the ko3 that came with my car went at 65k, obviously the original owner didn't know **** about warm up and cool down time

I am now at 118k, which means there is 53k on my newer turbo....


I have seen that alot of you guys are at 100+ k, prolly more than half of you guys have broken the 100k mark

just wondering how many miles your ko3 has survived...how many turbos have you gone through?

how many of you got a chip, and right afterwards the turbo went?

anyone put 150k on a stock turbo?

anyone running on a re-built turbo?...who re-built it?...how many miles are on the newly rebuilt one?

just a thought I had, mainly curiosity

 

116,000 miles: original ko3s turbo

chip at 90,000 miles

 

i have just a hair under 100k, and on the original one from what i can guess since this car was bone stock when i got it........


i got tunned at about 75k and everything is running strong...... apr tunning

 

ya im at about 128K with factory 97 a4 ko3 turbo!!

but im boosting 5psi inbetween shifts and 2-3psi under a load

and its smoking out the exhaust a little bit so im thinking the same as you but im trying to figure if my turbo is on its way out or its bad valve seals??

 

yeah, I have seen a few modded out chipped A4s on egay and somehow they have lasted 200k, just wondering how long a well taken care of K03 has lasted

 

if your boostin that low, you could have one of a few problems


smoking car can mean a few different things...check your oil for coolant

are you burning oil?...

could just be the turbo on it's last leg....does your turbo sound like a dentist drill?

 

white smoke or dark smoke?

 

ok guys im sure I can lend a hand. I bought a audi a4 1.8t 1997 aeb engine. The guy sold it to me cheap stating that the turbo was bad. I didnt know what to believe so I took the chance. By the way the car was blowing/ billowing out white smoke like crazy. I mean alot.. After buying it and taking home I took the turbo out and to my luck the ehaust turbine was just laying broken in it. It had completely shattered in half. I rebuilt the turbo with a new center cartridge and ran it. The first two days it ran fine then all of a sudden it started whining and makign horrible noises. I took it apart and it was almost destroyed. The turbo was getting no oil and I had no idea. So after fixing the oil line I bought a rebuild kit and rebuilt the turbo. (by the way you have to put it back together the EXACT same way it came apart so I remains balanced.) After doing that I ran it and it still made a whining noise and eventually broke and oil billowed everywhere again. The reason this is, is because the KO3 turbos were made with such a small shaft they warp when put under any stress or extreme heat. The KO3's down fall is its rediculously small shaft. So I ended up buying a new center cartridge and all for it and now it runs fine. Trust me rebuilding turbos isnt all that hard, hell, there is no reason for them to be so expensive. Its just a piece of metal with a couple bearings. Were all totally getting ripped off. Besides the point it can be rebuilt. My suggestion is to not go back with a KO3 invest money in a cheap after market t3/t4 and get a new manifold to fit it. It will be so much more reliable than that crappy k03. I know in the future im upgrading mine. Oh btw check your oil lines the stock ones to the turbo have been known to get clogged. Dont let it happen to you. It sucks and my wallet hates it.

 

mine lasted to 105k miles but only died to oil problems (diode at 84k). Brothers k03s is at 100k miles now. His doesnt have coolent lines on it! [>:]

 

why am I just now noticing you are a mod?....I thought this day would never come...lol

good stuff!