Hello everybody.
Firstly, please let me apologise for my loooong absence. I have been visiting every now and again, but I never had anything particularly interesting to say, and god knows I didn't have any advice worth giving anybody. It's been a busy couple of years, and I've come through them nicely settled down, and with a few quid to play with.
Most importantly, I still have my A4.
It's on 120k miles now and still going strong. It is, however, in need of a cambelt change. Also, oil consumption has gone up a bit, and the coolant system is full of this:
It smells like emulsion paint and there's loads of it. It's obviously oil in water. My suspicion is that it's being caused by the oil cooler having an internal leak; there's no sign of oil being burnt, the compression is excellent and the oil cap / dipstick are clean. So I'm going to fit a new oil cooler anyway. And a new coolant expansion tank cos it's just too horrible and filthy. And a new radiator because It's full of the same stuff, as well as being leaky and having had countless bottles of radweld thrown at it.
So I'm doing the cambelt, I did this before five years ago so I'm reasonably confident that this'll go without too much trouble.
So, here's where I need advice. I love my A4, I really do. I'm now at a point where I want to optimise it and turn it into what it could be. I never got around to chipping it, I've had a lot of fun with the standard 150hp. Time for some fun, after all these years.
With it exposed and all the fluids drained, I'm in an excellent position to replace the turbo. After 120k miles it probably isn't a terrible idea anyway. What I'm looking for is pretty much a direct replacement, but one which, when properly set up will give me a worthwhile performance boost. I have realistic expectations; being an FWD I'm not looking for dragstrip prowess. But I live somewhere where the country roads are amazing. More mid-range grunt would be fantastic. I'm also planning to upgrade to 300mm front discs, for which I believe I need TT caliper carriers, which should bolt straight on.
I know that a lot of you guys are absolute wizards and can rattle off part numbers in your sleep. What I'm looking to do is produce a shopping list.
I'm sticking with the same front bumper; the only way I can upgrade the intercooler is if there's one that fits in the same place with the same fixings and connections. I am aware that I'll be needing to replace the injectors, this is something I'm happy to do, I just need to be able to order the right ones!
I presume that, being that I'm not looking to run high boost for really extended periods of time, my existing fuel pump will be sufficient. I'm ready to be told I'm wrong, though!
Finally, once I've got it all bolted together and it all needs setting up, can I presume there are still places who can map a 1998 (pre facelift) AEB ecu? I live about an hour from AMD in Thurrock.
Over to you! Hope I'm not being too vague, and sorry to impose, but all advice would be gratefully recieved! Thanks!
Firstly, please let me apologise for my loooong absence. I have been visiting every now and again, but I never had anything particularly interesting to say, and god knows I didn't have any advice worth giving anybody. It's been a busy couple of years, and I've come through them nicely settled down, and with a few quid to play with.
Most importantly, I still have my A4.
It's on 120k miles now and still going strong. It is, however, in need of a cambelt change. Also, oil consumption has gone up a bit, and the coolant system is full of this:
It smells like emulsion paint and there's loads of it. It's obviously oil in water. My suspicion is that it's being caused by the oil cooler having an internal leak; there's no sign of oil being burnt, the compression is excellent and the oil cap / dipstick are clean. So I'm going to fit a new oil cooler anyway. And a new coolant expansion tank cos it's just too horrible and filthy. And a new radiator because It's full of the same stuff, as well as being leaky and having had countless bottles of radweld thrown at it.
So I'm doing the cambelt, I did this before five years ago so I'm reasonably confident that this'll go without too much trouble.
So, here's where I need advice. I love my A4, I really do. I'm now at a point where I want to optimise it and turn it into what it could be. I never got around to chipping it, I've had a lot of fun with the standard 150hp. Time for some fun, after all these years.
With it exposed and all the fluids drained, I'm in an excellent position to replace the turbo. After 120k miles it probably isn't a terrible idea anyway. What I'm looking for is pretty much a direct replacement, but one which, when properly set up will give me a worthwhile performance boost. I have realistic expectations; being an FWD I'm not looking for dragstrip prowess. But I live somewhere where the country roads are amazing. More mid-range grunt would be fantastic. I'm also planning to upgrade to 300mm front discs, for which I believe I need TT caliper carriers, which should bolt straight on.
I know that a lot of you guys are absolute wizards and can rattle off part numbers in your sleep. What I'm looking to do is produce a shopping list.
I'm sticking with the same front bumper; the only way I can upgrade the intercooler is if there's one that fits in the same place with the same fixings and connections. I am aware that I'll be needing to replace the injectors, this is something I'm happy to do, I just need to be able to order the right ones!
I presume that, being that I'm not looking to run high boost for really extended periods of time, my existing fuel pump will be sufficient. I'm ready to be told I'm wrong, though!
Finally, once I've got it all bolted together and it all needs setting up, can I presume there are still places who can map a 1998 (pre facelift) AEB ecu? I live about an hour from AMD in Thurrock.
Over to you! Hope I'm not being too vague, and sorry to impose, but all advice would be gratefully recieved! Thanks!
