Owdi A4 cadbury olé spruce up for the one day of sun we'll get in maybe July sometime.

[MVX11V]

Morning.

I have completed my weekend of Audi tinkering. I got only a small amount done of the work I intended to do, which is always the case.

This morning I began with the moss and bird shite covered canvas roof. I had a 2 part kit from Autoglym for this and after reading the destructions, figured that it would take me a good hour. Lolz, almost 2 hours later and the roof had been brushed, vacuumed, and cleaner applied several times. That was let to work in for a bit.

Having spent some time on the outside of the car now, I realised that it was quite dirty from the delivery drive so gave it a wash and she scrubbed up well. During rinse off stage, the cleaner was removed from the canvas roof and the car dried off, except the roof which I'd need damp for treatment later.

During the wash, I removed the rear light clusters to clean those up and the bit of body behind, I could also replace the tired white indicator bulbs for orange ones. I also regularly checked the inside of the boot compartment for leaks and found none. The only bit I've had out that could have leaked is the third brake light in the bootlid itself. I took that out yesterday to put some antiseize on the tiny bolts holding the light in. I don't know what has been leaking to explain the amount of water I found in the spare wheel well, which incidently, remained dry too? 

I had to finish off making the passenger seat safe* and usable as the motor had packed up leaving it as far forward as possible. Now that drive is disco'd it can move back with a shove, all I had to do was clear my tools up and refit the trim I'd removed whilst I wait for the motor to arrive. I also fitted replacement floor mats as two were missing.

Whilst in there, I went to replace the broken sunvisor clip and the new one is wrong, and the wrong colour 🙄 . I did have time to repair the broken glove box hinge so that now works, the light comes on too!

As the day light faded, I gave the roof protective treatment, about 5 coats! It was work to put it right but the results are rewarding. It now looks better than the sales images. 

What have I done?

• Fitted 2 wheel valve caps (it all counts!)
• Snagged the car
• Fitted the battery properly
• Diagnosed the tailgate not opening
• Diagnosed the seat not moving
• Cleaned the car
• Changed some bulbs
• Deep cleaned and protected the roof
• Dried the boot compartment out
• Removed, cleaned, and refitted most of the boot compartment electrics (affected by condensation)
• Changed the numberplate light lenses and bulbs
• Fixed the glovebox
• Refitted the dash clocks cowling properly
• Changed the registration plates
• Vaccumed the carpet and put in new mats
• Rain x'd the glass

 

 

Things still to do;

• Clean rear power outlet (started but didn't finish)
• Keep an eye out for a boot leak
• Touch in some paint chips/ Replace tailgate (seen some corrosion and paint run)
• Boot lock solenoid to fit (Being Delivered (BD))
• Battery to fit (BD)
• Reseal rear window (in stock (S))
• Change interior lights to LED (S)
• Find a bit of trim for the rear bumper inside the boot shut which is missing
• Rear pads and check handbrake adjustment after (S)
• Clean and paint all the brake calipers (S)
• Replace passenger door card and check window regulator (S)
• Replace passenger seat motor (S)
• Fit seatbelt anchor covers (both missing) (BD)
• Try a fix to keep the ashtray lid closed
• Fit a bluetooth head unit ) (BD)
• Replace 1 dash air vent (S)
• Replace wiper blades (BD)
• Service the engine (BD)
• Service the gearbox
• Replace broken sunvisor clip (BD)
• Tidy up worn switches (S)
• Replace dipstick guide tube (BD)
• Flush coolant
• Change cambelt
• Change side repeaters (BD)
• Polish headlamp lenses (S)
• Fit wheel nut covers (S)
• Oil pressure check/ replace pick up tube

And that's it!

 

 

 

[MVX11V]

Still fighting this thing... and the weather.

Finally changed the battery and the dipstick guide tube which was broken with bits missing. I didn't think about the fact that as it was broken, it was shorter than it should be which was making the dipstick sit lower into the sump. The oil level had showed it just over the full mark but when the new tube was fitted and seated properly, the oil level taken at that point showed that it was down near minimum! 

