Rhyso's Family Wagon

[mcwharam]

I hate my car

Oh dear - that doesn't sound good?

 

[Rhyso]

Oh dear - that doesn't sound good?

Nope. Next time a mate offers to swap your suspension; ignore him and just get a garage to sort it......(my mate is a mechanic by the way and used to working on buses etc so not exactly green)

Short version; what a c#£t

We started the rears a couple of weeks ago; simple really as it involves 3 bolts and compressing the spring.

Nope. The lower bolt holding the shock was seized and it took a 4 foot scaffold bar to break it off. So what should have been a couple of hours turned into 4 as we had to use the same method on both sides

Fast forward to yesterday and we went to do the fronts. Started with the passenger side.

6 hours later we had one snapped bolt that was stuck holding the two top control arms and no new suspension on the car. No amount of bashing would move the fecking thing.

We followed the procedure to a t but the bolt was sezied solid. We even applied a bit of heat (being very careful) and even that barely moved it

End result, I have borrowed my mates car and he will attempt over the next few days to get the bolt out and swap the suspension

Ba#&@£d piece of German crap

 

[mcwharam]

Rhyso - sounds like an absolute nightmare. Here's hoping that he can get it sorted - must be at the end of your bad luck now - fingers crossed.

Martin

 

[Rhyso]

Thanks Martin

Well he has the shock out. He ended up removing the two control arms. That’s the good news.

Bad news is the leg has to come out and the bolt pressed out on the bench

 

[SPek9]

The suspension is tricky enough on Audi's

The front pinch bolt is usually the biggest hold up, I use a bit of wd-40 first to try and seep into the bolt, then if needed a bit of heat but it takes a bit of time and patience.. and rocking the bolt back and forth until its free enough to start hitting out

The car is looking well now and should be reliable for hopefully another 100k at least after the recent work..

 

[Rhyso]

We tried everything!!

My mate has just text me with a picture of the bolt that he's managed to remove He managed to drill into ti to weaken it. So he's avoided having to remove the leg

He has also soaked the drivers side in preparation for its removal.........

To top it off he rang a mate of his who is VW / Audi trained asking if he would give a hand......'his mate said 'NO!' Never take that job on, even on a fiddle!!!!!!'

 

[SPek9]

We tried everything!!

My mate has just text me with a picture of the bolt that he's managed to remove He managed to drill into ti to weaken it. So he's avoided having to remove the leg

He has also soaked the drivers side in preparation for its removal.........

To top it off he rang a mate of his who is VW / Audi trained asking if he would give a hand......'his mate said 'NO!' Never take that job on, even on a fiddle!!!!!!'

Its not an easy Job, I had the same with my 12 year old Audi A4 and managed to get one out but the other side didn't want to move when trying to turn it so I disconnected the top side of those arms instead

I had bother with the RHS of my A6 and found that once I got the bolt knocked through a few mm, I was able to lever the head of the bolt away from the upright and tap it from the other side with the nut on a few threads while trying to be gentle enough not to damage the threads. The lever at the other side from the side that you are knocking seems to help take the bounce out when hitting the bolt in the alloy upright

having a new pinch bolt would always be handy but I managed to not damage mine so it was grand to go back in

 

[John Wr]

I had to apply some heat and brute force to remove the pinch bolts when replacing my springs and dampers. The new bolts I replaced them with have an improved design. Old style bolts have a consistent diameter along their full length and hence there can be a galvanic action between steel and aluminium along the full length which causes serious problems at removal time. The new design bolts have a reduced diameter in the centre portion (where the pinch effect and pin retention is not needed) so no contact between steel and aluminium is made and the problem of seizing is hopefully reduced.

For your future reference my A6 now has Eibach springs and Bilstein dampers and in my opinion they are an excellent combination of ride and handling and totally approved by Mrs W, who is a demanding passenger.

John.

 

[Rhyso]

The job is turning into an absolute joke....had to order a new control arm as the balljoint was damaged due to all the damge it took trying to get the bolt out....

It was supposed to arrive this morning....didn’t show

Then the bolts I ordered from Audi turned up at MY house and not my mates house even though I told them TWICE to post them to him

Have now ordered another control arm from a more reputable manufacturer but that is on a 4-5 day delivery

Literally going to burn the f***ing thing to the f***ing ground!!!

