DJ's adventures in A2 land

[dj_efk]

And carrying on….

I decided that despite no sign of gearbox issues, while it was in the air and I was being thorough I’d enact a gearbox oil change - VERY glad I did:

Clear evidence of contamination. Also while it was off I took a careful look at the dog one mount and found it to be perfectly healthy still, so that’s something.

And so on to the front brakes - you can see here the clear witness mark of the dragging brakes and where the car has stood for a couple of weeks since arriving:

After sealing the brake fluid reservoir and clamping the brake hose (which again passed inspection), I managed to figure out how to disconnect the (suspect) ABS and brake pad wear indicator loom and undid the sliders - they did not want to release! Careful inspection of them revealed no major corrosion issues, so the fault is with the calipers themselves, no doubt due to contaminated brake fluid that was not changed when it should have been. Luckily the pads are nearly new looking and will be fine to reuse with a deglaze. The discs also look fairly recent:

However I hit a major issue when putting the caliper back on: The thread on the lower slider bolt hole where the slider goes in has completely stripped - I took the caliper off again to inspect it closely and it must have been damaged previously as there was zero warning of any failure when I was doing it up! Here’s the slider just pushed into the carrier when it should screw in firmly!

I tried inserting a M8 insert with my hellicoil kit, but the closest insert provided in that kit is incorrect (M8 x 1.25) so that hasn’t worked. I now see from looking at other threads on this issue on a2oc that the correct insert is actually M9 x 1.25, so that has stopped play on the car for today!

EDIT: I’ve ordered THIS REPAIR KIT so hopefully I can resume play tomorrow evening.

Onto the wiring loom - no turning back now!

 

[dj_efk]

Right, a quick update on where I’ve got to. Progress has been leisurely but ultimately rewarding:

I received the M9 x1.25 thread repair kit, although I realised I didn’t have the tap handle to go with it (previously I’ve just mounted the tap in my drill and used it on a slow speed setting, fine when I was repairing the dog bone mount threads in the ali gearbox casing of Akoya, but no such luck with the tougher steel here). Once a superb little adjustable tap handle arrived via Amazon, this job was done.

I’ve also PTFE taped the threads of the bleed nipples on the new calipers to facilitate vacuum bleeding and I’m ready to reassemble.

The sump drain plug has remained totally dry, so it does indeed look like removal of one of the two washers on it has cured that leak!

I changed the generic air filter for a new genuine one - I think it was due:

Did you know the variable servicing change interval for the filter is the best part of 40k miles?! I tend to change mine at around the 21-24k miles mark although due to its size, I should probably push this to 28-32k miles (assuming my usual 7-8k servicing interval regime).

I also tackled the fuel filter and changed it for the one that came with the car - it needed doing as this is what came out when I drained it (the tray was wiped clean before I started:

As an aside - what a b****d of a job it was, due to this being my first time and stiff / corroded pipe clips! Once the plastic clamps a little way down the lines were released, the filter housing finally was free to come off the car.

That said, once the new filter was ready to go on along with new jubilee clips where required, it was pretty straightforward other than the P clip holding the main connection on - and I don’t need to clamp anything, I just filtered the diesel in the tray very carefully and used it to prime the new filter, with a top up of Millers diesel additive. Luckily there was no water present in the fuel. I will ensure I hold the revs at 2.5-3k when I come to start it just to ensure all air is purged as per other threads on this subject.

I haven’t yet got round to looking at the service flap catch, but am hoping that when I do, that plus brake bleeding with my extractor will be straightforward.

I also purchased a DIY wheel alignment plate kit that clamps to the hubs, along with a steering wheel clamp - as the tracking is out and I’m hoping to at least improve matters. I do fancy removing the need to visit my local garage for this service going forward, if successful.

More to come.

 

[CrispyEdd]

Good work sir!!

Very satisfying doing fuel filter on a tdi. Good for another two-year.??

