Project A4 Avant 2.5Tdi V6 2000 (W reg) Looking for some basic advice ...

[BirdmanMetalSculptor]

Hi! Looking for a bit of advice ...

I have a 2000 (W reg) A4 avant 2.5 tdi v6. Its been to the moon and it's been parked up off the road for a year or so. Now I want to resurrect it! I just got a couple of questions that might help it get through the ticket.

It's high mileage (about 240k) but when I parked it up it was driving great. Suspension brilliant all round, clutch a little high but gearbox all good and the engine pulls great. It has a nice leather interior and absolutely everything worked. There's a bit of rust on a front wing and a minor oil leak from somewhere (couple of drops overnight occasionally) but basically I feel like there is life left in this car. A years ticket for under £200 would be well worth it to me to get another year out of it. 

So my only concern about whether it's worth doing this is emissions. I remember the engine would shake quite a bit when it fired up (seemed to turn over quite a bit longer than the 1.9tdi's i've driven in the past). Once running it was good as gold though, no obvious lack of power or misfires anywhere in the range and no excessive smoke. Just like the 1.9's but with a healthy bit more grunt and I was still getting 45+ mpg.

So ... here's my questions for all you Audi gurus out there ....

I can't help feeling like the slightly reluctant start and the engine shaking as it did might be symptomatic of something. I have to get this through an MOT so I want to do everything I can to help with emissions and the above rough start issue ... I'm wondering if maybe the injectors need cleaning or something? or perhaps it's glow plug related?

I can only really drive it to the MOT centre so I figure bunging reddex in the tank isn't go to do much for me if i leave it here idling for a few hours or drive it a few miles. It really needs some revs through it or something a bit more brutal. What are my best cheap options? maybe something I can spray in to the inlet manifold?

Aside from making sure the brake pistons aren't rusted and nothing has seized is there anything else I should be checking or doing to recommission this motor aside from making sure all the bulbs etc work ? (FYI I know the cambelt has 20,000 left on it but its 5 years old. If it snaps it snaps I just have to take the risk on that.

Any advice on common oil leaks or how to diagnose easily also welcomed. Not sure I'd bother doing anything major but simple fixes like rocker gaskets etc I can definitely manage. 

Cheers for any advice

J

 

[audia4b5kev]

240k  just  running  in   all mine 300k    and  i would  put  2 bottles off diesel magic  in tank   leave running  few hours  then give  blast  to   mot station   i use  this in  every one  of  my audis      and  some time  when i put  diesel in  40 quids worth  i stick a little bit petrol   in tank   as  this cleans   to  i been doing that 40 years  not  had problem   kev   

[BirdmanMetalSculptor]

Good to know cheers! Charged it up overnight and it fired up and seemed to be running well ... (after about 10 seconds turning over). However, within seconds a braided fuel line on the left side of the engine started !Removed! fuel out. Braids all frayed and plastic pipe underneath split. Simple fix, back to the shop i go!

Cheers for the message, hope this one can do another year or few too. Bought it as a cheap runner 18 months ago and then parked it up as had no need over lockdowns ... but its actually not bad i really like it. Will let you know how it does on the MOT.

[BirdmanMetalSculptor]

Ok, sorted the fuel leak, it's actually running really well though still hard to start. Took a closer look at the front wing though and it's not pretty ...

I just put my finger straight through it! Its at the rear bottom of the wing just in front of the drivers door where it starts to wrap under and form the sill. The main sill behind it under the door seems very solid but I now need to take the front wing off to see how bad it is behind that where it starts to curve under and form the front end of the sill.

Although I can weld, if the monocoque is rotting there I'll probably just bin the car before I spend any real money on it. Hope not though, it does drive so well. 

Worst case maybe I can make a lounge set or some gaming chairs out of the seats !

Anyway, I'll post a pic or two tomorrow. 

Cheers

 

 

[audia4b5kev]

1 hour ago, BirdmanMetalSculptor said:

Ok, sorted the fuel leak, it's actually running really well though still hard to start. Took a closer look at the front wing though and it's not pretty ...

