My A6 Progression and General Maintenance Thread
Hello guys! https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/styles...asn/ac/bye.gif
After reading a few threads on the forums I thought I would try my hand at keeping a build/progression thread on my Audi A6 so I can keep track on what's been done to the car. I won't be doing anything major regarding modifications but more of a general maintenance thread.
As mentioned the spec is pretty standard, but here's the option codes in the logbook and boot:
https://i.imgur.com/l4MXSkl.png
Here's a couple pictures of the car (Previous owner photos as I've not had much time to take some, especially when she's clean!):
https://i.imgur.com/D9AgFWv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/v2snVEz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DNNKnro.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/FteCHJ3.jpg
Current faults upon purchase:
- Chipped paint/rust on the boot, passenger rear quarter, start and end of each sill, bottom of each door and top of the windscreen. (Todo)
- Rear light clusters letting in water, causing condensation. (Fixed - Clusters dried out using hair-dryer, rubber seal removed to prove airflow | Link: Rear Cluster Condensation Section)
- Passenger-side front door sagging, causing loud bang when closing. (Todo)
- Passenger-side rear door sagging, causing loud bang when closing. (Todo)
- Flywheel rattling when pulling away and with clutch pressed. (Fixed - Clutch and Rattling Flywheel replaced)
- Driver-side window will not move, buggered regulator. (Todo)
- Excessive shaking and shudder when the car is switched off and at idle. (Fixed - Clutch and Manifold Flap replaced to stop shuddering)
- Battery is at the end of its life, throwing warning messages when engine is not on. (Fixed - Battery replaced with higher CCA)
- Loud banging from the back of the car when going over uneven road. (Fixed - Rear Drop Links and Top Mounts replaced)
- Some interior trim has usual VAG soft-touch peeling. (Todo)
- Broken sun-visor clip. (Todo)
- Driver-side heated seat doesn't operate (No DTC in VCDS). (Todo)
Planned upgrades and ideas for the future:
- AMI retrofit
- Bluetooth retrofit
- Sat-nav retrofit
- SDS retrofit
- Face-lifted chrome switches (Headlight, window, mirror and handbrake)
- Digital climate control unit
- Digital speedometer with coloured LCD display instead of monochrome
- Possible face-lifted dashboard and speedometer surround
- Auto-dimming rear view mirror
As you can see there's nothing major in the list for upgrades apart from missing optional extras from the factory. Due to a limited budget of being a student in university possible upgrades may be slower than expected!
** Faults fixed during the 3 month ownership (Outside progression thread): **
General service (Filters and oil changed)
All filters were changed for MANN counterparts which are used in the vehicle from the factory. The oil was also changed with VW Quantum 5W40.
Filters Changed:
- Oil Filter
- Air Filter
- Fuel Filter
- Pollen Filter
https://i.imgur.com/UjdHaqP.jpg
Rattling flywheel (Flywheel and clutch changed)
Solution for: Flywheel rattling when pulling away and with clutch pressed.
After returning from a family meal the rattling flywheel decided to finally explode on an uphill start at a set of traffic lights, fortunately I'm covered by RAC for recovery. Luckily I have a few friends who are alot more mechanically experienced than I am to replace the clutch and flywheel for a crate of beer!
For a brand new LUK clutch and flywheel it only came to £375 which I more than happy to pay to get back on the road. I've also included a photo of the flywheel when it was taken out of the car, no wonder it wouldn't crank.
https://i.imgur.com/PJ2PLpa.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VpsGx94.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Y97nFrh.jpg
Loud banging from rear (Both rear top mounts and drop links changed)
Solution for: Loud banging from the back of the car when going over uneven road.
Both drop links were replaced with their Lemforder counterparts. The two drop links alone didn't fix the problem but did lower the tone. So next the two rear top mounts were changed for Corteco mounts which were on sale at the time.
The old ones were cracked from top to bottom and were desperately needing a change, this is what I think caused most of the knocking noise which I'm not surprised for a car with 170k miles. After changing the noise was gone completely and it was nice to have a quieter cabin on uneven road.
