Barry's 2001 B5 S4 Build Thread

[q20v]

I had a solid run the past few days. Managed to tick off quite a few things...

Engine is installed! After installing the flywheel / clutch my brother came over and we installed the transmission. I got the downpipes on and made the electrical connections, then the crew showed up Saturday and we slide it in. No issues, everything went really smooth.

IMG_0300 by barry.goss, on Flickr

IMG_0301 by barry.goss, on Flickr

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IMG_0319 by barry.goss, on Flickr

[q20v]

With the engine in, I connected everything up top, I ended up removing the rear O2 sensors because I'm catless and my tuner can code them out, bolted the engine / tranny down, installed the AWE DTS, driveshaft etc. Then moved on to the Borla exhaust and SRM intercoolers. So many details with getting the right hose clamps and fasteners. Trying to use new OEM wherever possible.

Here are a few quick pics for now, more to come.

I find the exhaust sits a bit low where the mid muffler is located, but I think it's just me being picky. In the first pic the tail pipes are a bit off centre but I corrected that later.

IMG_0340 by barry.goss, on Flickr

IMG_0341 by barry.goss, on Flickr


SRM intercoolers install was fairly straight forward. I videoed some of the install and will post a YouTube video on the channel of that. Felt reallllly good to delete the old rusty intercooler brackets. They were a complete eyesore. Now the only eyesore left on the car is the AC compressor pulley Next I have to trim the front rad support and install that.

IMG_0355 by barry.goss, on Flickr

Feels so weird having this side of the garage clear for a change. It's been about 8 months of carnage in the garage but I can finally see the tops of my work benches and shelves are mostly empty! Not many parts left to install at this point.

IMG_0331 by barry.goss, on Flickr


Last things to do this week are:

- Modify 17z front calipers (shave material off the ears so they centre over the rotor)
- Rebuild / install front axles (new boots)
- Paint / install Y-Pipe and the air box
- Install the front clip / rad / AC condenser / bumper
- Vacuum test the coolant system
- Then fill with all the fluids and call the tuner

[SoundEfx]

Nice work man, congrats. Just in time for summer too.

I'll pay you $500 to do all that to my car although I think I might be missing a few zeros....lol.

[q20v]

Nice work man, congrats. Just in time for summer too.

I'll pay you $500 to do all that to my car although I think I might be missing a few zeros....lol.

haha while I seriously enjoyed all this work it was a huge time commitment and I need to shift focus onto other things in my life! And, the next time I do this type of in-depth work will be to my BMW :)

Talked to my tuner, Ward Performance Tuning (https://www.facebook.com/wardperformancetuning), he's setting up a break-in tune that we can hopefully flash early next week for the first start, then after getting the car aligned and engine broken in, the tuning starts. Going to book a dyno session as well, probably towards the end of the summer at this point, depending on how fast I can break it in.

[mjmatos]

The car is looking great Barry! I’d be afraid to get the car dirty after all the blood sweat and tears you put into it! It’s like a new car!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[q20v]

mjmatos, thank you and yeah same here, it will definitely be a fair weather car for the time being but I'm sure I'll gradually drive it in more adverse conditions as time goes on.

On the weekend I finally finished the 17z front brakes. Shaved the caliper mounting ears to centre the caliper over the rotor. Didn't want to use a grinder but there was no other way. I wanted to mill them using my lathe (can do light milling with a collet closer I made a while back) but there was no way it was going to work. So I just took my time with the grinder and took several measurements to make sure the thickness was even.
After that I was able to flush / bleed the brakes and clutch line. Everything went really smooth, no issues there.

I vacuum tested the coolant system and it held perfectly, that gave me a huge boost of confidence to put the front end back together and finish everything under the hood. All fluids are in the engine now, coolant, oil, PS. I turned the engine over w/o plugs and fuel pump fuse out for about 15 seconds, then installed plugs and everything else.

