Hibiscus Red TQS - New Car, New Project, cars been here before though.

[midas]

I’ve been on this forum before, I used to have a blue A4 B5 1.6 saloon, oooh about 10 years ago possibly. It was always my favourite car, one of my most reliable too. But the one I’ve always seen and wanted, was a 1.8 Turbo Quattro Sport. Started looking at the beginning of the year, I was gazumped on about 3 instances annoyingly, prices for these are going daft now. I spotted this one, and jumped to go look, never though I was in danger of being gazumped again.
Miles are a bit high, but overall, I figured I could work with this. I wanted a little bit of a project. There’s some small dents, wheels need a refurb, breathers etc need doing on the engine, clocks were faulty (as usual), smells of crankscase inside the car, gearstick is wobbly, and clutch is very (extremely) high, but I knew I could rescue this. The rear number plate plinth was corroded as usual, but not the bootlid, one of the rear window black quarter pieces was corroded, and it sounds to me like the timing chain is rattling.

found out on the way home that the diff is banging on acceleration and deceleration. Clutch is horrendous, but once it’s rolling it pulls really smoothly. Was a nostalgic drive back home, and I do love it.

I’ve done a few jobs so far, going to try and keep this thread up to date.

Any advice people can give me, or help me out with questions I have, that would be remendous and I’d be very grateful.

I know MaverickTDI used to own this Audi, as I stumbled upon it when searching for different wheels.

The car isn’t even on the road yet, still trying to sell my Alfa 159 2.4 Ti. So while it’s SORN and on a driveway, I’m making the most of it and ticking off the jobs as I go.

this week is crankcase vent valve, and associated hosing, which I believe is an inlet manifold off job, so be it.

I love the colour, and the condition it’s in currently, hope other like it as much as I do.

 

[midas]

As said previously, already started doing a few jobs to get this car back to its original condition. Took the rear number plate plinth off, rubbed it down, got rid of the corrosion, flatted and resprayed in Genuine Audi Hibiscus Red, lacquered then rubbed down again before polishing back. Came out really well.

 

[midas]

Also found the correct rear door piece to erase yet more aluminium corrosion.

 

[midas]

Bought some new mats, tailor made, whilst I’m waiting for engine components to arrive.

 

[midas]

Another waiting for parts purchase, I need my connectivity/Bluetooth etc, got used to having that now. Hate the way how in pictures, this dashboard comes out as blue, which it’s not, it’s black.

 

[midas]

At last, parts have arrived, so this week, the engine job will be occurring. So that’s a new rocker cover gasket, new injector seals, new throttle body gasket, new crankcase breather unit, new PCV valve, couple new breather hoses, new inlet manifold gasket, new header tank and cap, plus ive just installed new pot rams and bonnet ram.

 

[midas]

Looking beyond this week, 2 things I really want to get, is a JHM short shift kit, which I have read up on, and this should cure my wobbly gear shift etc. I hope it will, had anybody got any experience with these at all? And also I want an ECS tuning rear diff front mount assembly. Again reading up, it seems these are a fragile item as standard, and even S4/RS4 ones are not up to the job. So I have read good things on the ECS tuning one.

still undecided at the moment on wheels. I could keep these wheels, get them refurbed and decent tyres fitted. I could go for a set of 8J ones I’ve seen advertised, with a hand polished lip. Or I could go up a size and get some 18” beauts. Just not sure on a style.

 

[olds_kool]

What was the 159 like to live with, I think they are stunning in ti spec

The eBay quickshift kits work perfectly if there still sold on there. Had one on mine for years and it's still good

For the drivetrain mounts I just got some sika flex and filled all the voids in the gearbox / diff mounts and added a poly snub mount. All slop removed and not expensive

Cars looking good, nice job with the boot plinth, 18's look better especially if lowered


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[midas]

Yeah the Alfa was a lovely car, I’d always wanted one. But........it’s been a headache, the only car that’s ever broken down on me, twice. I said I had to own an Alfa, even if it was for a short spell, the short spell turned into 2 years. Now I’ve fixed everything it’s being reliable, but I’ve lost faith, and the special feeling has worn off.

yeah I’ve seen chatter about the ebay specials, but then some people were saying that some parts are missing that you get with the JHM items? I’m really not bothered about the price, just want something that’s pretty easy to install, is a complete kit, and is fit and forget really.

still looking into the mounts, the front engine snub mount has a Powerflex one fitted, only a month or 2 ago by the previous owner. But the knocking is definatly the forward rear diff mount, and I just thought the ECS tuning item seemed really well out together, on top of the good reviews also.