Unfortunately when changing the top mounts I noticed alot of corrosion on the inside of the wheel arch causing or probably aiding the corrosion to the outside. I will definitely get this sorted during the summer when I'll have the time to do it properly to the effected parts of the wheel arch. The other side was the same and will be treated also. Below is a video of the corrosion inside the wheel arch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBF2OP4fIcg
Excessive shuddering when turning off engine and at idle (Replaced manifold flap (Part No: 03G128063J)
Solution for: Excessive shaking and shudder when the car is switched off and at idle.
When turning off the engine it would shake vigorously and rock you out of your bloody seat. After doing some research I came upon information saying that it's a common problem and not an expensive fix. The fix, changing the manifold flap/shudder valve so it would close accordingly when shutting off the engine.
The part was changed for a second hand counterpart with the part number listed above from eBay. The vibrations at idle were caused by the rattling flywheel and were fixed when changing the flywheel. I originally thought it was the engine mounts but they were already replaced and surprisingly sturdy so I was a little happy knowing it wasn't them. Below is a video of the flap I had before which shut so no DTC, but was still shutting too late so needed replaced:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCZdf2_dWu4
https://i.imgur.com/73BuJIf.jpg
MOT Failure, Two Broken Front Springs (Front two springs changed)
Unfortunately the car failed its yearly MOT. The car failed for two broken springs which was a surprise because the car drove perfectly and you couldn't feel the broken springs at all. Unfortunately trying to change the springs wasn't as easy as first thought. The bolt bolt holding the two upper control arms was completely seized and very awkward to attempt to hammer out. I called it quits and gave the job to the MOT garage to complete.
The MOT garage were supplied with new pinch bolts and nuts direct from Audi as they would have reused the old ones. Part numbers are below:
- N 10491802 - Pinch Bolt (Hex Collared Bolt)
- N 10406105 - Washer for Pinch Bolt
- N 10272302 - Nut for Pinch Bolt
The total price from Audi (March 2018) for two of each of the above = £3.60 (Including VAT)
The MOT was complete and the car passed with no advisories. Below is a picture of the pinch bolt in question:
https://i.imgur.com/8r2ezSd.jpg
Battery Changed (Battery replaced for a Varta 020 version with higher CCA)
Solution for: Battery is at the end of its life, throwing warning messages when engine is not on.
During the 3 month ownership of the car, having the battery warning popup after prolonged use without the engine running started to bug me and I eventually bought a bigger and better battery. The battery was never replaced and it was still the original factory battery. The battery also had a bigger CCA which should help cold starting on cold mornings in Scotland.
The battery wasn't coded as I couldn't find an appropriate serial number to enter into VCDS but the car has been running fine without coding. I may have another look to find the serial to get it setup properly but for now it's running fine.
https://i.imgur.com/oeFDclW.jpg
Well that's all for now regarding fixes and issues that's happened to the vehicle while in my ownership. Hopefully the future will be more upgrades rather than MOT failures and getting recovered. If I do an upgrade or fix a fault I'll definitely post about it to potentially help anyone else with the problem https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/styles.../ab/readit.gif
Thanks for reading,
Cheers, Ryan
Re: My A6 Progression and General Maintenance Thread
Hmmm BLB, you'll need the oil pump drive addressing , BLB is a double trouble as it's both 77mm hex drive key and chain driven so you've got the chain tentioner issue too .
Best convert to remanufactured modified geared with 100mm hex drive .
Re: My A6 Progression and General Maintenance Thread
Very interesting thread. I will follow it.
By the way, there is lots of rusty places, where is that galvanized plate in Audi? Unbelievable, that it can rust so much.
Is the broken flywheel original? It is scary how exploded. Did you get any damage to gearbox?
I am now waiting to change my as well, but I have problem during taking off in first gear, there is juddering. I have bought LuK set, same as yours.
Looking forward for future posts re upgrade and maintenance.
