Other Bluefox's 2001 Audi A2 TDI SE

[Bluefox]

Well, here's my new project in all her, er, original/unclean/unkept/dirty/unloved/just arrived glory:

Spec is as follows:

2001 Audi A2 1.4 TDI (75bhp) SE

2001 "Y" plate

122k miles (March 2009)

16" alloy wheels

Totally, totally, standard!

Say hello to the latest member of the Briskoda fleet

More to follow.

[Robshaw]

I can't wait for this one!

(Even got a skoda in the background!)

[WaveyDavey]

lol..... Should be fun.

Cheers

Dave.

[Wardy]

Good stuff

Did the 'dateless' plate come included?

Steve

[Tech1e]

Looking forward to getting my hands on it

[Wardy]

Are you sure? Thought they had the reputation for being quite hard to work on

I know you like a challenge

Steve

[Bluefox]

Thanks for all the comments folks

I can't wait for this one!

(Even got a skoda in the background!)

Yeah, that's my mum's Furby. Or, it's the one I drive when I'm fed up with 75bhp!

lol..... Should be fun.

I've heard the remap to over 100bhp, so yes it will!!

Good stuff

Did the 'dateless' plate come included?

Steve

Yes, it did. The guy I bought it off had a 2004 Merc on his drive with a four character plate (two numbers and his initials), so I don't think he needed an Irish one!

Works for me though!

Are you sure? Thought they had the reputation for being quite hard to work on

I know you like a challenge

Steve

In fairness to Ross, I did give him the opportunity to say no as I know they're a pain in the bum, but he's well up for the, er, challenge. So, she's off to Unit 18 soon!

That said though, I'm not sure about having to take the bonnet off completely just to change a light bulb, but I'd rather do that than loose a couple of fingers like I did with the Superb...

[Bluefox]

Well, this weekend I managed to get her cleaned up a little.

Nothing special, and the outside didn't really need it as it was "washed" by the dealer. (I used washed in inverted commas as if Baker reads this he'll say something about washing it with a nice gravelly brick )

Anyway, here's a few pics of how she looked when she arrived, plus of course a trip up the M6 to mum's in Cannock:

She's done 122k, so there's a little bit of damage/wear to the car as you'd expect. The interior is in damn good nick actually, other than needing a serious clean and a couple of slightly worn dash parts:

The only work I've done on the interior so far is to clean the plastic parts with a generic cleaner as they were fairly filthy (to the point where my hands were actually dirty after I'd driven it :eek:), and a slight spray of AG Interior Shampoo on the drivers seat.

However there were more pressing issues... the wheels are in shocking condition:

...yes, that last one's been sprayed. Probably with something from Halfords...

Anyway, check this out for a "stone chip":

:eek::eek:

That must have made a hell of a bang, it's about the size of a table tennis ball!!

[Bluefox]

Okay, so the cleaning started at this point. Nothing major, and in fact not a lot to show, but it's a step in the right direction as they say.

First a spot of the old Muc-Off in the usual places... door shuts, plastic trim, petrol cap, etc:

Even under the "bonnet"

On from that, just a normal wash. Which left me with the following:

...highlighting the worst "defect" on the paintwork.

I'll take some more pics of this, plus some of the other defects. There's an odd mark on the nsf door...

Anyway, just to protect it a little I chucked some Meg's on it I had lying around:

...which left her like this:

That's how she is now.

[Baker21]

Well I know we have spoken a lot about this motor on the phone, text and via PM so it's good to finally see some pictures of it............

Looks in great condition mate and I have no doubt when we meet up we can make it look even better............

I love the colour combo on the paintwork to the interior and it's a lot like mine, the owner has looked after that beige as I know how much of a nightmare it can be.............:eek:

With the small changes planned and a detail I reckon for your reasons of the change it looks like the right choice............

[Tech1e]

I was working for Audi when the A2 was launched so I know my way around them fairly well, never done a cambelt though so that could be interesting.

[Wardy]

Good to see you making good progress

Steve

[Babs]

Looks nice

I like the A2s!

[Bluefox]

I was working for Audi when the A2 was launched so I know my way around them fairly well, never done a cambelt though so that could be interesting.

Hmm, that's mildly concerning...

Replying to your PM now, Ross...

[Bluefox]

Right then, nothing really to report other than she's booked in to U18 on Saturday 4th for a new cambelt and a service. The wheel bearings are driving me bananas, but all I've done to her is put fuel in and washed her!

However, the nearside headlamp had started condensating so it was a case of "borrowing" SWMBO's hair dryer and wasting some time.

I still can't get used the the neighbours giving me funny looks for removing the bonnet every time I do something to the car...

Still, they'll get used to it.

Soldiered on with the hairdryer...

...which worked really well, and I'm pleased to report the headlamp is now condensation free. It's a bit mucky inside, but I'm considering new headlamps when I find one in a scrapper anyway as the reflectors are a bit marked.

