LCBL continues Audi A8

[DirtyDaily]

Well ive fixed it and its now MOT'd.
Front caliper was a slightly strange design and one of the caliper carrier bolts was NOT budging. I ended up removing the bottom bolt and hammering the carrier out of the way which worked. Also fitted the new rear discs so all new brakes and fresh MOT. I will have to get round to sorting the turbo at some point...

[DirtyDaily]

Footage to show the bolt was not for turning

[Kiltox]

So glad this is still thundering around. 

Not guilty on the rear discs here either - only thing I did to the rear was fit a shite parking brake motor. 

[SiC]

Isn't this disc far too small and the wrong one?

Edit: just seen the chatter further up. Surely the parts finders are wrong. I can't imagine pads over the disc is how it should be. 

 

[DirtyDaily]

Isn't this disc far too small and the wrong one?
Edit: just seen the chatter further up. Surely the parts finders are wrong. I can't imagine pads over the disc is how it should be. 

 

Its not, the PR code is wrong and ive put on a bigger disc now

[DirtyDaily]

Turbo time.
Ive ordered this from a latvian supplier, i have sent over my part numbers and he has confirmed this is the correct part and most importantly it is already programmed. Not sure on the logistics but if it doesnt work then ebay protection will hopefully kick in. I also got a 7% off coupon so £169. If that fixes it i will be very happy. Whilst i am digging in to it i am going to take the intake and egr off for a clean, i get an intermittent egr fault along with the actuator fault (actuator fault is becoming much more common now)
Ill give the vanes a clean in the turbo and fingers crossed this will be it sorted. If that sorts it i will treat it to a service and long live the A8. One of my longest ownerships with a car now and its only been a year.

[DirtyDaily]

Also slight note to add, ive been having issues with the rear parking sensors, i have replaced two already but i can hear another one has failed so ordered another one. Went through the wiring, fixed an old repair, swapped two connectors round as the right rear sensor wiring was going to the middle sensor. Checked all the pins and checked for 12v and the ground and the wiring all seems okay now. Do hope i can get them working as the long beep when selecting reverse is annoying and they are handy for parking it as it is a long boi.

[DirtyDaily]

Success.
New part arrived this morning and i got on it as soon as i arrived home from work. I did drive the car so turbo was hot for this job. Classic impatient me, i am wounded but not too badly thankfully.
It came off relatively easily though fiddly while on the car. While the actuator was off i could test the movement on the vanes and it moved very freely so happy about that.
Back together and it took a few attempts to get the bolts adjusted correctly so that the actuator worked happily but tested it and it seems to be boosting better than ever. Time will be the test and hot starts but i am relatively confident. If that is sorted and the parking sensor is sorted soon I will be very happy with it and treat it to a service.

[DirtyDaily]

On a bit of a roll with this now.
Parking sensors sorted which i am actually really happy about because i park in a tight space everyday for work and this will be helpful for that and stop the dreaded beep. I am also a little issue obsessed. Any issue my cars have play on my mind until i get them fixed and i ended up throwing 3 new parking sensors at it.
From working under the bonnet and getting clouted a couple of times by weak bonnet struts i treated it to a fresh pair. £20 i thought is worth it if i need to do any work it at some point. Im sure i will.

I have now ordered new engine oil and filter and looking at best options for gearbox oil and filter, weirdly i think the gearbox takes zf lifeguard 8 which is surprisingly not too unreasonable price wise.
I have also ordered new registration plates which allows me to have a spare rear for if i tow anything. The £300 saab 93 convertible on here i think is going to end up on a trailer behind the A8 so itll be my first time towing with it.

[robt100]

IIRC the ZF boxes match the oil to the number of gears, so a 6 speed needs Lifeguard 6 and the 8 speed Lifeguard 8, did a lot of reasearch back when I had the S-type, bought the kit then sold the car with it🤣

[Schaefft]

If you do happen to be near Newcastle, let me know! Would love to see the A8 again, still somewhat regret getting rid of it!

[DirtyDaily]

IIRC the ZF boxes match the oil to the number of gears, so a 6 speed needs Lifeguard 6 and the 8 speed Lifeguard 8, did a lot of reasearch back when I had the S-type, bought the kit then sold the car with it

You are correct however this specific gearbox is the exception as per guidance weirdly. But to put 8hp oil in it needs a software update? Weird stuff...

[Kiltox]

Guess that answers whether you should buy cheap pattern parking sensors then, because I replaced most of them! 

[robt100]

17 minutes ago, DirtyDaily said:

You are correct however this specific gearbox is the exception as per guidance weirdly. But to put 8hp oil in it needs a software update? Weird stuff...

Could be a TCM update to change solenoid or clamping pressures due to different viscosities? (no idea if that is spelt correctly!)

[DirtyDaily]

Another small update.
Bumper is "fixed".
Took inspiration from the other side and drove a couple of self tappers in to it and a cable tie for good measure. Looks a smidge better but im not wholely convinced in the structural integrity of the plastic that i screwed into. Oh well we will see if it survives a few pot holes and speed bumps.
Also since the spout of fixes i can confirm that turbo has been turboing, parking sensors have been sensoring and braking is not breaking but braking.
Might be towing another car with this soon so we will see how it copes with that. Seems cruel towing with a car on 225k miles but if it gives up ill put another gearbox in it. Its been with me for almost a year and 8k miles which means its now been with me longer than 24 of my 33 cars i have ever owned. Good car.

