How To: Install an APR K04 on a TSI

I completed the installation this weekend. There are a few frustrating points during the process, but nothing a semi-experienced shade tree mechanic can't overcome. Definitely plan on spending the whole weekend on it. Nothing is particularly hard, but it all takes time working by yourself. An assistant would be very helpful. I didn't have the bolt sizes available, so there was a lot of back and forth from under the car to the tool chest. I've provided tool sizes to save you that trouble. Enjoy!

PHASE I - REMOVAL

1. Unlock car, get stuff out of the trunk (you're going to disconnect the battery). Break the lugs loose on the front passenger wheel.

2. Jack car to the minimum height required to get your body under the car. If it's too high, you'll regret it later. Remove the front passenger wheel.

3. Remove your intake. Everyone's probably got an aftermarket, so no need to explain how.

4. Disconnect both battery terminals (10mm wrench/ratchet). Disconnect 13mm battery hold-down screw and bracket. Remove battery. Remove qty 3 10mm screws from battery tray. Wiggle out battery tray. This opens up a lot of valuable space.



Ok, under the car:

5. Remove the front passenger fender liner and splash shield. There's qty 4 T25 torx that have to come out of the fender, and a bunch more underneath for the splash shield. There are all the same size. Bag 'em up.

6. Remove your downpipe. There's plenty of "how-to's" out there. Just make sure you also remove the heat shield from the passenger axle CV joint. It's two 16mm screws.

7. Remove the pancake pipe from the passenger-side fender. It's two T30 screws (they're captive - don't remove after unscrewing). Then pop the spring clamps and pull her out. See below.



8. Disconnect the DV and N75 electrical connectors. I had to use a small screwdriver to get the tabs to release. BE SUPER CAREFUL. You don't want a broken electrical connector. Unclip the guides from the wire and lay it up onto the engine cover.

8a. Cover up that stupid cross-member with a towel! Dropping things into this cavernous black hole sucks.

9. Remove the two 10 XZN (triple-square) screws from the bottom of the turbo support bracket. These are extremely close to the axle. I put my short XZN socket in, then I had to follow it up with attaching the breaker bar to bust them loose, then remove the tools, and turn them by hand. Terrible picture:



10. Remove the 6mm hex drive screw from the upper section of the turbo support bracket. Remove the bracket.

11. Remove the 12 XZN banjo bolt from the coolant return line at the turbo. This step sucks. The oil supply line and its heat shield and the firewall heat shield are all conspire to make this a pain in the ass. It's doable. Use a breaker to get it started and then finish it with a pair of vice grips on your XZN socket. You might be able to wait on this whole step until later, after the oil supply line has been disconnected, which would free up some space.

Frustration:



As you start to remove this bolt, some coolant will start to drip... not a lot, maybe 4 oz. Be prepared with a catch container. Optionally, you could drain the coolant beforehand. This isn't a bad idea, as more spills later.

12. Disconnect the oil return line using an 8 XZN drive socket to remove the two screws. If you have long XZN's, they will pay off here.

13. Remove qty 1, 8 XZN drive screw from the bracket just under the DV. This holds the oil supply line in place.

Ok, back on your feet and in the engine bay:

14. Remove the engine cover.

15. Disconnect the connectors from the coils, route the wiring harness out of a couple of spring clips and set it to the side of the engine.

16. Remove the upper coolant line going into the coolant reservoir. THIS WILL BREAK VACUUM ON THE COOLING SYSTEM. The remaining coolant in the head and reservoir is about to gush out of your turbo coolant return fitting. You may want to cover the cross-member with some plastic sheeting. Be prepared to catch about 1/2 a gallon of coolant!

17. Disconnect all of the the vacuum and coolant lines running to the vacuum and coolant hard pipes on the turbo heat shield where ever is easiest. You're prepping to remove the heat shield. Remove a 10mm nut holding down a skinny ground wire ring terminal and a T30 torx screw holding the heat shield in place next to the ground wire.

