Daily Driver Build - '98.5 A4 1.8TQM

[PringlesInVic]

Hey Everyone,

I've been lurking here for quite a few years and have finally signed up. I've been using the resources here in preparing for my Audi purchase. I've been an Audi fan for years, and a VAG fan even longer. We currently own an '07 City Jetta (Reflex Silver Met.) that we got new. Love it. We used the car as our daily driver in our 45 min. commute. Until the end of September. Then my wife went on maternity leave for the year and I was left to commute alone in my truck, a '94 Dodge Ram 3/4 ton w/Cummins diesel. Big, loud, stinky, and only rides good with about 500lbs in the back. the fuel costs alone were killing me let alone the actual ride. I was in need of a commuter car, as my wife needed her car for our new daughter to roll in.

So I've spent the past few months searching for a car. I've read the FAQ thread a bunch of time, as well as bunch of the build threads. Through all my searching I realized what I wanted was a 1.8TQM. I came across a lot of 2.8 cars, a few with manuals. And i found some 1.8T cars with tiptronic. No 5-speed turbo cars, unless crazy priced. Back to AZ to see how easy either a tranny or engine swap would be, kept seeing the same post over and over again "sell the car and buy what you want". The $$$ and time involved just didn't make sense for a DD. So my search continued (thanks AZ, so I didn't waste time and $$$).

My diligence paid off, I expanded my search area and found a car, owner was asking $2500. As I am on an island, I talked him down to $2000 before even meeting him. Then I jumped on the first ferry, met him, and my heart sank when I saw the car. It was not what I was expecting, much rougher than described. But not wanting to have wasted a entire day of travel (especially leaving 3 week old baby with mom by herself) I was able to talk him down a bit on price. Got paperwork done, and I was on the road back to catch the next ferry. The whole drive home, I was thinking "What did I just do?".

I got a Silver 98.5 A4 1.8TQM with black leather and 136,000 miles for $1400 CAD (about $1,000 USD) The car came with a REVO Stage 1 tune, CTS test pipe, and a Forge DV (correction, after further investigation it appears to be a Hyperboost DV)

It also came with only 1 working wiper, no heat, a hacked bose system with only front speakers working and a busted JVC deck and a 10" sub, mystery oil leak(s), sticky 1st and reverse, dented rear passenger door/quarter, rusted out factory exhaust in 2 pieces, busted drivers lock cylinder, 1 key (no fob), and a filthy interior and exterior. And I mean filthy.

I was told that the head had been rebuilt about 20k kms ago including relative gaskets and timing belt Clutch and turbo replaced bout 40k kms ago. And thermostat, wp, spark plugs in there somewhere as well. All the major things being done already was one of the major selling points.

Here it is the day I brought it home. Forgot to mention the fresh tint. And what looks to be about 25k kms of break dust. This car was not loved for the past year, time for a new loving home



So my plans are to bring this once beautiful car back to daily driver glory. And enjoy every minute.

Problems:
- Oil leak. This is a big problem as I leave a drip everywhere I go, sometimes multiple drips. When I got it home, I actually noticed no oil on the dipstick when I checked so topped her off with some 0W-40. (FIXED)
- Exhaust. As I said it's the original and it's done. Flex joint is toast. And there was a repair done at the bottom of the downpipe where someone patched in a new pipe with a couple clamps. This has failed again and if shift too hard or hit a big bump, then it separates and you're practically running open down pipe. Not ideal. (FIXED)
- Stereo. Not a big deal, I'll grab some gear and have it rocking in an afternoon. (PARTIALLY UPGRADED)
- Heat. Hopefully as heater core flush will fix it up. Thanks to AZ, I found a DIY. (FIXED)
- Wipers. Going to grab an entire assembly from a wrecker. (FIXED)
- Interior. Is actually in really good shape, after a thorough clean and vacuum. As per usual, my drivers seat bottom is toast. So I plan on finding a matching passenger seat bottom to swap in (thanks again AZ users, you guys rock) (FIXED)
- Exterior. Fix rear passenger door and quarter panel. (DOOR FIXED)
- Driveline. While it drives well enough, it also leaves something to be desired. Actually it kind of feels like my driveline is made of limp spaghetti. So I think new mounts are in order. I'll start with snub, then move back all the way the diff carrier mount.

Luckily because I paid less than expected for the car I have a little $$$ left over to tackle these issues. I'll have a better idea of what I'm going to need once I get it up on stands. Let's just say right now my ECS cart is pretty full. But I have very limited funds, so every $1 is going to have to be well planned.

[PringlesInVic]

So I found some time and gave the car a good wash. Went through a lot of soap (each wheel needed a bucket of it's own). I find you really connect with a car when you take the time to do a thorough wash. There are some scratches and rock chips, but over all it looks pretty good for 17 years old car.
















