My Monsoon Grey B8.5 (Re)build

[19birel]

The weird part is that an auto paint shop that mixes spray paints according to paint code refused to do it when I gave them the paint code. They said they cannot mix a spray can of this semi-gloss sheen or something like that.
I have tried a can of Dupli-Color that I picked up at a store using my tow cover hook to find closest match on the cap. It was a Ford grey, but it was too dark.

That's really odd, I've never heard that from a paint shop before. I thought the clear coat was the only thing that dictated the sheen?

Perhaps it's a good excuse to have the cladding color matched to the car haha

[19birel]

So when I noticed Stuckantichris was parting a Monsoon Grey A4 I jumped at the opportunity to to secure something that would fix this car's biggest cosmetic eyesore, the front fenders. My DIY paint repair really took a beating this winter, the clear coat had harline cracks in it, it was peppered with stone chips, and one of the fenders had signs of corrosion forming again. The original plan to was to spray them again myself (I learned quite a lot since doing them the first time and felt I could do better this go around) but fenders with factory paint in good shape sounded like a far better play!

pic of one of the tired old fenders


Tear down was easy, not the first time we've been here haha


Hardest part was getting the gaps right, I had an issue with the hood being low on the passenger side so I borrowed the driver's side good stop to test and it was right as rain




After adding the stop- I need to order another one as now the driver's side isn't quite as perfect since I removed it, but easy to toss in once i get one!


Whilst fiddling around the eyesore that is my aftermarket (garbage) core support was pissing me off so I hit it with some POR 15 to clean things up under the hood

Before


After


One other thing I will say is the amount of leaves and grot I found packed into the crevices of this car is crazy, lots of shop vac work was done.

And finished!

The car looks so much cleaner with these fenders- before it photographed reasonably well and most people didn't notice the defects (a couple of my friends thought I was being OCD with this project) but I couldn't be happier. The bumper fitment is even improved a little bit where it meets the fenders (the passenger side one i had recieved a lot of bodywork during the initial rebuild) Just some paint touch ups around the car left to go before I do a paint correction and fresh ceramic coating!

[MongoMcG]

A lot less work and worry, and it looks better? Worth it. Nicely done.
Your buddies might understand, someday. Have hope. The car bug is ever so slightly contagious and manifests in myriad unreasonable choices that bring unrational joy.

[19birel]

A lot less work and worry, and it looks better? Worth it. Nicely done.
Your buddies might understand, someday. Have hope. The car bug is ever so slightly contagious and manifests in myriad unreasonable choices that bring unrational joy.

Thanks! That's certainly the car bug for ya! I think once they see it in person with the new metal they'll get it haha.

The car was starting to look a little long in the tooth to my eye, and whilst there is still work to be done I can confidently say that's no longer the case:D

[StuckAntichris]

So glad the fenders worked out for you! Happy to give back to the forum members that have helped me along the way!

[19birel]

So glad the fenders worked out for you! Happy to give back to the forum members that have helped me along the way!

Thanks, I still can't get over how much cleaner the car looks now! This car has a lot of parts sourced through this forum, the community has certainly helped make the car what it is!

On another note, my Blackstone report came back! Overall a clean bill of health, oil did its job (Liqui Moly Synthoil 0W-40 w/Ceratec additive) and was all still in spec. The only thing of note was presence of some dirt possibly making its way in the oil but not to a cautionary level. I attribute this to my air filter being dirty, some may recall I cleaned it right before changing the oil at 25k miles since the last cleaning. I'll probably shorten the interval between filter cleanings and maybe just do them yearly (~10-12k miles) to make it easy. Otherwise it sounds like the old girl is in great health!

[JLAllroad]

Idk that it’s your filter cleaning interval but more a byproduct of sacrificing filtration in the interest of flow…. Had the same issue on my report with an aFe panel filter vs stock.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine Forum

[19birel]

Idk that it’s your filter cleaning interval but more a byproduct of sacrificing filtration in the interest of flow…. Had the same issue on my report with an aFe panel filter vs stock.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine Forum

To some degree I think it might be a combination of both only because the filter was visibly pretty dirty when I cleaned it. I might have them analyze this next oil change too to see if there's an improvement in that area with a clean filter but it doesn't seem to be a cause of concern so it might just be a case of it is what it is.

