Hi all,
I am posting a brief history of my 2.5TDi experiences, in order to help others decide where to go for fixes.
Firstly, about a year ago I bought a 2.5TDi Quattro Avant at auction for £1500, taxed for a month, tested for 3 months, for the wife.
It had a couple of minor faults, a couple of front suspension parts, the dead pixel fault, and the concert problem. For the test, I bought a full suspension arm kit from ATP Auto-Teile-Poellath Handels GmbH :: -->, for about £130 including delivery. The parts arrived very promptly and I fitted them, with the usual grief with the top arms.
I would use the German firm again. :thumbsup:
I also fixed a sticking brake or two, and generally did some tarting up.
I then looked at the dead pixel problem, but was unable to fix it myself.
I sent the dash to BBA Reman for repair. This action has indirectly cost me about £3500.:Flush:
It was returned (after 5 days, not the advertised 3) as BER, for a cost of £40ish. When I refitted the dash, the clock was jerking, and the DIS pixels had all but gone. What pixels were visible constantly displayed brake light and head light fault, along with the attendant beeping. I queried this, and was basically fobbed off.
No problem, I downloaded a cracked copy of VAG-COM
(Yes, I know, but wait for the end!), got a lead from E-Bay and a laptop.
I live in the North of Scotland, at a remote location. My driveway is a mile long dirt track, hence wanting the Quattro for the winter.
I received my Diagnostic bits, and hooked up to the Audi. We were on the way out for a meal, and I was going to check the car whilst the wife drove down our drive. Not wanting to boot up the laptop until we reached the road due to bumping, I switched it on on the tarmac road.
The laptop took about a mile of road to boot up, and start to connect to the car, buy which time the car had juddered to a halt. We had put a large hole in the sump coming down, and as there was no DIS, and constant irregular beeping, we had no Oil Pressure warning. (Incidentally, for a little extra annoyance, I had obtained a digger at home, and after the meal was bringing a mate back so we could level my road the following day!)
A couple of days later, with the sump off, it was obvious the crankshaft had gone.
A trawl of forums and the internet gave me used engines for £1000-£1500, 'reconditioned' for £1500-2200, or remanufactured for £2000-£2500. For peace of mind I went for the expensive, remanufactured option as I did not know how I could trust what I was getting otherwise. The choice was Ivor Searles, or Vege. In the end I chose Vege.
It's hard to say whether I would use Vege again - probably.
They promised me a fully dressed, remanufactured engine for £2000 +VAT, with an extra £400ish for the turbo, to be done in about 2-3 weeks.
The block ended up damaged, (bearings had spun) so I got a block from All Audi £400ish. I would definitely recommend him, for his advice and help if nothing else.
After a catalogue of problems, I eventually got the engine back after about 2 months, but it was bare, with no belts pulleys etc. I called them, and they told me they did not dress these engines, but as a goodwill gesture, they would stand by their verbal agreement and complete the job at cost to them (I would guess about £500). For this reason only, I would recommend them. They held their hands up and behaved honestly. The workmanship, I'm sure, is fine, and although I was not happy with the delays, they could have left me with a bill for getting cambelt etc parts. If anybody uses them, (or Ivor Searle, as a quick check showed they would have supplied the same) CHECK what you are getting. Many parts I would have expected are part of the engine are NOT! I also think I was a bit worse off than most as a 2.5TDi was not common, and an 'off the shelf' swap like many other engines would be.
I sent the dashboard to ECU Testing, and £175 got my dashboard fixed, 2 year warranty and back home within 3 days. Excellent service
I also bought a Panzer Plate, from Diesel Geeks for about £150. They took 5 days to deliver from the States, when firms in England were taking up to a month to deliver 'next day' due to 'weather!'
It was a piece of cake to fit, and is a well made bit of kit. Well done the Cousins!
Having fitted the engine, (with various faults and problems in temperatures as low as -15
), I decide to get VCDS Lite from Ross-Tech, as I thought it was a good bit of software, and they deserved some payment. The license only cost $99, so I went ahead.
Unfortunately, the TDi Timing graph plugin for VCDS Lite is an old version, that does not have the V6 diesels. Whilst I know I can go into Basic Setting Group 4 and just set it, I wanted to check the Graph, as the Labels in group 4 appear to be wrong. (I'll look into it and pass to Ross-Tech) I was a bit miffed, but still happy enough to pay the extra money (credit was given for my earlier purchase) for the KII lead.
Well done RossTech/FedEx.The lead arrived in three days! Car timed etc all now fine
A few times I spoke to Aberdeen Audi for help or parts, and contrary to popular belief, they were the model of assistance and reasonable pricing. I will use them again for some parts, and would just say that not all dealerships are stealerships.
The car is now running after about 3-4 months of hassle, with only the radio volume to fix. The wife is happy, and I am skint!
I hope this little tale is of use/interest to people.