I forgot to mention, as per FAQ and noob posts. The first thing I bought for the car was a VAG-COM cable, it's on route. I also looked into getting a Bentley manual, but have seen mixed feelings on this. I've seen that people seem to like the CD version, some like the book. I needed something, so rather than wasting my money on a Haynes book, I subscribed for a year to www.alldatadiy.com. I've heard it's the same as the DVD manual, but we'll see. It'll help along with all the DIY info here and youtube.

I also plan on getting a boost gauge to monitor performance, so I took advantage of the sale PODI was having last week on their steering column pods. It was a steal. I'll be getting a gauge for the pod soon as I'm waiting for some Cyber Monday sales.

I also grabbed some plastic hose from princess auto and performed a heater core flush. If you plan to do one, 3/4" hose will work but 7/8" will work better. So I went from no heat to some heat. Not fully fixed, but at least I can defrost now without freezing. The heated seats can only do so much. I'll have to figure out what's going on, hopefully not need to replace heater core.

Got the car up on stands last night to try and track down the oil leak. I got the splash guard off and noticed it was holding a small puddle of oil, which I can only assume was dripping over and over again everywhere I went. I noticed a little fresh oil by the filter, and I also noticed a lot of oil spray all over the driver side. It looks like either oil is dripping onto the axle and spraying all over. Or it is the axle itself spraying all over. The CV boot is in tact and I couldn't see any rips. The biggest problem I had was the dirt and grease and what have you over everything. It's hard to find the origin of the leak when everything is grimy. So I'm going to pressure wash the bay and hopefully get to the bottom of it soon.

When the leak is located, I plan on ordering fluids and magnetic plugs for the trans and rear diff. As well as an oil change, and most likely a coolant flush. I don't really feel comfortable pushing the car until I know for myself that all fluids are new and full.

I was able to do a bandaid fix on the exhaust too. I grabbed a piece of tie wire and wrapped around both ends of pipe. A few days of driving and it hasn't slipped apart yet. Better. You can still here the exhaust leaking and it sounds like shit. So I don plan on replacing the whole thing with a catback. I've been doing a lot of searching and watching vides with sound clips. I've done loud exhaust in the past, and don't want that now. The top of my list is the resonated Milltek system, but it is also the top price on the list. The Borla comes in a little cheaper, but louder. And then there's SSAutochrome, which get's very mixed reviews on this site. I've seen some questionable fitting end products, but the price is less than half of the Borla system it's knocking off. While I want the better sound, and bigger diameter pipe for future BT down the road (way down the road), for the $$$ I save on exhaust, I can put toward coilovers. I think we can all agree, the 4x4 status is not working for the car.

Tough choices.

[Johns]

Welcome! It's great to see a neglected B5 getting proper love from a new owner. Before I say anything else, fix that bumper gap!

I like how you have a 'maintenance over mods' mentality and aren't getting ahead of yourself. Hopefully you can get the heating situation sorted out without needed a new core.

When I read the price that you picked it up for, I was surprised by how clean it looked. After all the maintenance is out of that way, some coilovers, 1 piece headlights, solid wheels and it'll be looking great!

For the sticky gears, try just replacing your trans fluid. It more than likely hasn't been attended to in a while (if at all). Wipers you can grab of a B5.5 passat, google aero wipers and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Let's see some interior pics too!

[Avant Nate]

Your oil cooler is probably leaking, if so its an easy fix when you do the oil change.

[PringlesInVic]

Thanks for the welcome.

Lol, yes the bumper gap is on the list of fixes. I'm looking for a new bumper anyway, as that one has a good sized dent in it. Which is probably why the drivers side is held on my zip ties. I'll cinch it up with new ties, try and close the gap a bit more.

As for the leak, I'm making headway. Drove the car yesterday without the splash guard on and then slipped some fresh cardboard under it to see what was leaking where. I think Nate might be right on the oil cooler. I can't see behind it (the low spot, where it would drip form) but I did notice a little oil sitting on the block where the trans mates, just below the filter. And then a lot more oil on the subframe. The drips on the cardboard were all along the drivers side of the engine bay. So what I think is happening is I'm losing a fair bit of oil from the cooler and it's hitting the subframe and running all along it. What a mess. I'm going to grab a Large filter and do an oil change. It would be awesome if it's just leaking from the filter, but I doubt I'm that lucky. I saw that there was a TSB from Audi (2019851/2) regarding oil loss from the oil cooler and it said to replace the O ring. Fingers crossed that will fix it.

And as requested, here some Interior pics. It's in good shape. Only one of the crappy cup holders works, which is fine. And the ash tray is stuck closed, but there's lots of other places to put my change lol.