I just put my finger straight through it! Its at the rear bottom of the wing just in front of the drivers door where it starts to wrap under and form the sill. The main sill behind it under the door seems very solid but I now need to take the front wing off to see how bad it is behind that where it starts to curve under and form the front end of the sill.

Although I can weld, if the monocoque is rotting there I'll probably just bin the car before I spend any real money on it. Hope not though, it does drive so well. 

Worst case maybe I can make a lounge set or some gaming chairs out of the seats !

Anyway, I'll post a pic or two tomorrow. 

Cheers   lol   ffs  dont bin it   fix it     kev

 

 

 

[BirdmanMetalSculptor]

Here's some more on it and some pictures.

So the fuel line that burst I'm pretty sure is not Audi ... whoever fitted them left a spare 2 feet of hose coiled up on one of them rather than cut it to length! (Maybe he knew he'd need some spare! - it is janky hose!) So far i've just fixed the leak and done one other frayed pipe but I will redo them all.

The engine was absolutely covered in diesel and grime and clearly it had been leaking for a while. That might even explain the trouble it had starting because today it fired right up two out of two better than it ever has in my ownership. Anyway, a can of brake part cleaner and a power wash and it came up not too bad. Can't really drive it yet of course but I'll let it run a while and see if it drops anything, fingers crossed.

I checked the wing out properly today and good news on that too! ... the monocoque behind it is totally sound. A tiny bit of surface pitting but structurally perfect. Real relief, I felt like that was going to be the deciding factor on the car but it just needs a wire brush / sand and some primer. There's a couple of surface spots of rust on two other wheel arches but basically no rot anywhere else. I got some colour matched paint turning up in a couple of days so hopefully I can get all the bodywork sorted quickly. I got a primed pattern part wing turning up in a couple of days as well (not bad at £50 delivered) ... just hoping the non original part won't make it an arsehole to fit.

The lower part of the old wing, it turned out, had been cunningly fashioned out of expanding foam which had then been sanded and had a vinyl sticker applied over the top! I'd never even noticed!

Apart from that the front brakes look good, pretty much new pads in there and the discs have no lips. Haven't checked the rears yet, they haven't seized after standing a year (moved it twice) but they look pretty crappy and the hand brake is high. Maybe it'll need new rear discs, I'll check that out tomorrow. 

Hopefully I can get this back on the road without spending too much. I do really like it, its a great place to sit and such an easy capable drive. I genuinely think it looks better than the newer ones too, especially with these wheels.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k3uj7x0pbxoksu3/IMG_0490.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eicdo73778on4cn/IMG_0491.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q0avqnd6x8qlf8f/IMG_0493.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vzqz2pol09b0wg/IMG_0494.JPG?dl=0

Hope the links worked, I tried uploading them here but it kept coming up with 'error 200'

J

[audia4b5kev]

spot on that  kev

[Steve Q]

The 2.5 is a great lump and gave it in my a6 c5 which is on 335k. A shaking engine could be an engine mount as it was in my case. The engines can take a while to start like mine which I think is the glow plugs or injectors, and new ones can speed up starting. 

Cheers

Steve

[BirdmanMetalSculptor]

Hi Steve cheers for the post.

More updates to follow, i'll have to take some more pics and write it all up! (edit: actually I just filmed a video, link at the bottom of this post)

I will check out the engine mount but I feel like it's the injectors because there's no tell tale vibrations / knocks when you pull away in forward or reverse gear. I did buy some (seriously cheap) injectors (£20 the set!) They are probably jank but I might put them in at some point. After I fixed the fuel lines and started it a few times it fires up pretty good now (slightly lumpy for a second but a shitload better! - see vid) I think maybe there was some air in the fuel lines after i changed them and probably (because of the split hose) there was some in there before and that was what was making it so bad. Right now it's 'acceptable' but like I say, i do have a set of injectors so I will do them at some point.

