High miles and the likelihood fo turbo failure.
02-21-2005, 06:15 AM
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High miles and the likelihood fo turbo failure.
I have searched the archives already and haven't found what I'm looking for, so here I am.
I am looking at purchasing my brother-in-law's 2000 S4 (not sure of build date). It has about 75k on in and I am looking for a car to last me well into the 200k mark. Obviously, a car like the S4 will need some love between now and then, but the whole turbo things REALLY scares me. I originally was looking at M3s and thought they had issues, but it seems like everyone here has had a blown turbo (maybe an exaggeration).
What is the expected life of a turbo that has been "moderately" driven mostly highway miles? Are the K04 turbos a direct bolt on or will they require more parts/software to function properly? Are the K04s a definate fix, or are they succeptible to failure as well? I am a decent mechanic and am confident that I can replace the turbos myself if they fail, but I can't seem to figure out a cost of them alone. I see quotes in the archives of $1200-5000...
Just need a little advice. The price is good at ~$17k, but for what I am trying to do with it, I may be getting myself in a mess. Asside from the turbos, should everything else be able to make it into the 200k range with proper maintenance?
Thanks,
Ben
I am looking at purchasing my brother-in-law's 2000 S4 (not sure of build date). It has about 75k on in and I am looking for a car to last me well into the 200k mark. Obviously, a car like the S4 will need some love between now and then, but the whole turbo things REALLY scares me. I originally was looking at M3s and thought they had issues, but it seems like everyone here has had a blown turbo (maybe an exaggeration).
What is the expected life of a turbo that has been "moderately" driven mostly highway miles? Are the K04 turbos a direct bolt on or will they require more parts/software to function properly? Are the K04s a definate fix, or are they succeptible to failure as well? I am a decent mechanic and am confident that I can replace the turbos myself if they fail, but I can't seem to figure out a cost of them alone. I see quotes in the archives of $1200-5000...
Just need a little advice. The price is good at ~$17k, but for what I am trying to do with it, I may be getting myself in a mess. Asside from the turbos, should everything else be able to make it into the 200k range with proper maintenance?
Thanks,
Ben
02-21-2005, 06:44 AM
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Turbos are a crapshoot...
Some people have them last for the life of the car, others have them fail early. However, its pretty commonly accepted that the K03s are failure prone. The K04s are much more reliable.
You can expect to pay $2000-$2500 for the turbos and then another $400 for inlet pipes and hardware. There are also a few hybrid turbo options which may save you some money.
Labor for turbo replacement is rather involved as the usual procedure involves pulling the engine (though people have done it just by lowering the subframe a few inches). Paying to have it done will run you between $2000 and $4000 depending on labor rates.
K04s are perfectly happy and reliable running on stock software or even K03 chips (you might need a manual boost controller in parallel for this). However to take full advantage of the extra power that K04s can provide, you need fueling and software upgrades.
-Dave Pramanik
You can expect to pay $2000-$2500 for the turbos and then another $400 for inlet pipes and hardware. There are also a few hybrid turbo options which may save you some money.
Labor for turbo replacement is rather involved as the usual procedure involves pulling the engine (though people have done it just by lowering the subframe a few inches). Paying to have it done will run you between $2000 and $4000 depending on labor rates.
K04s are perfectly happy and reliable running on stock software or even K03 chips (you might need a manual boost controller in parallel for this). However to take full advantage of the extra power that K04s can provide, you need fueling and software upgrades.
-Dave Pramanik
02-21-2005, 07:22 AM
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So they are not a 100% failure item?
I was getting the impression form the forum that they were pretty much a guaranteed failure item. Glad to hear there is some likelihood of them lasting.
What about with the switchable APR chip, running 99% of the time on stock settings? I would think that this would have a minimal impact of turbo life, no?
What about with the switchable APR chip, running 99% of the time on stock settings? I would think that this would have a minimal impact of turbo life, no?
02-21-2005, 07:40 AM
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No, not a guaranteed failure item. But no real way to ensure that they don't fail.
Some have failed running stock boost while others have run chipped boost for 100k+ miles with no issues.
Best advice would be to use good synthetic oil and take it easy until the oil temps come up. Also good to stay off boost the last few miles before shutting down (though with a good synthetic oil, coking is unlikely).
But really, its just luck of the draw. No definite way to keep the K03s from failing.
-Dave Pramanik
Best advice would be to use good synthetic oil and take it easy until the oil temps come up. Also good to stay off boost the last few miles before shutting down (though with a good synthetic oil, coking is unlikely).
But really, its just luck of the draw. No definite way to keep the K03s from failing.
-Dave Pramanik
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