My A6 3.0TDi Avant bit of a rebuild and repair thread.

[B5NUT]

The chassis number shown in this image, is this your chassis number?

 

[Irnman]

Hi, no that's the chassis number of the car the part was removed from. Audi said that their system won't allow them to remove CP from a part that was in another car. He said he could phone Audi UK but they wouldn't entertain it, as the part strictly doesn't belong in my car (according to it'd original spec). Is there a way to unlock cp without connecting to Audi database?

 

[B5NUT]

What a load of rubbish Audi do talk. I've had CP removed from dozens of used parts without any problem. The only time I've had CP not been able to used was on a MMI module and I got the same error code you had, which is a black listed car.

I'm not sure about third party software, I've only every used Audi to remove CP.

I can flash your module but I'm not local & like any software update there is a risk of failure.

 

[Irnman]

Are you anywhere near Blackpool at all? We are down there in 2 weeks time, and if close, I could possibly make it over! Even though my revision D module has now been pulled from car, if I reinstall will it be CP free (as it now back "home" so to speak), or will it throw up a CP error? Will flashing it basically revise the module to a revision K spec?

 

[B5NUT]

Sorry, i'm on the other side in the north east.Putting the old module back will clear any CP errors.

 

[Irnman]

If I could arrange to perhaps detour down that way either on my way down or on my way home, would it take long to flash the old module. I got in contact with the place that sold me the module, they claimed to be able to lift the CP if I sent them my original (revision D module) to them with the revision K that they sent me, and they could post if back to me once done.....does this sound feasible or does something sound a bit funny there? I only ask as you seem a bit more informed than me when it comes to how this CP process works. My understanding was that it would physically require to be in the car it will be used in?

 

[B5NUT]

Well not really done much on my A6 for the last few months, suspension has been finished and just need to complete the write-up.

However as both of my Audi are getting on in life & miles I wanted to add something newer to my fleet so picked up this last Monday, it's the first chance I have had to take some picture as the weather has been rotten.

It's a 2.0 TDI Sline Ultra stronic, added a few options like tech pack, comfort pack & lighting pack. Overall every please with the car, ok it's not as quick as my 3.0 C6, but it's nice and comfortable which for an sline surprised me. At least now it will give me chance to tidy up my C6 as sitting in the new car the interior on the C6 does need a bit of refreshing up!

 

[Markjb]

Very nice mate.

What are you going to do with your spare time now with no modding or overhauling?!?!

M

 

[B5NUT]

Currently ripping the other A6 apart, needs a new crank case oil separator.

 

[Irnman]

Been a wee while since I been on, been so busy trying to get these lights working, and with work etc. OK, so recent developments, as follows: I got in touch with the person who sold me the 2nd module, and he asked me to send it back, together with my original (revision D) module, and he had someone who could swap the VIN over from old to new. I have now received this back and put back in the car.......its behaving exactly the way the other Revision K module was (ran an Autoscan via VCDS and I do not see any fault code stating that CP is active - which I assume you would if CP was active)? Unfortunately, I am still getting these "trailer left light" and "trailer right light" warnings coming on when I first start the car......which is weird as the car doesn't have a tow bar, and I didn't think the central electrics module would even control lights for a trailer. Still having a few issues with the wiring for the headlights.....xenons working fine.....led drl's are now coming on when I start the car for 3 or 4 seconds then turning off (but the one on the passenger side comes on and flashes rapidly when I press the button on my key remote to open/close car if is dark outside, as if its trying to perform same function as coming home/going home lights - which the fog lights currently do). The autoscan said I have an open circuit in the drl/sidelight, so I think I have maybe got another pin swap still to do!

Completely confused about these trailer light errors though - any ideas anyone?

