Eric's wife's B6 A4: done

[savagerocco]

As to the motor differences, I think the torque converter bushing can be removed. They are different cranks, just super hard to pull the pressed in part out. The last few I removed, I welded a big nut on that my huge slide hammer screwed into and started hammering away. The next issues is secondary air ports or not. You can drill the ports out, I did on athe head for the 04 passat that i built for my son, but an 18" 3/8" drill bit isn't easy to keep on target and there isn't much room for error. Then you have to remove the exhaust valves to drill into the other hole you drilled thru the head. I couldn't find a machine shop that would do it, but that didn't stop me. Also there are big port heads and small port heads, and some have adjustable valve timing, and others not, but that is just a different timing chain tensioner. If you change the valve cover gasket, change the tension gasket too.

[savagerocco]

It would be easier to swap out the head only. You can get them on ebay or www.car-parts.com all day long. I'd rather do a head swap than pull the motor on these cars. They normally have misfires codes and run rough when cold, once they warm up a tad, they seem to seal up. But it is usually easy to see when you have a problem.

[savagerocco]

Previous Post said are different cranks, that was supposed to be not different. haven't had my coffee yet.

[elaw]

Yeah, this one's got secondary air and VVT. Not sure of the port size.

I need to check codes again - it *was* throwing misfire codes but I reset it when I fixed the coil wiring and a week later they hadn't come back.

Basically when you start it for the first few seconds it has a lumpy idle, as if it's running rich (I'd think the choke was sticking shut if it had one). But it smooths out after about 10 seconds max. And off idle, it runs perfectly from the get-go.

[savagerocco]

If you have a scan tool look at maf readings. Should be around 3g/s. If higher probably have a bad pcv valve. Also, that many miles I'd bet most of the check valves are rotten and not blocking flow. Change the pcv and check valves, save yourself some trouble.

[elaw]

... I think the torque converter bushing can be removed.

But for this car (w/automatic) the bushing would need to be present, correct? So if I bought a motor from a manual car, I'd have to remove the pilot bearing if there is one, and extract the bushing from the old engine and install it in the new one? Sounds like that might be tricky.

[savagerocco]

Unless you can buy a new one from the dealer or get a buddy to turn one out on a lathe

[elaw]

If you have a scan tool look at maf readings. Should be around 3g/s. If higher probably have a bad pcv valve. Also, that many miles I'd bet most of the check valves are rotten and not blocking flow. Change the pcv and check valves, save yourself some trouble.

Hey thanks, I'll do that! I assume the 3g/s is warm?

Luckily I do have a VAG-COM... the acquisition of this car provided a nice excuse for that purchase. :wink:

I've looked over most of the PCV hoses and they seem to be in good shape. I originally thought that meant someone had probably replaced them in the past but they all still have the Oetiker clamps on them so either they're original or the person who replaced them was really obsessive.

[savagerocco]

Don't see many factory clamps reinstalled. Maybe yours are good but the pcv is a very high fail item. 2.85g/s is very normal on 1.8t warmed up. If you see 5 then you either have a bad sensor or a internal vacuum leak as in bad pcv or check valves. Vagcom is your friend with late model audi's and vw'vw's. Lots of fun stuff on the b6. Go to Ross tech site to learn some of the stuff you can do. Program the remote to open and close the windows.

[elaw]

Hello all!

Been having a lot of fun with this car lately... got a new valve cover gasket installed, replaced the turbo coolant return line some bonehead mechanic replaced with fuel line with a real hose. Installed a new secondary air pump yesterday and got sprayed in the face repeatedly with exhaust condensate... that's *so* much fun. Also managed to break the suction and return hoses to said pump... they look just like those cheesy $5 corrugated drain hoses that come with dishwashers, except these hoses aren't 5 bucks! 150 smackers to replace both of them... ouch. :(

Anywho it seems like the car has gone all Exxon Valdez in the area of the flange for the center driveshaft... apparently having that seal leak is a common problem on these cars. I got the seal ordered, but am having trouble figuring out one thing: is the flange held into the tranny with a bolt through the center or some sort of circlip that requires a special procedure to access? I see lots of writeups online referencing a bolt, and some that say it could be a bolt or a clip, but didn't see anything that tells how to get the flange out if it's held with a circlip. Can anyone shed any light on this? If it matters, it's an auto with a GBF code transmission (01V type 5-speed tip).

