New A4 owner - couple of questions!

[shadfx]

Hi all! First of all hey - its good to be here! Audi ownership ive been looking forward too for a long time... Ive finally managed to sit myself in a 2001 a4 1.9tdi 130 sport. I managed to get it in a Ming Blue pearl, full audi service history, 12 months mot and 7 months tax with 122k for £2600! Its in good nick, I think that was an absolute steal... Anyway! On to my questions..

Its due a cambelt change - its got full audi history from new, would it be worth paying a bit extra and going to Audi to get it done to keep the history up? Im assuming I would have to get the water pump done as well from what ive read as they are driven by the timing belt..

My DIS currently only reads out the range of the tank - any way to get my MPG up?

Is there anything I need to watch out for / do pro-active maintenance wise other than the cambelt / water pump and servicing?

Are there any common I.C.E upgrades? I love my music but from what I can see it would be a bit of a pain the the rear getting the head unit changed and more gear installed...

Thanks! I know its a lot to ask so dont expect everything (or even anything really!) to be answered, just wanted to say hi :) If I find any useful info I will be sure to post it up!

[iwaters]

Welcome to the forum.

The water pumps are driven by the timing belt. If you don't know when the pump was last changed then get it done with the cambelt. Given that the pump costs around £50 but it invloves a ton of labour to get to it I always change mine at the same time. I don't think having a timing belt replaced by a non main dealer is going to affect the resale value. You can still maintain the FSH by taking it to Audi for the oil change and inspection service.

You can change the display on the DIS by pressing the button on the end of the washer stalk.

Pro-active maintence: Most important thing is to check the drain plug holes in the plenum chamber to make sure they are not clogged. If they get clogged, the plenum chamber fills with water, which finds its way into the passenger compartment, floods the carpets and fills something called the CCM with water. This causes all sorts of fun and games, like windows opening on their own, hazzard lights glowing etc.

I don't know much about upgrading the ICE to aftermarket parts but Audi did offer an original Bose upgrade. You might be able to get the parts of Ebay and retrofit that. Will go in easily as they were a factory option. You can also change the head unit to an AUDI RNS unit, which includes sat-nav and tv (with the right kit). These go second hand on Flabay for about £500.

[shadfx]

Hi mate, thanks a lot for coming back to me! Are there any links describing how to clear out the plenum chambers? I will do a quick search and see if I can find anything..

Thanks for the answer, ive rung around the indies today and the best they could come up with for a cambelt and water pump was £420+vat, Called Audi main dealer in Basingstoke, they have an offer for cambelt and water pump replacement at the moment and will do it for £480 inc vat! Going to use them because it is definately worth keeping the history up.

I had heard about the bose upgrade, will do some ebay trawling and see what I can find. If I go down the ice route I will be sure to document what I do and post it all up =]

Thanks for the info!

[iwaters]

Checking the plenum chamber isn't too hard. There are two drain plugs, one under the battery tray, the other under the brake master cylinder. Shine a torch down and look for debris. Use a long screwdriver or straightned wire coat hanger to remove any crud.

[shadfx]

Cool - Will take a look at that over the weekend. Ive decided what to do ICE wise, if it will work or not is another matter... The plan is to fit an adapter that turns a + and - audio connection into a phono input for an amp - that will come off the sub wiring and then go to an amp which will then drive my sub :) The standard speakers are pretty good, its just the depth of Bass isnt that great.. Midrange punch is quite nice though!

One other quick question, at a standstill (say, at traffic lights) the car feels like its vibrating / shaking ever so slightly, is this something to worry about? The gearbox is a manual 5 speed, it was in neutral and the clutch fully disengaged... Its definately not a one off thing. If you lift the revs by even 200 RPM the problem vanishes...

[iwaters]

I shouldn't think the vibration is anything to worry about unless it is severe. Does the RPM needle move slightly?

My A6 does that, it has a very slighly rough idle. Not going to bother looking into it untill it gets really bad.

[portovechios]

Mine has always juddered a bit at tickover, i think unless the engine is sports balanced and especially deisel its gonna vibrate more at low revs, doubt you've got a problem unless engine/gearbox mounts are shot but unlikely as you say few more revs and it goes, just like mine.....

[shadfx]

Thanks for the replies y'all! The juddering isnt really that bad, its just a bit gutting that my mates Mondeo (whos engine sounds like a tractor in comparison to my a4 )doesnt do it! grrr...

[Monkey117SE]

Juddering at idle could be the DMF Dual mass flywheel, had to replace mine on 130 tdi golf.

[delta925]

Juddering at idle could be the DMF Dual mass flywheel, had to replace mine on 130 tdi golf.

I agree.

Recently I have had noticeably more vibration at tick-over and low speed too while fine on main roads and the flywheel was suggest as possible cause.

How much did it cost to have yours replaced and did you have the clutch replaced at the same time?

[Monkey117SE]

I agree.

Recently I have had noticeably more vibration at tick-over and low speed too while fine on main roads and the flywheel was suggest as possible cause.

How much did it cost to have yours replaced and did you have the clutch replaced at the same time?


Unfortunately theyre not cheap. I asked them to replace clutch at the same time, makes sense really whilst its all apart. The cost was £960. You will do well to get it done for less than £900.

[shadfx]

Christ alive! In all honesty, if its that I would in no way be able to afford it.. I will ask the audi dealership to look at it when it goes in for the cambelt change tuesday

[Eshrules]

welcome to four ring ownership - sadly, nothing is cheap to do on these cars, you pay for the luxery.

given the original price you paid for it and the relatively low mileage, I'd consider a new clutch/DMF a well wortwhile investment - the price of £900 can be beaten however, not by much.

[shadfx]

Thanks for the welcome :) Ive looked it over and when its idling the engine itself does seem to shake, causing the vibration through the car - surely this would be the sign of an engine mount gone as opposed to DMF? Im ready to be completely wrong mind because im no mechanic!

[Monkey117SE]

Indeed when looking at my Golf tdi engine, the engine itself was shaking due to flywheel failure.

[shadfx]

Update for all who are interested! Got my cambelt and waterpump changed yesterday, and the vibration at idle has gone! There must have been a tensioner or something well on the way out, quite lucky really that she didnt break!!!

[FerrisBueller]

Hi all. Great forum. I have the same vibration as shadfx, also Tdi 130 Avant 52 plate 107k. I've just bought it and noticed at idle (approx 950rpm) the car vibrates very, very slightly. It drives superbly at all other times and the vibration vanishes as soon as the throttle's touched to over 1000rpm. Its so slight i thought it was me being paranoid, but my dads 99 VW passat 110 tdi doesnt do it. Timing belt and tensioners were done a month ago so.... will i be forking out for a new flywheel to sort it or is it a common thing?

[wid77]

I have a 115 PD 2001Avant which has done 162k. I last had my cambelt done at 120k. The car has fsh and is on original clutch. My car has always had a vibration when idling. It may be worse now that it is older but I'm not sure. It doesn't bother me and I don't think I will be looking to get any work done until I need to, especially at 900 quid!