 

[Rhyso]

Finally had my car back yesterday. A MASSIVE thanks goes to my very good mate Dave who took on what is a relatively simple job, turned into an absolute nightmare due to the design and subsequent corrosion of the bolt that holds the two top control arms

Here’s some pictures







And back together




The new control arms still need to be fitted but that will happen next week after they arrive

Despite being the Eibach -30mm kit which on an S Line gives a 15mm drop it does look lower than I expected!

As for the ride.....its fantastic. It’s not overly firm, the car doesn’t crash over bumps or get thrown across the road. I haven’t really tested it as I’ll have the arms fitted and the tracking down but first impressions are excellent; I’m happy that I stuck with OEM shocks rather than go aftermarket

Again a big big thank you to my mate Dave I guarantee he won’t be offering to work on my car ever again mind hahaha

 

[mcwharam]

Glad you got it sorted Rhyso - the car looks stunning - it sounds like the enjoyment of the car has returned.

 

[Rhyso]

Glad you got it sorted Rhyso - the car looks stunning - it sounds like the enjoyment of the car has returned.

Thanks Martin

Contorl arms are coming tomorrow so once they are on and the tracking done and new tyres fitted I can start to enjoy it fully again

Need a few days to sort the paintwork though; it looks great from a distance!

 

[Rhyso]

My mate kindly fitted the new control arms last night and fitted the new bolts (used some temporary ones) so the car is now complete!

Had a couple of parcels turn up this week too....

 

[Rhyso]

New brakes fitted

 

[Rhyso]

So today I ambled down with few friends and stuck the wagon a rolling road

 

[Mo-S3]

They dont call it the bitch bolt for nothing!

 

[Rhyso]

They dont call it the bitch bolt for nothing!

It was called far worse than that believe me!!!!!!

 

[Rhyso]

Today marks 3 YEARS since I took ownership of the wagon!!

In that time..
40,000 miles covered - now on 112,700 miles
Avwraged 33.4mpg
2 services
1 DSG service
Complete set of brakes
New suspension
On my 4th set of tyres
One failed injector
2 leaking rocker cover gaskets and a split turbo pipe

And it’s been hit FOUR TIMES!! 3 whilst stationary and one where someone drove into the front wing as they came out of a side junction......

Worked out in terms of running costs, maintenance, fuel etc the A6 has cost me just over £3200 per year to keep on the road

Do i regret it? Nope! It’s powerful, comfortable and can cross country in all conditions with aplomb. As usual it lacks any real feedback in terms of dynamics but you learn to ‘drive’ around that

Since the engine work was done to replace the rocker cover gaskets and injector seals the MPG on a run improved a fair bit. 500 miles + to a tank is easily achievable and that’s without pussy footing it. Around town its as it was I guess.

This year I hope to tidy up the paintwork and restore some pride to it after the battering it has literally taken in the last 12 months!

So...here’s to the next 3 years as the A6 has to last me a little longer. Nothing out there takes my fancy or even has the level of spec I want compared to mine.

 

[Rhyso]

Had a mate who does installs come round this morning to replace my sharkfin GPS aeriel as although i had a hockey puck style fitted above the glovebox it’s not been great. My mate sourced from a 2016 Q5

Old one - you can see how water gets in and corrodes the internals!




New and old side by side


Nice healthy signal

 

[Spiedhermonkey]

I’ve been thinking of getting a clear silicone sealant put around the base of the aerial, as I assume that’s the only place water can get in. Not sure if it’s possible and to have it effective while looking discrete, or even where I could get it done.

Good job getting it done before you get worse problems than just poor signal

 

[Rhyso]

I’ve been thinking of getting a clear silicone sealant put around the base of the aerial, as I assume that’s the only place water can get in. Not sure if it’s possible and to have it effective while looking discrete, or even where I could get it done.

Good job getting it done before you get worse problems than just poor signal

Ha I’ve been using a hockey puck aerial up above the glovebox for over a year!! It just so happens my mate sourced me the aerial at a bit of a bargain price so I couldn’t resist

 

[Spiedhermonkey]

I take it you used the original casing, so it looks completely the same as it did before from the outside?

 

[Rhyso]

I take it you used the original casing, so it looks completely the same as it did before from the outside?

