Raymond Coletta

I just bought my first Audi it a 98 A6 2.8 automatic Quattro with 42 k miles. Grandpa owned. All seems good. What are somethings I should be looking for to prevent problems. I plan on using it as a daily driver. Thanks for any help.

Harleyguy

Since your gramps was the owner, does he have maintenance records? If so, check to see what has been done. At that age the timing belt replacement is a must, even with the low miles. Belt is probably showing ageing signs or dry rot. If it lets go you will do a lot of damage to the engine. Get a belt kit that includes all the guide rollers and idler pulley. If there are signs of any coolant leaks from the water pump or thermostat change them at the same time you do the timing belt. Transmission should be serviced, too. Oil and filter unless recently done. Again depends on maintenance history. Recommend you find an independent shop that has the ability to work on Audi's. Indy shop is way cheaper than dealer but make sure they know what they are doing. Many repairs are highly technical and if not done correctly will cost a bundle to redo. Sounds like you may have gotten a real treasure. Check in to the forum often. You can learn a lot and members are eager to help when they can.

tester123

Sounds like the it needs to be floored few times to get all the cob webs out of the engine. A 98 with 42k miles? WOW! Take it for a good spin and Have fun kid .

georgeb944

I'm a grandpa and I drive the heck out of my cars. Just because you're a grandpa doesn't mean that you have forgotten how to floor it.

tester123

Awesome! Hey, my car is only 3 years younger than yours so, we are not too far off. Plus, I've one over yours, Mileage now close to 150k...

You don't see to many of 98 A6s with 42k miles and that is something !

Raymond Coletta

It was owned by neighbors dad who pasted 5 years ago and now his mom passed this year The car sat in here driveway for five years and the sons would dive the car once a week to move it around to keep activity going on at house. I'm picking it up this weekend on Long Island to drive up to Saratoga. Hope it goes well. I was a Saab tech for a while , never worked on any audis , my big question is the timing belt , how long can it go on original? Hope to find maintenance records. Thanks. I'll let you know how the drive home goes.

Raymond Coletta

Harleyguy

You appear to be in dire need of a headlight lens treatment. The left doesn't look so bad but the right is horrible. Most of the kits are fairly inexpensive. A kit by Mothers is about $12 or so at Walley World and works well. I have used their kit several times and got terrific results. I would only go 75K miles before changing it. Then again you have to consider age. It could have been changed 20k ago, but might have been 6years ago. weathering and dry rot could cause it to fail before the miles run out. Also another point; you might want to cover your plates when posting pictures of your car. Could be used for nefarious purposes. Just sayin'.

tester123

Well, since you are/were a tech, timing belt job should be easy for you.

You can get timing belt kits from few places like Ecstuning.com, and Blauparts.com.

Make sure you get all tools required (i.e. Cam lock bar, crankshaft lock pin etc). I've used blauparts kit and was able to rent tools required. I am not associated with them in any way or form but I like their products and service.

The crank lock pin that came in the box had chewed up threads and I couldn't use it. No way I was going to rip threads out of my engine with a bad tool! Called them, explained it, they overnight'd a new one. Job went forward without an issue.

Now that I think about it, I suppose some quality control on their part would've eliminated some minor frustration for me as well as overnight shipping charges for them but, it's good to know that they stand behind their products and services.

Anyway, that was my personal experience. You can and should, shop around to find a deal that works for you. Do a quick search for timing belt and you should find good resources on this forum.

Raymond Coletta

I put on my. New plates check the tires and fluid levels but couldn't find trans dip stick. Filled up the gas tank and drove 225 miles Car ran strong and smooth . The drivers seat became uncomfortable after two hours. And wind noise on the highway. Other issues sunroof not working, dash info display pixelated and glove box stuck cliosed corners of dash by a pillar curled up a little and head line sagging a little by passenger rear door..overall the car is great just needs some love. Thanks for the advice. Need help on display repairs other than bba wants 320 to fix. I found a used glove box