Milltek whistling, turbos dying? Options?

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Apr 18, 2005 | 06:43 PM

nogaro heli [dain]

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Milltek whistling, turbos dying? Options?

Lately my car has been making a whistling sound from about 4K to redline. I've had a few friends listen from their cars while driving since it's not very noticeable from inside the cabin. They keep saying that the sound is coming from my exhaust, as in the rear exhaust tips.

I just thought something was a little off with the sound, but the past week my car has made it sluggishness pretty apparent. Last Tuesday my friends 2001 540 (that I usually beat handily) was just as fast as me until 70 MPH. On Saturday another friends 1.8t Jetta (stock) was hanging with me until about 50 MPH. After that little run I checked and I was peaking at 15 psi in 3rd and 4th gears, which is a little low since I have X-chip. I haven't thrown any CELs, I plan on checking for boost leaks tomorrow.

So.... Just to check...

Have any of you had any issues with a whistling Milltek? Does this sound like the "dentist drill" noise (I've never heard it before)?
If my turbos are dying I plan on upgrading when I replace them, are KO4's still the best bet or are these ATP GT series replacements a good option to consider waiting on?

Thanks for all of your help!

Apr 18, 2005 | 07:42 PM

nogaro heli [dain]

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Anyone, anyone?

Apr 18, 2005 | 07:52 PM

JBear::FATS

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Search the forum, there is great video of Piggie's car, the audio on the video

will give you a good idea what dying turbo's sound like, that way you can compare.

Apr 18, 2005 | 08:07 PM

nogaro heli [dain]

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Holy crap! It soesn't sound that loud...

but more like the faint whistle sound someone else described in that post. It's good to hear that they can go on for a while like that with wait times for KO4's being as long as they are. Thanks!

Apr 18, 2005 | 08:13 PM

JBear::FATS

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A faint whistle is fairly normal IMO. Have you installed downpipes recently or changed

your intake setup (different filter, drilled holes in the airbox) or anything along these lines ?

Changes like this allow you to hear the turbo's working a bit more than before.

Apr 18, 2005 | 08:25 PM

nogaro heli [dain]

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Nope, about the same for the last 8 mos or so...

and this sound is definately a new sound. On my Passat when the turbo died it just got slow, but never made a loud noise. STFA, do S4 owners seem to experience the slow, quiet failure ever?
If not, I guess I'll just wait to see what the pressure test reveals... thanks for your help!

Apr 18, 2005 | 10:55 PM

Swank4

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A. Exhaust leak won't cause decreased power, B. dentist drill likely won't either...

C. hard to gauge psi when you don't tell us outside temps, altitude, or octane gas.

You could have a boost leak. If you have the dentist drill that means your turbos are wearing out but they probably perform like new and will last another 3-9 months.