Many thanks

Chris

 

[lion_mercedes]

Hello sir @B5NUT
I hope you are doing well, sir please can you help me about this error
I'm trying to replace J518 steering lock and immobilizer module for Audi Q7 MY2010 the original module of the car can't be identify by diagnosis I replace with used unit I'm trying to programming i get this error
-------------------

can you please help tell me if you know what is the problem cause
---------------------------------------------------
this is the original module info

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
and this is the info of used control module that I want to install

the VIN number appear in error message is the VIN of the car that the used module come from

Thank you in advance and best regards
Leo

 

[B5NUT]

The version of ODIS your using is that a copy or genuine dealer tool?

 

[lion_mercedes]

Hello sir
Thank you for quick response sir, it is genuine tools it is VAS 5052B
do you have any idea what this error code mean and how I can solve this problem, do you think it is flag for stolen vehicle that the used parts come from ..?

Thank you in advance sir

 

[B5NUT]

I've have not seen that error code before when I've been using VAS/ODIS I take it your credentials (username & password) are valid to access the VW gecko database to remove CP.

 

[lion_mercedes]

sir thank you
I'm not sure about username if have authorization level to remove CP
is there are anyway to discover what is the authorized functions are allowed with username & pass that provide to me

Best regards
Leo

 

[B5NUT]

That I cannot answer sorry, best contact the person that provided the login details

 

[Markjb]

So B5NUT, how are you finding the C7 now you've had it for a few months?

 

[B5NUT]

Right to to get this thread back on track. There has been a lot of updates don to the A6 over the last year, and here is the update to the suspension rebuild from this post of last year. http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/thread...-and-repair-thread.211351/page-7#post-2525812

Once the Por15 had dried it was time for a couple of coats of stonechip, this was applied with a brush, not for better results you should use a gun, but as the wheel arch is almost 100% covered it was not worth the time to mask everything up

Once dried it was out with the 2K paint. Now as I was not in a spray both & did not have an air-feed mask, it was out with the paint brush again,as the dangers are minimal when using a brush. I used 2K as it has a chemical hardener so the paint dries in an weather, it's also a much more hard wearing paint , so a 50/50 mix of paint & thinner with a 10% hardener.

As you you can see the brush strokes are visible, but a lot of them are in the stonechip, if you want to try and avoid brush strokes just add a bit more thinner and it should minimise them

Once the 2K base was on a few coats of clear coat was applied, and with that I hope the rust has gone for a few years...

Next job was to work on the the top arm. This arm cannot be removed easily, the fuel tank is in the way so you cannot remove the bolt holding the arm in place, so as I didn't want to drop the entire rear subframe & fuel tank, I left the top arm in place and removed just removed the one accessible bush. To do this I picked up this set of presses and have to say it was money well spent.

It took around 2 minutes to remove the bush and about the same to press the new on in place. However best get yourself a set of ratchet spanners. I also used a wire brush on a grinder to clean up the arm as it was covered in rust.

Next was to cleanup the upright as I was going to replace the bearing & bushes. A new upright from Audi was about £330 (excluding bearing) and the bush were about £20 so a massive saving and paid for the press tool about 4x over.

For the upright you will need a press & various sizes of sleeves.

First was to press out the hub

Even with the 4 bolts removed the bearing would not move, and the press kit did not have a size big enough, so out with a hole saw.....

Next was to remove the remaining of the bearing from the hub.

At this point I cleaned the upright, using wire brushed, I also removed the rust from the hub and applied a few coats of black Por15.

 

[B5NUT]

Cleaned up hub

This was the state of the old bush in the upright, they were well passed there best.

Press tool was used to remove the old bush.

Next was to clean to the hole before pressing the new bush in the upright.

Used a wire bush attachment on a drill for cleaning.

New bush pressed in, I used a small amount amount of WD40 to help press it in as WD40 dries up over time.

Once done it was time to refit the bearing & hub. First was to press the dust shield back on the hub

Then to press the bearing back on the hub.

Next was to clean up the arm for the headlight leveling system. The steal ball's had badly corroded in the rubber cup and has sized solid, so it cannot have been working correctly.

