The Audi Thread

wingnut771 said:
Wow, yeah I have a 2012 A4 CDUC (180kW) S-Tronic. Bought it 5 years ago with 160k. The only issues I've had was MAF sensor (less than a grand) which probably ****ed up the DPF which was removed which transformed the car into a free-revving S3/GolfR eating cash in transit truck smelling sleeper.

I go out of my way every 6 months to replace the oil (with proper stuff from dealer) and filters (air and filter and cabin (why not) from dealer). I just give Audi my VIN number and I know what I'm putting in is proper. I don't know if that has any effect on injectors. Oh yes, I also go out of my way since I discovered 10ppm in durban (total garage) which helps a lot with the cash in transit truck smell.

If I had to get my injectors removed tested and stuff, new seals and bolts, what would the damage be? My strategy (as money is tight) is to be like Eskom and only fix stuff after it breaks.

So far, the only issues I have at the moment is some oil leaks (from day 1 though) and now recently have started loosing coolant. So I keep a 5l of G13 pink stuff diluted with distilled water in boot and just pop the hood before I go (engine cold) and check the level. I've got it down to a T and have figured out the oil level display because if you something in the wrong order, then it doesn't show the oil level for ages, which is get in and turn ignition on (no brake pedal), press button on trip computer to stop beeeeeeep because door is open, turn aircon off to save battery, press volume button to mute music, go to oil display on MMI, pull bonnet release, get out but DONT CLOSE DOOR, open bonnet and check level (3 secs), close bonnet, get in, oil level is still displayed with engine temp warning, all good, press brake pedal and start engine, turn aircon on and carry on with your day.

The coolant issue is weird as it's not a constant loss, sometimes I top up once a week or once a month. According to YT, there is the EGR cooler between the V that has a plastic part that cracks but apparently you should be able to see liquid collecting in the V but mine is dry. So for now, I will just keep topping up until the problem gets so bad you can just point to it.

Another thing I want to sort out, but finding a trustworthy tuner is the only thing holding me back, is that before the DPF removal I could drive from dbn to jhb and back on one 60l tank @ 130km/h (1200km?). After the removal with custom downpipe (beautiful job I must say) and remap, I drove down to cape town at 120km/h and could only manage 850km on a tank.

The guy that did the job (remap & pipe work) listened to my demands of please blank off the EGR (because that's what we do isn't it) but now I have heavy consumption (awesome performance, and even some puffs of black smoke to dump on the arse rider behind you when you kick down) and said to me that he could do it with software. Whether it has been done or not and EGR is disabled or not I can't say, but I did some research where 90% say you should get better consumption, then the other 10% say (which makes perfect sense) that without EGR, you have more oxygen which then burns more fuel and increases temps (haven't noticed any temp changes myself - I VAGCOMed the oil temp display (lap timer) on the onboard).

So I want someone to trustworthy to give me back my 1200km per tank and giving me the EGR story to me straight, meaning, if I can get 1200km and no EGR so engine stays clean then hallelujah.

I'm rambling now.

TL/DR:

Audi is awesome! Best sound system ever, can drive with one finger during torrential rain and hurricane winds with cruise control.




Do you have tiptronic or stronic?
Click to expand...
As far as I'm aware its tiptronic. 8 speed auto, not dual clutch. One of the main reasons to pay the extra over from the standard 3.0tdi ...besides the extra turbo boost that is.

Regarding your consumption worries all I can suggest is find a tuner who's cleints love both the tune and the consumtion after and then go there.
 
Galactica said:
Don't know about the reputation of this particular dealer but you must question why a vehicle is going for a whopping 50% less than similar cars.
Click to expand...
I do, and the first thing that I think of is that the other ones are rip offs. I wish there was an easy access database that joeblogs can check up on and get the same info that the dealer is looking at behind his desk. I mean, whats stopping me from buying it for R105k and then sell it for R200k on gumtree?
 
flytek said:
As far as I'm aware its tiptronic. 8 speed auto, not dual clutch. One of the main reasons to pay the extra over from the standard 3.0tdi ...besides the extra turbo boost that is.

Regarding your consumption worries all I can suggest is find a tuner who's cleints love both the tune and the consumtion after and then go there.
Click to expand...
Thanks, yeah I should have gone A6 torque converter from a reliability point of view although I've owned many dsg's (GTi 6 & 7 (wet clutch), G6 1.6TDi (dry clutch) and now this A4 sleeper (wet clutch legendary DL501 bullet proof can handle double the power) and only the 1.6TDi failed (luckily as I was arriving at work), ironically about a week after it was serviced my VW.