[19birel]

Since the old girl is looking fresh I brought out the camera and snapped a couple pics yesterday

[19birel]

Had an odd occurrence the other day when I was doing a pull and on the 3-4 shift the car wouldn't go into gear, clutch pedal pressure inconsistent as always. Pretty convinced it's my clutch master cylinder causing all these ailments. Anyways some fresh pics

[StuckAntichris]

Fenders look great in the last pic

[19birel]

Fenders look great in the last pic

I'm particularly proud of how lovely the panel gap is between fender and bumper now haha, thanks again for selling them

[19birel]

Not terribly related to the A4 but very much to Audi, I recently got back from a trip to Germany and one of my stops was Audi Forum Ingolstadt! Some amazing metal was on display in the museum

Snapped one of the A4's key "home" haha


Naturally I got suckered into a couple things at the gift shop too

Audi sport watch


Audi Tradition Euro Plate frame, I threw my PA wide boi in it and will run it for a little while

[19birel]

Installed an ECS stainless steel clutch line about a week ago. This was an attempt at fixing the strange clutch pressure issues I've been having- I figured it was either this or the master cylinder, and when I pull the clutch line off the master, no fluid came out so I assume it was clogged in the bleeder block or something.



The old clutch line would not come out after fighting it for a good while, so I snipped the part that hangs under the car and left it in place- there is a drain gromet nearby that makes it easy to reroute the new clutch line through so I used that and called it a day lol

Here you can see the new ECS line connected and the original one just chilling


While I had everything apart I figured it was a good time to refresh my wiper arms with a fresh lick of paint


Also threw some Jectron in it


The result of the clutch line is the clutch pedal feels far better than before but still not where it needs to be. I've also noticed the brake pedal feels firmer indicating there was definitely something wrong with the old line and/or the bleeder block attached. The clutch still starts varying pressure after a few hard shifts so my next move is going to be bleeding it again but actuating the ABS module to make sure theres no air trapped in there.

[A4Qwattro]

Some nice TLC here. I have one of those schwaben bleeders too. It's very nice.

Regarding your clutch feel, the brake lines and ABS pump are not connected in any way to the pressure side of the clutch lines. So air in the brake lines or ABS pump will have no effect on the clutch. One thing to be sure of is that your brake fluid reservoir is topped off. I assume you got the clutch bled properly? There might just be air in the slave cylinder. Have you tried replacing the slave cylinder?

[19birel]

Some nice TLC here. I have one of those schwaben bleeders too. It's very nice.

Regarding your clutch feel, the brake lines and ABS pump are not connected in any way to the pressure side of the clutch lines. So air in the brake lines or ABS pump will have no effect on the clutch. One thing to be sure of is that your brake fluid reservoir is topped off. I assume you got the clutch bled properly? There might just be air in the slave cylinder. Have you tried replacing the slave cylinder?

My theory (which may be wildly incorrect) was that air in one of the systems was inducing an air pocket into the other as they share a reservoir. After multiple brake fluid bleeds and flushes the brake pedal felt somewhat soft, there was a definite difference this time around, though perhaps it was the result of the fresh fluid and will fade in time.

As far as I can tell I bled the clutch properly, I used the schwaben bleeder, and once the air bubbles stopped coming out, I relieved it a few more times to confirm no more air was present. In the midst of this issue I successfully bled the clutch on my GTI so I think I have the process down, but ofc I'm far from infallible.

To give you an idea of timeline, the issue started a few years ago and was really only noticeable at the end of a 1/4 mile run, but subtle enough I convinced it myself I was imagining things. Eventually it got a little worse and I knew it was the car. The clutch started slipping sometime later, so along with all the normal clutch stuff, I had the slave cylinder replaced as a "while you're in there". To my recollection the issue still persisted. Shortly thereafter a detent in the transmission jammed, so I had the entire trans replaced with a low mileage unit (~25k). Now I've just replaced the clutch line. All the trans work regarding clutch, master cyl, and trans replacement was done at an Audi dealership (I was an employee at the time and know both techs that worked on it well enough to trust them). Ofc I did the clutch line myself.

The only piece remaining in the puzzle is the clutch master cylinder. It's not leaking, so I feel like I should assume it's fine. And since the clutch and the brakes share a resevoir I feel as if one system having air in it could impact the other. I'm all ears for suggestions, maybe I missed a small but critical step with the clutch bleed, or maybe theres a component in the clutch hydraulics I was unaware of. Or maybe I'm an idiot for assuming the clutch master is fine despite no leaks.

