2.5 TDi Quattro Sport

[Shealesy]

Hi all. I'm in the process of buying an A4 (2001) Sport Quattro 2.5TDi with 130k miles. This is my first Audi and also my first 4wd car so any advice is appreciated.

I'm fairly set on buying a car I went to see last night and looking for advice on a few things I noticed.  

Took it for a short test drive late last night, a quick burst down some A road, a dart around town and some squiggly residential streets when I started heading back to my own house instead of the sellers and got quite lost in somewhere I've lived for nearly 3 years. It pulls like a train, even compared to my current car that pulls like a train, the engine is quiet with no funny noises, thumps or clunks that scared me.

The car has been sat for a month but before that the wings, bumpers and bonnet had been fully resprayed, the interior is tidy aside from the odd switch or button with worn off markings. The timing belt was changed 20k ago, I don't know if the water pump was also done. Google tells me this is vital (opinions please)

The things I'd like to question are:

The brake pedal was quite long (though not all the way to the floor) and quite soft without a huge amount of braking effort (I didn't head butt the steering wheel, but it stopped). It feels like they need bled, it might just be unused pads and discs from the month but wondering if there's anything else that you guys think it might be?

Wheel wobble that feels positively from the front drivers side wheel, I'd have put it down to a badly balanced wheel but if there's anything else it might be, let me know.

A scraping/grinding noise from front passenger wheel well but only when turning right (from slightly right to mini roundabout right), when we got back and put a torch in we found a shield of some kind behind the leading edge of the brake disc had pushed over ever so slightly and would gently rub the disc when turning right. Does anyone know why this might be pushed over?

The handbrake pulls up far enough to push the centre armrest up a touch, is this just an adjustment or would it be stretched and need replacing?

As I said at the beginning, this will be my first Audi and also my first 4wd car so a lot of things will be new to me. I'm a tinkerer when I have time so things like handbrake cable, bleeding brakes and replacing pads and discs, having a look at that shield etc are all within my comfort zone. Any help or advise you can give is all very much appreciated.

Cheers

Shealesy

[Trevor]

Hi...and welcome to the Forum

It sounds like a great car overall....things like the waterpump are essential when cambelt is replaced but should be showing on the bill (if present).

The brakes could be from standing around but I personally would replace them all (if there is a wear ridge / lip on the discs suggest that they are worn and for what they cost are well worth doing to improve the pedal/handbrake.

May be worth considering replacing the standard hoses for Goodridge hoses which will definitely firm-up the pedal....along with brake fluid replacement.

Let us know how you get on with it

Cheers   Trevor

[Shealesy]

Cheers Trevor, picked it up last night and drive it 130odd miles from Peterhead to Beauly. I'll explain now, I had the most incredible headache yesterday so when I stopped at the garage I only have vague memories of what the guy was saying but I can see that parts in my head.

Stopped before I left for new wiper blades and numberplate screws. 

Drove as far as Portsoy where it picked up a rattle, pulled in at a very friendly garage who put it up on their MOT ramp and gave it a 20 minute once over underneath for nothing (my new favourite garage, long way away though now). Found a missing plastic undertray, had been missing a while by the state of the mount and the rattle (I thought) was the mount for it flapping about. The mount was only half the rattle. Need to investigate the rest, but need to go and buy a trolley jack and some axle stands first. It's mostly at low speed through towns that I heard it, it might have been drowned out by tyre noise at higher speeds.

Its got a small wheel wobble going on at 40mph, then that goes away for a bit and returns with a vengeance at 60mph, feels distinctly like an imbalanced wheel. It's all single carriageway along there and you rarely get the chance to attain 60mph with all the trucks and tractors so it didn't crop up often.

I need top bushes and some camber adjustment on the rear (I knew this from feeling the tread but didn't realise how far out it was) as both wheels tops lean slightly towards the offside. Aye, so / /...... must have been a numpty underneath before or somewhere setting up for roundabouts. 

Bottom bushes/arms at the front. There's nothing (unadjustable) on the car he'd fail the MOT on but the bushes were going, putting the bottom end of the spring/damper near another fixing which escapes my memory. 

If any of this screams as something other than what I think it might be, scream. 

Cheers

Shealesy

[Trevor]

Oh dear!  sounds like a right drama.

The undertray is a complete waste of time really and if you remove the complete thing it won't make any difference to the driving, except for maybe some increased wind noise from underneath and a minuscule difference in the MPG possibly.

The suspension bushes should be cheap to buy and replace and would make a difference but worth doing before adjusting the wheel geometry to set it up where it should be.

http://www.audiownersclub.com/parts-results/A4-S4-RS4/Complete-Suspension-Units/174090

Otherwise, it doesn't sound too bad overall, just bits and pieces to sort out then.

Keep us informed of your progress with it all

Cheers   Trevor

[Shealesy]

I'm getting the camber on the worst wheel sorted today and the replacement bushes and a proper alignment will come soon. Those suspension parts aren't even nearly as expensive as I'd feared! Maybe from Audi they would be scary money. Thanks for the link!

