Audi A4 2.5TDI Avant 2005
Discussion
I have had 4 failed attempts to spend up-to £4k on a car. I had settled on wanting a facelift Octavia Estate Elegance Mk2, 2.0TDI PD (to avoid the dreaded DPF).
One dealer who 2 different staff member gave conflicting stories about the same car, 1 dealer where "no faults" turned out to be a broken wing mirror, broken electric window and a boot that looked like it had been chewed by a hungry wolf, another dealer where the car had looked like it had done some curb surfing since it was photo-ed and the last one was the mysterious card machine that was being repaired and the replacement didn't work either.
Last week my brother, who is a classic car restorer mentioned that a mechanic in the garage next door to where he worked had his car up for sale at are more wallet friendly price. Not an Octavia, but an A4. He had seen this A4 almost every day for the past 5 years so knew it was seldom off the road, had had the all important cambelt and water pump done 2 years ago and a pair of new front arms for the last MOT as well as set of new pads and discs.
So on the same day that the last used car dealer let me know his card machine still didn't work and I had booked a day off to collect (100 mile round trip), I took the opportunity to take a look and a test drive. Looked very sorrowful being parked under a tree and dirty, inside and out - but a test drive showed the mechanics spot-on.
A few days later, end of last week, I came back for a 2nd, more thorough look, spotted the air-con was dead (compressor dead), got the price knocked down a bit and a deal was done. First thing I did was pop into my Dads (as he gave me a lift over to) it a wash and it came up looking rather good for a 160K mile car. There are a few spots of rust that need cleaning up and also the front wings are bubbling a little around the rear side of the arches, but nothing that can't be cleaned up/treated/painted.
On the way home we noticed the first fault - the windscreen demist didn't work. A quick search on Google when I got home showed that a common fault was the motor that controls the air flap to direct the air.
On Saturday morning I made a start - took the glovebox out and then whilst taking the motor out I noticed a wet floor! After I had got the motor stripped and greased, tested and refitted I took a break and found that a common fault is a blocked drain hole under the windscreen. Unfortunately to do this, the battery needs to come out and the battery is clamped in with an allen head bolt and my allen keys are too short to reach past the battery. I took a trip to Halfords to get an allen headed socket. I even went a second time to get the correct size ! With the battery out of the way I removed lots of detritus which had collected from years of being regularly parked under a tree. The drain hole was easy to unblock (covered by more tree detritus) and a good few litres of collected water flushed the drain hole clean.
Today we had a run up to Whitby and noted a vibration at 70ish mph - very much like an imbalanced wheel. Apart from the ran great, pulls well up the hills, and still managed a respectable 40mpg (measured, onboard computer claimed 42mpg) which considering the reasonable performance on offer is good and far quicker and 10mpg more than our last car (petrol) could manage. Oh the V6TDi is a nice engine, far less tractor (noise and vibrations) like than the 2.0 or 1.9 PD engines, comes on boost smoothly and holds torque far better up the rev range and a nice throaty sound when maximising the use of the throttle.
Tonight I have ordered some new mats that were 40% off at ECP and a bottle of 2 Ethylhexyl Nitrate cetane booster.
Next is to find some reasonably priced mudflaps.
One dealer who 2 different staff member gave conflicting stories about the same car, 1 dealer where "no faults" turned out to be a broken wing mirror, broken electric window and a boot that looked like it had been chewed by a hungry wolf, another dealer where the car had looked like it had done some curb surfing since it was photo-ed and the last one was the mysterious card machine that was being repaired and the replacement didn't work either.
Last week my brother, who is a classic car restorer mentioned that a mechanic in the garage next door to where he worked had his car up for sale at are more wallet friendly price. Not an Octavia, but an A4. He had seen this A4 almost every day for the past 5 years so knew it was seldom off the road, had had the all important cambelt and water pump done 2 years ago and a pair of new front arms for the last MOT as well as set of new pads and discs.
So on the same day that the last used car dealer let me know his card machine still didn't work and I had booked a day off to collect (100 mile round trip), I took the opportunity to take a look and a test drive. Looked very sorrowful being parked under a tree and dirty, inside and out - but a test drive showed the mechanics spot-on.
A few days later, end of last week, I came back for a 2nd, more thorough look, spotted the air-con was dead (compressor dead), got the price knocked down a bit and a deal was done. First thing I did was pop into my Dads (as he gave me a lift over to) it a wash and it came up looking rather good for a 160K mile car. There are a few spots of rust that need cleaning up and also the front wings are bubbling a little around the rear side of the arches, but nothing that can't be cleaned up/treated/painted.
On the way home we noticed the first fault - the windscreen demist didn't work. A quick search on Google when I got home showed that a common fault was the motor that controls the air flap to direct the air.
