Marshall878 - 2002 Nogaro Blue S3

[Marshall878]

Most of you already know this car, so thought id do a brief summary of where we are at currently and where id like to aim for with it.

Went and picked up Dan's S3 Saturday after secretly wanting it for a while tbh. Clio finally sold and i didn't want to succumb to the diesel devils just yet so this seemed to fit the bill.

Saturday was a long day. 400 miles to be exact. Had to go the Manchester via Huddersfield as i had to drop some tyres off to the clios new owner. Took the S3 for a quick spin, handed over the cash and started the nightmare that was getting it taxed on a Saturday afternoon. After an hour of sitting in traffic around the Trafford Centre and turning up to two post offices lists on the PO website that weren't actually post offices we were able to make the 3 and a half hour drive home. Drove home in some appalling conditions, wind and rain were giving me a battering but i loved every minute. The car is a lovely place to be and the boost is like a slap in the face. There's a very "old school" delivery to it!

Current performance spec;

• Revo stage 1 remap.
• 20/25mm Eibach lowering kits.
• Plenty of OEM touches - cruise control, alum mirrors, pedals, gear knob, arm rest...

Some pictures. Havent sorted any of my own just yet so Dan's for sale ones will have to do for now....


Click here to view the original image of 1024x768px and 286KB.

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Click here to view the original image of 1024x768px and 274KB.

It's quite nice having something i can tinker with again (lets see if i still feel like that in a years time) so i have already written up some plans...

Future Mods;

• Headlight polish and realignment.
• Rear wiper need disassembling as the jet doesnt work. Probs fit a smooth wiper from a polo and a flat blade from a tiguan at same time. If its shagged ill just dewiper.
• Cut and code second fob supplied by Dan.
• Respray bumpers and tailgate trim (rust)
• Wheel refurb in oem silver.
• Windscreen has a chip that needs sorting and seals replacing.
• Auto dim mirror needs wiring and fitting.
• Calipers need a lick of paint.
• Steering wheel is currently off centre. So that needs aligning.
• 15/20mm spacers to bring the wheels out a little.
• Rear adjustable tie arms to try and ease of the camber caused by a small drop.

That is it for now. No performance mods as such as im happy with how it is tbh just want it minty mint mint.

 

[Nilz]

Congrats and welcome

One of the best colours for an S3 and with the interior matching, you cant go wrong!!

Good luck with the mods, look forward to the updates.

 

[Marshall878]

One thing that was really letting the front down was the headlights. Dropped the car in with a mate to polish the lenses using their expensive restoration kit. Im dead chuffed with how they came out...just need something to protect them from UV and going yellow again....any ideas?

He did also look into the alignment and im a little disheartened. All the adjusters on the back are pretty much knackered and im unsure as to whether the auto levelling system is actually working...any ideas how i trouble shoot this? Im guessing the adjusters arent available seperately are they?!?

Polished headlights. by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

 

[Nilz]

Google Lamin X for your headlights, its a film that you can put over your headlights, very good and not a bad price either.

The headlights look amazing now mate, huge difference!!!

You should be able to get the levellers separately, i know others on here have had the issue where it has broken, but have managed to fix/replace it.

Maybe worth doing a search to see if it brings anything up for you.

 

[kwistof]

Google Lamin X for your headlights, its a film that you can put over your headlights, very good and not a bad price either.

The headlights look amazing now mate, huge difference!!!

+1 for the Lamin X product - applied some on mine after I also refurbished them late last year using the 3M kit.

If you don't add some sort of protection on after you have sanded/refurbed the headlights then they will soon start yellowing again and will have to repeat the procedure again.

Lovely to see another great example of a Noggy being well looked after and maintained :icon_thumright:

 

[IrishDave]

What model is the rsn-e from. It looks as if it fits pretty nicely. Any chance of a pic as this is going to be my next to do.

 

[Marshall878]

What model is the rsn-e from. It looks as if it fits pretty nicely. Any chance of a pic as this is going to be my next to do.

If you contact dan-jnr he has this actual unit for sale....plug and play! He had removed it to bring the price down.