Only things left to do now are:
- Rebuild one front axle (did one last night)
- Install A/F wideband and boost gauges (I'm 3D printing some gauge pods for the centre vents right now)
- Ride height is pretty low, so I need to raise that and then torque all the suspension
- Lobster claw hose clamps

I'm scheduled in with my tuner for Sunday the 11th. He was originally going to come yesterday but we had to reschedule my daughter's birthday.


IMG_0483 by barry.goss, on Flickr

IMG_0484 by barry.goss, on Flickr

IMG_0485 by barry.goss, on Flickr

IMG_0486 by barry.goss, on Flickr

IMG_0488 by barry.goss, on Flickr

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IMG_0493 by barry.goss, on Flickr

[q20v]

The Wideband / boost gauge pods finished printing, going to try and get those all hooked up sometime this week.

IMG_0566 by barry.goss, on Flickr

[Silverex]

Keep making great progress!!

If you havnt started it yet you’ll want to prime it again right before you do. IMO you really should have an oil pressure gauge hooked up prior also.

[q20v]

I'll crank it over a bit more just prior, absolutely. In terms of oil pressure gauge, probably a bit late in the game to get one installed, not ideal but it is what it is.

I replaced the CV boots on the front axles. CV boots are such a messy and tedious job but there's nothing like a refreshed axle! My old boots were on their way out and had previously slung grease everywhere.
Also raised the suspension. Once I put the car back on the ground I'll know if it was enough / too much.

IMG_0576 by barry.goss, on Flickr

[Silverex]

I hear ya but even a temporary cheap mechanical gauge for start up and first drive would be beneficial. Helps catch oiling issues before it get catastrophic, and helps you pick the correct oil weight for your bearing clearances. Just my 2cents

[q20v]

I hear ya but even a temporary cheap mechanical gauge for start up and first drive would be beneficial. Helps catch oiling issues before it get catastrophic, and helps you pick the correct oil weight for your bearing clearances. Just my 2cents

Totally appreciate the opinions and feedback, as usual. I've missed a few things along the way that people have pointed out and saved my butt! I do see the value in having a gauge but I'm going to omit it and rely on the stock pressure switch to keep me posted.

Been steadily making progress on some final items:
- Ride height mostly dialled in, I'm sitting at about 25" GTF front and back. The rear is about 24 7/8" and the front is about 25 1/8" so I will balance that out before torquing the control arms.
- Got the front subframe torqued. Found some 3/4" stock that I used as alignment mandrels, worked really well.

IMG_0595 by barry.goss, on Flickr

Looks like I have some more cleaning to do... those AC lines haha
IMG_0592 by barry.goss, on Flickr

[q20v]

I've struggled in the past with installing my accordion tube since the N75 connector is directed right into its path. Even more so with the RS4 accordion, and I've managed to force it at a downward angle but it just doesn't seemed right. It was the last piece of the engine build and I struggled with it for a while. I was just browsing through LJS's thread (as one does) and coincidentally came across a picture of his setup, but his N75 connector is at 90* angle compared to mine. I was blown away at this and double checked the PN on my N75 and sure enough it's for a 1.8T. Good grief! I just ordered a 2.7T valve and will hopefully get it all squared away before the weekend.

LJS's picture showing the correct valve
137a5fc4d5b459a0bd6bcfc1761c0afc by barry.goss, on Flickr

My current setup, not looking so good but the only way I could get it installed
IMG_0599 by barry.goss, on Flickr

[S4James]

the different models will behave differently as well. fun fact one of ECS tunings FIRST products was the "RACE" n75 for the 1.8T. It was just slightly different varient of the valve that resulted in a couple extra PSI over the stocker. AKA the J or K valve.

[AudiAR01]

Looks very clean. Lookn forward to first start up. I'm just now starting to put my A6 back together. I've been so busy working the last two months. Between work, both my kids bdays, ol lady bday. Holidays. I haven't got to touch it for over 6 weeks. But I'm finally ready to slap the k04s on it. And start putting the motor n tranny back in.

