A4 Centaur's Build Thread

[A4x]

^^^Those NGK PFR7S8EG are $10.50 each on Amazon Prime, or $37 for 4. Really inexpensive. The BKR7s are even cheaper, but those seemed to foul up quickly in my engine.

Jim, great news on your car, and good progress!

[A4 Centaur]

Update for today:

Stopped by Prestige Audi and Mark the mechanic assigned to my car is a friggen magician!



Got the engine out without having to remove the crash bar! Hell of a great mechanic!



Old engine is removed and parts are getting swapped over. Waiting on those darn engine mounts now!



We took a peek at the K04-R and the blades look good!



More to come!!

[A4 Centaur]

Update for today:

The Avant is back together! Here is the old CAEB block:



Initial look for soot and deposits are interesting:



However, blown bolt boss on an iron block is pretty crazy:



The pro who put her together said it's from the adhesive getting into the hole and then blowing it out when heated.

I'm gonna bring the block home and perform a postmortem and pull the head for an upcoming project.

The Avant is purring like a kitten now! Holy Cow! So glad to see her with her clothes on and being put through the post-op checks and inspections.



The pro who worked on her is absolutely a first class mechanic! I can't recommend anyone more highly than Mark at Prestige Audi in Lakewood Colorado.

[AUDacIouS4]

If you need itScreenshot_20180612-104905_Instagram.jpeg

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[A4 Centaur]

Stuff I bought for the repair:

1. CPMB From Tacoma wrecking yard: $3400 with harness and turbo.

2. R8 Coils and NGK plugs: $140.00

3. 034 Street Density Motor Mounts: $410

4. Oil Filter: $15.00

5. Updated Cam Bridge and Timing Chain Kit: $1000

Haven't got the labor and misc parts yet, but it will probably be a shocker!

Totally worth every penny! Absolutely glad I kept her! Now back to the track next week!

With Bosch FR5DTC Tri-Electrode plugs.

[Nano909]

Stuff I bought for the repair:

1. CPMB From Tacoma wrecking yard: $3400 with harness and turbo.

2. R8 Coils and NGK plugs: $140.00

3. 034 Street Density Motor Mounts: $410

4. Oil Filter: $15.00

5. Updated Cam Bridge and Timing Chain Kit: $1000

Haven't got the labor and misc parts yet, but it will probably be a shocker!

Totally worth every penny! Absolutely glad I kept her! Now back to the track next week!

With Bosch FR5DTC Tri-Electrode plugs.

Glad you decided on quality plugs.

[BeerBrent]

Good to see you've got her kickin' ass again.

[JLAllroad]

Initial thoughts on the 034 mounts?


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[A4 Centaur]

^ I haven't had a chance to drive her yet. The dealership is still making sure everything is working as it should, and no leaks or other issues.

I had the 034 Street Density mounts before, and I love them! But I also like the NVH to a degree. They are perfect for me. Others have complained.

I have a Ducati, so I like shaking.

They really are perfect in my opinion. No real NVH.

[NathanGreatScott]

Congrats! I bet you're chomping at the bit

[A4 Centaur]

^ Oh yes! Hoping to get back to the track next week and see what if any changes the CPMB engine brings. Since it's not a true E85 engine with the manifold I'll try and get the WM kit finally installed.

It's just been too expensive over the last month to do much else at the moment. However, I think I will find room for fresh coilovers and the remaining lower control arms.

This 6 year old Avant will be really refreshed!

[jjvwg]

Can’t believe the dealer would take on something like that!glad to see her back on the road, but holy hell who had your timing cover off last! I don’t think they used enough sealant haha. Crazy to see it took a chunk of the block out!

[A4 Centaur]

Update:

Picked up the car from the dealer. I was actually ready 3 days ago. But work commitments and my MTB kept me too busy. Haha.

