Re: A4 turbo failure?

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <3e64d708.245f504d@aol.com> MCTXR4@aol.com writes:

> Does anyone else on the list have an A4 (mine's an early '97 w/auto)that's
> chipped and had the turbo or wastegate fail? What were the symptoms?
>
> Over the last few weeks I've experienced a slow loss of power that became
> significant last week when driving up some hills in the Blue Ridge. I
> remember driving that section before and powering up the hills without any
> problem. Now the tranny downshifts and the motor really works to get up the
> same hills.

Maybe it's time to revisit some of the basics - we haven't covered this
stuff for a while ...

a) If you have reasonable grounds for suspecting a turbo problem, STOP
   and examine the turbo --> intercooler hose for shrapnel.

   i)    It's easy to do.
   ii)   Missing turbo-sourced shrapnel is expen$$$ive.

   Faults are not common, but the ease and the $$$ for getting it wrong
   balance out to make the check _VERY_ cost-effective.

b) Chipping a car moves it on BOTH the performance and reliability
   axes - up on one, down on another.  TANSTAAFL.  If you 'chip' your
   engine, it WILL wear out or fail earlier.  The true cost of
   chipping is the price of the chip plus the delta between the
   net present value of the engine's availability over Audi's
   design lifetime and the net present value over the chipped lifetime.
   Put another way - you are bringing forward the purchase of your
   next engine, and it has to be financed.  I recommend the HP-12C.

--
 Phil Payne
 Phone: 0385 302803   Fax: 01536 723021
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