18. Remove the intake tube. God, this can be frustrating with the factory spring clamps. I used vice-grip needle nosed pliers with reasonable success and a lot of swearing. You can remove it entirely by disconnecting the PCV connector (also a PITA), or simply lay it on the motor with the PCV attached. Shove a rag in the turbo inlet if you care about it.

19. There are three screws holding the turbo heat shield to the engine. Two are 10 XZN's, located towards the driver's side of the heat shield and the second towards the passenger side. Then there's a big 6mm hex drive plug, right around the middle. You absolutely need a long/extended 6mm drive tool... a normal socket extension will not go. Here's my setup and the removed plug:



20. Remove a T30 drive screw from the block right above the turbo inlet. It holds a vacuum line to the block IIRC.

21. Remove the turbo heat shield. Success! Note where I disconnected the hoses. These locations worked well and were all accessible.



22. Disconnect the oil supply line from the turbo using a 12 XZN socket. Push the line away from the turbo.

23. Disconnect the coolant supply hose from the plastic pipe towards the front of the engine bay. Depending where your spring clip ended up at the factory, you may or may not be able to get at this clip with the noise pipe installed. I had to disconnect mine to get at the hose clip. Route it out of its path after unclipping it. Here it is removed from the plastic pipe (lower hose):



24. Remove the qty 5 nuts holding the turbo manifold to the head. Two of my nuts came out with their studs. Don't panic. They can be removed by carefully chucking them up in a vice with protection on the stud threads and turning the nut. Some PB Blaster is a good idea.

25. LIFT the turbo up and out of the engine bay! Gravy! Plenty of room. No need to drop the axle and go out the bottom.

PHASE II - CONVERSION

1. Follow APR's instruction sheet for setting up the plugs in the coolant inlet/outlet bungs on the K04. These puppies are tight! I recorded a 40-42 ft-lb breakaway torque on the plugs! Only a 6mm hex drive! Flip the washer and torque to 38-40 ft-lbs.

The inner plug is tough to tighten safely. Be careful not to bend the wastegate actuator arm!!! Here was my setup with a wobble extension. It barely made it.



2. Remove the coolant supply hose (CSH) from your K03. It's a 12 XZN drive screw and an 8 XZN screw holding it to the bracket. The 8 XZN is not reused. Put it in your drawer to avoid confusion later...

3. Start test fitting the CSH on the K04. Reuse the old washers for test fits. You'll find the CSH bracket interferes with the K04. Carefully bend the bracket so it doesn't interfere, or cut the bracket off.

Bad bracket:



4. After clearing the bracket and continuing your test fitting, you may find the banjo head is influencing the position of the hose a little too much as it contacts the turbo clamp:



I Dremeled my banjo head down just enough to get the CSH to safely clear the manifold runner:



5. Satisfied with the fit and clearance? Using new washers supplied by APR, torque the CSH as follows - first to 20 N-M, then an additional 45*. DON'T USE THE THICKER WASHER! It's used later.

6. Install DV. I used a shiny new D valve. You could swap your G. Use the 5mm screws provided by APR and orient the valve as instructed by APR, using the longer screw where intended.

7. Swap the vacuum line from the K03 to the K04. Easy right? Sort of. The vacuum line is clamped on using an Oetiker clamp. If you've never dealt with these, they are fun. To remove the clamp, drive a thin screwdriver or pick under the band (where the little teeth poke through) and pry it up to release tension. You are aiming to destroy it. It's ok, they are single-use clamps and APR included new ones. Busted free:



7a. Crimp a new Oetiker on the hose on your K04. APR was nice enough to give me extra in case I fucked up. They know me well... If you work on enough VAG cars, you may own the proper crimp tool (~$25 online). I don't, but a small pair of end nippers gets the job done with a decent crimp:







8. Install the qty 4 new downpipe studs on the turbo. You can snug them up with a vice grip on the shoulder (don't mash the threads). They don't have to be particularly tight, just snug.

9. I found out the hard way, but you don't have to... the turbo heat shield will not clear the coolant line when going back together.



Hacksaw to the rescue! I cut along the bend on the side. I cut the whole length off and Dremeled a smooth, round edge after.







Clear!



