Stuson
Registered User
Well I already had it poly bushed but for me they were way too hard for road use. I love the VRS bushes, they still have enough give in them not to be harsh like the poly but much better than the standard rubber.
My A3 1.8T
- Thread starter Stuson
- Start date
Well I already had it poly bushed but for me they were way too hard for road use. I love the VRS bushes, they still have enough give in them not to be harsh like the poly but much better than the standard rubber.
Stuson
Registered User
At last it feels like spring as arrived.
So I took the opportunity to do the finishing touches on my car at the weekend.
I had been getting an intermittent boost leak since the stage 2 map, the car would over boost and go into limp mode. Limp mode was a joke, there would be no limping home with that on, no throttle response at all! Turning the ignition on and off again got rid of it and it wouldn't come back on that jouney but it was a fairly frequent problem so was getting damn annoying.
I tightened up all of the top clamps and that seemed to cure the problem for a while but it did cut out once more. All the other joints are behind the bumper and didn't want to take that off before I could get my intercooler outlets changed to the correct size.
Friday I took the front bumper off to get to the intercooler, Removed the core from the crash bar ready to get the 63mm ends welded on in place of the 57mm outlets. There is a place fairly close to me that does alloy welding which was a bonus. Really happy with the end result and much cheaper than buying a new core.
I got some throttle body cleaner so took off the inlet manifold at the same time. Gave the TB a good clean out and cleaned the manifold up as well, ready for painting. First coat on Saturday then second coat Sunday morning. Fitted the TB and Manifold back on with new gaskets.
Then refitted the intercooler and new front pipes, the hot side is actually a bit tidier than before now as the ASH silicone bend has good leg length compared to the reducing bend I had.
Engine bay looks like this now.
Also fitted a new cold air feed pipe too. The air filter has two feeds now, every little helps.
Recalibrated the throttle body and went for a test drive. I actually think it pulls a little harder now all the charge pipes are 63mm, happy times, lol.
So I took the opportunity to do the finishing touches on my car at the weekend.
I had been getting an intermittent boost leak since the stage 2 map, the car would over boost and go into limp mode. Limp mode was a joke, there would be no limping home with that on, no throttle response at all! Turning the ignition on and off again got rid of it and it wouldn't come back on that jouney but it was a fairly frequent problem so was getting damn annoying.
I tightened up all of the top clamps and that seemed to cure the problem for a while but it did cut out once more. All the other joints are behind the bumper and didn't want to take that off before I could get my intercooler outlets changed to the correct size.
Friday I took the front bumper off to get to the intercooler, Removed the core from the crash bar ready to get the 63mm ends welded on in place of the 57mm outlets. There is a place fairly close to me that does alloy welding which was a bonus. Really happy with the end result and much cheaper than buying a new core.
I got some throttle body cleaner so took off the inlet manifold at the same time. Gave the TB a good clean out and cleaned the manifold up as well, ready for painting. First coat on Saturday then second coat Sunday morning. Fitted the TB and Manifold back on with new gaskets.
Then refitted the intercooler and new front pipes, the hot side is actually a bit tidier than before now as the ASH silicone bend has good leg length compared to the reducing bend I had.
Engine bay looks like this now.
Also fitted a new cold air feed pipe too. The air filter has two feeds now, every little helps.
Recalibrated the throttle body and went for a test drive. I actually think it pulls a little harder now all the charge pipes are 63mm, happy times, lol.
Them ugly 1.8t inlet manifolds look so much better with a bit of paint on them good job the bay looks a lot tidier now.
Stuson
Registered User
They certainly do mate. Finishes off the bay quite nicely now, although I think I will need to paint the dip stick black too! Looks a bit out of place, lol.
Stuson
Registered User
So I was, if you like forewarned that foam air filters don't last......Well here's the proof that they are not great for turbo charged road cars!
As you can see it has failed to stop the ingress of the finer dirt particles, not very good for turbo life.
To be honest I was surprised that a brand new foam filter would do this before a years use.
I have gone back to my cotton air filter now, looks a little bashed but is obviously going to be superior to the foam one. And because it sits right down in the head shield it makes a pretty impressive growling sound now.
As you can see it has failed to stop the ingress of the finer dirt particles, not very good for turbo life.
To be honest I was surprised that a brand new foam filter would do this before a years use.
I have gone back to my cotton air filter now, looks a little bashed but is obviously going to be superior to the foam one. And because it sits right down in the head shield it makes a pretty impressive growling sound now.
At least the modified intercooler removes the bottle neck fron your inlet, you made good power before anyway!!
Foam filters have their place, mostly on off road vehicles in dusty environments that may get wet and need to be field serviceable......
Foam filters have their place, mostly on off road vehicles in dusty environments that may get wet and need to be field serviceable......
