New Car on it's way - 1.8 T

[Jimmeh]

Hey guys,

Fingers crossed I've got a Turbo on the way! going for a viewing in around an hours time..

I previously owned a rather tidy 1.8 Sport

it was time to move on, I got a good price for it and wanted an upgrade.. initially i was after something bigger (a4/Avant) but I'd like to stick with the A3.

The Car in question is a "1998 AUDI A3 1.8 T Sport 3dr Hatchback". Same colour as my previous, 20k less miles, full cream leather interior (quite rare?), one lady owner, FSH.. sounds mint.

With it being the turbo, as apposed to my 1.8, what should I look out for?

It's 150bhp, so i'll see a vast improvement from my previous, how tunable are the turbo engines? Have many people here had them remapped? what kind of price are you looking and and for what figures?

I'll let you know how it goes, but any help in the mean time would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Jim.

 

[rodenal]

Car looks nice mate, if you do a quick search there's lots of info on the 1.8t's and what to look out for.

Only thing i would say is at nearly ten years old the car's getting to that age where everything is gonna start needing changed - clutch suspension etc etc so maybe see how much work its had done over the last year or so, could be the case that the likely candidates have already gone and been changed - in which case go for it!

I'm assuming its fairly cheap?

 

[Clach]

yeah, check service history, cam belt etc - how punchy the turbo is!!! looks good..but, I would advise taking someone with you to get your feet on the ground.

 

[steebo888]

yer theres lots you can do with tuning on the turbos.

You can get it mapped up to approx 200bhp (stage 1) for approx £300 upwards depending which you buy. A remap is better as you can remap again to suit extra mods etc.

 

[Daniel Vzla]

looks very nice, go for the remap, forge TIP, forge DV, panel air filter, and suspension, you'll love it

 

[Voodoo]

I cant remember the exact mileage but look out for the cam belt and water pump change, think its suppsoed to be around 60k miles or 80k miles.
Could help to avoid an expensive service.
Most of it is looking out for the basics as with all cars...

 

[Jimmeh]

thanks for your help on this one guys. We set off around 2pm, called in at the bank and took a steady cruize over through the Peak District to Glossop(?) to arrive with the owner. The roads around there were superb.. Will have to bpay a second visit.

Needless to say I brought the vehicle. However, to be fair first impressions weren't great. You can see how well my old Audi looked, hardly any imperfections at all.. this is covered in them. The worst areas being bird-poo etchings HOWEVER, I see this as a challenge, as i'm off work all this week so PLENTY of time to play with her and get her up to my standards.

With the leather interior, do you often find them quite smelly? I think there has been a dog/smoker in the vechile prior to my ownership; IT STINKS! I felt rather sick when I returned home to be fair.. I'm sure I can freshen her up a bit..

it's taken a while to get used to the drive, she seems fine mechanically, could probably do with a service to be fair.

Bad points:

- Interior stinks!
- Trip computer dial doesn't work ? The red backlight works, but no digits. bummer. I can't believe it, I didn't notice this till we left. Is this a common fault? Easy fix?
- CD Changer doesn't seem to want to read the CD's.

Looking at replacing the standard wheels and shot tyres with the RS4 or RS6 wheels... thoughts?

Last question, is the Turbo Sport lower than the '1.8 Sport'?

Watch this space.

Many thanks, Jim

 

[AndyMac]

Leather is actually the best interior to avoid nasty smells as it has it's own leather smell and doesn't absorb stuff like fabric.
Give it a good going over with some leather cleaner and conditioner (autoglym stuff smells really nice), also check the carpets, far more likely to be the culprits. Also the climate control may not have been used for a while and bacteria can build up, so give it a spray with some aircon anti fungal stuff.
When you say the trip doesn't work, do you mean the DIS or just the trip mileage?

 

[Jimmeh]

Cheers Andy, i'll pick some anti-fingal stuff up;sounds interesting.

It's the computer, that displays your MPG, miles to the tank, average speed, average mpg etc.. no digits

 

[garratt83]

Thought I would give my reply

- Interior stinks! - Check around there might be some food or cr*p stuck in a gap somewhere

- Trip computer dial doesn't work ? The red backlight works, but no digits. bummer. I can't believe it, I didn't notice this till we left. Is this a common fault? Easy fix? Light are on no one home, DO you have a VAG if so try reseting it. Also reset the battery (make sure you have radio code.

- CD Changer doesn't seem to want to read the CD's? Get one of them CD clears, the one with a cd with little brushes on it and try that, if not you may have to take it apart and clean the lens use some IPA on the lens.

Looking at replacing the standard wheels and shot tyres with the RS4 or RS6 wheels... thoughts? RS4 is my pref

Last question, is the Turbo Sport lower than the '1.8 Sport'? I think they are the same, I know the Sports are lower than the SE TDI etc


Good luck

 

[IDUA3]

I hvae the same car on a T plate, went for the RS4, the picture in my avatar may give you an idea before you choose!

And coincidentally my cd player is also refusing to read cd's!

 

[golf]

Try using genuine CD's as opposed to CD's you made yourself, if you haven't already.

If the backlight is working on the DIS, something may have disconnected behind the dash.