(continued)

PHASE III - INSTALLATION

1. In general, it's the reverse of removal. The K04 will fit from above. Angle the compressor side down a little first and voila! First, make sure you put the new gasket on. The tab should face the driver's side.

2. When torquing the turbo to the head, there is a very specific sequence to follow. Let's label the nuts 1 thru 5, starting from the passenger side. The sequence to tighten them is: 1, 3, 5, 4, 2. You have to make five passes in that exact sequence. The first four passes will increase torque each time, starting with 5 Nm, 12 Nm, 16 Nm, and then 25 Nm. The fifth pass should be made at 25 Nm again, to verify nothing has changed. If you get any rotation on the fifth pass, make another at 25 Nm until the nuts don't rotate.

3. The oil feed line to the turbo gets 20 Nm and then 45* rotation. The oil return line is 9 Nm. Before hooking up the oil feed line, pour/funnel some oil into the turbo and give it a few spins.

4. Putting the APR silicone adapter in place is a mofo, and you'll be tired at this point. You could try fitting it to the turbo outlet prior to dropping the turbo in, but I can't promise it will fit as I didn't do it.

5. Refill the coolant reservoir to the top of the hash mark. You didn't lose much... about 1/2 gallon. You could just replace it with distilled water instead of mixing up a batch of G12. Let it run for 3 minutes. Open the reservoir and fill to the line again.

6. Go for a drive. If you don't have the software yet, put it in stock mode. Check for leaks. When the car has cooled, open the coolant reservoir and top off to the line again.

That's about it. If I left something out, I'll update. Feel free to ask any questions.

Thanks!

holy crap man you did a lot of unnecessary steps to install that k04, all i had to remove was the back pipe of the intake and passenger side axel and that was pretty much it

Oh yeah? Those two parts and it fell right out??? L-O-L! Other than removing the battery (which is valuable when trying to get at a few bolts), I can't think of a single unnecessary step in the process I posted.

Which kit do you have? If you're running AWE, you might be better off dropping the axle if you don't have to cut the turbo heat shield. But for an APR installation, pulling the shield and coming out the top is a better bet IMO since you're going to have to pull the shield anyways.

NewToVW said:

Oh yeah? Those two parts and it fell right out??? L-O-L! Other than removing the battery (which is valuable when trying to get at a few bolts), I can't think of a single unnecessary step in the process I posted.

Which kit do you have? If you're running AWE, you might be better off dropping the axle if you don't have to cut the turbo heat shield. But for an APR installation, pulling the shield and coming out the top is a better bet IMO since you're going to have to pull the shield anyways.

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Negative, i'm running the APR kit and was one of the first customers to get my hands on one. The kit was easy to install just confusing especially if you've never pulled a k03 before. I didn't have to remove the battery or coolant lines (disconnected yes, but not remove) and i sure as hell didn't have to cut whatever piece that you cut. I removed the turbo from the bottom not the top, top was waaaay to much of a hassle as your pics prove it

Sorry, you paid a shop to install it for you: http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138513. Your opinion is void. And don't tell me you were all up in there turning wrenches with your homies. Because if you could DIY, you wouldn't have traveled to CA to get it done.

I'm not trying to be a dick, but I'm a good mechanic. I go out of my way to post pics and a write-up for others, and you tell me how easy it is and that I'm doing it all wrong. Bullshit! You would have DIY'd it if it were so damned easy, and not taken out the checkbook wrench.

It's conceivable that the coolant line that interferes with the heat shield could be bent to avoid hitting it. But, it's safer to cut the heat shield. Post some pics of your heat shield where the coolant hard pipe makes the turn around the engine. I bet you the shop you paid either cut your shield, bent the pipe down, or didn't install all of the heat shield screws so it's angled up on the passenger side.

The battery removal is stupid easy and takes 2 minutes. It makes it so easy to get at the downpipe nuts.

NewToVW said:

Sorry, you paid a shop to install it for you: http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138513. Your opinion is void. And don't tell me you were all up in there turning wrenches with your homies. Because if you could DIY, you wouldn't have traveled to CA to get it done.

