A4 2.8 Quattro Q's

[Mr K]

I have just bought a 2000 A4 2.8 quattro tiptronic to replace my 99 1.9TDI (pics to follow) and am absolutely over the moon with it, however, im getting very poor MPG.

looking around on the net most people are claiming around 30-35mpg on a run, but i can only manage about 25-26 with light footed motorway driving. i have seen a lot of talk of the lambda sensors, temp sensor, maf, and 'suction pump' (what is this?), how can i diagnose if any of theese are at fault?

also, when i picked it up the DIS was saying i had 10miles of fuel left, and it was empty on the gauge, so i filled it up and it would only take 52litres, and the gauge seems to be a lot more sensitive than my old 1.9TDI

is this likly to be a duff fuel tank sender causing it to think the tank is only 52litre??

lastly i am looking to get the cam belt and water pump done ASAP (its on 75k), how much should i expect a garage to charge for this work, or who can provide the locking tools / good quality pump and cam belt if i wish to do it myself.

i have the haynes covering the small 4pots and fwds, but which is the best manual to use covering the 2.8 / quattro / tiptronic

i will get some pictures up on here soon!

Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[Mr K]

i have been quoted:
£224 labour + vat
£92 for cam belt kit
£88 for an additional tensioner thats not always needed
£44 for water pump

£513 including vat and pukka audi parts.

im thinking i will do it my self, where can i get the locking tool? and what is this aditional tensioner that 'isn't always needed'? should i do it as a matter of course?

 

[aragorn]

i'd do the tensioners and rollers regardless, if it fails your engines scrap.

Our 1.8T is the same in that the dis shows empty and you'll only get 55L or so in the tank. Probably is a fuel sender issue, but we look at it as being a nice safety net, and you should never really be running the car down into the last dregs of the tank anyway...

As for the fuel economy, sounds pretty fair to me. Our 1.8T FWD does on average 31mpg, thats about 70% motorway (although its commuting, so not just constant 70mph). You've got a thirsty V6 and a 4WD system using up extra power, so 26mpg sounds fine.

You might want to change the CTS and lambda as a matter of course, they wear out and become lazy over time and while they wont flag any faults they will cause poorer running. Also make sure your tyre pressures are spot on, our tyres tend to slowly go down over a few months, and the difference between 32 and 28psi is a few mpg...

 

[auroan]

My last car was a 2.8q Your MPG is about right.... esp if it's an auto. If you do need to check everything is ok though, your best bet to start is a vagcom scan

Great cars, but can be expensive to run....I got rid because I got a dog (rear diff was on it's way out)

If you want manuals I'll pm you some info about where you can get the official erwin workshop manual from that audi garages use ;-)

 

[AndyMac]

Yep, same here 22-24mpg and that's on a manual, so you're doing well!

 

[Mr K]

haha, thats OK then, thanks for the replies! im going to give it a good service, althought the history is up to date nad it had a service 3000miles ago the plug leads look very tired and i think it will all benefit from a freshen up.

i will test the lambda sensors as per the guide on audiworld.

mines idleing at about 600rpm when warm, and although its perfectly smooth it seems a little low to me, going to check the suction pump and clean the MAF sensor with some carb cleaner too (is this OK to do on the 2.8 maf? it was pretty common place with the 1.9TDI, i assume its the same technolgy).

what should it be ideling at?

auroan - im very interested in the manuals!

 

[auroan]

The quattro version does idle low. I thought something was wrong until I checked the tech specs.

Manuals will be with the wipers

 

[nomadx]

i get 22 - 24 from mine too

 

[Mr K]

cheers!

i gave my maf a clean with some carb cleaner and im now getting about 26mpg average!

as promised, heres some pics:

and i didnt waste any time fitting those aero wipers:

and draining the scuttle panel....

next job to do is to check out the exhaust - one of the mounts is broken on the back box - hopefully it will sit tight until i can afford a stainless cat-back (any suggestions/recommendations? milltek or supersport are my favorites atm)

as i mentioned previously the cam belt is due in 5k (its on 75k) so that should probably be done next, then i can look at why the cruise control doesn't work, fix the blown bose speaker, and sort out an ipod connection (or a nav + head unit?).

the plans are to drop it on some 17's (its my daily for a 55mile a day commute, some of which is on rough A roads so needs to be usable), and do the TT carrier/A8-A6 disc upgrade, and paint the calipers black.

i will keep you upto date as it come along.

 

[auroan]

Looks good. Glad to see my aeros went to good use.

 

[aragorn]

i really like that color, looks a lot cooler than the ming blue ours is painted!

If your driving on rough roads i'd think very carefully about fitting 17's as they drop the profile to 45 and 45 profile tyres dont have much give in the sidewalls at all.

The 55 profile tyres on the 16's will give a much better ride and be less prone to damage on pot holes etc than anything smaller would be. Our car is staying on the 16's for this reason and the fact that we're doing similar mileage to you, and with good sticky tyres only lasting 10-15k it helps that 205/55r16's are a good bit cheaper than 17's or larger.

Just re-did the scuttle panel drain on our car at the weekend, its quite appalling they get blocked up so easily. I think i'm going to try and get a scuttle cover off a later car to try n stop some of the crap getting in there.

