I've named it Bruno

[AluminijaCuka]

So Bruno looks great from afar but has plenty of issues.

• A previous seller has almost certainly messed with the odometer which is very common with used vehicles sold in Eastern Europe. No previous service documentation obviously. It seems to run fine albeit I've only ever heard and driven one other A2 which definitely had major issues.
• Driving isn't as perfect as the passed tech inspection would imply, beyond 90km/h there is a concerning vibration of the steering wheel and interior, the front passenger seat looked like a cartoon version of a massage chair. This is a priority problem to solve.
• The plastic pan/tray/cover/shield below the engine is clearly damaged and needs replacing. Another priority to solve as the weather is only going to get more wet and possibly salty.
• A rubber plug is missing from the electronics compartment below the drivers side, already found the part number for it from this awesome site https://audi.7zap.com/en/rdw/audi+a2/a2/2002-248/8/803-803040/#2 . Sure glad I looked in there since having a 40mm big hole open to the road would definitely cause a lot of problems for the electronics when water and dirt inevitably get to them.
• The boot lid is stuck closed. Worse yet the manual release seems to not work either. On the plus side I can hear a faint click sound when I use the key boot button. Another priority fix since I'll need access to the boot to transport large things like the engine bay shield. I hope it fits inside with the rear seats folded?
• The glove compartment handle tends to fall off, something must be broken.
• Obviously one of the cup holders is stuck shut, the other one seems a bit sticky. The ash tray is more than sticky, it doesn't come out on it's own at all, I have to pull on it after pressing it.
• The climate control doesn't blow cold air. I was born too unlucky for it to only need a refill, probably an expensive repair. Not necessarily a priority since these are likely the last few fairly warm days but definitely needs to be solved before next summer.
• Drivers side mirror has been damaged, the electric adjustment seems to still work but the plastic case has a crack and might be a little loose.
• Passenger side turn signal light has popped off and likely is missing a plastic clip, it seems it had been attached with double sided tape which I doubt is there from factory.

There will most certainly be many more minor problems and hopefully ONLY MINOR problems.

Does anyone know what those things that look like pipe fasteners/clamps are for? Seems like something is missing.

 

[jp.oog]

Hiya,
Great name for a car. Looks like you have niggles and issues.
I believe new undertrays are available for tdi cars but will need modding around the exhaust area to fit.
If you prise the boot hatch cover off from the inside using plastic tools you'll gain access to the latch lever. Hopefully moving this could open the boot. I have know soleniods to fail ,it did on mine, but in my case the boot didn't close.
Glovebox handle is a common fail. The gear wheels inside the lid fail and then the locking pins holding it closed don't move when the handle is pulled...then the handle is in your hand. Don't loose the small spring but it can be fixed.
Cupholders are a common fail. Sometimes taking them out and cleaning them resolves them sticking (usually full of coffee or tea) but its a stereo out and vent assembley out to remove them from behind.
The turn signals (side repeater) are available on ebay. I imagine the clip is broken after a bulb change or just age.
A vcds or vagcom scan may determine your climate issue...probably sticking flaps which can be a dash out job to fix.
James

 

[AluminijaCuka]

Hey,
I sure would prefer if the air conditioning fault was something accessible from the engine bay. Removing the dash is something that neither I want to do nor will the apathetic service people do properly, quite likely to break a bunch of plastic bits and such.

What's the cheapest option for scan cables and software? I've found some ebay listings for cables that I guess would work with VCDS but it looks like the software might need a much more expensive license?

 

[AluminijaCuka]

Got started on the boot today. In typical soviet master mechanic style someone had already been in there and made a mess that I'll now have to clean up. Something broken and never touched is really preferable over half arsed repairs. Naturally the manual release just wasn't even attached to the lever that opens the latch.

The trim has three clips missing around the middle area which wouldn't be a big deal but apparently the master mechanic thought a big screw straight into the aluminum panel would serve as an adequate alternative...