2003 A6 2.7T 6spd Stage 1+ (motor pulled for stage 3+ upgrades)

2001 Allroad TIP Stage 1
2006 A3 2.0T 6spd Stage 1

[q20v]

Thanks for the info James. The car seemed to run well before on the stage 1 but it's reassuring to know that I'll have the correct valve in there going forward. Plus it fits soooo much better.

Seth, thanks, I'm looking forward to first start as well. It's planned for this Sunday.

Got the new N75 and yeah, much better fit. Also wrapped my MAF housing in some heat reflective material. Being a 3D printed part, even though it's higher temp plastic (ASA), I still have concerns about longevity considering the high heat environment. The heat wrap should help but I'll probably look to grab the 034 housing in the future.

IMG_0603 by barry.goss, on Flickr

[LJS]

A word of caution regarding the 034 housing....it's almost made correctly
The bore for the MAF sensor is too large resulting in an air leak...the OD for the accordion hose is a bit too small resulting in a mess under the clamp again resulting in an air leak...I was chasing a fuel trim issue for the better part of a week when I found these 2 leaks.....shame on me....others here have mentioned the importance of checking items not part of a standard boost leak test...
I obviously did not.
A few wraps of Teflon tape on the o-ring groove of the MAF sensor got the necessary tight fit an a machined ring for the housing got the accordion hose to fit correctly.
Keep what you have....it's made correctly is a BUNCH cheaper and will conduct less heat.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

[RMode]

A word of caution regarding the 034 housing....it's almost made correctly
The bore for the MAF sensor is too large resulting in an air leak...the OD for the accordion hose is a bit too small resulting in a mess under the clamp again resulting in an air leak...I was chasing a fuel trim issue for the better part of a week when I found these 2 leaks.....shame on me....others here have mentioned the importance of checking items not part of a standard boost leak test...
I obviously did not.
A few wraps of Teflon tape on the o-ring groove of the MAF sensor got the necessary tight fit an a machined ring for the housing got the accordion hose to fit correctly.
Keep what you have....it's made correctly is a BUNCH cheaper and will conduct less heat.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

Had no such issues on mine which just went on, purchased last year. However, I did have mine powdercoated and I'm using the RS4 accordion, which is what it was designed for IIRC

[S4James]

i think i have a custom billet one in my tickle trunk if you want it. worked great for me for years. for hitachi

[q20v]

A word of caution regarding the 034 housing....it's almost made correctly
The bore for the MAF sensor is too large resulting in an air leak...the OD for the accordion hose is a bit too small resulting in a mess under the clamp again resulting in an air leak...I was chasing a fuel trim issue for the better part of a week when I found these 2 leaks.....shame on me....others here have mentioned the importance of checking items not part of a standard boost leak test...
I obviously did not.
A few wraps of Teflon tape on the o-ring groove of the MAF sensor got the necessary tight fit an a machined ring for the housing got the accordion hose to fit correctly.
Keep what you have....it's made correctly is a BUNCH cheaper and will conduct less heat.

Funny thing I was looking at the 034 site and saw that the connection to the accordion is 3.5" or 89mm, and I checked my 3D print and I sized mine based off the actual RS4 accordion and it's 92mm. I'll keep an eye out for those things if 034 is the route I end up going in the future, thank you!!
Yes, I'll keep what I have for now and see how it holds up. Dimensionally it's a perfect fit in every respect it's just the material I don't have a lot of experience with, so we'll see how it goes. I think with the heat wrap and constant flow of ambient air through the inside, the temp of the housing should be manageable. After some runs I will disconnect it from the airbox and temp gun the inside surface to see how hot it gets. ASA has a Vicat Softening Point of 85-133*C (Matweb) so provided temps stay below that range I should be good.

And thanks for the offer James, I may end up taking you up on it.

[LJS]

What I found-
The 034 aluminum housing gets up to 165F(measured with an infrared thermometer) in city driving, AC on, with ambient temperatures in the 90's
Your housing should run a bit cooler
PS- Your build is coming along REAL NICE!
PSS- James---"tickle trunk"----that's funny...