As mentioned previously, I decided to do a few things while the engine was out and that involved doing the latest revision timing chains and tensioner. Added almost a grand to the bill, and Prestige Audi was really quite gentle with me. Great folks there.

The car runs flawlessly, and pulls great as you would expect.



So after a quick spin, I took her to get a bath and drool over the new CPMB engine:



I have a few parts left over from the swap: Metal manifold, PCV assembly and alternator and K03 Turbo assembly. I am not going to pull the head off the old CAEB engine and will find a CPMB head for future projects.



After being resoundingly and dutifully criticized for running Autolite copper plugs, which did fall apart and cause the 7k worth of trouble, I went out and picked up some of the Bosch FR5 DTC spark plugs:



Put these babies in and I gotta say, I am quite impressed by the way the car runs now. A few years ago I would have called these a gimmick, but I think the colder range is working well with the tune and K04-R.

[S2Gilly]

Glad you decided to keep her :)


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[Misticvega]

Woooooo! Glad she's up and running for you, looks awesome.

Fingers crossed for me, I'm just about finished with my swap. Gonna try and fire it up today.

I'm guessing you kept water pump on new engine?

[A4 Centaur]

^ Yea, I'll probably have to look at that in the near term. This replacement was costly, but I could have saved thousands, but I didn't have a garage at the time. Moved from my old place where I had a 3 car bay, which was perfect for this kind of work.

COnative and I and a few other folks will be doing his in a few weeks.

[S2Gilly]

^ Yea, I'll probably have to look at that in the near term. This replacement was costly, but I could have saved thousands, but I didn't have a garage at the time. Moved from my old place where I had a 3 car bay, which was perfect for this kind of work.

COnative and I and a few other folks will be doing his in a few weeks.

Mine started to die on me on a trip from Chicago back to Baltimore. Luckily I always drive with extra oil and coolant in the back and topped her off a couple of times. The next day I scheduled an appointment at ngp. About 2 miles from the shop I get the low coolant light and by the time I get there and open the hood.... roughy 2 cm of fluid in the reservoir. Dodged a bullet on that one!




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[A4 Centaur]

Glad you decided to keep her :)


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Thanks man!

[ColoAllroadJeff]

Wow, I must say that spending literally all night reading your thread only to come thru this traumatic chapter mid-storybook is like an incredible novel! Such an amazing read. We're not alone though, the faulty tensioner killed my beloved MK6 GTI back in '16 and then the empty feeling of $9k lighter in the wallet brought me to buy my '13 allroad - glutton for 2.0T punishment I guess. Guess we'll call it love for an Avant! I'm in CO as well, another west sider, hope to see you around - Cars n Coffee out this way? You've inspired me to get a ton of maintenance done on mine - thanks for the motivation and product links. Its gonna be a busy weekend. Best of luck with the new engine, job well done!

[A4 Centaur]

^ Thanks much!

Yea, I be doing a cars and coffee soon enough again. I'll send you a PM and we'll get the long roof crowd and sedans together!

Hopefully this 2.0 will last a little longer than the last one. Many mods to the car, and now it's just a lot of preventative maintenance at this point.

[slight]

What a ride! kudos to you for bring the girl back to life. Really inspired to get working my wagon now.

Did you have any pictures of the rotors blacked out mounted?

Cheers!

[A4 Centaur]

^ Oh I sold the OEM Rotors. Only the Forgestar wheels remain.

[A4 Centaur]

Updates:

Had the engine in for a few weeks now. Results are flawless! Power is everywhere, and I attribute that to the fact my K04-R wasn't damaged and a fresh (28k) engine.

The coils and tri-electrode spark plugs are also working great too.

Now time to turn to some other freshening up: Suspension.

It's been 5 long years since adding the Vogtland Coilover kit I bought from Actuning. At the time the kit was around $870 as I recall. Just picked up an Avant specific kit, which has stiffer rear springs I assume, as well as a different part number.



