Restore / Improve TQS after 5 years ownership

John417

John417

Cactus Green A4 B5 TQS
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Hi everyone, as the title says i have a cactus green TQS which i have owned since september 2012 i paid £1295 for the car and i have put around 30k miles on it in this time the car has been extremely reliable and even now after 5 years i still love it as much as the day i got it and enjoy every journey. In the 5 years i have had many plans with this car at one point i wanted to go big turbo etc but since i was away for a couple of months i came back and the car looked like it didnt really like sitting on the driveway so i figured that what i really want to do with it is to restore it to make it look and drive at its best and improve some things.

So whats the car's condition right now ? Its got around 109k on the clock but real mileage is around 125-130k ( previous owner played with the reading ) Body : Passenger side wing is a bit rusty so need to replace that , rear bumper has some scratches and on one side its a little deeper cause a bike ran into me when parked , usual door trims need to be replaced , front bumper would do with a respray as its faded.

Mechanical : Clutch bites a little higher then it did so for a b5 higher then usual is like right at the top so i will be getting that sorted , the timing belt is due to be replaced , suspension is nearly new other then shocks and springs every arm etc is nearly new , brakes i would want to upgrade and get the 312mm a8 or some nice alternative , engine itself starts first time every time but i do find it weird that the coolant temp doesnt sit at 90 all the time as it used to its usually at 70 now on the motorway in town it is at 90 all the time. And also when in neutral the revs seem to drop to like 500rpm just after revving it it feels like it wants to stall for a second but gets back to around 800rpm and sits there nice and steady.

My plan :
1. Get the mechanical condition to its best , right now i seen a brand new b12 suspension kit for sale for £350 so want to get that , at the same time get the timing belt kit , then the clutch and brakes upgraded.
2. Power - get a chip , 2.5 custom exhaust with sports cat , bigger fmic , new diverter valve or recirc.valve , check for any boost leaks etc. give it a proper service ( spark plugs, all filters , oil , flush the coolant replace with new etc )
3. Body/Interior - Replace the front wing , get the bumpers resprayed , recaro tqs interior , get the steering wheel retrimed or get a different one as mine looks really faded now , get some different 18 inch alloys as the ones i got on look really bad since someone stole the centre caps they look like crap and i cant find new ones anywhere at all , i would want the s4 front bumper if id find one.

So in this thread i will be asking some questions as i go along and will be updating in here , right now the first questions are what could cause the engine revs drop like that , and if anyone has the b12 on a b5 how does it compare to the standard suspension how is the drop adjustable ? Cheers.

The pic that was on ebay when it was for sale
Untitled


PA220032 min


The car now after 5 years
 
Welcome bud loved reading about your b5 doing the same got a a4 b5 mines a avant 1.8t which I am currently restoring/ modifying hopefully we can help each other out I got some threads going with pics if you want to check out for some advice info
 
If you're getting timing belt done, then change water pump and thermostat at the same time. Only use genuine Audi thermostat. Regards wings, avoid EBay rubbish. Genuine parts only. Worth coating inside with rust inhibitor.

The bottom door trims corrode internally. Whip them off and replace throughout as you mention. To remove, undo screw nearest door hinge (just the one screw), then slide door trim off towards the rear of the car without trying to pull it away. Good opportunity to check lower door paint and touch up any corrosion. Clips can be replaced from Audi. If screw simply turns, then drill it out. New ones transform the look of the car.
 
Thanks Andy i will check out your thread , and spartacus i know about the water pump needing to be changed with the timing belt but never heard of the thermostat ? But i will change that too cause i think that might be causing the engine temp to be around 70 instead of 90.
As with the door trims i have seen a set of 4 on ebay for about £37 i think so will buy those , whats the best place to source the wing tho ? I looked on eurocarparts they do have some for £80 i think not sure if thats any good.
 