I have to admit I’m not looking forward to doing this breather work this week, taking off the inlet manifold. I’ll just take my time.

Thanks for the compliments on the rear boot plinth, my first time spraying metallics, just took my time and followed advice. It was the rubbing down with 2000 wet and dry at the end, and then buffing back to finish that made it I think.

 

[Steve b5 quattro]

Hey, I'm immediately following this post now.

I have the Ebay short shifter in mine and works spot on, I also had the same issue with the boot. Mine was very bad and the fact that the previous owner decided to drill holes in the boot for a bike rack didn't help. I ended up getting a replacement in same colour and went around repairing the rust on that one...
Here is an idea of the wheels I have on mine. 18x8.5j
It's on new coilovers and I'm still waiting to get them set right. Il have more pics to follow but I dont want to hijack your thread

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[midas]

They look pretty nice those wheels, almost Corvette like (of old). Did that ebay short shifter eliminate all the side to side slop as well? Like stirring a bowl of porridge this one at the minute.

drilled holes in the bootlid? Wow, not good. I’m lucky there’s not much rust on this car all round really, stone hips on the bonnet as usual. When I’ve done all my jobs, I may ask a friend of a friend to resprayed the bonnet and rear bumper as these are the 2 worst areas for marks.

I put coil overs on my old B5, and it really upset the ride. I’m thinking this time of going with an Eibach spring kit, with Bilstein Sport shocks all round.

I also need to fix the little issue, that when you rev the engine, a sit comes back down to 1000rpm, it seems to blip and go down to below 500rpm, and then settle at just under 1000rpm. Not quite sure what this is, it could possibly be linked to this leaking crankcase breather system it’s got. Or it could be something I haven’t found yet. I’ve no VCDS cable or VagCom yet.

 

[Steve b5 quattro]

They are ispri csr1d alloys, that picture doesn't do them any justice, I took it straight after putting the wheel on. I had originally had a set of monoblocks for it but almost every b5 in Ireland is under a set of monoblocks

The short shifter took out alot of the slop,
Now one of the plastic washers that came with it needed to be trimmed. Fairly straight forward but I found it tricky.

I was going to go for a lowering spring kit too but for now I'd like the height adjustment. It will be a road track day car when it's all done. I'm not going for a 100% perfect car but I'd like things done right.

I have the same issue when car is idle. Its hunting for its idle revs.
I was told to try cleaning the throttle body first, haven't got round to it yet.

I've the AJL so we might have the same problem

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[midas]

Well I’m off for 3 days now, so time for some oily jobs. After reading up today, I believe it could be MAF, could be throttle body or could be fuel vent valve, which is the N80 valve possibly? Not sure of MaverickTDI replaced this on my car when he owned it.

the issue I noticed, is when the car is revved, the rams fall back down, but then blip below where they should rest, feels like it’s going to stall, then they jump back up to where you’d expect them to be. And they stay there. Bit weird. On cars I’ve seen with this fault, they’ve had a vacuum leak or similar. So, I’ll play hunt the leak. See where it gets me.

 

[midas]

Better late than never, but started the jobs today. Took the rocker cover gasket off as it looks to have been leaking oil, plus I wanted to check the interior here, as I’ve read plenty about these engines sledging up with long life service intervals.

Having a look over the interior of the rocker cover, I’m unsure, would people say this is a sign of sludging? It’s certainly not as clean as some I’ve seen, but then this car has done over 160,000 miles now.
What I’m trying to get at is do I get somebody to do the sump off and oil pickup replacement..........? Hmmm. This car has had it done at just under 100,000 miles already.