[q20v]

What I found-
The 034 aluminum housing gets up to 165F(measured with an infrared thermometer) in city driving, AC on, with ambient temperatures in the 90's
Your housing should run a bit cooler

That's great info, thank you! Gives me a bit more confidence that the housing won't melt into a blob.

PS- Your build is coming along REAL NICE!

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words!

[harryn]

I'm so happy everything is coming along swimmingly, Barry. Awesome work man! I wish I had your garage's dimensions as well. Oh the fun I could have!

[q20v]

Today was an eventful day! This morning I finished up torquing the suspension and a couple other little odds and ends, then Tyler from Ward Performance Tuning came by and loaded a base map and we fired it up. It started on the first try and idled well. It was making a bit of lifter tick and the power steering pump was complaining. We let it idle for a few minutes, shut it down, and started it back up and the lifter tick was gone but the power steering pump is still making noise. We took it for a short drive and aside from having no power steering, the alignment being way off, and the suspension being a lot stiffer than I was expecting, it drove well.

I drove it about 20 km later this afternoon close to the house, varying the RPM and working the brakes / engine a bunch.

Initial thoughts:
- Brakes work well although I haven't stomped on them yet, but right out of the garage they had good pressure and feel confident. I don't even think I need to re-bleed them. Parking brake works perfectly too. Super happy with this aspect of the build.
- Suspension is stiff, and there was the odd clunk or two at the start as maybe the springs were settling on their perches. I may raise the car a bit, we'll see.
- I put the car back in the air and went lock-to-lock with the engine off, engine on, engine upside down and everything in between, and can't get what I'm assuming is a big air bubble out of the system. The pump is noisy and there's no power steering assist. I'll try again this week with more lock-to-lock in the air.
- Borla Exhaust sounds very nice. Although the low rpm fart the downpipes used to make with the stock exhaust is still there but not as bad.
- Engine hits about 6-7 psi nice and easy, pulls well under load and doesn't hesitate / hiccup at all. It feels like it wants to go.
- I feel a vibration in the driveline, probably the driveshaft since I fought that (driveshaft vibration) a while back. I might have to re-shim the centre bearing.
- I tried to switch from the AWE Poly DTS to the Rubber one, but the hole spacing on the rubber one doesn't align with the AWE aluminum bar holes. It's close, but the only way to make it work is to hog out the aluminum bar holes so I just deleted the mount for now. Drove it after and it was a bit smoother. More testing required, stay tuned.
- OIL LEAK! Everything was bone dry during the initial run, but after Tyler left and I did the longer drive, a drop of oil was sitting on the bell housing / engine interface, just under the RMS. I was just crushed, but I looked closer and it ran up the side of the engine to the top. It's actually coming from the turbo oil distribution tee-piece, one of the banjos. I was able to get a wrench on it and give it another 1/16th-ish of a turn, but it's tight back there. I'll keep an eye on it and hopefully that's that.

Next steps:
- Sort out the power steering
- Alignment
- At 50-75km I'll change the oil with new break in oil and filter. At about 300km I'll change it again with synthetic. At around 6-700km I'll get Tyler over for a re-tune to squeeze some power out of it.

I'm normally trigger happy with the camera but I only took this one! Obviously I'll photobomb the thread over the next few weeks

IMG_0626 by barry.goss, on Flickr


And the oil leak:
IMG_0632 by barry.goss, on Flickr

IMG_0636 by barry.goss, on Flickr

[LJS]

I can only imagine what went through your mind when you first saw that oil leak....Good deal on the easy fix!
If you find there's an issue with your poly mount for the AWE drive line stabilizer you can get a direct fit using an Energy Suspension PN 3.1142G.
It's a $30 part verses the crazy cost for a AWE replacement.....I used this on my bar as it originally came with the rubber mount(looooong time ago)
If you indeed want a rubber mount I have the original mount you can have for shipping cost...( the part looks brand new- it was on the car for only a week)
PS- the ride height looks perfect

[q20v]

