(My attempts) To Improve a S3

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firestorm

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I bought my 2002 S3 in light silver about 2 months ago. It's wasn't perfect, but it's getting better.

Faults / Jobs at purchase
Dent and crease on driver's door and rear quarter panel.
Aerial base gasket perished
Climate control panel, headlight switch, door pillar, Radio controls worn to plastic.
Dodgy water temperature reading, one minute it was reading 90c then it dropped to 30c.
Squeaky / rattly door
Found out car is mapped already, but logging shows it's running lean. Will need to get it re-done but someone who knows what they're doing.

To do:
Fit replacement cilmate control panel
Fit headlight switch
Spray door pillar covers and radio ?
New oil pickup pipe, Gasket sealant, Oil filter and oil
Mobil 5w-30 ESP fully synthetic
1m of 4mm silicone vacuum tube to replace some tupperware (N275)
2 x Pagid rear brake discs
2 x Pagid front brake discs
1L ATE Super Blue brake fluid
Fit Cayman, Boxster S calipers (need to buy brackets, bolts and brake lines)
New LCR top mounts and bearings
Fit constant 12v feed

Fitted
Genuine CTS, clip and grommet (fitted)
4 x Continental SportContacts (to replace the Sava tyres !) (fitted)
New Audi rubber mats for the front (original mats had worn through and worn the interior carpet at the heel)
Replaced aerial base gasket
Cabin air filter
Bosch air filter
Forge 007P DV (replaced Bailey Motorsport one)
4 x NGK Iridium BKR6EIX
 
Last edited:
The CTS was easy once I had found the thing, I was expecting it to be around the rad or engine block. Broke the clip that locks the connector in place <Doh>

What the new sensor looks like. I bought one from Audi, some people say the generic ones are not too reliable.



What the old one looks like in situ


Old one removed


New one was easy to fit. Didn't loose much coolant either. I opened the expansion tank cap to let any air out.
Started her up, selected 49C on the a/c to monitor the coolant temp.

Result ? Temp rises very quickly and settled around 80c idling. Before it used to get up to temp and then drop to 30c by itself. So it was either the thermostat or sensor. I put my bets on it being the sensor. Should help fuel economy too.
 
Changing the sparkplugs meant removing a load of plastic boxes and pipes. Found out later that lot can be replaced by a length of vacuum tube. I broke 2 of the clips to the coilpacks. Old plugs were Audi branded iridium plugs made by NGK. The tip was 50% worn. Engine runs a lot smoother with the new plugs. Well worth doing.
 
audi upgrades
Found the car had a Bailey Motorsport DV, have since swapped it for a Forge 007P, haven't noticed much difference. Serviced the thing by cleaning it and re-greasing the piston. It has a green spring. Some say yellow springs work better.

Fixed the annoying squeaky and rattly door. It was so easy that I'm annoyed at myself for not reaslising sooner. I took the door card off, trick is to remove the small panel at the door pull, which reveals two more screws. The door reinforcemet bars were loose - thats all it was. There are two bolts at the door lock end that needed tightening, 13mm socket will sort that out. Now closing the door sounds like an Audi, not a Yugo from the 70s.

Tried to remove the driver's side lower panel, the one underneath the steering wheel, took out loads of screws at the fusebox and two underneath, at the footwell, couldn't remove it totally. I wanted to replace the headlight switch, as the soft touch material had wore-off. It was too dark without a decent diffused light, I only have a LED lamp which is too direct and bright so I re-assembled it and will leave it for another day.

I also wanted to plumb in a couple of gadgets to a constant 12v supply, I planned to borrow some from the radio. I purchased the removal keys from eby, but could I get them to work ?!?! The backlight started to flash as I was trying it. Managed to get the rhs free, but it was stuck on the lhs. Is there a particular technique to this ?

Had planned to swap the top mounts today, but couldn't find the spring compressors, so I started looking at the air bag light problem.

Found a red and yellow connector. But how do you get to the connector themselves ? I was hoping to clean it with some electrical cleaner spray. Do the seats have to be removed ?



Overall a success with the CTS and door, thumbs down for the rest.
 
I messed about with trying to remove the lower dash panel last night. Reassembled it and thought it was all ok.

