Phoenix from the flames - Porsche Boxster with an Audi 2.7T
Discussion
B'stard Child said:
Why ddn’t you use the AC rad as the chargecooler rad, it’s in a good place and surely the pipework runs are already there.
I attempted that on the last car but it didn't work out. One of the AC lines is really narrow so I think it would restrict flow too much, I tried to change the size of the pipes but I can't weld aluminium and so tried to use some brazing solder but it wasn't very strong. I'm going to get myself a tig welder in the future, being able to weld aluminium will make things easier. Also, there was no gas in the A/C system so that probably means i've got a rotten A/C rad (a contributing factor to me deciding to ditch the A/C). I may well end up switching to charge cooler radiators up front in the future if this setup isn't up to it but i've gone this way because the outlay was low (the radiator, pump and expansion tank cost £100) and it's not going to take me long to get it all installed and plumbed in.
Oi_Oi_Savaloy said:
Just a thought (and you might laugh!) but could you buy a couple of PC fans and use them to try to cool or push air around the expansion tank?
Might help perhaps? And they wont draw a huge amount of electricity either.
Just thought I'd throw the idea into the mix.
There is a fan that fits over the drivers side intake as standard. It's bulky so I've had to remove it for clearance. I'm going to fit a slimmer fan into it's housing.Might help perhaps? And they wont draw a huge amount of electricity either.
Just thought I'd throw the idea into the mix.
Venari said:
Escy: It's not clear from the thread... although you have moved the gearbox down (and thus the back of the engine at least) did you carve the Porsche's chassis to get clearance for the turbos? (like you trial-cut for research on the Mk 1 - R.I.P.)
Yes, I had to modify the body to clear the turbos. It wasn't very invasive, nothing like the trial cut on the old shell. I didn't cut anything out, just a slice, re-shaped the metal, trimmed the excess off and welded it up. One of the biggest hurdles I had left to sort out was an inlet pipe, the Audi has a Y pipe that goes from the MAF to the turbos, it sits on the top of the engine but I have no space for it. I decided to put it on the drivers side of the engine with one of the inlet pipes running across the front of the engine to the other turbo. It wouldn't fit in the space I had as it was so i've cut it up and used JB Weld epoxy to put it back together.
I needed to remove the standard engine compartment fan as it was too bulky. I've bought a slimmer fan which I wanted to fit inside the original housing. A little bit of trimming had it fitting nicely and I used some cable ties to hold it in place
I've pretty much finished all the engine pipe work now and have run all the charge cooler pipes also. I've just got one breather pipe left to connect up. There is hardly any free space in the engine bay, it's all been taken up by one thing or another. It's been a lot of effort working out where to put things, the more jobs I complete, the harder the remaining ones become.
I've made a start on the wiring, this is the last big thing left to do. There are a few things missing off the left hand drive wiring loom i'm using so I'm going to have to add them in. I find wiring really time consuming but if things go well this weekend I should be able to get it running.
I needed to remove the standard engine compartment fan as it was too bulky. I've bought a slimmer fan which I wanted to fit inside the original housing. A little bit of trimming had it fitting nicely and I used some cable ties to hold it in place
I've pretty much finished all the engine pipe work now and have run all the charge cooler pipes also. I've just got one breather pipe left to connect up. There is hardly any free space in the engine bay, it's all been taken up by one thing or another. It's been a lot of effort working out where to put things, the more jobs I complete, the harder the remaining ones become.
I've made a start on the wiring, this is the last big thing left to do. There are a few things missing off the left hand drive wiring loom i'm using so I'm going to have to add them in. I find wiring really time consuming but if things go well this weekend I should be able to get it running.
A picture of what's involved in removing the immobiliser from the Audi ECU. You need to short out a pin on one of the chips when you power it up so you can get it into boot mode, once it's in boot mode you can flash a different file on that doesn't have the immobiliser.