Stuson
Registered User
Yeah I'm happy its done now, it was a lot cheaper to get the new ends welded on than buying another core. I think it made a difference but to be honest that could have been atmospheric temp at the time.
Bill did start to run into timing on the last dyno run, whether the bottle neck was the cause it is hard to say. Would have been nice to round the power up to 260 but 4bhp wouldn't be noticeable. I think its more likely that if I had wmi then timing wouldn't have been an issue, or maybe the next size up in intercooler, but again for me, not worth the extra expense just for a few more bhp.
OilAmbulanceUK
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Stuson
Registered User
Well haven't updated for a while.....
Still hadn't got to the bottom of my over boosting problem which by now is getting seroiusly annoying. Tried everything I could think of, MAF, N75, vaccum hoses, charge pipes, MAP sensor, intake temp senor. Still cutting out. Also puffing black smoke out the zorst evrey now and then, wtf is going on.
I think I finally got to the bottom of it with a bit of help from my mate. The fault code makes it look like and abs/esp fault but a closer look said something else was causing it. I found someone had the same fault code on the vortex forum, either O2 senor or ignition switch/relay.
It seems more than likely it is the main (pre-cat) O2 senor is dying . Hopefully a new sensor will sort it, makes sence in that a duff main O2 senor will ****** up the mixture causing it to smoke from running rich. That will be going on tomorrow, fingers crossed that will sort it. If not at least I know to change the ignition switch/relay.
I have now put my standard suspension springs back on now with the Bilstein dampers. I got them powder coated bright red by a local company before refitting them. They did a really nice job with powder coating. Didn't think to take a picture before I put them on the car or with the wheels off, d'oh. Took a couple with the car on the ground though, I think they look good.
Ride is still firmer than standard but with much more forgiveness than the lowing springs.
Handling is really good with this set up, lots of feel with less understeer that you get with lower springs.
Also got some decent rubber on the front now, Bridgestone Potenza S001. I love them, brillaint grip and really good side wall protection. I have always been a fan of Bridgestone, the tyres I used on my motorbike are awesome.
Had a go at trying to clean up my off-side headlight, it has gone quite yellow. I have heard about using different grades of wet and dry paper but I erred on the side of caution and bought a restoring kit. Took some serious elbow grease but it came out alright, needs a bit more work but much better than before.
Noticed that the base plates on my Vibratechnics engine mounts where getting tarnished so I cleaned them up and painted them.
I took some photos of one and the same of an original type mount so you can see directly the difference between the two.
Another issue that has been getting progressivley worse is a feeling of play front the front when changing gear, a bit off whining sound and a slight knocking noise too. I thought it was the inner cv joints on my drive shafts. When up on a ramp it seemed like it was just the off side drive shaft with play in it but turns out it could also be diff and or gearbox play!! Not what I wanted to hear.
With a new driveshaft fitted it didn't take long to realise the problem had not gone away. Gearbox rebuild then Update on this to come..............
Still hadn't got to the bottom of my over boosting problem which by now is getting seroiusly annoying. Tried everything I could think of, MAF, N75, vaccum hoses, charge pipes, MAP sensor, intake temp senor. Still cutting out. Also puffing black smoke out the zorst evrey now and then, wtf is going on.
I think I finally got to the bottom of it with a bit of help from my mate. The fault code makes it look like and abs/esp fault but a closer look said something else was causing it. I found someone had the same fault code on the vortex forum, either O2 senor or ignition switch/relay.
It seems more than likely it is the main (pre-cat) O2 senor is dying . Hopefully a new sensor will sort it, makes sence in that a duff main O2 senor will ****** up the mixture causing it to smoke from running rich. That will be going on tomorrow, fingers crossed that will sort it. If not at least I know to change the ignition switch/relay.
I have now put my standard suspension springs back on now with the Bilstein dampers. I got them powder coated bright red by a local company before refitting them. They did a really nice job with powder coating. Didn't think to take a picture before I put them on the car or with the wheels off, d'oh. Took a couple with the car on the ground though, I think they look good.
Ride is still firmer than standard but with much more forgiveness than the lowing springs.
Handling is really good with this set up, lots of feel with less understeer that you get with lower springs.
Also got some decent rubber on the front now, Bridgestone Potenza S001. I love them, brillaint grip and really good side wall protection. I have always been a fan of Bridgestone, the tyres I used on my motorbike are awesome.
Had a go at trying to clean up my off-side headlight, it has gone quite yellow. I have heard about using different grades of wet and dry paper but I erred on the side of caution and bought a restoring kit. Took some serious elbow grease but it came out alright, needs a bit more work but much better than before.
Noticed that the base plates on my Vibratechnics engine mounts where getting tarnished so I cleaned them up and painted them.
