your car?

is there anything better about the frankenturbo verses the ko4?

and what stuff under my car? I have some shitty underglow under my front bumper that doesnt work anymore haha and the white stuff under my side skirt is just worn out plastidip haha

I'd definitely use the same funds to upgrade, regardless of whether you go Frankenturbo, K04, EFR, etc.

is there more reliability out of the ko4 or any of the other turbos over the ko3?

^ This. If X fails, upgrade X with a better aftermarket component. K04 time.


Sent from the Pedal Responce boardroom

thats what i was thinking

[adamazing]

is there more reliability out of the ko4 or any of the other turbos over the ko3?

I can't speak to the Frank/EFR options out there, but remember that the K04 was used by Audi in previous models.

[pierreb]

There's no data available to show k04 reliability is improved over k03 that I've seen.

Yes CTS kit comes with pipe. Not sure if you were aware it wasn't just a turbo install but also some piping will be required.

[Joey9]

what efr would i be looking to get for my car? I can't find any kits for it. and does anyone know if eurodyne has a tune for the efr?

[pierreb]

The apr stage 3 kit is EFR.

[Shaph]

http://www.turbozentrum.de/en/turbos...ifold/a-32000/

and read jerry1847's Thread

[Joey9]

The apr stage 3 kit is EFR.

When will they be releasing it?

[Project Quattro]

When will they be releasing it?

Arin hasn't confirmed a date yet. That said, although the gains will be bigger, their stage 3 kit is likely to be far more expensive than a K04.

[kvitrafn]

Well your turbo is pushed to the limit now, that's why it's failing. If you ask the same from a larger turbo such as a k04 or f23 they will probably last a lot longer.

But you want more power from the new turbo of course, and then it's a matter of how much you push that one. Ultimately, all turbos fail. Since most tuned cars are unique in setup, it's hard to get any useful reliability data on the available replacement turbos.

Both turbos will probably last fine if the software is good. If eurodyne has a good tune and the f23 is that much cheaper, that certainly sounds like a good alternative.

[blbroo]

@joey9

Have you ever dyno'd your Eurodyne Stage 2?

I would agree with what others say here, if you already have eurodyne, go K04 or F23L rather than putting another weaker turbo in.

[SleeperCar]

hey OP...side note...ill be at European experience with a bunch of audizine people (like 25 of us)....should be a good time!

[Brad Kane]

I had the same issue with our 2011 Avant, it was cheaper to go with the APR K04 vs. the OEM K03 replacement. Performance is great.

[Lambda13]

You can also find a cheap used k03 for substantially less money than the upgrade if you don't want to go for more power. I personally am going k04 on my car.

[Joey9]

Well your turbo is pushed to the limit now, that's why it's failing. If you ask the same from a larger turbo such as a k04 or f23 they will probably last a lot longer.

But you want more power from the new turbo of course, and then it's a matter of how much you push that one. Ultimately, all turbos fail. Since most tuned cars are unique in setup, it's hard to get any useful reliability data on the available replacement turbos.

Both turbos will probably last fine if the software is good. If eurodyne has a good tune and the f23 is that much cheaper, that certainly sounds like a good alternative.

That makes sense, and yeah ill look more into the f23

@joey9

Have you ever dyno'd your Eurodyne Stage 2?

I would agree with what others say here, if you already have eurodyne, go K04 or F23L rather than putting another weaker turbo in.

i have not, but yeah if i get a new turbo hopefully it will be the ko4 or f23

hey OP...side note...ill be at European experience with a bunch of audizine people (like 25 of us)....should be a good time!

Id love to meet up with you guys! email me at joeyjacobsss (at) gmail (dot) com and we can get in touch! Im also a photographer so i could take some pics, rollers, or rig shots

I had the same issue with our 2011 Avant, it was cheaper to go with the APR K04 vs. the OEM K03 replacement. Performance is great.

thats good news to hear on my end haha, hopefully i can upgrade

You can also find a cheap used k03 for substantially less money than the upgrade if you don't want to go for more power. I personally am going k04 on my car.

yeah i thought about that but i want to go ko4 of f23 anyway so i didn't see a point in putting a ko3 in when later down the road I'm just going to put a bigger turbo in anyway

[Joey9]

Update: When i took it to the dealership, the mechanic said that they could "hear" the bearing failing and that "if you put a stethoscope up to the turbo you'd be able to hear the bearing failing" but when me and some friends went to listen to it we couldn't hear anything. The did not specify if they took off the turbo to check which is what some friends said is the only way to check. I can almost guarantee they didn't take the turbo off because my car was only gone for about 2-3 hours. Is just listening to the turbo even a proper way to determine if the bearing is failing? Could the techs just not of ever heard a tuned car and thought it was the bearing failing? Im starting to think my turbo is fine and they didn't diagnose it correctly. Any thoughts on this?

[pierreb]

My thoughts are that you should drive it until the turbo actually fails. Usually that comes with a CEL, a dentist drill sound, exhaust smoke or any combination of those three things. Seems fishy to me.

[van462]

You could unbuilt the cat from the turbo. Remove the transmission/ cat support bolt and undo the downpipe to resonator clamp. Slide the cat back a few inches. You can then get to the turbine shaft end see of it has end play or wobble. Spin and check for smoothness.

[Joey9]

My thoughts are that you should drive it until the turbo actually fails. Usually that comes with a CEL, a dentist drill sound, exhaust smoke or any combination of those three things. Seems fishy to me.

thats what i was thinking, but i don't want it to blow on me when I'm in an unfortunate spot haha

You could unbuilt the cat from the turbo. Remove the transmission/ cat support bolt and undo the downpipe to resonator clamp. Slide the cat back a few inches. You can then get to the turbine shaft end see of it has end play or wobble. Spin and check for smoothness.

maybe i could have a shop do that

- - - Updated - - -

Update: When i took it to the dealership, the mechanic said that they could "hear" the bearing failing and that "if you put a stethoscope up to the turbo you'd be able to hear the bearing failing" but when me and some friends went to listen to it we couldn't hear anything. The did not specify if they took off the turbo to check which is what some friends said is the only way to check. I can almost guarantee they didn't take the turbo off because my car was only gone for about 2-3 hours. Is just listening to the turbo even a proper way to determine if the bearing is failing? Could the techs just not of ever heard a tuned car and thought it was the bearing failing? Im starting to think my turbo is fine and they didn't diagnose it correctly. Any thoughts on this?

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[b6Hate4]

Yes, you can indeed diagnose a bad bearing by sound...if it is bad enough. The car when taken on a test drive will sound like there is a dentist drill in the engine bay.

If it were me, I would pick up an IHI ko3 CHRA on ebay and just swap it in, have it balanced and be on my way for $200

[Joey9]

Yes, you can indeed diagnose a bad bearing by sound...if it is bad enough. The car when taken on a test drive will sound like there is a dentist drill in the engine bay.

If it were me, I would pick up an IHI ko3 CHRA on ebay and just swap it in, have it balanced and be on my way for $200

it doesnt sound like a dentist drill in the engine bay, so should i assume my turbo is fine?

[pierreb]

Find an independent local mechanic that can confirm the diagnosis. Frankly I would keep driving the car until it actually breaks like I said.