Finally started to sortout the car...

[northpole]

Well that up there went tits up all of a sudden i get a message from the seller that the part i ordered and paid for doesn't have the CC stalk, i kindly reminded him i paid for a the lot with CC stalksteering angle sensor and board computer/wiperstalk so refund me immediatelly... now have to wait until the money is returned to my account so i can get it from another seller... So annoying! Anyway already saved 2 oter sellers that have it on for about the same price.. so will wait for when the money is returned, so i can get it from one of them.

Just another glitch that i didn't anticipate as that seller normally is on point and his spare parts are as described.

Still haven't found a metal footrest/deadpedal that has the exact same form a the audi B7 ( although the mk1 TT one comes really close, i haven't checked the mk2/mk3 TT ones yet)

News on the suspension now that it's settled the car sits level, and drives spot on. I might still swap the NS rear spring for the new one but really feel like there is no need as the handling is very stable( i just don't look forward to the work)

 

[northpole]

I replaced it yesterday and not only was the spring tired it started to rust in the exact same spot as the OS one.. Glad i decided to replace it. Once the car came down i noticed both sides came up ever so slightly... enough to give the car rake! So we all know the B7's always seem to have reverse rake right? well chances are the rear shocks and springs are simply shot, somehow the lot still keeps it's comfort, but now that i've replaced the rear i can tell you that that comfort you are used to is miles off what it should be. Bodyroll has been reduced, bad road surfaces are smoothed out way better and going up and down speed bumps is now an almost silent matter.

Oke the car sits high up but that is what i wanted OEM sports suspension on OEM sport springs giving the OEM ride height.
And i decided that i'm going to make my own matching footrest/deadpedal... as the ones i've seen online all put me off because they don't match. the only one that matches is the one for the B9.

 

[northpole]

So i finally got the right steering angle sensor combo with all the stalks (including the CC and the FIS control) so i can acivate the steeringwheel buttons, CC and the flappy pedals! but since it's too late to mess about with the car right now, I'll probably leave this job for the weekend. All looks brand new and unused.. but it's used it just came out of a car that got scrapped way to early and i got there to late... it came with the top column cover with the leather part and an almost new strip for under the cluster... and it wasn't even expensive it was the same price as me buying a new unused CC stalk, but that wouldn't work because somehow my car got fitted with the low line steering angle sensor (version S it's only for non MF steeringwheels, it shouldn't be on there the CC is on the option list on the oem sticker, including the MFSW which i already fitted to the car months ago)

So will leave this until the weekend to sort, today i won't be messing with the car at all... as i used it to dump stuff at the tip today so the inside needs a hoover.

 

[northpole]

just noticed i got the wrong wiper stalk on it but it was what i ordered... got the b version (that's the one for a saloon) needs to be a C or D version as it has the rear wiper too... mweh will get one fro a scrappy and replace it... or buy a new one, all depends on if i can find one locally if not it'll be ordered. So this is to be continued.

 

[northpole]

that all aside i just now got the flappy pedals working as they should, radio controls from the MFSW and i just put my old wiper arm on without the DIS control... because i rather have the rear wiper working than get some info i've done without since i've owned the car, i can wait a bit longer to sort that out. But yes the ease of turning the volume up and down straight from the steeringwheel, or get the car in the right gear when you want to quickly overtake (instead of waiting for the mechatronic to think) is a very nice thing to have.

Also i got an ugly red screen.. i might just get a colour cluster if i find it cheap enough...

 

[northpole]

And 2 days ago i heard a weird suspension clonk... me thinking it was the rear spring not seated right... went to investigate and the arb link top bolt was gone aka the Arb was moving freely hitting anything in it's path. looked for the bolt andit was gone.. ordered it from the dealer and replaced it today. Went nice and quick, jacked the car up put it on a jack stand, removed the wheel, positioned jack under the arm and lined it up with the arb so the arb link could be bolted back on... bolt on hand tight, 2 spanners and 3 mintes later that was on securely. pt the wheel back, relocated the jack jacked the car up a bit, removed the jack stand, lowered it back on all 4 tires and torqued up the wheelbolts...

now i'm quite sure i forgot to thighten that bolt when i did the spring on that side, since i got asked to do some other things whilst i was working on the car... mweh problem solved and i got a spare bolt now just incase. PS the droplink itself was fine so i didn't replace it.

 

[northpole]

replaced the CIM for a Q version, installed CC & coded and activated the steeringwheel controls and flappy pedals. It's an upgrade and a half comfort wise and the interior looks so much better. The steeringwheel extensions are anodized aluminium and feel way better than the OEM abs plastic pedals they connect to, it also looks a lot sportier. I also found out that the gearbox responds a lot faster to the flappy pedals than when the gearselector is used in manual mode. And no it's not just me thinking it's faster i timed it, it responds 0.3 seconds faster than using the gearselector in manual mode (think the throw is longer on the gearselector vs the flappy pedals) Pictures will follow somewhere this week (probably the weekend)

Still have to modify the pedals for the S-line version metal pedals. But they are here... just need to get myself in the right state of mind first. And i need to get some super strong 3M doubleside automotive tape to secure the lot after i'm done with the modifications. As i'll never pull them out.