 

[Marshall878]

+1 for the Lamin X product - applied some on mine after I also refurbished them late last year using the 3M kit.

If you don't add some sort of protection on after you have sanded/refurbed the headlights then they will soon start yellowing again and will have to repeat the procedure again.

Lovely to see another great example of a Noggy being well looked after and maintained :icon_thumright:

I'll get onto measuring up and ordering some Lamin-x then! Need them to stay how they are now. Looks so much fresher.

May have a nice list of bits to do but unfortunately I'm being faced with a heavily slipping 20,000 mile old clutch...not impressed!

 

[IrishDave]

^^^Thanks. Will do.

 

[s3mad_dude]

All the adjusters on the back are pretty much knackered and im unsure as to whether the auto levelling system is actually working...any ideas how i trouble shoot this? Im guessing the adjusters arent available seperately are they?!?

Might be worth doing a phone around some scrappies where you can have a filch and help yourself to headlight bits!

 

[Marshall878]

...didnt like its time on Stage 2 it seems...will update on that later in the week.

Oh, fixed the rear washer! What a headache!!

I stripped the airbox out to check the joint in the conduit underneath - Dry
I stripped the footwell out to check the joint - Dry
I stripped the boot lid out to check the joint at the motor - Dry

Was losing faith at this point until i read that there's a joint behind the sub in the rear left panel of the boot. Much headache and scratched up hands and i found the disconnected joint! Result!

Reconnected and tested it and it blew the connection off the wiper motor, doh! Bit of hose and some jubilee clips and she is working. Whoop! Saves me from having to de-wiper i guess! Needs a ful set of wiper blades so need to blag me another trade card at Halfords as mines gone missing (note to self - dont lend to friends)

Also bagged myself some S3Dave adjustable rear tie arms for £150 brand new. This should help dial out the horrendous rear camber introduced by a 25mm drop.

 

[Nilz]

I still need to sort my rear wiper out as well!!!

Just finding a dry day to do it!!

 

[Marshall878]

It wasnt a fun job, wish i started at the boot first lol but getting behind the sub is an ****!

 

[Nilz]

Yea the sub area is a pain in the bum!!!

 

[s3mad_dude]

Yeah I keep putting off replacing the alarm siren because of what a ball ache that rear quarter of the car is!! Perhaps I'll buy the part and do it on a hot summer's day! I'm fed up of frozen scraped knuckles....

 

[Nilz]

Haha, we feel your pain!!

 

[Marshall878]

But on the flip side, if the sun was out and i was crawling in the car ripping bits of plastic off....id be a dripping mess!

Today im off to get the verdict on the mapping and the clutch....betting on how much its going to sting me?!

 

[Adam P]

I had my headlights refurbed not too long ago and it made such a difference to the look of the front of the car.
Interested to see what the situation is with the mapping and clutch so will be watching this one for sure. Keep up the good work.

 

[kwistof]

Today im off to get the verdict on the mapping and the clutch....betting on how much its going to sting me?!

Mapping? I thought the car already has revo stage 1?

Will you be fitting the clutch yourself? If not then labour is usually a pretty hefty chunk of the bill :-\

 

[Marshall878]

It is. However i dont think its right.

Its like a massive punch in the face as soon as it gets to the magic RPM then tails off soon after. I suspect its this "punch" that has destroyed the clutch. Its not progressive. In 6th, at 70mph (or whatever) as soon as it hits boost, its full boost...no progression what so ever. All or nothing unless mega careful with throttle inputs. It has a MBC which it feels like it uses all the time to limit those spikes of power...

Its the same in lower gears. I keep getting accused by the misses for "flooring it" when actually in reality im hardly pressing the peddle!

Unfortunately i wont be doing it. My uncle was a mechanic for many years and between us have carried out some hefty jobs on the drive, however, between us we dont like the idea of a clutch change on a quattro box whilst laying on our backs. Hand it to someone who does it every week who will be able to do it 10x quicker and offers me any come back if there's any issues later on.

 

[kwistof]

Yeah definitely need to get on a RR to see what's going on and take a look at some graphs.....maybe take it back to the place that put the Revo map on in the first place?

Hopefully it's just a map tweak fella- but doesn't sounds like she's running healthy.

Yeah I'm the same when it comes to the larger jobs on my car- would rather pay a person who is clued up to the eye balls on the more involved jobs- just in case any faults/issues are found they can always find a work around and a nice bit of warranty also helps seal the deal

 

[Marshall878]

Yeah definitely need to get on a RR to see what's going on and take a look at some graphs.....maybe take it back to the place that put the Revo map on in the first place?

Hopefully it's just a map tweak fella- but doesn't sounds like she's running healthy.

Yeah I'm the same when it comes to the larger jobs on my car- would rather pay a person who is clued up to the eye balls on the more involved jobs- just in case any faults/issues are found they can always find a work around and a nice bit of warranty also helps seal the deal

Unfortunately its a good 3-4 hour drive to the place who had originally done the mapping. Unfortunately no Rolling Road is any good with a slipping clutch neither!

Jabba have offered to look at the map and see if anything is untoward, then chuck it on the roller once clutch is sorted to check everything thoroughly. Im about to leave work now so see how i feel about the whole situation later on lol

 

[kwistof]

Unfortunately its a good 3-4 hour drive to the place who had originally done the mapping. Unfortunately no Rolling Road is any good with a slipping clutch neither!

Sorry totally over looked the slipping clutch matter

If you are looking at getting the map and clutch done at the same time I'm pretty sure some garages will be able to offer you a decent deal on the whole package. I'm sure some people could recommend some other places around your area to get some price comparisons.

 

[vrbob]

Does the clutch slip? eg if in 4th at say 50mph and you put your foot down does the revs rise before it speeds up?

 

[Marshall878]

I didnt even have to put my foot down mate, as soon as the revs hit the magic number, it was full boost, slipped upto 4500, clutch caught and off we went.

 

[Marshall878]

Bit of progress...you'll have to forgive me if ive understood anything wrong as im still totally clueless with the 1.8T.

Unfortunately on the test drive i didnt notice anything massively untoward with the car. However, driving home down the M6 it became apparent that there was substantial clutch slip (not something i was looking out for when faced with a receipt saying the clutch and flywheel was replaced 18 months ago and had only covered 20k). In higher gears, say 6th, at 70mph, if i put my foot down a tiny bit, just enough to make the revs hit the magic number, it was full boost (like a switch) and the clutch slipped all the way to 4500/5000rpm, then the clutch caught and off we went.

It was almost undriveable around town, the turbo was like a switch, no progression, as soon as it hit its spooling rev range it was full boost.

Went to Jabbasport yesterday who also confirmed it was terrible to drive. No smooth torque curve, hit that magic RPM and BAM! full boost.

The guys looked at it for me, plugged it in and found the N75 valve was flagging up as faulty...FYI...

The N75 valve is inserted between the turbo's high pressure output and the wastegate. If the turbo would directly linked to the wastegate, it would not be able to produce lets say more than 0.3-0.4 bar of boost, because it would shut itself down immediately. When the ECU wants more boost (because you are stepping on it for example), it WENTS some air from this loop (turbo--->wastegate) so the wastegate will not open at all, or will open later.
The N75 has got 1 boost input, and 2 outputs. At the input, boost is entering into the N75 and exits on one of the outputs going to the wastegate. When N75 is closed (default state), all the boost goes to the wastegate. When ECU opens the N75 valve (because it has got an electrical plug too coming from ECU), so when ECU opens it, some of this boost (which would operate the wastegate) is leaving/leaking back to the inlet (and not opening wastegate). Since the N75 valve has NO state in between, is is opened or closed. The ECU switches it ON/OFF all the time (several times a second) to generate the desired amount of boost. Doesn't it reminds you to something???? ... Yeah, it's surging. But it is absolutely normal, this is how ECU controls the wastegate. When a car is chipped, the boost is a LOT higher than it is designed to operate on, so this kind of boost control will be noticable.

The car also had a Forge UNOS valve, which to my understanding is a manual boost controller. I know Dan fitted this due to having dangerous peaks in boost when on stage 2. I dont know whether it was plumbed in in place of the N75 or in parallel to allow more boost. They also found that this controller had become disconnected. This is why there was no smooth power delivery. It was all or nothing, and this all was giving me almost 2 bar of boost....no wonder it was like a rocket when the clutch finally caught up....lucky it hadnt bent any rods!

They disconnected the UNOS valve and replaced the N75 for me with all the correct plumbing and took the car out. Boost was much smoother and held boost alot longer rather than tailing off pretty quickly.

HOWEVER, the issue of the slipping clutch was still there.

The decision was made to return the car to standard map and try it. The clutch is now holding up much better due to the torque being delivered in a curve now rather than all at once. Almost no detectable slip any more so will have to see how it goes.

My god it feels slow now though after overboosting for my ownership, but atleast im not forking out £800 for a clutch and flywheel just yet! Its certainly much nicer to drive. Kept getting told off by the misses for going WOT every where because no matter the throttle pedal input, once it hit that rpm, it was full boost!

Being plugged in also showed a thermostat issue and a brake switch issue (which explains why cruise isnt working) so its going back at some point for those to be replaced and a health check to make sure everything is ok still.

So will it be going back to Stage 1? Yes ive lost 25/35bhp and 50ish lb/ft of torque, but is it worth replacing a clutch and DMF for it? Im not so sure. Will see how we get on. Ive got other areas i want/need to spend on first!

Good news though....bought some boot struts to stop the leaking pair dropping the boot lid over time.

 

[Marshall878]

**Updatesssss**

The culpret for the non working rear washer


Untitled by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

In a real awkward place aswell, right behind the BOSE sub


Untitled by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

Leak at the join solved too.


Untitled by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

All plastic is now on and i even treated it to a full set of wipers. Fronts were Bosche aeroblades...****** expensive even with trade discount...atleast i can see now!

Todays fight...i ****ing hate the scuttle panel. It seems a common problem that the scuttle doesnt clip into the groove attached to the windscreen so it sits off the screen leaving a gap for water to run down behind...potential leak in passenger footwell if the pollen filter gets wet. Really dont know the resolution after about 2 hours of taking off and refitting over and over!


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

Dan supplied me the car with a boost gauge, but had removed it at time of sale. Decided to plumb it all back in again. Was a bit of ball ache but made easier by Dan leaving the wires in the vent for it!! Got a little mod in mind for it though. Await pictures.


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

£12 boot struts do the job lovely........so much force, probs enough to open itself.


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

These babys turned up Friday too hehe. Rear camber be goneeeeee


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

 

[Marshall878]

Had a new key programmed last week by @udi A3. Cheers bud.

He also had a look at my headlight alignment via VCDS due to my manual adjusters being shagged. Unfortunately im now left with one pointing sky high and one to the ground...god damn!

Got myself a pair of lights coming to take apart and try and come up with a new means of manual adjustment. If i can solve something ill try and get some more up for sale so i can help get others out the ****!

Oh...boost gauge is now fitted and glowing red. Followed the guide on the site to put acetate behind the dial. Got the gauge checked for calibration and work and plumbed it in. Job jobbed!

 

[Westy]

Is the problem because the auto adjuster lever in te headlight has come out of the clip? If so then this is a common issue and can be fixed with a couple of cheap clips. You need to be like a gynocologist to replace the clip but it worth the hassle. There was a thread kicking about a while ago. I think SuperKarl started it.

 

[Marshall878]

Yea ive seen the thread thanks @Westy.

I think one may have become unattached yes, but the adjusters are still an issue.

Hopefully by stripping the replacement set i can ensure they are 100% before fitting them. Then ive got to find someone local with VCDS to run the alignment process.

 

[Jersey]

hi marshal great looking car.

i have a quick question about your boost gauge. Where did you or the previous owner plumb in the hose? Where did you drill the whole? do you have a picture by any chance?

Cheers,

J

 

[Nilz]

Some great updates mate, keep it up!!

 

[@udi A3]

you should be able to set the lights up ok without vcds. you wont be changing the motors over. I just activated the output test to confirm motors were ok.
The clips look broke on one side and the adjusters were also screwed, so rebuilding with another light is a good plan. (been there done that!)

