My A2 'blog'...

Managed to get hold of an AC compressor for a really good price (free) so its worth a punt to change it in case its this as the compressors are known to go faulty..

Access from the top is a little limited...
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...so did it all from underneath...
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et viola...
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The 'new' compressor is from an 07 Ibiza... had to remove the locating pin for the large pipe fitting but other than it is the same fitment...
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Used new seals as they are pennies... its a no brainer to use new stuff like this tbh...
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Wanged it all back together and will go back to my mates pace in the week for a regas... hopefully this time it will all work..!

...next I moved onto replacing the drivers side upright...

<tuffty/>
 
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....here is where things got interesting... as followers of this 'blog' will know my A2 appears to have spent some part of its life parked in a pond...

I had to grind the top off the track rod end threads to get the nut off as the threads were massively corroded..
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I decided to remove the upright as an assembly as the pinch bolt was corroded in and the CV joint would not separate from the bearing so felt it would be easier to do with everything off the car...

Next challenge was the strut top bolts, helpfully hidden behind the brake reservoir..!
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After undoing the bolts holding this thing on (which are very awkward!!) I could get to the bolts..!
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After a bit of fiddling I got it all off!
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Used the press (and heat) to get the shaft off the hub and heat plus a very large hammer to get the pinch bolt out... then started to reassemble the refurbed upright...

Used new slider pins and rubbers for the caliper..
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...and after a little wrestling its all back together...
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I need to get new brackets thats used for securing the brake hose and ABS sensor wiring as the one on the old upright was in a sorry state and they look to be about £7 from TPS so sod it...

That was a chore and a half... the poor old A2 is as bad on these sorts of parts as my 22 year old Mk2 Golf!!...

One last thing I tried was to secure the heatshield as this rattles quite a lot from where the securing posts have corroded
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Will see if that stays together else its plan B

Was hoping that would be the end of the ABS issue but no... ABS light was on, 3 beeps of doom and a quick check on VCDS revealed...

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/00285
00285 - ABS Wheel Speed Sensor Front Right (G45): Electrical Fault in Circuit
Possible Causes

Open Circuit in Wiring from/to ABS Wheel Speed Sensor Front Right (G45)
ABS Wheel Speed Sensor Front Right (G45) faulty

Possible Solutions

Check Wiring from/to ABS Wheel Speed Sensor Front Right (G45)
Check ABS Wheel Speed Sensor Front Right (G45)

So as its a new bearing and sensor it leaves the wiring... so thats the next thing to check.. ah well...

Was really hoping to be getting to the end of the initial issues with the car but she is still being very needy lol... she will be out of luck for a little while anyway as I will be taking the S3 to the unit in the week to get the head of and rebuilt so she will have to put up and shut up for a couple of weeks...

I will have a look at the plug for the ABS sensor in the week though in case its that as its a little 'floppy' so could be a break in the wire there..

<tuffty/>
 
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Hi Tufty,
It does look pretty rusty for its age! I once had a car that was rusty like this. What had caused it was being parked on grass by a previous owner. When parked on a damp surface, it never had chance to dry out. Another cause of this is if it has been a "seaside car"; that means kept by the coast! It's a good job the body is aluminium!
Cheers, Geoff
 
So the other day I popped over to see a friend of mine to get the aircon regassed..

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Bingo!!... the pump worked and I now have aircon again!!!... just need to look at the sodding ABS sensor wire now and replace the other upright and I can potentially leave the A2 alone for a little while...

I still need to sort the brakes but I also need to do some work on the S3 to get the head rebuilt ready for AITP..

<tuffty/>
 
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Crazylegs said:
Good stuff Tufty! :)
Click to expand...

Thanks dude...

Its been nice to get a win on the A2 at last as she has been fighting me a little since I bought here but I knew there would be a few things that needed to be done...

So in celebration I actually got a chance to do some work on the S3 today... removed the head...
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...and confirmed the valve contact :(
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Ah well... they will clean up and I have new valves and springs to go in as I don't trust valves on an 8000rpm capable engine after a stressed impact like that..

Happy days lol

<tuffty/>
 
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Busy weekend.... stripped the head of the S3... exhaust valve were bent as expected but also it appears to have caused excessive guide wear too so heads off next week for a check over and new guides :/
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Quick vid of one of the worse ones...
[video=youtube_share;6CqqOM1teJU]http://youtu.be/6CqqOM1teJU[/video]

Today I was going to get the gearbox off the S3 and sort this loose crank seal bolt but some dumbass (me) forgot to order new flywheel bolts so tat was a non starter too... going well so far lol..