Whilst I was there doing the battery, I changed out the pollen filter. Everything service item wise on this car needs to be changed as it's been there too long.

I noticed that the front engine mount foam thing has turned to dust, so I have got a poly yellow one on the way. They appear to be made of the same stuff that the shock bump stops are made of, so you'd know how crusty and bitty those can get.

Topped up the oil level. Not servicing it just yet, I might throw that all in when I do the cam belt, which I also had a gander at as the top of the cover can be unclipped for belt inspecting. Doing this showed me a slight misting of oil was present although the cambelt itself appeared to be still servicable for the time being. The cam cover gasket is busted on this, one is on the way but I wonder if the camshaft oil seal is letting by. The car is low miles but she is down on the servicing, you can just tell by the crustiness and dirt deposits that no one has been there for a very long time.

I had every intention to pull the seat out next and change the motor but the car was required to pick up a teenager who couldn't be arsed to walk home from a night out after abandoning their bike somewhere in the city centre someone who had aparently injured their foot.

Then the rain came and everything had to be put away. Once the car arrived back home, some easy wins were made by changing the interior hood release cover to a black one from the grey one I'd mistankenly ordered and the sun visor clip was fitted. I also changed out the broken air vent.

The rain had stopped so I removed the rear center brake light in the boot lid which had stopped working but also which I think is the cause of the leak, there are many signs of evidence pointing towards it. I removed only what I could say was 'plumbers mate' that was smeared all around it and a lot of dirt. This flagged the light lens as cracked and a tab was broken off, yet more signs of previous professional attention. I just gobbed it up with instant gasket for now. I'm getting a B7 light which looks better aparently, just need to switch the + and - opposite, so I've read. Not the cheapest part though. refitting, I just bent the contact pins a bit and it's working again, probably still leaks though.

I had a spied a total replacement boot lid and was ready to push the button, but even though it's still listed, the bloke can't find the part after a full week of searching*.

Then I tackled the boot lid actuator and the heavens opened, raining ice cold droplets the size of golf balls on me. I had to quit, my pants had got wet and my socks were in breach. I didn't get to finish that so it's still bollocked. 

I was at work yesterday (to pay for this things demands) so I only got a few hours at it today, especially with the inclament weather. I took it for a blast* around the block... lolz. It's the smallest engineed car I've had for many years... I cannot comment on the performance. Can these 1.8T's be improved on at all with some simple spannering? I reckon it's still on it's original plugs though, maybe I get it to a standard and go from there.

 

[MVX11V]

Me again and I've just completed a triathalon of car repair over this weekend just gone. I started late at 10am on Saturday and finished 9pm on Sunday! I did manage to sleep in between that. So, what did I achieve?

Removal of this stuff:

 

And this stuff:

 

I almost quit at the first hurdle, armed with the Haynes book of misinformation knowledge, I discovered 'service mode'...

This is where the front end of the car is loosened and pulled out to aid access. In a garage setting, twenty years ago, it was probably a god send but guided by a book which refers to the removal of each component to achieve 'service mode' by sending you through different areas of the book, it's a pain in the arse the first time around anyway.

Some additional work was done along the way because 'while you're there M9', the cam cover gasket was replaced which was the cause of a massive oil leak which is noted on the MOT advisories. 2 of the spark plug holes contained significant amounts of engine oil. The existing gasket was hard and brittle. That wasn't too bad to change out but it still meant that other stuff had to come off, mainly breather hose mountings and some clips. It was a good time to check the condition of the rubber hoses and look for cracking and splits.

The plugs that came out were in good condition showing signs of wear on the strap but all even and matching in colour. They were binned though.

A lot, if not all, the bits being removed appeared to be original items except for the air and oil filters.

Cam belt kit came with a water pump. The old one showed signs of the seal leaking but this wasn't a confirmed issue. Along with the belt was a tensioner pulley and hydraulic tensioner. The old stuff showed no issues.