Re: My A6 Progression and General Maintenance Thread
Get dension 500bt with does bluetooth hands free streaming usb and aux. It will save you ami and bluetooth module :)
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Re: My A6 Progression and General Maintenance Thread
Also rear cluster ... i have just changed mine as it was letting in water . 98£ from euro carparts. They have a deal on now
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Re: My A6 Progression and General Maintenance Thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gazwould
Hmmm BLB, you'll need the oil pump drive addressing , BLB is a double trouble as it's both 77mm hex drive key and chain driven so you've got the chain tentioner issue too .
Best convert to remanufactured modified geared with 100mm hex drive .
176k almost 177k and still going strong. Hopefully my key is aligned perfectly and won't wear as fast as there's still 200k+ BLB's still going on original keys. I know it will fail, but its made it this far without failing so hopefully my previous point stands. The situation is always on the back of my mind regarding the oil pump situation. Oil pump delete or buying a gear driven re-furbished balance shaft unit with the uprated key.
The issue would have probably been fixed by now if it didn't require the sub-frame to be lowered and just the removal of the sump like on my previous Golf MK5. My friend who's more mechanically experienced than me mentioned possibly using the BKD block if my engine did decide to starve itself of oil.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Novica
Very interesting thread. I will follow it.
By the way, there is lots of rusty places, where is that galvanized plate in Audi? Unbelievable, that it can rust so much.
Is the broken flywheel original? It is scary how exploded. Did you get any damage to gearbox?
I am now waiting to change my as well, but I have problem during taking off in first gear, there is juddering. I have bought LuK set, same as yours.
Looking forward for future posts re upgrade and maintenance.
Thank you very much for your kind words Novica. Unfortunately the Audi I bought has a little more rust than some of the A6's on the market. As I've previously mentioned I was a little sceptical about posting rust issues as no else seemed to have rust apart from me. I was tempted on just parting with the car and buying a 2.0L TDI Avant, but due to being a student I can't afford to keep changing cars, the car's mechanically good with all the main mechanical problems when a car is 140k+ being repaired.
My previous post about rust:
Should a 2005 Audi A6 (C6) be rusting this badly?
Yes the flywheel was the original one from the factory and looked fine with no burn marks, but was very loose and rattly. The rattles were noticeable when engaging the clutch and pulling away. The gearbox was fortunately not effected by the explosion of springs. My friends did the clutch job for my car but I did help wherever I could. The gearbox was slid onto one of the rear supports and didn't touch the ground at all during the change.
Here is the guide we used when changing the clutch and the flywheel:
How to change a clutch on a Audi A6 - Professional Motor Mechanic
Quote:
Originally Posted by
niedzial1983
Get dension 500bt with does bluetooth hands free streaming usb and aux. It will save you ami and bluetooth module :)
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
I will keep the Dension 500BT in mind as an aftermarket solution. It's still tempting to go down the OEM route and just keep an eye for cheap AMI modules on eBay. There's been some pretty good bargains that I've missed out on :aargh4:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
niedzial1983
Also rear cluster ... i have just changed mine as it was letting in water . 98£ from euro carparts. They have a deal on now
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
I was actually messing around with my passenger-side rear light today as it's letting in water and causing condensation on the lens. Supposedly according to one of the main topics in the forum the solution is to simply drill holes on the top or remove the black weather-seal for the bulb holder. I've removed the seal but will need to dry the light unit which shouldn't be too hard with the nice weather we've been having lately, I'll update when I get them clear.
https://i.imgur.com/ul1GrEE.jpg
Coming from a fellow saloon owner, have you got any tips on getting the black plastic trim for the rear lights to sit flush and engage properly on all its fastening points. I can get all the clips in apart from the bottom one and it's a very fiddly piece of plastic.
https://i.imgur.com/bYUEi37.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/GQCN2XK.jpg
Re: My A6 Progression and General Maintenance Thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ryan M
176k almost 177k and still going strong. Hopefully my key is aligned perfectly and won't wear as fast as there's still 200k+ BLB's still going on original keys. I know it will fail, but its made it this far without failing so hopefully my previous point stands. The situation is always on the back of my mind regarding the oil pump situation. Oil pump delete or buying a gear driven re-furbished balance shaft unit with the uprated key.