As some you may recall, I really have liked the Vogtland kit and its part of my reason to buy from them again. The +5 years and 100,000 miles just took their natural toll on the suspension. I think the ice driving and all the super-cold bumping and jolts over the ice also contributed to a leaking rear strut seal, which I replaced a few years ago.

I ordered the newer kit from ECS Tuning, which over the years and platforms, I have probably spent $20,000. The seemed to have the lowest price, at $950, but their shipping options are pretty weak. ECS, your shipping options are weak compared to others. Fix it.

Anyway, I should get the kit this week and I plan on doing the rears myself, and might consider doing the front, but I remember the initial install was pretty time consuming, and I don't want to fuss with a whole day, when I could be out riding MTB or my Ducati which is getting fresh Dunlop Q4's

[sferraro]

Going to be a brand new car when you're done, Jim! Beers soon

[shreddykrueger]

awesome, I just ordered the same kit, as well as the full 034 density control arm kit. looking forward to new suspension as well now that I just hit 100k!

Updates:

Had the engine in for a few weeks now. Results are flawless! Power is everywhere, and I attribute that to the fact my K04-R wasn't damaged and a fresh (28k) engine.

The coils and tri-electrode spark plugs are also working great too.

Now time to turn to some other freshening up: Suspension.

It's been 5 long years since adding the Vogtland Coilover kit I bought from Actuning. At the time the kit was around $870 as I recall. Just picked up an Avant specific kit, which has stiffer rear springs I assume, as well as a different part number.



As some you may recall, I really have liked the Vogtland kit and its part of my reason to buy from them again. The +5 years and 100,000 miles just took their natural toll on the suspension. I think the ice driving and all the super-cold bumping and jolts over the ice also contributed to a leaking rear strut seal, which I replaced a few years ago.

I ordered the newer kit from ECS Tuning, which over the years and platforms, I have probably spent $20,000. The seemed to have the lowest price, at $950, but their shipping options are pretty weak. ECS, your shipping options are weak compared to others. Fix it.

Anyway, I should get the kit this week and I plan on doing the rears myself, and might consider doing the front, but I remember the initial install was pretty time consuming, and I don't want to fuss with a whole day, when I could be out riding MTB or my Ducati which is getting fresh Dunlop Q4's

[A4 Centaur]

Imagine that! 2 twins in the Denver area!

[A4 Centaur]

Well, update for the week of August 8th 2018.

Still waiting on the Vogtland Coilover Kit from ECS and Vogtland N.A. Seems as though the ran out of the kits around the time I ordered it on 27 June. So I got a small refund from ECS, and the kit will arrive almost 7 weeks after placing my "in stock" order.

ECS did make it right though. In the interim I had saggy 6 year old springs in the back, and I was getting tired of the bagged rear look. So Bluewater Performance in Denver hooked me up with some H&R Lowering Springs.



I had H&R springs on my 2001 A4 Jetta with Koni Struts and loved them! I think H&R are a good match with the dampening of the Koni's I have on the rear of the car. The old Vogtland springs just were saggy and didn't seem to work well after so long.



The Lowering Springs are designed to work with the stock rubber perch pillows and give an overall taller arrangement for the rears.



The results are back to 25 3/4 of and inch out back and 26" up front.

Now, people may be asking: "What are you gonna do when the Vogtland Kit shows up?" I dunno yet. I may just sit on it for a while, or might just go full H&R with Koni Struts up front. Can't decide.

I do know one thing after running the coilovers for 5 years. The do deliver great performance! and probably weigh a little less than the big coils. Certainly, the price for a full set of Koni's and springs is pretty comparable price wise to a coilover kit.

[A4 Centaur]

This is near perfect now:

[adamazing]

Put these babies in and I gotta say, I am quite impressed by the way the car runs now. A few years ago I would have called these a gimmick, but I think the colder range is working well with the tune and K04-R.

Question: How do you gap these?

