My second AR

[Bordom]

I just sealed the perimeter with butyl rope and called it a day. No water infiltration

Can you still remove the assembly if needed? If you can, is there a special method involved?

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[Audibot]

Can you still remove the assembly if needed? If you can, is there a special method involved?

Heat and patience. Heating up the butyl will allow it to be pliable enough to remove.

[ShelbyM3]

I just sealed the perimeter with butyl rope and called it a day. No water infiltration

Along the windshield only with the cowl, or the cabin air filter box, or both?


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[ShelbyM3]

Thanks Bordom and Audibot!


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[Audibot]

Both but on separate cars. The cowl to the windshield on the RS. And just the airbox on both of my current Allroads. Funny enough, the other Allroad had its cabin air box butyl'd down and I had to use a heat gun to pull that off because there was a previous owner missed. So water was getting in there on the passenger side. And the driver footwell somewhere too. No winning.

[ShelbyM3]

Both but on separate cars. The cowl to the windshield on the RS. And just the airbox on both of my current Allroads. Funny enough, the other Allroad had its cabin air box butyl'd down and I had to use a heat gun to pull that off because there was a previous owner missed. So water was getting in there on the passenger side. And the driver footwell somewhere too. No winning.

Thanks for the info!


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[ShelbyM3]

It’s been 5 years since this bay was clear like this…

I like em’ big. I like em’ juicy! All 3 in the same room! I hope they get along!


I’ll tackle the water coming in this weekend hopefully, but in the mean time I’ll go from garage to garage and keep her as dry as I can


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[Audibot]

Thanks for the info!

You're welcome!

It’s been 5 years since this bay was clear like this…

I'm jelly. Cannot wait until my garage is clear again. Need to get over whatever my buddy gave me over the holiday

[ShelbyM3]

You're welcome!



I'm jelly. Cannot wait until my garage is clear again. Need to get over whatever my buddy gave me over the holiday

Man, it’s been going around! I know so many people with the Influenza A. It’s bad this year. And some Covid, but lots of the Flu right now. Wash your hands!


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[Avantly]

Man, it’s been going around! I know so many people with the Influenza A. It’s bad this year. And some Covid, but lots of the Flu right now. Wash your hands!


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Every one of my neighbors has the flu, my entire family has the flu, everywhere I go people are talking about having the flu, I am just waiting for the inevitable... Someone told me that beer will keep it from getting me but I am not sure that I should believe those advertisements...

Love your silver allroads, I have the same combo, my 6MT is silver with natural bumpers and flares, one of my V8's is silver with painted bumpers and flares. My dolphin gray A6 Sline will always be my favorite color (out of loyalty for my first Audi) but maaaaaan I love that silver. I can't decide whether I like the painted or natural plastics better?

[ShelbyM3]

Every one of my neighbors has the flu, my entire family has the flu, everywhere I go people are talking about having the flu, I am just waiting for the inevitable... Someone told me that beer will keep it from getting me but I am not sure that I should believe those advertisements...

Love your silver allroads, I have the same combo, my 6MT is silver with natural bumpers and flares, one of my V8's is silver with painted bumpers and flares. My dolphin gray A6 Sline will always be my favorite color (out of loyalty for my first Audi) but maaaaaan I love that silver. I can't decide whether I like the painted or natural plastics better?

We’re being flooded in the Emergency Department with Flu. Similarly, we’re bracing for it, too. My wife is an ER Nurse and I’m an X-ray Tech so between the two of us we see almost every patient with anything communicable.

Thanks Man! I am growing really fond of it, too. I’ve never actually liked silver cars and refused to, but when I saw the almost full body paint, I fell in love. I honestly like this bumper combination the best. The Allroad needs some cladding, but the partial paint gives it a more refined look, in my opinion. It helps to tie the mud flaps in a little more, too, and keep the rugged feel.

I’m gonna slap the 235/70/16’s on and raise her about 15mm here pretty soon because I can. I think when I do the full brake service I have planned I’ll put the lift spacers in and go big.


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[ShelbyM3]

So I pulled the cowl cover off and started investigating. It took me about 3 minutes to be royally pissed, hahaha. Worst case scenario, in my opinion…
Missing the clips on either side…
Passenger’s

Driver’s. Little water back there under the ECU box.

Little creek bed behind the battery and behind the cabin air filter box. Yup…

Pulled the filter and started poking around the foam when I discovered the box was broken. Yay…


Pulled the box. Bordom, thanks for the tip on the back nut, but my windshield cowl popped up and off super easy so I snuck a swivel 10mm down there and grabbed it from the front side. What a terrible nut placement.
It’s got a little crack near the bolt hole and I think I can fix it with some super glue and then some RTV on the underside for good measure. I think I’ll use foam from The Depot and see what happens. Hopefully I can whip it out this weekend, but now that she’s in the garage she can stay there.


The seal has also failed in multiple places compressing and degrading, as well as tearing off.




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[ShelbyM3]

Do these flaps/doors look normal to you guys? There’s a bunch of gunk on either end of both of them that looks like RTV.