Metal parts were cleaned up and painted with Por15

Cups were refilled with grease

The main CV joint body was also so rusty it was leaking grease.

All cleaned up with new grease

To tighten the clamps to the correct torque setting, you will need one of the tools below as there is no way of doing it using a hand clamp

Next was to clean up some of the parts that were being refitted, disc dust shield, brake caliper/mount and the anti roll-bar, all stipped back, rust removed and painted with Por15. The lower arms, shock, spring where all new.

Fitment of the new parts was all straight forward, but getting the spring back required the adapted spring compressors.

New brake hoses were fitted as the old ones were shot.

At this point all the bolts where left so there was a small amount of play, as the suspension bolts should only be fully tightened when the car is on it's wheels.

However before the car is put back on it's wheels the hub bolt must be fully tightened which is 200NM & 1/2 a turn

Few pictures of one side put back together.

The other side is just the same however you have the filler for the fuel tank, and the rust damage was just as bad.

 

[B5NUT]

So on with the front suspension.

This is the condition after just under 200K miles

It was not as bad as the back but still in a bit of a state.

First was to remove the hub bolt, with the car on it's wheels and someone on the brake the bolt was removed, you will need a long beaker bar to remove this bolt!

I started on the front-end by removing the brakes. First clamped off the brake line I got a set of these.

Next to removing the bracket holding the wring in place, and the brake pipe going into the caliper

Next was to remove the 2 bolts holding the caliper in place, then caliper mount bolts were removed.

After the dust cover was removed it gave good access to remove the ABS sensor.

I then had my first look at the pinch bolt, and soon gave up, and would deal with it once the upright was off the car.

Next bolt I had trouble with was the bolt holding the track rod end in place, it rounded off the back of the upright so had to put a nut splitter on it to get the nut off.

Top bolt was easy enough to remove.

Then the headlight level sender was removed. Again the arm was and joints were just covered in rust and sized solid.

Ultimate in poor design, the clip faces the body work so difficult to get at.

I missed these photo's out but the front roll bar was completely removed on both sides, then removed the bolts holding the bottom arms in place, these also came out without any problems.

Next was to remove the clip that hinders the suspension being removed (metal clip around the rusting screw thread) For the life of me I have no idea why Audi used this clip....

Next was to remove the three covers so you can access the bolts holding the top shock mount in place

Once all three bolts were removed the entire assembly was removed.

The driveshaft bolts where removed and the driveshaft pulled out.

Shots of the carnage under the arch.

Found a fair about gravel under the steering rack

I then removed the bracket holding the brake line to the chassis, there are just pop rivets so had to be drilled out.

No after shots of the body work being pained but it was done the same as the rear, rust remover, Por15, stonechip, 2K base, 2K clearcoat.

 

[rich dj]

Should be good for another few hundred thousand miles now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[B5NUT]

Would like another 100K at least, with all the work I've done this year + last year. Passenger rear caliper failed today, change the drivers side last year, wish I'd done both at the same time.

 

[B5NUT]

So a bit of a before and after all the soil & stones removed.

Next stage was the dismantle the upright, the pinch bolt was well & truly stuck, took lots of heat, long metal bars, hammers and an impact gun to remove the bolt. As I was binning the top arms I was not bother about getting the heat into the arms to free the bolt, but it did destroy the rubbers & grease was spitting out due to the hear, so if you need the keep the top arms I would find a solution that does not involve blowtorch!

As shown in the picture above the bottom are were easy enough to remove, couple of nuts and a smack with a hammer...

Again the self level for the headlights were rusted solid so were left to soak on penetrating fluid

Again these were attacked the a wire brush and rust remover, then painted with Por15 and re-greased.

After that the front drive shaft was rebuild and boot fitted, new grease and rust removed & painted

The suspension was then rebuilt, had to make a special tool which was a deep socket with two side ground down so I could get a spanner on the end.

New shock & spring fitted and the shock mount cleaned up

The bolts holing the arms in place wre just tight enough to stop them flopping around, they were fully tightened once the car was at the correct ride height.