I had to move the pump for the air to water intercooler, I had it mounted up high next to the expansion tank, I knew it wasn't an ideal place but the fact it bolted straight up the Boxster was too tempting to ignore. I spent ages trying to get the system bled but had no joy, ended up having to move the pump lower down like I knew I should have done anyway. With that sorted i've spent most of the last few weeks doing wiring. I initially thought it was going to be easy as i'd done it before but there are a few differences on both the engine loom and the car from last time so I've had to go through it all again. Also, last time, I worked things out as I went but didn't make many notes and my memory failed me.
So the good news is, it's fired up!!!
https://youtu.be/i1tKTbom4x8
The whine in the video, is the power steering pump, it just needs the fluid topping up. I've got the engine management light on, have read the codes, it's all related to missing signals for the automatic transmission, it just needs to be re-coded. I've got another ECU that's from a manual (that's got the 300bhp re-map on it), that's still got the immobiliser on it so I need to go through the process above again. Either way, it's looking good, i'm not expecting any teething issues this time as it's all standard, it should just be a case of bleed all the fluids and it's ready to be driven. The exhaust seems pretty quiet also which i'm happy about.
I had to move the pump for the air to water intercooler, I had it mounted up high next to the expansion tank, I knew it wasn't an ideal place but the fact it bolted straight up the Boxster was too tempting to ignore. I spent ages trying to get the system bled but had no joy, ended up having to move the pump lower down like I knew I should have done anyway. With that sorted i've spent most of the last few weeks doing wiring. I initially thought it was going to be easy as i'd done it before but there are a few differences on both the engine loom and the car from last time so I've had to go through it all again. Also, last time, I worked things out as I went but didn't make many notes and my memory failed me.
So the good news is, it's fired up!!!
https://youtu.be/i1tKTbom4x8
The whine in the video, is the power steering pump, it just needs the fluid topping up. I've got the engine management light on, have read the codes, it's all related to missing signals for the automatic transmission, it just needs to be re-coded. I've got another ECU that's from a manual (that's got the 300bhp re-map on it), that's still got the immobiliser on it so I need to go through the process above again. Either way, it's looking good, i'm not expecting any teething issues this time as it's all standard, it should just be a case of bleed all the fluids and it's ready to be driven. The exhaust seems pretty quiet also which i'm happy about.
All the air that enters the engine is measured through the airflow meter and it joins back up before the throttle body so I don't think it'll be an issue but It's definately not ideal. The Y pipe is at one side of the engine so i've got a load of pipe work running across the front of the engine to the turbo on the other side (you can see it in the video) so it's much more unbalanced than just the Y pipe. I've not been able to find any info on it, if anyone knows more, i'm willing to take advice.
I've managed to put together the boost pipes and inlet pipes cheaply. My mate bought a Chinese silicone pipe kit for his Audi S4 but they weren't a good fit so he never used them. They've been perfect for me, loads of random bends to make use of. I've only had to buy 4 silicone hoses so my total outlay was less than £50 which is good as i'm doing this on a really tight budget. I'm in the process of buying a house, once that's all sorted i'm going to buy myself a TIG welder so I can do aluminium, then i'm planning on re-visiting all of the pipe work and changing things around, i'll also probably ditch the Y pipe and come up with something better. I've got a few plans.
I've managed to put together the boost pipes and inlet pipes cheaply. My mate bought a Chinese silicone pipe kit for his Audi S4 but they weren't a good fit so he never used them. They've been perfect for me, loads of random bends to make use of. I've only had to buy 4 silicone hoses so my total outlay was less than £50 which is good as i'm doing this on a really tight budget. I'm in the process of buying a house, once that's all sorted i'm going to buy myself a TIG welder so I can do aluminium, then i'm planning on re-visiting all of the pipe work and changing things around, i'll also probably ditch the Y pipe and come up with something better. I've got a few plans.
So the first problem has come up.
The power steering pump was whining a bit, there was air trapped in the system and the normal lock to lock wasn't shifting it. I was bouncing it on and off full lock, the pump did get quieter, I did it again with a few extra revs for luck and there was suddenly a big bang and smoke. I'd used a compression fitting on the high pressure line, on the advice of my local hydraulic specialist and one side had popped out. I guess I hadn't tightened it enough. It doubt i'd have had this ever happened under normal usage. I'm going to get a new olive for it, go full Geoff Capes while tightening it and I should be all good. It made a huge mess, oil all over the back of the seats, all over the bodywork, all over me and the laptop on my lap and all over the floor.
