i own my first audi a 1997 a4 quattro...and its just going haywire
one minute ill hear the turbo spool and the car pullls. but keeps cutting out in 3rd. but if it sits a minute it works again. it smells a little like its burning oil but the levels are still the same, also a wierd noise from the from end in the right side like a bearing?

 

try and be a little more vague please...

 

thats the thing... i just dont get it. the car is very up and down...no ecu except for an abs/brake from a bad abs sensor...no engine codes come up....no leaks...the turbo works fine when it wants to...but most of the time the car just will not go...it will barely spool.... and it almost drives like a completely different car

 

Coked up turbo seizing the bearings?

 

i honestly dont even know what that means...first turbo vehicle. yes i know nothing, which is why im going to people like you who have been at it forever

 

well if thats as specific as you can get I (we) can only give somewhat applicable advice. my advice being that if the turbo sometimes works and sometimes doesnt, its not the turbo. if its either working or not, its not the turbo itself, its something else. turbos (especially journal bearing) either work or dont work. its fairly simple. it has to be something controlling the turbo. first off get a boost gauge. best fifty dollar investment ever. second we need to know everything about your car. is it completely stock? chipped? tip or manual? anything else? normally, you shouldnt hear the turbo spool, or at least i cant. they are very quiet, unless something is modified.

 

its all stock.
as for the turbo...i know what they feel like, and sometimes higher rpms= more pull
not usually the case though, the engine almost feels bogged down, and extremely warm considering its not being run that hard. would a abs brake combo set of a CEL causing it to shut it down? sometimes those lights are off. its a manual

 

get a boost gauge and scan your codes. until you do that we can do nothing for you. and stop making threads about the same issue.

 

Well, they can work then not.. Like when there's no or restricted oil...wont be this way long before it just doesnt spin any more though.

 

so replace it?