New poly engine mount thingy was fitted too (the yellow bit), the old one was just dust and had decomposed. Once the front panel is pushed back in, that yellow bush sits in a cast socket.

After fitting that, it could be turned over a few times to check the timing and tension. Whilst refitting, a replacement ancillary belt, idler pully and tensioner for that was fitted. The old tensioner was quite noisy during idle.

Last of all, the oil was changed, I don't know when it was last done but the dipstick guide had broken up and bits of plastic must have gone into the sump. Sure enough, plastic washed out with the old oil when it drained. Some new spare oil was thown in the engine to flush it through.

By this time the sun had gone behind the trees and the temperature was dropping. With all the determination that I could muster, I powered on to refit everything and refill the coolant, check running operations and refit the arch liners, headlamps (which are really easy to remove), and check the heater worked. 

By this time, me and my tools had a layer of frost on us and I was pretty pooped, but although every joint in my body aches like hell today from rolling around in the road for two days, it's a massive reliability issue crossed off the list.

In other news:

The paint code is LZ5J Moro blue/ Black, thanks to the lightening response from Audi customer services.

I previously had fitted the boot lid solenoid, it didn't work, as in... the new solenoid doesn't work. I gave in here because there is something gong on with the boot lid wiring which need more attention. The central brake light works but then it doesn't, which is super frustrating. Bits are broken on the lid and there is filler which is all bitty and breaking up. If I catch the top of the lid in the right light, I can see repairs where it's hit a post or something... and then there is the leak that won't stop.

I went and got a replacement boot lid which hasn't been banged. There were a few circulating on the bay and the one I wanted didn't exist apparently, and the others had marks or were a lot to post out. Then one came up on Reclamet and it's looking clean. They have had a couple of crappy reviews about damages in the post but on the whole, they seem good. It's not a cheap bit at £120 posted but it puts a lot of stuff to bed which is letting the car down. I also got hold of the later brake light which does look cleaner and clearer, so will be looking to do a swap when I get onto that bit.

Delivery tomorrow so fingers crossed!

[djim]

You're really cracking on with this, great work! I changed that yellow 'nose' mount on my allroad and it made a significant difference to the gear change feel presumably by controlling the engine movement under shifting loads, well worth doing. 

[bunglebus]

I bought that new mount for my Passat about 10 years ago, I really must fit it! 🤣

[Dave_Q]

You asked about making it faster, you can map it which will give you a bit more, maybe 180hp.

Check nefmoto for instructions tools and files if you want to do it DIY.

Beyond there you need a bigger turbo and possibly injectors. Those good lads over in China can sort you a turbo then you need a map, this should take you to 220+hp which is enough with only 2 wheels providing your traction.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/405086966446

[MVX11V]

Gotta call not from Ghostbusters but from the delivery guy with the boot lid. He said that he couldn't get the pallet through my front gate 'so I'll just leave it in the road m7 yeah?'.

I looks on my cctv... Sighs...

I managed to escape work for an 'extended' tea break and cycled home where I then proceeded to pull the pallet through the front gate.

I get it, he does it everyday and yanking pallets about would kill him eventually... Whatever, 3/11 for effort.

What have I got then eh?

A complete boot lid, man, that's what! 

Sweet. That's not a bad deal if you add up the sum of all the parts included. 

My shed is full of parts and stuff, my other storage bit has materials in for a new bathroom shower, so we had to go ghetto and store it in the sitting room. 

It's in nice condition with a couple of bits to work on but it's a vast improvement on what I've already got. I should fit this at the weekend all being well.

[MVX11V]

I got this fitted today! Pretty easy job and for a 20 year old painted panel, it matches up really well. Sourced this part from reclamet.

I replaced the plug for the number plate lights/ opening switch power supply as mine was corroded and had disintegrated. The switch on the new (to me) bit loud doesn't work though. No big deal, because it opens on the fob now. 

I also fitted the face lift brake lamp which is clear red, the two wires just needed to be swapped around to make it work. 