Sorry if they're a little dark. But you can't see the seat rip

[PringlesInVic]

Update.

I was able to replace the oil cooler 'O' ring last night. The old one was pretty flat and worn. This is the DIY video I used to help me do it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg6sF6aVbSo

Fingers crossed that this will fix my oil leak issue. The filter I took off has me questioning the previous owner though. It was a small pennzoil branded filter, no where near the size of an OEM let alone a Large OEM/Mann. Oh well, new OEM filter and fresh 0W-40 Mobil 1 Euro. Engine seems happy, nothing like the feel of fresh oil.

After replacing oil, I decided to top off washer fluid. Well I discovered that like a lot of other members, I have a leak in my tank below the coolant tank. It appears where the pump on the front is. I put a whole jug in before hearing the drips on the floor It was pouring out the bottom.

It's going to be hard to see if I'm dripping oil, when I'm dripping washer fluid.

Oh well, not a big deal. Don't use them very often anyway (especially with only 1 wiper).

On to the next fix for now.

I had mentioned that there was a dent in the rear passenger door, here it is. Also a little fender dent.





It's not too bad, but a little unsightly. So here is my solution.





I was able to find this listed locally. Guy had it left over from a part out, of the exact same car. I just need to swap the tinted window in and bolt this baby on. Not bad for $50 I'll post a pic when it's done.

[seanf86]

Lookin good, I had the exact same damage in the exact same place on my B5 and did the exact same thing lol, I bought a can of color match spraypaint from one of the autobody suppliers here in town and blended in the dog leg myself and it turned out perfect, very worthwhile thing to look into.

[slunky]

You're off on a great adventure. Enjoy it.

[PringlesInVic]

Quick update.

I took the car out for a good drive today and parked it in the garage after on some clean cardboard. I'm happy to report not a single drop of oil. Thanks for the suggestion Nate, the cooler 'O' ring seemed to be the issue. Gotta love a $6 fix.


When I bought the car, there was a fresh box of spark plugs in it. NGK BKR7E's. So I decided to put them in since I had them. I had noticed a hesitation/stumble around 4000rpm or when I tried to get into the peddle. New plugs in, no hesitation. I'm able to smoothly climb the tach all the way up, and wow does it pull. Haven't really felt it pull hard in 3rd yet and I'm very happy.


The plugs that came out were the same ones, but gapped differently. They had a huge gap of 0.048! From what I've seen on here, that seems pretty big. I left the new plugs at factory gap of 0.036. Hopefullly it'll be happy. I don't know anything about the REVO tune and what they suggest, perhaps I'll email them.


Also, not sure what this means but I did notice a little bit of oil in the front two cyls. when I was taking out the plugs. Thoughts?


I've got some Redline trans fluid on route, and will get that swapped in a soon as it arrives. I'm feeling more comfortable seeing what this car is capable of.

[Avant Nate]

Valve cover gasket

[PringlesInVic]

Valve cover gasket

Valve cover gasket? Sorry, I'm not understanding.

[Believer]

Valve cover gasket? Sorry, I'm not understanding.

The valve cover gasket is the cause of oil leaking into your spark plug holes, specifically the inner gasket.

I also noticed you were picking up some Red line gear oil. What type of climate so you live in? I would highly suggest not using that gear oil if temperatures get even remotely cold. I found out the hard way that it will cause extremely hard shifts until fully warmed.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

[PringlesInVic]

The valve cover gasket is the cause of oil leaking into your spark plug holes, specifically the inner gasket.

I also noticed you were picking up some Red line gear oil. What type of climate so you live in? I would highly suggest not using that gear oil if temperatures get even remotely cold. I found out the hard way that it will cause extremely hard shifts until fully warmed.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

Got ya, thanks. I'll add the valve cover gasket to the list of future fixes. Thanks Nate and Believer(Love your Build Thread).


As for the climate. We get a few days a year of freezing temperatures. But our average winter temps are around 8 deg C. Not too cold. Typically when it snows, it only last a couple days as the rain washes it away.


What did you find the best gear oil for the trans to be? I was going to do my rear diff. later, but haven't ordered any fluid yet.

[Believer]

Got ya, thanks. I'll add the valve cover gasket to the list of future fixes. Thanks Nate and Believer(Love your Build Thread).


As for the climate. We get a few days a year of freezing temperatures. But our average winter temps are around 8 deg C. Not too cold. Typically when it snows, it only last a couple days as the rain washes it away.


What did you find the best gear oil for the trans to be? I was going to do my rear diff. later, but haven't ordered any fluid yet.

Thanks for the kind words on the thread!