One thing i didn't put in the video ... the rear wiper motor didn't work and the jet was also blocked. I hadn't realized that this blocked nozzle resulted in a hose popping off somewhere and wet carpets front and rear passenger side. So .. took out the passenger seat, removed all the side trim and rear seat (removed the mouse nest under it!!!). Couldn't find a leak in the hose (which is conveniently cable tied inside the wiring loom along the whole route!) Finally I worked out that a hose had popped off in the passenger footwell and this explained the 3 pints of !Removed! water that was sitting in the footwells under the carpets! Anyway ... changed the wiper motor, put the hose on, got the water out (fortunately no issues with the wiring), shampooed the carpets, put the seat back in and it's all good! 

Not sure if rear wiper motor is an MOT failure but I kinda wanted it working so £28 and 2 hours of my time was worthwhile and now it's not misting up / mouldy in the mornings!

Here's a video walk around of the car and what I've done ... along with the nightmare I now face on the final job!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzTinD4hnr8

I don't have any time to work on it this week but hopefully next week I can get it done and see if it'll get a ticket. Fingers crossed! 

Thanks to all responders for the advice / feedback / further motivation to get it going again! I do really like the car, I know its nothing special and old etc, but I had a couple of saloon A4 B5's and absolutely loved them so I kinda feel a bit sentimental about the old girl.

John

[Steve Q]

Full credit to you, I love to see older audis being kept on the road, maintained and restored like me and my a6 c5. Thanks for the club mention on the video 🙂 looks like you've got the sports seats which were probably an optional extra (they were on my c5). Done a good job on the wing, far better than anything I've done lol. 

[BirdmanMetalSculptor]

Hey Steve,

Thanks man. I'm afraid the video and the shout out isn't public, I just shared the link here for forum members, my channel is about something very different and I don't really want car videos on it publicly.

As for the seats, yeah they are nice but judging by the 'Quattro' on the (horrible) fake wood trim I'm guessing the entire interior is a retrofit ... which is fine with me 🙂 ...  although ... if anyone has a set of standard matt black trim panels for a 2001 A4 B5 I would gladly take them off their hands! I never liked that fake wood look.

The new wing worked out real nice. Genuinely never painted anything before, though I have a spray gun / compressor for lacquering metal sculptures so I thought i'd give it a go. The finish wasn't bad but had imperfections (no spray booth). I went over it with 1500, 2000 and 2500 wet and dry and then mopped it and it turned out really good. In fact if I'd paid for someone to do it I would have been happy if it came out that well so well worth watching the youtube tutorials that I did.

The other wing ... pfff ... yep ... errm ... not great! I went down to bare metal around the wheel arch, used a very fine skim of filler on some surface pitting then etch primed it. At that point it looked great, then I tried to blend it in to the existing paint and ... well ... kinda caked it up a bit! lol. It wasn't too bad until I lacquered it but I used spray can PU lacquer on that one instead of quality clear cote and its so fluid it just ran everywhere. In removing the drips I went through the paint I'd put on and that is what is causing that horrific effect. 

Probably I could sand through it back down to the original lacquer and remove the new paint, re etch it if necessary and then try again but ... well ... priority one is the MOT. Still got enough paint to do a whole wing though so at some stage I will probably take the wing off and do it all as one panel. The slight colour mismatch doesn't offend me nearly as much as how it looks right now and taking the wing off was really very easy.

Got some bolts to drill out first though!! 🙄

Thanks again for the feedback, namaste.

[Steve Q]

No probs at all 🙂 the front wings are notorious on vag cars of this era. Does look a lovely interior, I do love my sports seats. 

[BirdmanMetalSculptor]

Quick Update ...

Last job to do was the rear discs and pads / replace one seized slider bolt. Turned in to a nightmare! ... you can't get the discs off without removing the calliper carrier. Ordinarily not a problem, 2 x 8mm hex bolts that go direct in to the subframe. Sadly 21 years of rust and heat cycling and I couldn't get them off. Soaked them in penetrating fluid for 5 days, blow torched them, used a 3 foot breaker bar, couldn't shift them. Ultimately put so much torque through them I mangled the hex. 

