Getting my car this weekend! noob questions...

[FrostofSparta]

2003 1.8t A4 77,414 mileage....

What are something maintenance things I should do off the bat to prevent any bad things from happening....

1. I will be doing the Timing belt very soon, I have a volvo mechanic to give me a hand so I think this will go pretty smooth... ( I will be using the Audizine how-to) Any have good luck with that guide?

2. Whats the best way to detect engine sludge... I read about a lot of issues people are having on here... it scares me!

Any other tips?

Thanks in advance...

[B7A4WD]

nice!

[FrostofSparta]

Yeah I'm excited... I'm hoping to catch some stuff early, so hopefully some people post some help for me.

[04TurboB6]

seafoam your car for sludge issues...i did it when I bought mine two months ago..

[02B6]

usual maintenance. timing belt, spark plugs, coilpacks, oil change, fuel filter. amosg some of the things you can do to prevent any future mis-haps. As for sludge do a search on "seafoam"

[deephouse]

2003 1.8t A4 77,414 mileage....

What are something maintenance things I should do off the bat to prevent any bad things from happening....

Any other tips?

Thanks in advance...

- check the brake pads. I bought my car at 36,000 and it now has 71,000 and i still have not changed the brakes but it brakes fine. You should be weary of how thin your pads are.

- 03 had a fuel pump recall, typical symptom is a buzzing or humming coming from rear passenger side wheel well.

- proper flush and refill of coolant.

- if i could recommend 2 "NON-PERFORMANCE" mods for any noob it would be in th safety and comfort department:

1. euro blind spot mirrors (they are AWESOME)
2. Audi All Weather sport mats

[FrostofSparta]

Awesome! thanks for the tips... I'm totally worried about sludge of course because of all the horror stories I read on here and the fact I'm not sure how the car was treated before I bought it.

I'll definatly do the seafoam trick. Is there a how-to on the can or is it pretty easy to find something around the interweb? I've also see people putting in the gas tank... Do you suggest this as well?

Thanks!!!

[IceMole]

Look inside the fill oil fill cap with a flashlight

[FrostofSparta]

Thanks!

[Ver]

It'll look like this...not good. Click on the picture for a larger view.

[FrostofSparta]

haha I'll keep that in mind. You guys have good success with seafoam?

[Noodle]

The only reason, due to my knowledge, that sludge occurs is because of two things. 1) Not using a recommended synthetic oil, and 2) not changing it regularly. If you do both of those things, you'll be f'd with a 10ft pole.

[a4wd]

Use Auto-RX. My mechanic says hes never seen a 1.8T that was cleaner!! (with 67kmiles)