The power steering pump was whining a bit, there was air trapped in the system and the normal lock to lock wasn't shifting it. I was bouncing it on and off full lock, the pump did get quieter, I did it again with a few extra revs for luck and there was suddenly a big bang and smoke. I'd used a compression fitting on the high pressure line, on the advice of my local hydraulic specialist and one side had popped out. I guess I hadn't tightened it enough. It doubt i'd have had this ever happened under normal usage. I'm going to get a new olive for it, go full Geoff Capes while tightening it and I should be all good. It made a huge mess, oil all over the back of the seats, all over the bodywork, all over me and the laptop on my lap and all over the floor.
I sorted out the power steering leak and since then I've been busy getting the car ready for a test drive, I dropped it onto it's wheels for the first time since I started the build, thought I would double check the oil level since it was now on the ground and I discovered coolant in the oil. That felt like a real kick in the nuts.
I think the leak is coming from the rear crank seal, it's got a water jacket built into it. I had replaced this when I fitted the new clutch but there was a small coolant leak from around that area. In theory, it could leak coolant straight into the sump. So off with the gearbox...
I decided since the gearbox was off i'd swap my clutch and dual mass flywheel for the one off my fire damaged engine, which is a TTV Racing light weight flywheel and B7 RS4 clutch. I should have fitted them the first time around but I was happy keeping it all standard at that point but I then picked up the Kaaz LSD cheaply and now I feel like a DMF doesn't belong. Also, from just revving it when trying to bleed the coolant, I didn't realise how sluggish they make the engine feel (I didn't notice it in the Audi but I do in the Boxster). The fire damaged engine is a right mess, i've not done anything with it since I took it out of the old car. I can't work out if I should just take the conrods back out and chuck the rest away or pick up a cheap damaged engine to build this one back up with.
I removed the clutch and flywheel, I was shocked to see the state of it all, it didn't see much heat as the throw out bearing has a plastic body and that's not melted. I can only think that whatever the firefighters used was corrosive (it wasn't just water, they also used some sort of powder also). All the mating surfaces are fine so it's all good. It cleaned up pretty well with a wire brush. The car is now all back together, I just need to buy some oil and a couple of filters before I can start it up.
I think the leak is coming from the rear crank seal, it's got a water jacket built into it. I had replaced this when I fitted the new clutch but there was a small coolant leak from around that area. In theory, it could leak coolant straight into the sump. So off with the gearbox...
I decided since the gearbox was off i'd swap my clutch and dual mass flywheel for the one off my fire damaged engine, which is a TTV Racing light weight flywheel and B7 RS4 clutch. I should have fitted them the first time around but I was happy keeping it all standard at that point but I then picked up the Kaaz LSD cheaply and now I feel like a DMF doesn't belong. Also, from just revving it when trying to bleed the coolant, I didn't realise how sluggish they make the engine feel (I didn't notice it in the Audi but I do in the Boxster). The fire damaged engine is a right mess, i've not done anything with it since I took it out of the old car. I can't work out if I should just take the conrods back out and chuck the rest away or pick up a cheap damaged engine to build this one back up with.
I removed the clutch and flywheel, I was shocked to see the state of it all, it didn't see much heat as the throw out bearing has a plastic body and that's not melted. I can only think that whatever the firefighters used was corrosive (it wasn't just water, they also used some sort of powder also). All the mating surfaces are fine so it's all good. It cleaned up pretty well with a wire brush. The car is now all back together, I just need to buy some oil and a couple of filters before I can start it up.
I replaced the oil with the cheapest s
te I could find, just to use as a flush and make sure it the water in the coolant problem is sorted. Tesco are doing 4 litres for £10.50.
With that done I took it for the first drive. Some good and some bad. Good, no more coolant in the oil and it drives really well. Bad, the LSD is really clunky, acting like a welded diff with a wheel skipping when turning, once it got some heat into the oil it improved. Should just be a case of adding more friction modifier into the oil. The other negative, I thought driving it would help bleed the coolant, it didn't, the heaters stayed cold and the coolant boiled over.