Anyway ... took it in for MOT today and pre booked an Audi specialist to sort out the bolts. Basically it was a right result! It failed on rear brakes of course but I knew it would, and on handbrake adjustment (which I couldn't do because of the above issue). Apart from that it flew through emissions (thanks to Wynns Gold Diesel treatment !) and it needed a rear fog light bulb (should have clocked that but didn't!)

End result, should have it back in a couple of days with a new ticket and without breaking the bank. Chuffed ... I really do love these cars, great to be able to save it and keep enjoying it. 

Cheers for the comments / feedback

Namaste

[Steve Q]

2 hours ago, BirdmanMetalSculptor said:

Quick Update ...

Last job to do was the rear discs and pads / replace one seized slider bolt. Turned in to a nightmare! ... you can't get the discs off without removing the calliper carrier. Ordinarily not a problem, 2 x 8mm hex bolts that go direct in to the subframe. Sadly 21 years of rust and heat cycling and I couldn't get them off. Soaked them in penetrating fluid for 5 days, blow torched them, used a 3 foot breaker bar, couldn't shift them. Ultimately put so much torque through them I mangled the hex. 

Anyway ... took it in for MOT today and pre booked an Audi specialist to sort out the bolts. Basically it was a right result! It failed on rear brakes of course but I knew it would, and on handbrake adjustment (which I couldn't do because of the above issue). Apart from that it flew through emissions (thanks to Wynns Gold Diesel treatment !) and it needed a rear fog light bulb (should have clocked that but didn't!)

End result, should have it back in a couple of days with a new ticket and without breaking the bank. Chuffed ... I really do love these cars, great to be able to save it and keep enjoying it. 

Cheers for the comments / feedback

Namaste

Fantastic news! I do love the 2.5 lump as I have it in my a6. Once it's passed you can get out and enjoy driving it 🙂 you should look at coming along to the shows with it 👍

[BirdmanMetalSculptor]

lol, I don't think its in the 'show' catagory but cheers! Having said that ... how much to rent a pitch for a metal sculpting trade stand? Maybe I'd consider it!

Anyone like scrap metal (Cutlery) Predators and that kinda thing?

J

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqRcyXuyQRlY0n-W6fNFqkg

[Steve Q]

50 minutes ago, BirdmanMetalSculptor said:

lol, I don't think its in the 'show' catagory but cheers! Having said that ... how much to rent a pitch for a metal sculpting trade stand? Maybe I'd consider it!

Anyone like scrap metal (Cutlery) Predators and that kinda thing?

J

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqRcyXuyQRlY0n-W6fNFqkg

Don't let that stop you! We have club displays at various shows, and trust me my a6 isn't show standard despite being on display. 

[BirdmanMetalSculptor]

Final (happy) post on this thread (For Now!)

Summary:

- New rear discs / pads / slider pins

- New Front O/S wing + paint / clearcoat

- Rub down / fill / etch / paint & lacquer rear o/s wheel arch and front n/s wheel arch

- New rear wiper motor & diagnose / reconnect front foot well washer hose (remove 3 pints of pissy water from foot well and carpets!)

- Replace crappy / split bodged aftermarket fuel lines (see pic) with new lines to each cylinder

- Wynns Formula Gold diesel treatment

Result:

12 months MOT ... no advisories! Long time since I've enjoyed a drive as much as I just did! ... life in the old girl yet 🙂 

A few random pics of some of the work I did on it. Cheers again for any / all comments / feedback. Have a great day!

John

[Steve Q]

That's fantastic! Great work. ☺️ It's a great feeling when you get no advisories

[audia4b5kev]

On 5/18/2021 at 9:26 PM, BirdmanMetalSculptor said:

lol, I don't think its in the 'show' catagory but cheers! Having said that ... how much to rent a pitch for a metal sculpting trade stand? Maybe I'd consider it!

Anyone like scrap metal (Cutlery) Predators and that kinda thing?

J

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqRcyXuyQRlY0n-W6fNFqkg

fekkkkkkk  me   class that  and  see your  fellow ginger  lol  kev