Articus

Hi all,

I just picked up an '01 S8. Wanted to see if the community had any opinions on how to sort out it's initial issues.

1) Brake vibration - Figure the car is due for rotors pads as rotors may be warped?

2) Vibration over 75mph. Seems like vibration from either wheels, or maybe warped brake rotor?

3) At full throttle from a stop, I am getting two thumps, not sure if it's transmission, or driveshaft etc. Transmission is smooth shifting in auto and in tip mode. Consistent two thumps every time, makes me think it's transmission as the transmission should function systematically (i.e two thumps every time) but other than full throttle, the transmission shifts perfectly. Maybe a driveshaft or ch joint?

4) Heavy/heavier steering. PO suggested an issue with servotronic. Not really up to speed on what causes this common problem. Solenoid valve in the rack? Servotronic relay? The steering isn't undriveable, but you can tell the steering effort is more than when it came from the factory.


Sorry their isn't too much detail, but if this rings any bells, feel free to chime in.

osin34

New owner here too! But had a D2 A8 for a while before the S.. I would def check for warped rotors and pad material to see where everything stands. Also tire balance, could be missing a weight somewhere causing the higher speed vibration, or also could be the rotors.


Im not sure on the other two issues, but I will say it doesn't seem far off from being correct regarding the servotronic. Thumping under accel, not sure... something in there!

Y888

Id say vibration is from a bent wheel,when i changed to used 19s from my stock 18s im getting a vibration too.
If you decide to get new rot and pads my opinion is to get oem.
Iv had trw(made in usa) pads front and back and they squealed so bad at the back,on the front they were grinding like crazy.
went with Oem(front brembo made in france,rear trw made in germany,bought from a dealer) and no problems.

i had heavy steering too and a leak on my ps pump.
After new pump and fluid its significantly easier but not 100% as it should be.
Could be that old fluid is clogging the system.

As for transmission thumps im getting those too even after fresh fluid and filter.
Iv read somewhere that its a abs sensor that gets dirty and sends wrong signal to the transmission.

Post some pics,lets see how the car looks like.

Articus

A few more things I noticed and looking for suggestions on:

1) I am only getting warm air when I set the HVAC to 80 deg. Which I find a bit high compared to my other Audi of the same vintage. Also tt seems like there is very little air blowing out the vents, like something is blocked maybe? Or could it be a heater core issue?

2) On the passenger side of the car, on the area below the doors, all of it is cracking apart and pieces have fallen off of it. Is this a known problem/fixable? It seems like it was some sort of sound deadening material because there is more black trim under it. It's flaking off like scales at the moment and turning white. Not sure at all what is going on there.

twentysevenlitres

The body/chassis is Aluminium. That scaling and flaking with white underneath sounds like aluminium corrosion - especially if the exposed metal is powdery and blotchy (dark and light patches).
Get it checked - aluminium is reasonably resistant to corrosion (at least compared to steel) and if it's early days a rub down, treatment and respray of the affected areas may be sufficient to restore it to a serviceable condition.

HVAC may be out of gas - have it checked and run it in Econ in the meanwhile.
I had aircon issues over the last couple of years - turned out my compressor was stuffed and spread nasty grey powder (aluminium again) throughout the a/c piping. It blew the first (replacement) compressor and has resulted in two receiver/dryers and 3 orifice tubes plus a clean and 4 recharges!
Take it to a tame aircon expert if you know one and have them check the Orifice Tube. If it's clogged up with grey crud and the compressor has a leak, make sure they flush the system thoroughly to remove as much of the crud as possible. Replace the Dryer at a minimum and consider condenser replacement too.

Articus

Thanks for the tips marty. I think the refrigerant system is ok because it was 74F out yesterday and I was getting ice cold air from the vents on low. I need to play with it a little more because I don't think I was clear up there. Hoping I just need to get air out of the system and it's not that after run pump for the heat rest mode that is blocking flow to heater cores.


Regarding the trim flaking here is a photo:



I don't think it's aluminum at all. It's definetly not metal from what I can tell. It's almost a bit like plaster. on the drivers sides, it's all together and black. On passenger side, this has happened. Any ideas how to repair?

Articus

Loving the S8, need to get a bunch of maintenance items done though, just ordered a brake rotors/pads/ timing kits etc and saved a ton at FCP Euro with the memorial day discounts. Hopped on to Audionline parts and got G13 ($17 x 2), and 3 liters brake fluid ($8.00x3) with free shipping. It was a steal compared to anything else I saw online.

As stated, I'm trying to sort out the vacuum pod issue, moved the car out into the sun so I could see what I was working on, then undid the vacuum pod and definetly broke the pod in the process where it attached on the top, I didn't want to get a vacuum leak when I moved the car so I plugged the tube with a sharpie and moved the car back under the shade

Articus

The car is a blast to drive. The sense that you are driving a german tank, true autobahn hauler, is immense. I do need to figure out how to quiet things down however.

I think the tires on it are the source of all the road noise but they are not looking like they need replacing anytime soon...Has anyone ever added sound deadening?

twentysevenlitres

Hi mate,
Hard to tell from your photo where that is, got a wider angle shot with some other panels (like the door) to locate it visually?

Still looks like the undersealer is flaking off if that's under the door on the sill (looks like the metal fold near the jacking points at the bottom there..).
Under the underseal is metal, probably with a zinc protective layer (would need to check galvanic tables to see if zinc would work as a sacrificial coating on aluminium, like it does on steel).
If that's the case, you will still need to remove what's left of the underseal, treat or remove any corrosion which may have caused it to flake, then reapply an underseal and reapply the Satin Black top coat.

That Vacuum Reservoir should be part# 443131541
(The 3 bubble design hidden under the front guards?)

chad951s

Welcome Articus. Your gonna love your S8. I just had to replace my brake rotors due to warped front rotors. I picked up the stoptech cryo drilled rotors with Hawk HPS pads. I just love this setup. Very good feel and low dust. I picked up everything from tirerack.

Here's a pic of the front.