That relay covered in electrical tape sure looks VERY factory, it even pointlessly clicks when using the keyfob boot button. And somehow I doubt that the original wiring involved taking 12V from the license plate light which is only on when tail lights are turned on...

Not sure but the motor inside the servo might have been replaced last time someone worked on this. At any rate it seems the crappy repair failed because the servo casing is loose and the zip tie wasn't tight enough to keep it closed. It actually works and just needs a couple of screws to keep the casing tightly shut.

What could have been just a simple servo swap and possibly tracking down a failed connection or broken wire is now instead electrical troubleshooting trying to find out how everything was supposed to be wired originally.

 

[Robin_Cox]

For the indicator repeater these are a commonly available part on Ebay - originally used on the Audi A6 C5 generation hence the 4B part code for the basic part :

4B0949127

audi a2 indicator repeater for sale | eBay

Find great deals on eBay for audi a2 indicator repeater. Shop with confidence.

www.ebay.co.uk

There are various versions available, standard, mirrored, and now for the really pimped look there are even smoked versions with 'dynamic' sweeping ..


The undertrays are available online brand new from Germany (so should be easier for you to obtain) - ie.

8Z0825235F Daempfung AUDI Originalersatzteil online 8Z0825235F

Daempfung 8Z0825235F: Dieses Teil ist nicht mehr lieferbar !

www.online-teile.com

This is the Tdi version with extra sound deadening underneath but it should fit the petrol engined cars as well (from what I understand).

The pipes visible at the bottom of the engine bay are the exhaust from the Webasto heater - the bottom should be screwed to the undertray but often aren't (as they need to be unscrewed to remove the undertray).

 

[AluminijaCuka]

Update

Ordered the undertray and other bits and pieces from our Audi center. Have to wait until Monday while it gets shipped from central Europe.

In the meantime I drove through a nasty dip in the road and shook something loose, the alternator light now intermittently comes on and a voltage reading confirmed that charging isn't continuous. If the belt is slipping it's not obvious, no loud squealing, maybe a loose wire connection. Also found out that the plastic fastener plate for the battery is missing.

Funny, when I took out the battery to take it inside for charging since the alternator isn't doing it properly I noticed that the cranking amps are way overkill. Unless someone was planning to drive Bruno to the North Pole and cold start it in -40C weather they were either dyslexic or just dropped an old oversized battery into the car instead of buying a new one. The specs from factory are supposed to be 380A and 80Ah whereas this battery is 830A and 100Ah.

At some point the boot lid glass was broken and replaced, I found a few shards of the old one in the boot. Probably some rainwater got into the boot as well, the battery tray had some stains from water getting into it and the lug wrench is a bit rusty. And perhaps there was enough moisture for the boot lid servo motor to get rusty and seize up, would explain why the only blown fuse was one for the license plate lights that share the same circuit due to the cheap lazy repair.
And on the topic of the boot lid, I spent some time looking at ETKA parts catalogue schematics and ELSA electrical diagrams and some tangentially relevant posts on this forum. And as far as I can tell I will probably need a new compatible comfort logic box unless the one I have can be easily repaired. Besides one of the relays possibly being faulty I don't know if there's much I can do with the thing since there are no obvious burn marks from a failed component. Also the electronics compartment underneath the floor where the comfort unit lives is rather dirty since one of the big rubber floor plugs was missing, luckily those were cheap at the Audi center and available immediately.

Two obvious faults with the unit, it doesn't supply power to the boot lid motor pin when using the keyfob even though I can hear the relay click, and the other fault is a complete lack of interior lighting. I tried hooking up a separate 12V battery to the wire that's for the interior lighting and several of the lights did come on. If it was completely dead I would have no central locking for doors and no electric windows.

At some point I also looked in the floor compartment on the other side thinking maybe the car had been in a flood and water damaged. Still not sure if it was in a full blown flood but what I found was bad enough, someone probably attempted to lift the car improperly and made a huge dent in the underside of the body.