The Project Pad

Replaced the VR. Now all my lights, interior and exterior pulse, they go dim and bright non stop. I also feel like the car is idling a bit differently now. Is this normal for a new VR and just takes a bit for the "keys" to get a grove ground down in them from being flat as brand new, or did I maybe get a crappy VR?

Check voltage!

Nothing to exciting happened recently, just some little maintain items. I have had an intake spacer probably longer than I have had the car, if I recall correctly. Thought it would be time to throw that in. As you obviously have to take off the manifold I thought it would also be a good idea to replace and upgrade the thermostat housing. Got a metal one from EFI. It was leaking a little anyway. Seemed a little rusty in there, but got some purple scotchbrite and cleaned it all up nice. I also replaced the coolant reservoir with an OEM from my brother-in-law's old UrS as I believe the old one was leaking coolant form the sides where the two halves meet. With the intake off, I also replaced some breather parts that I have had for years. There was oil residue everywhere under the intake and seemed to be some caked on oil deposits in the runners of the intake. Came off all like glue, but there was no oil residue in the intake house or throttle so must have been coming from the breather. I found a tear in the breather house, but don't know if that was there or if it was from taking the system off.
I still believe there is a little leak somewhere. Not coming from the reservoir or the thermostat as much as I can tell. The top coolant hose was leaking a little while checking for leaks. Put on a new hose clamp and it seemed to fix it but I don't know the age of the hose. Might be worth just replacing that housing (if I can find one) since its an easy swap. I flushed the system several times, but the dye I put in is pretty potent. Not necessarily the worst thing. Will make tracking leaks a little easier, and this way it won't be neon green everywhere. My bro also hooked me up with some intercooler supports for the bottom. Took about two minutes with his CAD and water jet system. Pretty rad. As we were putting the front bumper back on, we noticed that the bottom center grille (LLTek front valance) is rubbing on the intercooler and the driver's side grille is hitting the intercooler piping, preventing the bumper from sitting flush with the trim. I'll most likely will have to take a Dremel and get rid of some material on in the center. Still haven't figured out quite what to do for the driver's grille to help it sit flush. The front valance needs some TLC anyway. (Fibergalss repair, with some aluminum strips on the bottom for support and maybe fiberglass in some nutserts or just nuts in general for making a skid plate later down the line.)

Glad to hear it’s going well.

I read a few places the 034 billet checkvalves ballbearing get stuck, might be worth picking up an OEM(ish) plastic one

themagellan wrote:Glad to hear it’s going well.

I read a few places the 034 billet checkvalves ballbearing get stuck, might be worth picking up an OEM(ish) plastic one

I thought I might have read that somewhere as well. I have one in my box, (OEM-ish, will have to check the brand), but I had spaced it and the 034 parts were all together and already in the parts pile when I installed everything. I'll keep an eye on everything.
Thanks

Finally got some new IC lights in. The left side of the tach always seemed a bit dimmer. I ended up replacing most of the lights and everything is pretty uniform now. It's hard to tell from pictures though. When I first got the car I noticed that the check engine light, airbag light and some others weren't actually on. When I pulled the IC the first time I found that the little tabs on the lights had been broken so the actual bulbs were just sitting behind the housing. I found some replacement holders with wires attached and cut the old bulb and housing and soldered the new ones in. The new wires were just a little bit thicker, but because its not the opposite of the new wires being thinner I should be alright (I think, I am not very knowledge with wiring, I just know enough to get by). One of the big highlights was I got my outside temp bulb replaced. Desoldered the old bulb and installed the new one. Intsall didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, the dang holes for the new bulb wires are just so small I was having an issue getting it in without bending and breaking the wire. Good thing you only need about 1/8-1/4" of new wire and the bulb wire is about an inch long. I still have the auto check bulb warning (headlights). I replaced that bulb and swapped the rubber cover over the new bulb, but its still not illuminated so I'm not quite sure what is going on there. I "tried" to lobotomize the auto check but its still on. I'll try it again at a later date.
I also figured out why my boost gauge isn't as bright. The oil temp and pressure gauge have a clear plastic surround that goes around the entire gauge to reflect the light from the single bulb, the boost gauge does not have that surround. Going to try and think of some ideas to reflect the light back at the gauge face. Or just go with an electric gauge.