I need to do my lower door trims as well mine are junk
 
Said you wanna do the 312mm brake upgrade just done mine so I you need any help or advice just hit me up mate
 
Unlike other VAG's the water pump and thermostat isnt quite as critical on a B5 1.8T, as they're mounted seperately. However your thermostat is already knackered (hence the 70c) and if your paying a garage to do it, just getting the waterpump done at the same time is good practice as they do fail.

The B12 kit is a decent upgrade. Its not adjustable, but the ride height ends up "just right" IMO. Just make sure they are specified for "non-aircon" models. Its slightly backwards, but when ordering springs for a 1.8T quattro, they have two options "With aircon" and "without aircon". No idea why, but if you order the "With aircon" kit, they give you V6 front springs which makes the front end sit stupid.

For the wing it might be worth looking for a good used one?
 
For the wings, there is a seller on ebay, autobodytech22, who sell painted wings

They do aftermarket wings for £135 painted and posted or can supply and paint Genuine Audi wings for £189 posted, I’ve yet to order a pair but it seems a decent price considering most good body shops are now charging £300 per panel just to paint it! Ridiculous
 
Cheers for all the help guys i was extremely busy this week working 12 hour shifts till yesterday so didnt do much to the car other then ordered the thermostat , i tried getting in touch with the member who's selling the b12 kit but no response at all so not sure whether its still for sale but the ebay link is still live so i hope i'll be able to get that kit cause £350 seems a good value. As with the wings i had a look and i will propably order them from this seller they seem like a good source but right now i need to spend money on the timing belt and clutch im hoping to get that done next week the garage wanst £180 for the timing belt kit and £300 for the clutch and flywheel does that seem like a good value? I like working on my car myself but tbh im not confident enough to do the clutch and dont even have the time lately im lucky if i can give her a full valet myself which i just have to cause i work on bulding sites so it gets covered with mud everyday. BTW guys i have a pretty good tip for everyone you know AA breakdown cover has this option its called Breakdown Repair Cover , basically it covers up to £500 for part and labour if something causes you to breakdown obviously basic wear and tear parts like brake discs clutch etc are not covered but calipers, everything on the engine etc is covered seems a really good value normal breakdown cover is around £9 a month with options this one is £17 but i already used it once on a previous bmw 325i and saved me £380 so it pays for it self really. Just thought id tell you about it as it seems not many people know about it they were shocked at the garage when i told they AA covers the repair for me :D

Btw Andy tell me more about the brakes i've been trying to find a 312mm A8 discs but all i found was 345 or 323mm , did the new set up make a big difference to the braking perfomance?
 
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/110417276267
Hi mate the link above are the ones I got the upgrade is like night and day
A lot of people said don't get grove and drilled disc they are noisy I have no noise the brake are much improved the discs aren't cheap but wanted good quality are easy to fit and look a lot better behind my 18s just make sure you get the right carriers tt ones I paid 70 pounds on eBay for my carriers I would diffently suggest thinking about doing it not to hard to do took me about 2 hours both sides
 
audi upgrades
That looks great mate i will definetely be doing this upgrade cause the stock brakes feel weak for me around town on the motorway they are plenty strong i once had to brake from 80mph to 0 really quickly out of nowhere cause a van infront of me just stoped and all other lanes were full and to my surprise the car stoped extremely well and kept its balance but as i said around town they seem weak for me and tbh £85 for the pair isnt that bad considering its good quality. How long you had to look for the tt brackets ? They look new or are they used? Im looking at ebay and only one i found is from germany but thats for tt mk2
 
No second hand rub them down and sprayed them will have a look for the carriershttps://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F272884343658
 
Cheers mate will order the discs and carriers possibly next week.