I took it for an MOT, it failed on a few little things that I should have checked beforehand (bulbs, windscreen washers). Sorted them out and it passed the MOT so now it's on the road.
I can't use it yet, have a few things still to do. I have to sort out the fan control, they are done by the ECU on the Boxster but the Audi has a separate module which i'm going to fit. The car has an alarm issue that it right at the start when I bought it, I can't lock the car so I need to get some diagnostics done to pinpoint the issue. Also, the dash cluster is using canbus for a few of the functions like the engine management light and the water temperature gauge so i'm going to look into fitting the older dash cluster and running the extra wires so it all works like OEM. At the moment my temperature gauge is done via an OBD reader.
It looks nice from far but it's far from nice. When I bought the car I knew the boot needed painting as it had lacquer peel but the rest of the bodywork was decent. Circumstances conspired agaisnt me, first the electric window broke just after I bought the car (while I was waiting for the recovery truck), by the time the car got back to my house (about 1 in the morning) it was in the middle of a storm which lasted for days. I couldn't put it into my car port/garage as there was a non runner in the way so the options were, leave it on the drive with the window stuck half down and door that won't lock, it'd be an easy target for thieves and the interior would get destroyed or put a car cover over a soaking wet car. I know from past experience that's a bad idea. Stuck between a rock and a hard place as they say. I put a cover on it, took it off after a few days and the paint was ruined. Pretty much every panel has a small blemish or stone chip, that's normal for an old car but with the cover on, water got under the lacquer and lifted it so now there are blisters everywhere and the car looks a dog. When this happened I did consider just breaking it for parts as I was pretty frustrated. Also the soft top is a bit frayed, the last Boxster was the same. I think it's a result of it being folded away long term as both cars had a hard top. I knew about that when I bought it so not complaining but it adds to the shabby aesthetics. It'll be staying in the car park if I go to any car shows!
te I could find, just to use as a flush and make sure it the water in the coolant problem is sorted. Tesco are doing 4 litres for £10.50. With that done I took it for the first drive. Some good and some bad. Good, no more coolant in the oil and it drives really well. Bad, the LSD is really clunky, acting like a welded diff with a wheel skipping when turning, once it got some heat into the oil it improved. Should just be a case of adding more friction modifier into the oil. The other negative, I thought driving it would help bleed the coolant, it didn't, the heaters stayed cold and the coolant boiled over.
I took it for an MOT, it failed on a few little things that I should have checked beforehand (bulbs, windscreen washers). Sorted them out and it passed the MOT so now it's on the road.
I can't use it yet, have a few things still to do. I have to sort out the fan control, they are done by the ECU on the Boxster but the Audi has a separate module which i'm going to fit. The car has an alarm issue that it right at the start when I bought it, I can't lock the car so I need to get some diagnostics done to pinpoint the issue. Also, the dash cluster is using canbus for a few of the functions like the engine management light and the water temperature gauge so i'm going to look into fitting the older dash cluster and running the extra wires so it all works like OEM. At the moment my temperature gauge is done via an OBD reader.
It looks nice from far but it's far from nice. When I bought the car I knew the boot needed painting as it had lacquer peel but the rest of the bodywork was decent. Circumstances conspired agaisnt me, first the electric window broke just after I bought the car (while I was waiting for the recovery truck), by the time the car got back to my house (about 1 in the morning) it was in the middle of a storm which lasted for days. I couldn't put it into my car port/garage as there was a non runner in the way so the options were, leave it on the drive with the window stuck half down and door that won't lock, it'd be an easy target for thieves and the interior would get destroyed or put a car cover over a soaking wet car. I know from past experience that's a bad idea. Stuck between a rock and a hard place as they say. I put a cover on it, took it off after a few days and the paint was ruined. Pretty much every panel has a small blemish or stone chip, that's normal for an old car but with the cover on, water got under the lacquer and lifted it so now there are blisters everywhere and the car looks a dog. When this happened I did consider just breaking it for parts as I was pretty frustrated. Also the soft top is a bit frayed, the last Boxster was the same. I think it's a result of it being folded away long term as both cars had a hard top. I knew about that when I bought it so not complaining but it adds to the shabby aesthetics. It'll be staying in the car park if I go to any car shows!
