New (to me) A4...help a Jeep guy out!

[rmb2485]

Hey, guys. I just picked up a 2002 A4 with just under 100,000 miles to use as a daily driver and joined your forum. My intro thread is here. I've been messing with cars since I bought my first one (1994 Civic) when I was 16 and forums like this one have always been an awesome place for information, so I'm sure I'll be on here learning as much as I can about my new Audi and, eventually, sharing what I've learned.

To start things off...what maintenance would you all recommend I do right away? I'll change the engine oil, but should I worry about the tranny and diffs too? Anything else you'd do, just so I know its been done at least once? The car has only had one owner besides me, but I don't have any maintenance records. I drove the hell out of it when I test drove it (way more fun in the twisties than a lifted Jeep!) and then put it on a lift and inspected every square inch of the thing and everything looks and feels solid.

Also, does anybody know of a website where I can buy a factory service manual for the car?

And of course, any other comments/suggestions are welcome!

[Exanimas]

I'm sure everyone will tell you that if you aren't sure, change the timing belt. kind of expensive, but better than killing your engine.

[B6JoeS4]

here is where you can find a service manual: http://www.bentleypublishers.com/


soon the mod bug will hit as i see it did with the jeep

[Monkey77]

I'd highly recommend a full timing belt service. Do a compression and leak test, just to check the overall health of the engine, maybe check suspension components, CV joints, PS rack, etc for any extensive wear and tear. And lastly maybe a general tune up, since who knows how long it's been since the last one. good luck brotha and welcome! =)

[gtsingh91]

Monkey77, what rims are those in your avatar? sorry to threadjack, WELCOME!

[jessefrank]

Rich,
First welcome to AZ.

After looking over your intro thread, the pic's from the forsale ad you posted look like you got your A4 from a private seller...not the dealer? If you could, get back in touch with the seller to find out what service/maintaince has been done and when if at all possible. Get as much info as you can. That way you can save yourself some time and money not redoing work that has been done (such as timing belt).

The tranny/diff fluid is susposed to be a lifetime fluid. I just changed mine since I did my clutch and lost about 1/3 the fluid due to a failed seal. If shifting is notchy...some is normal and can't be corrected by just switching fluid, but some on here claim drastic improvmenets in shifting by switching fluid. Thus far for me, just filling it to the proper level made all the difference.

I'd change the oil and set aside some $ for maintiance issues just incase something comes up after you have had the car awhile (and Audis need regular manitaince anyhow) ...if not consider it a savings plan or money for jeep parts.


BTW I used to be into Jeeps. I built a '98 TJ for CO rock crawling and found myself buying another vehicle to use a daily driver...unfortuantely I bought another Jeep (and ended up lifting it too ). For awhile between the wife an I we had 4 vehciles and I know what you mean about not modding vehciles...no matter how hard I try not to I always endup modding every vehicle I've owned.

[A4_Mike]

Welcome. The most important tips have already been highlighted with the timing belt being at the top of the priority list. Another common nuisance is the ignition coils (aka coil packs) which normally go bad on our 1.8T's, but they commonly go out way before 100,000 miles (mine went out at 62,500 miles for example). I would just double check to see if you can find out if the previous owner already replaced the originals.

[Michael_J]

To the OP...enjoy! I am also a Jeep convert - sold my lifted '97 TJ for a '02 1.8t A4. I also am going to try and keep the A4 as stock as possible...but I haven't been able to not mod any vehicles in the past so who knows.