After I had a poor experience with Redline I went back to OEM. I've used it to fill two different transes now. OEM Part number is G052911A2 - be prepared for sticker shock it's not cheap at all. Fuchs Titan SintoFluid 75W80 is also a direct replacement for OEM gear oil.

[seanf86]

Got ya, thanks. I'll add the valve cover gasket to the list of future fixes. Thanks Nate and Believer(Love your Build Thread).


As for the climate. We get a few days a year of freezing temperatures. But our average winter temps are around 8 deg C. Not too cold. Typically when it snows, it only last a couple days as the rain washes it away.


What did you find the best gear oil for the trans to be? I was going to do my rear diff. later, but haven't ordered any fluid yet.

I've got 2L MT90 1L MTL in the 5speed box in my B5 and when its around freezing 2nd is very notchy and even colder it won't go into 2nd until I drive for a few blocks, I have Fuchs Sintofluid 75w80 in my 5speed B6 and cold shifting is way way improved over the Redline in my B5.

[PringlesInVic]

Good to know about the Redline. I'll give it a try since its on its way, and if I find I'm still having sticking issues, I'll swap it out for something else. Hoping this will be an improvement still.

Got a little done today. My neighbour across the street owns a wrecker that specializes in German cars. So I checked out his yard today for a few things on my list. Found a couple things including the most important one, a wiper transmission. Also picked up a new hood strut, and it actually holds the hood up! Good feature. I can retire that chunk of wood I was using before. And then lastly picked up a new grille in really good shape. One on the previous owners painted mine black, and then the paint on the 4 rings chipped off. It wasn't great, so I'm happy with to chrome.

Got it all in this afternoon. All working great.

Also picked up a spark plug anti fouler and drilled it out. Installed on my 2nd O2 sensor on the test pipe. Haven't received vag-com cable yet, but will clear code when it does get here and hopefully won't throw another.

And lastly, 4 days later and still no oil leaks.

[PringlesInVic]

Just when I thought problems were behind me, and I could start enjoying the car. I now have a cooling system problem. Went to drive it yesterday, fired it up and after the usual warning chimes, the Red Coolant Light started blinking/beeping.

I have the pre-LCD dash so it's the top left corner light. I still haven't received vag-com, but I'm assuming I threw a code. But can't wait as this is supposed to be my daily driver.

Anyway, I'm not sure I want to drive it, I don't like chancing anything to do with cooling. I've cracked heads I'm the past, learned my lesson.

I'm thinking it's one of 4 things. The coolant tank sensor, the temperature sensor, thermostat, or water pump. 3 of which were supposedly changed by previous owner. Do the tank sensor go bad?

I checked the connection on the temp sensor as I thought I may have bumped it when putting my O2 back in. Temp sensor seemed fine. Plus I had taken the car out for a good run Saturday after everything was done, and no problems. It wasn't until Sunday morning that it acted up.

There is coolant in the tank. Between min. and max. I checked the sensor under tank to make sure it was still plugged in.

Not sure what to do. Should I bring the car up to temp and see if thermostat opens to hold temp?

[PringlesInVic]

Anybody use the ECS Tuning Cooling Refresh Kit before?

http://https://www.ecstuning.com/Aud...ing/ES2608142/

[PringlesInVic]

Ok, WTF ?!?

Last night when I posted my coolant problem, I had just given up and parked the car in the garage planning on tackling the issue again today. So this morning, I start it to make sure the warning light comes on before I commit to taking my truck.

IT DOESN'T

I let it warm up a little, to see if it will come on. It still doesn't.

So I drive my 45 min. long commute at 15 mph in bumper to bumper traffic. Car comes up to temp as quickly as it always does. Once it reaches the middle, it stays there. Nothing negative happens.

I don't get it, went to bed warning light was on. Didn't change anything and next morning, light is off.


Weird.....


So my new question. Does it have to do with where I park? As you can see I have decent slope to my driveway, but it's not extreme. We also had a bit of a cold snap where it dropped down to 1C that day. Could it be a combination of slope and temp just messing with the sensor?




Parking in the garage is not a long term solution as much as I would like it to be. That's where my wife's Jetta lives.

[PringlesInVic]

Another Quick Update.

Received my vag-com cable and download VCDS. Did a scan and came back with 2 codes.

P0422, Which I expected due to my test pipe. But since I added the anti fouler, I don't expect another code for that.

and P1602 which I understand comes up when the battery is disconnected.

So I'm happy there were no surprise codes. If been searching all over, I know there is a thread somewhere that discusses coding the B5. Such as central locks, headlight ding, siren chirp when alarm armed.... I have looked through the Ross-Tech wiki and found a couple. Is that it though?