MX6 said:
Good to see the car in one piece and with an MOT, well done! Shame about the paint condition, though I should think a cheap and quick-ish DIY touch up would significantly improve it even if it wouldn't be perfect?
I will try touching some of it up. Not sure how to go about the bits that have blistered. 
8ball_Rob said:
Brilliant to see this up and running - congrats on getting it through the MOT, that must have been a great feeling! My Tuscan also just failed on non-functioning windscreen washers, it was on my to-do list but seriously hadn't thought to check whether it would be an MOT fail... still, one lives and learns I guess 
Hope you manage to sort out the coolant issues. Shame about the paint, you don't strike me as someone who shies away from a challenge though - do you reckon you'll have a go at sorting it yourself? I guess the alternative is just to keep it under a sodden cover until the lacquer peel has spread across the whole body, then you can go round telling everyone it's one of those expensive 'matt' paint jobs
If I take it to one of those cheap hand car washes i'm sure they could help remove the remaining lacquer! Hope you manage to sort out the coolant issues. Shame about the paint, you don't strike me as someone who shies away from a challenge though - do you reckon you'll have a go at sorting it yourself? I guess the alternative is just to keep it under a sodden cover until the lacquer peel has spread across the whole body, then you can go round telling everyone it's one of those expensive 'matt' paint jobs
I wouldn't paint it myself, although the idea of wrapping it would be something i'd be willing to try.
I can probably get it painted cheaply. I know a guy that will paint it for £50 a panel, £25 for a blend. For the money he's really good. The front bumper has recently been painted so I could get him to do the front wings, bonnet and blend into the doors. The doors, rear 1/4's and rear bumper are ok (not perfect but presentable). It would need the boot and roof cover doing also and I assume blended into the rear 1/4's. I'd probably be looking at £350 to get it done. The problem is, it's red so there is a good chance it will it end up looking a mess with different shades all over the place. Maybe it's a case of do it properly (which won't be happening!) or don't do it at all.
The good thing about ropey paint is I won't be precious over it and worried about parking it on the street all day at my work.
therevday said:
The alerm issue is probablely the body control module under the passenger seat. They get damp and water ingress causes loads of issues.I know this because I didn't use my Boxster for month and the rear drain was blocked and I only justy managed to save mine.
I checked this as soon as I bought the car, it is bone dry. I spent this weekend sorting out the fan situation. On the Boxster they were controlled by the engine ECU, the Audi has a seperate fan controller. I've decided to use it. It controls the fans via PWM which means they'll use less power compared to the resistors used on by the Boxster originally. Those resistors are prone to fail and my car had one side gone. The engine has an electric water pump in the middle of the vee, this runs when the engine is switched off to stop water boiling inside the turbos, this is also controlled that unit. It's designed to run 2 fans simultaneously so it's perfect for the Boxster.
Debris in the radiator ducts are a common issue, if they aren't cleaned out regularly it will rot away the A/C condensers. Mine were wrecked but they were coming off anyway as i've ditched the A/C.
I've broken 2 A6's over the last 6 months and I kept both front ends knowing they might come in handy for this job. The fans on the rear of the radiators happened to be the same size as the Boxster fans. I decided to swap these into the Boxster shrouds rather than try to wire up the Boxster fans. Some minor fettling was required but nothing too much.
I mounted the control unit behind the front bumper at the top. It's taken me ages to wire it in, I've have had to run wires the length of the car. It's all sorted now and has been tested.
Debris in the radiator ducts are a common issue, if they aren't cleaned out regularly it will rot away the A/C condensers. Mine were wrecked but they were coming off anyway as i've ditched the A/C.
I've broken 2 A6's over the last 6 months and I kept both front ends knowing they might come in handy for this job. The fans on the rear of the radiators happened to be the same size as the Boxster fans. I decided to swap these into the Boxster shrouds rather than try to wire up the Boxster fans. Some minor fettling was required but nothing too much.
