by "MarchUntoTorment" (marchuntotorment)
Published 05/22/2017 at 20:19
by "MarchUntoTorment" (marchuntotorment)
Published 05/22/2017 at 20:19
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STARS: 0
How do I care for a turbo car over short distances?
First, Oppo, allow me to tell you a story -
Hitherto, my Audi A4 B6 has lived a beautiful life. Flying through its six-speed on country backroads, 1.8T engine treated gently most days driving places and utterly flogged when I feel bored and just want to stretch its legs. Exactly the kind of life that a German sport sedan was designed for.
Each trip was between twenty minutes and an hour, giving it more than enough time to heat and cool. It was driven every day, and very well-maintained. It was always happy as could be, out on the twisties.
(Of course, my wallet wasn’t, because this car uses an unholy amount of fuel for a 1.8-litre engine, but that’s a separate matter entirely.)
However, as of late, it has been caged. I’ve gone to university, and live on-campus. This means that it spends fairly long stretches of time (usually up to a week) without being touched. And, worse, its drives are usually very short - only a couple of minutes at under 40km/h (25mph), driving from one side of campus to the other.
(For those wondering why I’d bother driving it for only a mile or so at a time, it’s because I have a pretty serious ongoing knee injury and walking all the way across campus to class often hurts like hell.)
So, what must I do to take care of my precious? Driving a turbo car over very short distances is generally bad for it, and to my knowledge, can coke the turbo, causing a lot of damage.
I’ve heard that occasionally stretching its legs by giving it a short period of driving very hard (e.g. flogging it up a mountain road - there are a few of those not too far from my university) can help ‘clean out’ the turbo by spinning it up to redline, but I might be wrong.
How do I care for my precious baby? Help me, Oppo, you’re my only hope!
"jkm7680" (jkm7680)
05/22/2017 at 20:27, STARS: 0
With my 2.7t A6 I’d let it warm up/cool down for a few minutes before driving it.
With my 1.8t Jetta I don’t care enough to bother with any of that stuff.
"MarchUntoTorment" (marchuntotorment)
05/22/2017 at 20:35, STARS: 1
Warming up is maybe feasible; I generally do it when I have time, but that’s not always. Anything else?
(Thanks for the advice, by the way :) )
"G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3" (gbodyman)
05/22/2017 at 21:43, STARS: 1
Switch to the “severe duty” oil change cycle, make sure it fully warms up, and let it idle down for a little bit (1-2 minutes usually does it) to cool it off before shutting it down. That usually does it.
"wafflesnfalafel" (wafflesnfalafel1)
05/22/2017 at 21:44, STARS: 0
whisper sweet nothings in it’s ear, (and don’t beat on it too much)
"Spaceball-Two" (spaceball-two)
05/22/2017 at 21:46, STARS: 0
I had a 2004 for a few years. Its best not to just hop out when you reach your destination. Let turbo spool down and stay oiled. Regardless these cars are maintenance nightmares past about 120k. Watch the tstat, chain guides and secondary injector pump. Those are known culprits.
"DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
05/22/2017 at 21:48, STARS: 0
Sell it and buy a Honda/Acura :p
"LastFirstMI is my name" (donstone13)
05/22/2017 at 21:50, STARS: 1
Let it warm up just long enough to make sure there are no check engine lights, then sell it to that rich prick down the hall. With the extra cash you squeeze from him, use Uber until your knee recovers, then buy something equally cool! Don’t tell your parents I said all that.
TL;DR summary: ignore most of the life advice people give you, especially online. Good luck!
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
05/23/2017 at 02:09, STARS: 3
What I like to do with 1.8t’s is hold my foot on the throttle on startup, then accelerate at full boost from cold, repeatedly. This will quickly blow up the K03 Playskool My First Turbo, so you’ll have to put on a real turbo that isn’t a piece of shit, like its big brother the K04.
I’m only half joking. The K03 sucks. It needs to have its hand held, its ass wiped, and be spoon fed. It will coke its oil lines even in perfect service, and if it’s chipped or used hard, kiss it goodbye. The K03 is arguably the 1.8T’s biggest problem. Also kiss your cam chain tensioner goodbye, because the turbo will see it starved of oil and it’ll destroy its ramps. The 1.8t is a strong engine, if you meet a very specific set of criteria for use and take fastidious care of it. Otherwise, it is a vampire.