I bought it from mastercars as a 5 year old 100k mileage with one of those 3rd party "warranty's", well let me just say to rather take the R20k and put it into a money market account because they paid out iirc something like R5k out of a R30k mechatronic unit, also same car different time an injector failed and the same "warranty" was useless and covered like 10% or something stupid. So, my advice is to just save a little cash (R50k) and let that be your warranty.

All my other cars were without fault. I will share a little advice to others that have DSG's is to treat it like a manual, apologies flytek for hijacking your post about tiptronics.

With a normal manual car, you shouldn't sit at the robot in gear with the clutch pedal pressed in. You also shouldn't ride the clutch on a hill. You are supposed to put it in neutral and take your foot off the pedal. So when you are waiting for the green light with your foot on the brake, you have your foot on the clutch. People will tell you that I'm talking ****. Have a look at your fuel consumption with your foot on the brake and then again with it in neutral and the handbrake on. Then make your own conclusions. Another thing you need to do is either come to a complete stop so it can select 1st gear or manually select first gear when you know you won't come to a stop, because the software is designed to stay in second gear (for smoothness) and rides the clutch when you are at that in-between speed between 1st and second, so just shift to 1st and stay there while you're in traffic.

They tell you not to creep, but they don't tell you what creeping is to a dsg. Most people think its when you are just idling in 1st gear moving slowly forward with no feet on the pedals, but actually creeping to a dsg is sitting with your foot on the brake slowing it down. This is fighting the clutch and you (the more mechanically inclined) can feel it, let me repeat, don't use the brake pedal in traffic. Wait until there is enough space in front of you for you to cruise slowly with no feet on pedals. If you start catching up then shift to neutral and coast.

I've never had to replace a clutch in my life, up to 400k (manual or dsg). Regarding wet and dry dsg types. I choose the wet type any day of the week. It feels more tiptronic and is more reliable.

If anyone can recommend a trustworthy tuner in durban please let me know.

Apologies for the wall of text.
 
wingnut771 said:
I do, and the first thing that I think of is that the other ones are rip offs. I wish there was an easy access database that joeblogs can check up on and get the same info that the dealer is looking at behind his desk. I mean, whats stopping me from buying it for R105k and then sell it for R200k on gumtree?
Click to expand...
Aah the naivete, cute. Let me invoke the old saying "if it looks too good to be true it probably is."

Nothing stops you from doing that, but a guy like me won't fall for it.

It's not difficult nowadays for the public to see the market and trade values of vehicles. Even if you don't have that access the market itself is your guide...but the anomalies (half price cars) are the rip-offs not "great deals."
 
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wingnut771 said:
Please teach me, I'm a noob with second-hand cars, and have always traded my old one in when picking up the new car out of fear of doing a private sale.
Click to expand...
With pleasure, any dealer with a name like that, affixed to the registration plate, located in the Joburg CBD and surrounds, with a way below market price, Nigerian-owned, car parked on some pavement for the photo shoot, shocking Google Reviews...is a potential scam.

The cars are usually build-ups, meaning have been in accidents, repaired cheaply "in-house" and put on the market. Like I said I wouldn't even bother with such dealers because I can spot them from a distance. However generally before I even go to any dealer if I'm really interested I would request the full service/maintenance history of the car, do a background check regarding stolen/accident status and of course actual physical inspection of the car.

Use the internet, you would generally see Google reviews of customers of such dodgy dealerships complaining about the state of their cars soon after buying them. For example oil leaks, meaning it might not be accident repairs but serious mechanical issues on these "bargains". So if you read these reviews from your desktop why would you even waste your time doing the trek to the CBD?

Rather miss out on the "bargain" and use a reputable dealership, where you know you will have recourse should things go wrong.
 
wingnut771 said:
Wow, yeah I have a 2012 A4 CDUC (180kW) S-Tronic. Bought it 5 years ago with 160k. The only issues I've had was MAF sensor (less than a grand) which probably ****ed up the DPF which was removed which transformed the car into a free-revving S3/GolfR eating cash in transit truck smelling sleeper.

