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

[midas]

Also received some more bits and bobs. The bushes are for the rear upper arms. The rear arms I acquired recently, together with the rear uprights, will go for blasting shortly. Together with the driveshaft centres. I’ll then repaint them, and refit the poly bushes. I wanted poly bushes on the upper arms, as they seem to be ‘in harms way’ as far as road debris etc from the tyre is concerned.

I already had a new diverter valve ready to be fitted when I drop the oil again. But on talking with a friend who used to have a Golf 1.8t, he said it’s a good idea to go Forge as they tend to be quite fragile anyway. Plus if you choose to go more power in the future, can simply change the internal spring. Look a decent part, shame it’s buried away on the Audis.

God knows why this image won’t turn the right way.

 

[midas]

Tomorrow, going to swap out the coils, for the new items now they’ve finally turned up from AUTODOC. Going to recap the plugs too, I never did that when I put them in, just trusted the pregap. But going to recheck and regap if necessary.

 

[midas]

And finally, with some warmer weather, managed to refinish the rear diff mount I acquired. So this is now refurbished with Verkline poly bushes, and a brand new exhaust mount as well. Need a decent full weekend, and I’ll fit this, check the front mount and maybe insulate the front mount. Plus I’ll tackle the new fuel filter. Not looking forward to that though if I’m honest.

 

[midas]

Could all installed today, and plugs gapped correctly. Pretty sure they were gapped correctly anyway, but always worth checking when I hadn’t checked before installing. Strange to say, but appears to be idling more steady after fitting these. But, we’ll see how it goes in the days ahead.

 

[midas]

Another package arrived today as well, forgot I’d bought this. Second hand centre vent cluster. The only intent here is to remove a vent, and prepare it to take a gauge pod. I don’t like the 3D printed pods available at all. So I’ll do it this way. Undecided on which gauge to use. I say the one closest to the driver. A friend says the middle one, as that’s what Audi used when the TS2 was produced. I’m unsure.

 

[midas]

Quite a busy weekend, great when the weather plays ball. So Saturday was filled with completely valeting, and servicing my other halves Fiesta, and then putting it up for sale. Successfully got that sorted.

Sunday, was time for the Audi. First job, change the oil, yet again. This time, it’s staying in for at least 6-8 months. So I got decent oil this time round, and I’ve fitted the Transporter Mahle oil filter I bought in December. So new sump plug, high end 5w40 C3 spec oil, Mahle filter and some synthetic Slick50.
Got to say, this filter is massive, was a task just to manhandle it into position. And, I’m a little unhappy with how close it is to the air con pipe. So come next weekend, I think I’ll figure out a way of harnessing it away from the filter itself.

 

[midas]

Next job on the list was, to fit the new Forge 008 Diverter valve. I was always thinking the one on the car currently was suspect, as I’m not entirely sure it makes full boost 100% of the time. So I’ll start with this. Also fitted a new vacuum line. Which I’ll have to change again as it need to be a larger diameter at the valve end on the new Forge item. Also snapped the ****** clip off on the timing cover which guides the vacuum hose and the water hose. Not happy, but when the front end comes off for Timing Belt change in about 4 weeks time, I’ll get some Q-Bond and reattach that piece.

Once fitted, I went out a test drive, and it seems to definatly come on boost and hold it as it should. I did notice though, with the windows down, I can now hear a little whistle as I presume the turbo spools up a bit. Only at low speeds this mind. Sure it never did this before, but in fairness it was something I expected a turbo car to do. But this one didn’t. So thus far, happy with the valve, another job off the list. Onto the next.

 

[midas]

Obligatory engine bay shot, bit of a tidy up on here today, clearing off the glue residue where the HID booster packs were fitted. Doesn’t look too bad from the top. Shame the crank seal has failed and covered the underneath in oil. Fix that when the timing belt is changed.

