Considering some upgrades and fixes on my A4

[Sir Chumpalot]

Having not had the car long, I'm already thinking of a few upgrades and fixes, nothing particularly special or expensive as I didn't pay much for the car to begin with.

Here is what I have in mind:

Upgrades

Smoked side repeaters
Easy enough to source off eBay.

Facelift headlights?
Do these exist? Mine is a 98 plate and the lights are starting to yellow a bit.

Smoked or facelift rear lights
Again, are these available?

Wheels
I'm looking at some A4 18" wheels off of an 05 plate. I take it these will be a straight swap?

Fixes

Door
The offside passenger door clunks when opened and the bolts holding it on seem to move quite a bit. Do these just need tightening? More lubrication perhaps?

Computer
The computer seems to be all over the place. MPG jumps anywhere from 10 to 90 and seems to be completely random. Small problem I know but wondered if there was perhaps a way to reset it. Or does it need attaching to a computer (VAG COM?)

Dash light
I have an orange light on the dash which is illuminated with a line through it. Does this indicate a blown bulb somewhere? I've checked the rear and front lights and nothing seems to be amiss. What could this be?

Grateful for any sort of advice on any of the above.

Cheers

Dave

 

[aragorn]

What does the symbol in the middle of the strikethru look like?

If its a bulb its probably the brake lights.

Computer i'm not sure on, instantaneous fuel consumption usually varies pretty much directly with the throttle position.

The bolts holding the door on shouldnt be loose... I suggest you tighten them up before the bolts snap.

facelift lights are easy enough to do. On the front you need to grind a little bit of the wing away and solder on the new style plugs, on the rear you need to modify the wiring slightly to fit facelift lamps.

I'd suggest getting proper OEM Valeo lights up front, the cheaper copies can be shocking in quality and light output.

 

[Sir Chumpalot]

Thanks for your reply.

I checked the brake lights when purchasing the car. They seemed fine. The symbol is a circle with a rectangle on top. Not sure if this makes a difference...

I'm going to have a good look over the car tonight, clean up the engine bay a little bit and see what's what.

Is there a splitter available for the A4 (B5)?

 

[dieselfitter251]

Having not had the car long, I'm already thinking of a few upgrades and fixes, nothing particularly special or expensive as I didn't pay much for the car to begin with.

Here is what I have in mind:

Upgrades

Smoked side repeaters
Easy enough to source off eBay.

Facelift headlights?
Do these exist? Mine is a 98 plate and the lights are starting to yellow a bit.

Smoked or facelift rear lights
Again, are these available?

Wheels
I'm looking at some A4 18" wheels off of an 05 plate. I take it these will be a straight swap?

Fixes

Door
The offside passenger door clunks when opened and the bolts holding it on seem to move quite a bit. Do these just need tightening? More lubrication perhaps?

Computer
The computer seems to be all over the place. MPG jumps anywhere from 10 to 90 and seems to be completely random. Small problem I know but wondered if there was perhaps a way to reset it. Or does it need attaching to a computer (VAG COM?)

Dash light
I have an orange light on the dash which is illuminated with a line through it. Does this indicate a blown bulb somewhere? I've checked the rear and front lights and nothing seems to be amiss. What could this be?

Grateful for any sort of advice on any of the above.

Cheers

Dave

Um, have you changed the mode on the computer with switch on the end of the stalk.. not meaning to point out the obvious just, checking.

Also, the light mod is easy. There's loads of help on this forum for most of the points you've raised. You might also want to check out www.audiworld.com it's US forum but those chaps know their stuff too, some nice modding ideas, (personally I prefer this site but they've got some well documented how to's)..

Good luck mate! Just one thing. What type of A4 do you have?

 

[Sir Chumpalot]

.

Good luck mate! Just one thing. What type of A4 do you have?

Thanks for the reply. Will check out Audiworld.

It's a B5. 2.8 V6.

 

[Sir Chumpalot]

Can someone point me in the direction of where the throttle body is please? As I'd like to give it a clean!

 

[Sir Chumpalot]

Um, have you changed the mode on the computer with switch on the end of the stalk.. not meaning to point out the obvious just, checking.

You mean cycling through the different displays? MPG, range etc...? If so then yes.

 

[aragorn]

Circle with the rectangle is the bulb warning (its a picture of a lightbulb?). It comes on with the ignition and will stay on until you press the brake pedal, at which point it should breifly display OK then go out...

 

[Sir Chumpalot]

Thanks, any ideas on the location of the TB? I've scoured the interweb and have had no luck whatsoever.

Cheers

 

[aragorn]

Just follow the inlet pipe from the airbox.

Its probably on the rear of the inlet manifold.

 

[Sir Chumpalot]

Thanks. I took off what I thought was the throttle body but it ended up being just another piece of pipe with some gauze type stuff in it. Definitely wasn't it.

Will have another look tonight when I get in from work.

Have tried to get rid of the bulb warning light by pressing the brake but it just doesn't go.

 

[aragorn]

Then it thinks there's a fault with a bulb somewhere.

I'd double check the brake lights are working, and have the correct rating bulbs in.

Throttle body is further along the pipe. That "gauze" thing is the airflow meter, which sits between the airbox and the throttle body. It will be a lump of cast alloy, bolted to the rear of the inlet manifold, at the back of the engine.

 

[Sir Chumpalot]

Thanks, I think it's going to be a pain to get to. Luckily I have small hands I'll be having a bit of a play around this weekend and hopefully be putting some new wheels on amongst other things (above).

Thank you very much for all your help. It's greatly appreciated.

 

[aragorn]

Not sure why you want to clean it anyway? Are you having running problems? If not then i wouldnt bother. I know i certainly haven't touched ours in the 30k we've had the car.

 

[Sir Chumpalot]

The car runs and pulls just fine. On idle however it is ever so slightly erratic. Not by much, but I'm hoping a clean and some new gearbox oil will do the trick.

 

[auroan]

The idling will more likely be the ISV which is at the back of the engine below the throttle body. This controls the the airflow that bypasses the throttle body when the engine is at idle.

Think of the ISV as a mini throttle body.

 

[Sir Chumpalot]

The idling will more likely be the ISV which is at the back of the engine below the throttle body. This controls the the airflow that bypasses the throttle body when the engine is at idle.

Think of the ISV as a mini throttle body.

Thanks, can I improve the idling by cleaning this? Or perhaps replacing it?

The idling (once the car gets warm) is enough so that you can feel vibrations through the cabin. Not sure if this is a common fault or not.

 

[dsmclark40v]

could be the engine breather when I first got mine they were broken as they were only repaired with electrical tape by the previous owner, and that was causing strange idling.

you can find a write up here http://www.audiworld.com/tech/eng.html its under the A6 section as breather hose repair

 

[Sir Chumpalot]

Thank you, will take a look.