Here's an picture of Cadbury olés arse...

Nice innit? But wait... Just as I was packing up the left number plate lamp started flickering... Further investigation revealed chinesium awdi led drift yo blubs, maybe sourced from an A1 motor stores somewhere. 

So all I had to do was stick in the ones I fitted to the original lid. 

Much better. 

Next on the list is the passenger door panel which it's replacement is disabling the use of my shed, and the seat motor needs to gowin.

Funny that the original boot lid had got damaged and wrote this car off. Now the damage is totally gone!

Not forgetting the auto box service, it's due so I've got to get a kit in for that and research the proceedure.

[MVX11V]

Oh dear.

Customer complaint received:

"I've got no {expletive} radio"

Customer complaint confirmed, the signal is utter junk. So I thought that I'd have a look tonight as the aerial and the amplifier are both located on the inside of the bootlid that I'd just fitted. I have spare modules so thought that I'd just swap them over if the ones that came with the bootlid had failed in any way.

Weird, i stripped the interior trim off the boot again, and poked around. I swapped modules... no dice, still no radio. Then when i went to plug in the aerial amplifier... boom! Signal. Must have just been a connection issue?

I messed about with the connection but it remained working perfectly. I put all the trim back on, started to close the bootlid and it moved about 10mm and... the sound of white noise over the speakers. I let the lid rise again 10mm or so and it regained signal! You think you might know where this is going right? Wrong!

Obviously we have a snapped and junk wire in the flexi rubber boot thingy to the amplifier. My messing around at the weekend has just killed it off. Dang it.

So do we repair it? No. 

The car needs bluetooth connection, so a new head unit is now on it's way. Audi didn't mak it easy though, so i've had to cobble together some electrical wizardry bits to make it all work. Basically, there is no permanent live and this should be got from the fog lamp fuse on a piggy back and then some wires swapped around and an aerial amplifier installed as the factory one will no longer work, and mines buggered anyways.

We all want to see the good bit right? So I'm slinging this guy in:

The display does change colour to Awdi red and I wanted to keep the CD player. Love a Kenwood, takes me back to the boy racing days, I hope they are still as durable. 

I looked at other things and wanted something maybe with sat nav or android, but then, she's got her phone which does that and it'll connect to this, just get a mount for that if it's really necessary. Don't really care for the DAB but I'll stick the aerial in somewhere.

What else?

Oh yeah, I've got some of those silicone moisture things and thrown those in the cars. I'm having real issues with condensation building up where the cars don't do a lot except absorb the normal UK weather which is damp, miserable, with a threatening of trench foot. 

 

[Split_Pin]

Good work on this.

I'm not sure you've done it yet but I'd recommend dropping the sump and replacing the oil pickup pipe as they are notorious for clogging. Not a fun job according to DaveQ's account but needs done nevertheless.

The list of jobs needed on mine are growing every day.

[MVX11V]

4 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

 

I'm not sure you've done it yet but I'd recommend dropping the sump and replacing the oil pickup pipe as they are notorious for clogging. Not a fun job according to DaveQ's account but needs done nevertheless.

 

Thanks for this heads up. What sort of mileage are we looking at for this or is it 'in general'? I should look into this especially as this engine appears to have swerved 'maintenance'.

[Dave_Q]

In general really. 

If you have an oil pressure gauge you can test to see if it's reduced, I think the spec is 5bar minimum cold idle and 4bar hot idle.

The oil pressure light won't come on until it's below something like 1.5 bar and above some engine speed like 2000rpm so it flags it up a bit late.

The oil pickup pipe isn't too dear from TPS or a dealer, it's just an arse to get to in an A4, subframe has to be dropped or engine raised to get the sump out (I raised the engine)

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/610203-1-8t-Oil-Pressure-Survival-Guide-and-troubleshooting-DIY

[Dave_Q]

This was the state of my pickup pipe, this did ping the light on. 

A few slivers of sealant but mostly just smallish lumps of carboned up oil.

