Audi A4 1.8T Quattro

Deleted User 234324

Deleted User 234324

Deleted User 234324

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Anything worth knowing about the cars before looking at one ? its a 2000 X reg with 138k on the clock, should have had its 2nd cambelt change this year or 18k miles ago.

Any know problems with them or things to look out for ?
 
Yeah I had one.

Waterpump needs to be changed with the cambelt as they have plastic impellors and can fail

Oil changes are important to prevent sludge blockage so make sure it has lots of oil change history

Sensors can be a pain, mine needed a new
temp sender (only £20 and easy to fit)
MAFF
Thermostat

I ended up selling it as it need a clutch and that was something mental like £500, awesome GTI wanted over £600! Engine out job I think

Tyres wear fairly evenly all round and they run 17's so not cheap

The Ronal Bolero alloys (up to 2000) get very scabby and refubs on the lip are expensive

The LCD screen can fail and is very difficult to replace

The stereo volume button goes on full blast if you touch it slightly, not nice in the mornings

The carpet wears through very easily as do the mats
 
Is this for you to replace the 330i?

If so, out of the frying pan into the fire. These are ancient now, replaced in 2001.

Just give up on the prestige cars and get something like a Mondeo instead. Far better bet at this end of the market.
 
He's right, they are a money pit and not that good to be honest. If you are a mechanic or in the trade then fair enough but for an everyday dude like me it was a case of "do I want to spend this kind of money on an 8 year old car that isnt that quick or fun to drive" The answer was no.

Dont get me wrong though, they have some good points, the grip is great, especially at this time of year and they are built nicely inside but the running costs far outweigh the benefits
 
No sorry, I dont know what would cause that but on mine the needle would sit lower than at should IE it would never warm up properly and thats due to either the stat or the sender

You could ask on audi sport.net, theres some helpful people on there
 
It's odd, it will either work, or not work randomly whilst driving along this could change.

One minute, correct reading (bang on middle), next minute needle drops to 0.
 
paradigm said:
Got any more info on this? Does this give the symptom of a "dancing" temperature needle?

Mine does that at the moment. :(
Click to expand...

It would depending on how the sensor fails it is a dual sensor one for the ECU the other for the temperature gauge.

VAG replaced the faulty sensor and these are green the bad ones from the factory were black (I think).

Another common fault for dancing needle is a failing water pump, your best bet is to get Vagcom/VCDS and monitor the temperature sensors they should match.
 
paradigm said:
It's odd, it will either work, or not work randomly whilst driving along this could change.

One minute, correct reading (bang on middle), next minute needle drops to 0.
Click to expand...
Sounds like the coolant temperature sender to me.

As mentioned it sends two signals. My one failed on the ECU side so it threw a CEL whilst the gauge read fine.

As mentioned, clutch is not a cheap job... as I have just found out. £500 from the dealers and it "will probably need a flywheel at about £450 on top of that" :eek: I booked it in with an independent specialist at £600 inc. a new flywheel :(
 
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paradigm said:
It's odd, it will either work, or not work randomly whilst driving along this could change.

One minute, correct reading (bang on middle), next minute needle drops to 0.
Click to expand...
This is a common problem I thought. There are loads of threads over on seatcupra.net
Perhaps it was only for the PD 150, I'm not sure.. Have a look though.
 
I'm going to share my experiences here to give some balance.

I had a late '99 facelift QTS which I bought back in '06 with 40k miles on it.

It was supplied and serviced via my main dealer (I continued to have them service it) and had 1 previous owner. I think this was key to my ownership experience.

Parts that failed:

Thermostat - symptoms were the coolant temp gauge that would sometimes fail to register after a long drive, but start working again after restarting the car. New thermostat fitted by dealer, under £60.

Water got into the wiring loom this yr after having front discs and pads replaced. Brake warning light would show up when it rained. Fixed by dealer FOC. To give you an idea, the price to replaced front discs and pads was just under £200.

Oil pump (sludge inthe oil pickup) - fixed under warranty

Umm that's it. My LCD screen had full pixels, my stereo worked and the clutch was the original one and is still working fine at 70k.

Things I didn't like:

Steering was dull (like most if not all audis)
It had half leather sport seats that I didn't find that comfy on long distances - i bought some RS4 recaros but never got round to fitting them.

Factory stereo was rubbish.

Things I did like:

The looks - a handsome car for its age.
Build quality - no squeaks or rattles, far better than my simarily aged E36.
The 4wd - fantastic grip come sun/rain or snow.

Things I changed in my ownership:

New sport shocks with H&R springs at 60k
Full Miltek exhaust and downpipe
CustomCode remap at 60k
18" BBS alloys and Falken FK452s

I was so confident about the car's reliability, I sold it on to a good friend recently. I get a lift in it every other week and miss it tbh.

Relentless, didn't you previously post on Audi-sport.net under 'Bong...' something? I remember your posts and your hassles. Iirc you only had it a short time and I thought at the time that you'd bought a fairly bad example. Apologies if this is someone else.


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quattro suspension is very complicated and dampers are dear.

1.8t engine is really easy to live with.

clutch job sucks big time
 
naefeart said:
Relentless, didn't you previously post on Audi-sport.net under 'Bong...' something? I remember your posts and your hassles. Iirc you only had it a short time and I thought at the time that you'd bought a fairly bad example. Apologies if this is someone else.
Click to expand...

You have a good memory! I thought I recognised your car as soon as I saw the pics

Yeah that was me, although I didnt really think it was a bad example, it was really clean, I was just unlucky as all these things needed doing and i'm the type of person that feels that it has to be done as a matter of urgency :o

I spent a fair bit of money on it in the 9 months I had but I was glad to see the back of it to be honest there was no way I was putting nearly a grand into it for clutch and tyres and as soon as that went I got my hands on the best car i've ever owned, my old Prelude
 
Matt82 said:
quattro suspension is very complicated and dampers are dear.
Click to expand...

From memory the front of the A4 has exactly the same control arm setup as my Passat, it's a total nightmare to work with / change and it's not a cheap job to do either.

Rear of the Quattro is fully independant irrc, so it's also going to be interesting to replace (price wise).

I did a full front end refresh at 90k, totally changed the cars feel on the road.
 
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