1st picture is the nearside which has already been "fixed".
2nd picture is pre "fix".
3rd picture is my "fix".

[Kiltox]

That poor bumper has seen things 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well done so far, great reading.

Will be watching with interest if you're tackling the gearbox oil, not a straightforward job at all, especially on the driveway!

Need to do mine, and dreading it...

[DirtyDaily]

5 minutes ago, Kiltox said:

That poor bumper has seen things 

I can only imagine. 

[DirtyDaily]

Well done so far, great reading.
Will be watching with interest if you're tackling the gearbox oil, not a straightforward job at all, especially on the driveway!
Need to do mine, and dreading it...

I will do. I wanted to do it before towing but im not sure the timing is right. I think it shouldnt be too bad. I think getting the level right is the trickiest bit but it just needs to be running and i have an oil pump thing. The trickiest bit will be dropping a tiny bit of oil to see which oil it wants!

[TrabbieRonnie]

Just now, DirtyDaily said:

5 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

Well done so far, great reading.
Will be watching with interest if you're tackling the gearbox oil, not a straightforward job at all, especially on the driveway!
Need to do mine, and dreading it...

I will do. I wanted to do it before towing but im not sure the timing is right. I think it shouldnt be too bad. I think getting the level right is the trickiest bit but it just needs to be running and i have an oil pump thing. The trickiest bit will be dropping a tiny bit of oil to see which oil it wants!

For the final top up, I think it has to be running, in gear, perfectly level and of course filled up from underneath...!

How much do you trust your axle stands!!!

[DirtyDaily]

For the final top up, I think it has to be running, in gear, perfectly level and of course filled up from underneath...!
How much do you trust your axle stands!!!

Be fine...
Might take wheels off too and put it underneath for extra fail safe.

[DirtyDaily]

Some final prep for saturdays trip to purchase a little project car. Just filled up from 10 miles of range to full with shell v power diesel. I like to give diesel cars the good stuff every now and again to help clean up the fuel system. It is expensive tho... £150. Most ive ever put in a car.
Also tow bar is on. Cant wait to get the rig pictures of it with a car on a trailer behind it.

[DirtyDaily]

The rig. Ready for tomorrow.
The trailer is 605kg and its cliche but power wise you couldnt tell. Im sure it will show with another 1500kg on it but i got 40mpg on the way back to my house at 60mph. The car has a tow mode which persumably messes about with the air suspension and maybe the gearbox as it seems to revs out the gears a little more which makes sense to me.
Roll on tomorrow.

[St.Jude]

5 minutes ago, DirtyDaily said:

The rig. Ready for tomorrow.
The trailer is 605kg and its cliche but power wise you couldnt tell. Im sure it will show with another 1500kg on it but i got 40mpg on the way back to my house at 60mph. The car has a tow mode which persumably messes about with the air suspension and maybe the gearbox as it seems to revs out the gears a little more which makes sense to me.
Roll on tomorrow.

Chod speed!

Has it got a 2000kg tow capacity then? As the Scooby does 1800kg I think.

[DirtyDaily]

Chod speed!
Has it got a 2000kg tow capacity then? As the Scooby does 1800kg I think.

2300kg

[DirtyDaily]

Breakfast time.

[DirtyDaily]

Full rig picture. Drives well with the car on and still achieving 30mpg. When i drove my old range rover petrol the very best i could get was 25mpg so ill take 30 with circa 2 ton in tow.
About half way though so hopefully be back in 1.5hours.

[DirtyDaily]

Rubbish afternoon of working on cars. Jacked the saab up and realised i need some female (E) torx bits for the control arms. I dont have any so on my way to halfrauds i go.
HORRIBLE noise half way through getting progressively worse from the front right wheel. Rotational noise and when the car is jacked up it felt notchy to turn.
Whip the wheel off as i cant see anything and there i see a little stone inbetween the disc and the guard. Screw drivered out wasting quite a lot of my evening working time and in to halfrauds to get the e torx socket. They dont have any.
Cool. Ill just go home and shower then and try again another day.

[mercedade]

3 hours ago, DirtyDaily said:

Rubbish afternoon of working on cars. Jacked the saab up and realised i need some female (E) torx bits for the control arms. I dont have any so on my way to halfrauds i go.
HORRIBLE noise half way through getting progressively worse from the front right wheel. Rotational noise and when the car is jacked up it felt notchy to turn.
Whip the wheel off as i cant see anything and there i see a little stone inbetween the disc and the guard. Screw drivered out wasting quite a lot of my evening working time and in to halfrauds to get the e torx socket. They dont have any.
Cool. Ill just go home and shower then and try again another day.

Welcome to borrow my set if you're heading past any time. I'm in all day tomorrow, just drop me a line (I appreciate that owning your own tools is preferable, but if it gets you out of a hole) 

[DirtyDaily]

Welcome to borrow my set if you're heading past any time. I'm in all day tomorrow, just drop me a line (I appreciate that owning your own tools is preferable, but if it gets you out of a hole) 

Ive already ordered some cheap ebay kit but thank you.