Next was to rebuild the front upright, again it was cleaned up with a wire brush. The front hub was stripped of rust and painted and a new bearing was fitted. New bottom arms were also fitted.

At this point I was able to start getting the car back together and started by fitting the drive shaft, it will need to be supported until the rest of the suspension is fitted.

Upright & shock then refitted.

Then the rest of the parts were fitted, brakes new lines etc

Before the car was put back on it's wheel the hub bolt was tightened again it's 200NM + 1/2 a turn. This must be done otherwise you could damage the bearing. Again you need two people at this point as someone need to be standing on the brakes...

Next step was to tighten all the bolts up with the car at the correct ride height. Now if I had a ramp this would have been easy but as I'm on a drive it a little harder.

First to measure the ride height with the car on it's wheels

I then used a couple of jacks to raise the car to the correct height

The second jack on this image is just there in case the jack under the suspension fails, its not taking any of the weight of the car.

At this point you can get to all the required bolts & nuts and fully tighten

Once that was done it was the same on the other side. Due to weather painting, cleaning etc the hole job took about 6 weeks but was well worth the effort, the car now drives like new with no creaks or bangs, and it's much more comfortable to drive around in

 

[B5NUT]

So on with the next faults with the car! One of the main problems was the amount of oil getting into the intercooler pipe work which mixed with the EGR gasses causes the inlet manifolds to get gummed up with crud.

The other fault with the car is the rocker cover gasket's are failing and weeping oil so both need replacing.

Last time I emptied the pipework out this was the pool of oil that came out of the system.

It was not as bad when I removed the pipe work this time but still a pool of oil dropped on the floor!.

So as there is only two ways oil can get into the the intcooler system (crank case breather & turbo) both were replaced. The old turbo had done 200K miles and had a fair amount of play in the shaft. The turbo was refurbished by turbo solutions which is local to me and saved a fair amount of money rather than a new turbo. The crank case breather was in unknown condition as it's buried in the middle of the engine, and a sealed unit you would never be able to find out..

So this is what I need to get to, it under the EGR cooler, this is the best picture I could get and you still cannot see it.

So most of this is coming off.

First job was to remove the crack case breather

The inlet pipe work & manifolds were removed as per this thread http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a6-s6-...old-egr-cleaning-refurbishment-help-info.html

To quickly drain the coolant, remove the lower hose just near the sump

EGR pipe work and the oil filter housing

Once that lot is removed you can get to the offending item

Even with the bolts removed it was stuck in place to the pry-bar came out! Which did the job

New crank case breather.

 

[B5NUT]

So the new breather was fitted and that part of the engine put back together. Next to remove was the turbo. Remove the air inlet pipe & oil feed pipe to the turbo before starting.

First the 3 bolts holding the exhaust side was removed

Then the 3 bolts to the exhaust manifold.

Then the two bolts holding the turbo mount to the engine, one is just below the exposed turbo to exhaust stud on the photo and the other is to the left of the picture just behind the EGR cooler.

Next is the bolt holding the oil return pipe to the turbo. Is the bolt in the middle of the image with green mark on it. Once that bolt is removed you can pull the pipe away from the turbo, however it will be stuck in there and takes a lot of effort to remove.

The final bolt which not not difficult to get to but easy missed is the lower bolt holding the turbo bracket to the engine. It is just visible in the centre of the image to the left of the little pool of oil on the turbo. Took me a while to find this last bolt as it's not obvious in elsawin.

Final pipe to remove is the intercooler pipe. I believe all the oil that is covering the hose clamp to the right is from the crank case breather, left is from the rocker cover gasket.

So a few days later the refurbished turbo came back

Fitting it is just the reverse of removal, just make sure the oil return goes back in, and make sure you fit a new o-ring, and all new turbo gaskets.

Next job while the engine is in bits was the rocket cover gaskets, also had oil coming from the injector covers.