[StuckAntichris]

While they do share the supply the two systems are separate after their respective master cylinders. Think of it this way, the reservoir has air in it, and when everything is working, that air doesn't matter. I did have a bad clutch master back on my MK5 a while back that wasn't leaking. Since you've replaced everything else, and the slave cylinder is a pain to get to, why not try a master at this point?

[19birel]

While they do share the supply the two systems are separate after their respective master cylinders. Think of it this way, the reservoir has air in it, and when everything is working, that air doesn't matter. I did have a bad clutch master back on my MK5 a while back that wasn't leaking. Since you've replaced everything else, and the slave cylinder is a pain to get to, why not try a master at this point?

Yeah, with that being the only thing left that isn't new I suppose it pretty much has to be the problem. The clutch master is actually a huge pain to access compared to the slave haha (basically the same process as the clutch line). Disassembly should go a lot faster this time around though, especially since I won't be repainting wiper arms & vacuuming every crevice free of leaves and grot haha.

I might still do the ABS pump bleed though just to see given that it will take a fraction of the time

[19birel]

So this weekend I didn't have it in me to do the clutch slave, wanted to tinker with the car just a little bit so I decided to see how much unwanted NVH I could get rid of. The car is quite solid but theres a few rattles/vibrations. One being the exhaust vibrating against the rear valence, it's loud an annoying on cold starts and in reverse and no amount of adjust the exhaust itself would remedy it.

Solution- trim the valence!

Before


After


Unnoticeable from rear view


Why did I procrastinate on this? what a difference!

Next there is an annoying vibration that typically manifest itself in low rpm moderate load situations coming from the passenger rear of the car. I used a frequency generator app on my phone and played a few low frequencies through the speaker and got a lot of noise from the passenger rear door. When I put my hand on the speaker grill, much of it stopped, and when I put a little pressure on the leather insert some fainter higher frequency vibrations stopped.

I had a bunch of Kilmat leftover from my trunk project last winter so I figured I could use some of the to secure the speaker grill and hopefully eliminate the issue. However, I came across another member's thread over on the Q7 forum where he did the doors and trunk and that inspired me to escalate things...I mean I already had the materials right?

Got to bust out my OEM Audi trim tool haha


Rear door- full covered the outer skin and then covered relevant spots of the inner (inner is much thicker so I felt as if less was fine here)


To fix the speaker grill rattle I covered all the snap-in taps with kill mat, and also filled in the spots where the silver B&O ring attached as well


Added a little on the clips that secure the door card to the door as they had a small amount of play


The rest of the door card


I repeated everything on the driver's rear door as well.

Here's the front door before (sans one piece I already stuck on the inside of outer skin)


during


assembled


Door card- same program as with the rear doors, but I added a little bit more to the cupholder as I was hoping to eliminate the annoying vibration anytime I have a waterbottle in there haha


OEM insulation reinstalled


I had just enough to do all 4 doors with a sheet left over. The difference this made was remarkable- the sound quality from the speakers is better more depth and clarity, particularly with the lows and no bass induced buzz at high volume. General nvh is down and the car has a more solid insulated feel. Lastly the "WHUMP!" sound made by the door when you shut it is even more satisfying than before. I couldn't induce the vibration I had originally been chasing again either which is nice, although the are still a couple which are audible. I'm quite happy though and can't recommend doing this enough! I'll probably buy more so that next time I have to remove interior trim I had add some haha

[19birel]

Working from home today so I figured I'd run out to the car and clear codes as I didn't unplug the battery when I had the doors apart. Discovered two engine codes that need attention first was for a small evap leak, I've seen this before and cleared it. This is likely (hopefully) a failed oring on the fuel cap so $10 later a new one is ordered and on the way. The second was for a coolant control valve solenoid. A quick search shows that when these fail coolant leaks into the connector portion of solenoid, corrosion takes hold and then the coolant can even migrate to the ECU...

Popped the engine cover off and it was visible just above the trans on the drivers side.


Pulled the connector off, no visible corrosion but the rubber gasket looked wet- reached my pinky into the solenoids connector and whilst there wasn't a puddle present, there was definitely some coolant there. I sprayed the connector and solenoid with this for the time being to try and slow the creation of any corrosion


It just so happens I have another one in my garage that appears fine. This was in a bag with some extra parts that came from when i had the transmission replaced. the solenoid and attached hoses look somewhat new so I think they came with the replacement transmission (which only had 26k on it) and the tech just reused the original that was already in my car.


access doesn't look bad, it's annoying but I'm glad I caught it early, and that i have the parts to fix it already!