They specified too long of an oil change interval from new and the A4 installation has a smaller sump than a Golf/TT etc, it's just designed in VAG reliability I'm afraid.

[PhilA]

Same thing Mazda did with their engines and that crunchy carbon trash would block the oil control rings, starve the cylinder walls and crack the rings, causing severe damage. 

15,000 miles on the Autobahn, sure. Popping to the shops and getting stuck in cold, drizzly traffic less so. 

 

Water pumps on the 1.8T are a weak point also.

[MVX11V]

I recognise the debris I'm afraid. When I fitted the cam cover gasket I was aware of the presence of this sort of thing and how easily it could be delaminated.

Looks like another job to do but at least it's getting a flush through. Likely do this when I do the gearbox service. Thanks for the clicky also. 

I had read about the water pump and done this with the cam belt. The original one was in good condition at that point.

[PhilA]

It won't know what happened to it.

[MVX11V]

I'm going in, fellas...

If I'm not out by lunchtime, send in the search party...

[MVX11V]

Urgh. I enjoy working on this car less and less. 

I fitted the door panel, well that wasn't straightforward as the loom was different and the finish on the release handle was off a shade. The window was loose on the regulator and the door mirror bolts were loose. Then I fitted it up and before I went to tighten the last couple of bolts, I thought I'd check the electrics and - Nothing. Turns out that there was a connection which wasn't reconnected properly, my fault.

Now the passenger door interior panel looks great and is not held together with several exposed self tappers and super glue.

I moved onto the radio installation. I followed instructions. There are issues with the instructions. It says to bump off the back of fuse 19- foglamps. My fuse 19 is empty, but I have fog lamps yo?

So I hunted for another switched live in mini fuse flavour. Found that and run a cable to the radio hole. Connected all the additional gubbins on my half amplified system.

Everything looking good, slid it all in the dash and made a surround for it by adapting an aftermarket trim which didn't fit at all.

Switched her on and went to fix the suspected broken aerial cable. Stripped the inside of the boot lid (3rd time) and messed about with the cables. Thought I'd found a break in two cables, done continuity and confirmed, chopped out the bad bits and put in some new connections and.. Red herring. Still no reception... unless I hold the cables... randomly... sometimes. Pulled strands out of the bits I had removed and no breaks.

Anyhoos, I noticed that our new ICE (in car entertainment for the new kids) was only spitting white noise through the front speakers. No rears. It sounded like one of those small central speakers that you would find in any 1970s vehicle. That's disappointing.

I imaged this off the original head unit, so wheres me rear speakers eh?

How's your neck?

It's something to do with this half amplified crap isn't it? I got all the adaptors so I'm not so sure on what is going on. 

Then it got dark, -78, and I had lost the will to live. 

So, in order to sort out the broken aerial issue by updating the toonage, I've made it worse and it sucks to be me right now. Do  not fear, for I will return to conquer this... or run independent cabling to the rears 😁

 

 

[Dave_Q]

The rears are run off a separate amp which is connected to that right hand one of the three mini isos.

I guess there is a power/signal connection in there as well as the signal so I would start by probing that to see if it's coming out of your aftermarket adaptor.

[MVX11V]

Cheers, I just think it's like yer remote. Why that'special adapter' can't do it is a mystery but it might be something to do with audi having the live different to the norm and so I have to get the switched live which I've already done for the supply to the unit so that it turns off with the key.

[Dave_Q]

When I had mine I fitted a Bluetooth effort that replaces the CD changer but the first one I got didn't work as it needed some electrical gubbins to convince the head unit the changer was still fitted, I had to order a more expensive one from Germany.

Hopefully in your case it's something to do with the adapter wiring and not that.

@philibusmo off of here is an audio adapter guru who might have a clue

[philibusmo]

17 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

When I had mine I fitted a Bluetooth effort that replaces the CD changer but the first one I got didn't work as it needed some electrical gubbins to convince the head unit the changer was still fitted, I had to order a more expensive one from Germany.