I mounted the control unit behind the front bumper at the top. It's taken me ages to wire it in, I've have had to run wires the length of the car. It's all sorted now and has been tested.
Since it passed the MOT I haven't driven it, had a few things to sort out with it. One was the LSD, it was pretty much locked solid when cold. I'm using a standard gearbox oil with a Redline LSD friction modifier added. I bought another one to add some more, just half the bottle for now as too much will have a negative effect on the function of the LSD. Euro Car Parts sell Redline stuff now for anyone that's interested.
I've got a problem with the central locking. It locks and unlocks. There was one issue I could see, the windows are supposed to drop when you pull the door handle, my passenger side wasn't. I took apart the central locking actuator, found a faulty switch inside the unit, replaced the switch with one I had from an Audi A6. The window drop now works but the central locking still doesn't.
On Saturday I took it out for the first big drive, I went to The Ramp Room in Cwmbran which is a 50 mile round trip. I forgot to take photos while I was there but it was a cool place. They rent out ramps for people to do their own work but they also specialise in Porsches and have specific diagnostic equipment. I went there to try and get to the bottom of my alarm problem.
The last time I'd driven the car the coolant had boiled over so I was a bit worried I wouldn't make it. I just took it easy and kept my eyes peeled on the coolant temperature (had to have an OBD reader plugged in to see it). It made it there and back fine. The diagnostic equipment didn't think much of my engine conversion. One piece of equipment used was Durametric, that seemed to keep crashing when connected to my car and apparently it's not done that before. Once working I got a fault code, 59. Unfortunately it's not much use to me, I was hoping it'd be able to narrow down a side. Apparently the Porsche systems don't work like that. We couldn't connect to the alarm system and run any tests, that was strange. The part number on it is from a Boxster S so it's not the original and when the alarm goes off, it's unresponsive to the key. This was also the case with my old Boxster. So I think it's either a door lock actuator, a damaged wire or the alarm unit itself that's faulty. So basically i'm none the wiser. I'm going to have to start randomly buying bits and see what fixes it. I'll start with the door lock actuators as they are the cheapest.
On the drive back, as I got near my home I thought i'd open it up. I wanted to get close to home as I thought there was a decent chance of popping off a boost pipe and having to limp it back. It didn't and felt fast but it seemed like it hit the rev limiter early (6000rpm). I don't know if there was a fault or the rev counter is reading off, I need to make some logs on vag-com.
Once home I did an oil change to put decent stuff back in. I had a good look over the car, i've got a pretty big list of things left to sort out.
The fans didn't work properly, the car would get hot in traffic and I couldn't hear them coming on. They do come on sometimes but it seems random like when the ignition isn't even on. Must have something wired wrong.
2 oil leaks from the cam covers, one each side. These engines really are a pain in the arse for this.
I had an exhaust gas temperature sensor code come up on the ECU. I did suspect this, the A6 had an error code when I bought it but it didn't come back on when I drove it back so I hoped it was an old code. I've got a spare sensor but changing it isn't going to be easy.
The AUX belt tensioner pulley needs changing, it whines a bit.
The drivers side window need re-alignment as there was some wind noise.
There was a small leak on the charge cooler system (I don't know how I feel on using those clear PVC pipes i'm using, it's nice to see inside to see any trapped air but they are a nightmare for sealing)
The gear stick needs adjusting, it sits too far back in the gate. This is something that is nothing to do with the conversion, it must have been like it before.
When I re-fitted the undertray after doing the oil change I noticed the engine isn't sitting level like it was, it's about 10mm lower on one side than it was. I'll have to look into that.
There is a noise from the rear suspension, I only hear it when going over bumps. Seems like both sides but the drivers side more. It's not a heavy clunk, more like a drop link noise but a bit louder. The drop links are new so it's not those. I think maybe the top mounts. I did notice it before I did the engine swap so it's nothing related to that.
That's quite a list, most of the things are easy fixes but as an accumulation it's a bit overwhelming so I fooked it off and spent the Sunday watching the World Cup and being lazy.