I'm not trying to be a dick, but I'm a good mechanic. I go out of my way to post pics and a write-up for others, and you tell me how easy it is and that I'm doing it all wrong. Bullshit! You would have DIY'd it if it were so damned easy, and not taken out the checkbook wrench.

It's conceivable that the coolant line that interferes with the heat shield could be bent to avoid hitting it. But, it's safer to cut the heat shield. Post some pics of your heat shield where the coolant hard pipe makes the turn around the engine. I bet you the shop you paid either cut your shield, bent the pipe down, or didn't install all of the heat shield screws so it's angled up on the passenger side.

The battery removal is stupid easy and takes 2 minutes. It makes it so easy to get at the downpipe nuts.

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Automatically assuming i paid the shop and went home lol. FYI i was at the fucking shop from mon-fri 12PM to 11PM at night getting my custom FMIC designed/installed meaning nobody else has this FMIC and thats why i was in Cali (plus i was on winter break from school), and on friday i was there from 1PM to the early early morning (thats when the k04 and FMIC were installed and finished). I'm EXTREMELY anal with my car so i had to be there and watch them do everything because i'm not cool with people cutting and breaking my shit. Oh trust me i was there alright wrenching away and cussing up a storm while coolant was dripping down my shirt and on my face. Don't automatically assume that because i took it to a shop i didn't get my "hands dirty" because i did and wouldn't have offered people to come down to the shop and check out and watch us work on my car. I never said your a shit mechanic, all i'm saying is those steps you did were not necessary at all. I was upset myself when i opened the box and saw no instruction manual or tips as to how to install the kit. If you don't believe me about the coolant lines and not having to cut into the heat shield ill show arin this thread tomorrow and have him prove it to you. I'm sorry you had to go through all the pain and suffering installing the hardest way possible, trust me i was pretty pissed off when i found out that by loosening the bolt to the subframe and pushing/moving it a couple inches made everything reachable from the bottom after spending 3-4 hours tinkering how we were gonna take out the k03 and put the k04 in.

The kit ships with one page of notes back and front now (maybe like 4 hints+pics total?). I looked at it briefly on thursday when I opened the box up.

I'll say this: on my particular car (CCTA if that somehow matters), when the coolant supply hose was installed with satisfactory clearance around the exhaust manifold, there was absolutely no way that the heat shield was going on without some trimming. You can see it in my pictures. The CSH only clears the shield by ~3/16" after I trimmed like 1" off of it.

Before (not even close to bolting the shield to the head):


After (shield bolted to the head):


YMMV.

twong85 said:

The kit ships with one page of notes back and front now (maybe like 4 hints+pics total?). I looked at it briefly on thursday when I opened the box up.

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you lucked out, because i didnt get shit. i even asked arin where the instructions were and he said none needed it was a very simple job to do, and the only tip was to disconnect and remove the passenger side axel.

and for reference heres some more tips: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13496 (no heat shield cutting is required)

itzjonjon69 said:

and for reference heres some more tips: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13496

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hockeystar17mnj said:

any specific reason why you removed the axle to put the turbo on? seems like alot of hard work. I removed the old one and put the new k04 in through the top. I just had to remove the coolant hard lines at the back of the motor.

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Chad@APR-Motorsport said:

I recommend pulling the heatshield above the turbo to give you room to work.

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Shield trimming aside, the procedure I followed and posted is 100% in agreement with the factory Bentley manual.

itzjonjon69 said:

you lucked out, because i didnt get shit. i even asked arin where the instructions were and he said none needed it was a very simple job to do, and the only tip was to disconnect and remove the passenger side axel.

and for reference heres some more tips: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13496 (no heat shield cutting is required)

Click to expand...

Maybe Arin thought it was relatively easy compared to their other kits. 034 had the same opinion when they opened up the box of parts with me.

twong85 said:

Maybe Arin thought it was relatively easy compared to their other kits. 034 had the same opinion when they opened up the box of parts with me.

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if you have experience pulling the k03 then you're golden don't even worry about it, but if you've never pulled one then that's a completely different story and get ready for brain scratching time

Twong, is yours done? I'd be curious how many hours 034 quoted you.