 

[midas]

Jacked the rear up today as well. Mainly to see if there is any other possible places that the knocking could be coming from at the rear. Made a check of my ECS Tuning front mount, making sure the bolts were all torqued, which they are. The rear diff cross member I’m going to replace, the bushes do appear to move, quote a lot. More than I would expect if I’m honest. There also appears to be residue on the shank of the bush, are these oil filled bushes from factory does anybody know? Like engine mounts?
Anyway, I can see the lower wishbone bushes are not long for this life, so I’ll have to look into getting some lower arms from somewhere, and refurb them.
Also, I laughed out loud, when looking the rear diff member, with a view at my freshly refurbed item. And I found that the exhaust mount on mine had completely gone. Removed. Probably as the exhaust mount had been completely removed from the exhaust. Odd. Luckily, at some point this year I’ll be getting a Jetex resonated system, so all will be attached correctly from that point forward.
Also found the passenger rear upper wishbone inner bushes move a lot, compared to barely any movement in the drivers side.

Not sure if anybody knows here, but on the last image, is showing the bolt on the rear diff member which needs to be removed. Do I have to unbolt the inner CV from the diff flange to remove this? Looks very tight. I couldn’t stay under the car anymore today, was starting to feel sick from having the floor about 5-10cm from my eyeline.

 

[midas]

Ahh yes. Observed my next job as well..........joy of joys. The filter from hell. Doesn’t look like it’s been removed before if I’m totally honest. Those union bolts look like they’ll be fantastic to remove.

 

[midas]

Hmmm, how annoying. All I’ve done since weekend is drive to work, and to care for a relation. Limited mileage. And today, the Red Oil Can illuminated on the dash with the buzzer also. Really odd. I’ve been changing the oil to try and clean the engine out and prevent this, and now it’s happened anyway.
I was going down a steep hill, and this is when it came on. I was unable to stop straight away so I moved on about 500 meters which was then flat surface, and it went off. I stopped anyway, and checked under the bonnet mainly for leaks around the filter. No leaks, no bad noises. So I carried, on, home is less than a mile away at this point. Turned down another road, also downhill, and it came on again. Probably for about 5 seconds then went off. I’ve got home, had the engine switched off for about 45 mins, checked the oi level and it’s bang on. So I know it’s oil pressure. Fantastic.
I’m really unsure about this ‘huge’ transported filter. With this unusually large filter, will this not cause an oil pressure issue anyway? The size of the filter, is the only real difference from the other oil changes I’ve used here. Not sure wether to just get the mid-size (updated filter) from work tomorrow and swap it out on Saturday.

Anybody else had issues when using the Transporter size filter?

Going to go for a long walk, think better when walking. I may just purchase a new oil pump and some Dirko, and look to either do the job myself, or have a friend help me get it done. Peace of mind.

 

[midas]

Well..............under the car again today. I’ve pulled the transporter oil filter off, and put back on, a new mid size filter, ‘ala’ Audi upgrade filter.
Also, dropped the oil. Having read up, that people have had issues with these engines when Slick50 was used. I didn’t do enough research on that prior to doing the service last weekend. Schoolboy error. Now running standard 5w40 again.

Quick ride out, let the temps get up, and no more warnings. Even went down the same hill that brought it on in the first place, and it was fine. I’ll check the level shortly.


Mustn’t be my week though, as whilst mauling about under the car today, spotted some oil coming out of the drivers side wheel arch. At first I thought this was brake fluid.........but it’s not. It’s power steering fluid. Reservoir was below the dipstick. That only just happened as I check my levels weekly. So now, my steering rack looks to have given up. Wonderful. This week is the week that keeps on giving.

 

[midas]

oh dear............Audi off road now for a spell. Steering rack was making some god awful noises today, oil everywhere. So, I’ll take it off road and get things sorted. New steering rack being purchased tomorrow. oil Pump pieces are on order, will arrive this week. Just a case of getting it done now. Hopefully it won’t be too hard to get done quickly.

Seriously contemplating buying a cheap runner temporarily, (couple of months) whilst I get everything done like the driveshafts, prop shaft, rear suspension, B12 kit and new exhaust. We’ll see. Wish me luck with this rack.