 

[northpole]

Right so here is the picture of the steeringwheel as it is now with the flappy pedal extensions..

note i haven't found an upholstery place yet to make the wheel beefier and get it re-done with some carbon fiber and perforated leather (and that is if it's even possible without extensive remoulding)

 

[northpole]

S-line metal pedals & footrest installed ... the pedals put up a fight but i won in the end ( everything needed to be modified) but it i done and you wouldn't even think twice about it if you'd look in my car.

 

[northpole]

I just toped up the Climatronic system and it's now blowing cold air as cold as 8 degrees celcius according to my temperature gauge. the reason why i did it was that i noticed that the system wasn't as cold as it was when i just got the car, in the service records i have there never was a mention of it being serviced so I pulled the trigger and searched for a DIY kit at a decent price, since the prices have gone up in garages. The last time i did a Climatronic system it came to just under 45 pounds... so it was cheaper to do it at a garage than getting a kit. Nowadays the prices are between 60 and 90 pounds ( that is for the cheaperst places and depending on the type of gas used R-134A being the cheaper priced one y1234 cost between 90 and 120 pounds) anyway... I searched and found this company elling DIY kits on eBay for just under 40 pounds. this includes the needed fill pipe with the right push on connector for the LP side) and 1 bottle that has the lot in in, r-134A, oil, a stop leak agent and a UV dye - to spot leaks) anyway.

I put the fill pipe on to check the pressure, ( a healthy system has a steady reading) of around 45psi on the LP pipe whilst the system is running. Mine was sitting steadyly at 20psi. SO i filled it up with the bottle that came with it... And emptied the whole bottle into the system ( just a smidge over 45 psi). I removed the fill pipe and bottle waited for 10 minutes wit a running engine and the system blowing the hardest on the lowest setting (both sides read low) than turned the car off. just to find it as cold as my fridge when i got in the car.

I left the car to sit for a while than went out and let the car run for 10 minutes with a temp gauge infornt one of the vents. the temp read 8 degrees Celcius so job done. and i checked the LP pipe again and it's still sitting at a smidge over 45 psi ( it's an analogue gauge so it might be 46 or 47 psi). Anyway the jog is jobbed and it's a good'un ( as they say around my neck of the woods).

PS i recommend the seller as not only did the kit come earlier than expected, the product works as advertised, and is packed very well. It's a lot cheaper than the fancy STP offering but having the exact same result in the exact same time for less than 1/3rd of the STP price. They got a direct website too : www.acrefill.com browse for R-134A refil kit and you'll find a few offerings at the cheapest price possible. 2 topup bottles (that carry effectively 700grams of R-134A) cost just under 30 pounds (i spotted them from 25 pound upwards) deliered for free to your address.

 

[northpole]

well after @Charlie Farley had a problem with his new drive shaft i remembered i told him about my goto brand, so i checked mine... wel both cv boots ( yes inner and outer)ripped to shreds... this is a problem with the newer compound the cv boots are made off, i contacted the manufacturer as mine was already out of warranty. J&R sold me a new one at the price of a cv boot set for both sides. I can't complain about that... they send it out with 24 hour delivery too free of charge. anyways it got here and last night ( just after 19:00) i pulled out the tools and went to pull out the old one and clean up... it came out so quickly i managed to finish the job in 2 hours flat. most of that time was spend cleaning off the grease that had flung itself around on everything that was surrounding it.

happy again as the new driveshaft clearly has more rubbery cv boots, can't blame the manufacturer of the shafts they don't make the cv boots, their line supplier does. And they know about it as they had a lot of returns on the driveshafts because of the cv boots just all of a sudden leaking. So if you've recently replaced your driveshafts, i suggest you have a peak behind the wheels, you might find the same problem as this line supplier supplies most of the UK driveshaft manufacturers and they know full well that they had a bad badge of cv boots.

 

[B7Tourer]

I left the car to sit for a while than went out and let the car run for 10 minutes with a temp gauge infornt one of the vents. the temp read 8 degrees Celcius so job done. and i checked the LP pipe again and it's still sitting at a smidge over 45 psi ( it's an analogue gauge so it might be 46 or 47 psi). Anyway the jog is jobbed and it's a good'un ( as they say around my neck of the woods).

I recently had mine regassed, and bacteria cleaned at ATS - got a deal on Groupon; it was £47.49, which I think a good deal. It was working fine, but slightly low; and mainly I wanted the bacteria treatment. Unlike Kwik fit (never again) I can recommend them gladly. You seem to know what you're doing Northpole but the advantage of regassing via a proper machine, is leak testing, proper evacuation and lubricant. At that price I was not going to bother trying myself.