[CONative]

Dibs on the Vogtland kit if you decide to go the Koni route.


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[avantagg]

Sitting proper! Nice update Jim. Hope the new engine is running like a champ.

[A4 Centaur]

^ How to gap? You don't I guess. Haha

[base14]

I have to say, I really enjoyed reading thru this entire journey of ownership and mods. I definitely respect the full commitment to the avant- and bringing her back to life! With as much you have in it, you better damn well keep her for another 5-6 years!


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[NathanGreatScott]

Car's looking fitted! Thanks for the updates

[YotoWerks]

Just finished the entire thread, I cringe at the though of the sum of money sunk into this car, mind blown.

I have always wanted to have nice things on mine but just didnt wanna pay full price for anything so I did all my work and took a long time to find parts at good cost especially things like brakes etc...

Props for having Time, Money and such an awesome Avant.

I am on the hunt for an allroad for my next project car.

[A4 Centaur]

I have to say, I really enjoyed reading thru this entire journey of ownership and mods. I definitely respect the full commitment to the avant- and bringing her back to life! With as much you have in it, you better damn well keep her for another 5-6 years!


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Thanks all for the support and kind words! I am gonna keep her in the best shape I can! I am hoping the RS6 Avant shows up to join her

[deAutoLED.com]

After putting up with my subpar interior and trunk light kit via EBay, I wised up and secured the kit from DeAutokey.com.

BEST DECISION BY FAR! Exactly as described: ERROR FREE, dims after you turn off the engine like OEM, no flutter esp the dome and reading lights which always was a problem with the cheap kit, single replacement trunk light is SIGNIFICANTLY brighter!



Bottom line: for the few extra bucks you pay, DeAutoKey.com is the way to go!



The reverse lights are just as bright/clean! And stay tuned for their front turn signal LED replacement bulbs..





***Mention you're an Audizine member for additional savings!



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Thanks for the support. We really appreciate it! :)

[A4 Centaur]

So the suspension drama unfolds.

I was sent a box with the correct B8 Audi A4 part numbers, but got a BMW Gutachten and TuV paperwork in the box.



Upon closer inspection I discovered the Vogtland kit is in fact not for a B8 Audi A4. So we wait for a replacement kit to arrive. It's been close to 2 1/2 months since I ordered from ECS a part that was "In Stock."

However, Vogtland N.A. is trying to make it right, and It's a great kit so I wait.

Meanwhile, I was in Scottsdale recently and the drive from Denver to the pad is around 900 miles or so. Decided while I was there to do the transmission oil and filter. Goodspeed is located close by so I popped in for a discussion about oils.

They recommended I try Motul products, and after a brief discussion of which platforms have been serviced with Motul, I gave it a go.



I ran Motul in my motorcycles in Germany for years, since its competitively priced there so I felt pretty confident I would not be wrecking my transmission.

They were correct. Transmission shifts great and smooth as butter again!

If any of you guys are in Scottsdale, you know these guys are serious, and do good work. I talked to a few Audi enthusiasts in the area before going in to Goodspeed, and the driver of this Allroad had good things to say about Goodspeed as well:



Goodspeed is an APR distributor so they have a ton of stuff in the sales area:



Now I wait for my suspension to arrive.......

[A4 Centaur]

Update for today:

Got the correct kit in the mail yesterday:





Now I can schedule some time to get the front completed.

Only took 2 months. Sheees!

[A4 Centaur]

Updates for September:

While working on COnative's engine swap, my MMI died. I checked the fuse in the front driver side panel, and since everything appeared normal.

I reached out to Chris and other resources for assistance and looked like I was on the hook for either a new HU or MMI controller. Kinda an expensive fix.

Well, on a whim I took the car to Bluewater as Ben had mentioned that there is possibly a TSB out on the MMI? He was gonna check.



Bluewater came through in spades! One of their great techs took a look and found out it was a fuse in the rear of the Avant!