 

[midas]

Things are coming along nicely now. Really easy to get the inlet manifold off. So now, can start tomorrow on repairing the PCV system. I’ve seen it on diagram on ETOS, which I have at work, but it looks a little different. I can see the main crank breather bolted to the block, which I have a replacement for. But the little PCV valve that looks like a plastic T-piece I can’t see. Maybe it will materialise when I take the system apart.

 

[midas]

So completed the breather job, really wanted to change the metal breather pipe that runs round the back of the head, but couldn’t find one in time. And the ‘pancake’ valve looks to have been replaced already.

The old breather items literally fell apart as they came off. Dirty great big crack along the sausage shaped breather elbow, which was the source of the oil leak and oil smell etc. Pleased with how it all went back together. It’s a real breath of fresh air, when you don’t have to get the car ready to go to work on a Monday morning, no pressure, just do the jobs right no matter how much time it takes.

 

[midas]

Well...........I’ve no idea what’s going on with this site this evening, just took me 20 mins to post this update, and still it’s duplicated all my images. My apologies.

 

[midas]

Now the breather system is done, and everything’s back together, can start to do other jobs. When I ran the engine, the dip in revs as it fell to idle has now gone. I had a sneaky suspicion that it was the crankcase breather leak that was causing this but I couldn’t prove it. So 2 birds one stone and all that.
Now to give an oil service. I’m going to change the oil now, run for 500-1000 miles change again, then do the same again. And I’m still thinking I’m going to get the sump taken off and clean the oil strainer, I just wasn’t happy with the elements so sludge I saw on the rocker cover, camshaft splash shield, and in the breather system. Not a risk I want to take really.

JHM shifter will be ordered this week from America.
ECS Tuning rear diff mount ordered next week from America.
Also changing rear diff oil and gearbox oil.

Need to try and price up how much a specialist will charge to change the clutch if I supply.

 

[midas]

Oh.........new header tank fitted, new header tank cap, all new Antifreeze, new oil filler cap fitted, new injector o-ring seals fitted, new rocker cover gasket, new inlet manifold gasket, new coolant pipe o-ring fitted, new throttle body gasket fitted, throttle body cleaned internally, rocker cover and camshaft splash shield degreased and cleaned. Plus new plugs fitted whilst the coils were out.

lots of jobs done, lots of jobs to go.

 

[S4 Muzza]

Good read that, car looks nice, its a great colour!

I don't have a short shifter myself but I know a lot of S4 owners have the ebay one and rate it.

If you've bought from ECS i'd be interested to hear what they charged for postage? I've looked at a few things from them in the past but their postage charges have been absolutely insane! I know a lot of the American guys even complain that they rob you blind to post within the US. Plus we have customs charges on top of that.

In terms of wheels I think the standard ones suit the car perfectly, maybe with a spacer to fill the arches better. If you do go for 18's, 18x8.5 with an et of around 35 sits perfect in my opinion.

 

[midas]

S4 Muzak, which ebay short shift kit did you get? I’ve read up and with the ebay ones you don’t get some of the important bushings you get with the JHM unit. As for the diff mounting, I’m weighing up options, of which ECS Tuning looks likely at the moment. I thought there might be a poly bush manufactured by somebody to mount into the original Bracket, but can’t find one.
Wheels, I feel I may well be sticking with originals. Saw some of the 8J ones for sale locally which gave me ideas, or may just get these refurbished.

I’m off for a week now, but when I come back, it’s oil change time, and fuel filter. I also have diff oils and gearbox oils to change.

Put some high power Ring LED Canbus bulbs in the sides yesterday, as well as the LED 477 units in the headlights, with the fans on the back. I really didn’t like the blue tint of the HID setup.

also got a quote for clutch change today from a local well reknown specialist. £250 for a cash job, and I provide the LUK clutch. Which I thought was quite good.