On Saturday morning I made a start - took the glovebox out and then whilst taking the motor out I noticed a wet floor! After I had got the motor stripped and greased, tested and refitted I took a break and found that a common fault is a blocked drain hole under the windscreen. Unfortunately to do this, the battery needs to come out and the battery is clamped in with an allen head bolt and my allen keys are too short to reach past the battery. I took a trip to Halfords to get an allen headed socket. I even went a second time to get the correct size ! With the battery out of the way I removed lots of detritus which had collected from years of being regularly parked under a tree. The drain hole was easy to unblock (covered by more tree detritus) and a good few litres of collected water flushed the drain hole clean.
Today we had a run up to Whitby and noted a vibration at 70ish mph - very much like an imbalanced wheel. Apart from the ran great, pulls well up the hills, and still managed a respectable 40mpg (measured, onboard computer claimed 42mpg) which considering the reasonable performance on offer is good and far quicker and 10mpg more than our last car (petrol) could manage. Oh the V6TDi is a nice engine, far less tractor (noise and vibrations) like than the 2.0 or 1.9 PD engines, comes on boost smoothly and holds torque far better up the rev range and a nice throaty sound when maximising the use of the throttle.
Tonight I have ordered some new mats that were 40% off at ECP and a bottle of 2 Ethylhexyl Nitrate cetane booster.
Next is to find some reasonably priced mudflaps.
Very nice when they run.
Beware that the Bosch VP44 injection pumps on these, especially as they are getting older, can randomly fail at any moment. Be prepared to either drop a few thousand to get it repaired or to scrap it.
I would say that the royalties for your keyboard work with Duran Duran should easily cover the cost if the pump fails.
Beware that the Bosch VP44 injection pumps on these, especially as they are getting older, can randomly fail at any moment. Be prepared to either drop a few thousand to get it repaired or to scrap it.
I would say that the royalties for your keyboard work with Duran Duran should easily cover the cost if the pump fails.
Very subtle letting us know who you really are, you cannot hide behind and ordinary day as you state ".....hungry wolf". Is there something I should know, or are you sure this is just not a reflex and will you be saving a prayer that the wild boys do not come to planet earth to take the notorious Audi away from you on their way to Rio?
colin_p said:
Very nice when they run.
Beware that the Bosch VP44 injection pumps on these, especially as they are getting older, can randomly fail at any moment. Be prepared to either drop a few thousand to get it repaired or to scrap it.
I would say that the royalties for your keyboard work with Duran Duran should easily cover the cost if the pump fails.
Yep, mine did that. It had clocked up a few miles by that point though. Beware that the Bosch VP44 injection pumps on these, especially as they are getting older, can randomly fail at any moment. Be prepared to either drop a few thousand to get it repaired or to scrap it.
I would say that the royalties for your keyboard work with Duran Duran should easily cover the cost if the pump fails.
Dr G said:
colin_p said:
Be prepared to either drop a few thousand to get it repaired or to scrap it.
They can be rebuilt without any thing like that level of expenditure; the later 2.5s tended to behave better than earlier cars also.I'm not against them at all, I think those V6 TDI's are fantastic. It is just a shame they are fitted with that pump as were many other cars of that era.
Front new carmats from Eurocarparts arrived yesterday, actually better quality than the Original Audi ones.
Rears needed holes putting in.
Also spent a little time cleaning rust out of a few stone chips in preparation for touching up, it started raining, so no photo of progress.
This week one of the brake lights went, ordered a new bulb.
Picked up today and did'nt work. Turned out to be the connector, some of the contacts were bent, straightened out best I could and worked fine afterwards.
Also noted that there is subwoofer - are these standard ?
Rears needed holes putting in.
Also spent a little time cleaning rust out of a few stone chips in preparation for touching up, it started raining, so no photo of progress.
This week one of the brake lights went, ordered a new bulb.
Picked up today and did'nt work. Turned out to be the connector, some of the contacts were bent, straightened out best I could and worked fine afterwards.
Also noted that there is subwoofer - are these standard ?
Had to take a day off work today as I had some urgent phoning around to avoid a fine from HMRC (issue now sorted).
Took the opportunity to fix another motor on the HVAC (that controls the temperature to passenger side), sticking, just needed a re grease - can do these in 30 minutes now.
Also on and off through the day, I've rubbed down 5 or six spots of rust in various places, treated, primed and painted.
Not the neatest job, but is nicely sealed for winter, I will work on the finish when the weather is better. Copious use of hair dryer needed as only peaked at 2.5C today !