 

[northpole]

I recently had mine regassed, and bacteria cleaned at ATS - got a deal on Groupon; it was £47.49, which I think a good deal. It was working fine, but slightly low; and mainly I wanted the bacteria treatment. Unlike Kwik fit (never again) I can recommend them gladly. You seem to know what you're doing Northpole but the advantage of regassing via a proper machine, is leak testing, proper evacuation and lubricant. At that price I was not going to bother trying myself.

Oww, nah, mine just needed a top-up, as it was lower than low...under 20psi when I checked it... still cooled a little bit, but it would keep a certain heat. Now it's back to normal. Maybe next year I'll have the whole thing properly emptied and a full service. The last place I had my previous car done (formula 1 garage) did a stellar job and it was still nice and cold when it went to the scrappy 4 years later.

Ps the stuff I got had everything in it barr the anti bacterial treatment... which they do sell also. So i might just go for that since i now got the fill pipe

 

[B7Tourer]

The last place I had my previous car done (formula 1 garage) did a stellar job and it was still nice and cold when it went to the scrappy 4 years later.

To be fair, I've been very lucky with the CC, in this car; well in most respects, that is to say. I bought this long legged cruiser, as my first car back from 20 years living in Spain, with my first pay packet, when I got back into my old trade, as a stop gap, as I thought then. I bought it, 172K from a mechanic friend who worked in the garage next to my brother's bodyshop, up North. It was £1450, mainly because the air con didn't work and there was an EML light on; there were a few minor little dents too. I took it round the corner, had it re-gassed, and it was ice cold, until the compressor gave up the ghost, years later (that was only about £280 with dryer, fitted). Been great since. The EML, after much head scratching, turned out to be 4 small broken wires to the ECU. And Keith 'The Dent Man', who worked sometime for my brother, worked magic on the dents. I had the Heater matrix renewed too, as I discovered one sharp winter, there was little to no heating, even though I could blow ice cold!

Now I've spent far too much on it over the years, but non of it was breakdown stuff, apart from the clutch/flywheel, that lasted over 200K from new, to give it it's due; and only failed then since I burnt some serious skin off it, reversing up out of a dead end unmarked narrow, steep, cul-de-sac, in Southern Spain, one time. The rest mainly service, cosmetic and preventative; like the oil pump upgrade; that makes these 2.0 TDIs pretty bullet proof; which I think at a sweet running 272K+ now, I'm well on the way to proving

 

[northpole]

yeah those lumps go on for ages nowt wrong with that... nah my CC is just fine mate. I haven't had any need to replace any part of it other than the top-up. Not bad for a 20 year old petrol car.

 

[B7Tourer]

yeah those lumps go on for ages nowt wrong with that... nah my CC is just fine mate. I haven't had any need to replace any part of it other than the top-up. Not bad for a 20 year old petrol car.

The CC in these cars are pretty bullet proof, if looked after and regularly used; which is essential for proper lubrication. I've had a lot of trouble with air con in other makes but this one not; and it is fair to assume it got neglected somewhat before I bought it. A tell-tale rattle from the front of the engine often can be the rubber dampers in the compressor perishing but even then it usually still works; but that's about the size of it. Condensers and evaporators seem rarely to go bad.

 

[northpole]

I do have to replace the cabin filter though as yesterday when i put it on ECO mode there is this faint smell coming through, smells like i got my nose above the hot exhaust side of the engine... meaning the filter isn't fit for purpose anymore. Will get another carbon type one.

 

[B7Tourer]

It's a bad placement I feel; the slightest engine smell can enter the cabin; a case in point was a while back I decided to re new the oil filler cap; after a while I could smell oil. I replaced the original cap and that vanished - so much aftermarket stuff is crap, like the Chinesium EGR valve recently and the first replacement rear washer wiper motor; OEM always better where possible; Valeo in the latter case and been good for a few years since. Anyway that cabin filter needs replacing certainly more regularly than the service schedule implies. I've tried all types carbon and Bosch OEM; they never ever last long. Many other makes place the cabin filter around the glovebox, further up. The B7 one quickly clogs with leaf debris and insects being where it is directly top of the scuttle; easier to replace though

 

[northpole]

Yeah it was well done for... when i took it out it was 2 times heavier than the replacement... should tell you enough it was dry though not wet. but i can atrribute it to the amount of trapped dirt etc... i'm glad i replaced it.All fresh and lovely smelling again. I went for a Man carbonfilter this time around as the one that was on there was the cheapest brand available in the UK... Drive filter, good for when you just bought a car and aren't sure if you are going to keep it for a long time, but not if you decide to use it as a daily, well you can you just need to replace them more often.