Shots of the mess, you can see the oil on the bottom of the cylinder head cover.

And the oil weeping down the side of the engine.

The cover is easy enough to remove, however you will need to get new injector seals & o-rings, and injector covers.

You also need to get a set of these so you can torque up the injector pipe to the correct values, from memory you need a 14mm & 17mm.

All the bolts are easy to remove except the one shown in the photo just behind the fuel pressure sensor, yet another great design.

Also depending on how long the injectors have been in place you may find them difficult to remove, mine were fitted lastt that 2 years ago and the injectors came out with ease.

Once injectors are out, and screws removed you get the first chance to look at the internals of the engine.

Have to say I was please with the condition of the cams they showed very little ware. Also while the covers are off clean out the injector tubes, of any soot. Before refitting I brushed everything over with clean engine oil. and cleaned up the faces of the cylinder head and rocker cover.

Everything was then clean and put back together.

The right hand side was just as bad a suffered the same issues as the left.

Biggest problem in removing this cover was the bracket on the left which helps to hold the throttle body in place.
It's held in place by one bolt on the top.

Another shown to the right of the dipstick and two others below that bolt. However the lowest of the two bolt you only have to unscrew a few turns, you don't need to fully remove it.

Here is the bracket removed, you can see on the right the two screw holes that are hidden, with the very lowest hole being slotted.

Again I was please with the condition of the cam's.

Next was to start putting the engine back together. and clean up as mush as I could

then final stage of the cleanup was to remove the bumper and all the intercooler pipe work & intercoolers.

Coming up next is replacing the aircon pump....

 

[B5NUT]

So one thing I did not know about the aircon pump in the 3.0TDI is it does not have the standard electro magnetic clutch on the aircon pump. It runs another pump and the engine should never be ran without gas/oil in the system, otherwise the compressor will fail. So last year I got a hole in the condenser, and that quickly killed the pump.

So with the intercooler removed it is easy to get at the compressor.

First is the to remove/slacken the belt. There is just enough room to get a socket in there then use a few extension to push down on the damper.

Next is to remove the bracket that holds the intercooler to the car.

You can then remove the bolts holding the airon pipe to the pump and then remove the three bolt holding the pump to the engine, the photo below shows the bolt holes with the pump removed.

The old pump can then be removed, this was the part number on my pump.

As you can see it's just a DENSO pump, so got a replacement DENSO unit without the Audi badge with the added TAX!

Even has the Audi numbers on the plastic connector just the Audi rings ground off.

Next is to refit the new pump and put the belt back on

You can then connect the aircon pipes to the pump

Finally the intercooler bracket goes back

Once the new pump is fitted I would recommend getting a mobile aicon company, to oil & gas the system, otherwise you could damage the new pump.

 

[B5NUT]

So with the engine side of things complete I've started to look at the body work on the car but the first thing to address is the exhaust tips. I always found the C6 TDI exhaust a bit HGV looking. So last year I picked up these, they are back boxes from an S6, they cost me just over £100 for both boxes.

Only problem with the S6 exhaust system is it's 60mm pipe work v the 55mm on the TDi system
So I went to a local exhaust place and had the S6 system modified so I could use the standard Audi clamps to connect the system together. So the following mod was done, cost me £40 which I think was a good price.

60mm to 55mm adaption

One of the TDi boxes cut off, and to be fair it looks in better condition than the S6 boxes

The exhaust hangers are the same, and they bolted straight on. S6 v TDi

So this is the final result with the tips cleaned up and the S6 lower valance fitted.

It's made sod all difference to the sound of the car but it looks so much better, the only down side it keeping the tips clean.

 

[NotNormal]

The end result is really nice - the exhaust suits the car well. Nice work

 

[B5NUT]

Cheers, wanted to get the S6 pipes as I know there would be no issues with droning, and once the S6 pipes were reduced then it's plug & play with the existing pipework Also the S6 back boxes can be be pick up cheaply compared to a milltek system + I was only interested in the looks and not performance gains.

