s4gonebabygone

i have an unidentified coolant leak that's been going on over the past 5 weeks or so... dealer can't find it. Now i can hear a quiet high-pitched hum in the cabin when the windows are shut that sounds exactly like a dentist drill, but it's not very loud at all.

(it's clearly coming from the turbos because it's not correlated to engine RPM, but changes as i step on the gas and let off like the turbos spooling)

does this mean i might have a turbo issue? i didn't notice a power loss, but i haven't really stepped on the throttle yet. my warranty expires in like 4 weeks, so if this is turbos i need to get it in ASAP.

Those of you who have blown K03's (just about all of you i imagine)... did you hear a similar sound, and how loud was it?

P.S. there's no more white smoke coming out the exhaust than usual...

Tulipo

I had several coolant leaks before my k03's went good bye. The audi dealer claimed they fixed but it still kept leaking. The last time it leaked and they "fixed" it, when I went to pick it up the coolant leaked out again. The next day at the dealer the turbos blew. I didn't notice any sounds from the turbo before, except the usual police siren when it was cold....Even after I had k04's put in, the week I got my car back the coolant leaked out again. This time I didn't take it to the dealer, I took it to a different shop and they found out it was my aux. water pump. That was like half a year ago and no coolant problems anymore.

Scott Evil

The reason I ask is that my car picked up a noise exactly as you describe. I thought the worst was coming true, but it turns out it was the snow tires on wet asphalt (it didn't happen in the dry).

s4gonebabygone

i'm pretty much certain it's the turbos making the noise... i just don't know exactly how bad this is.

s4gonebabygone

... while it's still free?

Arcteryx::Stock Rods

parts would not be covered, but the labor would.

s4gonebabygone

or would i have to pay for replacement turbos under warranty anyway?

s4gonebabygone

PAGING IMOLAVIRUS... if they are blown, exactly how fast could i have a set of tribrids in my hands?

Rory

You mentioned the sound is like a "hum". Does it have a distinct tone (like a musical note)? If so, it's not a turbo, since the frequency would be too high. For example, when my rear wheel bearings went there was a mechanical hum audible in the cabin, and it was of low enough frequency for me to hear a tone: I could hum along with it when listening to cd's.

Does the sound get louder at cold start? That's more likely to be a turbo.

Rory

Swank4

I needed the windows open, WOT, and near a cement wall or something to reflect the sound in order to hear the dentist drill. It was definitely there but not entirely obvious. My turbos blew about 9mos after the dentist drill started.