[19birel]

So after the last post my clutch pedal got stuck to the floor during a second gear pull on my way back from a coffee run at work. That was the last straw, so that night the car came apart to replace the clutch master cylinder

deja vu


Pull this pin out from the clutch pedal to release the plunger for the master cylinder


Trying to spin the master from the engine bay to release is futile. From the footwell, use some vise grips to clock it for release


Whilst I had it all apart, I added some Kilmat to the firewall- not sure if it actually will help but why not haha


Next to fix was that pesky evap code- ebay to the rescue with a fresh fuel cap

Old cap, notice the flattened hardened o-ring on the fuel cap, ignore the mold


New


Now I actually have a tether for my fuel cap


My "new" transmission coolant solenoid after a little cleanup


The old one which was leaking from the plug


Replacement installed


This was pretty easy to do with a plug for one of the coolant hoses. I removed the upper hose that feeds the solenoid first and plugged it. Unbolted the solenoid from the bracket (two 10mms), then removed the bottom hose and quickly swapped the replacement solenoid on. Removed plug (coolant starts gushing again) and connect to new solenoid. Attach to bracket, refit clamps, bosh! Took maybe 35mins and minimal coolant was lost. Bled the system and once the heater started blowing hot again, I topped it off, was only just below minimum.

So now she's right as rain, right? Well the evap code is gone for now, I don't have enough miles after clearing the solenoid fault yet, but will rescan this week. As for the clutch, A quick test drive revealed that it really didn't feel much better than before after some aggressive shifts, I rebled it today and whilst I didn't have chance to really lean on it, I don't sense any improvement. I tried a normal bleed without the power bleeder and noticed the clutch pedal would remain on the floor even after removing the prop although no air bubbles were coming out. I'm going to see if my dad can help me bleed it without the power bleeder, IDK what I could have missed but perhaps ditching the power bleeder and having someone else to help can make the difference.

Literally everything has been replaced at this point, so IDK what else to do at this stage.

EDIT: put some miles on her and still no codes so it looks like I caught the coolant solenoid soon enough before it caused lasting damage to the connector and/or wiring harness.

[19birel]

The final code of the trio that I cleared a little bit ago came back, the car hasn't thrown any CELs through this so it's really just down to me scanning it when I remember to see what pops up.

Some quick searching revealed this was likely the MAP sensor-I recall replacing that a few years ago when I was having some boost issues (ended up being the N75 that time around), but I happened to keep the original sensor so last night I swapped that in.



Also my wiper was contacting the A-pillar which as you can imagine makes a rather annoying sound when the wipers are on, so I adjusted it and now all is good. A piece of tape on the windshield works well as a reference point from which to adjust

Now some of you may have seen the thread I posted regarding this, but I have been trying like mad to reset the ECU adaptations. OBD Eleven keeps saying "Aborted Due to Reasons of Safety" no matter what I try. I think I'm going to just order a new IE Powerlink (lost mine) and reflash the car as a way to effectively force a reset.

Why am I trying to do this? Well when the car is driven for extended periods with an issue, especially one that doesn't throw a code, it adapts sacrificing performance and efficiency and that seems to be the only way to fix it. I suspect the car has pulled a bunch of timing because I drove it for so long with the worn engine mounts (excess vibrations can trigger false knock readings).

UPDATE: After logging some miles post-MAP swap, no codes have returned

[19birel]

Little bits to report- Just did an oil change, about to roll over 136k. I'm about due for spark plugs as well, I've noticed the occasional hiccup here and there under high boost so I'll get those swapped out ahead of a roadtrip I have planned next month. I also ran the meth dry one too many times and seemingly burnt out the pump, It's not necessary so I'll wait until the weather is actually nice to mess with that.

Did a smol mod though and got the JB4 app displaying in the MMI screen which is clutch


Some random shots I took today

In my never ending quest to figure out what's up with the odd clutch feel, I think I'm going to try the upgraded adjustable slave cylinder from JXB. My current shot in the dark is that the stock one is just slightly too short for this clutch. There's a number of other things I'd like to do, but I'll talk about that more as I get closer to actually doing them