I can only imagine what went through your mind when you first saw that oil leak....Good deal on the easy fix!
If you find there's an issue with your poly mount for the AWE drive line stabilizer you can get a direct fit using an Energy Suspension PN 3.1142G.
It's a $30 part verses the crazy cost for a AWE replacement.....I used this on my bar as it originally came with the rubber mount(looooong time ago)
If you indeed want a rubber mount I have the original mount you can have for shipping cost...( the part looks brand new- it was on the car for only a week)
PS- the ride height looks perfect

Thanks for the info! The AWE poly mount is physically fine, I was just interested in trying the rubber mount. With the rubber one I have, the bolt spacing isn't off by much, so after trying a few more things if it still doesn't work I'll take you up on your offer, thank you!

Re: ride height, yeah, I'm liking the look as well.

dont sweat the nvh too much. drive mine for 10 minutes, that will cure you of any need to chase small vibrations down.

Sounds like a plan!

Video of the first start:

[S4James]

dont sweat the nvh too much. drive mine for 10 minutes, that will cure you of any need to chase small vibrations down.

[q20v]

Last night I spent a bunch more time on the power steering, trying to get the air out, still to no avail. I even tried disconnecting the pressure line at the back of the engine and extending the open pump side pressure line into a bucket with a hose, filling the reservoir completely, and briefly bumping the engine over to turn the pump. It sucked the reservoir fluid in and transferred it to the bucket pretty quick, so I refilled and did it again with a shorter engine bump leaving some fluid in the reservoir. Confident that the pump had fluid I went through the normal procedure again (engine off, car in the air, lock to lock 10 times slow, then engine on doing the same), but still no change.

So I swapped in another power steering pump that I had thinking 'why not', and it made no difference. I'll try more lock to lock in the air tonight to see if I can just work the air out. Once the car is aligned on Thursday I'll be able to drive it which may help too.

Anyway, all this time, the annoying whine you hear in the video persisted, never changed, even with the new (old) pump. I started listening around the engine and began to realize it wasn't coming from the power steering pump. It was actually louder from under the car. My fears mounted as I thought it was something engine related. I grabbed my long screw driver and started listening at various points, pin pointed it to the AC compressor. Went into the cabin and turned the AC on and the noise completely went away. AC pulley bearing.

Silverex back in December on page 3 of my thread:

One suggestion is to buy a new bearing/rebuilt kit for the AC compressor, you can find em on eBay for like 50-75$ I replaced everything except that and kicking myself since it’s the only thing that makes noise on my car but not bad enough (or I’m too lazy lol) to pull front end back off.

I had thoroughly washed my AC compressor back then and water must have damaged the bearing while it was sitting for so long.

Watched a few videos on YouTube and it seems like a fairly straight forward job to remove the pulley. Anyone have experience doing this without removing the radiator, like just pulling the front support forward a couple inches?

[ReggieNoble]

I've ran into a similar issue with the power steering pump. I ended up resolving it by putting the front wheels in the air and turning it lock to lock. It took me about 3 times to get the air out with 10 minute cycles of shutting the engine off because the fluid would aerate too much.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Audizine Forum mobile app

[Bloomquist]

I've ran into a similar issue with the power steering pump. I ended up resolving it by putting the front wheels in the air and turning it lock to lock. It took me about 3 times to get the air out with 10 minute cycles of shutting the engine off because the fluid would aerate too much.

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this ^


its what my b7 bentley has for PS bleeding too and i have done it successfully 2x, after a rack replacement and cooler swap.

[q20v]

I think that's what I need to do, is just spend a ton of time working the wheel back and forth with the car in the air but with the engine off. I'm hesitant to let the engine idle too long during break in so if that doesn't work I may try driving it around after the alignment on Thursday.

[q20v]

link to clamps?

I only ended up using these:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I found the spring clips a bit too flimsy and went with new OEM instead.

love the diy crowsfoot!!

