S3 K04 , what do i need to know and what do i acctually need....

[Charlie Farley]

Ok chaps, talk to me on the subject of S3 k04 turbo upgrades to the b7 2.0tfsi.
I've read a fair few threads recently on what is the best and what should be used , but views vary a lot to be honest , so, what is the real story from B7 owners.
What do I really need to be able to fit one and what should I expect in the way of installation issues etc.
I don't really want to throw shed loads of cash at the project , just enough parts to get a reliable and straight forward install.
Any feedback from bods with knowledge on the subject would be great before I waste more money than needed.

rgds
rob

 

[i3oricua]

I’ve subscribed just out of curiosity. I didn’t think you could fit the S3 K-04 without a custom manifold.


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[Charlie Farley]

Well I've kinda lost the plot really as I have read so many articles recently on the subject , now I don't know what the hell is involved and what is actually needed or even fits off the shelf.

 

[Beardymat]

I've been looking into this myself recently as a work colleague is changing the turbo on his Golf R and I might be able to buy the stock K04 from him. From what I have read there is a fitment issue with the spacing of the bolts connecting the turbo to the cat which I believe only concerns one stud but that also interferes with the engine mount I think, I thought I had seen someone cut down the offending ear and re locate the stud to fit the stock cat but I'm not sure. Then the intake and outlet of the compressor will need custom pipes as they face the wrong way and you will need to fit the diverter valve somewhere as its integral to the turbo on our cars but not on S3 Golf R etc. I did find an old site offering a full kit but it included a turbo and was strong money, be interesting to see if there is some way to get a batch of pipes made up so that you just have the exhaust flange to deal with if doing this conversion.

 

[Beardymat]

I know you're no longer doing this Rob but as I'm getting a K04 from my workmate tomorrow I'm still hoping to hear from others that have done the swap before if they have any helpful pointers. Since my car is my daily drive I'm considering buying a block and head/ scrap engine to mock things up on as far as is possible to speed the actual swap up. I'm wanting to keep things as oem looking as possible but the only thing that really concerns me as far as that goes is the location and plumbing for the diverter valve. There seems to be a valid argument for moving it close to the throttle body and away from the hot turbo body but it does seem to be a case of making up a parts kit yourself. There definitely seems to be a lack of support for the mod for us B7 owners unless you want to spend a couple of grand or more on ready to fit kit.

 

[Charlie Farley]

To be honest that is a good plan really, many moons ago I did actually obtain a good spare BUL engine with the view to building a decent uprated engine and then just swapping over lumps, that way it would preserve my original engine, but never really got any further with it and sold the lump.
If you want a dv relocate kit I do have some bits that may be right up your street, I was going to use it on my K03 to get the DV over to the cooler intake manifold side but as the whole K0?? project is now halted I have some bits that you maybe able to utilize chap.
drop me a PM.

rob

 

[Charlie Farley]

The whole problem with all these big HP upgrades is the total cost of it all, it flipping well adds up to a lot of cash, and i'm not convinced anymore its really worth it , i'm on 270 bhp and to be really honest chap, its enough for me from my old bus, it goes like stink so why do I need to mess with it anymore on the power front, it will only go tits up ...

 

[Beardymat]

I know what you mean regarding cost, it can all add up. I was just searching out your ad for the diverter valve parts as it happens to see what you had as I have looked before but that was before I read up on what was needed.

 

[Charlie Farley]

I love powerfull cars , and with the RS waiting in the wings throwing heaps of funds at the old bus just didn't make sense, I kinda got carried away with the whole engine uprating thing...then common sense prevailed last week hence why I pulled the plug.
I'll just carry on the other mods to it but leave the serious BHP to the RS.
drop me line if you still need a few bits.

rob

 

[Beardymat]

I think if I had an RS4 then I wouldn't be too worried about throwing money at potentially making my car unreliable either, lol. I have found the ad and will be in touch once I know what way to go with this, The extended wiring and housing are looking like likely candidates.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Ok chap, the only thing I am still working on under the bonnet is a revised PCV delete and catch tank setup , the current setup is great but I want a more refined setup with just a single tank so I can progress further with a cold air intake setup.
I can't currently do that much due to one catch tank being in the airbox location , but, if I can loose it and make up a better single tank config that still caters for a full PCV delete and works with both the feed and the turbo vent then that's my goal.
I have a few bits now but still need some more.

 

[Beardymat]

Well this project has officially started, although it could still be some time before car and K04 become one!

After reading everything I could find and looking at any picture on the net remotely related to this, a phrase I first heard on scrapheap challenge sprang to mind "KISS" or "keep it simple, stupid". The original idea was to connect the turbo outlet on the K04 to our standard plumbing but after looking at how others have achieved this and looking at the car this is a labour intensive process as its quite a path for the pipework to take as there is less room in there than I imagined especially with My BUL equipped car with twin intercoolers. In my search I came across several people offering drop in turbo's but they were always selling a full package going into thousands of pounds and part of the point of this exercise is to do the conversion for a modest budget to show what can be done plus I am a yorkshireman confirming to stereotype! Another hindrance of the original plan to mock this up with a scrap/spare engine was the realisation that most of the obstructions to overcome were related to parts bolted directly to the car itself and would be difficult to mock up.

So, the plan that's become the winner is to simply modify the K03 compressor housing to fit over the K04 compressor wheel. I originally thought about going down this route but had doubt thrown on me by people who said it wouldn't work due to size differences but then I came across a threads on Audizine where someone had done just that with pictures to prove it. This method makes the turbo a direct fit once the exhaust side has been modified too but leaves me with a slight issue regarding the wastegate actuator mounting to overcome which I will go into once I get to sorting it and also solves the diverter valve issue and keeps my fetish for a mostly oem looking setup at bay. The down side is I feel I might not get the highest figure bhp wise out of this as there is a slight size difference in the outlet on the housing (although strangely I found the inlet side to be exactly the same size) but the aim isn't about bragging rights just to get to a respectable figure without breaking the bank.

Anyhow, progress so far is limited to purchasing the aforementioned K04 plus a spare K03 to use the compressor housing from (If anyone has use for the rest of the K03 which appears good then get in touch!) and a trip to my local German marque tuning specialist who I have known well for some time. He has been tuning TFSI engines since they broke out and also happens to have been asked to do a similar swap to another B7 by one of his customers so its in both our interests to work this out. He knows the right man to do the machining work so once that is completed I can bolt it back together and turn my attention to that pesky wastegate actuator. I will update this with some pics once I get it back and throughout the rest of the build once I get round to it and hopefully with some figures from the final tune.

 

[Charlie Farley]

good luck with it all chap, I hope you have deep pockets to get it sorted, anyway it sounds like you have a plan or two.......I had a few but it just didn't workout to be a viable project for me and I normally have no issues wasting money on cars....lol, I'll keep,an eye out to see how you progress...
good luck with it all

rob