(P.s I've messaged about the ball joint boots)

 

[dj_efk]

Meanwhile, Audrey continues to provide superbly reliable service and is on just under 182k miles with little complaint.

I had however, started to hear the sound of something loose flapping around outside the car at higher speeds - and a quick glance underneath revealed the heat shield just ahead of the rear axle had come adrift. As the part in question is right next to the fuel filter location, I thought I'd bite the bullet and finally tackle the long-anticipated job of changing the filter while I was there - this hasn't been done since I purchased the car 5 years ago at 135k miles.

The filter housing is attached to the car with a slide-in bracket, I undid the bolt securing it and slide it down but it wouldn't come free. So I yanked it and managed to snap the uppermost pipe clean off the housing!- DISASTER!

Well not quite: Cue the new old stock housing I bought a year or two ago as a precaution to keep in stock - PHEW! (@JulesW it's a bl00dy good job I never sold this to you when you needed a complete unit, or I'd have been stuffed!).

So to proceed, I undid the infamous 10mm plastic hex drain screw VERY carefully and smoothly and luckily it came out without fuss. I was puzzled when NOTHING came out of the hole however, until I started to undo the larger 27mm nut: Diesel fuel then started to drip, slowly at first, then increasing gradually until it began to flow freely - Most odd, until I examined the innards and found both the filter and the housing lid to be so sludged up that the holes in the latter leading to the drain screw passage were completely blocked!

This is what a 45k+mile filter element looks like when you've been running fuel cleaner additive in all that time AND have at one time run 5l of diesel purge through the system!

I did not get a new lid with the new housing (I suspect whoever it was that sold it to me needed it when their drain screw snapped) so I carefully installed Paul @depronman 's lovely and much-stronger-than-OE aluminium drain screw into the original one, complete with a new seal, and tightened it gingerly until I felt it naturally "nip up". I did NOT want any more disasters at this point! I then installed the new OE filter element that came with the housing, installed the lid (again tightening it carefully, with lubricated seals, until I felt it naturally nip up):

I then connected all the fuel lines up and put it back on the car; using a block of wood and jack carefully placed to persuade the housing into its bracket far enough for me to get the bolt back in and do it up properly. So that was finally job jobbed once I'd removed the fuel line clamps and put the car back on four wheels with some cardboard underneath to check for leaks for 30 minutes.

Question: I was hoping to prime the filter housing with diesel like I did on the project (an early TDi with the replaceable canister-type filter), my intention was to eliminate resonating air in the filter housing being the cause of the high-pitched noise coming from the back of the car that sounds like an noisy electrical pump - yet there was absolutely no way to prime the filter and eliminate all the air inside, so how does it self-prime to ensure that no air remains trapped?? Either way, I do hope this job has somehow eliminated the noise, which has been present since I took over ownership!

Anyway, I then turned my attention to the heat shields - Really I need to look out for some new ones - the one covering the filter housing has definitely seen better days:

Nonetheless I managed to get it back on and secure in the meanwhile, I also managed to achieve the same status with the exhaust shield that prompted this escapade too - now all securely fastened.

All good for another few years' motoring I hope!

 

[Dave M]

Audrey had a new genuine Audi filter housing around 10 years ago David. I think it cost the princely sum of £55 which i thought quite expensive back then.

 

[dj_efk]

Surprising then that I managed to break it Dave! Just one of those things (and my heavy-handed handling of it) I guess.

Question - I now see that I have not put an O ring on Paul's drain screw on the upper "shoulder" where there should be one. I take it that this O ring is essential?! @depronman ?

I shall have to pull the car up in the air again, remove the heatshield, clamp the pipes and remove / correct this I suppose. Bah.

EDIT - All done. The lower fuel pipes were a little wet around the quick-release / connect unions, I do hope they are sealing OK!

 

[rotifer II]

Fuel filter looking good.

You going to empty the the fuel cooler? If so buy replacement hoses before you start. The old hoses can be welded onto the alloy pipes making cutting one option.
Are you repairing the fuel filter housing?
Drill and tap and fit a threaded barbed hose connector?