Also, any insight on my coolant question? I'm going to have to park outside again, as my wife is getting on me about her car living outside. Hopefully I don't have another warning light when I do. Is the ECS kit worth it? Or should I just find a new tank and do a flush. I suppose if the sensors aren't acting up, then there's no point replacing them, same with tstat.

[Believer]

You said you have already replaced your CTS fairly recently right? I'm willing to bet that if your coolant level is good, and it's complaining about low level, the sensor in your tank has reached EOL. The ECS refresh kit is nice but comes with a buch of stuff that you may not want/need.

[GOODBYNAAIR]

Hello and Welcome!

Great to see another B5 coming back to life I see so many in my local yard waiting to be crushed. Great that your getting the service up to speed. I see you said your getting a boost gauge good call an oil pressure gauge is very useful too.

Not to worry you but just something else to keep in mind, 1.8ts when not taken care can have sludge problems which can cause other problems. When you change that valve cover gasket take a look at your cct if this is in poor shape the pieces that could have chipped off can clog you oil pick up tube. Sludge can too, as well as the oil ports in your head, ect.

I think you can check you oil pressure with VAGCOM that would be a good idea.

Again Im not trying to worry you this is just something that happened to me when I thought I had it all fixed up.

Great pickup and enjoy the projects

[PringlesInVic]

Great to see another B5 coming back to life I see so many in my local yard waiting to be crushed.

That's one of the saddest things I've heard. And thanks for the Welcome.

I was aware of sludge the sludge problems. I am hoping that when the head was rebuilt by the previous owner that he checked it all out. But you know what happens when you assume. I will give everything a good once-over when I do the gasket.

I am running VCDS-Lite right now (I wanted to give it a try before I committed to paying $300 for it. That's a big chunk of my exhaust or coilover cost) I think I can check Oil Pressure with it, I just need to know which Measuring Block it is. Anybody want to save me a search?



And yes, the previous owner replaced the CTS and TSTAT, but I won't rule them out because of that. Do the new tanks come with the level sensor in them? Tried to test continuity of that sensor, but multimeter batteries crapped out. So will try again with new batts in it tonight.



Got Trans fluid changed. And took it for a quick spin. Shifted much better. But it was cold this morning (1C) and it was still a little sticky for this mornings commute. But overall I think it will be better. The fluid that came out seemed in pretty rough shape, not sure if it was original or not. Hoping if not, that the person who did it knew better to stay away from GL5. I'm sure the fluid I put in is no longer the nice clear pinkish colour it was when it went in. Going to do rear diff next, but haven't ordered fluid yet, I think I'll just go OEM this time.



I've posted a Wanted ad in the classifieds for a seat bottom. Didn't think it would be so difficult to find. No pick and pull around here has one. And all local part outs either sold their interiors, or want huge $$$ for them. Some guy had the balls to tell me he wanted $965 for just a passenger seat. So if you could please keep your eyes open, it would be appreciated. I don't mind paying to get it shipped.



Hopefully I will get new door on this weekend.

[GOODBYNAAIR]

I've posted a Wanted ad in the classifieds for a seat bottom. Didn't think it would be so difficult to find. No pick and pull around here has one. And all local part outs either sold their interiors, or want huge $$$ for them. Some guy had the balls to tell me he wanted $965 for just a passenger seat. So if you could please keep your eyes open, it would be appreciated. I don't mind paying to get it shipped.



Hopefully I will get new door on this weekend.[/QUOTE]

Next time at the yard which is about every other week ill look for some in good shape and let you know. I don't know how much shipping would be im in Maryland, but we can deal with that if they have any that look nice. Ill keep you updated.

[Wrath And Tears]

I just replaced my front seats, I have a clean passenger seat bottom I can see about pulling off for you. Ill give it a shot this weekend and let you know.

[PringlesInVic]

Thanks guys, that's awesome.

This is the one I'm looking for.

[PringlesInVic]

Update.

So I tackled the door. It all went fairly smooth. Except, I have an air line problem that I am hoping is just loose connection. I have to take door panel off again, and check both ends. The lock won't lock.

This is what I started with.



I couldn't find a DIY write up on removing the actual door. There's tons out there on the door panel, but not the actual door. I guess it doesn't come up very often. I found a YouTube video on a B6 Front door removal and used it as a reference. And I've done a quick DIY to help anybody else who may be doing the same thing.

This is where the usual disclaimer goes stating that I nor AZ is responsible for damage to your vehicle and everyone takes responsibility for their own actions.




