NefMoto

I have a 1.8t A4 with stock k03 turbo and I've been looking around eBay checking out K04s. Has anyone had any experience purchasing these units? I'm not looking for a genuine unit , Just one that will last long enough. I've heard sometime you have to port the wastegate since boost creeps. Is this still occurring with these china turbos? Are these turbos able to hold boost (18-20 psi) till redline?

Example of unit on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/96-03-A4-PASSAT-1-8T-1-8L-K04-TURBO-CHARGER-OEM-UPGRADE-BOLT-ON-300HP-K03-VW-KO4-/280878145631?hash=item4165a4605f&vxp=mtr

I'm willing to modify the turbo to make it suitable, I just need more concrete data on these.

take a look on the audi srs forum (http://audisrs.com/) they dont have the greatest reputation in europe.

is there anyone on this forum or related to the forum that would have a good hybrid available ? I considered getting frakenturbo but I'm looking for lower price point ~400-500 if that's even possible  :-\

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4639002-The-Ultimate-Ebay-Big-Turbo-Experiment

This is what Im currently putting together on my B6 A4.... should have it running in a week, hopefully it lasts longer than a week :-\

Seems to show some strength according to the guys @ vortex, Im into it about $6-700, not including injectors and a front mount ill have to get later

Sup BlkSerialKilla!

 I purchased a ko4-022 and a k04-023 from Ebay, they were chinese knockoffs but did ship from Cali. The 022 only lasted about a thousand miles due to me being an idiot and missed checking if the oil feed line was tight on the first start and drive....almost ran the engine out of oil. The turbo was getting minimal oil pressure if any while i was driving like i now had an almost big turbo car lol.. The 023 is still just fine in my 1.8t gti that I deliver pizzas in for work and is my daily driver. I seriously drive it pretty hard too...gotta get to those houses fast so I can get a good tip and all.. anyway I think i paid less than $250 shipped for each of the 2. I don't have any real complaints but i do get the boost creep above 5-6000 rpm but I adjusted the wgdc% in that area and to 7000rpm. It doesn't throw codes so I guess it worked out. I get 18psi on the boost gauge from 2900ish rpm to 7. I'm really not sure how many miles are on the turbo at this point but its at least 20000miles and over a year ago that I installed, there is 213000 on the motor. If you have any questions hit me up.

awesome well that gives me some hope then, I may try it out after all. I'm even considering getting it and carefully opening up the wastegate port so creep is resolved as well.

Just don't do it man.
You are way better off with used original one.
Turbos live very hard life. This is really not the place to cut corners.

Pftttt.  There's a guy down south making a strong 440 on an eBay Garrett.  It's his daily, has been for a year.  Luck of the draw, I guess. Depends who made it.

Look for FTG, I´ve been tuning some engines with their K04-001 XL and they are lasting good...

Even reached 300cv/45mkgf in a old M3.8.3 AGU engine running E100, FMIC, DP 3", etc...

$218 shipped

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150859176108?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


I thought about taking the WG flapper deal off a k03s I have and putting it on the 023 and then opening up the port but never got around to it before needing the car back together. I figured it wasn't gong to last and I would rebuild it or buy another one and do it then but noooooooiioo, it won't die.

My car does consume oil though but I'm not sure if its through the turbo or that the engine just has high miles... and it's not alot of oil, maybe a qt a month but I drive it way more than avg. Really I think it has worn valve guides. I use Mobile1 Synthetic 5w-30

On a 1.8t it's worth a shot.  Worst case scenario you're out a couple hundred and a few hours.