Just bought an Audi A4 1.8 Turbo (Quattro) - need some advice ...

[Pat.J]

Hi there,

COMPLETE AUDI VIRGIN ...

Just bought a 2004 Audi A4 1.8 Turbo (Quattro - 190 bhp), has 70k on the clock and looks great. Test drove and all felt fine. Have been driving it for a few days and have a couple of queries ...

- reverse gear is little difficult to find, it can sometimes take me 4-5 goes to find, is there a known issue or a knack I am not aware off?

- re Turbo, haven't got a clue ... when does it kick in (rpm wise)? Am I supposed to hear it ... can't hear a thing (yet) ;-(

- going to a service next week. Cambelt and oil filters have just been changed, have been told sparks are OK, what else specifically should I ask my car repair dude to look into?

- with age the allow wheels have kerb marks/dents here and there, I have heard there companies that come and do it outside your house. any one knows a good / cheap company near Leeds (WY)? How much do I need to budget ...

- any other tips welcome and appreciated.

Many many thanks ...

 

[Mrmok]

Check with Audi to see if our coil packs and plenum chamber service recalls have been done......if not it's a freebie

You don't really hear the turbo kick in but you certainly feel it at about 3k, don't know of any known issues with gear selection, any idea when clutch was replaced?

 

[Pat.J]

Thanks for the reply, no idea about clutch at all, no indication in papers / book supplied. When would a clutch usually be replaced on this car?

how much roughtly for coil packs and plenum chamber service?

 

[CMD]

The Plenum Chamber is a easy DIY (audi will not do this) Take out the battery and clear the rubber grommets (3 in total) as they get blocked and water can build up which may find it's way into the driver or passenger footwells (bad news).. Phone your local Main dealer and give them your Reg number and ask if its on the list for Coil Pack recall (should be ) and there is NO charge. Changing the oil on 1.8T every six months is good practice. I would Not use the mobile wheel refub Company's . if you can have them done by a local refurb shop. You should feel and hear the turbo spool up easy on our 190T's. I have No idea's on what might be at fault with the reverse gear. I would ask for the gear box oil to be changed as i done mine last year and felt is was well worth it. .... P.S Welcome

 

[Pat.J]

You guys rock ... rang the Audi dealer and yes, the car is on the recall list, so I've it in for next week + free health check and complimentary clean and vac! Amazing ...!

On the Turbo side I can feel it but not sure I can hear it ... what RPM would you say (roughy) I'd hear it most? Thx for tip on the gear box oil to be changed, will do for sure.

Still a bit worried about the reverse gear, will test more over the weekend.

Big thank you.

 

[saxonblue]

my turbo makes a fast woosh-ticking sort of sound, this sounds mad but, if you blow out and waggel your finger up and down on your lips (told you it sounded mad)
anyway it sounds a bit like that,,,or maybe thats just mine, it works ok tho an you can feel it kick in about 3000rpm, no probs!!

 

[saxonblue]

p.s. WELCOM!!

 

[Mrmok]

The Plenum Chamber is a easy DIY (audi will not do this)

They issued a recall end of last year for this Got mine done at same time as coil packs and it is 100% free

 

[Pat.J]

I am getting a little worried as I can definitely not hear anything ... having just bought the car I can't compare to anything. How can I find out if it's working or not?

 

[Pat.J]

Thanks, the guys at Audi said the Plenum chamber wasn't a recall on my cat, coil pack is though.

 

[CMD]

If the car feels like its boosting everything should be ok. Does the car feel flat/under powered

 

[Pat.J]

Can't say it does but then again it's my first turbo and audi, dare I say my previous car was a family diesel car ... so can't compare! Taking it for service on tuesday, so will ask the garage to check it then.

 

[Brendan12]

The turbo is very understated on them, you won't really hear it but as long as it feels like its boosting ok I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[saxonblue]

hmmm, i can here mine ok
it working fine tho

 

[AU01 A4]

cant hear mine 2,
it makes my car go

 

[CMD]

I can hear mine even more so after the remap.

 

[jimmp]

Pat-

you know that you push the gearlever downwards, and then over and forwards for reverse, yeah?

(sorry if this is obvious)

I have never been able to hear the turbo on an Audi turbo motor... You'll certainly know if it's not there though- and the engine management would as well; and would let you know.

JimP

 

[Pat.J]

Got the car back from the garage yesterday, turbo and gear box fine, apparently reverse can sometimes be a tricky, I'll just have to get used to it ... so all good.

