My Potential Money PiTT

[AndyIggs]

Should have got round to this a long time ago.

Last year I purchased this fine steed, an Audi TT (225 BAM). It's an itch I've wanted to scratch for a fair while,  ever since my dad bought one when I was 19 in 2002. These are now rock bottom in price, you can pick up a rough one requiring work for less than £1000.

 

Bought unseen with 11 (yes 11!) previous owners mine had a fair few issues: Poor boost upon acceleration, oil fumes in cabin, faulty temperature reading, cambelt change and cluster requiring a repair (dials intermittent and LCD screen very pixelated). A replaceent N75 and temperature sensor, new  cambelt and cluster being sent off means these issues are now fixed!

Another big issue with these and cars around this age is the amount of pipework for the overcomplicated turbo systems. Over time, heat cycles etc the system and pipework just crumble..... As experienced on mine:

A check of the PCV system revealed at least 5 cracks and splits which explained why the car's cabin absolutely stunk when idle. A quick check of the amount of pipes and the cost of these in total, I made the shiters decision to rip out the whole lot and use the cheaper option of a catch can simplifying the PCV system as well (I'll update with a photo next time I use the car). Also did the rocker cover gasket as these are prone to weeping and changed the sparks to better NGK iridiums. Luckily a previous owner had the joy of the coil pack issues seen on these engines so these have all been replaced. 

Also updated the discs/pads with some Brembo bits and swapped the budget tyres all round to some Goodyear Eagle F1's which has made a massive difference especially in the wet.

 

Future plans? The bodywork on the car is a little tatty and to be expected for its age, theres a pillar repair thats been completed by Stevie Wonder and all alloys are bucthered and require a repair which will be done in the future. Small bubbles of rust but nothing out the ordinary for these. 

I have made a start on freshening it up, the bottom black grills are prone to flaking and discolouring:

  

 

Popped all these off, cleaned and prepped and resprayed they have come up a treat!

 

 

And thats where we are up to so far! MOT due in September so will be going over a few things in the next few weeks to make sure its not a financially ruinous experience!

 

Anyone needs any more information or advice if you are looking for one just let me know, I've built up a fair bit of knowledge over the past 12 months and I'd certainly recommend one for a cheap winter hack/weekend toy.

[stuboy]

never been in one, but a quattro turbo could be fun

[garethj]

I have a soft spot for these.  With a _CY numberplate was it originally sold through Sinclair Garages?

[AndyIggs]

29 minutes ago, garethj said:

I have a soft spot for these.  With a _CY numberplate was it originally sold through Sinclair Garages?

Service record shows a German dealer, on the V5 it does mention plates been moved to a non-transferable plate so potentially purchased in Germany and moved over here? Unfortunately only receipts are from 2007 onwards so no record.

They are a decent car despite the bad press when they first came on the scene and for the money they are currently going for it was a no brainer for me.

[RoadworkUK]

Nice. I've often been tempted by one of these, they look better now than they did new, and I'm a huge fan of the 1.8T engine, too.

Thing is, I fear I'd buy a TT and suddenly wish it was a bit bigger, and it's not as if my current A4 hangs about.

[DavidB]

I had a 225 S-Line TT and a 3.2 Sport, you won’t get many problems with it apart from possible suspension and DMF failure, they’re really well made.

[AndyIggs]

31 minutes ago, RoadworkUK said:

Nice. I've often been tempted by one of these, they look better now than they did new, and I'm a huge fan of the 1.8T engine, too.

Thing is, I fear I'd buy a TT and suddenly wish it was a bit bigger, and it's not as if my current A4 hangs about.

Yeah the rear seats are completely pointless, great for my 6 year old but anyone bigger its an absolute nightmare! A few owners do a rear seat delete and there's a few kits available to convert quite easily too.

[AndyIggs]

The TT's been sat a couple of weeks as I've been using my old fezzy (2006 zetec s) instead which flew through its MOT with no advisories.  It was extremely surprising given it had been stood for over 12 months beforehand requiring only a new brake hose which I knew was needed. Not sure what you guys are like but not using a car for so long has felt like having a new (to me) car. Its come at the right time as my eldest daughter absolutely hates the TT as theres no room in the back so a Fiesta, albeit still small, is definitely an improvement.