 

[midas]

Not updated for a while, been extremely busy, plus I have a relation who has cancer and is I think in the last stages of life, so had to change my focus.
But.........needed distraction this week, so I have

- full oil and filter change
- gearbox oil change and Molyslip too
- diff oil change

I’m hoping to eventually run the car for approx 500-700 miles, then change again, run another 500-700 miles and then change again. Think I’m just really anxious about sludge build up as this car has done next to no miles for at least the last 5 years.

Plus..........some new purchases. A JHM Short Shifter arrived from California yesterday, an ECS Tuning rear diff mount should be with me by the end of the week. Having had a look with a pry bar today at my current diff mount, it’s definatly got ‘a lot’ of play. Having removed the under tray, I realised a lot of the fitting ancillaries are missing or in poor condition, so ordered a fitting kit to renew all the bits and bobs. I have also been trawling ebay for a Centre armrest, the correct Audi B5 one, not the tat that seems to be getting sold elsewhere. So.......I’ve ended up buying 2, and I’ll make a good one from 2. The armrest itself is being retried in either alcantara or leather, not decided yet.

So, little bit of progress. Small steps. ****** Alfa Romeo hasn’t sold yet, so the Audi is still on the drive which is handy as I don’t need to rush any of the jobs I’m doing.

 

[Jack_TQS]

Glad to see someone else resurrecting a tqs, mine is not quite as near completion as yours lol, but this thread is giving me inspiration.
Where did you order the breather pipes from please? Tia

 

[midas]

I got all the parts for the breather system from Autodoc. The plastic breather item that bolts to the block, which in fairness I don’t actually think you need, I got off an ebay seller which was a Genuine item.

glad to be giving somebody inspiration. This week going to send off my Centre armrest top cover away for retrim, and also try to get this quick shift installed. JHM videos are pretty good so hoping for no issues.

got Genuine (used) Audi mudflaps arriving this week also. I know loads of people don’t like them, but I’ve always had them on my cars, never suffered rust problems, but have stopped the sills and lower doors from being peppered.

ECS Tuning rear diff mount is En-route from Illinois, and should be here his week also.

Hardly see any of these TQS for sale anymore, or even on the road at all. Bit of a shame really. I know everybody concentrates on the S4’s and the RS4’s but I think these were good too, I think all 3 of them are future modern classics.

 

[Jack_TQS]

I got all the parts for the breather system from Autodoc. The plastic breather item that bolts to the block, which in fairness I don’t actually think you need, I got off an ebay seller which was a Genuine item.

glad to be giving somebody inspiration. This week going to send off my Centre armrest top cover away for retrim, and also try to get this quick shift installed. JHM videos are pretty good so hoping for no issues.

got Genuine (used) Audi mudflaps arriving this week also. I know loads of people don’t like them, but I’ve always had them on my cars, never suffered rust problems, but have stopped the sills and lower doors from being peppered.

ECS Tuning rear diff mount is En-route from Illinois, and should be here his week also.

Hardly see any of these TQS for sale anymore, or even on the road at all. Bit of a shame really. I know everybody concentrates on the S4’s and the RS4’s but I think these were good too, I think all 3 of them are future modern classics.

Sounds good, I'll get some ordered from auto doc, i have the bit that goes to the block, if the mud flaps help with rust i shall definitely be getting some haha, just in the process of renewing nearly all the rear end components, looks like its been in the sea. Yeah they are becoming rare, it will be a nice car when I've finished it but might also be a classic .

 

[midas]

It’s odd you say that, looking under the rear of mine, the suspension components do look like they’ve spent a year on a tanker at sea, it’s horrendous. And also, as I work at General Traffic, I had a customer in over the weekend wanting some rear tie bars for an S4 as he’s trying to revitalise the rear end. And his car is also horrendously surface corroded on all the suspension components. Dare I say it, it’s worse than a Ford

Anyway, just got my lovely import Tax bill for my JHM shifter. Nice. See if I get another when my ECS diff mount arrives.