 

[CQ20V]

Oh no - not good news. So annoying when you're working through a 'rolling restoration' and the car throws something out of left field at you. I'm sue you'll sort it and do the car justice. If you're thinking of getting a run a round i have a 2004 A6 saloon 1.9tdi low mileage - 126k and i'm the second owner its pretty much mint with FSH cam belt etc done if you want me to PM you some details. I've been waiting for lockdown to lift before advertising but its just sat here not being used. Cheers Andy

 

[midas]

Yeah, it is a bit annoying when the car throws a curve ball at you. But hey ho, onwards. The money pit is deep now, may as well carry on and make it a bit deeper. Hopefully it will pay me back when it’s done.

Ill be honest, the kind of runabout I was thinking of would be about 2-5 hundred only, I’ve spotted a few. Doesn’t even have to be an Audi. Old Polo would be nice. It will only be a couple months if I did it that way. As it is this week, I’m walking to and from work this week. Get a few lifts here and there.

Started the job of the rack today. Bought my new one at work, the other half paid for it as a gift since I just sold her car for a grand more than the trade-in price offered. So we’ll see how we get on. Not looking forward to getting the bolt underneath off, or the banjo fittings if I’m honest. But take my time, and do it right first time. Rolled the boot off on that side, and fluid came pouring out, so definatly seal failed on that side. I’ve plusgassed all the nuts and bolts I’ll be undoing while I’m there, and I’ll leave them overnight to soak.
Ive got a brand new full set of arms and links etc on way from Germany. So if I can while I’m under here, I’m going to replace the 2 top arms (a mission in itself I know), plus the 2 drop links and use the 2 new track rod ends too. Think I might even take the calipers off and paint them, might as well. And I’ve got new shields for behind the discs too. Busy busy.

 

[CQ20V]

Hi - like you say lots of work! Out of interest what make arms have you gone for - I'm thinking about replacing the arms on my A6 estate but there seem to be quite a few options. Also in reading up on replacing the arms as you've identified the pinch bolts can be a pain. So i'm going to prepare as you have done with lots of pre-plus gassing and to get hold of an air chisel as a fall back but having watched a few videos - cutting the head off the bolt then adding washers to the threaded end then putting the nut back on and try to pull the bolt through while 'helping' it with the air chisel with punch attachment on the end, but im still not expecting an easy ride! Good work on the TQS - and no doubt you're appreciating the warmer weather. Cheers Andy

 

[midas]

Hi Andy, yeah it’s a lot of work. Delivery from AUTODOC today though. New arms have arrived, which are Isen SPV I think. Full catalogue of bolts provided so now I can destroy the tie rod end pinch bolt which has been elusing me. I can’t believe that o need to change a complete steering rack and so far I’ve managed to undo 2 nuts before becoming stuck.
Yeah I’ve seen the method where you cut the bolt and wind it out with spacers etc. That will be my method if heat fails.

Also have the oil pump and sump etc now, so that’s the job for Easter holidays.

 

[CQ20V]

Ooooh Shiny! LOL. Thanks for the heads up on the arms - do they look/feel quality? Its just one of the jobs id rather do once every 20 - 30k and not every 12 months!. Is your current sump damaged or have you just decided that whilst you're there youll replace it?

 

[midas]

I’ve checked over all the arms, and they certainly look of a good quality. I see Moog ones at work all the time, and they look comparable.
Yeah i decided to just replace the sump whilst I was there. There’s a couple of scuff on the bottom anyway, plus a bit of dampness around the level sensor, so I’ll just swap the lot out. And then I’ll hope.......that it sort my issue out. I feel like shooting myself for putting that slick50 in, the more I read, the more I think good god, what a ****** idiot. I just hope a couple more oil changes will pull it out of the system.