So today I did some more to the A2

Passenger side upright to be precise... usual method of removal lol
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Pressed the shaft off...
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Little trick for doing drive shaft inner CV bolts... used an old hub nut and a wheel bolt to secure the disc... the little disc retention screw will snap if it hasn't already if you don't and use a screw driver stuck in the disc vents to hold the whole thing in place while torquing up the bolts...
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I also mark each bolt etc I tighten so I can see I have done it and also if it moves at all (because race car lol)
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All done and torqued...
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I then sorted the tracking and while the steering wheel is a little off centre (will fix that later) its so much better to drive... had an issue with it pulling to the left even though I had an alignment done shortly after buying the car but now it feels perfectly neutral and no more fighting to keep the car wandering off to the left... just need to centre the wheel and all will be good lol

Tomorrows job is to replace the drivers side ABS sensor cable... made a start today to get the cable ready to splice in the new one but will post all the pics once I've sorted it..

<tuffty/>
 
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Just for info - Ref your last pic of the front suspension, Audi recommend the threaded end of the strut pinch bolt points towards the front of the car. I've never seen the logic behind this specific instruction in the 'service manual' but have always follow their guidelines.

Cheers Spike
 
It is facing front mate.... pic was taken from behind :)

I never under stood it either, even the two bolts holding the upright to the strut on my Mk2 Golf face nut forward... crazy germans!

<tuffty/>
 
Final day of my long weekend...

ABS cable turned up from TPS...
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Removing the old cable was a chore (as is anything on the drivers side!!)
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It is routed up the inner wing behind just about everything and is held in two places taped to a couple of cable carriers so using a knife I cut the tape
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And pulled the cable out the other side of the brake reservoir
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Fitted the new cable in the wheel well first...
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Removed the MAF and moved a few things to make access easier
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Stripped and spliced the old cable onto the new cable...
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...insulated each joint then taped it all up to keep it secure... and then used some corrugated sheathing to tidy it all up re-routing it to make it easier to fit...
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Cleared all the codes and took the car for a quick test drive... disappointingly the ABS light came on again along with the three bongs of doom... damn it!!... a quick scan with VCDS and I got a mechanical failure code suggesting that either the new cable or new sensor is faulty!!... quick call to GSF and they sent a replacement sensor and bingo!! code is gone, no more bongs of doom, no more lights on the dash!!... phew...

So after replacing the uprights, wheel bearings, ABS sensors and cables (passenger side was already previously done) I have finally cracked the ABS issue which tbh I think was always a sensor/ABS ring/wheel bearing problem... the 'brand new' ABS sensor was just a bit of a curve ball... lol

Hopefully thats about it for now.. all the major stuff is done so I can focus on getting the S3 ready for AITP... dropped the head off to have new guides fitted and valve seats checked etc... hopefully have the head built up and back on next weekend... once AITP is done then I have a few other plans for the A2 upgrade wise :D

Back to actual work tomorrow and looking forward to a issue free A2 to drive :)

<tuffty/>
 
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<tuffty/> said:
It is facing front mate.... pic was taken from behind :)

I never under stood it either, even the two bolts holding the upright to the strut on my Mk2 Golf face nut forward... crazy germans!

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...

Sorry about that. I looked at the pic several times and convinced myself it was taken from the front.

Cheers Spike
 
I can happily report that the A2 behaved herself on the way to work this morning... no pulling to the left and no ABS light... Working aircon, working ABS, all the initial purchase niggles more or less sorted... I am running out of things to do on her LOL

So... immediate plans are to sort the steering wheel so its centred and then start accumulating parts to replace elements of the interior that are a little tired such as the passenger vent as this has no control knob and looks like the vanes are broken anyway and get the bits together to sort the brakes...

Part of me wants to do at least a rear disc conversion... looks like it pretty much uses standard parts used across the VAG range so shouldn't be difficult... I will also look at the front calipers as they are pretty corroded and the bleed nipples in particular look like they could put up a fight when I come to do a fluid change... I may just try and source some decent replacements while I am looking into the rear disc conversion.

Other things planned are an EGR delete and getting hold of another engine to do a rebuild as the old girl is on 160k now and while I have no doubt there could well be another 50k at least in her I am doing a fair few miles in her and building engines is not really an issue for me and I have no plans to be rid of the A2 for many years...

I have other ideas of course but I am trying to avoid those as they generally involve larger turbos lol ;P

<tuffty/>
 
Pleased to report that the A2 has been behaving herself this week apart from the airbag light which is the resistance to high code for the passenger seat as my eldest daughter moved the seat :(

Normally the act of moving it forward again sorts that out so a job for when I get 5 mins..

Can also report that the S3 is pretty much back together... couple more things to do but she will be running again by the weekend... happy days :)

Couple of cheeky pics ;P

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Will have some A2 related updates soon but of course my current focus is to get my S3 up and running again :)

<tuffty/>
 
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Great to see that you are nearly back on the road with the S3.

Best of luck.

I see that you have the usual case of "Spanner Rash"

Steve B
 
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