Took the opportunity to fix another motor on the HVAC (that controls the temperature to passenger side), sticking, just needed a re grease - can do these in 30 minutes now.
Also on and off through the day, I've rubbed down 5 or six spots of rust in various places, treated, primed and painted.
Not the neatest job, but is nicely sealed for winter, I will work on the finish when the weather is better. Copious use of hair dryer needed as only peaked at 2.5C today !
Got some more jobs done today on the Pretzel Wagon, as weekends until Xmas will be busy.
Firstly, this arrived, can you guess what it is ?
Next job was unblocking the rear screen wash jets. It was rather rusty, so had a spray with WD40 and a gentle rub down with a brush, followed by some grease. Unblock the jets (which is a cap that fits over) and in typical style it rained again, so no further photographs.
Finally remember to get a phone holder, looked at a few at Halfords and CurrysPcWorldDixons. PNY one has a nice clamp but was too bulky. I figured I could save myself £10, get el-cheapo £3 Asda mount, and with a few cable ties to make the mount rock solid...
First the prep, bend the cable ties a few times so that I could loop them behind the air vent fins.
Next, cross over and pull tight...
Then chop and excess and refit the clamp part of the holder...
Firstly, this arrived, can you guess what it is ?
Next job was unblocking the rear screen wash jets. It was rather rusty, so had a spray with WD40 and a gentle rub down with a brush, followed by some grease. Unblock the jets (which is a cap that fits over) and in typical style it rained again, so no further photographs.
Finally remember to get a phone holder, looked at a few at Halfords and CurrysPcWorldDixons. PNY one has a nice clamp but was too bulky. I figured I could save myself £10, get el-cheapo £3 Asda mount, and with a few cable ties to make the mount rock solid...
First the prep, bend the cable ties a few times so that I could loop them behind the air vent fins.
Next, cross over and pull tight...
Then chop and excess and refit the clamp part of the holder...
Edited by NickGRhodes on Saturday 23 November 17:52
Not wishing to hijack your post OP but have been on a similar adventure this year....
Found a four banger '56 plate 170 Avant Q in my target price range back in February for not huge money and it immediately proved its worth;
Have done the cambelt, fixed the air-con and a few other jobs and used it as a tow barge for a 2000 mile Italy trip which it completed without fuss;
Only disaster so far is the ECU getting flooded, I'd emptied the battery tray but missed the other part. Fortunately we managed to save it by replacing a couple of relays inside. Have also struggled with that rear washer which seems to have a mind of its own!
Loved your 'phone holder fix. My OCD wouldn't allow that so got hold of a Brodit charge mount which works fine.
Not the most thrilling ride I've ever owned but totally fit for purpose and I can see why Audi sold thousands of the things! Suspect I'll be keeping this one a bit longer than planned.
Found a four banger '56 plate 170 Avant Q in my target price range back in February for not huge money and it immediately proved its worth;
Have done the cambelt, fixed the air-con and a few other jobs and used it as a tow barge for a 2000 mile Italy trip which it completed without fuss;
Only disaster so far is the ECU getting flooded, I'd emptied the battery tray but missed the other part. Fortunately we managed to save it by replacing a couple of relays inside. Have also struggled with that rear washer which seems to have a mind of its own!
Loved your 'phone holder fix. My OCD wouldn't allow that so got hold of a Brodit charge mount which works fine.
Not the most thrilling ride I've ever owned but totally fit for purpose and I can see why Audi sold thousands of the things! Suspect I'll be keeping this one a bit longer than planned.
LFB531 said:
Only disaster so far is the ECU getting flooded, I'd emptied the battery tray but missed the other part. Fortunately we managed to save it by replacing a couple of relays inside. Have also struggled with that rear washer which seems to have a mind of its own!
Loved your 'phone holder fix. My OCD wouldn't allow that so got hold of a Brodit charge mount which works fine.
I prefer my phone higher up.Loved your 'phone holder fix. My OCD wouldn't allow that so got hold of a Brodit charge mount which works fine.
Today in sympathy my rear wiper got stuck on intermittent.
Fiddling with the stalk through all possible combinations of front and rear appears to of sorted it, but decided to leave unplugged until I can take a look in daylight for a proper look - I did notice the rear washer leaking a little from somewhere.
Edited by NickGRhodes on Monday 2nd December 19:20
Had a spare 30 minutes or so this morning and the rain stopped, so made a start on fitting my dash cam hardwire kit.
Took the interior trim off, carefully, so I could route the cable up the A pillar.
Used a spare USB cable to feed down, then tied to the USB cable so the power adapter to pull up through.
Plenty of room past the air bags and USB cable was taped against the pillar so wont catch the trim incase of airbag going off.