 

[Marshall878]

hi marshal great looking car.

i have a quick question about your boost gauge. Where did you or the previous owner plumb in the hose? Where did you drill the whole? do you have a picture by any chance?

Cheers,

J

Jersey, I had to re-run the pipe so know exactly how its routed. In the scuttle panel, right hand side, theres a black plastic box, it goes through the lid and into the drivers footwell by all the relays. Then its routed up behind the fuse box and into a hole drilled a little way down in the vent. The wires also come into the vent the same way. Positive taken from the light switch, and earth on a earth point. Im sure ive seen a thread somewhere, ill look!

Some great updates mate, keep it up!!

Cheers buddy. I do like to try and document most things, purely because i like to see how it comes along and i know i use other peoples blogs for help and ideas...

you should be able to set the lights up ok without vcds. you wont be changing the motors over. I just activated the output test to confirm motors were ok.
The clips look broke on one side and the adjusters were also screwed, so rebuilding with another light is a good plan. (been there done that!)

Yea was defo relieved to hear both motors working which is a bonus. Certainly think the drivers side one isnt attached to the motor allowing it to drop down (must remember to buy new clips for both headlights rather than waiting for them to break again!) Rebuilding a spare set was the only way i could guarantee that i wont be stuck with a car with no headlights if something goes wrong.

I'll build the new set up, polish them up, lamin-x them and fit to the car. Then I'll fix mine and sell on after so shouldnt be too much of a costly exercise. Hopefully i can get some manual adjusters made at work that should help everybody out rather than buying new units etc etc.

 

[Marshall878]

Pics of the gauge...

Before


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

During


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

And after...much better...better colour match in person too.


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

 

[Jersey]

amazing cheers marshall, i wasn't to sure if i could drill into the box. Will give this a bash this weekend and hopefully finally have it sorted.

 

[Cj_sat69]

Car looks propa mint mate, where did you get the boost gauge panel from?

 

[Marshall878]

amazing cheers marshall, i wasn't to sure if i could drill into the box. Will give this a bash this weekend and hopefully finally have it sorted.

Ive seena photo with the lid off the box. Probs worth taking it off to make sure you dont drill into the relays and fuses below! My hole was already there so just threaded the pipe through.

Car looks propa mint mate, where did you get the boost gauge panel from?

I believe it is one of these....but they do need modifying to fit.

Audi S3/A3 Air Vent Gauge Pod £41.04 VW Accessories & Styling , Worldwide Mailorder

 

[Marshall878]

Bit more tinkering today.

Replaced the brake pedal switch, nice easy job once the bottom of the dash if off. Fingers crossed cruise is working again now.


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

Also the dipstick tube. Real poor fit if you ask me. It wants to sit tight up against the inlet but then it wont fit on the metal plate so really needed forcing. No wonder they go brittle and snap all the time. Noticed the dip stick is starting to go brittle and break down too so best get one sorted (best place to get one?)


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

Bay shot.


image by Lee Marshall, on Flickr

Whilst doing this i also noticed that there's below minimum oil in the ****** thing! I thought there was sensors to warn you when its getting low? I had no errors regarding the oil level sensor in VCDS the other week? Worth replacing you think?

Got a new battery tray coming so the battery cover actually has something to screw down onto as all the mounts are broken on the current one!

Also another pair of headlights. Going to try and manufacture a new manual adjuster mechanism to help myself and the rest of you with ****ed headlights out!

Took delivery of a thermostat too, thats next weeks job. And booked it in for a new clutch and remap for the 12th March. Exciting times but ****** pricey!!

Another niggle is temperamental door puddle lights. Sometimes they work, sometimes they dont. What controls them? Any ideas on any fixes?!

 

[kwistof]

Whilst doing this i also noticed that there's below minimum oil in the ****** thing! I thought there was sensors to warn you when its getting low? I had no errors regarding the oil level sensor in VCDS the other week? Worth replacing you think?

My low oil light came on once on the way to work, I pulled over immediately to check how low it was an almost had a heart attack with the level on the dip stick!

I turned straight back round to top up because it was dangerously low and didn't fancy risking it tbh. I check my oil level ever week and give it a service every 6k now so don't really need to worry