The issue would have probably been fixed by now if it didn't require the sub-frame to be lowered and just the removal of the sump like on my previous Golf MK5. My friend who's more mechanically experienced than me mentioned possibly using the BKD block if my engine did decide to starve itself of oil.
Thank you very much for your kind words Novica. Unfortunately the Audi I bought has a little more rust than some of the A6's on the market. As I've previously mentioned I was a little sceptical about posting rust issues as no else seemed to have rust apart from me. I was tempted on just parting with the car and buying a 2.0L TDI Avant, but due to being a student I can't afford to keep changing cars, the car's mechanically good with all the main mechanical problems when a car is 140k+ being repaired.
My previous post about rust:
Should a 2005 Audi A6 (C6) be rusting this badly?
Yes the flywheel was the original one from the factory and looked fine with no burn marks, but was very loose and rattly. The rattles were noticeable when engaging the clutch and pulling away. The gearbox was fortunately not effected by the explosion of springs. My friends did the clutch job for my car but I did help wherever I could. The gearbox was slid onto one of the rear supports and didn't touch the ground at all during the change.
Here is the guide we used when changing the clutch and the flywheel:
How to change a clutch on a Audi A6 - Professional Motor Mechanic
I will keep the Dension 500BT in mind as an aftermarket solution. It's still tempting to go down the OEM route and just keep an eye for cheap AMI modules on eBay. There's been some pretty good bargains that I've missed out on :aargh4:
I was actually messing around with my passenger-side rear light today as it's letting in water and causing condensation on the lens. Supposedly according to one of the main topics in the forum the solution is to simply drill holes on the top or remove the black weather-seal for the bulb holder. I've removed the seal but will need to dry the light unit which shouldn't be too hard with the nice weather we've been having lately, I'll update when I get them clear.
https://i.imgur.com/ul1GrEE.jpg
Coming from a fellow saloon owner, have you got any tips on getting the black plastic trim for the rear lights to sit flush and engage properly on all its fastening points. I can get all the clips in apart from the bottom one and it's a very fiddly piece of plastic.
https://i.imgur.com/bYUEi37.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/GQCN2XK.jpg
I drilled mine 6 months ago, it helped for a bit buy drying the moisture but it didnt stop the water going in with caused the plastic to break. Hence why i replaced for new unit https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...53a451d52d.jpg
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Re: My A6 Progression and General Maintenance Thread
Rear Cluster Condensation (Inside of clusters dried out using hair-dryer)
Solution for: Rear light clusters letting in water, causing condensation.
I eventually got around to drying my lights out today with a hairdryer. They were pretty bad in terms of the amount of water that I poured out of the cluster itself, good 10ml's of water. The condition of the inside of the cluster had deteriorated a little due to the water ingress, but I'm happy to finally see the cluster without water condensation and have a clear lens!
The solution as many A6 owners may know is to either drill holes on the top and bottom of the cluster to provide ventilation for the cluster or to simply remove the rubber seal for the bulb housing as recommended by @swalker. The rubber seal was dried out and cracked so it wouldn't be doing much of a job in terms of sealing the unit. I'm hoping the condensation won't return and I'll eagerly wait and see what happens when it rains and when it's humid outside.
Before:
https://i.imgur.com/ul1GrEE.jpg
After:
https://i.imgur.com/VsirfaO.jpg
Drill holes for anyone wanting to go down the drilling route:
https://i.imgur.com/igbOBMQ.jpg
Rubber seal removal, alternative to drilling holes:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...0ab767de6c.jpg
Re: My A6 Progression and General Maintenance Thread
Hi, sorry if this question is in the wrong area...but do you know if the Audi A6 C6 Avant springs fit a saloon? Thanks
Re: My A6 Progression and General Maintenance Thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nadz1502
Hi, sorry if this question is in the wrong area...but do you know if the Audi A6 C6 Avant springs fit a saloon? Thanks
I shouldn't see why not. Having a look online shows springs for Estate and Saloon having both the same measurements. Do take my information with a pinch of salt and I'm not entirely sure. Try making an appropriate dedicated thread and see if someone with more knowledge can help you with your situation!