The positives are, it runs well, drives nice, exhaust sounds nice and not too loud, the extra oil has sorted the LSD, it's now only slightly clunky when cold but as soon as it's got some heat in it's alright. I can tell it's going to lock easily, can't wait to give the car a spanking and test it out.
I've got a problem with the central locking. It locks and unlocks. There was one issue I could see, the windows are supposed to drop when you pull the door handle, my passenger side wasn't. I took apart the central locking actuator, found a faulty switch inside the unit, replaced the switch with one I had from an Audi A6. The window drop now works but the central locking still doesn't.
On Saturday I took it out for the first big drive, I went to The Ramp Room in Cwmbran which is a 50 mile round trip. I forgot to take photos while I was there but it was a cool place. They rent out ramps for people to do their own work but they also specialise in Porsches and have specific diagnostic equipment. I went there to try and get to the bottom of my alarm problem.
The last time I'd driven the car the coolant had boiled over so I was a bit worried I wouldn't make it. I just took it easy and kept my eyes peeled on the coolant temperature (had to have an OBD reader plugged in to see it). It made it there and back fine. The diagnostic equipment didn't think much of my engine conversion. One piece of equipment used was Durametric, that seemed to keep crashing when connected to my car and apparently it's not done that before. Once working I got a fault code, 59. Unfortunately it's not much use to me, I was hoping it'd be able to narrow down a side. Apparently the Porsche systems don't work like that. We couldn't connect to the alarm system and run any tests, that was strange. The part number on it is from a Boxster S so it's not the original and when the alarm goes off, it's unresponsive to the key. This was also the case with my old Boxster. So I think it's either a door lock actuator, a damaged wire or the alarm unit itself that's faulty. So basically i'm none the wiser. I'm going to have to start randomly buying bits and see what fixes it. I'll start with the door lock actuators as they are the cheapest.
On the drive back, as I got near my home I thought i'd open it up. I wanted to get close to home as I thought there was a decent chance of popping off a boost pipe and having to limp it back. It didn't and felt fast but it seemed like it hit the rev limiter early (6000rpm). I don't know if there was a fault or the rev counter is reading off, I need to make some logs on vag-com.
Once home I did an oil change to put decent stuff back in. I had a good look over the car, i've got a pretty big list of things left to sort out.
The fans didn't work properly, the car would get hot in traffic and I couldn't hear them coming on. They do come on sometimes but it seems random like when the ignition isn't even on. Must have something wired wrong.
2 oil leaks from the cam covers, one each side. These engines really are a pain in the arse for this.
I had an exhaust gas temperature sensor code come up on the ECU. I did suspect this, the A6 had an error code when I bought it but it didn't come back on when I drove it back so I hoped it was an old code. I've got a spare sensor but changing it isn't going to be easy.
The AUX belt tensioner pulley needs changing, it whines a bit.
The drivers side window need re-alignment as there was some wind noise.
There was a small leak on the charge cooler system (I don't know how I feel on using those clear PVC pipes i'm using, it's nice to see inside to see any trapped air but they are a nightmare for sealing)
The gear stick needs adjusting, it sits too far back in the gate. This is something that is nothing to do with the conversion, it must have been like it before.
When I re-fitted the undertray after doing the oil change I noticed the engine isn't sitting level like it was, it's about 10mm lower on one side than it was. I'll have to look into that.
There is a noise from the rear suspension, I only hear it when going over bumps. Seems like both sides but the drivers side more. It's not a heavy clunk, more like a drop link noise but a bit louder. The drop links are new so it's not those. I think maybe the top mounts. I did notice it before I did the engine swap so it's nothing related to that.
That's quite a list, most of the things are easy fixes but as an accumulation it's a bit overwhelming so I fooked it off and spent the Sunday watching the World Cup and being lazy.
The positives are, it runs well, drives nice, exhaust sounds nice and not too loud, the extra oil has sorted the LSD, it's now only slightly clunky when cold but as soon as it's got some heat in it's alright. I can tell it's going to lock easily, can't wait to give the car a spanking and test it out.