So, the top hinge will stay on the door, and the bottom hinge will stay on the car.
- Pull back the rubber boot, and disconnect the 2 wiring harnesses and the air line for the central locks (be careful). The air line is pinch style connector so you shouldn't need any tools.
- Then pop off little black cap on the top hinge and loosen off the nut with a 6mm socket. Do not remove, just a couple turns is fine.
- Use a T45 Torx socket to remove the bottom bolt on the lower hinge. I actually used a 5/16" ratcheting wrench over the socket as I didn't have a set of Torx allen wrenches. A ratchet will most likely not fit.
- Then use a T45 to remove the top bolt not he lower hinge. I found it was easier to take it out with the door almost closed. BE VERY CAREFUL when the bolt come out as the door will only be bearing on just the upper hinge.





- After the bolts are removed from the lower hinge and pin loosened on upper hinge. The door will lift off. And you'll be left with this.





I have left out the removal of the door card, as this is covered a lot. I removed the door with the card still installed. The replacement door I got came with everything. But I will not be just reinstalling it. Of course it's not that easy. My windows are tinted, and the new door isn't. So, I need to put my tinted glass in the new door. I was also unsure of the motor and regulator, so I decided it would be the easier to take my entire window assembly and swap it onto the new door skin. It's actually very straight forward.

- Pull the wires through where the boot is.
- Disconnect all wire tie downs from the door skin.
- Disconnect the door lock cable
- Then it's a matter of 4 T45 Torx bolts. (Yellow Arrows)




Once these bolts are off, they whole black window frame and assembly will pull off of the door skin. Put the good one aside in a safe place. And put the damaged door skin somewhere else.


Repeat with donor door.


I had to remove the latch from my door as the donor door did not have an wire line, and the pump was busted. You may not to need to do this. It's easy though. 2 bolts ( I believe T40) Then the whole assembly will come out.


Then reverse the order for install, and put the good window on the good door skin. I used the wear marks of the washers as a guide to reinstalling the bolts. The holes are slotted, so make sure you take your time installing these so that your door fits properly.


Here it is. Ready to go back on the car. Without door card installed.





- Drop the pin into the upper hinge and then thread the lower bolts into the lower hinge. This is pretty tricky for one person, so get a hand if you can. Again, i found it easiest to get the lower bolts in when the door was almost closed. Tighten the bolts enough for the door to hold, but not torqued down.
- Tighten the 6mm pin lock and replace the rubber cap.

I couldn't find any information on aligning the door gaps and latch. So this is what I did. I got the door closed with a hip bump. Then you can access the bolts by opening the front door. Loosen all 3 T45 bolts off enough that the door will move, but not really loose. I used a wedge between the door sill and door to align the gaps and torqued the bolts down. The result was good. And the door latches cleanly.



Here's the result. I'm happy with it.





Now that the door is fixed, I'm going to find a body guy to have a look at the fender. The gap is now quite substantial. Fixing one problem, kind of led to another.

[PringlesInVic]

Air leak fixed. It was a loose connection on the latch side diaphragm. Pulled door card and pushed it in a little further. All good. Have to say I've worked on a lot of vehicles installing speakers. These are the easiest panels to work with in my experience.

Black Friday is just around the corner. Time to spend some money on this car!

[PringlesInVic]

Next time at the yard which is about every other week ill look for some in good shape and let you know. I don't know how much shipping would be im in Maryland, but we can deal with that if they have any that look nice. Ill keep you updated.

Just wondering if you've had a chance to look in the yard? Thanks.

I just replaced my front seats, I have a clean passenger seat bottom I can see about pulling off for you. Ill give it a shot this weekend and let you know.

Just wondering if you had a chance to look at your passenger seat?


Thanks guys.

[slunky]

Air leak fixed. It was a loose connection on the latch side diaphragm. Pulled door card and pushed it in a little further. All good. Have to say I've worked on a lot of vehicles installing speakers. These are the easiest panels to work with in my experience.

Black Friday is just around the corner. Time to spend some money on this car!

Question: If my B5 did not come with the Bose speakers, and I pulled some from a junkyard car, would I be able to install? Or would I risk damaging my amp? Basically, do I need to install a new amp in order to install the Bose speakers?

[Wrath And Tears]

Just wondering if you had a chance to look at your passenger seat?

Not yet, just sitting there. I got pretty sick and am just recovering so I'll spend some time this weekend. I assume you just want the Seat cover to replace a rip or torn drivers seat? Or were you also looking for the foam and other stuff?

[GOODBYNAAIR]

Just wondering if you've had a chance to look in the yard? Thanks.





Just wondering if you had a chance to look at your passenger seat?


Thanks guys.

I went to the yard 2 weeks ago and they had nothing that looked good. if the weather stays nice i may go this week if i have time.

[Wrath And Tears]

Question: If my B5 did not come with the Bose speakers, and I pulled some from a junkyard car, would I be able to install? Or would I risk damaging my amp? Basically, do I need to install a new amp in order to install the Bose speakers?