Normally I keep the scuttle clean so the cabin filter doesn't get that much of a blockage anyway... next month I'll do an oil service, Will start to gather my preffered 5w40 fully synthetic instead of the 5w30... simply because the car has done more mileage than when it was new and the thicker 5w40 actually gives better lubrication at high temperatures like what we experience every summer now. I'd use 5w30 if the engine was still under 100K but it isn't.

 

[B7Tourer]

The Mann carbon filters are no better than the OEM Bosch ones I found; they don't stop the smells any better than any other eventually. I often have to put the recirculation on, behind smokey cars and I can smell almost anything, even with a new filter; or especially I should say, since it's 'breathing' better; which round here in the country, where they burn a lot of garden rubbish, can be quite alarming sometimes lol. No matter how clean you keep the scuttle, it's surprising how much debris is sucked in to the filter, when you come to change. I reckon 10K tops, for a due change. They're not horrendously expensive anyway, and the Bosch ones cheap enough.

 

[northpole]

LOL I'm glad it's not as bad here as i said mine only had the faintest engine smell coming through and i noticed it yesterday... and that was with it being that bad as it was when i removed it.
Suffolk I do drive behind some lorries, busses etc but never really noticed any stink coming through from them unless i cracked a window open. So the el chepo did it's job but the Mann filter is better in everyway than the previous non carbon filter that was in there. although it was that dirty it looked like a carbon filter, it definately wasn't. I didn't change it before anyway, it's from the previous owner, as i forgot to change it but i did all the other filters and fluids when i did the big service upon getting the car home.

Mweh will see how long it lasts.. if it goes past the 10k mileage that'll be a win. the one that i replaced has done about 25k ontop of what the previous owner has done.

 

[northpole]

Did the oil service 3 days ago, no big deal but the engine purs now. Took it for a drive and somehow the engie picks up better, more agressive as a whole and uses less fuel as the average mpg's have gone up.. think I'll replace the oil more frequently from now on.

and of course the car has gotten a clean yesterday outside only as the bodywork was dirty... gave the wheels a quick clean too didn't dress the tires though.

 

[B7Tourer]

Well done. Just about to do mine myself this time too. I read your comment on the other thread about 5w40 vs 5w30; something I've agonised and read about in an OCD way for some time. Ultimately I don't agree with your 'water-thin' description of 5w30 lol, for my diesel, that is. I've had mine on nothing but 5w30 and at 275,000 it runs very well and like'new' as they say. The difference is negligble, except perhaps in sustained hot climate high speed driving. As long as it is VW 504 00/507 00 (for the diesel again). The critical wear quality for any oil is startup from cold and thinner oil is a factor here, especially in winter. Modern tolerances mean that even very high mileage engines are not worn so's you'd need appreciably thicker oil than manufacturere's spec; or the engine is getting end-of-life anyway. I sometimes top up with 5w40 in a pinch; that's only one quart between services, and has never changed.

I've always though changed at least the oil and filter at 6000 miles and I believe that is more crucial than anything, Fortunately I caught my oil pump hex key in time and upgraded it to the 100mm KMB with modified balance shaft. Nonetheless I'm going for the very high mileage club on mine lol. I've got Liqui-Moly 5w30 Long Life III going in this time - expensive but an extra 10 quid on, isn't outrageous - together with their flush too. It's a personal choice; highly contentious much debated thing - but I'm sticking to this grade, so far. If I lived in Southern Spain again, I might be more on the fence about it.

 

[northpole]

@B7Tourer about the 5w30 vs 5w40 debate: i'll keep it simple, mainland europe doesn't use 5w30 for regular oil changes, unless you specifically ask for it ( maybe they do now with the newer cars that run 5w20 from the factory) but their go to is 5w40 fully synthetic oil.. especially for diesel engines, and when the cars have done over 100k miles they'll advise 10w40 half synth. Now if the UK was warmer or colder than main land Europe i'd gladly put in 5w30 but it's not, I'm Dutch and i'm used to using 5w40 so that is what i use. Regardless of my personal choice, check your owners manuals oil section you'll find it has a variety of oils that you can use. And 5w40 is just one of them.

Also with my car having a FSI non turbo engine there is absolutely no need for 5w30 oil to fly around the engine trying to keep the turbo bearings cool (the oilfilm that is supposed to coat the engine internals breaks down earlier than 5w40 as the latter can handle heat better it also coats the lot a bit thicker. Granted LiquiMoly 5w30 is good oil i used it once and was kinda amazed with it but it still got replaced with 5w40 right after as i did notice the engine was louder running on that oil.

But oil is a personal choice, my preference is 5w40 fully synthectic and i don't care about the brand neither as long as it has the right spec on the bottle, regadless if the engine has ran most of it's life on 5w30. I'll just use an oil flush and start running 5w40 full synth as soon as i do an oil service. After all the engine has no problem using it and apart from that in the end 5w40 has a longer range of protection, especially when you push the car to work hard.

back to my aging b7:

so it decided to spring a leak in an original coolant pipe, took me a while to fix it as it's in an akward spot plus an oem /pattern pipe wasn't anywhere on the shelf. so i got a universal coolant pipe, used a straight connector and cut the worst part of the old pipe than joined them up. problem sorted. took me a while because the intake and al it's pipes need to be removed to get to it... I managed to work around it loosening a few parts to give me just about enough access to actually do that emergency repair. I will order the needed oem / pattern pipe today and replace it when it shows up. but in the meantime i can use my car again.

