Audi A4 1.8t Repairs P.2
Repair #007 : Tie rod ends
This is the new improved Meyle tie rod end. It is a solid joint instead of a joint encased in rubber like the stock TRE. Below is a comparison of the size difference between the two. The new joint is massive! After an alignment all is right as rain.
Repair #008 : Fuel filter
This is the new fuel filter. The fuel filter is important on any car but more so on a turbocharged vehicle. A clogged filter can create a lean run condition that will either make the ECU freak out or, on a car without a good knock sensor or a powerful ECU program, it will ping your engine to death. It can also wear out your fuel pump. The great thing about changing a fuel filter is taking the line loose and having mega explosive / toxic fuel shoot all over the place. After doing this I suggest acquiring a small hex key bolt and nut to replace the size 8 triple square bolt that holds the fuel filter clamp shut. Mine was rusted solid and the plastic clamp would let the captive nut just spin instead of holding it. I just sawed off the bolt. Also, and this was important, get yourself a skinny head 22mm end wrench. A regular end wrench is too fat to fit between the fuel hose fitting and the body of the fuel filter. Which makes getting the damn thing off and torquing the fitting on the new one almost impossible. I had to use a set of tiny vice grips. Awesome! Let me reiterate that:
--triple square 8mm tool (has to be short, a socket wont fit- or save yourself the money and just saw the damn bolt out and put a hex key bolt in instead)
--stainless hex key bolt w/regular non-stainless nut(galling sucks) anti-seize wouldn't hurt here either if you've got some.
--Fuel filter and crush washers
--13mm socket + extensions
--skinny 22mm end wrench.
--17+19mm end wrenches(?).
Repair # 009 : Rear differential seals
I noticed this leak shortly after acquiring the A4 while it was up on a lift. I ordered the seals immediately along with the tools to get the job done. Nine months later I look back there again and the trickle had since turned into a flood. 2 quarts of Redline 75-90 GL5 and many many hours later the problem is solved. Jack up the rear end and place on jack stands. pull the parking brake. Break loose the fill plug then the drain plug but don't take them out. Break the 12 triple square axle bolts loose. Break the ones that you can reach free then undo the parking brake, turn the tire/wheel, and pull it again. Yes, this takes forever and yes a helper saves a hell of a lot of time, i didn't have one. Once those are all loose drain the fluid. I tell you to wait in case you cant get something loose you're not stuck without your car. Now take the axle bolts out then use the jack and a block of wood to jack the lower ctrl arm up as high as it will go.
Then you can move the axle to the side and get at the 6mm hex key bolt holding the axle flange in. Take that out being super careful to keep it clean and or clean it off before you put it back in. Measure how far in the seal is then take it out. Make sure not to scratch the sealing surface! If you do i guess try filling the scratch with jb weld and then sand it flush with some super fine sandpaper. Super high temp RTV silicone might work too? I don't know.
The drivers side has the exhaust in the way. I just pried on it and crammed the axle out of the way but getting the exhaust off would make it a lot easier. I was sporting the stock 1996 rusty exhaust when I did this so that was out of the question. Drive the new seals in slowly and carefully. On my 97 the drivers side had a stop to drive the seal up against and the passenger side did not- it would go through the hole into the case if you weren't careful. Torque the axle flange bolt to 35lbs ft, the axle bolts to 15lbs ft, and the drain and fill plugs to 40lbs ft. I found those values online, they are not confirmed. If you have a FSM and these specs are wrong please email the correct ones to me!
You need:
--PB blaster penatrant (spray everything first)
--12 new axle flange bolts
--2 new differential seals
--2 quarts of GL5 gear oil
--10mm hex key socket
--size 6 triple square socket
--6mm hex key socket and an extension
--two new drain/fill plugs (if yours are rusty, i had one bad one out of the two)
--something bigger than a 36mm socket to drive the seal in. I'm guessing 40 would do it.
--seal puller
--floor jack and a block of wood. (or take the wheel off if you don't have any wood)
--Torque wrench and a 1/2" -> 3/8" reducer for the hex key sockets or a 3/8 torque wrench.