Yes my mate swapped it all over as the one he sourced was silver. Used the nav this morning and it works a treat; constantly showing between 7-9 satellites

 

[Rhyso]

So my mate Craig returned this weekend and installed the external puddle lights and the ambient door strips in the door cards

 

[Rhyso]

Been a while since I've updated this but seeing as it closed in on 120,000 miles this week I thought I'd write a little update


And little it will be as I've done very little with the A6 apart from drive it and give it the occasional wash. Hopefully I won't jinx myself but thankfully this year has seen a big drop in repair / maintenance costs. I think last year I hit a point in the car's life cycle where things needed doing etc.....this year has just seen me pay for a service and the unavoidable fuel bills.

Long term average over the miles I've tracked is 33.4. A tank will get me anything from 400-500 miles depending on the type of journey; mixed driving usually sees around 430-450. I'm not afraid to use the performance I have when the mood takes me

The pads I installed at the end of last year are impressive and give good feedback and excellent stopping power. They are fairly fade resistant too......I've done multiple brake tests from 'speed' and the pedal feel has remained firm and the performance consistent. The only gripe is they are a bit noisy but I'll happily trade noise for stopping power!!

I did have a scare a few weeks back when the Gearbox Malfunction light flashed up but thankfully it has not reappeared since.......

This morning the windscreen took a hit from a large stone in the EXACT same place as it got hit last year which turned the chip into a lovely crack....that's being replaced this Friday

A good friend of mine (the one who installed my puddle lights and repaired my GPS aerial) has a CarPlay solution that will hopefully be installed over the next few weeks......I've seen it in operation in his B8 A4 and it's very nicely integrated and even works with the steering wheel controls etc. He is also now an authorised VW repairer and has fully licensed ODIS I've offered the A6 as a guinea pig for him to test out what he can do lol

Other than that, the A6 continues to do what I want it to do. I have considered down sizing since it's 95% of the time it's just me these days but I don't think I could live without the comfort and the performance of the V6; it's just really effortless and has more than enough shove to upset some of the quicker cars on the road

I do fancy a colour change of the wheels and would like the finish of the RS6 wheels but I'm aware they are diamond cut so achieving a similar finish would be difficult.

Thanks for reading

 

[fingermouse]

Nice one . I only get 400 miles out of my tank week in week out to within 10 miles

 

[Spiedhermonkey]

Would really like to see a little video of the finish & interface of the Apple Car Play.

Know what you mean about downsizing- we no longer have a dog & don’t have kids or owt, but I still wouldn’t want to lose all the stuff the A6 BiTDI offers.

Looking forward to seeing the wheels when you make a choice.

When you say the pads are noisy, do you get a grinding noise under braking or something?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rhyso]

Would really like to see a little video of the finish & interface of the Apple Car Play.

Know what you mean about downsizing- we no longer have a dog & don’t have kids or owt, but I still wouldn’t want to lose all the stuff the A6 BiTDI offers.

Looking forward to seeing the wheels when you make a choice.

When you say the pads are noisy, do you get a grinding noise under braking or something?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you look for Lightrofit on Facebook - Audi & VW Specialist you'll see a couple of videos of it in action in the B8 my mate Craig runs

Yup that's exactly how I feel about the A6; it just does everything I need it to do; I'd love something like an R / S3 but I know I couldn't afford the running costs and the fit and finish of the interiors are a few grades below the A6

I've got half a mind of the colour; just finding time / money to do it as I'm in the middle of moving house.......(shoot me now!)

Yeah they do rumble / grumble a bit but only under real heavy braking from motorway type speeds. General town driving you don't hear them at all unless the ambient temperature is very high and even then it's not intrusive. Like I said I'd happily put up with a bit of noise for the improvement in stopping power!

 

[Rhyso]

New windscreen fitted........


Fitters manage to LOSE the sensor for the auto lights / wipers!!!! So they've (quite rightly) ordered me a new one..........

 

[Rhyso]

New windscreen fitted........


Fitters manage to LOSE the sensor for the auto lights / wipers!!!! So they've (quite rightly) ordered me a new one..........

Still need a new windscreen as i got hit AGAIN just before Christmas and it put a lovely golf ball sized chip at the bottom of the screen Was hoping to have it done today but National Windscreens sent me the ONLY van WITHOUT a canopy so the rain stopped play..........

