Picked up my new car this weekend........955hp V10 Audi RS6! (HP figure updated 08/10/22)

Rroff · 15 Jun 2023 at 20:14

Something I fear doing a lot of driving in the early hours in rural areas - saw 2 foxes run out in front of a car coming the other way a few days ago - one just glancing blow and was fine, the other turned into red mist and made a right mess of the road - probably did quite some damage to the car as well.

Only thing I've got so far was a badger, though a big one, went under the wheels without touching anything in the pickup - if I'd been driving anything else it would have done some serious damage. A deer would be another story even in the pickup.

As someone posted awhile back here you end up scanning the sides for the lights reflected in eyes but there is only so much you can do. Had a slightly strange one awhile back - coming around a corner my instinct kicked in to slow down, just after the corner was a deer in the road: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LRTUUGhTkI (similar with a fox they just like to make bad decisions in front of you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXFDKXhRr90 ).

EDIT: Oh and that badger was not dead, far from it though I have no idea as to the injuries, went under both offside tyres of a 2 ton pickup and still ran off...

Rroff · 15 Jun 2023 at 20:29

ianh said:
which I've already sourced a replacement for and oddly Audi were the cheapest suppliers.

Found that before with a lower air spoiler - Nissan were far cheaper than anywhere else - weird how the prices go sometimes with dealers.

pugheaven · 16 Jun 2023 at 08:31

ianh said:
Yeap it's odd looking considering how perfectly "cut" it looks.

It's such a clean break I genuinely didn't notice it as an actual missing part as crack No1 took all my attention. It was only literally seconds after posting that I realised No2 was actually a missing part, gone forever which means the bumper is almost certainly going to need replacing. Originally I was thinking about just No1 being some kind of a repair and that No2 was just where the bumper had pulled away from the arch liner, amazing how much extra damage I missed when I took the photo.

No.2. really is mental... what's the other side like hahaha... I just can't picture what's come off... probably is better just sourcing another bumper really... but this crap happens don't it. Annoying as hell though... your paint an easy one to match? just look like a metallic... it's the pearls that can be a bugger I've found especially white!

ianh · 16 Jun 2023 at 08:59

The bit missing at No2 is the rest of side of the bumper, so just a repeat of the material directly above the missing bit, like this -

As a guess, I think that, as my lip spoiler is Carbon Fibre rather than OEM plastic, when it's been pushed backwards by the impact it has applied p[ressure at the bottom rear of the bumper and the vertical line of missing material is the crease from where the curve of the bumper is replaced by a straight section which is parallel to the alloy's face, meaning there is a potential "stress" line there, and once the rear has been pushed too far back by the solid CF spoiler and cracked vertically its reached a point where there isn't enough force left to continue the crack vertically so its moved the crack horizontally.

Thats my best guess as a non-materials science type

Maccy · 16 Jun 2023 at 09:32

I'm only here to applaud that incredible MS paint work above

^JP^ · 17 Jun 2023 at 11:08

Ah man that sucks! The clean cut on the trailing edge is very strange looking, what does the undamaged side look like for comparison?

I started working a twilight shift at Lotus and drive home at 2:30am from Hethel, every morning the sides of the road are lit up with eyes of rabbits, deer and foxes. And most nights I have to brake hard and avoid animal suicide attempts, especially the big deer that like to follow each other!

Hopefully you can get it fixed without it costing a fortune.

gc123 · 17 Jun 2023 at 11:37

Rroff said:
Something I fear doing a lot of driving in the early hours in rural areas - saw 2 foxes run out in front of a car coming the other way a few days ago - one just glancing blow and was fine, the other turned into red mist and made a right mess of the road - probably did quite some damage to the car as well.

Only thing I've got so far was a badger, though a big one, went under the wheels without touching anything in the pickup - if I'd been driving anything else it would have done some serious damage. A deer would be another story even in the pickup.