 

[Jack_TQS]

It’s odd you say that, looking under the rear of mine, the suspension components do look like they’ve spent a year on a tanker at sea, it’s horrendous. And also, as I work at General Traffic, I had a customer in over the weekend wanting some rear tie bars for an S4 as he’s trying to revitalise the rear end. And his car is also horrendously surface corroded on all the suspension components. Dare I say it, it’s worse than a Ford

Anyway, just got my lovely import Tax bill for my JHM shifter. Nice. See if I get another when my ECS diff mount arrives.

Aaaah well, nice to know its not an exeptional case. It was the subframe that was the worst for me, I sourced a better one and had it dipped and galvanised so should get rid of the problem! I'll look forward to the review on the shifter and diff mount.

 

[midas]

Still not found time to fit the shifter yet. Diff mount is still en route from Illinois via Switzerland . Found out I’ve been clouted for import tax as well, joy of joys.
Managed to rebuild my key fob into a new casing the other day, going to a duplicate made as well. All went well until I tried to start the car, but it wouldn’t fire. Oh crap I thought, sped down to my nearest locksmith, who checked the transponder signal was still present, and it was . Turns out the car still has its warm start problem which the previous owner had. I started it again, applied light throttle and it spluttered into life with a big cloud of smoke in the mirror. I know it’s had a recent temperature sensor, so scratching my head a bit with this one now. Anybody had this issue and successfully resolved it?

oh, new LUK Clutch is in the boot, I’ll pay to get it fitted next month.

be really handy if this damned Alfa sold in the next few weeks!!

 

[Gops]

Car looks gorgeous in Red! It's in much better condition than mine! Looking forward to seeing this progress

 

[midas]

Not really had a lot of chance to do jobs this week. So in the coming week, going to make a concerted effort to get new parts fitted. Call it self soothing medication. Had a lot of stress in recent weeks one way and another. Losing a close one is never easy, but been horrendous this last week or 2.

But..........the armrest arrived back from the retrimmers. So now the centre console is in, with a matching cup holder. Strongly thinking of buying the flip out style cup holder, but don’t know where the cigarette lighter (12v plug) socket would then be situated. Got this done in black Alcantara. Call me a skin flint, but it was more than soundly for leather, and I thought Alcantara looked good anyway.

Also managed to refit the OBD connector, since this was loose underneath the console. I utilised the existing console, as the donor I had from the 2 I bought was blue. So that’s back in location, and the OBD cover now fits as a bonded the metal spring back to the lid. All good.

 

[midas]

More boxes of goodies today.
Since the hot start problem that the previous owner battled with is still present, I’m replacing the temp sensor with a Beru unit, decent quality. The check valve and the solenoid valve for the fuel/carbon container is being swapped as I’ve heard they can be problematic. Also replacing the Camshaft sensor as I know these give issue as well. 1 or 2 of these items may have been replaced already, but I want to know where I am with makes etc.

And..............the ECS Tuning diff mount finally arrived after customs kept hold of it for over 2 weeks. Thanks customs.
So looks like I’ll be busy this week when the weather clears up a bit.

 

[midas]

So been a busy day today. Fitted the under tray back onto the Audi, with all the brand new fitting kit. Think I may have to buy a new undertray from Autodoc whilst they are still available, this one is a little forlorn now.
I’ve fitted the Beru Temperature sensor. Also fitted the solenoid valve for the carbon canister plus one way valve. Also fitted the new camshaft sensor. Thought I’d then see how it started up, but the battery had other ideas. So had it on charge for about 4 hours this afternoon/evening, hopefully not caused too much internal damage by flattening it so much. Might just get a new one so I know where I’m up to.

and then..............finally got round to fitting the JHM shifter. My my, what a fath to fit these shifters. Got about 10 grazes down my wrists now. But took my time, followed the JHM YouTube guide, and got it all fitted on. Surprisingly no trouble finding gears either, maybe that’s because it’s not push down reverse or 6 speed etc. When I got it completely together with gear knob etc, the changes feel so precise now, all the play is gone. Fantastic, can’t wait to drive it like this. Couple pics below of this.

finally.......I think the Alfa has sold!!! So from this weekend the Audi may well be on the road permanently. Looking forward to driving it, bit of apprehension for reliability, and driving with the clutch as it is. Going to book the clutch in at Railway Motors in half term week at the end of the

 

[midas]

Oh, incidentally, I’ve bought a steering wheel off ebay, much better condition than my steering wheel. But when I took the airbag out earlier this year to try and remove the clocks etc I noticed the bolt in the centre will require a multi-spline socket. Anybody know what size this is at all please?