BTW i was just texting with a place that does ecu remaps etc and the guy tell's me that the ecu comes out not the chip , therefore the ecu needs to be soldered back on ? Is that safe ? Sounds risky
 
It all depends what engine code you got because that will depend what ecu you got some do some don't but I will only use a decent company to get it remaped revo or amd somewhere decent
 
Also mate regarding the breaks I also went for some decent pads too really help just make sure you got the tool to push the piston back also check your calipers there are two different type if your calipers spring clip on the front the carriers will work if there no clip then you have Lucas calipers and they won't work
 
The 312mm disks arent from an A8. They're from a B6 A4 3.0.

Yank forums seem to call them A8 parts, but A8's here got a completely different disk, so must be regional variations.
 
I checked the calipers and they do have clips on front so should work , will be getting some parts tomorrow finally a day off so i can actually get some work done already. First thing im going to do is replace the rear discs and pads cause i noticed few days ago that when braking and nearly stoped there's this sound coming from the back wheel it sounds like flat tire rolling and it only does it when braking so im thinking it should be pads or discs and eurocarparts had a 50% off for brakes so ordered the rear discs and pads , also today when going to work in the morning the coolant red light came flashing for like 5 seconds so stoped and checked the coolant and it was actually low so filled it up but doesnt make sense to me cause i flushed the coolant like a year/5k miles ago so im thinking maybe i got a coolant leak or could it be cause of the bad thermostat ? Also what timing belt is the best quality/price belt im thinking INA should be good ?
 
Shouldn't be the thermostat you probably got a tiny leak look down at the engine easy enough to find just look for a pinky staining on hoses or block then that's you leak I have a tiny leak from my oil cooler but mine is tiny I top my coolant up every 5k but only have to put a cup full in that's it good luck regarding the brakes like I said one or the best upgrades I have done just make sure you get the pads with the sensor or your have a light on the dash
 
Thanks Andy , i'll check for the coolant leak tomorrow today i was sorting the rear brake discs and pads was supposed to be here in the morning but they just arrived. I will be sorting the 312mm upgrade as soon as i can just need to get the timing belt kit replaced. I'll update on the weekend about the rear discs and pads hopefully it'll sort out the noise coming from the rear cause its driving me crazy.
 
So i changed the rear discs and pads today finally the sound isnt there it was driving me crazy but i do still have this sort of feel like if one wheel wasnt completely round i had one rear wheel welded 2 yrs ago so might be that one but im sure the car would vibrate when driving faster and it didnt even at 130mph (Germany) but will have it checked anyway. Also bought the headlight restoration kit today and restored the headlights finally looks good will upload before after pics tmw.

If anyone can tell me what timing belt/water pump should i buy would be great as i want to get that done already. Cheers
 
Good news regarding the brakes mate I am not sure on the date pump timing belt I am sure someone on here will know
 
So another weekend is here, still not sure which timing belt i should buy so meanwhile im getting some minor things done. Today i replaced the rocker cover gasket to be honest the old one wasnt bad but it did have a tiny oil leak which was annoying me so i replaced that and put some sealent on the usual spots and where it used to leak
20171125 141855 min

Also changed the pollen filter and put a brand new battery in cause the old one was starting to be weak..
 
How easy was it to take of the rocker cover want to do mine want to take mine off a spray it
 
To be honest mate it was easier then i thought just remove the screws that hold the tube to the cover there's supposed to be 3 5mm but i had only two then the little screws there are 3 of them, remove the wiring that runs to the coils ( just unclip them from the coils and remove ) then remove the coils you can remove the coils with the wiring but its easier to get the wiring out of the way then the coils so u can remove the coils and put them in the boot and just zip tie the wiring out of the way so you can remove the cover dont forget to remove the ground cable thats holding the wiring to the cover (10mm) then remove the 9 nuts again 10mm from the cover one on each edge , and the rest in the middle dont forget the 3 that are right in the middle of the cover between the coils , unclip the timing belt cover there are two clips on each side i removed the intake plastics too so i can push the timing belt cover further back as the intake was in the way then just make sure you have everything out of the way so you can lift the cover up without messing something up its slightly tilted to the drivers side so try to lift it up in that way if it doesnt come off easily try to pry it up gently with a putty knife or something that wont damage it. Then when you'll put it back tighten the 9 nuts on the rocker cover to 7ft/lbs in a criss cross patern.
 