But this morning no DIS. :-(

Looks like more disassembly.
 
You might have accidentally turned the DIS off, its easy done, the button on the bottom of the wiper stalk turns DIS off and On. Your temp should sit at a constant 90 degrees not 80 degrees once fully warmed up. Oh and welcome to A-S.NET enjoy your S3
 
firestorm said:
Tried to remove the driver's side lower panel, the one underneath the steering wheel, took out loads of screws at the fusebox and two underneath, at the footwell, couldn't remove it totally. I wanted to replace the headlight switch, as the soft touch material had wore-off. It was too dark without a decent diffused light, I only have a LED lamp which is too direct and bright so I re-assembled it and will leave it for another day.

I also wanted to plumb in a couple of gadgets to a constant 12v supply, I planned to borrow some from the radio. I purchased the removal keys from eby, but could I get them to work ?!?! The backlight started to flash as I was trying it. Managed to get the rhs free, but it was stuck on the lhs. Is there a particular technique to this ?
Click to expand...

Headlight switch just pulls out mate, you need to press the knob inwards, it's spring loaded, then rotate it anti clockwise, you will feel it's tight'ish. Then pull the whole thing out, the rotation you did retracts the pins that lock the head light switch into the dash.

Take your constant 12v feed from the cigarette lighter.
 
sportquattro said:
You might have accidentally turned the DIS off, its easy done, the button on the bottom of the wiper stalk turns DIS off and On. Your temp should sit at a constant 90 degrees not 80 degrees once fully warmed up. Oh and welcome to A-S.NET enjoy your S3
Click to expand...

<dunce> errrhhh, yes you're right, I turned it off, didn't realise the reset button doubled as a DIS off button !

Regarding water temp, it does get to 90c, if I leave it long enough, or go fast enough.

Thanks for the welcome, I joined a few years ago when I had a B6 A4.

How do you find the Bilstein's ?
 
jojo said:
Headlight switch just pulls out mate, you need to press the knob inwards, it's spring loaded, then rotate it anti clockwise, you will feel it's tight'ish. Then pull the whole thing out, the rotation you did retracts the pins that lock the head light switch into the dash.

Take your constant 12v feed from the cigarette lighter.
Click to expand...

Thanks muchly - I was ready to take the lower dash off at the weekend. Next is to work out how to get he radio out as the ipod -> cd changer plays music fine, but doesn't charge the ipod, which is pretty daft.

Any tricks on getting taking the radio out and centre console bits ?

Cheers
 
firestorm said:
<dunce> errrhhh, yes you're right, I turned it off, didn't realise the reset button doubled as a DIS off button !

Regarding water temp, it does get to 90c, if I leave it long enough, or go fast enough.

Thanks for the welcome, I joined a few years ago when I had a B6 A4.

How do you find the Bilstein's ?
Click to expand...

Glad to help. The B8's and Eibach springs are fantastic, big improvement over standard and give a firm but comfy ride, definately the best set-up for S3 but a bit more ££££ than coilovers, but to my mind worth the extra and regarded by lots on here as the most desirable set-up.
 
How things have changed - coil overs are the budget choice now ! They used to be esoteric choice. I find the S3 pretty good as standard. My B6 A4 was awful, oversprung and under damped. When the time comes to replace them, I'll consider the B8s.

Don't suppose you know an easy to get to the airbag connectors underneath the seat ?

Thanks
 
What is the Aerial Gasket PN and is it easy to replace. Mine has perished too?
Cheers,
CL
 
I just read this today. Sava on an S3. What the hell ?! Drove a fiat from my uncle once with them on it. Almost died once it started raining.
 
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I should say something to defend them now since they are made in my home country but just cant come up with much :). Allegedly they are good in snow.
 
Thread resurrection !
Aerial gasket - from a company called car masts. Search for
Audi A3, A4, A6, TT Roof Aerial Rubber Gasket Seal on ebay.
Cost around £5.50

Easy to fit. Warm up in hot water to make it more pliable. Drop the rear interior light, undo nut from inside, remove remenants of old seal. Clean using a little bit of wax. Put new seal in. Tighten up - not too tight. Job done. 10 mins tops.
 
Thanks firestorm, have ordered the part as stated and will try when it gets here.

Cheers!
 
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