 

[dsmclark40v]

next job to do is to check out the exhaust - one of the mounts is broken on the back box - hopefully it will sit tight until i can afford a stainless cat-back (any suggestions/recommendations? milltek or supersport are my favorites atm)

Where abouts are you based because I was thinking of trading my car in soon so you could buy my miltek exhaust of me. but i would need to swap with your exhaust in exchange. PM me if you are interested. I am in Hampshire
Sam

 

[nomadx]

i love the interior in there mate, looks great.

 

[Mr K]

thanks for the kind words!

I might as well turn this into my build thread, as i have a few changes planned, nothing too major, the usualy wheels, suspension, brakes etc, but relativly subtle.

time for an update then; ive done about 4k miles in the past two months in it, all's well so far! still enjoying the extra grunt. had some great fun in the snow, and it got me to work:

^ thats it in the work car park when i arrived, I was one of 4 (out of 80) that made it in, which is all well and good, but but a mega waste of time as the office was closed! LOL.

some slightly more shiney pictures:

all i have done since that last update is clean the maf, change the dipped beam bulbs to philips ones that claimed to deliver 80% more light (made a big difference to my naff dipped beam) and get some new number plates from my local audi dealer. (rear one fitted, front still do to, need to work out of how unstick it without breaking it)

My old car is now sold, so its time to sort the cam belt on this one, and i have just orderd a new coolant temperature sensor, and the A6 strut brace mounts.

lowering after cam belt i hope.

 

[Mr K]

p.s. aragorn - both of mine have been face lift cars, and have had the scuttle cover, but it doesnt seem to stop the ***** getting in.

 

[Mr K]

Time for another update. not a great deal of progress over the past couple of months due to being busy getting the hill climb car ready for the start of my first season; with that out of the way it was time to give the ol' girl some love!

it has just rolled over 82,000miles, so the cam belt was over due, an email to siena saw all the right bits on my door step (siena; i will get the old pump and maf back to you ASAP).

in for surgery:

it got a new cam belt, fan belt, water pump (the old one is shot!), cam belt tensioner, cam belt idler, coolant temperature sensor, maf sensor, air filter and a fresh load of coolant.

everything went to plan bar three things, i decided before i filled it up with coolant to replace the CTS, in the process i broke the clip that holds it, so a dash to my local VW dealer and 39pence later that was sorted; i also didnt get time to change the spark plugs/oil/oil filter, so will do that on satruday, and lastly i wasnt able to improve the fit back edges of the bumper (it was getting late by this time and i couldnt really be *****, so it went strait back on. one for the future that!)

the new maf has made a small difference, it used to go best just off full throttle, and the new CTS made a difference to the overall grunt im sure. definitely seems to have a bit more go. the MPG does seem to have improved a bit too, but its hard to tell this early on.

i had always said i needed to give it this big service before i cracked on with any modifications; but bits have slowly been collected; the new wheels are here and the refurb has begun, the lowering springs are on order, and ive been doing a lot of investigation into tweeking the stereo a bit.

more on all this soon enough though, the ball should be well and truely set into motion this coming weekend. more updates to follow, including a full 'to-do' style list i expect!

 

[Siena]

Great stuff, Nick.

Having a nice big garage to work in is an added bonus!

 

[audinary]

Very nice car mate. Is that Santorin blue, like mine, or yet another different blue?

Also, is that an '80s Reliant Scimitar in your garage?

 

[Mr K]

Yea, a nice big garage does make jobs a lot easier! its not quite deep enough though, with the A4 in there you only dont have a great deal of room at each end, hence working with the doors open! cant really complain though!

Im not sure what colour it is, i think its one of the optional 'pearl' range as it looks very different from different angles; i will find out soon as i need to touch up a few stone chips, and it has a lot of rust coming through on the boot lid at the ends of the handles, and the rust is setting in around the bottom back edge of the rear passenger door seal?!!?

i plan to take it to a friends bodyshop and get the car properly polished as theres a lot of little scratches and a few slightly satin areas, and then i will decide if i want to get the bumpers and boot lid repainted.

it is indeed a 80s scimitar! (im impressed ) that ones my brothers 1.8 turbo, ive got a black 1.6 CVH powerd one on twin 40s with a full 6 point cage, bucket seats and harnesses that im using for sprints and hill climbs.

 

[audinary]

Those Scimitars were very underrated cars, and lots of fun. Yours looks especially fun. The 1800 turbo with the Nissan Silvia engine was extremely quick, but the CVH was more tuneable, I seem to remember.

I'm pretty sure that colour is the same as mine, Santorin Pearl, which does have a lovely pearl effect in certain lighting, but it's a ****** to try and pick that up in photos. The more I see them, the more I need to get some facelift headlamps....

 

[Mr K]

they are indeed extremely good fun! a real drivers car.

the CVH is very tuneable, but hits a bit of a wall at about 145-150hp and gets very very expensive past that. mines quite highly tweeked, but for some reason isnt making the power it should, im only getting 106hp atm. will be building a new engine soon enough though.
the 1.8T goes very well, about 140ish hp stock, you can hit about 180hp easily enough, which gets the 0-60 well into the 5 second area.

yea, its impossible to capture the colour! its very much in need of a good paintwork restoration. theres a couple of small 'penny' dents too, which should come out without any paintwork damage.

 

[Mr K]

damn, just spoke to H&R to find out where my springs are; the answer was 'germany'. they where meant to have called me after i placed my order to confirm if i was still happy to go ahead as they need to import them, which will take another 8-10 days. but they forgot, so its going to be 8-10 days from now + 2-4 days postage. i orderd them 7 days ago. frustrating.