Tip to others: check your rubber pipes on the car because in my experience when cars are hitting 20 years of age all the rubber parts will need replacing ( not just pipes and hoses, even engine mounts suffer from perished rubber) I'll be looking at the price of the engine mounts too if they are cheap enough i might just order them too. as the ones on my car are the OEM ones so 20 years old.

 

[northpole]

I just dropped most of the watered down coolant out and topped it up with concentrated coolant... I put in 3 liters of concentrated coolant... that should do the trick saving me from having to drop the lot and do a complete refresh (goodthing i just put water in and nothing else)

 

[B7Tourer]

@B7Tourer about the 5w30 vs 5w40 debate: i'll keep it simple, mainland europe doesn't use 5w30 for regular oil changes, unless you specifically ask for it ( maybe they do now with the newer cars that run 5w20 from the factory) but their go to is 5w40 fully synthetic oil.. especially for diesel engines, and when the cars have done over 100k miles they'll advise 10w40 half synth. Now if the UK was warmer or colder than main land Europe i'd gladly put in 5w30 but it's not, I'm Dutch and i'm used to using 5w40 so that is what i use. Regardless of my personal choice, check your owners manuals oil section you'll find it has a variety of oils that you can use. And 5w40 is just one of them.

I'm still gonna stick to 5w30 mate - at only a 1/2 to 1 litre oil usage in 6-8k and at 275, 000 miles, that shows no change yet, in that consumption, that works for me. The manual states only VW 505 01, VW 507 00 btw.

 

[northpole]

And both of them are found on 5w30 and 5w40 lol check te bottles next time ypu are in the shops... and that said you can find both on 10w50 racing oil too. The spec is just the minimum it should adhere to.


Also I'm not telling you to change your oil to 5w40.. I just explained why I go for 5w40 against the recommendation the dealer gave here. As it's different from what the audi dealers in Mainland Europe recommend.

 

[B7Tourer]

And both of them are found on 5w30 and 5w40 lol check te bottles next time ypu are in the shops... and that said you can find both on 10w50 racing oil too. The spec is just the minimum it should adhere to.


Also I'm not telling you to change your oil to 5w40.. I just explained why I go for 5w40 against the recommendation the dealer gave here. As it's different from what the audi dealers in Mainland Europe recommend.

507 00 supercedes 505 01. Whilst it's true that the latter can cover both grades, the former is almost wholly 5w30, looking at Opie Oils, for example. The spec isn't a minimum is quite a narrow specific Manufacturer recommended multigrade. The only reason some people may be using 10w40 is to hide a worn engine; that is a bandaid that will cause further accelerated wear. As I said, the critical and most wear encountered on any engine is at startup from cold and 10w40 is not advisable for this, and certainly not recommended by Audi, anywhere, for these engines. Sludge also is a critical factor and risk with thicker grade oils, to be minimised at all costs.

As I mentioned also, if I lived again in southern Spain, I would have probably moved to 5w40 by now, although upto around and over 200K I was always running 5w30, in often 40 degree summers, with a lot of long distance high speed driving, without any issues. I would still not want any grade that varied from the 5 number, for cold starting. But here in the UK, and in Autumn coming up to winter, for this service I am sure 5w30 is the best, for this engine, that does not appear to be appreciably worn, even though it has very high mileage. For the next service nearer next summer, that might possibly change for 5w40, we'll see, but probably not.

I am obsessed with oil and tyres, they are my OCD points lol. I have studied everything I can about them too, over many years of driving both domestically and professionally. And I always read the manual mate, cover to cover. My only reason bringing this up, apart from it being of great interest, is you describing 5w30 as 'water thin', which is both misleading and incorrect in relation to 5w40. As with anything though frequent oil/filter changes are more important than any other consideration.

 

[northpole]

507 00 supercedes 505 01. Whilst it's true that the latter can cover both grades, the former is almost wholly 5w30, looking at Opie Oils, for example. The spec isn't a minimum is quite a narrow specific Manufacturer recommended multigrade. The only reason some people may be using 10w40 is to hide a worn engine; that is a bandaid that will cause further accelerated wear. As I said, the critical and most wear encountered on any engine is at startup from cold and 10w40 is not advisable for this, and certainly not recommended by Audi, anywhere, for these engines. Sludge also is a critical factor and risk with thicker grade oils, to be minimised at all costs.

