What have you done to your Audi A4 B7 today?

At last; finally, I was able to get 4 wheel tracking for both toe and camber done yesterday - she was quite a bit out; understandable with all the work done. The difference is not as marked as the new front suspension overhaul but I can detect less understeer when turning left, and the piece of mind worth it, knowing at least tyre wear and handling are given the best chance possible. After 7 years, she is finally as good and shipshape as she can be; ready for the big trip in Feb.

Charlie Farley said:
No, it's a small puff of blue smoke on start up after sitting for a few days, clears within a couple of seconds max , classic valve stem seal leakage in my book, otherwise no smoke at all or after retstarts .
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I've bought, after much research and very good reviews, AT-205 Re-Seal. I have no oil leaks to speak of and no blue smoke but after nearly 20 years and nearly 280,000 miles I reckon 're-conditioning' the seals has to be worth it. I don't know whether that product may be useful to you too Rob.
 
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car passed with just a few little advisories.. and one of them was just a lesson for the MOT tester... thought i smoked the indicators on the wings... Had to explain they are smoked ones from the after market plus they are LED... oem never came with LED versions nor a smoked lens... so showed them the LED smoked version online, they know now.. so next time no more stupid mention of there is a product on the indicators...

had a mention of an OS rear wheel having a wobble, but it was yet again 2 bolts not being tightened all the way... I that sorted that out very quickly...
leaves just 2 more, the bolt of the trackrod end has snapped off but no play... ( so will have to replace that bolt, i can see a problem there already with it not coming out (what fun nope!)
and i need to replace my rear exhaustbox. due to to much corrosion.. ( already knew this but i'm waiting on a reply back from @Charlie Farley )

otherwise i'll just have it sorted out with an aftermarket replacement (yeah the box is beyond repair, i patched it with some exhaust paste so it doesn't leak but it really needs replacing)
 
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northpole said:
car passed with just a few little advisories.. and one of them was just a lesson for the MOT tester... thought i smoked the indicators on the wings... Had to explain they are smoked ones from the after market plus they are LED... oem never came with LED versions nor a smoked lens... so showed them the LED smoked version online, they know now.. so next time no more stupid mention of there is a product on the indicators...
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Good news bud! They are getting a bit ridiculous with advisories on older cars now. The gen is that they are under pressure from VOSA to get them off the road, lol! I had an advisory 3 MOTs on the trot, for slight misting on a shock, and one silly one that it was virtually non functional, when it clearly was - wiped it down eventually and no advisories on the same shock since.
 
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B7Tourer said:
Good news bud! They are getting a bit ridiculous with advisories on older cars now. The gen is that they are under pressure from VOSA to get them off the road, lol! I had an advisory 3 MOTs on the trot, for slight misting on a shock, and one silly one that it was virtually non functional, when it clearly was - wiped it down eventually and no advisories on the same shock since.
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Yeah i was a bit worried it wouldn't pass, since they are like this now, but hey little things are just plain annoying.... just waiting for a reply from @Charlie Farley regarding the exhaust.. as at the moment i'm ready to just have one slung on by any exhaust place... just hoping he hasn't binned it because i was late replying back lol
 
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northpole said:
Yeah i was a bit worried it wouldn't pass, since they are like this now, but hey little things are just plain annoying.... just waiting for a reply from @Charlie Farley regarding the exhaust.. as at the moment i'm ready to just have one slung on by any exhaust place... just hoping he hasn't binned it because i was late replying back lol
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Apologies for the late reply, Ive been a tad preoccupied for the last few weeks after my wife had a fall out walking the woofers, she tripped on a root and ended up with a fractured left shoulder and two cracked ribs, as you can imagine, it's been a bit topsy turvy since.
I'll fish the exhuast out during the week and check its still ok.
do you need the downpipe?
 
Just a heads up, my old B7 is coming up for sale in the next few weeks .
Its had a few more bits done to it which is nice.
Anyone interested, let me know and I'll forward your details onto the guy .
 
Charlie Farley said:
Apologies for the late reply, Ive been a tad preoccupied for the last few weeks after my wife had a fall out walking the woofers, she tripped on a root and ended up with a fractured left shoulder and two cracked ribs, as you can imagine, it's been a bit topsy turvy since.
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No need for apologies, I understand that, I actually was getting worried you ended up in hospital again... hope she recovers well.
Charlie Farley said:
I'll fish the exhuast out during the week and check its still ok.
do you need the downpipe?
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yes please.
 
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So i had to replace a coolant pipe that is absolete. Used a universal silicone elbow pipe to replace it. Took me hours to get the old one of.. than surprise... the hidden sode has a bigger diameter than the otherside, literally from 24.5mm ID to 32mm ID...nice had to think fast and came up with a solution the old.pipe was fine on the bigger ID side... so I cut the straight part off and pushed it over the smaller diameter pipe. Checked the actual length I needed and cut it to size...

I used self fusing tape and pipe clamps to make it leak free. At least now the coolant can flow freely as my previous universal solution had a kink in the bend that I didn't notice until I checked it yesterday. This hindered the coolant flow. It's back to normal now.
 
So I took a drive out yesterday to take a look at a set of electric leather s line seats advertised as for a B7. I could not tell from the picture whether the leather was quite the same shade as mine, the pictures looked darker, I thought it might just be their camera, the central section looked a darker grey. Turned out they were black all over, despite the picture below not looking like that.

I’m thinking it’s possible to do a transplant of the leather, cushion, heating element, from my seat base and back rest even if it’s not the same colour, as long as they are seats for a B7. When I got there, I took a good look at the seats, and I’m really unsure, I just cannot work out what is going on.

I checked Audi part code labels on the seat base and motors etc. they all had manufacture dates of July 2010

In theory this is not possible, production of the B7 ended 2008 as we all know so it can’t be seats made 2 years after the last car. I then thought they looked like A6 seats from a 2010 model, I see similar seats online, but they have a part code of 4F0

These seats definitely had codes of 8E0 indicating an A4, B7

Any ideas how or what might be going on.

Second, how possible is it to swap the cushions and leather over from my car to these other seats. Do they look like A4 electric seats?

Picture on the left is the seats I looked at, my seats on the right for comparison

Thanks
Paul
IMG 0305
IMG 0304
 
Swapping over seat covers is not difficult, but can be a little trying sometimes. The heating element is glued to the seat base foam, so you won't get it off easily to reuse, factor in getting a new element just in case.
have you checked the part numbers on the new seats for fittment options?
 
My initail first thought was from an a6 c6 as they have very similar s-line seat.
8E0 is used in A6 C6 variants parts aswell as A4 B7 variants.
Id be inclined to check all the part numbers on the trims against similar B7 parts .
 
A6 C6 sline seats will have part numbers which are 8E0 and 4F0 in the seat manufacture.
most hardware parts are 8E0 , trim and coverings are 4F0
 
A6 C6 , so from 2005 upto 2011 was prefix 4F which includes the facelift model .
based on the date stamp I suspect they maywell be from a facelift A6 C6, but the A4 B7 also uses both 8E0 and 4F0 in there seats too but from a year of manafacture they cant be B7.
eitherway they will fit, provided you have the extra power loom for the full electric ones.
 
Charlie Farley said:
look familiar.
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Minus the s line logo on the seat they look just like those,

They felt the same size as my seats, the only gut feeling was the plastic molding with the switches looked a little wider than the space in the A4, but I don’t have any experience to confirm this.

Unfortunately I did not photograph the full part number from the seat frame, annoying as after I could have checked whether they were standard electric seats or with memory option. I walked for the time being, I’m sure they would have been fine, maybe just needing different plastic switch trim, but sure there is something else out there when the time is right

Interesting that A6 can also use 8E0 parts, my searching online found similar looking seats but always starting 4F0, but maybe the plastic switch trim was different, but I never looked that close.
 
I suspect if one compared specific part numbers between both seats, they would be the same, except for some colour option variations etc, but mechanically the seat unit.
 
My A6 C6 Allroad doesn't have the the s-line logo but the seats are the same as the s-line one that were in my old B7
 
Charlie Farley said:
provided you have the extra power loom for the full electric ones.
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I currently have lumbar support and heated seats, so it should just be a case of swapping the 10amp fuse to a 30 amp each side…. I think

But I need to search and read up on the leather/cushion swap, I don’t want to take the car out of action for too long, if they are still around in a few weeks time, maybe it will be a spring/summer transplant project

Annoying as I saw the correct colour seats up Liverpool at Christmas, but they sold quick and it’s a long way to go!
 