 

[midas]

Fitted the wheel, M12 multi spline sorted that. The interior looks a lot better now with the additions.

also fitted the diff mount today. Pretty easy to do, took me all of 40 minutes to do. Took the car out for a little trip round the block though, and there’s still a clunking noise, not sure but I’d say louder and more prominent now. So I’m thinking I have play in the prop shaft. So thinking UJ’s and centre carrier. Maybe even the half shaft joints. God forbid there is movement in the diff internals, don’t really want to think about that. Anybody know if the rear diff on a B5 TQS is an LSD?

any way, further good news, the Alfa 159 sold yesterday. So insured the Audi today, MOT on Tuesday, fingers crossed we get a pass although brakes aren’t too clever since being stood since June. We’ll see. So hopefully from Tuesday it will be a daily driver.

 

[Rfmacaskill]

Nice progress.

Your rear diff is NOT a LSD as standard so unless a previous owner has installed one it’ll be the OEM open diff.

Chasing ‘clunks’ in a 20+ year old car is unfortunately just a process of elimination. Do the easy things first, CV joints, bushes / mounts that can be accessed without too much stripping down. From past experience, it’s seldom a singular item that causes these noises but the sum of the parts. Happy hunting!


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[midas]

Yeah, I get your comments, it’s a 20 year old car, and it will be a helluva job to make it feel like a 2 year old car. Can’t happen really. But I just want to make sure nothing is getting ready to part company with the car really. I know the guy quite well who is doing my MOT Tuesday, so might just ask him to see if he can look at the prop and half shafts, see if there’s any detectable play.
There was a distinct whirring noise too, but the brakes are really corroded now, since June. And there was no whirring in June when I drive it home. My plan was always to renew all the disc and pads, and paint the calipers also. But hopefully not all this week!!!

 

[B5NUT]

Did your replacement parts fix your hot start issue

 

[midas]

Well I started it today, and it was relatively warm weather, which it struggled with before, and it started straight away. So ‍

I think once it’s on the road and used everyday, I’ll be able to say yes the warm start issue was fixed. Looking good though.

 

[Simon]

nice work

 

[midas]

Ok, so cars passed MOT first time of asking. Which is great. Just a top arm that is advisory, plus brakes advisory (I know about these, due to being stood), plus diff seal damp. I check this diff seal but I’m sure it’s where the fill hole is, and I have just replaced the fluid.

So jobs to do this month:
Fit new brakes all 4 corners
Have new clutch fitted.
Machine polish exterior paintwork
Have front windscreen replaced.

Annoyingly, with the ECS Tuning diff mount, it’s amplified the noises and clunks coming from the back axle. I’ve heard this can happen. But unsure where it will be. Could be prop shaft UJ’s, could be prop couplings, could be prop bearing. And dare I say it, could be play in the diff. Due to a power cut at the MOT station they were running behind so I didn’t ask them to look at the drivetrain. I’ll do a bit more investigation these next few weeks at some point. When I engage reverse, it jolts a little and causes the clunk at the rear.

There’s also a little fluctuation under throttle at some points, mainly when the car is cold. So as you accelerate in first then second, and feel the fluctuation of throttle. Odd.

The oil temperature gauge seems to take a while to come alive as well, not sure if this is a common problem.

The car ideas at just over 1000rpm too, is this correct? Most cars I’ve had have idled at just under, say 900rpm.

but for now, just getting used to driving a 20 year old A4. See what MPG I can get to this week.