 

[dj_efk]

Sorry I think you're getting confused @rotifer II - I have no intention of disturbing the fuel cooler and as above, I happened to have a new filter housing on the shelf.

 

[rotifer II]

Sorry I think you're getting confused @rotifer II - I have no intention of disturbing the fuel cooler and as above, I happened to have a new filter housing on the shelf.

I'm permanently confused.

 

[depronman]

Surprising then that I managed to break it Dave! Just one of those things (and my heavy-handed handling of it) I guess.

Question - I now see that I have not put an O ring on Paul's drain screw on the upper "shoulder" where there should be one. I take it that this O ring is essential?! @depronman ?

I shall have to pull the car up in the air again, remove the heatshield, clamp the pipes and remove / correct this I suppose. Bah.

EDIT - All done. The lower fuel pipes were a little wet around the quick-release / connect unions, I do hope they are sealing OK!

Yes it is essential to have the small and medium o rings fitted to the drain screw. The lever one in the filter kit is for the filter end cap

Cheers. Paul


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dj_efk]

Thanks Paul - As I suspected, so I told myself off, got under there and corrected the error. All good.

A new problem then presented itself! The car started and ran for a few moments at 2-3k revs, but then cut out and would not restart despite 4x lots of 10 seconds of cranking. The battery was getting low as well, triggering warnings.

Oh well - in for a penny, in for a pound I thought, off came the bonnet and engine insulation; while I as there, I thought I may as well cover off two further jobs that were in the queue under the bonnet:

1) The broken alloy intercooler top feed pipe that is unique to the 90 model - I bought a replacement from @Fallan in readiness for the job, thinking the mounting that is a part of the pipe was the problem:

However, when I got the old pipe off, it became apparent that the problem was actually the rubber mount on the mounting bracket that bolts to the head - the rubber itself had called time and sheared off. Balls.

So as I like to be resourceful and work with what I've got when I don't have direct replacement parts sitting on the shelf, I removed the remnants of this mount, put the pipe back on the car and made a "fix" involving two cable ties: 1 to hold it in position, the other to take up some of the vibration, by holding the pipe apart from the bracket - It should do the job nicely:

(some might call it a bodge, but it works well so I'm going with "a fix"!) - I've ordered a couple of branded aftermarket replacements now, one to fit in due course and the other as a spare, from THIS SUPPLIER - Seems VAG used the same type of mounting back in the 70s!

2) I then replaced the CDIS-reported faulty no. 3 glow plug, using my new long reach socket set that regular readers may recall I was forced to buy precisely because my existing sets could not reach far enough to get purchase on the nut portion of the plugs - hence when I was last under the bonnet at the start of the year(!) I couldn't carry out this job. All done now - Interestingly both this and no. 2 were almost finger tight! No. 1 is the one I previously replaced and that was good and tight - as they all are now - so potentially another possible future issue averted.

Finally, I turned to the original reason for being under the bonnet: I clamped the fuel supply pipe (the upper of the two, for those who are interested) and disconnected it from the metal pipe mounted on the cylinder head, I then attached my Mityvac extractor and pulled fresh fuel through until all air bubbles were gone, before re-attaching the clamp, removing the extractor and reattaching the hose to it's line and releasing the clamp. After about 10 seconds of more cranking, the engine fired up and all was right with the world once more!

To finish off, I stuck the CTEK charger on the battery via the cigarette lighter socket - it reported the battery being very depleted, so I've put it on the rejuvenation cycle and will leave it overnight.

I never intended to do quite so much to Audrey, but then things snowballed and it made sense to tick off all the outstanding jobs while I was there - I was almost tempted to do a quick extractor / dipstick tube oil change while I had unrivalled access to the oil filter housing, but stopped myself as it’s not due yet even by my short interval cycle - and I really have done 90% of the 4000 miles travelled since the last change on long journeys with the oil nice and hot - it's not even that black! I'll do it in another 4000 miles or so.