As always, thanks in advance for any help! :-)

[scubagli]

We have one sitting here at work, looks like an torxs holding the flange in.

[rs4tech]

It is held in with a bolt through the center. Will either be a T40 or 6mm socket depending on the trans.

[elaw]

Great, thanks!

[elaw]

So... not too much exciting to report, I've been dealing with a lot of mundane issues on the car. Took it to my mechanic friend for a looking-over and tranny fluid flush, he noticed the coolant line to the turbo appeared to have been replaced with fuel line, and that the coolant reservoir had cracks and looked like it could explode any minute. Luckily both were easy fixes.

Driveshaft flange seal is done - yup, that bolt is a torx T-40. Pretty painless job all around. Figured out a lame but effective way to get the diff fluid level right if you only have a floor jack to raise the car: raise the passenger's side, remove fill/level plug, add fluid until it comes out. Then put a pan underneath and lower the car until it's level and more fluid will come out. Wait until it stops, jack the car back up, and reinstall the plug.

Attempted to do the fuel pump and filter yesterday which turned out *not* to be painless. The two fuel line connections on top of the pump are different types... one has the d-shaped profile where you squeeze the end in the right place and it pops off - no problem there. The other one had two things that look like release tabs but they don't seem to do anything? Well that's not quite true - when you press them inward they don't do anything, and when you move them outward they break off. :frustrated: So rather than continue and render the car undriveable, I stopped and ordered a new fuel line.

One thing that's becoming an issue now that the weather's suddenly turned nice is the sunroof. It's flaky: turn the knob and sometimes it'll move and sometimes it won't. Push/pull the knob to tilt or close it and sometimes it will and sometimes it won't.

Now from what I read on the intertubes, this is related to the tilt open/close switches and the fix is to pull the thing apart and adjust until they "click" each time you push or pull the knob. Problem is, this one already does that! The switches seem to be actuating when they should. Does anyone have any other ideas what might be up?

[savagerocco]

The trick on the strange full line is to push down on the fitting, then squeeze and then pull up. I replace the first line I did as well . Had to loosen the tank to get the line through. Lots of problems with knobs. The wipers don't make good contact they can be "adjusted"

[rs4tech]

The switch is just a potentiometer, and they usually develop dead spots at the full open and full close. I would scan the central convenience module and see what the sensor sweeps and if you have any fault codes, but more than likely you have a bad switch.

[savagerocco]

Like rs4 said the wipers go open in spots. If you pull the switch apart you can move the brushes a little to get good contact again. There are guide on YouTube showing you how.

[elaw]

Great, thanks! Not sure if I'll get to it this weekend but will try soon. Sunroof weather is upon us... yay!

[elaw]

So... this may be the lamest question in all of MG history, but making a fool of myself is my area of expertise so here goes: is it possible to install a B5 A4q exhaust, or any other single exhaust, on a B6 A4q without modification?

This car is going to need an exhaust at some point and I'm trying to figure out the best option. Increased performance is not a goal, noise level is important, and so is cost. Also longevity... sorry, Midas!

Getting new stuff from the dealer would meet all the requirements but is expen$$ive. For a "catback system", a B5 single exhaust comes in at about $300 less than the proper one.

And yeah I know turbos, backpressure, flow, etc. etc. but this is a what - 170HP engine? I can't imagine it would make that much difference. The factory single 2.25" system on my Saab supports 250HP easily.

[rs4tech]

Look into techtonics tuning

[chris.miller]

Eric, I think I have a cat back B6 dual stainless laying in the back yard; needs to be cleaned up but seems serviceable.

[elaw]

Hey here's another question: can anyone tell me definitively whether when you leave the headlights on and either shut the engine off or open the door, is there supposed to be a warning beeper?

I can't find anything indicating that in the manual, but have seen a few things on the 'net that imply there's supposed to be a beeper. But this car is silent in that situation and it's driving the wife nuts (and has already resulted in a dead battery once).

[savagerocco]

Yes there is a beeper

[savagerocco]

More of an annoying tone than beep. Kinda reminds me of the exs shriek.

[elaw]

Hmm... and that's not programmable to be off or on, right? I looked at Ross-Tech's page about coding the instrument cluster and saw no mention of it.

So maybe the noisemaker in the cluster is not working? What other things will make it beep?

Incidentally I'm assuming the noise should come from the cluster and not the radio? If the radio's supposed to make the noise that would explain it, as I installed an aftermarket radio.