I am posting a brief history of my 2.5TDi experiences, in order to help others decide where to go for fixes.
Firstly, about a year ago I bought a 2.5TDi Quattro Avant at auction for £1500, taxed for a month, tested for 3 months, for the wife.
It had a couple of minor faults, a couple of front suspension parts, the dead pixel fault, and the concert problem. For the test, I bought a full suspension arm kit from ATP Auto-Teile-Poellath Handels GmbH :: -->, for about £130 including delivery. The parts arrived very promptly and I fitted them, with the usual grief with the top arms.
I would use the German firm again. :thumbsup:
I also fixed a sticking brake or two, and generally did some tarting up.
I then looked at the dead pixel problem, but was unable to fix it myself.
I sent the dash to BBA Reman for repair. This action has indirectly cost me about £3500.:Flush:
It was returned (after 5 days, not the advertised 3) as BER, for a cost of £40ish. When I refitted the dash, the clock was jerking, and the DIS pixels had all but gone. What pixels were visible constantly displayed brake light and head light fault, along with the attendant beeping. I queried this, and was basically fobbed off.
No problem, I downloaded a cracked copy of VAG-COM
(Yes, I know, but wait for the end!), got a lead from E-Bay and a laptop.I live in the North of Scotland, at a remote location. My driveway is a mile long dirt track, hence wanting the Quattro for the winter.
I received my Diagnostic bits, and hooked up to the Audi. We were on the way out for a meal, and I was going to check the car whilst the wife drove down our drive. Not wanting to boot up the laptop until we reached the road due to bumping, I switched it on on the tarmac road.
The laptop took about a mile of road to boot up, and start to connect to the car, buy which time the car had juddered to a halt. We had put a large hole in the sump coming down, and as there was no DIS, and constant irregular beeping, we had no Oil Pressure warning. (Incidentally, for a little extra annoyance, I had obtained a digger at home, and after the meal was bringing a mate back so we could level my road the following day!)
A couple of days later, with the sump off, it was obvious the crankshaft had gone.
A trawl of forums and the internet gave me used engines for £1000-£1500, 'reconditioned' for £1500-2200, or remanufactured for £2000-£2500. For peace of mind I went for the expensive, remanufactured option as I did not know how I could trust what I was getting otherwise. The choice was Ivor Searles, or Vege. In the end I chose Vege.It's hard to say whether I would use Vege again - probably.
They promised me a fully dressed, remanufactured engine for £2000 +VAT, with an extra £400ish for the turbo, to be done in about 2-3 weeks.
The block ended up damaged, (bearings had spun) so I got a block from All Audi £400ish. I would definitely recommend him, for his advice and help if nothing else.
After a catalogue of problems, I eventually got the engine back after about 2 months, but it was bare, with no belts pulleys etc. I called them, and they told me they did not dress these engines, but as a goodwill gesture, they would stand by their verbal agreement and complete the job at cost to them (I would guess about £500). For this reason only, I would recommend them. They held their hands up and behaved honestly. The workmanship, I'm sure, is fine, and although I was not happy with the delays, they could have left me with a bill for getting cambelt etc parts. If anybody uses them, (or Ivor Searle, as a quick check showed they would have supplied the same) CHECK what you are getting. Many parts I would have expected are part of the engine are NOT! I also think I was a bit worse off than most as a 2.5TDi was not common, and an 'off the shelf' swap like many other engines would be.
I sent the dashboard to ECU Testing, and £175 got my dashboard fixed, 2 year warranty and back home within 3 days. Excellent service
I also bought a Panzer Plate, from Diesel Geeks for about £150. They took 5 days to deliver from the States, when firms in England were taking up to a month to deliver 'next day' due to 'weather!'
It was a piece of cake to fit, and is a well made bit of kit. Well done the Cousins!
Having fitted the engine, (with various faults and problems in temperatures as low as -15
), I decide to get VCDS Lite from Ross-Tech, as I thought it was a good bit of software, and they deserved some payment. The license only cost $99, so I went ahead. Unfortunately, the TDi Timing graph plugin for VCDS Lite is an old version, that does not have the V6 diesels. Whilst I know I can go into Basic Setting Group 4 and just set it, I wanted to check the Graph, as the Labels in group 4 appear to be wrong. (I'll look into it and pass to Ross-Tech) I was a bit miffed, but still happy enough to pay the extra money (credit was given for my earlier purchase) for the KII lead.
Well done RossTech/FedEx.
The lead arrived in three days! Car timed etc all now fineA few times I spoke to Aberdeen Audi for help or parts, and contrary to popular belief, they were the model of assistance and reasonable pricing. I will use them again for some parts, and would just say that not all dealerships are stealerships.
The car is now running after about 3-4 months of hassle, with only the radio volume to fix. The wife is happy, and I am skint!
I hope this little tale is of use/interest to people.