Whilst I had the hairdryer out, I thought I'd do her first proper "mod":

...debadging! First, add some (now rather painful) fingernails to the "hairdryer method"

...and finish off by using a trusty pile of products (which worked a treat on the Superb):

et voila:

That's your lot. I've just ordered one of these from eBay (because I'm not paying over a tenner for a fascia adapter from work):

...so I'll update when it arrives, and of course then it's off to Unit 18 at the weekend.

So, until then... thanks again for all your comments

[RobClubley]

Your lawn needs mowing

Or did you mean comments about the car?

[Bluefox]

Your lawn needs mowing

Or did you mean comments about the car?

Bah.

Actually, funny you should say that, we did the ones at the back this weekend...

[Baker21]

If your Headlamps are steamed up too often mate I can supply you with some little bits that can sort this out for you..............

[Bluefox]

If your Headlamps are steamed up too often mate I can supply you with some little bits that can sort this out for you..............

Whaaaat :eek:

Yes please! It's steamed up again today

Let me know when you reply to that email I just sent

[Baker21]

Whaaaat :eek:

Yes please! It's steamed up again today

Let me know when you reply to that email I just sent

Whoops, forgot to add it onto the email, I will dig some out and bring them along on Saturday...........

[Bluefox]

Well, her first trip to Unit 18 swiftly followed, booked in for the obligatory cambelt/water pump/tensioner change.

There was the best part of no service history with the car - stamps in the book from garages, not VAG or specialist; and worst of all no mention of a cambelt change. In 125-odd thousand miles...

Anyway, she arrives and after the way is clear from the previous work - another Brisky member, nice chap, missed his name; had driven from Sheffield to get the Eibach/FSD/remap treatment - she gets straight on the ramps:

...and Ross gets straight down to business.

The first job, as ever, is to remove that stupid - but always required - pit of plastic from the bottom of the engine.

I'd noticed it had a bit of oil leaking from around the joins/gaps with the bumper etc, but I just put this down to VAG's poo intercooler seals. I used to have a Superb, after all.

So, the amount of oil didn't really worry me.

Until, when I, armed with the Flash and a pressure washer, heard Ross say something along the lines of:

"Er... that's a little more than intercooler seals..."

Uh oh. Investigation work continues throughout this visit, which I'll come back to later.

Work continues with the cambelt, although the first job was to clean the damn place up. Queue Ali with his bargain brake cleaner (which he spent ten minutes explaining to Ross how cheap it was):

Once cleaned (check out that sump!!), work could commence:

I then wondered outside to call SWMBO, and got slightly distracted by these cheeky little numbers, both for sale:

Sadly, I had no money otherwise I'd have driven that Caddy home! Beautiful.

Anyway, back in the real world, both of the highly trained, elite killing machines at Unit 18 were hard at work:

...so I took the opportunity to poke around the rest of the car, checking all was well.

Baker may meet his match here, check out these swirls!

So, with the pump etc done - even after fitting a damper which I'm assured is the first time U18 have had a required part in stock (I'm claiming this milestone here, sorry Ross) - they moved onto the more trivial things.

First, Ross dropped my oil and switched to the more sensible and certainly less expensive fixed schedule although I've not taken pics of this. For obvious reasons.

Then, Ross changed the brake fluid for Super DOT 4:

...while Ali battled with the fuel filter.

That's about your lot, in terms of work. Ross kindly checked the fault codes - which thankfully were clear - and removed my problematic stereo:

Remember those marks on the dash? Turns out someone had tried to have a go at the stereo, in a past life as it were... so my removal keys were an epic fail. Even Baker, his Mrs, and removing the climate control panel didn't work. As usual however, Ross triumphed and I've now got my Alpine rocking my, erm, two speaker system.

At this point however all was good - and the oil slick post-mortem started...

[Bluefox]

So, careful investigation centered the leak around the rad/intercooler areas. There was no obvious signs of gasket failure, cracks, etc.

I didn't take long however before the guys noticed this:

Blown intercooler :eek:

Just so happened we were chatting with their remap technician, who stated that he'd come across A2's "blowing the end caps" off their 'coolers - something none of us had seen before - when they were badly mapped.

Interesting, then, that Ross found this in the engine bay:

So, if any of you didn't bother reading my review of these bloody things in my Superb's PD, consider this as vindication! Ross thinks the box caused the boost to spike, which in turn popped the intercooler.

So, resolution - she's booked in to U18 for a new intercooler this week, and that damn box is removed. She got me home okay - but unfortunately lost boost the next day, so I'm driving Mum's Furby again.

Future plans then are still centred around this:

New Intercooler

New OSF and NSF wheel bearings

New K&N air filter

Full Baker21 detail

New rear tyres/new wheels

More updates as and when, but that's all for now!

[Tech1e]

Was an epic battle that car, bloody fuel filter, how Ali didnt start kicking things i'll never know.

[Tom_vRS]

Good progress though

How easy was the cambelt??

[Baker21]

Great write up mate and I hope this all works out for you and we can get that paintwork sorted as I reckon this is going to scrub up well.............