Looks awesome. Always nice to have bright and uniform cluster lighting.

Nice upgrade on the dash - the weak boost light could just be due to where you tapped into the 12v, try to find a stronger + wire to tap off or bench test with a good battery.

Haven't posted in awhile.
Had a bit of a coolant issue today.
I was running some errands today and stopped by my wife's work. I was waiting for her to come out and pick a drink I had brought her and just sat in the car. Temps were all where they should be and it was only about 75ish degrees outside. After about three-four minutes, the wife came out and I decided to shut the car off. At this time I heard some fans but thought it was a car a few spots over with their A/C. As the wife goes to leave she say I am leaking something. I had noticed that there was a very small puddle of washer fluid on the ground yesterday and didn't think much of it. To my surprise I looked down to see a massive puddle of coolant. (There is a green hint as there is still dye in the system, but I promise its G12).
Well shit. I pop the hood, and find my fans still running, so it got hot at some point. I didn't take any pictures but it looked as if coolant exploded everywhere on some spots. All hoses looked dry and same with the reservoir expect that it is now empty. I leaned down and heard a bubbling/hissing noise and it looked like there was coolant trying to escape from the side of the radiator where the plastic end cap meets up with the core. This was right below the top rad hose on the driver's side.

Anyone else seen this issue before? If m rad is bad (I cleaned it out years ago but there was still some debris in between the fins), is there a all metal upgrade that people have ran? Any mishimoto rads or anything else? Or is the aftermarket nissens one good to go?

Thanks

I ended up taking the wife's car home and picked up the S4 this morning. I filled the reservoir full of water checked for leaks and drove it home. Temps were fine. Now just waiting to see if it leaks or not.

I have had good luck with a Nissens radiator and evans coolant with a vented cap. The coolant does not need pressure so everything lasts longer. The worst part is completely emptying the system as you can’t mix with water based coolant.

Throw that 034 PCV valve away ASAP and get OEM. I’ve seen several fail.

Keep up the good work!

Update, as it has been awhile.

My radiator ended up biting the dust and was leaking from the drivers side end tank where it meets the core. I ordered a new one and ended up replacing it and all the hoses with a new silicon kit (eBay) with help from JCarrick, who is selling his UrS6 by the way.

I believe I still have a small leak, although still having trouble tracking it down. It is under the intake somewhere, as I can see dried coolant down the side of the block. I retighten some of the clamps so I will observe and watch it.

My A/C and heat controls have always been iffy. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. I took out the climate control, sprayed some (light) air and found two “burnt” solder joints. Took as much of the old solder off as I could and added a bit of new. Threw it back in and everything seems to be working as intended.

As of yesterday, my driver’s side tail light stopped working. The brake light works so I thought it must be a bulb. I swapped the tail light and the brake light just to verify but both bulbs are working fine. Must have an issue with the bulb housing. I don’t see any visual/visible corrosion or such, and I couldn’t find my info if any on QW about possible solutions. Not quite sure where to go from there. I could get out the multi meter, but to be honest I’m not sure where to start. The housing is definitely interesting.

The wife and I are currently sharing the S4 as I am still tracking down a steady misfire on her B8. I see a timing chain in my future.

Hope all is well. Happy holidays to my classic Audi family.

I did a quick look at the wiring. It all looks good, at least heading back into the cabin. All trunk wiring looks intact as far as the tail lights are concerned. I swapped the passenger side and driver's bulb sockets and they both work, so somewhere there is a wiring issue.

I decided to use my brain. I checked fuses. Fuse #6 for the left side tail light was fine. I was like okay. Checked fuse #5 for the right side tail lights, it was blown. Okay, so may they mean right side while looking at the engine. Replaced the fuse with another 5amp and blew instantly when I turned on the lights. Back to square one.

The bulb sockets often rust. Start unplugging things one at a time until you stop blowing fuses then investigate unplugged circuit.