Gave  the TT a clean and took some photos of the catch can, its a great piece of kit and really simplifies the  PCV system and prevents a whole load of gunk and oil circulating the system. Its quite a common mod on these old 1.8t VAG's as replacing the original PCV pipes is quite pricey. The only downside to the installation is having to empty it. Generally only need to do this every 1000 miles and even then I could probably leave it much longer and more like 3000.

This week its time to clean the engine bay, get all the engine covers back on with refreshed metal fixings ready for MOT next week. 

[vaughant]

On 7/15/2021 at 8:57 PM, garethj said:

I have a soft spot for these.  With a _CY numberplate was it originally sold through Sinclair Garages?

Not in the modern plates. The first two letters give the game away as to where it was registered.

Had it been a Y reg then indeed the cy would symbolise a Swansea reg plate. 

[AndyIggs]

After a fail on both front CV boots we've got a pass!

Couple of advisories on rear brake pipes but they don't look that bad to me so will get around to them over the next 12 months.

Next up is an oil change, I've not got a record on previous services but I'll be dropping the sump this time and fitting a new  pick up pipe. These engines can be a ticking time bomb if left on its original as they can get blocked which can lead to oil starvation and would definitely write the car off. Seeing as I've recently done the rocker cover gasket and replaced the fragile PCV pipe from the crankcase it makes sense as I reckon there will be a few rogue bits in there!

 

[Matty]

Good work bud. Still a good looking thing these

[AndyIggs]

Update - The cars back on the road for summer duties and a wash was duly needed, now ticked over 115k

Service items and preventative maintenence ordered  and arrived (oil, fuel and air filters, new oil pickup pipe and replacement bolts):

Unfortunately when trying to take the sump plug out to complete the work I encountered a bit of an issue in that it wasn't unscrewing after a couple of turns! It appears to be an issue with the thread so rather than making life harder or trying a work around I tightened the plug back up as it had got to a point where it wasn't leaking. Ordered a replacement sump to be on the safe side, the beauty of this engine is replacements are fairly cheap.

I'll get round to fitting the new sump and bits on Friday.

On the plus side this did give me time to replace the broken mirror switch:

 

Its as good as new and I can finally adjust my mirrors!

 

 

[AndyIggs]

Old sump off, out of 23 bolts there's always "that one" that makes life a little difficult. Looking in the pan its probably a good thing I originally planned to do the oil pickup pipe (prior to the sump plug issue above).

The pipe itself wasn't too blocked but got replaced anyway:

 

Filters changed, new sump on and back on the road for hopefully a trouble free summer. Alloy refurb next.

[Boycie]

Years and years ago VW used to deliver new fleet cars to our office for there long term staff based in Scotland , one day a 3.2 TT turned up , I blagged the front seat while the transporter driver was parking them up , normally the staff didn't turn up until later in the day so I happily blipped the heavy pedal noting the awesome noise , a gentleman then walked up to my shoulder so I asked him " Can I help you " , " Yes this is my car , can you stop revving it " ..........I sharpily departed to my office , lovely bit of kit 

[AndyIggs]

Huge thanks to @tobydfor sending me his old OBD cable. A quick scan in VCDS revealed a huge amount of fault codes stored all related to voltage and other issues I'd sorted on the car since purchase. A quick clear, run round the block and the miss fire on idle has now gone! I'd had this down to be a dodgy coil pack even though the current ones are only 25k miles in but wanted to be sure before shelling out.

Huge thanks again mate, it's one of the reasons I love this forum. You don't get this anywhere else. 

[Matty]

Good job marine 👍now let's have some pictures of the fiesta please!

[AndyIggs]

Ooooh what's this!

The misfire is back! Checking the VCDS confirms it's a misfire on one of the cylinders. I have a sneaky suspicion the replacement coil packs from 6 years ago weren't great

I could cheap out and order the one replacement but went for all 4.

Lets see if that puts a stop to it 🤞

[SiC]

This and @Peter Cexperience is really prepping me for this sort of enjoyment in getting a TT.