 

[midas]

Well.........interesting day today, while most of you probably have been cleaning and detailing, I’ve been hard at it removing the steering rack. Bit of long job, talk about square peg round hole. Jeeez. Worst job of all this had to be getting the track rod end pinch bolts undone. Ended up buying a mapgas blow gun, and once they were heated up and blowing red, I sprayed some plus gas on the thread, then some freeze spray, quick belt with a punch and a lump hammer and out they came. Ball joint boots are melted, but have some brand new ones so not all bad.
Following an online guide significantly helped with this, knowing where all the bolts were etc. Getting onto the bolts was relatively easy. Removed the driveshaft heat gird to gain access to the third rack anchor bolt. Getting the rack out of the boot going through the bulkhead was more difficult than undoing all the bolts. Once undone, tried to move it, only to realise it was still stuck due to a bracket on the passenger side which holds the pipes securely. This wasn’t included in the online guide, but that’s probably because it was a US guide, and they don’t have the bracket as the pipes mount on the opposite side. Once this was undone, actually came out pretty easy. Getting the new one in was considerably more difficult, as I was working on my own without help. But, got it mounted in the end.
Track rod ends aren’t on yet, had to give up at 3.30 to go and provide my usual Sunday care for a family member. But I’ll get that done this week. I’m also this week going to remove the shock and get the upper arms replaced, and also the drop links if I can. The droplinks are absolutely past it. As usual the upper arm bolt is being a pig. I’ve DreMel cut the bolt, and I’ve a case hardened M10 adapter arriving this week, to hopefully wind it out bit by bit. Hopefully!! Going to greas the hell out of this bolt going back in, as it will need to come out again when I get the B12 kit later in the year.
The guy who’s storing my BBS wheels is going to pull them out of storage this week, and remove the tyres. So hopefully in April I’ll send them for refurbishment.
So, it was a big job for a day, working solo, but it ps 90% done, so pretty happy with that.

 

[midas]

And to the doubters, I can confirm, you don’t have to drop the subframe to do this job.

That comes in the second week of Easter when I fit the new oil pump/ pick-up and sump. Look forward to that..........not.

 

[CQ20V]

Awesome work there. Completely get it - working on your own trying to guide parts through various engine bay obstacles - frustrating nightmare! I'll be interested to see how you get on with the top arm pinch bolt - i have this job to do later in the year so will see which method works best for you. Whats the plan when you drop the subframe - support the engine across the strut tops or do you have an engine lift to just take the weight? I had a look on the Autodoc site - pretty good price wise and as long as you plan your work the waiting for parts isnt too bad. I'm thinking i'll go for one the full suspension arm sets might even do the shocks while i'm there - funds permitting!

 

[midas]

Appreciate the compliments there, it is sometimes difficult working alone, especially as I’m no qualified mechanic. Occasionally I have to call on friends who are more heavy duty than me, and can see through problems with a different eye. My best man will be helping me with the Oil Pump/Sump/Timing Belt/crank seal job.

Good progress this evening, only limitation is time really, that and banging hell out of things with a baby next door.
I set about getting the bolt out of the upper arms this evening. After cutting it through the pinch clamp, I attempted to undo it with a nut and spacers 2 nights ago. This resulted in something stripping and the nut just rotating. So.....I bought a nut splitter, and got rid of the nut. It’s the bolt threads that stripped, so I’m not sure how the plan of using a case hardened hexagonal adapter, or long nut as it’s called, would help. Anyway, I just got the map-gas gun out again and heated the bolt up until it was nearly see through, followed by a dousing in freeze spray, followed by two handed swings with a lump hammer. And it gave up. So 3 more heat cycles and out the bolt popped, in 2 halves obviously. So the shock came out, and both upper arms replaced. Oddly I noticed the front upper arm was a different shape, but bit of measuring and the bush and ball joint are in the same place. So I’ve fitted it and I’ll see how the geometry lines up when it’s on the floor. Incidentally, when turning the steering lock to lock clearance is fine too. I really wanted to not do the top bolt up quite as tight, as it’s the bending which causes a problem. But I’ve torqued it at 50Nm as per the book, with a small nip after that too. It’s also completely covered in copper grease. So we’ll see how I fair when it has to come off again to fit the B12 kit in about 6 months.
Also fitted the droplink, so all work done on this side. On Thursday I’ll tackle the other side.