However, there's the undertray missing and I need a set of 2 new front tyres. Also really wish I could get the allows refurb. but I reckon that's not going to be cheap!

 

[saxonblue]

have a look on the bay, i needid a refurb on my wheels, but found a new set of alloys, (18 INCH R8 REPS) for £265 with post,
costs about 200 -300 for a GOOD refurb, just swap your good rubber on to the new wheel from the old ones, if not , tyres are cheap on there too, i NEVER pay more thn 200 quid for a set off the bay, shop around, dont be put off by tyres with mad names as well. as a lot of these are just as good as the more expencive ones, some are evan made in the same factory ( carnt name them or i will get shot), but its worth a look

 

[BahnStormer77]

have a look on the bay, i needid a refurb on my wheels, but found a new set of alloys, (18 INCH R8 REPS) for £265 with post,
costs about 200 -300 for a GOOD refurb, just swap your good rubber on to the new wheel from the old ones, if not , tyres are cheap on there too, i NEVER pay more thn 200 quid for a set off the bay, shop around, dont be put off by tyres with mad names as well. as a lot of these are just as good as the more expencive ones, some are evan made in the same factory ( carnt name them or i will get shot), but its worth a look

There's normally a reason why reps are only a couple of hundred quid for a full set and the real ones are £500+ per corner... the right manufacturing method, metal compounds, research, testing all cost money that simply isn't put into most reps.... I'd rather spend £300 on refurbing good quality wheels than £200 on reps any day.

re the clutch / turbo.... my old 1.8T (a3) was only the 150bhp 1.8T and although very progressive and gradual, it did have a faint audible whistle (and that was only on 55k miles).

When I asked an Audi mechanic (away from the "shop") about when the clutch needed doing, he said "it varies, we change them when they need doing": if the car is remapped and driven hard, it could be 60k, if it's be driven carefully, it could be 200k.... mines on 135k and still feels pretty solid, not that you get THAT much warninng when they start to go.

 

[Pat.J]

Thx once more for all your valuable comments ... car is at the garage at the moment and I am getting back tomorrow. Took to Audi dealer for coil recall and health check, guess what, they found that a rear anti roll bar was cracked and needed changing (£300) and also quote me £150 for the undertray + clips that is missing altogether.

I made a few enquiries and I find a local Leeds garage who's getting the car fixed now, getting back tomorrow, all the work is much cheaper and they told me the anti roll bar was fine! They're doing the 4 wheel refurb. for £200 too.

Can't wait to get my car back ... really enjoying (except the fuel consomption!)

 

[j033y]

I can't really hear my turbo on my 190 so i think you're fine.

As for tyres, I warn you, you don't need two you need FOUR. Your car is a Quattro. You must get 4 new tyres

 

[Tooks]

I can't really hear my turbo on my 190 so i think you're fine.

As for tyres, I warn you, you don't need two you need FOUR. Your car is a Quattro. You must get 4 new tyres

Not this old myth again...

Page 287 of the owners manual states;

"- All four wheels must be fitted with radial tyres of the same type, size (rolling circumference) and preferably the same tread pattern.

- Tyres should be replaced at least in pairs and not individually (i.e. both front tyres or both rear tyres together).

- The tyres with the deepest tread should always be used on the front wheels.

- Never use tyres whose actual size exceeds the dimensions of the factory approved makes of tyre.

- If you wish to fit the vehicle with non-standard rims or tyres, it is advisable to consult an Audi dealer before purchasing."

Further, on page 288, the following is written;

"On vehicles with four wheel drive, all four tyres (sic - I presume they mean wheels!) must always be fitted with tyres of the same type, make and tread pattern, as otherwise the driveline can be damaged by continuous differences in the wheel speeds. For the same reason, only use a standard-size spare wheel or the compact temporary spare supplied with the car from the factory. The use of tyres with varying degrees of wear will not adversely affect the four wheel drive transmission." I put the bold bit in...


Now, where does it say you need to replace all four tyres, and not just a pair? It goes to the trouble of saying they should be the same make, tread pattern and type, but not that they should be replaced in fours. I think they'd have mentioned it if it was an issue.

I'm presuming that folks interpret the 'rolling circumference' as meaning all tyres have to have the same mm tread depth, when actually it just means fit tyres of the same size (ie not 235/45/17 on the front and 255/40/17 on the rear), and it actually states over the page that differing tread depths are not a problem.