Ran out of time to connect the wiring up as started raining again, so will have to wait until another day - will need to find an earth point and work out which fuses to piggy back off.
Took the interior trim off, carefully, so I could route the cable up the A pillar.
Used a spare USB cable to feed down, then tied to the USB cable so the power adapter to pull up through.
Plenty of room past the air bags and USB cable was taped against the pillar so wont catch the trim incase of airbag going off.
Ran out of time to connect the wiring up as started raining again, so will have to wait until another day - will need to find an earth point and work out which fuses to piggy back off.
Car continues to run well.
Yesterday I managed to strip out the Parrot, in preparation for fitting a different Bluetooth solution (yet to arrive from China). Took far too long to do though. Wiring was exceptionally tangled behind the headunit and along with 2 trips to Halfords, first for removal tool and back for a fuse when the headunit blew whilst I plugged back in and tested before fitting.
Luckily I was able to do all this with the doors closed as we had rain and hailstones all afternoon.
And as usual ran out of time, with the wiring cleared was going to fit my 2 usb hardwire adapters (one for dashcam and one for phone).
Yesterday I managed to strip out the Parrot, in preparation for fitting a different Bluetooth solution (yet to arrive from China). Took far too long to do though. Wiring was exceptionally tangled behind the headunit and along with 2 trips to Halfords, first for removal tool and back for a fuse when the headunit blew whilst I plugged back in and tested before fitting.
Luckily I was able to do all this with the doors closed as we had rain and hailstones all afternoon.
And as usual ran out of time, with the wiring cleared was going to fit my 2 usb hardwire adapters (one for dashcam and one for phone).
We had an earlier one many moons ago and at 115k , the injector pump went. Tried to get a replacement from various Audi breakers to be met by 'no chance mate'. Audi wanted £5k for a replacement. Oh how I laughed. Mate , who had the car stripped at his garage had a mate who worked at Lucas diesels and he rebuilt it. Basically it was internally destroyed. With the belts and idlers also changed was a cash job of £1300 to get going again.
We had it remapped at Ray West Tuning and went like a scolded cat. Still retained if no bettered the MPG also. Remember that 1st gear is pointless , but was a fab family wagon and one car we have missed. Damn solid chunk of metal and upset a few on the roads too.
Then the clutch started to judder and really didnt want to put anymore money into it , so punted it out for a 3k mile diesel Accord estate. Went from a fun car to a depressingly boring bland car.
We had it remapped at Ray West Tuning and went like a scolded cat. Still retained if no bettered the MPG also. Remember that 1st gear is pointless , but was a fab family wagon and one car we have missed. Damn solid chunk of metal and upset a few on the roads too.
Then the clutch started to judder and really didnt want to put anymore money into it , so punted it out for a 3k mile diesel Accord estate. Went from a fun car to a depressingly boring bland car.
So the game of whack a mole continues with the Pretzel Wagon...
Airbag light came on at some point this week. I've ordered an Xtool 401 Diagnostic tool to help work out whats wrong, hoping its the common issue of faulty connector somewhere, but won't arrive until after Xmas.
Today I had a spare couple of hours before heading out for the day, so I managed to finish fitting dashcam. I also fitted an additional USB adapter for power for our phones.
First job was to find a good earth point, was happy to find a dedicated earthing bolt.
Crimped up a couple of wire for the earth.
Connect up to my usb adapters (one for dashcam and one for my phone), crimped to a couple of piggyback connectors for power.
The wire for the dashcam was already in place, I had to feed the usb cable under the dash, found a stick to use as gap too small for my hands.
Then last think to do was stick my Stealthmount on for the dashcam, I for to photo in place, but here it is before fitting, its a nice little 3D printed thing, the white is superglue to lock in position, which went everywhere as I split the bottle !
Airbag light came on at some point this week. I've ordered an Xtool 401 Diagnostic tool to help work out whats wrong, hoping its the common issue of faulty connector somewhere, but won't arrive until after Xmas.
Today I had a spare couple of hours before heading out for the day, so I managed to finish fitting dashcam. I also fitted an additional USB adapter for power for our phones.
First job was to find a good earth point, was happy to find a dedicated earthing bolt.
Crimped up a couple of wire for the earth.
Connect up to my usb adapters (one for dashcam and one for my phone), crimped to a couple of piggyback connectors for power.
The wire for the dashcam was already in place, I had to feed the usb cable under the dash, found a stick to use as gap too small for my hands.
Then last think to do was stick my Stealthmount on for the dashcam, I for to photo in place, but here it is before fitting, its a nice little 3D printed thing, the white is superglue to lock in position, which went everywhere as I split the bottle !
Edited by NickGRhodes on Saturday 21st December 21:42
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff