Not So Far Off ....

[Tomscar]

I would check the wiring loom at the door end close to hinge for breakage.

Thanks Ami, I did an end to end continuity check from the seven pins in the plug that fits to the door lock right through to the red plug that goes into socket four in the Central Convenience Unit and getting a resistance reading on the meter .... maybe using the ohmmeter setting isn't the best way though .... the wire indicated on the diagram for the contact switch is purple and yellow and it also has continuity through the socket on the B pillar.
I would try to separate the door loom from the B pillar but can't see a way to get them apart!
Possibly connect a wire directly from the lock to the CCCU and bypass?

 

[Tomscar]

Today I tackled the Top Strut Bearings and Mounts, the parts were sitting in the garage since March ... new gloves to the fore and off I went ...
Tackled the easier nearside first to gain a bit of confidence and followed a logical (to me!!) sequence.

Wheel off
Car on an axle stand
Drop link disconnected from damper strut
Track rod end disconnected for ease of manoeuvring
Impact gun used to remove bottom pinch bolt
Trolley jack under the bottom ball joint to raise damper
Long socket extension bar wedged between ground and bottom of damper, then lower trolley jack
WD40, spread joint by tapping in a screwdriver and tap off with a drift and hammer
Undo the three13mm nuts from the top end and lift out complete unit
Spring compressors are essential to take the load off the strut bearing before removing the end nut on the damper, easy with an air impact gun.
Replaced Mounts, bearings and bump stops ... more on this further down!
Installed back in reverse order.

Drivers side is only slightly more work on the 1.4 petrol:
Remove the air duct and scuttle drain for easier access
Remove the four bolts (10mm head) that hold the brake fluid reservoir and you have plenty of room for a 13mm socket with 3/8" drive (bigger 1/2" didn't fit )... and move the reservoir to the right out of the way, there is plenty of movement on the flexible pipes.
Proceeded exactly as above.

The whole job took me four hours, no bolts were stuck and nothing was seized. Air ratchet and impact gun really helped to speed things up.

The only problem I had was the top strut mounts sent by Autodoc (Germany) do not seem to be the right ones for my car ... the holes don't line up.
I reused the old mounts that were already there, they were changed about five years ago by an Audi Dealership and luckily were in good order.

SKSS-0670021 Top strut mounts were ordered and definitely don't fit, despite what the Autodoc site says!
Distance between the holes in the originals is 105mm but these SKSS ones are 110mm and simply will not line up to insert the bolts.

The bearings I used are these, also from Autodoc:

Fag 713 0388 20 Anti-Friction Bearing and they fit perfectly.

Had a short test drive and nothing has fallen off yet ... happy days

 

[audifan]

Just keep a keen eye on those top mounts. The new components will put more load onto them.

 

[Tomscar]

Just keep a keen eye on those top mounts. The new components will put more load onto them.

Thanks audifan ... will no doubt replace them before long although must say they still look as new , actually enjoyed doing the job and may just bite the bullet and buy genuine Audi ones next time ... I'm a bit dubious now about aftermarket brands after being sent the wrong ones.

 

[audifan]

As the A2 is now so old I doubt that there is much Genuine stock around. Good chance that some parts in Audi branded packaging are and have been made by others for a long time now or NOS (new old stock) that has been in a warehouse for years.

 

[herx]

Amazing work & "How To" that went straight into my bookmarks. Love the sense of humour too!

10. Change shirt and put on dry gloves by not following advice from 9. above.

This whole thread should be under "Members' cars"

 

[Tomscar]

Amazing work & "How To" that went straight into my bookmarks. Love the sense of humour too!

This whole thread should be under "Members' cars"

Thanks for reading Herx ... I went for another coastal spin today and nothing has dropped off yet ... the new alternator regulator seems to have cured the delay in the battery light going out, no more revving required on start up ... all the best, Tom

 

[Tomscar]

A ten minute job today that's been bugging me for a while now ... I replaced the rather flimsy and disintegrating pipe that connects the exhaust manifold heatshield to the air filter box with a nice substantial silicone hose ... overkill I know but it looks the part :

The heatshield was rubbed down and sprayed with VHT silver manifold paint from Halfords when it was off for the alternator fix.

The two original large jubilee clips were re-used to clamp the new pipe on and with a 7mm socket used for removal and refit.

The silicone pipe has a 38mm inside diameter, is 200mm long and cost £15 delivered from Amazon with a choice of colours - blue, red or black.

Thanks for reading ... Tom

 

[Tomscar]

Just an update on an experiment from a couple of months ago ...

My indicators work fine but over recent years the hazard lights would be flashing at what seemed random times when parked up, reading through the forums I can see that a few of us have experienced the same issue.
The only way to turn off the hazards for me was to switch off at the dashboard switch or pull the fuse and now that I have VCDS I can determine the alarm wasn't triggered.

I took the hazard switch out thinking it may be faulty but all was well and seemed to work as it should.

The experiment was to replace the internal relays on the flasher unit circuit board ... about £4 for each relay including delivery from China on eBay ... if you're handy with a soldering iron this will save you on the £70 cost of a new unit from the dealers.

I've only tackled the hazard circuit for now ... it was a fiddly job but it's worked so far and no flashing lights since June.

Part numbers for the relays can be seen on the pictures ... the left is the indicator and the right is the hazards, maybe worth a punt if you're having the flashers go off at random!


Flasher Unit

Out with the Old

De soldered

Re soldered

Good luck and hope it works for you ... all the best ... Tom

 

[Tomscar]

New Front Tyres Today ... and 4 wheel alignment check/ adjustment.

What I don't understand ... why is there so much positive toe in on the rear wheels? ... they're well out of the official Audi spec and nothing has been touched on the rear axle, the bushes are original and as far as I know the mounts haven't been touched either ... springs and dampers have been changed over the years but that's it. The 'thrust angle' is also reading out slightly at 0° 09' ... apparently this is negligible!

What I'm asking is ... would a deterioration of the bushes affect camber and toe in the rear wheels or something else?

I've been doing my own tracking for years and promised myself that I'd get the alignment checked and corrected when the next tyres were due, well that time was today. A new pair of Kumho Ecsta HS51 tyres went on the front to match the back, they're a mid range tyre that I've been using for around twelves years and getting around 24K on the front/ 48K on the back ... used around six sets now!

They were ordered and fitted at a local garage that also offers a four wheel alignment using a system called 'SuperTracker'.

As mentioned above I've done my own tracking for many years making micro adjustments to the track rods to get the steering wheel dead straight and the car driving in a straight line ... not too surprised that it was running with toe out and was expecting the camber to be off after doing the control arms.

The print out below shows how far out ... the car still felt good and still handled great on the B roads and wasn't any concern but worth doing the alignment for peace of mind.

Thanks for reading, anybody else experienced this amount of rear wheel toe in or had problems with it?

 

[audifan]

May be worth checking the rear hubs for bearing wear and for loose bolts or corrosion forcing them out of position. Has the car suffered any damage to a rear wheel that may have bent the beam or twisted the mounts?

 

[Tomscar]

May be worth checking the rear hubs for bearing wear and for loose bolts or corrosion forcing them out of position. Has the car suffered any damage to a rear wheel that may have bent the beam or twisted the mounts?

Hi Graham ... thanks for your input.
I'll get the wheels off and have a check around when the torrential rain stops although didn't notice anything unusual with the bearings after changing the shoes and drums earlier in the year.
Yes, I've hit the odd pothole or two over the years ... once punctured the rear left tyre and put a bit of a dent in the rim, probably more than ten years ago now but there's no buckle or vibration from it.
Just seems strange that both rear wheels are toed in so much and the tyres aren't showing signs of uneven wear ... the toe measurement on the rear left went from a green +1.60 to a red +5.00 when no adjustment was made by the mechanic .

Thanks again Graham

 

[audifan]

Remember the alignment tools clamp onto the outer face of the rim / tyres, so if they are distorted that could explain how the measurement changed without any physical adjustment. Try either swapping the front and rear wheels or if you have a couple of spares fit them on the rear.

There is also a SLIGHT chance that the reflectors were not securely fitted to the wheels. Wheel bolts correctly torqued?

 

[Tomscar]

Remember the alignment tools clamp onto the outer face of the rim / tyres, so if they are distorted that could explain how the measurement changed without any physical adjustment. Try either swapping the front and rear wheels or if you have a couple of spares fit them on the rear.

There is also a SLIGHT chance that the reflectors were not securely fitted to the wheels. Wheel bolts correctly torqued?

Thanks Graham ...

Just back in from jacking up each rear corner and checked for play and noise in the bearings, both smooth spinning with no play or drag ... positioned a steel rule (clamped to a mic stand) against the rim looking for a buckle, can't see anything wrong there either ... nothing obvious yet but too wet for now to crawl underneath looking at bolts.

I haven't worked out yet what the numbers translate to in degrees ... it may only be a very small amount in reality but will continue to monitor the tyre wear, in theory it should scrub the outer edge if its going to have any effect.

I've never had the rear wheels checked for alignment before, maybe its always been like this but checked yesterday and still drives and brakes in a straight line with steering wheel dead centre. Not sure if the reflectors were securely fitted so couldn't rule out operator error either.

Thanks again Graham, I'll see how it goes ... Tom