The magic in Bose is the amp, not the speakers. Not 100% you can just swap to the speakers, but I am sure the sound quality wouldn't improve without the amp. Unless you have blown speakers.

Pringle you guilting Canadian bastard. I just tore the seat cover off my pass seat. The seat is prefacelift, but eyeballing the cover looks the same as the facelift seats I put in my car. Send me a PM when you get a chance and we can get shipping worked out. Its a little dirty, but saw very little use, a good clean should have it looking new.

[GOODBYNAAIR]

The magic in Bose is the amp, not the speakers. Not 100% you can just swap to the speakers, but I am sure the sound quality wouldn't improve without the amp. Unless you have blown speakers.

Pringle you guilting Canadian bastard. I just tore the seat cover off my pass seat. The seat is prefacelift, but eyeballing the cover looks the same as the facelift seats I put in my car. Send me a PM when you get a chance and we can get shipping worked out. Its a little dirty, but saw very little use, a good clean should have it looking new.

skip the yard bose speakers most likely they will be worn out too 12-15 years old. I say if you don't have an amp get one if its the OEM bose unit ok but they make better ones and you can replace the speakers with whatever you want as long as the specs mach what the amp is rated for. a 1000 watt "speaker" sub will not work well on a 200w amp.

I would also buy something other than bose your paying for the name. my $.02

you should not damage the speakers if they are rated for the amp or higher than the amp output. but if the amp is rated to high for the speakers you can blow your speakers.

[PringlesInVic]

Not yet, just sitting there. I got pretty sick and am just recovering so I'll spend some time this weekend. I assume you just want the Seat cover to replace a rip or torn drivers seat? Or were you also looking for the foam and other stuff?

Hey Wrath sorry to hear you've been sick. And glad you're on the mend. Wasn't trying to rush you or anything, and thanks for pulling it. I think I'll need the whole bottom if you can do it, I'm going to follow the DIY here. Let me know, I can probably get away with just the cover. Not sure if heated seats matters or not, mine are heated, were yours? As for the beer, I go that covered with the advent calendar from one of the local breweries. A different beer a day till Christmas. Thanks Phillips!

skip the yard bose speakers most likely they will be worn out too 12-15 years old. I say if you don't have an amp get one if its the OEM bose unit ok but they make better ones and you can replace the speakers with whatever you want as long as the specs mach what the amp is rated for. a 1000 watt "speaker" sub will not work well on a 200w amp.

I would also buy something other than bose your paying for the name. my $.02

you should not damage the speakers if they are rated for the amp or higher than the amp output. but if the amp is rated to high for the speakers you can blow your speakers.

I agree with GOODBYNAAIR, you pay for the Bose name. They're good at what they do, but so are a lot of others.

FWIW, I will be replacing everything in my car. A PO hacked the wiring harness at the amp and the factory connectors to install an aftermarket deck. It's a mess. It'll be more work, but I will not be using the factory wiring for anything but power to my aftermarket deck. It'll be all new wiring throughout, from new aftermarket amps.

I'm sure the Bose sounded great when fresh and new, but what speakers I have left are blown. It's time for new. Remember that even the entry level aftermarket speakers can sound really good if powered properly. So take my advise and spend what money you have on a set of speakers and an amp to power them.

I haven't got my new gear yet, but Boxing Day (Canada Eh) is coming up and I plan to check off the list then. I will most likely box up all the Bose stuff that comes out and list it in the classifieds for $40 (plus shipping) untested.

[PringlesInVic]

Also, it's been a couple weeks since I changed my Trans fluid and it is much smoother now. I guess it takes a little time for the new oil to find its way into everything. We just got over a cold snap, and I didn't notice any difference in the Redline's feel below freezing.

[GOODBYNAAIR]

Went to the yard heres what got. 2 different 2.8 cars with power seats just came in.

uploadfromtaptalk1449931222471.jpguploadfromtaptalk1449931245030.jpguploadfromtaptalk1449931259407.jpg


Car#2
uploadfromtaptalk1449931290631.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1449931307310.jpg

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[PringlesInVic]

Went to the yard heres what got. 2 different 2.8 cars with power seats just came in.

uploadfromtaptalk1449931222471.jpguploadfromtaptalk1449931245030.jpguploadfromtaptalk1449931259407.jpg


Car#2
uploadfromtaptalk1449931290631.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1449931307310.jpg

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

Thanks for checking! I've actually got a bottom on route from Wrath and Tears. I appreciate you taking the time to have a look.

[PringlesInVic]

Build Update, including an update to my signature.


So as I mentioned before. I did some Black Friday shopping. Placed my first order from ECS Tuning. Picked myself up a Milltek Resonated Exhaust system to replace my rusted out factory system. And a first order from ECS wouldn't be complete without a Snub Mount (to be installed later).