I took some photos of one and the same of an original type mount so you can see directly the difference between the two.
Another issue that has been getting progressivley worse is a feeling of play front the front when changing gear, a bit off whining sound and a slight knocking noise too. I thought it was the inner cv joints on my drive shafts. When up on a ramp it seemed like it was just the off side drive shaft with play in it but turns out it could also be diff and or gearbox play!! Not what I wanted to hear.
With a new driveshaft fitted it didn't take long to realise the problem had not gone away. Gearbox rebuild then
Update on this to come..............
Stuson
Registered User
Getting the O2 sensor out was unsuccessful, as quality as Miltek's systems are, their welds on the sensor bosses are crap. It was so corroded that it just started to turn the top of the sensor off!
The down pipe is going to have to come off so the sensor can be put in a vice and then move the down pipe around to get the damn thing out!
Done a fair bit of research into gearbox's and decided that for me, it wasn't worth rebuilding the 5 speed box. The six speed box is a lot stronger than the 5 speed box is. That is my plan then, to go for the six speed conversion.
I have at this point already ordered the gearbox, clutch and flywheel, drive shafts etc etc.
The box and parts came toady. I will post some photo's and more info soon.
The down pipe is going to have to come off so the sensor can be put in a vice and then move the down pipe around to get the damn thing out!
Done a fair bit of research into gearbox's and decided that for me, it wasn't worth rebuilding the 5 speed box. The six speed box is a lot stronger than the 5 speed box is. That is my plan then, to go for the six speed conversion.
I have at this point already ordered the gearbox, clutch and flywheel, drive shafts etc etc.
The box and parts came toady
. I will post some photo's and more info soon.
Last edited:
Stuson
Registered User
Right then, some info and photo's of my new gearbox.
I got it from Bar-Tek Motorsport, it is 02M 6 speed full race spec gearbox. Peloquin LSD with APR bolts, Billet shaft, 4th gear support and adjusted friction gears. Together with a Sachs sports clutch kit, a Fluidampr crank pully and special oil for the box.
Pallet of upgrades;
New killer gearbox;
Box of goodies;
All the other parts, including a brand new genuine S-Line 6 speed gear knob and gaiter are awaiting at the garage.
Gave the gearbox support bracket and 6 speed starter motor two coats of paint at the weekend.
Got the first coat on the box after work today, second coat tomorrow. Then in the car on Friday ready for fitting on Monday........Can't wait.
I got it from Bar-Tek Motorsport, it is 02M 6 speed full race spec gearbox. Peloquin LSD with APR bolts, Billet shaft, 4th gear support and adjusted friction gears. Together with a Sachs sports clutch kit, a Fluidampr crank pully and special oil for the box.
Pallet of upgrades;
New killer gearbox;
Box of goodies;
All the other parts, including a brand new genuine S-Line 6 speed gear knob and gaiter are awaiting at the garage.
Gave the gearbox support bracket and 6 speed starter motor two coats of paint at the weekend.
Got the first coat on the box after work today, second coat tomorrow. Then in the car on Friday ready for fitting on Monday........Can't wait.
Nice bit of kit, you must really like this car!
Were the vogtland springs that bad that tired stock springs feel better?
I was going to get vogtland springs to refresh the suspension purely because replacement sport springs are excessively expensive from the dealer.
Were the vogtland springs that bad that tired stock springs feel better?
I was going to get vogtland springs to refresh the suspension purely because replacement sport springs are excessively expensive from the dealer.
Stuson
Registered User
Thanks, certainly is. Well it was a necessity to get the gearbox sorted, it's getting worse by the day!
As I plan on keeping the car for some time (with certain plans in mind) it made sense to switch to the 6 speed box, I may have only gone for a LSD but this box was offered to me and I couldn't really resist one this good.
Also I am determined to sort out the running problems with my car and the gearbox was a BIG part of it. I'm getting a compression test done soon to see how the engine health is, I hope it has a good few more years before I need to worry about that. Made good power so hopefully that is a good sign.
On the contrary, I really liked the Vogtland springs.
They gave an even drop front and rear (30mm) with was important for me and ride wise I thought they were good. Pushing trough a corner they were great. The trouble is the road quality is so poor, and this is my daily car so I preferred the extra comfort.
If you're interested, I have them for sale at the moment. ;-)
Old the standard springs may be but they work great with the B4 sport dampers. The B4's are firmer than the standard shocks so still feel's a lot better through corners.
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Stuson
Registered User
Had the six speed gearbox on the car for about two weeks now. Wow, what a piece of kit. Took a while to get used to the new sports clutch because the springs are pretty damn strong (green springs), even thought the action is still quite light because of the single mass flywheel.
