A few questions about the 2001-2002 A4s

HenriEST

HenriEST

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Hello to everyone!

Just joined up and loving the forum and the atmosphere!

For a long time now i have been considering/saving up on buying an A4 as my second car and the one to modify.preferably a 1.9tdi

Just a few questions about the car its self and the faults to look out for when buying one!

E.g

the main problems to look out for ?
when taking it for a test drive what to feel and look?
checking the engine?
what mileage ?
and how long do they last if taking good care of them
im only looking to spend about £4000 so it cant be too low mileage

Thanks alot :)


:kissmyrings:
 
Before you make your mind up we need to know what you mean by second car to Mod as I dont see why you would by a 1.9TDi to mod.
 
Ok, i dont want it to be superfast or anything i just want to make it into a nice looking car e.g like new alloys lowered maybe new bumpers,remap? I just thought diesel would be easy to remap and such, also diesel should get cheaper :uhm:in about 10 years or so lol i have pretty much set my mind onto a diesel A4 now
 
Check it's had the timing belt changed at the required intervals (every 60k miles or 4 years) so a 2001 model should have had 2 belt changes at least, and ask if the water pump was changed at the same time. Check the climate control works. Ensure you get the 130bhp model (red i) and check it is by looking in the spare wheel well where the spec sticker is. It should read 95kW.
The 1.9TDi engines are pretty bulletproof, but if it's been on variable services, which is likely, the supposedly longlife engine oil gets very manky so budget for a new/recon turbo at around 150k. Take it off AVS service, and change the oil regularly (every 6-8k) and the engine is good for about 300k miles. Ours has done 220k and is still nice & tight, but did need a new turbo at 160k, but pretty sure this was the longlife oil as it was like thick black gloss paint when I took over doing the oil changes.
 
The main thing with an oil burner engine: doesn't need to be diesel ;)

A home processing kit and then old, used chipfat works just as well as diesel.... a friend has a verison of one of those built into his car, so he gets the old chip fat free from the work canteen and then pours it straight into his tank.... except his is even more simple than the home processing kits: he doesn't crack it with ethanol, but just has two fuel tanks; regular 55litre tank with chip-fat and a 10 litre diesel tank... he then runs the car on diesel to start it and then a heat exchanger warms up the chipfat until it has the same ignition properties as diesel and then it automatically switches over!

You can whicher version of this to the tune of 2500 litres per year and it is legally excise duty free.... that's nearly 1 tank per week or about 25k miles per year on a 1.9TDI (assuming it's mostly motorway cruising)....
 
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I always check that the air-con works, make sure the econ light switches on and off, make sure the air-con blows cold with the econ light off. Also check the front control arms for wear as these generally go at some point. I have had 2 130 Tdi's never had any major problems with either of them..
 
whats an econ light?

although im looking at a 1.8T
 
Nutkin - the B6's all have an aircon that automatically starts and runs as standard, however for those who prefer NOT to have an aircon runing, there is an "ECON" mode where you turn the aircon off.... that's it.... it's reset itself (to aircon on) unless you've had the car vag-com'd to keep it off...
 
...and don't forget to check out the aircon....it usually stinks of a wet dog smell when you from ECON off or ECON on...or when you 1st start the car up........standard Audi operation that....
 
JohnboyC said:
...and don't forget to check out the aircon....it usually stinks of a wet dog smell when you from ECON off or ECON on...or when you 1st start the car up........standard Audi operation that....
Click to expand...
i got rid of that with a few ac bombs its nice now :)
 
If you keep it on all the time, as it's supposed to be used, then you avoid the smelly problem. Turning it off for long periods actually knackers the seals on the pipes as they dry out and get brittle.
 
lostbok said:
The main thing with an oil burner engine: doesn't need to be diesel ;)

A home processing kit and then old, used chipfat works just as well as diesel.... a friend has a verison of one of those built into his car, so he gets the old chip fat free from the work canteen and then pours it straight into his tank.... except his is even more simple than the home processing kits: he doesn't crack it with ethanol, but just has two fuel tanks; regular 55litre tank with chip-fat and a 10 litre diesel tank... he then runs the car on diesel to start it and then a heat exchanger warms up the chipfat until it has the same ignition properties as diesel and then it automatically switches over!