I did a bunch of research on here and listened to every clip I could find on youtube. It was close between the Borla and Milltek. I've done loud exhaust before, and wanted subdued this time around. I decided on the resonated version of the Milltek for that reason, and for the ability to upgrade the Turbo in the future without worrying about pipe size. ECS had it on sale for 10% off, which is better than nothing I guess. However, that means I also paid almost the same for the exhaust as I did for the entire car. Something wrong there.


Anyway, as posted before the rusted out factory system was coming apart at the down pipe. I had "fixed" this with a piece of tie wire. It worked in making sure the pipes didn't come apart. But it was very embarrassing, as driving the car sounded like I was dragging beer cans along the underside of the car.

Here's what it looked like



Not anymore. Out with the old. It took me a little while the get the old down pipe off my CTS test pipe. The TP has a threaded flange, so I had remove the heat shield from above the front axle to access the nuts. Even then, they were a pain in the ass. If anybody from CTS Turbo sees this, please don't thread the holes, just use nuts and bolts and lock washers like everybody else. The rest of the exhaust pretty much fell of the car lol. It was the easiest to remove all the factory hangers form the car with the exhaust, this made bolting up the new system very easy. As the rubber mounts are much easier to wrestle onto the new mounting points on the workbench instead of under the car.


Here's the old and new side by side



I am very impressed with the quality of the Milltek system. Everything I read said it was good quality, and I concur. The bends are smooth. The whole thing slipped together with ease. All the factory mount points lined up. The finish is great. All the welds were clean. All in all, very impressed. You really do get what you pay for.

Once, I was done f'ing around with the down pipe, everything went smooth. The system uses high quality band clamps so it bolts up quickly. I did it all myself, with a little hand from a couple jack stands to hold the pipes up. Got it all up loose, then went back and adjusted and tightened it all up.

Here it is up







And the alignment of the tips isn't perfect yet. But still good enough




So as far as sound goes. It's QUIET. Like really quiet. It still has a nice deep idle. And the sound is very nice, you wouldn't think it was only a 1.8L inline 4. I'm also very surprised on how much quieter it is with a full 1/2" more diameter over stock. I get a little more whistle from the little K03, but that maybe just me noticing it more due to the lack if rattles and noise.

I drove my usual 45min-1hr commute this morning in bumper to bumper and it was nice. Very mellow, but a good tone. I would recommend this system to anybody who wants performance, upgrade tone, but very civil. If you want a little more aggressive sound I think think the non-resonated system would be a good buy.



I am very happy with the outcome, and glad I spent the extra money on a good system. I came close to a SSAC system, but never saw any pictures of a clean install. And the Borla sounds nice, but at only 2 1/4" it would not have lasted when it was time for BT.


Now onto the other purchases. More updates to come.

[PringlesInVic]

Another Black Friday Purchase Installed


I got my PODI mechanical boost gauge installed last night. It's installed into a PODI steering column pod. The pod was actually the first purchase I ever made for the car, I picked it up when they had their crazy $10 pod sale. Thanks PODI! But, I had to wait until Black Friday of the gauge to go on sale.


Install went smooth enough. I am very impressed with the packaging of the PODI stuff. All well protected with foam peanuts, even the box is nice. Clean and simple. This gauge is the first aftermarket part I've seen with such a complete bag if install parts. It included EVERYTHING needed and more. Even a fuse tap! Unheard of, keep up the good work. Even threw in a lanyard keychain to throw in my junk drawer.


Here it is installed




It has a very factory feel. Very bright though. I think i may have to upgrade my cluster lighting to LED so they match a little closer.

I ran the rubber hose through the ECU box, then drilled a hole through the drive by cable grommet in the firewall. I tapped the line between my diverter valve and intake manifold. Fuse tap #5 for the power to the gauge and grounded on the typical fuse block bolt. Purple dimmer wire was left unconnected. I do have one thing to say about the install and package. I did not have install instructions included in my package. I don't know if that is typical, but it was a pain. I ended up using the AWE Boost Gauge install guide which is readily available and very in depth as a reference. As well as THE SEARCH FUNCTION on AZ. For all the effort put into including all necessary accessories for wiring, I was very surprised (read disappointed) at the instructions. PODI if you're listening, use AWE's a reference and put together an install guide.


I peaked at 13-14 PSI this morning on my commute, but spent very little time in boost. It seemed to bleed off very quickly. With that said it's hard to get an accurate feel for what the car is producing when I'm lucky to get out of 2nd gear at all in the morning. The drive home is much better, so we'll see how the car does.


The last purchase is the Snub Mount. I know where it goes, but not sure how to get it there. I wish there was a DIY in the FAQ section, but I didn't see one. More research required before I attempt this.