 

[Sandip]

whats the engine code? if its an AGU, your laughin

 

[Jimmeh]

whats the engine code? if its an AGU, your laughin

How so? I'm not sure of the engine code, I imagine it's on the chassis plate? I know how to keep a car clean, I'm not very mechanically minded.

Reseting the battery, again.. how? I'll browse the forums...

CD Changer: least of my worries for now..

Smelly Interior: led to believe it was built up bacteria in the AC pipes.. brought the Ac flush system today and seemed to work a treat. Spending the day on the interior and engine bay tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.

New Issue..

I cruised over to my Dad's today after spending the day correcting the exterior, we went for a smooth easy ride around.. nothing harsh. On my way back to a friends I gave her some willy and in 5th I seem to loose boost? It whilstes (my first time with a Turbo car..) at around 3000rpm whilst 'gradual' acceleration? It hardly picks up its REVS and just chugs along? Shocker. It was fine yesterday on the ride home, pulled like a train.. 1st/2nd/3rd gears seem strong..? The 'whoooosh' noise is far louder than it was yesterday; I don't understand. Has anyone got any logic behind this? I'm going to get her serviced late this week but this is quite saary for me now

I'm all sad now.

Some pictures from today's effort..

Before.. some NASTY swirls and halograms.

under the halogens..

50/50's

a couple of afters.. (more to come later, I promise. )

any help on this guys would be great. Thanks.

 

[golf]

On my way back to a friends I gave her some willy and in 5th I seem to loose boost? It whilstes (my first time with a Turbo car..) at around 3000rpm whilst 'gradual' acceleration? It hardly picks up its REVS and just chugs along? Shocker. It was fine yesterday on the ride home, pulled like a train.. 1st/2nd/3rd gears seem strong..? The 'whoooosh' noise is far louder than it was yesterday; I don't understand.

By the sounds of it you've got a boost leak, check under the bonnet for splits, tears in any pipes near the turbo, or a hose may have came off under high boost levels.

 

[Jimmeh]

At the time I had a friend in the car (know's his stuff, but nothing to do with turbo's!) and I actually said I 'felt' and sounded as though it was leaking? Just lots of noise, no compression and no action.

I have a rough idea where the wurbo is, I'll get in and under the bonnet tomorrow and take a look around. Thanks mate.

 

[Sandip]

AGU engines have larger ports, all 1.8t are more or less bomb proof but the AGU is a good one to modify, check in your boot for a label with the engine code on it, failing that it'l be in ur manual

 

[Jimmeh]

It says AGU in the manual. What does this mean?

I'm currently off the road as I'm waiting for my V5 and insurance certificates to come through so I can TAX it as it ran out end of July RUBBISH!

With the 'AGU' engine, could you tell me where to look for possible turbo leak's?

 

[Sandip]

its just an engine code, there are a few different ones, i know that this AGU one is a good for big gains, if your planning on a big turbo the internals are capable for the extra power, i'm not sure where to look for this 'leak' might not be a leak? could be your n75 valve, i know that the N75 H is good for that engine

 

[Sandip]

its just an engine code, there are a few different ones, i know that this AGU one is a good for big gains, if your planning on a big turbo the internals are capable for the extra power, i'm not sure where to look for this 'leak' might not be a leak? could be your n75 valve, i know that the N75 H is good for that engine

 

[Jimmeh]

Oh okay, sorry mate i'm with you now.. you were answering one of the above questions from earlier on in the thread. That's cool, I think engine mods are a fair way off yet though tbh. First up is some nice wheels, RS4's or 6's. (18"s)

I'm going to get it in for a service as soon as (when it's taxed..) maybe this will solve the hissing problem. Thanks

 

[Jimmeh]

Me again guys.. I've spent the last three days polishing the new Turbo; it's came up a treat. Reason being it was out of tax, and I couldn't tax it until my new DOCS came through (postal strike..) but anyway...

Having a short n sweet ride tonight, finally showing my fellow friends the new motor... I've lost all the power from this boost leak. I had a look, i couldn't see anything. I'll have to get under it tomorrow. It went alright when I picked them up, but gradually got worse and worse over the 10 minutes we were out.. It struggles to even idle now?

Ideas?

 

[Tastyterrier]

MAF?

Try disconnecting it for a mile or two to see if it runs better.

Out of interest, what products/techniques did you use to get your mirror-like finish?

 

[Jimmeh]

MAF? sorry, whats the MAF.. something Air Flow one would asume?

I took it into my local garage this morning, he got it up on the ramps and the main feed that goes into/from the Intercooler wasn't secure; hense my problem. He re-attached and tightened and runs fine now.

One thing though, it doesn't seem 'as' responsive as it did before this issue occured? Also, I was getting a bit of a blow-off noise after acceleration which was wicked, but was this down to the fractional leak in the hose? Do standard Turbo's spool and blow at all..?

the products used here were Megs #83, followed by a quick coat of AG SRP, Megs #7 and then Victoria Concourse wax.

 

[Tastyterrier]

If you turn the radio and air-con off, you can just hear a whoosh noise coming from the divertor valve on mine.

The MAF is the airflow sensor, Mass Air Flow I believe..could be wrong.

Good to hear it's running right again.