A2Steve’s 2020 project

A2Steve

A2OC Donor
Wales
I’ll call this one project 2020 because I’ve done one every year so far.

I bought this off member A2Louis. I got it for a good price but it does need work. (To clarify, I don’t think that any of the bodges were done by him).

The car itself is lovely, only 54k miles on the clock and with the following spec:

OSS
Leather and alcantara sports bench seat
Multi function steering wheel
Rear electric windows
Double DIN
DIS
As well as the usual SE spec

The bodywork is neigh on immaculate and the interior is really good (I don’t think the back seat had been used).

I haven’t taken any photos yet, but here are a few from the previous owner

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9F2AD3D7-38FD-4C0B-BDD3-241A8426AD42.jpeg
B255DD68-3562-414C-AFAB-80360D92D4BD.jpeg
3BDC70F9-B09D-4F55-BF59-FB6A8F7029F6.jpeg
A0DC1789-3B6D-41B7-B76C-886C5E1980DE.jpeg


The lower inlet manifold and the high pressure fuel pump had been replaced prior to me buying it so that’s a big plus.

Now for the bad bits.

The EML is on. It has code P1031 but seeing as the lower inlet was replaced I’ve put this down to it needing calibration.

It also has a fault code for the knock sensor. The car feels down on power, is using more fuel than it should and has a little miss on idle. All indicators of a knock sensor fault.

Yesterday it was booked in with my mechanic for the timing belt and knock sensor.

When up on ramps he called me under to have a look. There was no electrical connector going to the knock sensor. From there it got worse, almost all of the loom was botched together. Spare wires and gorilla glue gallore.

There were also lots of missing bolts where things hadn’t been put back together properly.

At this point I was gutted, it’s one thing fixing faults on a car that is as it left the factory, it’s completely different chasing down a fault on someone else’s botch. My thoughts going to bed last night were that I was going to have to break it to get my money back.

Having slept on it last night and having spoken to my mechanic this morning I’ve decided to go down a different route.

I’ve got a running FSI breaker here. In a few weeks time both cars are going into his workshop and everything botched on my own car is getting replaced by parts from the other.

It’s a both feet in approach, but I really like the car and want to use it as my main car for a while.

So wish me luck.
 
Hi Steve why not swap the loom from another FSI it’s an easy enough job


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Hi Steve why not swap the loom from another FSI it’s an easy enough job


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That’s the plan mate, whilst I could do the job myself, it would take me a lot longer than my mechanic. Between my job and the kids it would probably take me 3/4 days doing it on and off to sort it whereas my mechanic will probably do it in a day.
 
That’s the plan mate, whilst I could do the job myself, it’s would take me a lot longer than my mechanic. Between my job and the kids it would probably take me a 3/4 days to sort it whereas my mechanic will probably do it in a day.

I understand that, it’s the inlet manifold on these that is tricky with the wiring if I remember correctly.

With the AVY I got the loom in within an hour however this doesn’t go round the back of the engine like the BAD


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I understand that, it’s the inlet manifold on these that is tricky with the wiring if I remember correctly.

With the AVY I got the loom in within an hour however this doesn’t go round the back of the engine like the BAD


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Yes it’s the point where it goes around the back of the engine that put me off doing it myself.
 
Good luck Steve - glad you now know why at least two previous owners haven't been able to get it running properly, and you have all the necessary bits to get it back to full health again.

Those new wheels look lush in the box, I hope they're as good on the car. It'll be an interesting colour combination for sure - I'm just trying to visualise it. I'm actually slightly colourblind between some greys, greens and browns, so they could even make the whole car look a unique shade to me o_O
 
Good luck Steve - glad you now know why at least two previous owners haven't been able to get it running properly, and you have all the necessary bits to get it back to full health again.

Those new wheels look lush in the box, I hope they're as good on the car. It'll be an interesting colour combination for sure - I'm just trying to visualise it. I'm actually slightly colourblind between some greys, greens and browns, so they could even make the whole car look a unique shade to me o_O

It’s a bit of a gamble because there’s no guarantee of it sorting the issue, but it will be a bloody good start.

I’m hoping the dark copper will work well with the dolphin grey. I used the very technical process of holding the photo up to my car on my phone and squinting with the other eye.
 
Lovely looking car Steve.

It worked for Richie Kidd on a Tesla so I’m sure you can make it work for an A2.


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I was looking at outlaw Porsches last night, and thought some bronze empi 5 spokes would look good on my dolphin grey . Great minds eh !
 
Tried fitting them tonight but I need spiggot rings to make them fit. They are a very strange centre bore. They look to be 62mm but the closest I could get are 63.3 so will have to get busy with the sandpaper
 
send me the rings, sure I can turn them to 62mm dia and make a better job than a welsh man with sandpaper :)

Paul

Thanks to the powers of amazon prime the spiggots I ordered last night at 10pm are arriving today. I'll give them a go tonight Paul buty may then need to take you up on your offer. Thank you.
 
Let's not drag all this up on the public forum if possible, eh?
Let alone on Steve's project thread.
Ed, I'll PM you later to fill you in.
 
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