Warm your car up fully regardless of distance, change the oil every six months with high quality synthetic, let it idle for awhile after hard use... all the old school turbo care stuff applies to the K03 because it’s such a piece of shit, but the K03 doesn’t have the “I’m an old-school turbo” excuse because it sucks at everything and isn’t that old. Jkm7680 has noted his warmup habit with his old 2.7tt, guess what..that has two K03's! Double the suck! In summary, the K03 sucks. Embrace the impending death of your turbo, replace it and its oil feed and return lines with something else, and move on. Also replace all your window regulators. And that cam tensioner. And your oil pump. And all the breather hoses (034 Motorsport makes a kit). Etc etc... B6 lyfe.
I saw your comment about a knee injury... I don’t know your climate, is cycling an option? I hurt my knees running and found biking to be totally doable. Better for the car to sit a week at a time and go out for a good weekend blast than suffer the short daily trip.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
05/23/2017 at 02:09, STARS: 0
What I like to do with 1.8t’s is hold my foot on the throttle on startup, then accelerate at full boost from cold, repeatedly. This will quickly blow up the K03 Playskool My First Turbo, so you’ll have to put on a real turbo that isn’t a piece of shit, like its big brother the K04.
I’m only half joking. The K03 sucks. It needs to have its hand held, its ass wiped, and be spoon fed. It will coke its oil lines even in perfect service, and if it’s chipped or used hard, kiss it goodbye. The K03 is arguably the 1.8T’s biggest problem. Also kiss your cam chain tensioner goodbye, because the turbo will see it starved of oil and it’ll destroy its ramps. The 1.8t is a strong engine, if you meet a very specific set of criteria for use and take fastidious care of it. Otherwise, it is a vampire.
Warm your car up fully regardless of distance, change the oil every six months with high quality synthetic, let it idle for awhile after hard use... all the old school turbo care stuff applies to the K03 because it’s such a piece of shit, but the K03 doesn’t have the “I’m an old-school turbo” excuse because it sucks at everything and isn’t that old. Jkm7680 has noted his warmup habit with his old 2.7tt, guess what..that has two K03's! Double the suck! In summary, the K03 sucks. Embrace the impending death of your turbo, replace it and its oil feed and return lines with something else, and move on. Also replace all your window regulators. And that cam tensioner. And your oil pump. And all the breather hoses (034 Motorsport makes a kit). Etc etc... B6 lyfe.
I saw your comment about a knee injury... I don’t know your climate, is cycling an option? I hurt my knees running and found biking to be totally doable. Better for the car to sit a week at a time and go out for a good weekend blast than suffer the short daily trip.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
05/23/2017 at 02:09, STARS: 0
What I like to do with 1.8t’s is hold my foot on the throttle on startup, then accelerate at full boost from cold, repeatedly. This will quickly blow up the K03 Playskool My First Turbo, so you’ll have to put on a real turbo that isn’t a piece of shit, like its big brother the K04.
I’m only half joking. The K03 sucks. It needs to have its hand held, its ass wiped, and be spoon fed. It will coke its oil lines even in perfect service, and if it’s chipped or used hard, kiss it goodbye. The K03 is arguably the 1.8T’s biggest problem. Also kiss your cam chain tensioner goodbye, because the turbo will see it starved of oil and it’ll destroy its ramps. The 1.8t is a strong engine, if you meet a very specific set of criteria for use and take fastidious care of it. Otherwise, it is a vampire.
Warm your car up fully regardless of distance, change the oil every six months with high quality synthetic, let it idle for awhile after hard use... all the old school turbo care stuff applies to the K03 because it’s such a piece of shit, but the K03 doesn’t have the “I’m an old-school turbo” excuse because it sucks at everything and isn’t that old. Jkm7680 has noted his warmup habit with his old 2.7tt, guess what..that has two K03's! Double the suck! In summary, the K03 sucks. Embrace the impending death of your turbo, replace it and its oil feed and return lines with something else, and move on. Also replace all your window regulators. And that cam tensioner. And your oil pump. And all the breather hoses (034 Motorsport makes a kit). Etc etc... B6 lyfe.
I saw your comment about a knee injury... I don’t know your climate, is cycling an option? I hurt my knees running and found biking to be totally doable. Better for the car to sit a week at a time and go out for a good weekend blast than suffer the short daily trip.
"MarchUntoTorment" (marchuntotorment)
05/23/2017 at 03:03, STARS: 0
This is an amazingly high-quality comment! Thanks for all the advice.
Anyway, I’m kind of reaching that point myself; I figure that if I blow up my turbo, I’ll just do a K04 replacement for the hell of it and enjoy ALL THE BOOST.
But I’d rather not do that for a little while, so I’ll probably try to keep the car warmed up before I drive it.
And cycling might be an option once my state of physio improves, but I’m still not in great condition right now - only a few months post-operation.