Today I had my first proper drive in an S3........ and ive owned the car months.
I bought the car off another member.... who since hasnt been back on here funny enough..... and all seemed fine.
No running issues, no abnormal smoke, impressive service record etc.
Then, 3 weeks into ownership all hell broke loose. Car felt sluggish. Was using coolant at the rate i was refilling it weekly.
Sniff test said head gasket was fine but a leak was discovered on one of the turbo coolant pipes. Replaced pipe.
Then the PCV system had a fit. So i just gave in and binned it for a catch-can.... which highlighted other vacuum leaks which i sorted.
Then i developed misfires. Coils were swapped about and the misfire stayed on cylinder 1. so i changed the spark plugs. made no difference.
Checked the wires - fecked. So i soldered in a new loom.
Car ran reasonably ok but still had misfires in high boost.
Compression test showed a leak. Coolant started goingt down, white smoke from exhaust - didnt take much brain power to figure head gasket had called it a day.
So left it a few weeks (dangerous but had no choice) and changed head gasket and every other gasket on the head and thermostat.
Also had to clean off thick rings of k-seal.... which means it had gone before and had a quick fix.
Put it all together - ran like a bag of spanners!!!
checked timing - all good. Drove it for an hour and it started running really well and smoothed out..... except i now had a screaching dying cat sound when boost kicked in.
So left it there for a week and just spent an hour tighening exhaust/turbo manifold bolts, all jubilee clips, double checked vacuum lines and went for a drive.......
F*ck me it flys!!!!! It feels lightening quick and responsive (loaded revo stg 1 back on) and im chuffed.
Feels much quicker than when i first bought it - can actually feel it pushing me into my seat now!
Time to start putting money aside for some mods now!
To anyone else having issues with their car and are getting disheartened - stick at it. It will all work out haha!
Sorry for massive post - just wanted to put across the pain ive had with this car
I bought the car off another member.... who since hasnt been back on here funny enough..... and all seemed fine.
No running issues, no abnormal smoke, impressive service record etc.
Then, 3 weeks into ownership all hell broke loose. Car felt sluggish. Was using coolant at the rate i was refilling it weekly.
Sniff test said head gasket was fine but a leak was discovered on one of the turbo coolant pipes. Replaced pipe.
Then the PCV system had a fit. So i just gave in and binned it for a catch-can.... which highlighted other vacuum leaks which i sorted.
Then i developed misfires. Coils were swapped about and the misfire stayed on cylinder 1. so i changed the spark plugs. made no difference.
Checked the wires - fecked. So i soldered in a new loom.
Car ran reasonably ok but still had misfires in high boost.
Compression test showed a leak. Coolant started goingt down, white smoke from exhaust - didnt take much brain power to figure head gasket had called it a day.
So left it a few weeks (dangerous but had no choice) and changed head gasket and every other gasket on the head and thermostat.
Also had to clean off thick rings of k-seal.... which means it had gone before and had a quick fix.
Put it all together - ran like a bag of spanners!!!
checked timing - all good. Drove it for an hour and it started running really well and smoothed out..... except i now had a screaching dying cat sound when boost kicked in.
So left it there for a week and just spent an hour tighening exhaust/turbo manifold bolts, all jubilee clips, double checked vacuum lines and went for a drive.......
F*ck me it flys!!!!! It feels lightening quick and responsive (loaded revo stg 1 back on) and im chuffed.
Feels much quicker than when i first bought it - can actually feel it pushing me into my seat now!
Time to start putting money aside for some mods now!
To anyone else having issues with their car and are getting disheartened - stick at it. It will all work out haha!
Sorry for massive post - just wanted to put across the pain ive had with this car