Nb: Just noticed in the pics, going to have to remove the track rod end again to out the plastic guards back in. Doh! Never mind.

 

[midas]

Cant get over how bad this car looks underneath. Pretty sure this car lived it’s life near the coast. So it’s true what they say about cars near the sea it would seem.

 

[CQ20V]

Good work again - and on a school night. LOL. Heat and brut force it is then to get the pinch bolts out! I've seen cars corrode underneath before because they had been left parked up on grass and the vegetation had grown up at the sides preventing proper ventilation and the moisture from the ground just accelerated the corrosion or maybe like you say its been near salt water for part of its life. Either way - looks like your sorting it. Hope the other side goes a bit easier.

 

[midas]

Well, another school night, got to work and did the droplink and both upper arms on the passenger side. A bit of heat on the top bolt this time, well, until it’s see through anyway, lol. Followed by some more freeze spray and swift smack with the lump hammer and it moved straight away. So progress was swift this evening. This would not have been so without a Mapgas gun and my M18 impact gun, I will say that.
Took it out a run round the estate, and feels odd. Reversing off the driveway it was knocking which worried me. All the bolts were torqued with the wheels on the ground, so unsure. See how that goes. May have to revisit my torque on the rack bolts. Tracking definatly needs doing. It’s not far off, but I can feel it tramlining. So I’ll make sure that’s done ASAP.
After doing some research, and chatting with my mechanic mate, pretty sure the oil pressure problem is the slick50 blocking the oil filter up. I can’t tell you how annoyed I am with myself for doing this. But hey ho, done now, just have to do the jobs required. Last time i dropped the oil and slick50 put and put fresh oil in, it took a day or 2 for the oil light to come back on. So with this in mind, Going to do an oil and filter change tomorrow. Run it for a bit, probably next Wednesday/Thursday, and than change the oil again with another new filter. Just want to filter out what I can of this stupid additive. Then week after Easter, the oil pump change will be done.

Some crap images of the arms in position, and a token car pic. I know one thing, after payday this week, I’m getting a Boost/Oil pressure gauge.

 

[CQ20V]

More quality work. Knocking when reversing off - Could just be things settling back in as you will have disturbed the driveshafts in their CV's as when you swapped the arms the hubs will have been at odd angles for a while, it may even have been the suspension top mount bearing or springs 'settling' from having the weight off them. If the noise continues i'd definitely investigate. B12 kit - is that the eibach springs with B4 shocks or are the shocks uprated over OEM? I like eibach springs - fitted a set to a Tdi A4 B5 on an M plate that i had on standard sport shocks - nice ride with lowered look even on 16" s it looked well. Could your oil pressure light issues be related to a gummed up oil pressure switch as a result of the slick 50? Is it worth removing the switch and soaking petrol or similar over night to see if it cleans it out? Anyway keep up the solid work - Not many of these about now so needs to be saved.

 

[midas]

Well, I’ve got hold of a 20 litre of 5w40 from work, and 3 new filters. So I’m going to run it this week, with brand new oil filter and new oil. I changed it last night. So I’m hoping that in a week I’ll change again, then run it until we do the oil pump. I think I’m going to have to change the pump and pickup now, as it’s just in my head that it could be blocked. I just won’t be happy now until it’s done.

Yeah I’ll see how the knocking goes, probably is just things settling. I only tightened everything up when it had its wheels back down on the floor. So we’ll see. Even though I measured the track rod end gaps, it’s still pulling now, tramlining, so tracking a job for this week. Steering still feels a little stiff too, hoping this is due to tracking being out. Just feeling my way here a bit, never had a rack change before. But, the good news has to be, no more leaks on the drive.

next job today............jet wash the flippin driveway!!!