[SiC]

Was that sump drop straightforward on axle stands?

Or did it require removing subframes, etc to get to the bolts and pan?

[AndyIggs]

18 minutes ago, SiC said:

This and @Peter Cexperience is really prepping me for this sort of enjoyment in getting a TT.

All the fun of the fair 😁

 

11 minutes ago, SiC said:

Was that sump drop straightforward on axle stands?

Or did it require removing subframes, etc to get to the bolts and pan?

Yeah really is quite simple, if I remember rightly there's 4 bolts connected to the gearbox that need taking out too. There's a few hard to reach bolts located on the sump, extension wobble bar required and some patience. Turbo return pipe can also be a little tricky to get back on when refitting but nothing major. So many decent videos on youtube you really wouldn't struggle with it.

[AndyIggs]

Another 12 months (hopefully) of TT action!

Dodgy coilpack replaced which seemed to resolve the misfire for a little while but now its back with no codes showing on VCDS. I've chased for boost leaks to no avail. Other advice from owners now leads me to think its potentially the MAF sensor so tomorrows job is to take it off and see if this does the trick:

I think if I'm still having an issue after this a smoke test is required to see if I can pinpoint the area.

[AndyIggs]

Been a while but a small update! Just coming up to 118k now on the silver dream machine.

MAF sensor taken off, cleaned but still seeing idle issues. The only thing I did find on another check is the "hockey puck" section of the PCV has a slight weep to the valve with some lovely oily contents, so off it came and replaced with a new one:

Whilst in a productive mood and to be 100% sure, I replaced the remaining 3 coilpacks:

Ruck of pipework connected to the block also checked with no damage or splits seen, and assembled back together (again). The only good thing about doing this is I'm relatively quick at taking all this off and back on again the amount of times I've done this now!

Unfortunately this has still made no difference to the missfire. Already pumped a fair few £ into this now and don't fancy any further games of "part darts" so I've given in and its booked into the garage next week for a smoke/compression test.

Fingers crossed nothing major comes out the woodwork as I really do enjoy running around in this thing and it makes a perfect winter shed.

[SiC]

Are you 100% sure your NGKs are genuine? Quite a lot of fake ones kicking around, especially on eBay. 

[cobblers]

I have also been sold hooky NGK plugs

[AndyIggs]

They were from Ebay and its now got me thinking 😣

Maybe it might be worth a last chance before taking it in and swap them over again. I do have the old sparks lying around that were perfectly okay and didn't look that old, I just replaced them as I was unsure when they were last done.

[AndyIggs]

Luckily I retained the box the new plugs came in and kept the old NGK's in there. The box has confirmed they are fake's as per the advice given online: https://www.blingstrom.com/modmondays-fxt-1/2020/1/5/ngk-counterfeit-spark-plugs-how-to-tell-the-difference-ilfr6b-6481

Will swap them over the weekend and see how we go!

 

[SiC]

Fingers crossed that'll fix your issue. Stuff like this can lead going down an unnecessary diagnostic rabbit hole. Then the spark plug manufacturer gets a bad name despite it not being their fault. 

[AndyIggs]

On 12/7/2022 at 2:25 PM, SiC said:

Fingers crossed that'll fix your issue. Stuff like this can lead going down an unnecessary diagnostic rabbit hole. Then the spark plug manufacturer gets a bad name despite it not being their fault. 

It's only gone and fixed it! Old plugs swapped back as I knew these were definitely working before installing the new (fake) ones, only difference I could see was the print on the plugs. Definitely lesson learnt, I had no idea of fakes but kind of makes sense with them being £20 a plug. They lasted less than 2k miles before one or more started to break down. 

Thank you gents 👍

[SiC]

I was just thinking last night how you got on with changing them. Excellent news and hopefully save a lot of time (and expense) in diagnostics.

[AndyIggs]

With imminent new car arriving in a few weeks and lack of space for 4 cars means the TT has to go. Just a heads up if anyone is interested or on the lookout. Will put a proper post in the FS section once its prepped for photos on Sunday as I'd love it to go to a shiter.

Absolutely gutted to see it go, loved running around in this.