Jeff Doble

I decided to take today off to start cleaning the car up a bit. It was warm for once which was a real treat.

Before I did anything I decided to snap a few pictures so you could see just how filthy the engine bay was. 18 years of grime sure adds up. Here's a picture from behind the front bumper underneath where the radiator mounts:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314450.jpg">

And here's a view of the same area from the other side. Note the power steering pump hanging from a zip tie:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314452.jpg">

The battery tray is a bit corroded but it's not that bad. When I bought the car the previous owner had installed the wrong size battery which had a ton of battery gunk forming around the terminals. Well, it overflowed onto the passenger side strut tower and ate right through the paint. It's now a bit rusty. I'm hoping to prime the area before putting everything back together to help stop more rust from forming.

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314448.jpg">

I decided to pull out the bottom of the airbox since it's only held in with one bolt so I could clean a little better. Before I took it out I snapped a pic. Notice that I have all the wiring terminals covered in ziploc bags. Even though I wound up not using a hose this is probably a good thing to do to prevent corrosion while I figure out what to do with the engine. You can also see some of the A/C lines taking up space. I cut some of them out later in the day. Before airbox removal:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314449.jpg">

Dirty airbox:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314455.jpg">

The subframe and tranny housing were utterly filthy. As some of you know the oil filter isn't in the best place. As soon as you unscrew it oil drips all over the place before finally coming out the bottom of the car. After numerous oil filter changes plenty of dirt has clung to the residue left over on the subframe. The sway bar is in good shape but dirty.

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314451.jpg">

On the way to my parents house this morning I attempted to buy some Simple Green. They should call it hard-to-find Green. I checked a K-mart, three supermarkets, and two drug stores without luck. In the end I bought some citrus degreaser stuff I figured would work as well. The first thing I did this morning was to soak a portion of the engine bay with this citrus stuff. It didn't do anything. Nothing at all. After trying a few other things I had in the garage I ended up using some Bug N' Tar remover that worked pretty damn well. The verdict:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314472.jpg">
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314473.jpg">

After slightly more than 6 hours hunched over my engine bay I called it quits. My back is reminding me now...... Anyhow, I tried not get to **** (as much as I'd like to) about the cleanliness of the engine bay since this isn't a full restoration or anything. I got the majority of the road grime out but didn't do anything to the tranny housing or area near the firewall. Bam!

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314457.jpg">

I pulled out the coolant overflow tank too:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314459.jpg">

The area behind the bumper came pretty clean but was probably the hardest part to do. There sure is a lot of irregularly shaped sheet metal and holes back there!

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314460.jpg">
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314470.jpg">

Remember that mega dirty power steering fluid reservior. Some elbow grease cleaned up that gem:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314461.jpg">

Here you can see where the airbox used to be. Also note the cut a/c lines (one in the middle of the picture, and one just under the battery tray). It looks like the rest of the lines go through the firewall which I wasn't about to get into right now. I just used a razor blade to hack off as much of the ends as I could.

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314458.jpg">

A better picture of the hacked a/c lines. You can also see where I stopped cleaning (back under the battery tray).

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314462.jpg">

The subframe and sway bar cleaned up nicely. I also tried to scrub some of the inside of the tranny bellhousing but that was taking too much time. Instead I just used a toothbrush and scraped some of the bigger crap out:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314464.jpg">

Here's the best I could do with plenty of water and some old rags on the battery tray.

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314469.jpg">

My back told me to stop cleaning the engine bay but it was too warm to stop for day and there was still day light left so I decided to clean some other bits and pieces up. First was the starter:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314479.jpg">
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314482.jpg">

Next were some plates and the drivers side motor mount heat shield:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314483.jpg">
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314484.jpg">

The last thing I did was pull the injectors from the head. The tips look good but I can't figure out what to do with them. I think a brand new set is around $120 and cleaning/testing is around $100. I'll probably soak them is some sort of cleaner and just reinstall them. Pulling them out is a bitch. People keep telling me they just pop out but I've never had that experience. Even though I replaced all the o-ring seals a bunch of months ago they were still pretty hard to get out. And that's without the intake manifold in the way!

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314488.jpg">

After today, I have two questions. The first one is that I noticed what I think is a vacuum line going to the brake booster was broken. It looks old and brittle but I think I broke this sometime during engine removal. What does this line do?

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314465.jpg">

And my second question concerns the knock sensor. The sheathing on the wire is crap. It almost looks like it's some kind of metal weave. The wiring underneath is still intact but the sheathing is toast. How can I test this sensor? And should I replace it? I think it costs about $40 so I'd rather just test it of course.

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314466.jpg">

Whew, it's going to be hard to figure out where all these parts go! Notice the old blue litter box I was using as a cleaning tub.

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/27314492.jpg">

Signing off for today. I hope to get the head fully disassembled tomorrow.

JD

CGTBrad

During annual inspections, my father throws the injectors into an untrasonic jewlery cleaner that my mom has... *Shrug* i think you can get them pretty cheap...

AudiSport4000

That bay cleaning sure does look nice Jeff. Alot easier with the engine out, eh? My AC compressor looks alot like your starter did, but worse, there is stuff caked on there, its nasty.
Keep us posted with more pics, they are truly helpful!

Mike

ddg=shinebox racing

You get a "10" for pics and presentaion!!!!!!!

Let this be a lesson for all the other forum Jerkys, all major work must be accompanied with pics and cool captions!!!!!!!!

<img src="http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi/images/rebuild16.jpg">

neuroptic

Simple Green can be had at Wal-Mart(I got some yesterday!) BTW that Gunk foaming engine brite is pretty good stuff for future reference. Looks awesome though. As for the rust on the strut tower you might want to get some Extends, which is a paint like stuff that chemically kills the rust. You can get that at Wal-Mart as well. BTW I am not a Wal-Mart spy, it just seems like anymore Wal-Mart does have everything!!@

rocketaudi

hey.. i have that hoist

ddg=shinebox racing

HEY!! where have you been Rocko??? Did you go on a honeymoon with Paul??? :-Þ

austinado16

I posted my injector cleaning suggestions on another post about a week or 2 ago. See if you can find it. If you put some good spray lube on the injector 0-rings, they will pop out much easier (no silicone sprays though, it kills the oxygen sensor). Having the right injector removal tool makes a big difference too.

As for the broken vacuum line. I'm guessing that feeds the heater and A/C flaps in the dash.

As for the Knox sensor. An new one would be nice with all the work you're doing and remember to torque them down to the correct spec or they won't work right. A bad knox sensor can cause some weird driveability issues.

Try POR-15 (www.por15.com) on all your exposed rust. Incredible stuff.

Have fun!

Jeff Doble

I just noticed on page 15.7 of the Bentley there is a note that reads:

"It is not necessary to replace polygon head bolts when making engine repairs. Bolts can be reused. New polygon bolts are to be used in complete sets only."

Looks like I can reuse the existing head bolts and save $25. Thoughts? I know some of you may say "while you're doing all this work....." but there's about 100 of those "while-you're-in-there's" that will start adding up. The Bentley says it's ok to reuse them which is good enough for me unless someone can prove otherwise.

And I've been pricing cylinder gasket kits lately. They're all more or less around $90. When I add up the individual gasket prices it only adds up to about $40. What gives?

JD

CGTBrad

perhaps the gasket kit comes with the bolts?