My A2 'blog'...

I bought my A2 to replace my trusty Mk2 Golf as my second car... due to a job change and subsequent longer commute I needed something that was economical and a little easier to drive a distance...

I am a serial modder... I am always tinkering with cars so decided to buy something that needed enough work to keep my addiction satisfied but was also still a good car underneath...

Picked up a 53 plate 1.4TDi with 155k on the clock for 2k... I have a fairly hefty build thread on Audi Sport for my S3 so I thought I would do something like a 'blog' for the A2 as while I don't have massive plans for her (that's what the S3 is for) I thought the info may be useful to others...

Here is the car...




...she was a little filthy and a little 'worn' inside...




Bought her knowing there was no recent history of a cam belt change so I popped over to GSF and grabbed a few service items...


Other little issues included a rather worn wiper arm...


Also had a couple of fault codes...
19559 - Motor for Intake Manifold Flap (V157)
P3103 - 35-10 - Malfunction - Intermittent

This one has now since gone but I plan to strip and clean the inlet manifold and do an EGR delete too

The persistent on e is this:
00285 - ABS Wheel Speed Sensor; Front Right (G45)
008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent

The car has had both front ABS sensor cables replaced so will try a new ABS sensor... if that fails to sort it then I will replace the wheel bearing assembly as the only thing left is the ABS reluctor ring...

The coolant temps weren't getting up to spec sitting around 75 degrees most of the time so bought a stat and CTS as well as the cam belt and water pump


Unfortunately this happened


I have found one on eBay but might just get a new one from TPS...

This is the first diesel car I have owned so the belt change was a little different to the 20v engines I am more familiar with... but good old VAG have made the TDi very similar in layout to their petrol engine


<tuffty/>

Very nice Tufty getting things in order I see!

Looking good

Thanks dude... like I said, I am a serial modder and I just can't leave a car alone lol...

There was a lot of rattling from underneath too which turned out to be the heastshielding... some of the fixings had corroded so sorted them out...




Bought a new wiper arm.... (not cheap :/)


...and painted the charge pipe (anyone that knows me will know I like painting things lol)


I have since given the interior a clean using Mequiars All Purpose Cleaner and treated with Poorboys Natural Look Dressing... looks lots better but will look at sourcing some interior parts at some point to replace the more worn looking items

I also ordered a bunch of LED bulbs from EM Tuning to do the interior lights, front sidelights and rear number plate lights... I have also got two new number plate lights as one has fallen apart and the other is looking worse for wear...













Thats it so far... plan to try and fit the new ABS sensor this weekend and my cruise control kit has turned up too which I desperately need as my poor old knees will tell you LOL... (best thing I ever fitted to my S3...)

<tuffty/>

Did you get the interior LED's from ebay Tufty as I like the blue light emitted from those!

Crazylegs said:

Did you get the interior LED's from ebay Tufty as I like the blue light emitted from those!

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Trups who is the guy behind EM Tuning is a sponsor on Audi Sport and I bought them direct from him... all the kit there was £30... I have used the guy to do all the bulbs on my S3 including more recently replacing the Xenon ballasts as mine were playing up..

Nice bloke and great service... he has a website too I believe

<tuffty/>

...should mention that they are not that blue... I think its more a colour balance issue to do with the phone camera... I didn't run these pics through Lightroom like I normally do...

<tuffty/>

<tuffty/> said:

...should mention that they are not that blue... I think its more a colour balance issue to do with the phone camera... I didn't run these pics through Lightroom like I normally do...

<tuffty/>

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No thats fine mate, you can see a noticeable difference from the yellow originals to the more whiter bluer LED's which I quite prefer over the old bulbs

Little more done today... the number plate lights were shot...


...so bought a pair of new ones...


Next task was to remove the rear panel to gain access... I used this as a guide
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?9895-Removing-tailgate-exterior-trim

Rear trim panel removed... watch out for the emergency boot release 'cable' thats attached to the boot catch


Undid the 2 x torx screws (they are very short so be careful not to drop them) and pulled the plugs out of the lights and boot release switch


...and after a little wrestling...


...and had to clean this!!!


Old lights put up a fight on removal...


New ones fitted...


...LED bulbs in (proper ones... not the type that illuminate the road behind you)


Another job done... and the cruise control kit turned up... its the later style stalk like I fitted to my S3... will see if I can get that sorted this weekend along with the ABS sensor..


<tuffty/>

Very nice mate, good pics!

keep it up, enjoy reading blogs, wiper arms next on my list, tried the cheaper alternative of the aero blade and 11mm adapter but the judder has decided to return after 2 months, searching breakers for replacement parts is needle in a haystack up north and any a2 i have been lucky enough to find at the breakers always seem to have the parts required missing already.

i take it you made the purchase from stoke audi on the arm and blade? as i have been pointed in that direction but was a little put off by the price. but being dissapointed with the cheaper alternative looks a must do job now.

