aircooled.driver

Hello Allroaders

I´m new to this forum because this could be my first Audi. I´ve been an early 911 Porsche owner/mechanic for years, but since I became a dad I´ve been looking for something with a little more space.
I´ve been offered a 2003 Allroad 2.7t with a list of faults for free. The owner have had it for ten years and are not willing to try to get it back on the road again.

Main issue; it has been standing still for about one year due to the right rear suspension airbag could be leaking. I was planning to get the car up on a trailer to get it to my garage if the car dont raise up from the bump stops.

If the airbags are empty of pressurised air due to the long standstill, can I damage the airbags when starting the car and it tries to refill and level?

Or could I disable the compressor and drive it (careful) a short distance to the garage on the bump stops?

/Magnus

MrKid

I wouldn't drive it. It sounds like a least one bag is shot already, and the rest are probably on their way from sitting. If you attempt to drive it, the compressor will just shut itself off after about 2 minutes, and won't restart until the key is cycled off and on again.
I have two good air bags and a rebuilt compressor I'll be selling. Let me know if you're interested.
Clean looking car, and great color btw.

Mike B

I love that color combination. Hope its a 6mt.
Don't drive it; too much risk of real damage.
Get it home and put it in the garage on jack stands and then start it up and let it try to fill the bags when there's little or no resistance.
There are a couple of options for air bags; Arnott Industries and rebuildmastertech.
bagpipinandy (a member here) makes an excellent compressor rebuild kit for only about $50 or so. No need to replace the compressor in most cases.
Free is good. Leaves a lot of money for restore/repair.
Good luck and keep us updated with the results.

jamesm0913

You got that for free? I'm jealous, because I've been looking for a rescue project allroad in that price range.

You can drive it very short distances in the condition it's in, like from the trailer in the road up the driveway into the garage short. Don't try to drive it home in this condition.

Are there any other issues with it, like transmission issues? If the suspension is the only problem needing repair you really scored.

CT6speedAR

real talk, that car is not free.
In that pic I see $1500 to $4500 fix in suspension right now.
Even if 1 bag is bad, you still need to change in pairs (otherwise it makes no sense)
And if the bag was bad for a while you need a pump, which means you are probably going to just do coil-overs, which are $1500 plus labor.
Then you need to address other issues from sitting.... how are the brakes? was it sitting on grass? did rodents nest inside the engine?
A 6 Speed MIGHT be worth the hassle IF it was pristine on the inside and the engine looked and sounded good, but then you still need to do TB + WP + VCG etc...
If it was an automatic I would part it out. Then at least you can make money to buy a 6 speed some day.

MrKid

Must of us that have bought used Allroads have dealt with all of the above issues, PLUS the initial price. I was lucky to get mine for $2800 with a new tranny. I've added $2000 to that already...

bertrenolds

Sell it before you get to far in and have to keep going and hate this POS! That is where I am at, sure its a nice car but it has a plethora of issues I guarantee if its over 100k. You are a mechanic so you are the right kind of owner. The air suspension is nice but there is a coilover option that is available on the web and I am pretty sure you can get rebuilt/cheaper air bag suspension then buying from the dealer. Sometimes the pump is just bad and can't create enough pressure to pump all the bags up. Even after my pump rebuild my pump still struggles and I pressure tested every air bag. Could be my block.

aircooled.driver

Great response here. Wow.

Good or bad? I would never let a friend get this car. He would be in to much of a trouble.
But I am to curious to not give the car a try.
I will see it with my own eyes first time on Friday. It has an automatic trans and 100k on the odo.
Will try to get it to level 3 carfully and press jack mode to see how fast it drops over night. If it not drops too fast then I'm going to locate other issues first and do a compression test on the engine.
But so far, I don't even now if it will start. I

I'll keep you updated.

MrKid

Don't let the horror stories get you down. These are definitely "enthusiasts" cars. The shocks are always a sore point, but there are many options. Some give you factory ride and control, some give you better handling but a slight loss in ride quality.

With 100k on the odometer, you need to be sure a few things were done.

Timing belt
water pump
coolant pump(after-run)

Then there is the list of probably-should-replace

Valve cover gaskets
half moons
cam seals
cam tensioner seals

By yourself a 3" cleanout and coupler from Home Depot, and do a boost test on the turbo piping.

http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Audi/C5...eakTesting.pdf

This list should give you a great running car, with an investment of half the book value.

aircooled.driver

Hello

It´s been a while since i wrote. I´ve manage to get the car running and it´s in pretty good condition. Book is fully stamped but will need service at current mileage. Compressor can lift the car to level 4 (with restarts), but it takes forever.
I´ve also found an ants habitat and eliminated it, almost.

And the car has issues;

• Leakage on both front and rear passenger side airbags, front drops slightly over night but rear drops to bump stop within an our when parked in jack mode. Got fault code 00776 - Level Control Sensor, Left Front (G78)

• A small coolant leak which I haven´t figured out where it is yet.

• It has a tiptronic and when gearbox is in operating temp, it sometimes get to limp mode when going from D to R. Clears when I restart the car. Got fault code 17090 - Transmission Range Sensor (F125).

I tried to get the compressor out of the car and refit a new piston ring from bagpipinandy but was stranded when two of the three aluminum sleeves holding the compressor was corroded and stuck on the rods.

I also got VCDS running.