In other news last week marked 4 years of A6 ownership

in that time I’ve done / gone through

52,000 miles
6500 litres of fuel
4 sets of tyres
1.5 set of brakes
2 oil changes
1 DSG service
New suspension
Broken down twice.......
And various other bits

The MOT picked up on worn lower arm bushes......rather than go down the aftermarket bush route i had new OEW arms fitted....yeah thanks Audi!! £140 per side.......the bushes were worse than first thought as since the new ones were fitted the steering has felt more positive. Equally just before Christmas i had my mate Craig who is an authorised VAG mobile dealer (has full access to ODIS) perform a software update on my steering module. The results, now the bushes have been replaced, have meant there is more of a difference between the various driving modes. Having the alignment setup on Monday so will get to hopefully make a more meaningful comparison

What else have I done?? Very little. The wagon came into its own when i moved house last year; must have done 2 dozen tip runs!!
It can still hustle with the best of them when called upon; much to the disbelief of some

My biggest challenge at the moment is trying to fix a leaking pan roof I’ve tried a few suggestions but still no avail...doesn’t help that the weather is not consistent. I need dry and warm days for the sealant to set........

i have considered selling it but apart from a BMW 330d X Drive there is nothing out there that floats my boat.........

 

[Rhyso]

So I’m typing this in the midst of the strangest period of time ever witnessed in certainly my life time and I suspect the majority of everyone!

I had the new windscreen fitted so all seems well there.
Had the tracking sorted out
Bought a set of Goodyear Eagle F1’s which have promptly sat in my dining room for the last 2 months as my mileage has dropped significantly!! I last filled up on 10th March!

as I’m working from home this have given a bit of time to try and sort a few issues and fix new ones......

front camera had eyesight problems


How much for this little thing!??


You’d think it would just pop off the front but no.......off comes the bumper!


And back together and working thank god!


Bought me a DAS6 Pro plus DA


Had a go on the bonnet






And I’ve been trying to cure what has been the biggest headache of the last few months....a leaking sunroof







I’m hoping to have fixed it this time around......find out tomorrow once the sealant has set and i test it

 

[Sandra]

You have been busy Rhys. Bonnet looks awesome. Hope the roof is finally sealed.

 

[Rhyso]

You have been busy Rhys. Bonnet looks awesome. Hope the roof is finally sealed.

Thanks Sandra . Just have the rest of the car to do now!!

Fingers crossed! It’s been such a pain in the rear trying to sort it spoils the car really

Hope you’re well amongst the madness!

 

[Bulldog]

There a big old car to detail but worth it once there done.

 

[Rhyso]

There a big old car to detail but worth it once there done.

yeah it’s pretty daunting! Might take a couple of weeks doing a panel a day in between ‘working’ lol

 

[Bulldog]

I was lucky I had a friend do mine what with a little one & working I just didn’t get the time. It still looks good now but I do keep on top of & use some good products.

 

[Rhyso]

I was lucky I had a friend do mine what with a little one & working I just didn’t get the time. It still looks good now but I do keep on top of & use some good products.

A friend of mine runs his own detailing business but he wanted silly money to do it.......i did buy a DA with another mate a few years back but he’s moved to London so it’s a bit hard to get it back hence why I bought my own. I won’t get a professional finish but what i have done has vastly improved things

not cheap mind!! Been replenishing my stocks of detailing gear......

 

[Rhyso]

So it seems the less I use the car the more stuff that goes wrong....

this popped up for the 2nd time in my ownership


It stayed on for a week or two and then disappeared in the day I booked it back into the garage for the 2nd time to take a look. The garage did a full wiring check and there showed no signs of water ingress into the rack ECU. I’m hoping my over zealousness with the pressure washer might have thrown a hissy fit

the garage did find an earth wire disconnected from the rack and back to the chassis but this had no impact in how the car drove and has driven in the last 4 years



My sunroof issue seems to be fixed....had a few rain showers and I’ve washed the car and i can see no further signs of water ingress so I’m keeping everything crossed on that one!

So the latest thing to go wrong.....the rear wiper motor

took it off and apart today.......










Got a new one on order

Shall i start a book on what’s going to fail next?? ​

 

[J10NMM]

Don't think I've used a rear wiper in about 15yrs, I've always removed them and plugged them on other cars, not got round to doing this one yet..

 

[Rhyso]

Don't think I've used a rear wiper in about 15yrs, I've always removed them and plugged them on other cars, not got round to doing this one yet..

i have considered blanking it off but i know the dirt will just fry my brain lol