Should I buy and fix this A4?
#1
02-10-2010, 04:41 PM
Should I buy and fix this A4?
Hi all, this is my first post in this forum and was looking for some advice. I have a friend who is selling his daughters 2000 A4 (FWD) automatic with 95K miles (150 hp engine rating on factory window sticker) ; I can buy this car for $1500 which seems like a decent deal. The car is pretty clean for the most part and only has a few issues; the daughter hit something and the car needs a hood and front bumper cover, no structural damage. I had a Jetta Wolfburg with the 1.8t and loved it so I got very intersted in the audi, but I want to know if I may be getting in over my head with this next part.
The big ticket item is that it needs a new turbo. This was the story I got:
"oil pump was on the way out and oil pressure was low, but never failed. New oil pump was installed by Audi mechanic for $1100. 2 weeks later the car lost all power and is blowing oil smoke out of the tail pipe. Same Audi mechanic said that the seals went in the turbo from the higher oil pressure of the new oil pump, possibly the seals and/or bearings were toasted from not enough oil." The story seems to jive except I found the coolent tank to be empty which troubled me a bit.
Do any of you think this is worth $1500? Should I jump on this car or walk?
I'm a very mechanically inclined person and typically do all the vehicle work (tractors, trucks, gas engines, etc). myself with no problems, but I have never wrenched on a 1.8T (the jetta was new and under warranty). I've been poking around the forums and reading on turbo swaps and see that the K04-15 would be a good replacement for the k03; it seems that this is a direct bolt in. I'm a bit confused after reading so much about having to get injectors and getting tuned; I believe this is required with the K04 swap ( don't flame me out here, there are sooooooo many acronyms and different success recipies for doing this upgrade I got lost).
I don't want to build a euro racer and have something that is forever needing tweeking, and I don't want to dump much more that 1000-1300 into the car to make it reliably driveable; I was just thinking of upgrading since the turbo is junk anyway, and 240hp out of the 1.8 would be a hoot to commute with.
So there it is, I'd much appreciate any guidance, reccomendations, or comments. I need to make a decision on this Audi soon.
The big ticket item is that it needs a new turbo. This was the story I got:
"oil pump was on the way out and oil pressure was low, but never failed. New oil pump was installed by Audi mechanic for $1100. 2 weeks later the car lost all power and is blowing oil smoke out of the tail pipe. Same Audi mechanic said that the seals went in the turbo from the higher oil pressure of the new oil pump, possibly the seals and/or bearings were toasted from not enough oil." The story seems to jive except I found the coolent tank to be empty which troubled me a bit.
Do any of you think this is worth $1500? Should I jump on this car or walk?
I'm a very mechanically inclined person and typically do all the vehicle work (tractors, trucks, gas engines, etc). myself with no problems, but I have never wrenched on a 1.8T (the jetta was new and under warranty). I've been poking around the forums and reading on turbo swaps and see that the K04-15 would be a good replacement for the k03; it seems that this is a direct bolt in. I'm a bit confused after reading so much about having to get injectors and getting tuned; I believe this is required with the K04 swap ( don't flame me out here, there are sooooooo many acronyms and different success recipies for doing this upgrade I got lost).
I don't want to build a euro racer and have something that is forever needing tweeking, and I don't want to dump much more that 1000-1300 into the car to make it reliably driveable; I was just thinking of upgrading since the turbo is junk anyway, and 240hp out of the 1.8 would be a hoot to commute with.
So there it is, I'd much appreciate any guidance, reccomendations, or comments. I need to make a decision on this Audi soon.
#2
02-10-2010, 04:54 PM
If the turbo failed so quickly after there was low oil pressure, I wonder how well the engine was being oiled for that time too.. Just a thought. Although the high pressure story might be true. If you hear any valve ticking I would worry a little. 95,000 for a well taken care of engine isnt much though. I just reached 160,000 with my 1.8, original everything, including the turbo.
There are also some things you want to consider:
If the timing belt hasnt been done it will have to be as soon as you get it. Cheap to do on your own, expensive if you dont.
If the control arms havent ALL been replaced, the odds are really high that they will need to be done soon and if not soon i can almost be sure at some point you will need to do them. If you want to test those and see if they are bad now you might hear either a squeeking when turning the wheel (especially with warm weather), a clunk on bumps, or torn rubber boots at the arm (500-800) for those parts, however you can find them alot cheaper other places and on ebay, some have said good things about certain places you might want to search that, there are some really poor quality ones out there too).
If you upgrade turbos, you have to get the ECU "chipped" meaning modified. That program usually runs about 300 dollars + along with the cost of the new turbo. You can buy lower miles k03 turbos for the same price, and then get a chip for a stock turbo which still really gives you some good gaines. If im not mistaken, someone could correct this it would be the difference between 350 vs 700 (350 turbo+300 chip) vs 1300+ (ko3 stock vs k03 chipped vs k04 chipped). Maybe bigger fuel injectors with the k04, im not sure there are alot of people who have done it and would know and should chime in sometime. Otherwise just search K04 on the forum.
There are also some things you want to consider:
If the timing belt hasnt been done it will have to be as soon as you get it. Cheap to do on your own, expensive if you dont.
If the control arms havent ALL been replaced, the odds are really high that they will need to be done soon and if not soon i can almost be sure at some point you will need to do them. If you want to test those and see if they are bad now you might hear either a squeeking when turning the wheel (especially with warm weather), a clunk on bumps, or torn rubber boots at the arm (500-800) for those parts, however you can find them alot cheaper other places and on ebay, some have said good things about certain places you might want to search that, there are some really poor quality ones out there too).
If you upgrade turbos, you have to get the ECU "chipped" meaning modified. That program usually runs about 300 dollars + along with the cost of the new turbo. You can buy lower miles k03 turbos for the same price, and then get a chip for a stock turbo which still really gives you some good gaines. If im not mistaken, someone could correct this it would be the difference between 350 vs 700 (350 turbo+300 chip) vs 1300+ (ko3 stock vs k03 chipped vs k04 chipped). Maybe bigger fuel injectors with the k04, im not sure there are alot of people who have done it and would know and should chime in sometime. Otherwise just search K04 on the forum.
Last edited by Dallas09; 02-10-2010 at 05:01 PM.
#3
02-10-2010, 05:10 PM
If it isnt quattro you might as well be driving your old Jetta.
To get everything possible out of the K04 you'll need, exhaust, bigger injectors, front mount intercooler(or bigger side mount), possibly fuel pressure regulator depending on engine and tuning and maybe some other thing I'm forgetting. At that point you might as well go with an eliminator set up.
If you live in a cold weather area, I'd skip it and find a quattro model, especially if it'll be your commuter.
To get everything possible out of the K04 you'll need, exhaust, bigger injectors, front mount intercooler(or bigger side mount), possibly fuel pressure regulator depending on engine and tuning and maybe some other thing I'm forgetting. At that point you might as well go with an eliminator set up.
If you live in a cold weather area, I'd skip it and find a quattro model, especially if it'll be your commuter.