I fixed some of the issue I had this weekend. I changed the faulty EGT sensor, I wasn't convinced i'd be able to do it without dropping the gearbox from the mounts to get access but luckily I could get a spanner on it from above and had just enough room to wield it. It was one of those jobs where you cut your arms to ribbons, although it was fiddly it didn't actually take long.
The EGT sensor had been opened up by a previous owner, usually that's done to change the circuit board to an aftermarket one, in this case nothing had been done to it. I replaced it with a known good spare I had.
I sorted out the gear stick location, it was sitting too far back and making selecting 2nd and 4th difficult. There is adjustment on the cables so I had to remove the centre console. I'm going to get rid of the phone, sat nav disc reader and the head unit has already been taken out. There is a problem with the display on the head unit, the screen seems dead. Adjusting the cables is straight forward, push the end in, remove the cable, place it back in where you want it and release the spring to clamp it. There is a Porsche tool you can buy that holds the gear stick in place but I don't think you need it really. It is in 2nd gear in the 3rd picture, you can see how much difference it made.
The electric fans are now working fine, I did change the ignition feed wire but I don't think that made any difference. I think before I was just being a bit paranoid (as it had overheated previously due to an air lock) and expecting them to come on sooner than they actually do so I wasn't waiting for it to get hot enough. Stage 1 kicks in at the high 90's, I thought they'd come on at mid 90's. They are pretty quiet so I may have simply not heard them before. Either way, that's another job off the list.
Adjusting the driver's side window was straight forward. I tightened up the cam covers to stop the oil leaks. It wasn't as easy as it should be, the charge cooler expansion tank is right in the way on one side and the power steering pump reservoir on the other. I've packed lots of things into the engine bay on this car which could prove to be frustrating when it comes to maintenance.
The EGT sensor had been opened up by a previous owner, usually that's done to change the circuit board to an aftermarket one, in this case nothing had been done to it. I replaced it with a known good spare I had.
I sorted out the gear stick location, it was sitting too far back and making selecting 2nd and 4th difficult. There is adjustment on the cables so I had to remove the centre console. I'm going to get rid of the phone, sat nav disc reader and the head unit has already been taken out. There is a problem with the display on the head unit, the screen seems dead. Adjusting the cables is straight forward, push the end in, remove the cable, place it back in where you want it and release the spring to clamp it. There is a Porsche tool you can buy that holds the gear stick in place but I don't think you need it really. It is in 2nd gear in the 3rd picture, you can see how much difference it made.
The electric fans are now working fine, I did change the ignition feed wire but I don't think that made any difference. I think before I was just being a bit paranoid (as it had overheated previously due to an air lock) and expecting them to come on sooner than they actually do so I wasn't waiting for it to get hot enough. Stage 1 kicks in at the high 90's, I thought they'd come on at mid 90's. They are pretty quiet so I may have simply not heard them before. Either way, that's another job off the list.
Adjusting the driver's side window was straight forward. I tightened up the cam covers to stop the oil leaks. It wasn't as easy as it should be, the charge cooler expansion tank is right in the way on one side and the power steering pump reservoir on the other. I've packed lots of things into the engine bay on this car which could prove to be frustrating when it comes to maintenance.
Janosh said:
I assume the the Kaaz is a plated diff?
Might be worth trying some Castrol Syntrax (I use 75w-140), seems to work well with plated diffs that tend to be clunky. I certainly wouldn't be using ordinary engine oil with some modifier.... the diff won't last long!
Yeah, it's a plated diff. I went on recommendation of Opie oils, to use the correct grade oil for the gearbox and add the friction modifier to make the LSD work. Might be worth trying some Castrol Syntrax (I use 75w-140), seems to work well with plated diffs that tend to be clunky. I certainly wouldn't be using ordinary engine oil with some modifier.... the diff won't last long!
chuntington101 said:
Once it's all buttoned up you just need some TTE650 turbos! 
Cracking worknas ever. Any pics of the intercoolers in situe?
I'd like to upgrade the turbos, I don't think I'm a fan of the power delivery on the K03's, they run out of puff early. I'll get some photos of the charge coolers this weekend. Cracking worknas ever. Any pics of the intercoolers in situe?
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