As I mentioned also, if I lived again in southern Spain, I would have probably moved to 5w40 by now, although upto around and over 200K I was always running 5w30, in often 40 degree summers, with a lot of long distance high speed driving, without any issues. I would still not want any grade that varied from the 5 number, for cold starting. But here in the UK, and in Autumn coming up to winter, for this service I am sure 5w30 is the best, for this engine, that does not appear to be appreciably worn, even though it has very high mileage. For the next service nearer next summer, that might possibly change for 5w40, we'll see, but probably not.

I am obsessed with oil and tyres, they are my OCD points lol. I have studied everything I can about them too, over many years of driving both domestically and professionally. And I always read the manual mate, cover to cover. My only reason bringing this up, apart from it being of great interest, is you describing 5w30 as 'water thin', which is both misleading and incorrect in relation to 5w40. As with anything though frequent oil/filter changes are more important than any other consideration.

It's not water thin but heat it up enough, and the coating of the parts with 5w30 is water thin compared to 5w40 being thicker and even feel more fatty (this is with the oil being heated up to around 90 degrees than left to cool down by the way). And that is why I call it water thin.... it's not. Water thin oil actually is any oil starting with 0 (as that oil has the exact same flow when cold as water)

I have my preferred oil, and you have yours, and if you keep to your 6k oil change regime, then 5w30 is just fine...especially if you cover more 10k mileage a year, the oil actually doesn’t even get to get degraded, even if you'd run the car at WOT every mile of those 6k.

I'd normally change my oil twice a year, but since I started doing less than 6k a year, I decided to leave it in until I hit 6k or just above that. I also need to wait for good weather and it needs to be dry for at least a week. As i lack the luxury of having access to a garage. I refuse to take it down for an oil service as I can easily do it myself. But yeah, the last oil I left in too long, but that was me just testing how much of a difference it would make overall. And i can tell you it does make quite a difference since the car actually almost just about gets to working temperatures when I'm almost home.

The old oil had degraded, and slowly started using a bit more fuel on average.After the oil service, that has improved ever so slightly. The engine runs smoother and quieter overall. And somehow it feels like it's a bit more livelier than with the old oil. And since noticing the response of the engine to the fresh oil, I will do the twice a year oil service again.

 

[B7Tourer]

Yes, really I'm splitting hairs here. No problem I think with 5w40, the differences are minimal from 5w30. And yes LL synthetic is just that, Long Life - I don't think even 10k intervals do any real harm - used oil analysis shows that with quality LL synthetics; 6k, 8K or whatever is completely arbitrary and there's a lot of rubbish on the net; especially those who swear by 3K intervals, from some of our American cousins, for example. Just as long as you forget the lease inspired 20K intervals, that were about marketing low cost servicing. 5w30 was introduced when DPFs came around and is mandatory for those engines; but it's also about emissions and MPG more than longevity of the engine; that's why 505 01 can vary in Multigrades. So 5w40 would not be a bad thing for my non DPF engine.

The LM LLIII, is new for me. It's recommend as having high wear resistance and low friction and good for cold starts; ever important for minimum camshaft wear. I'll find out if consumption differs over the service period, from what I've always had. If it does I may then think about 5w40, at the next full service.

 

[northpole]

Anyone got an oem exhaust from a 2.0 tfsi (dual exhaust with straight tips) with the bumper bit for 2 exhaust pipes up for sale at a decent price? If yes pm me please...

It's only for looks not sound i like how quiet the car operates but i prefer the symmetry of the dual exhaust over the single one I have now.

 

[B7Tourer]

I haven't mate, but funnily enough I've just booked in and had a quote on a new SS exhaust from the cat back. Very good place, the fella said I had possibly a few more years in the centre box, even though the outer sking is rusted away. But all in for £350 not at all bad for SS and shiny new tips will be welcome.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Anyone got an oem exhaust from a 2.0 tfsi (dual exhaust with straight tips) with the bumper bit for 2 exhaust pipes up for sale at a decent price? If yes pm me please...

It's only for looks not sound i like how quiet the car operates but i prefer the symmetry of the dual exhaust over the single one I have now.

ping me re the exhaust.

 

[northpole]

I haven't mate, but funnily enough I've just booked in and had a quote on a new SS exhaust from the cat back. Very good place, the fella said I had possibly a few more years in the centre box, even though the outer sking is rusted away. But all in for £350 not at all bad for SS and shiny new tips will be welcome.

I don't want an aftermarket exhaust, i don't care about the tips either it's purely for looks i don't want a loud exhaust. I love how quiet the car is and don't want the exhaust note to be more intrusive ,which is what you get with most SS exhaust simply because the design of the exhaust used is more open. Even the aftermarket baffled exhaust boxes are louder than the oem ones. If i did i would already have them put on as i had a similar price quoted for an aftermarket SS setup but when i asked about the noise they told me it would be louder... not what i want and this was the baffled versions they had, and because they are packed with fibre glass after a few years they get a bit louder too. I simply told them that isn't what i wanted and they told me to go and get oem or aftermarket oem equavalent to keep the noise at oem level. Which they could supply and fit for me but the price they charged was more than the SS custom job.