Thanks! I pinched the opening closed a bit before welding the reinforcing piece on, so it fits a bit snug over the brake fittings, reducing the chance of stripping. I've broken loose some very nasty looking brake lines with that and it has zero issues.

[S4James]

i bought a similar set of those.

[Silverex]

Sick crowsfoot

For the power steering pump when bleeding you really need a second person to top off while your turning wheel. You’ll be surprised how far down the fluid goes and when you stop it goes back up so hard to tell it’s sucking air.

The AC bearing I did a few months ago and it’s super easy. Take the nut off the pulley then just press out old bearing out and new one in

[harryn]

Sick crowsfoot

For the power steering pump when bleeding you really need a second person to top off while your turning wheel. You’ll be surprised how far down the fluid goes and when you stop it goes back up so hard to tell it’s sucking air.

The AC bearing I did a few months ago and it’s super easy. Take the nut off the pulley then just press out old bearing out and new one in

I had my AC stop functioning as well. I read that relay 267 controls the activation of the clutch on the A/C compressor. My problem is, it is not coming on at all anymore. It just stopped working altogether. I checked the pressure in the AC system, it was at 100 PSI!!! I had to vacuum out enough to get it back to around 40, then started climbing again when running. Vacuumed out some more, and after 10 minutes, the pressure stabilized. We refilled a little bit of freon, pressure jumped right back up again, but the compressor was not turning on at all with A/C on full blast. Could this be the high pressure switch, relay, or the compressor is finally dead after 21 years?

Barry, removal of the compressor just from eyeing it, looks like can be removed by putting the core support in service position. You will need to remove the accessory belt, hose going to the SMIC, AC lines, and oil filter housing to get some more room in there, but it looks more tedious than hard. Just don't forget to vacuum the system first before putting in the Freon and PAG oil. Keep the lines capped and covered to avoid moisture as well. Wouldn't hurt to service the schrader valves and seals as well.

[q20v]

Thanks for the tips guys. Trust me I've tried everything and I got to my wits end the other day. Lock to lock engine off and on, applied a vacuum to the reservoir, I even drilled/tapped a little bleed screw on the 90* elbow on top of the pump and pressure bled that section of the system before going through the whole lock to lock sequence again. Just no assist at all, not even the slightest hint. I've burnt hours messing around with it all. I ordered a new pump from Rockauto for $110 CDN which is arriving tomorrow, that will hopefully eliminate that from the equation.

Also have an AC compressor pulley bearing arriving tomorrow. I got everything apart last night and the old bearing has definitely failed, likely from me washing the compressor last year. Getting the old pulley off was possible with the rad support pulled forward a bit. I was able to get a puller on the pulley, otherwise I don't think it would have been possible.

Little update on the car:
- Got it aligned last week but I didn't do a great job with the subframe alignment dowels because the front camber is off (high on one side, low on the other). I hadn't verified the dowels were parallel when I used them, I just pushed them into the holes then tightened all the bolts. I'll go through that procedure again then get it re-aligned, but at least it's driving straight so I can put a few miles on the car.
- I'm up to about 200km now.
- Did my first oil change at about 60km. I have the oil filter on my bench and will dissect that soon.
- Engine runs and sounds amazing, it's very smooth and responsive. The exhaust note is very addictive.
- Brakes continue to impress, no issues except a minor squeal under light braking towards the end of a long drive, I installed all the pads completely dry so I may add some compound to the back of the pads, but I'm in no rush to do so as it's really minor. Just love the feel and look, and the parking brake holds solid too.
- Suspension is starting to grow on me. It's stiff and I feel every bump but I'm getting used to it. Having the power steering work will be a big improvement since I haven't been able to take corners with any speed.
- Oil leak at the turbo oil distribution tee is gone, tightening that banjo a bit was all it needed.
- LJS hooked me up with his old DTS rubber mount but I have yet to install it. Most likely this week while I'm putting the front end back together for the PS pump / AC compressor pulley.

By tomorrow or Thursday I should have the new PS pump and AC pulley bearing installed and the front end back together. I'll do another ~100km then do another oil change. I'll also try and post a video update with some engine sounds!