Ive seen 2 sets of full electric seats for B7's in the last couple of months, they were the sports seats option, sadly they sold within days , also sold for a hefy price.....
 
PDLH said:
I currently have lumbar support and heated seats, so it should just be a case of swapping the 10amp fuse to a 30 amp each side…. I think

But I need to search and read up on the leather/cushion swap, I don’t want to take the car out of action for too long, if they are still around in a few weeks time, maybe it will be a spring/summer transplant project

Annoying as I saw the correct colour seats up Liverpool at Christmas, but they sold quick and it’s a long way to go!
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I stripped down my S4 recaros that I fitted in the B7 a few years ago now , they were full electric as standard with Recaro's but the seat element can be a pain and its not cheap to replace.
also getting the covers off can be tricky but need a carefull approach to avoid damaging anything.
wiring , you can get away with full electirc if you have heated / elec lumbar by upping the fuse, its not the best route but works but dont overload the curcuit.
 
I'm on the lookout for a full electic set for my a6 Allroad , I'll use B7 ones if they are a nice set but its finding the right colour option as mine are a light grey colour which is hard to find now.
 
It’s sad to think all the sets of B7 seats which have been scrapped over the years. I think I maybe should have taken the gamble. Like you say they don’t seam to be available for long.

Unfortunately so many A4’s were rep mobiles, and their budget rarely stretched past the base model and a phone kit. Electric seats were definitely one of the least common options. I’m pretty sure these ones I looked at were not memory seats, I don’t recall seeing the extra control module on the under side of the seat. Not that this is an issue.

You do tend to see more A6 with a naturally higher spec, I guess these were ordered by managers with a bigger budget or private buyers who wanted extra toys

I just watched a good video on the utube of switching out the seat base, did not have the pull forward sports section, but that looks to be held on by 4 nuts. I can’t find anything on switching out the leather on the backrest, airbag etc.

I’m going to have to stew on it for a couple of days…
 
there are some nice a6 c6 s-line front seats on ebay at the moment and they will fit the b7.
was just looking at a set of sports ones full electric half leather , really nice.
 
they look nice and probably good for summertime when the sun likes to heat up the leather to a point where it just tries to cook the person sitting on it... that said... @Charlie Farley you really need to change your signature lol.
 
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northpole said:
they look nice and probably good for summertime when the sun likes to heat up the leather to a point where it just tries to cook the person sitting on it... that said... @Charlie Farley you really need to change your signature lol.
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i'll leave it a bit longer just in case something occurs:whistle2::thumbs up:
 
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I've bought many parts over the years from Global; they are always as advertised, well presented and in excellent condition for second hand. Sorry to hear about your wife Rob, I hope she gets well soon!
 
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Mot last weekend ,no advisories always nice and makes the work I’ve put in worth it
Decided to tackle a p3135 intake manifold lower limit exceeded fault code that’s been troublesome for a year
I’m now stuck between a delete and replace/repair. And while I’m here I might as well tackle the glow plugs while I’ve got better access
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7767e1e9fefdd3bbd116ca214ae9ae55.jpg



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Jamsmoo said:
Mot last weekend ,no advisories always nice and makes the work I’ve put in worth it
Decided to tackle a p3135 intake manifold lower limit exceeded fault code that’s been troublesome for a year
I’m now stuck between a delete and replace/repair. And while I’m here I might as well tackle the glow plugs while I’ve got better access
b85f084e6763845b826ad2f29876be99.jpg

3f102b7a18d5fc70bf8421a809d3f507.jpg

7767e1e9fefdd3bbd116ca214ae9ae55.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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9dab5d86efc3bde74681e9d35cba0954.jpg

Cleaning the manifold I’ve found 1 of the rod guides from the end the swirl flap actuator was over rotating in 2 pieces
Not sure if it’s possible but I wouldn’t like to find out what would of happened had a piece got sucked in the engine


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I would replace that part, as you said you don't want that to be sucked in to the engine as that will cause permanent damage to it, to the point a replacement engine will be cheaper than fixing the engine. PS doesn't have to be new you could pull it from a scappy as long as it's in goood state, clean it and put it on.

PPS that isn't to bad i've seen way worse cleaning intakes lol. The fault was coming from that one valve that was staying open...
 
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