AlexGSi's A4 Avant

[AlexGSi2000]

For those of you who read my thread on general chat the other day - here's what I picked up on Sunday.

Its a 2002 A4 Avant Quattro Sport 2.5TDi - 6 Speed Manual.

Collected from Coldstream - four hours there, four hours back - and £95 fuel in my mates car

After taking a look at one closer to home for around the same price - I knew I had to take this one.
It had been cherished by all its previous owners - the thing is in great condition for its age.
Only blemishes on the exterior is a crack in the front grille & a little paint missing from above the right exhaust tip.

Interior is the same story - you could pass it for being a year old in there.

Along with that its got full dealer service history up until its last service (July 2011) - Some expensive bills in amongst the folder.

Presented with the original bill of sale, three keys, and a folder full of documentation - I was a happy chappie.

During the test drive we discovered the car had no boost! - This was massively off-putting, but the car still got purchased.

We checked under the bonnet last night & checked the condition of the turbo - very little play and still spins freely - so the issue is with control, I have ordered an N75 from ebay to see if that rectifies the issue.

I scanned the car with vag-com it brought up the code 00542 - Needle lift sensor - intermittent.

- The needle lift sensor is a sensor placed on the 3rd injector and detects that cylinder firing - not sure if that would cause a no-boost situation??

Other than getting the boost issue sorted, I have no massive plans for the car - The car will be going to PipeWerx for a full system & then re-mapped. - Im told I should see around 215bhp with a 50nm increase in torque.

Pictures;

 

[jay-cupra]

looks very clean me want

 

[vroomtshh]

Very nice. Obviously had a couple of mods with the wheels and exhaust too

 

[JamesL]

Looks very nice mate!

Hope you get the boost sorted though, don't want that to turn into a costly bill.

 

[Blanco92]

Looks very clean and tidy, like it!

Be careful though the 2.5 TDIs had camshaft wear problems, and they need to be fed 507.00 spec oil at 10k intervals tops really. Keep on top of the oil changes, would hate to see it cost you a fortune later down the line.

Has it done many miles?

Good thing is they pull like trains with so much torque, and the 2.5 TDI is so much smoother than the PD130 which is really coarse in comparison!

 

[AlexGSi2000]

Looks very clean and tidy, like it!

Be careful though the 2.5 TDIs had camshaft wear problems, and they need to be fed 507.00 spec oil at 10k intervals tops really. Keep on top of the oil changes, would hate to see it cost you a fortune later down the line.

Has it done many miles?

Good thing is they pull like trains with so much torque, and the 2.5 TDI is so much smoother than the PD130 which is really coarse in comparison!

Thanks for the advice - The car has done 117k, but has had full dealer service history, last one at Edinburgh Audi in July of last year (5k ago) - service history shows the maximum interval between oil changes has been 14k which was between 2007-8.

I ordered some fresh oil (Shell Helix Ultra Extra 5-30 - 504.00 507.00) the other day so I can carry out a mini-service over the weekend - I always change the oil after 5k in my cars.

I had VAG-COM plugged into the car last night which confirmed that the car was not boosting whatsoever throughout the entire rev range.
No fault codes shown - Hopefully the N75 and replacement of the VAC lines will rectify the issue.
I have been told that the VNT vanes can get clogged but its not too much effort to clean them out - along with the fact the MAF may be to blame for the lack of boost - I will just have to check / replace one thing at a time.

You are right about the V6, it does feel smooth and balanced - I was also considering the 1.9TDi up until I heard the V6

Other than the above, im absolutely smitten with it - I feel like im driving someone else's car.

 

[Phil_JJ]

Is the fiesta going to be the toy and this the work horse?

 

[lexyy]

awesome mate! really like avants!

 

[AlexGSi2000]

Is the fiesta going to be the toy and this the work horse?

Hi mate, hows things?

The all progress has pretty much stopped on the Fiesta for the time being - not that it needs money, just time.
Aiming to resume on the Fiesta towards the end of March - but cant see it being ready until 2013.

The Audi will be the daily - but the cherished daily.
The Vectra I could not get excited about in any way, shape or form - it was a Vectra and that was that.

I missed looking after the Ibiza - I really had that thing in pristine condition - time spent on it every week.etc

The Vectra got a wash every two months and I replaced what I had to - not out of choice!

Will be looking to add my own little touches throughout my ownership - I have already started by adding a super-bright LED to the tailgate - so that when the boot is open it lights up the area around the back of the car - been useful already!

 

[AlexGSi2000]

Quick update -

Well, since I purchased the car I have done 4,000 miles.
I feel I have had it long enough to address what needs doing - and needs attention.

To be honest, it was mostly simple things that didn't require much effort / time - for example;
- Only cold air from the drivers side (stripped the flapper motor, greased and re-installed)
- Glovebox light - Arm needed re-attaching from the damper
- Alarm siren replacement
- Nearside window regulator replaced
- Rear numberplate light plinth.

