JC M.

After seeing my K03 Turbo glow for the first time it convinced me to upgrade to a K04. But i hear that the K04 is slightly bigger than the K03. if this is true does that turbo glow like the K03?<p>Thanks for any info.<p>I will be joining the K04 club soon.<p>

Ali

The K04 and the K03 share the same housing, that's why it's virtually impossible to tell them apart once installed in a car. I checked my K04 to see if it glows after real aggressive driving, and it does. <p>Ali<br>98.5 1.8TMS

Matt

With that kind of heat, you'll kill the turbo. The oil will coke and the bearing will die early. Install a turbo timer ($100) to circulate oil after shutting off the ignition key. Oh yeah, with a turbo car, always thoroughly warm it up before you "boost" the engine.

JC M.

I do warm up my engin real good and slow i let it sit at idel for about 4 min in the morning or when ever the guage is stone cold. and ater every use i leave the engin ideling for 5 min with me in it. so every where i go i am 10 min early.

evlfred

You'll get spark plug fouling letting it idle like that. Just let it idle for maybe a minute then drive slowly for the first few miles. I've seen alot of fouled spark plugs caused by just that.<p>evlfred

Marko Litmanen

What about the turbo itself?<p>You start up your cold engine. Hot exhaust strikes the turbo and it starts to run. What I'm saying is that it would seem that the turbo is one of the first parts to reach normal operating temperature. The coolant takes a lot longer to warm up.<p>Marko Litmanen<br>A3 1.8T Wett 1.0 bar K&N

MT atl

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Matt

First off, you have a wastegate that controls exhaust flow over the turbo. At idle and light throttle the turbo probably isn't spinning, or if it is than it is spinning very slow. The reason you want to warm the car up is to heat the oil. You want nice thin [warm] oil for the turbo bearing (and engine) before you start "boosting" the engine. With 1 bar (about 15psi) I hope you're using a good synthetic. Just take it easy and wait until the engine is warm before beating on it. <p>>What about the turbo itself?<p>>You start up your cold engine. Hot exhaust >strikes the turbo and it starts to run. What I'm >saying is that it would seem that the turbo is >one of the first parts to reach normal operating >temperature. The coolant takes a lot longer to >warm up.<p>

Matt

Idling for 4 minutes is overkill. Get in your car, start it, put on your seatbelt and than drive away. There is no need to let the car idle after startup. The idea is to get it up to temperature ASAP, driving does this best. Just use very light throttle and don't go over about 35mph until the car is thoroughly warmed up (5-10 min.) You don't really need a turbo timer unless your turbo is really hot upon shutdown (ie., driving hard or running more boost.) If the turbo is glowing red than when you shut it down than the oil will coke on the bearing. 1-2 minutes of cooldown would probably suffice (even after spirited driving) a turbo timer allows you to leave the car while the turbo bearing cools. Prolonged idling is probably the worst thing you can do to your car (diluting the oil.)