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[02 A6 2.7T]

Do these flaps/doors look normal to you guys? There’s a bunch of gunk on either end of both of them that looks like RTV.




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Looks like what remains of the factory white lithium grease used to keep them from squeaking as they open and close ...

[ShelbyM3]

Looks like what remains of the factory white lithium grease used to keep them from squeaking as they open and close ...

Thanks!


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[ShelbyM3]

Started repairs with supergluing the cracks back and attaching a couple small pieces that’d fallen off. I’m gonna let this dry up well and then coat it with some RTV. Still hunting for a box. There’s a junkyard not too far from me that I may explore tomorrow.




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[Audibot]

Man, it’s been going around! I know so many people with the Influenza A. It’s bad this year. And some Covid, but lots of the Flu right now. Wash your hands!

Not flu or COVID, thankfully. Those would have my laid up in bed completely worthless. Agree--wash your hands people! And clean/disinfect your door knobs, handles (incl sink handles), steering wheels, and shifters! These are some of the most overlooked places, and while brass is mildly disinfecting b/c the copper in it, many of these components no longer have copper.

My dolphin gray A6 Sline will always be my favorite color (out of loyalty for my first Audi)

Dolphin Grey is one my favorites from my B7 (well the metallic pearl version), and I would have loved to have seen that live on, but was discontinued after B7 I think.

Started repairs with supergluing the cracks back and attaching a couple small pieces that’s fallen off. I’m gonna let this dry up well and then coat it with some RTV. Still hunting for a box. There’s a junkyard not too far from me that I may explore tomorrow.

If the super glue doesn't hold, I'd use some plastic epoxy. I've had good success w/ the JB Weld one (incl the marine one meant for water exposure) on a sunroof tray (which then fell over and busted the glass . The seal looks like the ones I've taken off and replaced with butyl, but hopefully yours holds well!

[ShelbyM3]

I’m trying to fix this with stuff I’ve got on hand, sans the seal. I did just get a cheap plastic welder that I may try, too, but the plastic seems pretty brittle or like it’s got fiberglass in it.

Grabbed these to give them a shot and see if they’ll seal up.



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[ShelbyM3]

I cleaned out the tract really well with a screw driver and a tooth brush. Went with the 5/16”(8mm) wide and 1/4” (6.5mm) tall rubber window seal.


I cut off a small strip and tried fitting it into the groove both ways. I felt it was too proud with the adhesive down and I had to use a trim panel tool to get it down into the groove. Upside down, it fit really nicely and was very similar to the OE seal’s height.




So I cut off 13.5” of it, ripped it down the middle, and superglued it into the groove so I’d get a solid seal for a long time. Slow and steady, I did each side in 6 sections to get a good hold around the corners. The adhesive backing cover-strip on this stuff is garbage and came off as I unrolled it, so it was tedious, but I did my best to avoid touching it so it’d also seal to the firewall area, but not quite as aggressively as butyl rope.



Hopefully I’ll get a good seal with this. Only time will tell.


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[ShelbyM3]

I found the other piece that broke off rattling around in the back. I glued it in place, too. This probably won’t hold, haha. We’ll see.


I pulled the wipers and windshield cowl off.


Lots of gunk and little seed pods in and around the little tract.


And apparently the V8 came with a strut brace…? Huh, who knew.
Edit: OK, embarrassingly, my 2.7 has one, too that I’ve never noticed. Ha.



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[ShelbyM3]

Cleaned and ready

Windshield Cowl part number


Box back in and it creaked and groaned a little, but she held.

The adhesive was nice because I knew it sealed when I couldn’t easily lift it off. Hard to get a good shot of the compression, but it’s should be good to go.

Windshield cowl took a lot more force than I thought it would, but once it clicked in using both my palms and all my body weight, it fit really snuggly and I’m stoked. It’s the best fitment in the fleet now. Here it is next to project Dana.



All the way


Got everything all buttoned up and hopefully it holds well.

Looks like I have yet another project for all of them. I may as well! While it’s fresh and I can get good at it.

ALLROADS

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[Calif_Kid]

Nice job including all of the pictures!! The only time I've needed to work in that area of an Audi was when the air temp sensor went bad on a 2001.5 S4 which kept the air conditioning from working, and it was a little tight trying to get everything done and refastened. I was thinking that you might be able to pop rivet in a patch to cover that hole in the plastic, but you would need to seal everything including the rivets.

I've got various epoxies etc. like JB Weld plus Bondo and Bondo All Purpose Putty (both of which use cream hardener), but when I need an epoxy to stick, be waterproof, and be fairly tolerant to vibration, then I use some Marine-Tex Epoxy which I think is pretty expensive but works well for me and I get it from E-Bay or Amazon .

- Jim

[ShelbyM3]

Thanks Jim! I’m really hoping this holds up, because I think ultimately it’s the seal that keeps the water out. My thought was if I have standing water up to the crack in the box I think I’ll have bigger issues at hand, haha. I opted to forgo the RTV plan for that reason, too. Plus, I was able to find another one today so I was OK with mediocre.


