Jtanenbaum

I recently bought a roadster with 19k miles on it. I expected a few known problems such as center cluster is no good, the glass wind screen belt is shot..... however i now need a new fuel sender as the gas tank reads backwards and I have vacuum booster leak. The car looks like a time capsule but many plastic parts just seem to dry out even when not used. Will a small Euro shop cost less than a dealer? If not, no need to go with a small shop.

Vegas-roadster

If you can't find an Audi indy shop, most VW shops will work on an Audi. Make sure you replace the timing belt and all associated parts ASAP. If it were me, I'd get it towed to the shop to get it done. Most folks like the DeiselGeek kit.

Jtanenbaum

Thanks Vegas.I have always leased new Audis so the stealership wasn't a concern as everything was covered. This is not my daily driver. I used to have an old vette that was much easier to tinker with. Found a shop but they weren't much cheaper.

As for the belt/water pump. I am pouring over the records to see if the belt was done. Sometimes they put a sticker on the cover. If not, you are right. An engine this young shouldn't be gambled with. BTW, this car spent some years in Vegas. Might be why some plastics dried out lol. Thanks for your advice.

Vegas-roadster

I used mine as a DD and many long trips throughout the SW, including most TT West. I usually get a new TT at about 90K miles. My neighbor has a hanger queen that's been averaging about 2000 miles/year. Maybe we'll see you at TT west next year. We're on Facebook.

Lots of tuning parts available for the mK 1 if you are into that.

Jtanenbaum

This thing was barely used in the last few years. Lots of documentation though. However, I am gonna plunk down for the T belt before I do the other fixes. I am in NJ so I won't be able to join any west coast events. However, I am within two hours of Shokan which is a huge salvage yard dedicated to Audis. I might get lucky sourcing some of the stuff I need for DIYs. I do have a question. It makes some noise behind both seats as you travel over bumps. Creaking noises like plastics rubbing. I guess thats some of the cowling you would experience. That said, did you experience the same thing with your mk1? Would a simple fix be to get some of that one sided tape made for sound dampening? Stick it behind the plastic?

Vegas-roadster

Are you talking about the seat noise or suspension noises? The seats can rattle over bumps. However, there should be no rattles or squeaks on the driver seat. Move the passenger seat against the rear to solve its rattle. Never experienced any creaking anywhere except when the front suspension bushings wore out prematurely - a common problem on the Mk 1. If it is seats, I would guess leather dryness with age is causing squeaks against the plastic.

Jtanenbaum

I think it’s just parts that have dried out or need a little silicon spray. Except I can’t replicate it by leaning on the car. So I know it’s not suspension. Will try to detect further.

Wvbikr

I recently purchased a 2001 roadster also. The car had 26,000 miles on it and had the same squeak you’re talking about. I replaced the shocks and struts and it took care of the issue! Made a lot better ride also. Sitting does not do any good at all for the rubber parts. If you feel confident, it may be that the hand needs reversed on your fuel gage. If the cluster took a hard jolt it could’ve flipped. I don’t see anyway possible for the fuel sending unit to be bad and work backwards but I am no Audi expert either. I have had the instrument cluster apart and replaced the LCD so I’d know that the operation of the hand can drive backwards. If you have any questions, let me know. I may be able to walk you through it.

Jtanenbaum

I need to replace the lcd display. I had to sort through bigger issues. The timing belt was 17 years old. Was able to eliminate the suspension issues. Which ended up being a loose engine cover piece. When taking out the cluster did you need to disconnect the battery? I have seen some YouTube vids but don’t recall if you need to disconnect the battery. The more I think about it, you must be right. The guage is backwards. So the issue has to be with the cluster. I am not brave enough to solder a new display myself. I dint want to ship the cluster out. I live in NJ and prefer to have it done on site. I wonder if there are electrical tech shops that do this work.

Wvbikr

It depend on if you have Immo or not. They started with that mid year 01. An easy way to tell is to put your key in and move to the run position, not start. If you have a blinking key in the rpm cluster, you have Immo. I wouldn’t suggest removing the cluster without reading up on it. If it doesn’t, I have not disconnected my battery when doing cluster work. Just make sure your key is off and out of the ignition.

The fuel gage has two coils in the driver motor. One for deflection to full and the other to drive it down. If you were to remove the cluster and take the six small torx screws out and then unclip and remove the cover, you can then gently take your finger and flip the fuel hand to the other side. This should put it to the correct direction. You have to be really careful putting the cover back on because those two small gages do not have a stop. They use the bezel cover for their stop.

As far as the lcd goes, if you wanna drive to the Memphis area, I would be happy to do it for you. Hahaha! All jokes aside, if you do not have solder experience and some good tools, I would not attempt it. If you look on the tannin electronics website, they have a new two piece screen that I have been using on my own. It is coated with anti glare material like the original. The only draw-back is they are about 100.00 dollars. The cheap Chinese ones on eBay can be purchased from 15-30 bucks and they are all the same. You can see all the complaints online. Some of them last 15 minutes and some last for a couple of years. I have purchased a couple of used clusters from eBay and have fixed them.