IMG_0785 by barry.goss, on Flickr

[S4James]

get used to taking that front bumper off.... got way too good at doing mine over the years

[q20v]

get used to taking that front bumper off.... got way too good at doing mine over the years

Yup! I'm not too bad at it now.

Little updates:

AC
Changed the AC Comp Pulley bearing and the engine now sounds as it should, 100%. No more weird noises.

Power Steering
- Got the new pump but the inlet elbow was angled directly towards the side of the car, instead of slightly towards the back, I was determined so I made an old PS hose work to connect the pump to the suction hard line. Not ideal though, and may have been sucking air in since the hose was slightly contorted.
- New pump had assist and during bleeding (lock to lock in the air) it was getting much quieter (that initial stuttering was almost gone), but was still making a noise at full lock, so in all my brilliance I blipped the throttle a few times at full lock and sent the pump to heaven. Back to zero assist. I didn't feel like solving this problem anyway, I like no assist steering for the exercise
- Was chatting with my brother and he mentioned the pump control/bypass valve can be removed and checked, but I told him it couldn't, because I had previously tried to pull mine out and it didn't move. Got to thinking that maybe it was stuck, so I tried again on my junk yard pump when I got home and sure enough it was stuck! I worked it in and out to ensure it was moving smoothly and swapped back to this junk yard pump. I now have assist however not on idle, just everywhere else, which for now is fine by me. I haven't exhaustively bled the system yet either so there could be air. This is the junk yard pump I had that I got with my donor engine, which has unknown history, and I think the control valve was stuck since the pump sitting for many years. I had swapped this in last week and it never provided any assist what so ever.
- I checked the new pump and it too had a control valve that was sticky, but not completely stuck, so the consequence of my revving at lock is still inconclusive.
- Next steps are to continue to bleed the system, drive the car a bit more (up to 280km now), and see if it improves. I have the other pump that was previously on my engine, so I may try that one since I know it worked before this project (but had no assist when I did my first start video and it's valve was stuck too, also sat for a while, about a year).
- Quite the saga but I feel like I'm finally heading in the right direction. I just drove the car around the block and having assist was so nice.

IMG_0796 by barry.goss, on Flickr

[G2G]

Yup! I'm not too bad at it now.

Little updates:

AC
Changed the AC Comp Pulley bearing and the engine now sounds as it should, 100%. No more weird noises.

Power Steering
- Got the new pump but the inlet elbow was angled directly towards the side of the car, instead of slightly towards the back, I was determined so I made an old PS hose work to connect the pump to the suction hard line. Not ideal though, and may have been sucking air in since the hose was slightly contorted.
- New pump had assist and during bleeding (lock to lock in the air) it was getting much quieter (that initial stuttering was almost gone), but was still making a noise at full lock, so in all my brilliance I blipped the throttle a few times at full lock and sent the pump to heaven. Back to zero assist. I didn't feel like solving this problem anyway, I like no assist steering for the exercise
- Was chatting with my brother and he mentioned the pump control/bypass valve can be removed and checked, but I told him it couldn't, because I had previously tried to pull mine out and it didn't move. Got to thinking that maybe it was stuck, so I tried again on my junk yard pump when I got home and sure enough it was stuck! I worked it in and out to ensure it was moving smoothly and swapped back to this junk yard pump. I now have assist however not on idle, just everywhere else, which for now is fine by me. I haven't exhaustively bled the system yet either so there could be air. This is the junk yard pump I had that I got with my donor engine, which has unknown history, and I think the control valve was stuck since the pump sitting for many years. I had swapped this in last week and it never provided any assist what so ever.
- I checked the new pump and it too had a control valve that was sticky, but not completely stuck, so the consequence of my revving at lock is still inconclusive.
- Next steps are to continue to bleed the system, drive the car a bit more (up to 280km now), and see if it improves. I have the other pump that was previously on my engine, so I may try that one since I know it worked before this project (but had no assist when I did my first start video and it's valve was stuck too, also sat for a while, about a year).
- Quite the saga but I feel like I'm finally heading in the right direction. I just drove the car around the block and having assist was so nice.