They put me off the idea completely until a b7 avant 2.0t drove past me and i started looking again. thing is all the oem pipes i have seen on offer were either in a bad state or badly repaired. So i thought let me ask here, maybe someone has the oem dual exhaust laying in a corner in a decent state.

 

[B7Tourer]

I don't want an aftermarket exhaust, i don't care about the tips either it's purely for looks i don't want a loud exhaust. I love how quiet the car is and don't want the exhaust note to be more intrusive ,which is what you get with most SS exhaust simply because the design of the exhaust used is more open. Even the aftermarket baffled exhaust boxes are louder than the oem ones. If i did i would already have them put on as i had a similar price quoted for an aftermarket SS setup but when i asked about the noise they told me it would be louder... not what i want and this was the baffled versions they had, and because they are packed with fibre glass after a few years they get a bit louder too. I simply told them that isn't what i wanted and they told me to go and get oem or aftermarket oem equavalent to keep the noise at oem level. Which they could supply and fit for me but the price they charged was more than the SS custom job.

All exhausts now are aftermarket unless you want to pay Audi £2000+ for the oem one. They come, in the case of non SS, with only a 12 months guarantee and are in no way up to the quality or longevity of the original OEM. In the case of a diesel the noise issue isn't the same with SS; in fact it is hard to make less or more noise on one, unless you dispense with the silencers completely. This exhaust will have the same centre and end silencers and is patterned just as the original - it makes no sense to fit ordinary steel one offered in most tyre and exhaust. The tips will be identical downpointing as the OEM, just new, which mine aren't. but that is not the reason I am renewing the entire system minus the cat.

You can see these kind of cheap new exhausts all over from Autodoc to eBay, coming from places like Poland and yes China. As you say the only other alternative, if you want OEM, is secondhand and since they will also be 20 years old and since these parts deteriorate and corrode more than any other on the car, that is often very unwise. Hopefully and I imagine the ne Rob may supply you is good.

I need a new centre box. It is pointless to fit a cheap aftermarket new centrebox that won't last. And it is not possible or practical to weld in just a stainless steel one. Therefore the alternative is a full SS one. It is not a custom exhaust; designed to be louder - at no point did I mention that. It is a standard replacement in SS. If it doesn't look right when I rock up on Monday, it's not going on.

 

[northpole]

All exhausts now are aftermarket unless you want to pay Audi £2000+ for the oem one. They come, in the case of non SS, with only a 12 months guarantee and are in no way up to the quality or longevity of the original OEM. In the case of a diesel the noise issue isn't the same with SS; in fact it is hard to make less or more noise on one, unless you dispense with the silencers completely. This exhaust will have the same centre and end silencers and is patterned just as the original - it makes no sense to fit ordinary steel one offered in most tyre and exhaust. The tips will be identical downpointing as the OEM, just new, which mine aren't. but that is not the reason I am renewing the entire system minus the cat.

You can see these kind of cheap new exhausts all over from Autodoc to eBay, coming from places like Poland and yes China. As you say the only other alternative, if you want OEM, is secondhand and since they will also be 20 years old and since these parts deteriorate and corrode more than any other on the car, that is often very unwise. Hopefully and I imagine the ne Rob may supply you is good.

I need a new centre box. It is pointless to fit a cheap aftermarket new centrebox that won't last. And it is not possible or practical to weld in just a stainless steel one. Therefore the alternative is a full SS one. It is not a custom exhaust; designed to be louder - at no point did I mention that. It is a standard replacement in SS. If it doesn't look right when I rock up on Monday, it's not going on.

Yeah, but i don't own a diesel making all my points valid. I wasn't talking about your experience either i was talking about what I got told by 2 custom exhaust fitters around my neck of the woods, one being Powerflex. Both had the same story and both told me the same thing.

Ps I know it's different with diesels and the only way to make them louder is to at least decat and straight pipe them. I used to own 3 diesel cars before I went back to petrol. Apart from that I actually got my mate to fit a 3" straight pipe with dual exhaust tips to his old 2004 a6 avant 2.5 tdi quattro s-line than have it remapped after I swapped the injectors internals for higher flowing ones and fitted a bigger fmic and a hybrid turbo to it. It sounded good and was just a deeper note stationary but when you revved it... it sounded quite loud he loved it, I thought it was oke. Especially for a diesel.

Anyway, the reason why I asked if some had one is simply because most people on here only keep stuff that is in a very good state or they bin it. I know Rob is one of them.