Repair #010 : Boost gauge
This isn't really a repair as the factory didn't deem it necessary to provide a boost gauge at all. I beg to differ, a lot of things can be determined from a boost/vacuum gauge. The gauge itself is actually the only part that I've been able to carry over from one car to the next, from a 95 Talon TSi that I had in ages past. I didn't want the white lettering though, since my stock gauges are all red. I put in a red 194 size triple LED bulb from ECS (which looks perfect btw). I bought some vacuum hose (5ft needed), some wire ends, a vacuum T fitting, and that bulb to install it. There are several ways to install it in the interior and I just used one of the Audiworld write-ups bent to my own means. If I were going to do it again I would probably do an A-pillar pod matched to the factory a pillar color, down low so as not to be obvious.
Gauge pod? The stock air vent with a hole cut in the middle for the gauge. Much better than springing 100-250$ for a pre-made vent pod. The problem with this location is that parallax occurs when reading the gauge. You can't look straight at the gauge and get an accurate reading. The oh so annoying A-pillar pod is probably the best spot for a good reading in the A4. The install took a few hours due to the fine trimming of the vent and forgetting to bring my 1/4" socket set. A Dremel tool would make it a very quick job, i was using a coping saw a round file and some tin snips.
Update: A friend of mine has access to calibration equipment at his place of employment so we thought it would be fun to check out how this cheap VDO gauge holds up. The equipment we used was a Ruska 7252 (with a 22,000$ price tag in case you want to go pick one up).
My gauge reads 1in Hg at ambient so I guessed that it was probably way off. It didn't do too bad, it gets accurate up where it needs to be. Unfortunately this is the only gauge we could do at the time. Hopefully more will follow to get an idea what different brands are like.
He tested some tire pressure gauges too and found that most were off by 1-3psi, and a few as much as 10psi, from the reading to the actual pressure! Imagine being 10psi off at a track event or an autox !!
The results from my VDO 30hg - 25psi boost gauge:
| Reading | Actual |
| -0.98 | 0 |
| 0 | 1 |
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3.05 | 4 |
| 4.3 | 5 |
| 5.2 | 6 |
| 6.2 | 7 |
| 7.4 | 8 |
| 8.5 | 9 |
| 9.6 | 10 |
| 10.5 | 11 |
| 11.6 | 12 |
| 12.6 | 13 |
| 13.9 | 14 |
| 14.8 | 15 |
Repair #011 : Power steering hose leak and flush
Something else thats been an issue since I bought the car. To fix it I ordered a new bottle of 15$ chf11s power steering fluid (should have gotten two to make flushing easier) and some t-bolt hose clamps from advance auto. The first thing i did was to clean the belly pan and the area of the leak with simple green. It was super gross. This will also help you see if you fixed the leak.
I took the hose from the inlet of the power steering reservoir to the cooler carefully off (bottom first into a drain pan). Then I put the new hose clamps over each end. The hose is next to another hose by the drivers side bottom of the radiator. The hose closer to you looking from under the drivers side bumper (towards the front of the car) is the light washer fluid line, the one above and behind it is the power steering cooler line. Double check on your car.
At this point you could replace your stock power steering "cooler", i.e. metal tube, with a proper cooler from summt racing or some other such place. They are quite inexpensive and good insurance for the expensive Audi power steering system.
Next put the bottom of the hose back on the cooler side and put the top of the hose into the pan that you drained the reservoir into. I had M put his finger on the intake of the power steering reservoir and filled it full of the new fluid. Then start up the car for about 2-3 seconds and cut it off. That's enough to push all of that fluid through the system. I did that a few more times until I was getting green newish fluid out of the cooler hose. If I had gotten two bottles I would have used the entire first bottle doing this.
You should take the reservoir out and either replace it or clean the filter screen in it with some throttle body cleaner. Then carefully put the top half of the hose back on the reservoir and clamped it down. A new hose would have been nice but they're about 60$ because of some kind of valve in the middle of it. Then I filled it up to the full line and let it run for a few minutes. The old fluid looked like a chocolate milkshake and smelled super burnt, I'm pretty sure it was the original 1997 fluid!
No more leak!