Goodbye Vauxhall (sort of), well hello Audi S3

[Harvey]

The other week as part of the biannual AC check on the S3 I popped to see the chaps at StayKool in Derby as I was hearing a whooshing noise when I started the car which I knew is the expansion valve and usually means low AC gas. The system had less than half what it should and they extracted 190g and found a leaky condenser at the connections.

I left rather sad knowing what a mission I had ahead of me and after sourcing a replacement brand new Febi condenser part no.197654 I dived in having never had to remove the S3 front bumper previously.

It was the lower condenser connection that was leaking which became obvious once it was undone.

New AC seals were fitted which I had in stock and you can see the leak wasn’t caused by the seals but corrosion within the condenser fitting itself which StayKool had advised would be the case.

Not wanting to drop the whole rad pack I opted for complete front-end strip as it’s the only way to replace the condenser without dropping coolant as I was in this deep a few more bolts didn’t hurt.

I finished the rebuild and manged to grab a late Sunday booking back at StayKool who checked and confirmed there were no leaks holding vacuum and filled the S3 to the full 460g. What a job I wasn’t planning on doing but it’s just a big Lego kit so not exactly rocket science.

 

[Harvey]

The VXR8 had a good 2025 with no major issues and plenty of shows/meets attended but I did have a few jobs lined up for when it entered Winter hibernation. Ever since I bought the car I noticed an oil weep/misting from the lower dipstick tube where it’s a push fit into the sump with o-ring seal and bolted fixing to the head at the top. I mitigated this in 2024 with a microfibre sweatband to stop the oil blowing under the sump.

Earlier this year I had a eureka moment and realised due to having tubular performance headers installed the dipstick tube was tight against cylinder no.8 exhaust in two places where it feeds round from the top to the bottom and with thermal expansion it was lifting the tube out the lower fitting enough to cause small oil weep. After a head scratching session I used a temporary spacer on the dipstick tube top fixing that allowed clearance by a mm or so to the exhaust. A few months later I checked and this year’s sweatband was dry (see previous pic) so issue resolved.

I set about a permanent fix so made a 7.5mm alloy spacer to replace my temporary test stainless nut. The spacer was bonded onto the dipstick fitting using sump sealer and painted satin black for that authentic OE look while also fitting a slightly longer bolt. I’m now hoping that’s the end of the annoying oil weep saga which was blowing under the sump.

 

[northpole]

sometimes on has to use their brain to sortout problems... well done it looks oem and none would be the wiser... maybe something to let VXR owners community know, as it seems to me that you won't be the only one that experienced this exact problem... As I know most vauxhall/holden owners just accept oil weeping from things like that, it's the american way lol something that wasn't a problem when Vauxhall/Holden were 100% German owned.

 

[Harvey]

Earlier this year the oil pressure gauge in the VXR8 started doing strange things and not reading correctly or returning to zero when the ignition was powered off. From my research the oil pressure sensor is usually to blame but this wasn’t the symptoms I saw and had a feeling it was the gauge circuit board/driver so contacted Walkinshaw who offered me a refurb/repair for these gauges but it was all three or nothing and they would have to go to Australia.

I got the gauges removed and on route to a holiday popped to Walkinshaw to drop them off in person for service/repair.

When I removed the gauge pod I found this bit of foam and a potentiometer, had no idea what it was for but more poking and it was related to the centre aftermarket dash speaker. Needless to say I tidied it up and hid it under the dashboard for a neater appearance and stop anyone else wondering what it was.

A month later after a long trip around the globe my gauges were returned to me so built up the gauge pod and refitted.

I’m happy to report that all gauges working as expected with the oil pressure better than before it broke and whizzing up to 5 bar when you blip the throttle.

 

[Harvey]

Having replaced the VXR8 main auxiliary tensioner and greased up the idler pulley last year I thought it only prudent to check both AC belt pullies as they have been on the car since new in 2007. I got them removed as the AC compressor runs its own separate belt.

Metal one rh is used for the belt auto tensioner and the plastic lh is the idler.

I gave each a shake and you could hear the bearings freely moving and carefully popped the dust/weather seals off and sure enough they wasn’t much lube inside so happy I checked them in time before any lasting damage was dome.

I packed both with LM2 multipurpose high temp grease before seating the seals correctly into place.

Bolted them back on and torqued both fittings to 58Nm and pleased to say all was good after a test as the belt and pullies run continually being driven off the main crank pulley, no nasty noises and smooth running.

 

[ChickenDipper]

The final fluid job I’ve not been looking forward to as it’s a faffy jobbie but the DSG box was still calling my name as my final fluid swap victim. The Mechatronic, main drain bung & overflow pipe were removed along with the (Audi say non serviceable) filter.

I drained out 4.7L not including what was soaked into the filter & the spillage when the Mechatronic oil exited at a higher rate than anticipated which resulted in some liquid escaping the clutches of the oil drain tub.

I’m pleased to say you can get to the DSG filter & swap it without the need to remove the battery, airbox or intake pipework. I must have baby sized medium hands as I didn’t at all struggle. New filter vs oil & in it goes. Spec states a torque of 50Nm for the filter but it’s plastic so I did the same as the engine oil filter at 25Nm as it undid with ease.

Now the faffy fun begins as the DSG it bottom filled using gravity so I bought a very cheap copy but excellent quality VAS6262-1 tool & made my own pipework for filling.

I’d already purchased the required 6L of DQ381 (OGC) spec oil so already had it in stock along with a new overflow pipe.

I popped in the Mechatronic drain bung & torqued to spec at 10Nm+45degrees. The overflow pipe was fully installed to the stop but not over tightened at 3Nm so next to nothing, it should screw in easily. Then rigged up my DSG oil insertion tool which resulted in me screwing a funnel to my fencing & away I went pouring in 1L at a time at a steady pace.

I then started the car & let it idle & as per the procedure with foot on brake went through P>R>N>D/S counting to 3 in each before going back to P. Next was a long wait to reach 35C to 45C which are the DSG oil temps to set the level. It was cold under my car port, check the ambient temp in the pic, so it took ages to reach 35C but the hotter it got the quicker it went up. It took over 30mins so I had time to contemplate if I had bought all required Christmas presents & wondering which flavour Haribos I hasn’t yet tried.

As soon as it reached the minimum temp I whipped off the VAS6262-1 tool expecting to have oil drip but having only added 5L at this point nothing came out, nothing at all. Reason was I had only added 5L on purpose as I’d read it only took 4.6L to fill but this would have been for the older 6 speed DSG. At this point I turned off the car, reattached the VAS6262-1 & topped up to the required 6L. Then started the car again & went through the prescribed procedure of foot brake, shifter, checked the temp & this time when I remove the VAS6262-1 & unscrewed the overflow pipe two turns to set the exact level it dribbled out 650ml so the total DSG oil fill for my DQ381 (0GC) 7 speed wet clutch box with a filter change was 5.35L. To complet eht oil change after setting the fluid level the overflow pipe was fully seated and hand tight to 3Nm before the main DSG drain bung was installed with a new seal and tightened to 45Nm.

I’ve still got a few jobs left on the S3 so there's more the follow soon as it’s still in hover mode but really happy with what I’ve achieved so far as I’m now getting to know it intimately.

After all my oil changing of late I popped to my local tip today to recycle 25L of used premium oil which must have a retail value of £350+ when new, eek

Hi Harvey,

Brilliant write up!
I am about to do the exact same oil changes/servicing on my S3 8V FL and will be using it for reference for sure! I have managed to put together a list of the bolts/plugs required.
Am I right in thinking the front and rear diffs use the exact same plugs?

Would you mind checking I have this all correct, seem to be finding conflicting info on the front diff/transfer box plugs, it would really be appreciated

	Torque Setting	Size	Part No
Engine Oil Filter	25nm	32mm Socket
Haldex
Haldex Pump Bolts	9.5nm	10mm socket
Haldex Filter/Gauze Bolts	N/A	T10 Torx
Haldex Drain Plug	32nm	10mm Hex	N 910 827 01
Haldex Fill Plug	15nm	5mm Hex	N 902 818 02
Seals			0CQ 598 305
Rear Diff
Drain Plug	19nm	10mm Hex	N 902 818 02
Fill Plug	19nm	10mm Hex	N 902 818 02
Transfer/Bezel Box
Drain Plug	15nm	??	??
Fill Plug	15nm	??	??
Gearbox
Main Drain Plug	45nm	14mm Hex	N 909 654 01
Inner Drain Plug / Snorkel	3nm	8mm Hex	0GC 321 363
Mechantronic Drain Plug	10nm + 45deg	6mm Hex	N 013 813 1
Mechantronic Drain Plug Washer			N 013 813 2
Filter	25nm	32mm Socket	0GC 325 183 A

 

[Harvey]

@ChickenDipper you are correct and the rear diff and front bevel box use the exact same fill/drain plugs but different torques as you have listed and it's also a 5mm hex and not a 10mm. I'm just pulling the parts/fluid together for my second diffs and DSG service later this year, nothing like planning early. Incidentally N 902 818 02 can be sourced as a Febi part no.101020 and no.101021 click me. I'm glad my writeup has proven useful.

Rear Diff
Drain Plug	19nm	5mm Hex	N 902 818 02
Fill Plug	19nm	5mm Hex	N 902 818 02
Transfer/Bezel Box
Drain Plug	15nm	5mm Hex	N 902 818 02
Fill Plug	15nm	5mm Hex	N 902 818 02

 

[ChickenDipper]

@ChickenDipper you are correct and the rear diff and front bevel box use the exact same fill/drain plugs but different torques as you have listed and it's also a 5mm hex and not a 10mm. I'm just pulling the parts/fluid together for my second diffs and DSG service later this year, nothing like planning early. Incidentally N 902 818 02 can be sourced as a Febi part no.101020 and no.101021 click me. I'm glad my writeup has proven useful.

Rear Diff
Drain Plug	19nm	5mm Hex	N 902 818 02
Fill Plug	19nm	5mm Hex	N 902 818 02
Transfer/Bezel Box
Drain Plug	15nm	5mm Hex	N 902 818 02
Fill Plug	15nm	5mm Hex	N 902 818 02

Thank you ive updated to 5mm hex and I actually went for the Febi plugs/bolts.
Hoping to have everything arrive this week ready for some fun on the weekend, wish me luck and thanks again!

 

[Harvey]

Another VXR8 common issues is the multi earth point on the front righthand chassis leg below the ABS unit. You can get random ECU and ESP alerts flagged with ESP turning itself off then on as well as lambda errors. I’ve had a few of these errors flagged in my ownership so set about sorting the earth.

It’s buried down here.

It still has the original ring terminal fitting for the six loom earths and as you can see the wiring doesn’t look great.

I chopped the fitting off to expose the copper wiring having gone black due to damp ingress.

Then cut back the cable sheathing further and used white vinegar to reverse the oxidation and emery paper to clean the wiring.

It was a tight struggle but I managed to crimp a new ring terminal and coated everything with proper silicone grease to help expel water ingress.

Refitted and smeared more silicone grease on. I’ll continue to monitor for further random errors but hopefully this’ll sort it and futureproof things.