Chi's Audi A5 3.0 TDI

[chisharpe]

Wanted to start a build thread to document what I have done to the car as always so here is is a 2008 Audi A5 TDI.

with the TT back seats winding me up for the last time I decided it was time for a change. I knew I wanted a 2 door car but was originally going to buy a 335d but I must admit darkside developments Audi made me look at these in a different light along with Karls build thread and keeping a quattro system I decided to go and look at a local one to me.

After seeing the car and giving it a good check over there was loads wrong with it! so i ended up offering the guy alot less money than he was asking for but what i thought the car was worth. we agreed a price and a few weeks ago I collected the car and set about sorting it.

The list of issues were as follows:
desperately needing a full service.
Audi music display really dull needs replacing
doesnt get up to temp
boost leak/turbo wont know until i rip bits apart.
2" pipework for FMIC
swirl flaps
1 3 6 glow plugs
Air con doesnt work could be anything.
alloys scuffed
rear bumper scuffed needs repair
rear brakes need doing
front left tyre
Leather needs a good clean and some dying as its faded in the usual places including some paint on the leather which needs to be removed.
Tinted lights I just dont like them personally
Badges still on the car.
Suspension I am sure has seen better days and needs a few bits changing
basic coding.
No cruise control.

So after that list of issues here are the positives.
Its Black
It has a FMIC
the DPF has been gutted.
its had a remap. however I am more than likely going to get it re done as i have no paperwork and no idea who did the map.
rear back boxes have been deleted.
clearly someone loved this car but didn't know or spend money in the right areas.
and the last positive is I am not scared to get my hands dirty.

So first things first got the car home

I then set about pulling the front end off the car to try and assess if it was actually a boost leak or the turbo.

After pulling all the pipework off I found this..

Along with all the pipes filled with expanding foam! I managed to source the original Audi pipes and used the existing 3'' to 2.5'' 45 deg reducers and some 2.5'' connectors i bought to rehash the pipework.

Taking on the turbo intake pipe there was zero play in the turbo it actually looks quite new.

 

[chisharpe]

Next up was the thermostat. on the journey home the car never hit 90 just fluctuated between 50/85 so i decided to change it. I had heard the EGR thermostat could cause this but with no evidence mine had ever been changed I thought it would be a good idea. Thanks to Karl who sent me some documentation which really helped.

I did a mini how to which ill put here:

1. Remove air intake on top of engine and use a turkey Baster to remove as much coolant as possible.
2. Remove under-tray for light
3. Remove two bolts holding egr pump thingy. These are like a multi star socket. If you don’t have this you will need a Allen key style t15 for the 3 bolts that hold it to the bracket. I say Allen key because the last bolt is impossible to get to without an L shaped key.
4. Once I bolted use cutters to remove once use metal clips holding coolant pipes and remove.
5. There are 3 bolts holding in the thermostat which are T30. You will be able to see the right hand side bolt with a torch but the other two you won’t be able to see especially if you didn’t take the aux belt off like me.
6. Feel for bolts and then remove.
7. Once removed coolant will spill out the quicker so have something to catch underneath.
8. Change thermostat and make sure you have 3/4 jubilee clips of various sizes (note the BMW one) for the once use you took off. Fitting is the reverse of removal.

The Audi thermostat is £40inc vat from TPS as of August 2019.

This was actually very simple but the learning curve of how it comes off took me some time as it was my first one.

9. Run car up and continue to top up coolant. I lost about 4L

My car wouldn’t stay at 90 now it does.

 

[chisharpe]

I then gave the wheels a quick once over.

 

[chisharpe]

Fitted up to the car

 

[chisharpe]

When I purchased the car it was in desperate need for a service. luckily ebay was having a deal for 20% off and I managed to get Castrol Edge 5w30. GSF worked out the cheapest for Mann parts which I have found are generally equivalent to OEM.

I did:

• Oil & Filter
• Air filter
• Fuel filter
• Cabin filter (bit annoyed at myself as i did not buy the charcoal one.
• Drained and replaced with new coolant (decided to do this after finishing the thermostat)
• Brake Fluid

Dont mind the intercooler pipework its been sorted since this pic

 

[chisharpe]

Next up with the main screen which I couldn't see in the day light. I thought it was going to cost a fortune but turns out the Chinese have done it again £25 for a new screen from ebay.

All done

While I was removing the screen it was a good opportunity to sort out Aux on the car. one of the people from the facebook forum told me about this cable which is for the poor mans concert stereo that the original owner picked.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-A4-A5-Q5-Aux-Input-Adaptor-Audio-Interface-Converter-Lead-3-5mm-Jack-Plug/361720129260?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Very quick and easy to install and there is a little gab underneath the climate control panel. It could be extended to the arm rest like oem but its mich better where it is for my phone mount. after this it needed Coding on VCDS

[56]-Radio
07-Coding
Change RHS digit from 0 to 1:

 

[chisharpe]

Since buying the car tinted rear lights were not my taste. I was going to buy some normal rear lights but a pair of LED lights with adaptors came up at a decent price.

While I was fitting them I removed the rear badges and wrapped the window trim in gloss as I wanted to de-chrome the car.

During

Done

All coded in and done. was simple in the end but I think i got the best easiest adaptors as it will literally plug and play. not something i experienced when i did the same on my previous BMW

 

[chisharpe]

The air con didn't work when I looked at the car and looking online a lot of people of had success changing the high pressure switch so I booked myself a ragas and changed the switch from Audi.

this was the codes I was getting.

00256 - A/C Pressure/Temperature Sensor (G395)
008 - Implausible Signal
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01101000
Fault Priority: 7
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 151
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 16:41:01

Freeze Frame:
Temperature: 52.0°C

00457 - Control Module for Network (J519)
013 - Check DTC Memory
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01101101
Fault Priority: 6
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 151
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 16:41:01

So after spending a little over £100 still no luck.

I will always now check the wiring on anything that has the above implausible signal code.

This was my wire fell apart in my hands. once I opened up the wiring it had clearly been repaired before. but the new wire was rotten and brittle.

I watched this video which really helped me and set about repairing the wire.



was pretty easy in the end and now the code has gone but still not air con I am however hopefully it may need re gassing as I lost a lot of gas when changing the valve, it should be a check valve but think mine has gone a little faulty. so this saga will continue...



when I did a test of the system and the n280 I got cold air for a short period of time

 

[chisharpe]

picked up a new set of wheels at the weekend and gave them a paint. they are et 35 so needed some spacers. Decided on 20mm.

Car needs lowering now. I picked up a set of coilovers and plan to hopefully get them fitted this weekend. Im not going to go stupid low just drop it by 25-30mm also the tyres on these wheels are a joke loads of stetch so once they are burned out some wider tyres will be going on.

 

[makelja]

Which BBS's are those? The color is nice on them.
They look like CH-R but the Motorsport text is missing.