Really showed up how knackered my old five speed box was, the gears are so smooth and tight now. Acceleration is much quicker now too due to the different ratio's.
Having an LSD is awesome, instantly noticeable the moment you even slightly accelerate hard through a corner. It has totally transformed the way the power is put down and the corner grip is phenomenal. You defiantly have to adjust you're driving style to suit.
The list of parts that were used for this conversion are as follows;
02M 6 speed gearbox.
240mm clutch and flywheel.
Gearbox oil.
Hydraulic hose.
Lever for shifter.
R32 shifter (20% shorter than standard).
Nut for the above shifter.
N/S Driveshaft.
O/S Driveshaft.
6 Speed Gearbox support bracket.
6 Speed Starter motor.
S-Line 6 speed gear knob and gaiter.
The gear lever and cables are the same and so was the sandwich plate, which was a bonus.
I got a few photos of the inside of the box that I didn't post before.
And some photos of the box painted up.
With the lever and R32 shifter fitted.
And the new S-Line gear knob etc.
Really showed up how knackered my old five speed box was, the gears are so smooth and tight now. Acceleration is much quicker now too due to the different ratio's.
Having an LSD is awesome, instantly noticeable the moment you even slightly accelerate hard through a corner. It has totally transformed the way the power is put down and the corner grip is phenomenal. You defiantly have to adjust you're driving style to suit.
The list of parts that were used for this conversion are as follows;
02M 6 speed gearbox.
240mm clutch and flywheel.
Gearbox oil.
Hydraulic hose.
Lever for shifter.
R32 shifter (20% shorter than standard).
Nut for the above shifter.
N/S Driveshaft.
O/S Driveshaft.
6 Speed Gearbox support bracket.
6 Speed Starter motor.
S-Line 6 speed gear knob and gaiter.
The gear lever and cables are the same and so was the sandwich plate, which was a bonus.
I got a few photos of the inside of the box that I didn't post before.
And some photos of the box painted up.
With the lever and R32 shifter fitted.
And the new S-Line gear knob etc.
Last edited:
Stuson
Registered User
Good news is the below fault has been sorted out by the new main lambda sensor. Bit weird how that links to the the brakes but there you go. The old sensor came out by soaking it in old engine oil, better than having to take the whole down pipe off to get the ****** out!
Address 03: ABS Brakes Labels: 1C0-907-37x-ESP-F.lbl
Part No: 1C0 907 379 G
Component: ESP FRONT MK60 0101
Coding: 0019970
Shop #: WSC 01236 785 00200
VCID: 2E5578E3BA95976E391-5000
1 Fault Found:
01314 - Engine Control Module
013 - Check DTC Memory - Intermittent
This is how I found out to try the lambda sensor, never would have gone to the extremes this person did though! Bit drastic if you ask me.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...l-Module-49-10-No-Communications-Intermittent
Unfortunately this has not stopped the car from smoking. Could be that the valve followers or stem seals are worn as the smoke clears when you get moving. Not really what I wanted to hear but what can you do.
The over boosting issue has not been solved yet either which is frustrating. Next thing to try is a coolant temperature sensor as Ross-Tech suggest, tried everything else they suggest and all I can think of.
I will be fitting a boost gauge in the next couple of weeks to see if that helps to show what is happening when it surges and over boosts.
It does not do it with gentle acceleration nor does it seem to do it when it's full throttle pedal to the floor. But any where between those two pedal positions and that's when it will occur.
I will update when those two things are tried and tested.
But in the mean time, anyones thought's on this are welcome.
Address 03: ABS Brakes Labels: 1C0-907-37x-ESP-F.lbl
Part No: 1C0 907 379 G
Component: ESP FRONT MK60 0101
Coding: 0019970
Shop #: WSC 01236 785 00200
VCID: 2E5578E3BA95976E391-5000
1 Fault Found:
01314 - Engine Control Module
013 - Check DTC Memory - Intermittent
This is how I found out to try the lambda sensor, never would have gone to the extremes this person did though! Bit drastic if you ask me.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...l-Module-49-10-No-Communications-Intermittent
Unfortunately this has not stopped the car from smoking. Could be that the valve followers or stem seals are worn as the smoke clears when you get moving. Not really what I wanted to hear but what can you do.
The over boosting issue has not been solved yet either which is frustrating. Next thing to try is a coolant temperature sensor as Ross-Tech suggest, tried everything else they suggest and all I can think of.
I will be fitting a boost gauge in the next couple of weeks to see if that helps to show what is happening when it surges and over boosts.
It does not do it with gentle acceleration nor does it seem to do it when it's full throttle pedal to the floor. But any where between those two pedal positions and that's when it will occur.
I will update when those two things are tried and tested.
But in the mean time, anyones thought's on this are welcome.