OK don't sound to bad don't know what color to spray my go for red crinkle
 
If i was to paint mine id propably go for blue i think red is too common but they do look good in red tho.
 
True not sure yet I hate the plastic engine cover looks naff
 
Alright so i recently replaced the rear brake caliper cause it was sticky , i thought that would fix the handling issues ive been having basically the car feels loose and im not as confident as i used to be taking bends etc. Nearly every suspension arm is pretty much new, track rod ends are new alignment was done tyres are new and still the car feels wobbly and im starting to think it might be due to the springs cause i just noticed today that the entire car seems to be sitting lower then it used to but the entire car tho not just one side or one axle so its kinda weird isnt it ? You may think that it just seems lower to me but isnt but im 99% sure it is lower i mean there used to be a big gap between the arch and wheel especialy at the back i even got pictures where its noticeable ill try to take a pic tomorrow and upload the old one and the new one so you can judge but anyway i wanted to ask what would be the best way to go suspension wise i wanted the b12 kit but the member on here who advertised them is not responding at all and £600 is abit too much to spend on a car now with christmas coming so im thinking would a decent coilovers do any harm to the car for a while ? Untill i find a good deal on the b12 kit.
 
I've got coilovers not fitted mine yet am waiting till the weather warms up mine are kW coilovers good thing with coilovers is that they are high adjustable
 
Dan did that set up make a noticeable handling difference ? I know about the eibach pro kit i wanted to go for that but figured ill need to change the shocks anyway so might just go for the b12 kit and one member was selling it here for £350 brand new but i msgd him like 5 times and still no response.

Andy howmuch did they set you back ? How is your build going did you find a turbo yet ? Will have to check your thread again.
 
Mine was 500 pounds yeah builds going good still haven't found a turbo not easy to find did get a front mounted intercooler in the week but you know what the British weather like this time of year time I finish work it's dark waiting till March but need to find that turbo
 
Thats a good deal for KW , and yeah i know what you mean i work till 4 come home by half 4 and its dark already so cant really get much done luckily i had few days off this week so got some things sorted i wanted to do something this weekend but i need to sort the handling first cause thats really annoying me im actually thinking of getting my seat toledo tdi back on the road and use that for a while now as my daily and just keep the audi on the drive and work on it slowly cause it gets covered in mud everyday as i work on construction sites so really dont want to be messing it up even more then it is and the toledo is a great work horse so ill propably just get it moted and drive that for a while.
 
Can't wait till the warmer weather also want to get to some shows next year
 
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Yeah it was much better than standard SE setup. Probably a little firmer than the Eibach kit but it wasn't crashy. I'l f the ebay link.
 
Thanks for the links Dan those b4 shocks are pretty cheap did they perform good for long enough ? How many miles did u get from them ?

Im currently getting my toledo ready for mot so i can use that as my daily for a while now untill i get the suspension sorted on my tqs , no one can figure out what the problem is i've got the wheels aligned again free of charge cause i told them they didnt do it properly last month so they adjusted the rear camber but it wouldnt let them get it any lower the guy said i might need a bush cause it wont let him turn the nut anymore , with the car handling as it is i was thinking maybe my strut mounts are rubbish by now and it may cause this boat like handling will try to sort that. Meanwhile i didnt get much work done on it as im spending time on the toledo and my brothers cupra lately aswell few weeks ago he broke his oil sump now he gets this rattling sound from the engine at 3k rpm+ and my scanner read 3 codes 2 of them had to do with the diverter valve one was that its running rich bank 1 or something checked his plugs and they were all covered in oil so guessing the gasket has gone toomany things wrong with that car, hopefully tomorrow i can get the strut mounts and see a difference.
 
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