Hey guys,

New member but have been creeping for a while now..

Anyways, I'm in the market for a car and found a 2001 B5 S4 with 170 000km. Went to look at it and everything looked great, as well as many upgraded parts.. Off the top of my head:
-borla exaust
-apr chip
-new tires with rs4 rep rims
-rs4 bumper
-new rs4 clutch
-its lowered and has had the t-belt, waterpump, etc. replaced in the past 15000km

We took it for a test drive and it pulls nice and hard, so I put a downpayment on it so I could take it to my mechanic for an inspection. Sadly - he finds oil in the turbos as well as some oil behind the t-belt cover.

So I'm in the situation now - originally agreed on 11,500$ and after hearing about the turbos, the seller drops it to 10k flat. I had to back out since I was told these turbos could let go at any moment?

I've looked into k04 replacement - but that will cost ~5k.

What should I do? Should I move on from this car? Or try and get the car for 9ish and replace the turbos? (say a turbo did let go, is there a chance it could wreck other engine components?) O

THANKS!

 

I'm no expert, but I doubt that a turbo in that car could cause engine damage because there is an intercooler in the airflow path before the engine.
However, a turbo that disintegrates would send metal pieces of the impeller into the intercooler, which I would expect to be an expensive repair in itself.

If you should buy the car or not, I won't comment on.

I will say that you should take some time and logically look at what you want the car to be in the end, and how much money you have set aside (or how much work you can do yourself) to get the car to where you want.
When you can honestly answer that question, you will know what to do.

 

oil in the turbo? what does that mean?

I don't think you mechanic was able to check the turbo as it's not very accessible... He probably pulled an intercooler hose, and found some oil in there... some is actually normal with these cars...

how do the turbo's sound? do you hear a dentist drill sound when in boost?

Here is a good example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKnI3DS8ino

Also, on these cars, make sure the 1st and 2nd gear synchro's are in good working cond. IF you are having a hard time getting into 1st and 2nd, be wary... very common problem and probably a 3K fix.

Also, try to find someone in your city with a vag-com scanner, and do a full scan on the car... very worthwhile.

Good luck.

 

That's much humorous! Its called lurking.

High mileage forced induction cars are apt to have oil in intake tract post turbo. Even low mileage cars running higher boost can have oil blow by.

 

Kbjy11 was right on with the transmission. My son is currently replacing his tranny because of the 1, 2 problem. It was cheaper to find a used tranny instead of rebuilding. The parts for a rebuild are over 1k and then there is labour and of course a new clutch. So take the advise from Kbjy11 and check out the tranny first.