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[ShelbyM3]

Threw on the 16’s because my 18’s were getting really low on tread and with winter storms approaching these AT3’s will keep me solid.



I think I’m gonna lift her up about 15mm. BRB.


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[ShelbyM3]

15mm front and 20mm rear. Level 4 is 455mm from the center of the rim. Winter who?





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[Bordom]

Nice repair! I was going to suggest plastic welding it back together, but it looks like you got that all sorted

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[ShelbyM3]

Nice repair! I was going to suggest plastic welding it back together, but it looks like you got that all sorted

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Thanks Man! I opted for quick and dirty, haha. I think this will work, until it won’t. I’m having some doubts the seal was thick enough for complete contact, but whatever. Now that I know what I’m working with, it’s really not that bad, like you’d said.


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[ShelbyM3]

Took my boys out for a little lite-off-roading this morning and they loved it. “Dad, these tires are so awesome!”






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[Avantly]

I like the look of those tires! I put koyo all terrains on one of mine with the LP Adventer fake beadlock wheels (back when they still sold them) and I like the look of the wheels but the smooth sidewalls on the tires are meh, yours look much better!

[ShelbyM3]

I like the look of those tires! I put koyo all terrains on one of mine with the LP Adventer fake beadlock wheels (back when they still sold them) and I like the look of the wheels but the smooth sidewalls on the tires are meh, yours look much better!

Thanks Avantly! I love them! It definitely changed the look and feel of the Allroad, but I’ll clean them up and slap the center caps on, which I think will help.
It also now feels so huge while driving it. Level 3 is now factory level 4, so at 50 it just feels different. Level 4 feels so huge now. It’s awesome.


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[Blacka1vw]

Your work is very inspiring! That wheel combo looks great! Seals the deal for me going back to air!

[Avantly]

Thanks Avantly! I love them! It definitely changed the look and feel of the Allroad, but I’ll clean them up and slap the center caps on, which I think will help.
It also now feels so huge while driving it. Level 3 is now factory level 4, so at 50 it just feels different. Level 4 feels so huge now. It’s awesome.


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My experience with oversized A/T's on the C5:
Ice performance: Not great but better than falken and michelin all seasons!
Snow performance: Quite good! Throws chunks of snow!
Ride quality: EXCELLENT! (Absolutely zero comparison in how the oversized A/T sucks up detroit potholes as compared to both the stock 17" and stock 18" Z rated tires)

I can't remember what size I have on mine but they do rub a little at full lock on level 1. If I fully deflate the suspension, let's just say that the tires serve as a second parking gear xD

Overall zero regrets with putting A/T's on the car!

[ShelbyM3]

Your work is very inspiring! That wheel combo looks great! Seals the deal for me going back to air!

Thank you for the kind words. I’m glad I can help, in some way.
Please do It’s just not an Allroad without it.


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[ShelbyM3]

My experience with oversized A/T's on the C5:
Ice performance: Not great but better than falken and michelin all seasons!
Snow performance: Quite good! Throws chunks of snow!
Ride quality: EXCELLENT! (Absolutely zero comparison in how the oversized A/T sucks up detroit potholes as compared to both the stock 17" and stock 18" Z rated tires)

I can't remember what size I have on mine but they do rub a little at full lock on level 1. If I fully deflate the suspension, let's just say that the tires serve as a second parking gear xD

Overall zero regrets with putting A/T's on the car!

They are an extremely comfortable ride! There’s no real appreciable road-noise either. It’s great! I’m most curious to see how my fuel mileage is impacted…


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[Avantly]

They are an extremely comfortable ride! There’s no real appreciable road-noise either. It’s great! I’m most curious to see how my fuel mileage is impacted…


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I calculated this a few years ago for mine, I didn't see any appreciable change with the increased tire circumference, but the increased circumference shifted my peak efficiency speed a little higher. Before that, I saw peak efficiency a little under 60 and after it was above 60 and approaching 65 IIRC... I have no idea where that piece of paper is. It obviously gives you a little wider range of speed in each gear but I really didn't notice that except maybe in 1st gear with the 6MT - Definitely harder to break the tires loose on dirt xD

Mine are quiet as well and overall I have been very happy with the setup!

[ShelbyM3]

I got in my new cabin air filter box and…it’s broken in the identical spot in the identical fashion.

We’ll see what I can sort out with the seller. Womp. I don’t even have the standoff part to try to repair this one. And the seal is 100% shot.




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[ShelbyM3]

Phil is giving me the run around. What else is new…?

Got a little winter wash in in this oddly cold and sunny stretch of weather in “The Valley” Oregon.






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[ShelbyM3]

After far too much persistence and professionalism…I got a solid cabin air filter box. Hurray! The seal looks great half of the box and the other half is completely flat. I’ll do the same treatment to this box for the seal, and then swap them out.

Interestingly, this box a C suffix and my original has a D suffix. Must have been a >2003 change.








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[ShelbyM3]

12mpg





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[SleeperA6]

12mpg





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I bet, what is the load rating on your falken’s?