Hopefully in your case it's something to do with the adapter wiring and not that.

@philibusmo off of here is an audio adapter guru who might have a clue

It's been a while since I've worked on one of these but I think the BOSE amplifiers were weird in the convertible compared to the standard A4 (and was prone to ending up under water in the cavity it sat in) but the basic rear only amplified version shouldn't be too difficult.

As well as having the radio powered up, which you've done the hard way by finding a switched live, you also need to have the radio turn on the rear speaker amplifier and the amplifier for the antenna.  The Kenwood should have a blue wire (might also have a blue and white) labelled antenna or amp which will output 12v when the radio is on. The blue/white wire that is going into the red plug on the Autoleads cable and the blue wire from the FM antenna adapter both need connecting to the 12v output wire from the radio and this should turn on the amp and the antenna.

Really the adapter you have isn't meant for a car as new as this, its for the B5 generation of A4 which was pre-canbus. If I was selling you a kit it would have a canbus adapter which would output 12v from the cars ignition without tapping into the fusebox and an illumination signal so the radio display would dim when then the lights are on. Additionally I'm pretty sure the amplifiers changed between the generations so you may find that with the non-adjustable gain adapter in your loom the sound is really unbalanced - I can't remember which car it was where I tried this setup and found the rear speakers to be incredibly quiet even with the amp turned on. I would use an adapter with an adjustable gain adapter for the rear but I understand that paying £90 for a fancy canbus interface with adjustable rear gain interface isn't hugely economically viable on a car that cost very little in the first place.

[MVX11V]

Well, I sorted it out today. It was a weird one really. I couldnt get a signal on the remote cable from the new head unit. Without that, the amp wouldn't function.

The amp gets it's live from elsewhere so there was nowhere to run a live to it, that was a red herring anyway.

With ign on, off, radio on, off, there was no signal from the unit on the remote cable. I did notice however that considering all that was working was the front speakers, the head unit was alarmingly hot in one spot on the casing under the main plug. 

In a last ditch attempt I  jumped a live feed to the remote cable and... BOOM! Toonage!

I've tried to replicate the fault since and can't do it. Whats more is that the hot spot on the head unit has gone.

It's just working now, like nothing was ever wrong, and it sounds good. Maybe there was a connection issue on the remote feed from the head unit but I don't know why it's remedied itself by having 12v forced up it?

6 hours ago, philibusmo said:

I would use an adapter with an adjustable gain adapter for the rear but I understand that paying £90 for a fancy canbus interface with adjustable rear gain interface isn't hugely economically viable on a car that cost very little in the first place.

This is me. I do not do this for economy,  I do this because I want pukka old motahs to smoke about in! 🤑

Tell me more about this fancy adapter imediately!

[MVX11V]

In other news;

I sanded and finished the headlamp lenses, the lamps come out of this car without the need to remove bumpers and grills and things. It was a right bonus to do the lenses off the car. I also gave it a once over since doing the timing and service work and it's not lost a drop of oil or water. Checked out the roof operation seeing as the sun was out and cleaned bits I haven't managed to get to yet.

Still some bits to do and it's now in regular service (with bluetooth/ USB music 😁)

[philibusmo]

20 hours ago, MVX11V said:

This is me. I do not do this for economy,  I do this because I want pukka old motahs to smoke about in! 🤑

Tell me more about this fancy adapter imediately!

This is the adapter - its actually £70, less than I remembered!

https://phautoparts.co.uk/product/audi-2000-2007-car-radio-iso-adapter-cable-lead-with-antenna-adapter-canbus-and-amplifier-interface/

It has the canbus interface producing a switched 12v supply when the ignition is turned on and an output for the illumination to dim when the lights are turned on. The gain adapter is the chunky box that has two tuning pots allowing you to fine tune the two rear channels to remove any distortion and balance them with the front. It also includes the FM antenna and amp turn on pre-wired into the the standard position on the ISO cable which matches the wiring on 95% of aftermarket radios.

