Hello from 'Brienne' in Leeds

Hejira

New Member
Hello all!

After coveting my mother's A2 for 6 years I have finally inherited the little beast. The process was a wrench for both of us. Mum bought the car with the help of Timmus circa 2013. Although doing little but essential maintenance since then, she nonetheless became rather attached. Severe neck issues mean it's no longer comfortable or safe for her to drive a manual, so she's moved on to an automatic Mini Countryman. For the last 6 years I've been driving a 1ltr petrol K11 Nissan Micra, 'Blodwen'. Initially I wasn't a great fan of her severely underpowered engine, binary gearbox and utilitarian styling , but I grew to love her sturdiness and reliability. She was very cheap to maintain and relatively easy to tinker with. Whilst I never got around to any of the mods I planned, I replaced her alternator and did my own services. I also briefly owned a Smart Roadster with aftermarket Brabus tuning, 'Christine'. She was fun to drive, but ludicrously small inside and had weird little electrical demons which made her seem possessed (hence the name).

Brienne is a 1.4 TDI (75bph) Sport with Bose and red Nappa interior. No major dings/scratches on the exterior, but the non-leather aspects of the interior are quite worn in places. She's lovely to drive (esp. compared to a Micra!), but her gearbox is quite 'clunky' (feels like it's built from lego) and the suspension is harsh (which, I understand, is normal for a Sport?). When the car was originally purchased Timmus noticed the gearbox counterweight was missing, which has still not been replaced and may (????) be why the gears are so difficult. There are quite a few other minor niggles, but she's otherwise in good condition.

I'm a medical student, so while I have great ambitions for Brienne, these are (unfortunately) inversely proportional to my current bank balance. The following is a wish list of things I would like to achieve when I can afford them.

Fixes needed:

- Finding/replacing counterweight (if this improves the gears....I'm assuming it was put there for a reason)
- Whatever else improves the feel of the gearbox (and I can afford) e.g. oil change
- Ditto the suspension
- Fixing the rear defogger
- Tightening the hand break
- New starter motor (I think)
- Replacing worn interior buttons etc

Mods I can (hopefully) afford at some point:

- Bluetooth/aux head unit input
- Cruise control
- Turn on anti-hijack
- MFSW
- Wind deflectors
- Rear parking sensors and camera
- Komfortblinker
- ECU remap
- Heated front seats

Most wanted mods I probably cannot afford without selling my soul include:

- Full respray to metallic blue or black
- Re-leathering to complement new paint
- Re-trimming the rest of the interior
- 6th gear

While my knowledge of automechanics is probably better than average, it's still quite basic, so any guidance, suggestions etc are welcome.

Thanks
 

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Welcome Hejira. That is quite an ambitious list of repairs / mods / upgrades you have there. May your bank balance rise in line with your aspirations ........... :) .

Why do you think you need a new Starter Motor? If it is making a hideous noise on start up some of the time - that is pretty 'normal'.

You already know Timmus. He is your man for cruise control / anti-hijack / komfortblinker (and much more finances permitting).

Mike
 
First and cheapest thing to do first is to reset the gearbox linkage cables. The only tool needed is something of the correct diameter to lock the gear stick in place while you adjust the tension.
Here is the manual how to.


A lot of your wish list is not too expensive, but I repeat myself in saying the first items to buy are a very good scanner (vcds) and a good meter. Both will save you loads in the future and can help diagnosing faults and turn on the anti hijack locking.

Enjoy your car and enjoy the club.
 
Welcome Hejira. That is quite an ambitious list of repairs / mods / upgrades you have there. May your bank balance rise in line with your aspirations ........... :) .

Why do you think you need a new Starter Motor? If it is making a hideous noise on start up some of the time - that is pretty 'normal'.

You already know Timmus. He is your man for cruise control / anti-hijack / komfortblinker (and much more finances permitting).

Mike

Thank you :). Though the list is ambitious my expectations are considerably more realistic. Mod-wise I'll be starting with the bluetooth/aux addition and see how it goes. The bank balance should improve when I qualify, but that's still 2 years away.

The starter motor was something my mother's mechanic mentioned needed replacing at some point. It does make a hideous noise on start up, which apparently is new. I've yet to investigate this properly though; if it turns out to be 'normal' it's one less expense for me.
 
First and cheapest thing to do first is to reset the gearbox linkage cables. The only tool needed is something of the correct diameter to lock the gear stick in place while you adjust the tension.
Here is the manual how to.


A lot of your wish list is not too expensive, but I repeat myself in saying the first items to buy are a very good scanner (vcds) and a good meter. Both will save you loads in the future and can help diagnosing faults and turn on the anti hijack locking.

Enjoy your car and enjoy the club.

Thanks for the info :)
 
And if you take out the ash tray at the rear on the centre console there is the adjuster to tighten the hand brake. As for the blue tooth adapter i have one of these
Car Bluetooth Handsfree A2DP CD Changer Adapter AUDI A2 A3 A4 S4 TT 1998-06
just search ebay. About £52
 
Quite a lot of A2's suffer from the starter motor squealing. It can be cured but a lot of people live with it.

Depends if you are leaving for work at 4.00 in the morning and you want to stay friends with your neighbours!!
 
Welcome.

A squealing stater motor is a recurring item in posts. A link to a longish thread to research, there will be others, basically clean and lubricate is the message...


Andy
 
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