 

[northpole]

Well i had to pause the exhaust thing as i had the ABS acting up, I did notice it a week earlier that when i would apply the brakes the abs would be kicking in regardless of my speed or the amount of pressure applied to the brakes... anyways i didn't get any errors until last Monday, and yes it was the the left rear wheel speed sensor ( abs senor passenger side rear or NS rear whatever works best for you) Now this sensor has never been replaced on the car so I just bought a new one and decided to DIY... I gave up half way due to a seized bolt, the one that is holding the sensor onto the bracket. I then decided that it would be best to have it done, due to me having a messed up right shoulder.... got a few quotes in but the place that had space would be after the 5th of November... yeah erh nope not happening I hate having warning lights on the cluster so decided tat it would be best if I just tackle it myself...

The job to get the old sensor out involves taking the brake disk, brake caliper and the brakeshield off before you can actually work from the outside in... i just cut a slot in the seized bolt, tapped it a few times with a hammer and it came out. took a lot longer than I wanted but i wasn't rushing the job at all ( mostly to not aggrivate my already damaged right shoulder)... now here is the stupid part... I forgot where the cable goes into the bodywork as the senors for the B7 don't have a plug at the sensor... it has the plug inside the car. When i noticed it was going under the bottom covers... i thought oke must be going somewhere in the back of the car... so i removed everything in the back to not find it.... thought about it, pulled this topic up and yes it is coming up under the sidebolster of the rear seat. How the hell did i forget that? Anyways... had to put an extra jack stand under the car as i needed to remove the underbody covers that where covered by my garage jack... once the car was secured on both jackstands, i proceded finding where the cable was routed and it's securing points along the way... pulled up the rear bench and removed the seatbolster to get to the connector for the sensor and than pulled the old cable out of the way. once that was done i needed to use some garden wire to pull the cable up from the bottom without damaging the cable... pulled it through connected it up than rebuild the car back up... I spend a good 6 hours outside 4 of them wher spend on getting the old sensor out.

Now for you thinking that should take about half an hour.. i agree, if you remember where the cable comes up through the body, and the sensor hasn't been on the car for 20 years. It was seaized to the cradle, the bolt that was holding it was seized, and it took a lot of brute force to get it to seperate from it's previous location. Than the area around the sensors location, triggerwheel etc all need checking and cleaning as it'll be a rusty afair... I did all that with wirebrushes some attached to a drill but mostly it was manual labour than the lot needs to be built back up... I wasted about 2 hours taking the rear apart and putting it back together.

But the endresult is better than a garage would do it as they would simply just replace the sensor and not clean everything up.

TIP: rear abs sensor plug loction are hidden next to the c-pillar, to access it you need to remove the rearbences seatbolsters, than you'll find the connector (NS has one there/ OS has one there , so both sides have it in the same location oposite from one another) and if you decide to DIY it: take your time do it right and clean off all the old rusty flaky bits around the abs sensor both on the outer and inner side. It'll last another 20 years.

 

[B7Tourer]

Good work Northpole

 

[northpole]

I replaced the front shock absorbers and springs (with all the fitting hardware). I wanted to keep the car on the s-line sport suspension oem ride height and wanted to keep the oem ride comfort. I ended up getting Apec springs and Drexler shock absorbers.
There's no need for more expensive stuff if that's what you are after... just make sure you get new top mounts and bumpstops too.

I started the job since I had this metallic clonk every time I came to a stop or drove off. Noise was coming from the OS front... I had already replaced all the front suspension arms, so the noise could only come from one thing. The shock absorbers on the front. I already had them, so I just pulled them out of storage and started the job.

TiP: only remove these bits if you want to do the job quicker: remove bottom bolt of shock absorbers, remove bolt on arb link, remove steering linkage, remove 3 bolts from the top plate so it drops, than lastly remove the 2 rear top suspension arm bolts.

This will take about an hour of working time away if you work with handtools only.

I got the old shockabsorber out and pushed them in, both of them stayed pushed in so the springs did all the work.

Anyway job is jobbed. The car drives way better now, clonk is gone.

Ps I mentioned before that the oem s-line suspension hides defects very well. To the point where it will pass a proper suspension test, although the shock absorbers aren't working as they should. Little tell tales are the car dipping in corners or metallic suspension noises.

 

[northpole]

all was well untiol somehow the heater matrix decided to top getting hot... i thpught mweh just need to back flush it topup the coolant and done... how wrong was I, ay? Longstory short if you look above i did have a burst coolant pipe, had to repair it by cutting out the bad part, than use a straight coupler and a universal coolant pipe to bridge the gap... anyway somehow now all of a sudden the heater matrix didn't respond well to the back flush... I even used a syphon pump to empty it completely and that came out clear... anyway it's not working ( well it doesn't get hot properly) so i decided to buy a new heater matrix but... royalmail is a royal PITA... 24 hour delivery turned into a 48 hour delivery tht they didn't deliver in time, booked it as no one home to accept the parcel... i send the seller a message and low and behold, the message changed to delivery problem on their side... so they'll probably come with some other BS today since I'm not going to be in all day i got stuff to do...