IMG_0796 by barry.goss, on Flickr

Have you flushed or filtered the power steering fluid recently? If it dirty or FOD is in the fluid it may be causing the spool valve, what you're holding in that picture, to stick. This can happen at lower pressures (idle) where the engine isn't driving enough pressure into the spool valve to overcome the friction between the bore and the OD of the valve. 6.7 cummins injectors experienced this problem in mass if the oil wasn't changed regularly as the injector used engine oil passed through the spool valve.

FOD could be shedding from an old power steering line, or even a new one if the line wasn't cleaned well during manufacturing.

If it is new fluid, it may be worth filtering it to see if you have something shedding in the system, or just flushing it all together. You could also remove the spool valve and polish the OD lightly (talking 3 micron level or less polishing paper https://www.amazon.com/Wetordry-Poli...71&sr=8-6&th=1)

[q20v]

It's been a busy month for the S, a few things to update.

- Power steering still doesn't work. I bought and installed a new Bosch pump from FCP (after completely flushing the system) and it worked for about 5 minutes before not working. I continued to drive w/o PS for a while then caved and bought a new rack from Rockauto. Installed that (after another complete fluid flush) and on first engine start it dumped all the PS fluid out the passenger side rack seal. Put the old rack back in and I've just been driving around w/o PS again.
- My next move is to source a used (known working) rack and pump and swap them at the same time. I've had my reservoir out twice for thorough cleaning, and blew fluid through the restrictor in the return line into a bucket to make sure there are no obstructions. Maybe the fluid I'm using is not good, but it says to use where CHF-11S is specified: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/o...0657p.html#srp

Engine update:
- First fill with Amsoil SAE30 break-in oil
- Oil / filter change at 75km and re-filled with Amsoil SAE30 break-in oil
- Oil / filter change at 300km and refilled with Castrol conventional 10W-40 (these are total km on the new engine, not the oil change interval)
- Oil / filter change at 700km and refiled with Pennzoil 10W-40 full synthetic. Up to here I generally avoided long stretches to vary the RPM around town. The tune was limited to 0% WGDC (so ~7psi) and I made sure to load the engine adequately during acceleration.

Tuning
- At about 800km I met up with my tuner (Ward Performance Tuning) and after about 1.5-2 hours we had the boost up to 19psi and the timing / fuel ratio / boost curve etc all nicely dialled in. No issues came up during the tuning process. We left some on the table since we were very happy with how the car was running, it was 30*C (40*C with the humidex), and traffic was busier than usual for the roads we were on. We will be doing some remote tuning next followed by a dyno session. We'll increase the boost, ramp up the boost curve a bit more aggressively, and I also picked up some boostane premium for the dyno session. I'll have the option to flash the following tunes: 94 octane, 94 + boostane (~100 octane), and eventually a 94 + boostane + WMI (or just 94 + WMI... gotta look out for that poor RS4 clutch!).
- I'm up to about 1300km on the engine as of now.

Impressions
- Mechanically the engine has been absolutely flawless. It revs up freely and sounds amazing. No misfires, starts right up, drives around like a normal engine should, and the power is very nice. We estimate it's at about 380-400hp (crank) right now so definitely a bit of head room. I'm fine with that for now as I see if any bugs want to show up. It definitely has enough power to get me in trouble!

Issues
- Power steering... gah
- I've had to re-adjust the passenger side intercooler to prevent it from hitting the frame rail (pretty tight between the frame rail and AC dryer!)
- I flushed out the ATE Super Blue from the clutch line. Since using that my clutch master had been squeaking and was very sticky. All is back to 100% now. Thank goodness too, I was really hoping I didn't have to pull the engine to investigate a release bearing / fork issue. Clutch now feels like it should, very smooth.

[S4James]

i needed a new clutch master to get rid of that squeek thanks to that blue garbage...