I go out of my way every 6 months to replace the oil (with proper stuff from dealer) and filters (air and filter and cabin (why not) from dealer). I just give Audi my VIN number and I know what I'm putting in is proper. I don't know if that has any effect on injectors. Oh yes, I also go out of my way since I discovered 10ppm in durban (total garage) which helps a lot with the cash in transit truck smell.

If I had to get my injectors removed tested and stuff, new seals and bolts, what would the damage be? My strategy (as money is tight) is to be like Eskom and only fix stuff after it breaks.

So far, the only issues I have at the moment is some oil leaks (from day 1 though) and now recently have started loosing coolant. So I keep a 5l of G13 pink stuff diluted with distilled water in boot and just pop the hood before I go (engine cold) and check the level. I've got it down to a T and have figured out the oil level display because if you something in the wrong order, then it doesn't show the oil level for ages, which is get in and turn ignition on (no brake pedal), press button on trip computer to stop beeeeeeep because door is open, turn aircon off to save battery, press volume button to mute music, go to oil display on MMI, pull bonnet release, get out but DONT CLOSE DOOR, open bonnet and check level (3 secs), close bonnet, get in, oil level is still displayed with engine temp warning, all good, press brake pedal and start engine, turn aircon on and carry on with your day.

The coolant issue is weird as it's not a constant loss, sometimes I top up once a week or once a month. According to YT, there is the EGR cooler between the V that has a plastic part that cracks but apparently you should be able to see liquid collecting in the V but mine is dry. So for now, I will just keep topping up until the problem gets so bad you can just point to it.

Another thing I want to sort out, but finding a trustworthy tuner is the only thing holding me back, is that before the DPF removal I could drive from dbn to jhb and back on one 60l tank @ 130km/h (1200km?). After the removal with custom downpipe (beautiful job I must say) and remap, I drove down to cape town at 120km/h and could only manage 850km on a tank.

The guy that did the job (remap & pipe work) listened to my demands of please blank off the EGR (because that's what we do isn't it) but now I have heavy consumption (awesome performance, and even some puffs of black smoke to dump on the arse rider behind you when you kick down) and said to me that he could do it with software. Whether it has been done or not and EGR is disabled or not I can't say, but I did some research where 90% say you should get better consumption, then the other 10% say (which makes perfect sense) that without EGR, you have more oxygen which then burns more fuel and increases temps (haven't noticed any temp changes myself - I VAGCOMed the oil temp display (lap timer) on the onboard).

So I want someone to trustworthy to give me back my 1200km per tank and giving me the EGR story to me straight, meaning, if I can get 1200km and no EGR so engine stays clean then hallelujah.

I'm rambling now.

TL/DR:

Audi is awesome! Best sound system ever, can drive with one finger during torrential rain and hurricane winds with cruise control.




Do you have tiptronic or stronic?
Click to expand...
You are obviously way more technical than me when it comes to cars, so it would be interesting for a guy like you to go to one of those JHB CBD specials and give it a thorough check. You would come back with an interesting report, that would also enlighten others.
 
wingnut771 said:
Please teach me, I'm a noob with second-hand cars, and have always traded my old one in when picking up the new car out of fear of doing a private sale.
Click to expand...
Yes buying from a dealer is safer than a private sale...but you apply the same standards/criteria I mentioned to a private sale that you would to a dealer sale. Obviously the advantage of a private sale is the lower price, priced closer to Trade than dealer cars, the ability to negotiate price. Regardless of where you are buying from you can always insist on getting the car go through a mechanical check (which would be revealing) before buying it.
 
airborne said:
Setting the points gap on your dizzy?!
Click to expand...
Well not so far back but yes i did set points , gap spark plugs and stuff like that, i am old dude - Those remember Carbs air screw and fuel screw as well.
I understand why the battery get coded its to tell the system there is a new battery bring charge levels up accordingly, but injectors, what next glow plugs and spark plugs
 
Audi A1 - needed to replace my left headlamp bulb - dealer quoted me between 3.5k and 4k* (excl labour) for the Osram OEM part.....

Holy sheet....

One YouTube video later, a visit to Midas and I got the same thing in the Lumin brand....R598 incl. (Osram is a 4 year Warranty, Lumin is 1 year)

10 minute job, start to finish.

I mean, seriously.



* 2 pack available on Amazon for approximately 3k incl shipping and import duty.
 
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