Just bought a B5 and have a couple questions

[b7_Andy]

Hey everyone, I've been a B7 Audi owner for a few years and just bought a B5 this week. The B7 had some bad transmission problems and a few other things I didn't want to deal with right now so I picked up a B5 from a friend for a good deal and figured it'd make a nice daily driver. Or at least until my B7 is fixed lol. So here she is!
Today I decided to do a full inspection...
It's a 1998, 2.8, quattro, 5-speed manual, 175,000 miles. Everything looks good except for a couple things. I had a check engine code for a cam position sensor, replaced that and now the light's off I noticed today I had a broken vacuum line and for the life of me can't figure out where it goes. Maybe someone has dealt with this?
Also the previous owner said the water pump has a really slow leak. I'm actually not quite sure if it does... The expansion tank has a coupe cracks, but besides that are there any other common leaking points for the coolant on this car? And this is what I'm most worried about, driveshaft rattle. I think this problem is pretty common on some B5s and I took a video. I'm thinking either a bearing in the rear diff, transmission, or the driveshaft bearing, or all of the above (hopefully not!). The rear diff is leaking by the passenger axle and drive shaft and the transmission is leaking a lot from the middle section. Extra points if anyone can give me a clue on what the problem is...
And since I don't want to make my first post in the B5 section a problem post, I'll throw some possible ideas up haha. So I don't want to put to much $$$ in this car because that's what the B7 is for lol, but I'm thinking first mods are going to be B7 A4 sport wheels (they're the old set laying around from my B7. here's a photoshop)
And I have a set of B7 A4 front brakes and rotors laying around that I want to swap on. I think I'll have to get some S4 front steering knuckles to fit the B7 brakes... Anyone tried this before? Thanks in advance for any help! I've always wanted a B5 so I'm excited to be part of the group!

[b7_Andy]

Anyone think they might have answers?

[CoyneJ]

Isn't there suppose to be a vaccum tank there?

[b7_Andy]

Isn't there suppose to be a vaccum tank there?

Could be, this is my first 2.8 so I don't know the motor too well and because of some gasket leaks the whole engine is caked in oil so it's hard to spot vacuum line fittings. I'll try and look around for one tomorrow.

[CoyneJ]

100% sure it's for the vaccum tank

Top view

Bottom

[b7_Andy]

@CoyneJ Is that what the blue thing is? Doesn't look like mine has one haha


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[CoyneJ]

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=...Qwg8IIA&adurl=

It's fairly cheap, I just went out my bed to my garage to check lol

[b7_Andy]

@CoyneJ Awesome thank you! Makes me wonder what happened to mine...


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[CoyneJ]

No problem, welcome to the b5 family

[wagongang]

My A4 B5 Avant 1.8t was leaking from the coolant flange on the back side of the engine. Not sure if the 2.8 has something similar but cheap and easy fix so it's worth a look.

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[19birel]

In regards to your brake question, yes, you would likely need S4 knuckles to install the B7 calipers.

[b7_Andy]

In regards to your brake question, yes, you would likely need S4 knuckles to install the B7 calipers.

Thanks for the help guys. I think to fix the drivetrain issue I'm eventually going to do an 01E swap if I can find a good donor car at a pull and pay yard. It's rare, but I've seen one before. And that will include S4 spindles which will work perfectly for the B7 brake swap