You can whicher version of this to the tune of 2500 litres per year and it is legally excise duty free.... that's nearly 1 tank per week or about 25k miles per year on a 1.9TDI (assuming it's mostly motorway cruising)....
Click to expand...


One big problem with that. You can't run a VAG PD on any form of bio-diesel. All you'll do if feck the injectors.
 
I now feel a right wally for turning the econ on and sitting there waiting for it to cool down lols.

i thought it was some german word for like E-airen Conditionen
 
Another thought in my mind is that,is there anything too bad that can be wrong with a car what has done over 100thousand miles ? ive also heard that the 1.9 diesels are pretty solid. anyone here witha 1.9tdi over 100k and any problems?
 
1.8T can suffer from a blocked oil pick up pipe...especially around 60-70k...and almost definately if its been on AVS(Audi Variable Servicing) Servicing which basically pushes services out to 18-20k miles...
1.8T's can also suffer from knackered Diverter valves, commonly if the cars been remapped but this is an easy enough fix..
front suspension bushes can become worn especially if regularly driven around speedbumps, and/or has larger wheels..

getting a good spec on the car is a good thing to go for...
theres even optional rear electric blinds in a few cars...
both the 1.9tdi, 2.5tdi and 1.8t are solid engines the 1.9tdi can be taken upto 250bhp+ with the aid of injectors and bigger turbos etc, and the 1.8t can see near to 400bhp before internals need upgrading.

My perfect a4 would've be a 2.5tdi quattro sport with votex kit, electric rear windows, black leather, rns-e(nav), heated seats, rear blinds, and silver or black. but they just didn't exist when i was looking!
 
I recently picked up my A4 Avant 130 TDi Sport with 102k miles on it for a shade over £4k so they are out there if you look hard enough.

As long as the PD diesel engines have been looked after and regularly serviced they should go on for way over 200k miles so don't worry about getting one thats done over 100k. As above, its believed they should go on for a lot longer if they are taken off the long life servicing and serviced at least every 10k miles although there are still people out there who believe the variable servicing doesnt harm these engines.

One thing that will need doing at some point though is to clean out the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculating) valve and inlet manifold on the higher mileage engines. Over time they get coated in sticky black oily sooty crud that restricts the bore of the inlet. Did mine the other week and had about 4-5mm of crud all the way around the outside of the pipe bore. Easy job to do though, although very messy.

As above check the servicing has been regularly carried out, timing belt changed etc. Another thing to check on is the flap motors for the climate control. They lose their zero position settings after a while and may need new motors to rectify the problem. After you turn the car off (after playing with the climate) listen for motors behind the dash 'fidgeting' away for a few minutes, they shouldn't!! I wish I'd known about it when I bought mine as 2 of mine may need replacing.

Also check the windows work ok, my drivers side switch for the passenger side front glass is temperemental and really only works if I pull/push the switch all the way to get the one touch function to work, it rarely will let me move the glass a little at a time. The fault is either the switch or a break in the wiring in the door shut (common fault) as far as I can tell.

Other than that there's not really a lot (that I know of) that goes wrong with them.

Things to look for spec wise, Sport (known later as S-Line) or SE specs available in both Quattro or FWD. Sport come with 20mm lower and harder suspension, 3 spoke leather steering wheel and nicer seats, also after about 2004 they come with the S-Line lower valances front and rear rather than the standard colour coded or grey ones on the earlier sport cars and SE models. Optional extras include, DIS trip computer on dash display (buttons on end of wiper stalk) Cruise control (extra stalk by indicator stalk) Sat nav in dash, electric rear windows, blinds in tops or rear doors, BOSE uprated stereo system, lighting pack (white puddle lights under doors, footwell lights, extra led's internally etc) Xenonn headlights (although HID retrofit is easy) and probably a few more that I cant think of right now.
 
Thanks alot Garfie!! a very thorough and great answer :happy: i have also heard they should last ages from alot of people. and 250bhp craazy, that means alot of modifycations like new brakes,clutch,flywheel turbos, gearbox, most of it enit :D
 
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