I bought mine from TPS as my friend has an account there... Stoke Audi will see you right though... have dealt with them before and have been very helpful

I bought a Bosch blade from GSF initially but it has a universal fitting and didn't sit right so bought a genuine one which was actually cheaper

<tuffty/>

great thread tuffty, how much was the new wiper arm ??

URBAN said:

great thread tuffty, how much was the new wiper arm ??

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I replaced the arm recently - from my receipt...

8Z2955407C Wiper arm £73.89
8Z2955425C Wiperblade £13.67 (obviously if your current blade is OK you won't need this ...)

then you have to add + 20% VAT, and maybe delivery.

Obviously the cost will vary - this was from a local Audi parts department

.

Hi Tuffty
Was that you at the lights at Tesco's Yate midnight last night?
Terry

MikeMarsUK said:

I replaced the arm recently - from my receipt...

8Z2955407C Wiper arm £73.89
8Z2955425C Wiperblade £13.67 (obviously if your current blade is OK you won't need this ...)

then you have to add + 20% VAT, and maybe delivery.

Obviously the cost will vary - this was from a local Audi parts department

.

Click to expand...

Mine was a little cheaper but I do get trade discount... that price is still pretty good though

terrywindy1 said:

Hi Tuffty
Was that you at the lights at Tesco's Yate midnight last night?
Terry

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No mate... haven't been to the Yate area for years... closest I get is Castle Combe for shows and Combe Saloon races

<tuffty/>

Managed to get on the ramp today in between stuff to have a look at doing the ABS sensor...

Took the wheel and brake caliper off and quickly wish I hadn't


There seems to be as much corrosion here as my 22yr old Mk2 Golf!... disappointing... more disappointment followed... no backing plate as this appears to have corroded off... and the bolt for the ABS sensor has seen better days!


To cap it all off I noticed the slider bolts for the caliper looked a little iffy and my worst fears realised




Threads are pretty much shot... had a look about on eBay to source some uprights... seems there is a bit of an Audi tax applied to these parts so had a quick look at the part numbers and cross referenced them to other models in VAGs range as they share a lot of components across marques... Polo, Fabia and Ibiza's all use pretty much the same setup so managed to source a couple of uprights from a 2007 6Y Fabia for £80 delivered... these have the bearings and flanges still fitted and car was reasonable mileage so hopefully with a quick clean and a lick of paint they should serve me well for a few years to come...

Still had to get the car back together so turned the offending slider bolt down a bit in the lathe so that it would at least grip the last remaining threads and put it all back together with locktite.

Hopefully the replacement kit should sort the ABS fault too...

Another small issue I could do with sorting out is the last bit of loose heatshielding...




Not sure if anyone else has had this problem and come up with a solution... TIG welding aluminium is not a problem and one thought was to weld some peices of alloy rod to replace the corroded bits but I am open to suggestions

Hopefully will have a go at sorting the cruise control tomorrow

<tuffty/>

wow its as if its been at sea for years. Sounds like you have that all sorted out. The corroded chassis studs are quite common -- i believe hotstuff (Tony from A2cars) replaces them with "rivnuts" then uses bolts. You could order the 1.2tdi aero bits whilst your under the car---more mods lol cheers mike

a2sumo said:

wow its as if its been at sea for years. Sounds like you have that all sorted out. The corroded chassis studs are quite common -- i believe hotstuff (Tony from A2cars) replaces them with "rivnuts" then uses bolts. You could order the 1.2tdi aero bits whilst your under the car---more mods lol cheers mike

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Rivnuts is a good idea... use silicon to seal etc too... think there are some kicking around the workshop somewhere

1.2tdi aero bits? not seen those...

<tuffty/>

Referring to the brake pin threads in the upright; I had the same problem and just fixed it this morning coincidentally. I used helicoils to repair the threads. I bought the special tap and some M9 x 1.25 inserts. I made an inserting tool, and bought some new slider pins. The whole lot came to under £20.

mrmosky said:

Referring to the brake pin threads in the upright; I had the same problem and just fixed it this morning coincidentally. I used helicoils to repair the threads. I bought the special tap and some M9 x 1.25 inserts. I made an inserting tool, and bought some new slider pins. The whole lot came to under £20.View attachment 15543

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I did consider helicoils and I know a few mechanic friends use this method but I have a fair bit of corrosion on the uprights and still have this ABS issue to sort... hoping to nail everything in one hit but knowing my luck with the A2 so far I am sure something else will present itself lol

I've not even driven my S3 in weeks as I am enjoying the A2 so much lol...

Thanks for your input though, much appreciated

<tuffty/>