I've covered over 300,000 miles in quattros now, and my father probably twice that. We have always followed the advice in the manual and never had any issues with what is a pretty bulletproof four wheel drive system.

It's no skin off my nose if anybody wants to chuck away two perfectly good tyres and replace all four, but it's unnecessary and a waste, as long as you can buy tyres that match the rear in terms of brand/type/size/tread pattern etc.

 

[Mrmok]

Tooks post makes sense to me Although if I recall the 4x4 calibra used to die if you didn't do all 4 tyres at the same time!

 

[j033y]

No skin off my nose either, lets just call it experience.

And as stated the rolling radius must be the same.

I don't see why so many and tight when it comes to tyres. Why buy a car if you can't run it correctly.

And yes Calibra's died a painful death if you didnt replace all 4.

I seem to remember its about 3-4mm in tread difference is acceptable on Quattro's and i mean proper Quattro's not like the S3's

 

[quattrojames]

I don't see why so many and tight when it comes to tyres. Why buy a car if you can't run it correctly.

I'm not tight when it comes to servicing my car, but nor do I waste money replacing things that don't need replacing.

 

[Tooks]

No skin off my nose either, lets just call it experience.

And as stated the rolling radius must be the same.

I don't see why so many and tight when it comes to tyres. Why buy a car if you can't run it correctly.

And yes Calibra's died a painful death if you didnt replace all 4.

I seem to remember its about 3-4mm in tread difference is acceptable on Quattro's and i mean proper Quattro's not like the S3's

Did you not read the bit where I mentioned my own experience, and I'm not talking Haldex equipped quattro's either, I'm talking about cars from the Ur quattro through to A4's...

I'd consider 3-4mm of tread wear the difference between a new tyre and a worn out one anyway, what with new tyres only having about 7mm of tread. If I got a puncture on my own car when all tyres were down to 3mm, personally I'd change them all at that point anyway.

If I have four new tyres, and after wearing down 2mm of tread I get a irreparable puncture on one, do you think I'm going to bin all 4? Of course not, I'll follow Audi's advice and replace two. It's not being tight, it's being sensible.

As I've said, feel free to buy whatever you want for your own car, but to tell a new member they have to waste their money replacing all 4 when it isnt necessary is just wrong...

There are plenty of things to worry about running an A4 quattro, but this quattro/tyre thing just isn't one of them, regardless of anybody's experience with a Vauxhall Calibra.

 

[aragorn]

The only part of that owners manual bit i'd disagree with is putting the new tyres on the front.

I ALWAYS put the grippiest tyres on the rear of the car, for one simple reason. You feel what the tyres are doing via the steering wheel, and this indicates your limits of grip. If you put the grippiest tyres on the front, then the front end will still be gripping nicely, when the rear tyres let go and send the back end into a hedge.

If you put the more worn tyres on the front, you know that if/when you near their limits of grip, the rear end still has plenty in reserve and is going to stay firmly planted.

I know this because its happened to me, and a number of my friends. Luckily when i spun the car i didnt hit anything or damage anything, but it did let go with no warning whatsoever and put me thru a 360 spin on a motorway off ramp.

The only caveat is when you have tyres with differing levels of grip. A Friend of mine recently baught a cheap corsa runaround, which came with two new bargain basement tyres fitted to the front, and two nearly worn out pirellis on the rear. We did the sensible thing and swapped them over, only for him to lose the back end on a wet roundabout about 4 hours after getting the car home. Turned out that the nearly worn out pirellis had lots more grip than the nearly new ****-spec tyres, and as a result our good intentions had the opposite effect.

 

[adamss24]

^^^ I don't really agree with that as in the event of a emergency stop the front good tyres will get you down to a halt quicker than the worn tyres. I had the same issue with my a4 quattro, had 4 matching Nankang tyres where the fronts wore more than the rear tyres (due to bad camber) and they broke traction quicker than if i had the good tyres on the front ! Swapped the fronts to a brand new pair of matching tyres and no more problems so i can stop on a dime ! Also friend of mine had he's mint transit van crashed due to having balder tyres on the back and brand new Michelins on the rear- fitted at costco a few weeks ago. If he had the michelins upfront he was shure he could stop without issues so it's wise to have all 4 tyres matching for maximum posible grip, either on a quattro or FWD/RWD.