It turns it from being a bit of a faff to basically plug and play with slightly better features. 

[MVX11V]

Thanks for that. I had it out and about today in the sun but the rear speakers are just not right. I need all the fader from the front to even hear them or it's too loud in the front.

Something is bad. So I've gone and got that harness you have suggested and I'll try again. If that don't produce good vibes, Plan R comes in and I'll install a stand alone system and then I can do what I like with it!

In other news:

It's had it's first FTP yesterday. But it wasn't the cars fault, my missis thinks that these machines will run on forever on the reserve fuel. Needless to say, it didn't. I was pretty pissed off actually because the car came home covered in handprints where it had been pushed about by various members of the public, and fuel spilt everywhere except for down the filler neck.

Today though, I cleaned all that up and took it out for my first ever proper run in it. Juiced it right up on my favorite tescos momentum and went for a drive in the sun, with the roof down. I had some fun in that, proper fun too, not like the anxiety inducing jouneys my Jag gives me much of the time. Will do again 8.7/10.

 

 

[MVX11V]

Set some time aside from being horrifically ill to take a look at the audi back brakes. So far, I haven't removed a wheel from this car yet so I was eager to see what laid underneath. The back pads looked a little low, so I had some ready to go on. 

My first discovery was that the osr tyre was fucked and ready to explode. The tyre, a premium but very old, was split around the tread shoulder, out of shape, and was 10 years old.  Looks like the original and unused spare was about to get a go at being a functional part of the car then.

The brakes cleaned up really nicely and this has to be the second set of pads it's ever had, vw/oodi branded pads were removed. 

Although the caliper AMD bits cleaned up well enough, they had corrosion and the plan was to paint them anyway, so I did. 

It just makes it that little bit better. 

So now I have to get some tyres!

I also tried to fit the cheap chinesium wheel bolt covers but the locking bolt cover was too big and the 17mm covers too tight. I imagine myself having to wrestle these off on the side of the M11, in the rain, at night. Not happening, so they've gone in the bin of bits I'm never going to use!

[MVX11V]

Morning!

The Audi has been carrying out sterling service during it's daily duties.

I fitted the better kit as suggested by :

On 03/03/2025 at 16:18, philibusmo said:

This is the adapter - its actually £70, less than I remembered!

https://phautoparts.co.uk/product/audi-2000-2007-car-radio-iso-adapter-cable-lead-with-antenna-adapter-canbus-and-amplifier-interface/

And that worked a treat. Full sound system is operational!

With every win there is a loss though, but I thought that this one was a bit unfair...

I went to fit the passenger seat motor. Now I can unbolt the seat with the mechanism disengaged which allowed me to slide the seat to wherever I wanted it, I was able to access the mounting bolts. Flipping that seat back, I plugged the new motor in and... NOTHING! 

Gawdangit. 

I took the switch apart and played about with a volt meter and the switches. I found that I had no live feed to the switch and I did to the other switches, so I tried jumping stuff and nothing worked. Then I checked the replacement motor by plugging it into another motors plug and that worked. Then I got a live feed to the switch but it still didn't work and decided to trace wire routes and look for other issues... everything eventually pointed to the seat control module.

I've been in these situations before and it involves hunting down online wiring diagrams but I had one thing left to do and that was to crack the casing open and look for the obvious.

  

Well, I took these images after I'd attempted to clean it up a bit but it's done for, there are some highly variable readings from similar components and a chip has a leg completely corroded off (chip near the center of the lighter green side, marked with a red pen). When I initially opened it up, it was quite shocking to see the extent of the coverage of white corrosion.

After extensive* research, these modules are specific to the cabriolet and it appears to be responsible for remembering the seating positon when the seat is adjusted and tilted to allow someone to get in the back. This corrosion has knocked out the slide and the headrest adjustments. Needless to say, I cannot go any further until this thing, which appears likely to be the culprit, is replaced.

As they are specific to the cabriolet, the modules carry special taxes, and a replacement was purchased for £187, that did include postage... bargain!