I sorted the wiper - needed a nut tightening

New GPS is in and working.

And I found that you can get an 82-litre tub in a quattro

Waiting for a new locking actuator to arrive before I take the driver's door apart.

As for the start issue - it isn't gone but it has improved. The GPS must have been stealing voltage as the crank voltage has gone up from 9ish to 11ish volts and it seems more willing to start most times. The one time it failed I was able to turn it off/on/off/on and each time I heard the solenoid click, then the fourth attempt it fired, so as well as the voltage it seems the starter itself is faulty after all. I know several people had suggested that before I can get a brand new starter and solenoid on Ebay for about $250, or pull this one out and get it refurbished. No idea what that would cost.

I have weirdness with the brakes again. Sounds like what the garage described before bleeding the power steering, which fixed it that time.
It felt like it was applying pressure to one side then the other, and a hard almost a pulsing feel to the pedal, then I lifted off and braked again and it was fine.
This happened several times during a short drive.
Could the pressure accumulator be the fault after all? It shouldn't need re-bleeding after 550 miles.
 

Has yours got ABS and a brake proportioning valve on the master cylinder or is your spec different in some way Rob?.

1 minute ago, kentphil1 said:

Has yours got ABS and a brake proportioning valve on the master cylinder or is your spec different in some way Rob?.

 

I has ABS and the valve yes.

Are the people who bled the brakes for you reasonably certain that the proportioning valve is working without errors?.

 

Failed accumulators can give that type of issue, but usually when they go, they stay gone rather than intermitent, as they contain a vacuum chamber inside which normally fails.

4 hours ago, kentphil1 said:

Are the people who bled the brakes for you reasonably certain that the proportioning valve is working without errors?.

 

Failed accumulators can give that type of issue, but usually when they go, they stay gone rather than intermitent, as they contain a vacuum chamber inside which normally fails.

 

That's a good point, it only happens on light braking and it intermittent.

Going to drop it to them later this week as I want a proper mechanic looking at brakes I'll get them to check the valve.

School dropoff on the way to Wellington European.

Of course the brakes functioned completely normally today. Have asked for a WoF too. fingers crossed.

Got the car back. WoF failed but they didn't have time to look at the braking issue!

After fixing the driver's door central locking (I hadn't clicked a wire connector together properly and it had worked loose) I started thinking about improving the audio setup.

I know there are other things to fix but I've been pondering this for a while. I have the tape deck feeding into an Out of Sight Audio Mk3, which acts as an amp for the speakers as well as feeding the sub amp via an RCA cable (with a level control to adjust the bass). But Bluetooth music volume is only controllable by the phone's controls. So I wanted to add an amp for the speakers, with another volume knob. I came across this really neat little 4 channel amp at Repco which would fit nicely, and bought another level control and some RCA cables from Jaycar Electronics. I pulled the car apart and re-ran all of the speaker wires to the rear left where my sub amp lives, then ran the new RCA cables. Then I got the new amp out ready to work out how to secure it in there, and realised that it has two inputs rather than an input and output. So I'll need an RCA splitter to feed both amps. Or I could use the sub amp as a primary (it has an output) but I'd lose the separate bass control.

Need to work out what to do with this

After a lot of swearing and a few more visits to buy cables and adapters I've simplified things a bit and ditched the extra level controller. The only RCA splitters I could get were simple cables with an extra end, and connecting those to two level controls didn't go well 　

So I'm feeding the Bluetooth unit to the sub amp then outputting to the speaker amp. Which itself needed an RCA splitter to convert one input to two as it's two separate amps with no built-in option to bridge the inputs.

Just need to get the car put back together now.

Drove Rusty back to Wellington European for them to do the brakes today.

The stereo is much improved, and way louder than it was. Very happy with that.
The tape deck no longer plays out of the speakers though so I have that to fix.

And the horn has stopped working. Sigh.

I've decided that Rusty is like a Tesla in that it downloads new "features" overnight.

Could this be the reason Rusty is so hard to fill with fuel? It's the breather from the fuel tank and looks like it has been pinched under the tank at some point. Need to get underneath and work out where it goes, then replace it.

Also, standard school run pic.

A pinched breather could indeed cause slow filling, and possibly even cause fuel starvation under sustained high throttle running.

So, my brakes again. I have an intermittent issue under light braking where the pedal is hard and the car pulls left, then right with minimal actual braking. Come off the brake and back on and it brakes normally.
Obviously this is a little disconcerting when braking is needed.

WEEU have bled the brakes and power steering again, no air was apparent in either system. They've suggested that the front/rear proportioning valve could be at fault.
According to my diagrams it's part 803 612 303 which is about $500 here in NZ.

Oh and my ABS doesn't appear to be functioning either. Sigh.

Going to work through this with the ABS, see if anything comes up.
http://audifans.com/mirror/www.isham-research.co.uk/quattro/wiring/Typ85/abspin.html

Also this arrived:

New starter is in!

I thought I'd cracked it after about 15-20 successful starts in a row.

Then I went for a drive, and as soon as the car was hot, the issue returned. Sigh.

At least I got some nice sunny day photos.

Shame the staring isn't quite sorted yet Rob, but like you say..... nice photos! 

Rob, I may be "teaching my granny" here, but have you checked the joints on the starter cables?

29 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

Rob, I may be "teaching my granny" here, but have you checked the joints on the starter cables?

 

I've checked everything except the wires from the ignition to the starter solenoid. They go under the dash to the main fuse box then around the engine bay. I've replaced part of that run with new, but not all of it. Yet.

I got blocked in...

But it was worth it to hear it fire up.
Also this.

Typical Audi parking? Or pushed there after refusing to start at a petrol station?
Take a guess.

After about 15 minutes, attempt number 75 ish turned the starter and we were off!

The starter now has its little blanket to protect from exhaust heat.

I replaced the wire from alternator to starter too as it looked dodgy.

Then my daughter added pandas.

Panda! Want PANDA!!!!

Good for 10kW per panda, apparently.

 

 

Wants lots of Pandas!!!!!!!!

 

 

PANDA POWER!!!!!!

Edited 2 September, 20187 yr by Lady Elanore

What about meerkats?

 

 

Do Meerkats help traction? If so can I have 40 Pandas and 7 Meerkats please