Trevor Govender

Hey everyone. I purchased a 2000 Audi A4 (B5) 2.4 V6, she has around 255000kms on the clock which is a lil high, but on tight budget I couldn't really complain. I had initially opted for a B6, but there were far too many in a horrible condition, and I've always had a soft spot for the B5's. Audrey, as I affectionately call her, was owned by an elderly white gentlemen who kept her in a pretty okay condition, given her age, but however, there were a few things that were neglected such as the car wasn't serviced for the past two years, the CV joints were in a disastrous state, the right hand side was literally on it's last legs and the left side had been bust wide open. The rear passager brake pad is completely worn out and it seems like there's metal to metal friction on my brake discs. Not really happy about that. Unfortunately, the old man was a heavy smoker and his pet cat used to frolick around in the car, so there's that nasty combo of smoke and pet odour I've gotta put up with. I haven't really taken any photo's of the car, however I decided that I needed to get those CV's done as soon as possible, no matter what. Special thanks to CV Rite in Tongaat who actually kept their shop open to accommodate me on an extremely short notice, and had done a fantastic job. I promise to take out a few before and after pics tomorrow when she gets some TLC. By the way, what are the things that I need to look out for on this sexy old beast?

Trevor Govender

I decided to get all down and dirty lol, unfortunately I couldn't take out any before and after pics because my idiotic phone died (curse you android!) anyway, I'm not entirely chuffed with the result, but there's a huge difference. I believe the first owner did really take car of this car, and all the headaches that I do have now are a result of the last 5 years or so from the previous owner. The amount of grime that I have taken out is unbelievable, the aluminium step plates had greenish-brownish crap on them, and now they're all shiny.

There's a few things that I've gotta do ASAP:

* Major service (gotta flush out all the crap)
* Brake pads (rear one's are stuffed completely, will do the front ones as well)
* Cam belt service + Water Pump
* Airbag light has come on Embarrassed

The car actually has a lil over 225000 kms on the clock instead of 255000 kms, as I had initially said, my bad Cheesy.

Few other things to do/look into:

* Possibly tie rod ends and the sort as I'm still getting a lil creaky noise after sorting out the CV's.
* My front and rear fogs don't work, fuse isn't blown, but the switch doesn't light up either.
* Electric mirrors don't work, same story as the fogs.

Any ideas on getting out nasty odours from this thing?
I would take the car in and have it done, but then it's pointless having a thread.

Another thing is which oil do I use?
Spoke to a few places, some say use 20W50, or 10W40.

Please help.
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Prospeeder

This stuff works fantastic to eliminate odors out of cars. Good luck on the car, the creaks are probably tie rods or control arms. The air bag light is most likely side airbag igniter, which if so, you just use contact cleaner on the connector under the seat and clear the codes. Should take care of it. As far as oil, Use 5w40 synthetic oil, change every 6k-7k miles.

https://www.amazon.com/ZORBX-2020-Va...keywords=zorbx

Trevor Govender

Hey bud. Thanks for the info. I need to do a major service on this car as soon as possible, was thinking of doing an engine oil flush, any other fluids I should change? By the way it's triptronic.

Spartan81005

Check the coolant make sure that everything is right there. Meaning that its the pink color it should be and that it hasn't been mixed. When I bought mine it looked pink but not as pink as it looks when you use fresh G12 then in the truck I found a container of Race coolant that was premixed for any make and model and it was opened but looked still really full. Don't risk it just flush it and start over again. Ball joints are super easy to check on these cars. And I would check all the water drains to make sure they are all clear. You don't want them to be blocked and pour out into your car.

Spartan81005

Also I found that Keeping an extra few Coils to be a great idea as well. A week after I got mine I had a bad plug and a coil go bad as well. I personally just replace all but one of the ones because I could tell it was already a replacement. I don't know if its a common issue on the V6 as I have the 1.8T but it seems to be common with all Audis. SO I keep 2 extra sets of plugs and 2 extra Coils incase. I personally just got the ones from Autozone. They are the duralast brand but they also have a lifetime warranty so if it goes out I can get a new one that day with no worries. As a new to Audi those are some of the main things Ive ran into.

Prospeeder

If it is an Automatic then for sure change that fluid! Take the pan off and do the filter. Just get the car level, pump fluid in the fill hole till it runs out, start the car, and continue pumping fluid in till it runs out., usually you want the fluid temp to get close to 30c, but 5.5-6 quarts is what it should take. Put the plug in and your done.

Trevor Govender

Hey everyone, sorry about not posting up any pics, I don't really know how to. There's been a few updates since my last post.

Friday - I had decided to bite the bullet and took the car to a Bosch Service Center not that far away from where I stay. The guy is a lil steep (almost dealer prices) compared to other monkeys around, but I've heard nothing other than fantastic reviews about him, and was advised that he is second to, if not better than the stealers, as he uses genuine parts, but alas we shall see after her R2500 ZAR (183 USD) "major" service. I got a quote back about my brake discs and pads, it's a lil alarming to say the least, as I haven't really budgeted for that. A local spares shop quoted me R1100 ZAR (80 USD) for a pair of rear discs and a pair of brake pads, I'm not sure whether to go that route for now, or splurge the R3000 (218 USD) for the real stuff. Decisions, decisions, costly decisions.

Trevor Govender

I am curious about LED bulbs... but I'm not too confident with ordering them from overseas, and the likes of e-codes and what not, however, if anyone has tried and tested these out, please let me know. I'm also thinking of retrofitting puddle lights, probably tapping into the door warning lights or probably look for some old mirrors from a local scrapyard and attack them with a dremel tool.

I still have my Concert 1, I don't think I will be replacing it, I've looked at Concert 2's and stuff, but it didn't look right, anyway... my concert 1 didn't come with a CD changer, and I wanna hook up one of those digital music adapters. Lol if it can't be done, I can deal with Cassette Tapes... got an original Commodores lying somewhere around... "There's gonna be some sweet sounds... haha"

Trevor Govender

Saturday - I just got in touch with my mechanic in the wee parts of the morning. Turns out the extreme wear and tear on the disc affected the bearings, and I looked at options, my best bet with labour is fitting oem parts, it was a matter of R600 ZAR (43 USD) more for a much better warranty for the discs and pads. Looking at another R850 ZAR (62 USD) for the bearings. Just got the tie rod ends and what nots to do. Turns out that perhaps oil mixed with the coolant... Bleh... Gasket. Service will probably be over by the time I post this, just waiting for the printout on the diagnostics to come thru. If there are any gremlins, it's time to get rid of them once and for all.