A3 2.0 TDI 140 '56' - just bought - advice?

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BTank88

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Hello everyone,

We have just bought one of the above. Examined it for an hour, went for a quick test drive, everything looked great, very smooth. Checked everything we could think of, all seemed great.

Apart from the 88k mileage. It is due a service, but has full Audi history up till now.

Should there be anything to look out for in this car after we get it in our hands?

This was a quick buy as we were desperate for a replacement car as our astra h has been a real pain (despite it's low mileage), we hoped Audi can give us reliability.

We paid 7k for it.
 
Welcome to the site.

Manual or Auto?
 
Check the cambelt has been changed. From my experiance, the turbo is the weakest link on this engine, mine went at 74k. If you loose power and it doesn't rev beyond 2k then the engine has gone into limp mode to protect itself. Stop immediately, restart the engine, any sign of white smoke from the exhaust, stop the engine and tow it to a garage!

Otherwise, happy driving as it is a cracking engine, especially when remapped.
 
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Thanks for the advice. Looking at the service history I don't think there has been any work done on the turbo before, so it will be something to keep an eye on.

Sorry, the car is manual.

At first impressions of the car (in my 3-4 min test drive) I floored it in 3rd and 4th till about 4k rpm and have to admit I expected a 2.0 tdi to be a little more, but I did have 4 people in the car and it was just a short go.

Regarding turbos is there any advice to make them last longer? And how expensive are they to replace?

The clutch, ride and the smoothness of the engine was quite impressive though. I will be doing 60 miles a day when I get it in Tuesday and will report back here soon after.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.649387,-1.108227
 
Thanks for the advice. Looking at the service history I don't think there has been any work done on the turbo before, so it will be something to keep an eye on.

Sorry, the car is manual.

At first impressions of the car (in my 3-4 min test drive) I floored it in 3rd and 4th till about 4k rpm and have to admit I expected a 2.0 tdi to be a little more, but I did have 4 people in the car and it was just a short go.

Regarding turbos is there any advice to make them last longer? And how expensive are they to replace?

The clutch, ride and the smoothness of the engine was quite impressive though. I will be doing 60 miles a day when I get it in Tuesday and will report back here soon after.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.649354,-1.108397
 
Thanks for the advice. Looking at the service history I don't think there has been any work done on the turbo before, so it will be something to keep an eye on.

Sorry, the car is manual.

At first impressions of the car (in my 3-4 min test drive) I floored it in 3rd and 4th till about 4k rpm and have to admit I expected a 2.0 tdi to be a little more, but I did have 4 people in the car and it was just a short go.

Regarding turbos is there any advice to make them last longer? And how expensive are they to replace?

The clutch, ride and the smoothness of the engine was quite impressive though. I will be doing 60 miles a day when I get it in Tuesday and will report back here soon after.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.649327,-1.108259
 
Thanks for the advice. Looking at the service history I don't think there has been any work done on the turbo before, so it will be something to keep an eye on.

Sorry, the car is manual NHN.

At first impressions of the car (in my 3-4 min test drive) I floored it in 3rd and 4th till about 4k rpm and have to admit I expected a 2.0 tdi to be a little more, but I did have 4 people in the car and it was just a short go.

Regarding turbos is there any advice to make them last longer? And how expensive are they to replace?

The clutch, ride and the smoothness of the engine was quite impressive though. It was responsive, very consistent when idling, it sounded healthy.

I will be doing 60 miles a day when I get it in Tuesday and will report back here soon after.
 
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It does lose the poke of the turbo effect beyond 3k rpm. Having remapped it, the turbo spools a few rpms later and the added torque helps it pull well in the higher rev range. I get a good 5mpg extra too.

I don't know enough on turbo maintanence, just make sure the oil services are up to date. What I do know is that a new and reconditioned turbos are circa £900 and £450 with 3-4 hours labour.
 
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Check front wishbone bushes, have a habbit of perishing :)
 
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As above check its had a cambelt and water pump change at around 60k miles, if not get it done very soon (£300 odd).
 
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Thanks for the advice guys will keep this in mind.

Keep them coming btw! Would rather spend money on the car now rather than wait for things to break.
 
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Ok just got the new car back home today, did about 60 miles on it first thing after paying for it and it feels fine. Couple of things broken cosmetically inside but it's to be expected with a car with this mileage.

Looking at the service history, this thing needs an oil change asap. Now what's the crack with this? Apparently you need some special oil for this car? Also heard stuff about you must fill it the exact right amount, too much you could wreck your engine etc.

We will consider the new cambelt, water pump and wishbone bushes very soon but oil is a priority atm.

Could someone please advise me with the oil change, as we will be doing it ourselves. Done many oil changes, but only on vauxhalls.
 
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On the turbo issue, we have plenty of people at work that have driven these well past 200k without any issues. In fact, I can not recall anyone having an issue, so in my experience the turbo issues are primarily the result of a remap.
 
BTank88 said:
Hello everyone,

We have just bought one of the above. Examined it for an hour, went for a quick test drive, everything looked great, very smooth. Checked everything we could think of, all seemed great.

Apart from the 88k mileage. It is due a service, but has full Audi history up till now.

Should there be anything to look out for in this car after we get it in our hands?

This was a quick buy as we were desperate for a replacement car as our astra h has been a real pain (despite it's low mileage), we hoped Audi can give us reliability.

We paid 7k for it.
Click to expand...

you could of had my 2.0 tdi sline converion for 7.5k ( its based on a sport) 47k on it
 
With regard to the oil change, check the manual for the correct specification. When filling just check the dipstick regularly when you get past 3 litres to see how much you need to put in. Allow time for the oil to drain down, but Im sure you know that.
 
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Bought some Total oil from ebay.

Realised a potential problem today though, the car has a strange idle. When you are stationary and engine is just idling every second or two there is a slight (but noticable) vibration coming from the engine, its a bit like its misfiring. It can be noticed because its slightly more severe than the normal engine rumble.

Any idea what this might be?

We are planning to change the cambelt this weekend and give it a proper service, the car just needs to make it through the week without problems.
 
If your going to do the cam belt you might as well do the cam belt tensioner, also i think the water pump is recommended at the same time as cam belt.
Are you doing this your self ??? i believe you need some specialist tools .
If so good luck !!!!
 
Yep my dad has access to a friend mechanics garage. Will take the advice of changing the water pump together with cambelt, thanks.

I am having a quick look on eBay I cannot find any genuine Audi ones but there are Gates cambelts.

Are they any good?


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.649871,-1.107496
 
Deffo do tensioner and water pump. Stick with genuine VAG parts with these bits, why take the risk?!
 
One other thing i would remove the google map of your whereabouts from your postings.
You never know who might be looking on this site.!!!
 
jamessg1962 said:
One other thing i would remove the google map of your whereabouts from your postings.
You never know who might be looking on this site.!!!
Click to expand...

Amen brother, there's some snyde feckers using this site for sure, hence why so many members have been hit.

Remove your location details asap Tank.
 
Good stuff guys thanks I guess the cambelt and water pump we will have to get from the dealer or somewhere else.

Will let you know how the work goes!
 
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