Probably a few little bits I have missed, but basically - everything works as it should (for now I guess)

Even though the car has had full service history, I carried out the following for peace of mind;
- Gearbox oil replaced (only had 1.5 litres in when I drained it - it is so much smoother now)
- Rear Differential oil replaced.

I changed the oil & filter 3000 miles ago, but due to advice being given I have changed the grade to 5-40 - I also installed a magnetic sump plug to catch all the bits the filter doesn't.

Also fitted some wind deflectors - these add to wind noise but you get used to it.

A friend has some DS2500 pads he is giving to me - the car has budget pads in at the minute, brake fade is horrendous on country runs.

Also, I noticed the budget tyres it currently has are splitting on the inside walls! - these are Fullrun tyres that were fitted in February and covered 4000 miles! - will be replacing with some Maxxis MAZ1's within the next week or two.

I have given the car a full detail, which included 6 passes with varying grades of polish, coated with 2 layers of DodoJuice - looks much brighter.

Just looking forward to the 4th April now when Im having a full exhaust system made!

Few pictures below (only camera phone pictures, a friend currently has my camera!)

 

[Pew.]

These are beautiful !

 

[Blanco92]

I'd probably get the alignment checked, I'd think the tyre issue is a bit more than just the budget tyres.

It's standard in Audi ownership you have to change the alarm siren, it currently doesn't work in the parent's A6 AGAIN.

They look awesome with the bodykit on like yours.

 

[AlexGSi2000]

Abit of an update from the past few months, some good, some bad!

Since my last post the exhaust has been done, this comprises of a single 3" pipe from the turbo which splits into 2x 2.5" pipes at the middle then into two back-boxes.

It sounds lovely, not too loud and sounds quite good being a diesel (just doesn't rev high enough! )

The guys at BCS did a top job, the tail-pipes fill the rear valance perfectly.

Video;



After the exhaust, I decided to replace the standard Symphony II headunit to a Symphony II+ unit from a 2009 A4, this got rid of the dated tape deck adding to a more modern feel, introduced MP3 playability (you can load up 6-CDs full of MP3 - perfect) with an increase in sound quality.
It went straight in with the addition of a wiring adaptor.

The cracked cheap and nasty Fullruns were replaced as they started to leak air from the sidewall ;

I also acquired a set of S4 B5 twin-pot brakes. I haven't had the chance to fit these yet as I need to rebuild them, buy lines, pads and discs - due to the issue below I haven't had the cash to purchase the bits yet!

I also freshened up the wheels and refurbished them in Audi Hyper Silver;

Now for the best bit - I was carrying out my regular 5,000 mile oil change when I noticed something attached to the magnetic sump plug when I removed it
This something turned out to be a "thrust pad" from one of the cylinder heads.
The thrust pad fits in-between the rocker arm and camshaft and had found its way down into the sump.
After some advice given on the forums I was told that one of the rocker arms would be loose in one of the heads - which I had to remove to prevent catastrophic damage.

This is caused by a common issue on the 2.5TDi engines where the camshafts wear, causing excess tolerance and allowing parts to fall out - great eh! (design flaw combined with long-life servicing)

I was absolutely gutted, I had heard about this issue before but was hoping I wouldn't be affected.

You can see some wear on the rocker arm;

The thrust pad that had worked its way to the sump;

I'm hoping this will explain why I have never been too impressed with the power, and been dubious about the power claimed by the remap (its not been on a rolling road) - due to the missing rocker arm I know there is a valve not opening on the exhaust side. The valves probably aren't opening fully due to the cam wear either.

The credit card was dug out and a nice bill of £1200 for parts was applied

4x Camshafts
24x Hydraulic Lifters (forged)
24x Rocker Arms (forged)
24x Thrust Pads
4x Camshaft Seals
2x Cambelts
2x Tensioners
1x Lead Pulley
1x Belt Damper
1x Water Pump
2x Auxilary Belts
2x Aux Tensioners
1x Thermostat
1x Oil Separator
2x Rocker Cover Gaskets

The way I kind of justified it was the fact that I ordered a cam-belt kit, which would have needed doing in 10,000 miles anyway.

I'm fitting the above parts with another forum member this Sunday who has done a few of these jobs before, im looking forward to it but a little apprehensive also.
I'm hoping for a little hike in power once the job has been done.

So that's it for now - The car is going to be a keeper for a few years now I think as the heads will have been rebuilt, looking to go for a set of 3SDM 0.01 wheels and coil-overs over the next few months.

I was bored the other day so I removed the rear Audi badge, plasti-dipped the chrome boot strip and covered the clear parts of the rear lights;

 

[Phil_JJ]

Really like it!

Looks and sounds spot on!

 

[pampi]

Alway liked this Audi model