 

[GDS968]

Does it sound any different with those boxes on?

 

[B5NUT]

No not really, I did the mod for the looks, was not interested in performance or noise. However i think has has made a little bit of difference in performance as I don't believe the baffles in the back boxes are as restrictive as what is in the TDI boxes, after all they are designed for a 5.2 litre V10

 

[Lucian189]

Great car..love all the work you done

 

[B5NUT]

One of the job I've wanted to tackle on the car was the body work, to be fair it was not in the best condition, plenty of scratches, one of the door blades was corroded and coming away from the car, and the paint work felt like sand paper!.

So first was to buy a new blade from Audi and remove the others as they all had a fair amount of damage on them, which I think were from high curbs.

Picked up the paint from a local Automotive paint shop, and got a spray gun from machinemart. I already had regulators & multiple filters on my compressor setup.

Front blades was sanded down & and coated in a plastic primer.

Rear were also given the same treatment, along with 4 new rear parking sensors.

Next a couple of coats of base primer.

Then a couple of coats of base followed by 3 coats of clearcoat

I find putting a few extra cost of clear coats help if you find the finish is not 100% so you can wet sand it flat & machine polish it without cutting into the base coat. But thankfully on this job the finish was fine and just needed a machine polish one fitted to the car.

 

[B5NUT]

Than started the clean up.

First a bit of a wash, then out with the clay bar, which made a massive difference to the paint work, if you have never used one of these I would recommend it 100% you will be surprised how much dirt is stuck to your paint work.

Even the inner of the doors go done. Before degrease & clay

After

Once fully clayed, it was out with the sand paper, I used a mixture of 2000 & 2500 wet & dry, always keeping the paper wet. Only got picture of one side but the hole car was done where any scratches that were deep enough not to be able t be removed by the machine polisher.

Once I was happy I'd got all the scratches out the hole car was machine polished, then swisswax cleaner fluid was applied along with a couple of coats of swissvax shield which is excellent wax, very easy to apply and give an excellent finish.

Final shots of the finished results

Not looking to bad for a 10 year old car with 210K on the clock.

 

[niedzial1983]

Than started the clean up.

First a bit of a wash, then out with the clay bar, which made a massive difference to the paint work, if you have never used one of these I would recommend it 100% you will be surprised how much dirt is stuck to your paint work.

Even the inner of the doors go done. Before degrease & clay

After

Once fully clayed, it was out with the sand paper, I used a mixture of 2000 & 2500 wet & dry, always keeping the paper wet. Only got picture of one side but the hole car was done where any scratches that were deep enough not to be able t be removed by the machine polisher.

Once I was happy I'd got all the scratches out the hole car was machine polished, then swisswax cleaner fluid was applied along with a couple of coats of swissvax shield which is excellent wax, very easy to apply and give an excellent finish.

Final shots of the finished results

Not looking to bad for a 10 year old car with 210K on the clock.

Looks great !! Did you updated the front yourself with the led headlights and bumper ?

2006 Audi A6 3.0TDI quattro sline le mans | Daytona Grey Pearl

 

[B5NUT]

Yes I fitted them last year, but never got around to doing that write-up.

 

[niedzial1983]

Yes I fitted them last year, but never got around to doing that write-up.

My dream is to get the led headlights...

2006 Audi A6 3.0TDI quattro sline le mans | Daytona Grey Pearl

 

[B5NUT]

biggest issue is the central electric module, you either have to replace it (so have to deal with component protection) or find someone with vag can pro to upgrade the firmware. Thankfully I have vag can pro so went down the firmware upgrade route.

 

[niedzial1983]

You seem to know your stuff. In what part of the world you are based ?

2006 Audi A6 3.0TDI quattro sline le mans | Daytona Grey Pearl

 

[B5NUT]

One other mod was done today, fitted the boot liner from a C7 and it's a perfect fit.

Unfortunately these images were lost. Thanks Photobucket.....