The Project Pad

Car looks uber clean. Nice.

I'm (slowly) working towards a boost gauge where the clock sits. Perfectly in the line of sight and with the right needle & face, totally OEM+

chaloux wrote:Expect to pay ~800-1000 for one that is crack free or repaired (properly) and ready for paint.

I have one for sale

loxxrider wrote:Interior looks nice, and I bet the engine bay will clean up nicely too.

Definitely keep the kpa boost gauge of you can, it'll save you from having to convert from psi to kpa all the time while tuning!

Definitely go vems of you are leaning that way. Well worth it for reliability (no more maf) , cost, and tuning potential of course.

I like the kpa gauge but the gauge itself is a cheap one that wont fit anywhere in the car and look good. I might see if I can find a kpa gauge somewhere that is actually designed for a car.

As far as the VEMS I am going to do that, in fact I can't wait to, but I need to be able to afford it first. I need to sell one of my cars (coupe/s4) I just can't bring myself to do it.

varia wrote:I have one for sale

I may have found one locally but how much are you looking to get? This is off your pearl parts car?

I posted the bumper for $650, sold it locally in 20mins

Hence the reason they typically go for 800-1000 in good shape

At that price I'd rather work on tuning and get the car fast before I make it look better.
Also, at that price, I'd rather get a parts car. One sold locally on craigslist a while ago for 2K and I was really kicking myself in the ass for passing on it.

Well did some detailing today, did a medium cut on the paint to clean up all the water spots, tree sap and BS.
Before:


After the first pass with a buffer:


After wax:


Dont think the hood is coming back.

Ok, curious if anyone has any input regarding this misfire I have.
It comes and goes, every few days, seems to be more often now. Its a constant misfire even at idle or sometimes only under load.
Just stole my EFI Express coils from my coupe and swapped them in, still have a misfire. So "POS" and oe coils are eliminated from the equation.
So I bought a new Bosch coolant temp sender today, swapped that in, no change.
Next I may try a known working MAF, or 02 sensor.
Injectors is last on my list because I dont have any spare stock injectors, only 42# green tops.

A nice way to eliminate vac leaks as the cause of the problem is to run it on vems

loxxrider wrote:A nice way to eliminate vac leaks as the cause of the problem is to run it on vems

I know man I am ready to pull the trigger except, I am getting ready to work 45 days straight, 13 hr shifts, starting monday so I wont have time to get the VEMS installed and tuned anyways. I am just trying to patch this one issue to get me through the next couple of months as a commuter, then I will get the PnP setup.

loxxrider wrote:A nice way to eliminate vac leaks as the cause of the problem is to run it on vems

Damnit dude you got me.
Ok ordered the VEMS pNP today from Marc, and the wideband.

As far as the misfire did some more trouble shooting.
Swapped coils,no change.
Swapped ecu to a spare ecu, no change.
Swapped spark plugs to new NGK bkr7e , no change.
Misfire stays in #3 cyl.
Let the car cool and Swapped #3 injector to #2 cyl and 2 to 3, misfire stays in 3

Compression check?

wiring to #3 injector?

alxdgr8 wrote:Compression check?

May be one of the next things to look at if I dont see any wiring issues.
because the misfire comes and goes, that gives me hope that it's not something mechanical.
I'm really hoping its wiring related .
I know this car was worth 1,000 less than what I paid for it , and this is before I knew it had a misfire. But I wanted an avant so bad, and the guy seemed honest so I didn't low ball him . But about 3 days before I came down to see the car he said it started misfiring then went away. So at the time of test drive it ran great. So hopefully the Audi gods have gives me some karma points there.

ringbearer wrote:wiring to #3 injector?

This is the next thing I'm going to check. However, One thing is, am almost sure I can hear the injector solenoid clicking when it's plugged in. Also, the spark plug and the cylinder are wet.
Almost seems like something is telling #3 coil not to fire.
I am running the LS2 coils, Is it ok to disconnect The plug wire to that plug when running and check for power there?

Definitely sounds like it could be wiring related based on the troubleshooting.

Lol glad you took the plunge to vems

Have you tried to lay the spark plug wire on the valve cover and check for spark arcing?

or with a spark tester and see if one is weaker.
I would disconnect the trigger wires to the coil not the plug wire

Dumb question, but have you done an output test as per the Bentley? (Is that how you can hear the solenoid clicking?)

i didnt do the output test, what I did is test all the grounds at the coil packs and verify that those were working. It ended up being an ls2 coil that shorted.
So, I replaced my stock coils with a set of new LS2 coils, and one of those was bad from the factory.

Started replacing my exhaust with the 034 MS exhaust. Just installed the downpipe, but It doesn't fit pefectly which frustrates me. For what i paid there should not be any clearance issues.
The complete stock exhaust was still on this car, with no rust or issues, which is kind of cool. Makes me really glad I opted to get a car that was close by. When i was taking off the bolts I found some of them still had that bluish green coating under the nuts.


New downpipe:


The clearance issue.. It's pinned up against the trans mount, which is putting extra stress on the turbo and manifold . Not sure if there is a way to fix this- any ideas?

Can you use washers on the one side to purposely misalign the DP and get enough clearance?

PRY4SNO wrote:Can you use washers on the one side to purposely misalign the DP and get enough clearance?

the flange that needs to be adjusted is the one at the turbo, so i can't do anything there or I'd have an exhaust leak. But, the weight of the rest of the exhaust may help a little to pull it in the right direction. Ill get it on there and see.

Is it pinned against that bracket for the old exhaust? Do you still need that bracket?

audifreakjim wrote:Is it pinned against that bracket for the old exhaust? Do you still need that bracket?

No, sorry, not a good picture. I removed the bracket. For now it's not used but I may tig on a stainless hanger that works with that bracket to add some stability. Seems like a good point to retain if i can.