The other thing which is probably a concern, the temperature gauge didn't get very high, it got off the mark in a reasonable time and sat at about 75c (guesstimate) while I was winding my way round the back roads.

Once I was up to cruising (50mph mostly) it settled at about 60c (just off the bottom) I stopped quite a few times early on and just put my hand to the coolant bottle, bit of the heads I could reach, pipes and radiator, nothing alarmed me about the heat and nothing was boiling so I'm wondering if either these engine (2.5tdi V6) just run cool or maybe the gauge/sensor is faulty?

The air con blew hot and cold on command and it made it a good 130 miles with the gauge near 60c. 

Cheers again

Shealesy

[Trevor]

The coolant sensors tend to fail over time but cheap to replace also, check the connector and wiring going to the sensor as these tend to break.

Otherwise these big diesel engines don't tend to run too hot.

[Shealesy]

Update and a question: All parts ordered!! Discs and pads all round, both offside calipers, both lower front arms and upper rear outer bushes, coolant temperature sensor, bonnet release handle and pair of wiper arms with normal fitments on the end! (One was missing it clip assembly and I can't believe how little option there was for the old ones)

Had a few days off so I thought I'd be as well stripping bits down so when the new ones arrive I can fit them straight on. 

Nope. 

The rear O/S came apart fine, discs and pads out (the state of them!) caliper released and hanging in the wheel well awaiting its swap, hub dropped from the upper track arm. Easy. 

The front however..... caliper came off easy enough, pads out, shock disconnected, sway bar disconnected, chassis end bolt undone but not removed, hub ball joint disconnnected but not removed, fine and dandy. Much to my dismay, I found out the caliper carrier needs to come off the get the disc out. Can i shift it? Not a chance on axle stands laying on my back. Fine, I'll put it all back together with all the old bits and get it to a garage once all the new ones are here, have a shot of a lift for a crate of beer etc. Cup of tea, go to put it all back together and.....

Damper slips away from the bush down the arm, where it's been resting, perfectly aligned, for the last day or so. 4 hours, 2 ratchet straps, a podger, some profanity and a crowbar later it's all back together. 

Next up, wait for all the parts to arrive then head for a garage and see if they accept liquid currency. If there's anyone near Beauly that fancies dropping in and lending any experience and a hand in exchange for beer give me a shout!

My question, simple as it may be, is it normal for the disc to be held in place on these with just the wheel and lugs? On past cars there's always been a pair of small, countersunk bolts to secure it to the hub, then the lugs go through the disc to secure the wheel, the discs that are on it have the holes for a pair of securing bolts but there aren't any holes in the hub that line up. Just curious. 

Shealesy

[Trevor]

Sounds like you need an impact wrench to shift the bolts (a cordless type would be ideal)...the discs if loose should just come off alternatively you could have two screws as you say holding it against the hub.

 

[Shealesy]

Cool. Exactly the answer I was after, when it comes time to fit the new discs I won't spend as long trying to realign the support hole with non-existen holes in the hub. 

Shealesy

[Shealesy]

Update!

Front suspension done! Brakes done! Temperature sensor done (nothing wrong with it, thermostat is stuck open)! Wheels and tyres done and I can now travel at over 60mph without my teeth falling out!

Waiting on cash to buy the rear arms (the one with camber adjust) and to fund the garage time. Booked in for thermostat and water pump (pump history unknown, might as well do it while the front is off for the thermostat as it's a known weak link)

Replacement stereo went in today, I think the car side wiring has been messed with several times as some wires don't go to the pin they're labelled as on internet diagrams. Either this or the amp out back doing sub and rears isn't working. Might check the fuse box.... 

Always open to tips and opinions. 

[noetus]

Good work!  Have owned a 2003 2.5 TDI quattro sport (180 hp engine) for 4 years, with no major issues.  Love the car!

[Shealesy]

Bumpdate! 

Still going strong. Mostly.

 

Now have the rear suspension arms (in the boot since March...), haven’t had time to put it to a garage to drop the rear subframe etc. 

The stereo still only works through the front drivers side speakers (and occasionally the passenger side) but I believe the rears are powered by an amp in the boot which is probably knackered. 

I have one issue drivetrain wise that I’d like some advice on. It has a judder, and sometimes quite a major one, when pulling away. It tends to be fine for a week or two and then one day this little judder when pulling away in first and the car does not want to move. Sometimes this will go away once warm, other days I can get a few hundred miles, get to some traffic lights and still it will be uneasy about pulling away. 

On one occasion I didn’t want to do any damage by forcing it, the judder was immense. Took the Panda to the shop for milk. The next day jumped in the Audi and it was fine. 

Theres a vibration at idle and low revs when it’s having these off days which naturallly goes away on it’s good days, it goes away around 2k revs but pulling away up there in this big ol’ tractor sounding diesel looks and feels daft. 

I’ve had the feeling of dread about it being the DMF since it started doing it. I’d like someone to tell me it’s something less expensive. 

Cheers!

Shealesy