 

[midas]

Was feeling in a good place after sorting some jobs this week. So had a go at the rear hub carrier I couldn’t pull to pieces. Heated the centre bolt up for what seemed like ages. Big bolt, requires lots of heat i suppose. Got the M18 on it, and it came undone eventually. Also heated up the ABS sensor bolt up, and got that out without snapping it this time. So......looks like I can get the driveshafts pulled apart now. I’ll bet a friend to separate the bearing and hub out of the carrier next week. So in April I’ll send the rear hub carriers, halfshafts, hubs and upper wishbones out for sandblasting. Then I can order some new Cv Joints, new lower hub carrier bushes, new bearings and get them reassembled.
I see what people say about B5’s being money pits now, lol.

 

[midas]

Quick wash, since I’m in a good mood due to progress, lol. Everybody loves a just washed photo. Looking forward to some nice weather so I can get the polisher out and make it shine properly.

 

[CQ20V]

You say money pit - but prices will only go one way. I used to own an Mk 3 Escort RS1600i - sold it to buy a 944 - saw it on ebay 12 months back for £25k!!! I think the Audi 's of this era will have their day, look at anything 80's quatrro wise and they're now fetching good money. I think the 90's models will go the same way. It'll al be worth it when people are complimenting you on it at the shows - if we ever get back to having car shows again.

 

[midas]

I can’t believe it...................had a chat with the the remanufacturers of this rack, about a little issue I have. And the guy says ‘sorry pal, think I’ll have to send you a replacement unit’. (Forehead slap!!!)

So after having the car off the road to fit a rack, I now have to do it all again. love it.

 

[CQ20V]

What was the issue with the rack? And on the plus side none of the bolts will be ceased!

 

[midas]

The problem with the rack, began with this really vague feeling when going in a straight line. I thought it was because the tracking was needing doing. But, when travelling at about 30-40, you could move the steering wheel about 10mm, in either direction, before it had any effect on turning the rack. Like, play in the mechanism. 10mm doesn’t sound a lot, but when your driving in a straight line and it feels like there’s no connection between you and the road wheels, it feels very odd.

So i rang the company, spoke to the main guy there, and he clarified, that no, it definatly shouldn’t feel like that.

I couldn’t believe it, after doing what I thought was a really good job, and thinking god I’m glad that’s done. Got to do it all again.

 

[CQ20V]

Thats not good. Definitely no air in the system? Have you had the car back on axel stands and had someone sit in the car and move the steering while you've observed the rack mounting points, track rod ends and all the suspension ball joints (i know some are new) just make sure nothing has 'settled' and needs nipping up? Be a shame to do the job again only to discover an issue else where that was causing the play in the steering. Did the guy seem 'surprised' that there was a fault with the rack?

 

[midas]

Well, this coming week when the cars up on sands again to do the belts and pump, I’m going to make one last check of everything to make sure nothing has play in it. I know I checked all the mounting bolts. And I think if the mounting bolts were loose there would be a clunking all the time. There are no clunks at all now, everything’s very solid. i was all set to do more jobs this weekend, but managed to have an accident with an angle grinder yesterday which amounted to me making a visit to A&E, not great for Good Friday.

 

[CQ20V]

It never rains! Hope you're ok? Bit of grind flash in the eye or a cut to your hands/arm? Agree that if something was loose loose then yes you would expect a knocking but if its ball joint or track rod end just a bit loose then may be not. The other thing to check is that the actual rack ends are tight and free from play - assume the rack came with new rack ends and you just transferred your track rod ends across? Hope the rest of the long weekend is better for you.

 

[midas]

Angle Grinder jumped and took a chunk out of my thumb. Result......hole in my thumb on the knuckle.

 

[Rfmacaskill]

Ouchy....blame the B5....most things can be! Heal quickly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CQ20V]

Hmm - been there with the angle grinder - great tool but can go wrong quickly. Hope you get the rack issue sorted.