As someone posted awhile back here you end up scanning the sides for the lights reflected in eyes but there is only so much you can do. Had a slightly strange one awhile back - coming around a corner my instinct kicked in to slow down, just after the corner was a deer in the road: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LRTUUGhTkI (similar with a fox they just like to make bad decisions in front of you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXFDKXhRr90 ).

EDIT: Oh and that badger was not dead, far from it though I have no idea as to the injuries, went under both offside tyres of a 2 ton pickup and still ran off...

had that many years ago hit a badger just after abbots bromley driving a old avenger....the whole front end moved sideways as the badger decided to wander to the grass verge and walk away. car would have been totalled if i hadnt found another in a local breakers i could get the bits cheap

ianh · 17 Jun 2023 at 12:46

@^JP^ - Here's a pic pre-damage and another paint masterpiece to show a "top down" view to get a profile of the bumper shape. The vertical line of the broken bit follows the angle change on the bumper from the curved front/side to a hard "parallel to the tyre" line -

Missing Bit

Top Down Image

ianh · 24 Jun 2023 at 20:08

Update - Soooooo, new bumper and air guide have arrived ready for painting, parts swap over (grills, parking sensors etc) and then fitment. However the car is popping into MRC on Monday for a few days to sort out the following -

1. Non-working Aircon (oh boy do I need it now) which hasn't worked since the engine was refitted so suspect a forgotten plug etc (been checked for gas and its full).

2. Rear diff being replaced to hopefully cure the sticking needle bearing noise.

3. Leaky washer bottle which may/may not be cracked or have a loose pipe as it leaks onto the floor at random.

4. Missing anti-rattle clips from my AP calipers (originals "lost" during a Kwik-fit pad change - lesson learned).

5. OEM Brake Pad warning light, and as I don't have those I've cut, joined and tried up the loom for this which looks to have come loose post Fox impact.

When I have the bumper painted I'm thinking about having both rear arches also sorted as they're starting to rust.

I also checked by front AP discs for wear as I was concerned that after 20k miles they may be worn - LOL, not even close! Got my micrometer on them and both measured at various points at 35.2mm (34mm limit) but my pads are down to about 3mm of material (7mm when new) So I'll probably need more pads at some point and, despite being a huge fan of Ferodo's DS2500 compound which I've used for years, I've now found that they also do their new DS3.12 compound in my pad shape now, so something I might look into based on the reviews I've seen, even for a "street" car.

ianh · 5 Jul 2023 at 22:31

Back from MRC and almost everything has been sorted -

1. Aircon now works - plug reconnected on sensor.

2. Rear diff replaced however it's turned out to NOT be the source of the diff whine, which was still there afterwards. MRC now suspect its the transfer box/centre diff making the noise which is apparently being quite hard to pin down.

3. The Washer pump and seal replaced and no more leaks.

4. Anti-rattle clips fitted to front calipers.

5. Shorting plug/loom remade which gets rid of the false low brake pad error.

6. New front bumper painted and fitted, it also broke a mounting bracket which needed replacing too.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with this diff whine. I'll chat to a few ZF gearbox repair places and see if it can be looked at with the gearbox in the car or not. From the exploded diagram of the box it looks doable whilst still fitted if (and its a big if) its the bearing I think it might be based on the current guess of noise location (last one on the output shaft just before it connects to the propshaft).

subbytna · 24 Nov 2023 at 14:51

Did you sell it?

Housey · 24 Nov 2023 at 16:28

Are these a dual clutch box or are they full auto? My R8 had a whine from the transmission, didn't impact the drive or changes, but it was there and needed a full gearbox replacement under warranty. I would recommend R E Performance, did work for me and as Ricky's YouTube channel shows, he really is a serious specialist on fast Audi's.

Frozennova · 24 Nov 2023 at 17:53

Housey said:
Are these a dual clutch box or are they full auto? My R8 had a whine from the transmission, didn't impact the drive or changes, but it was there and needed a full gearbox replacement under warranty. I would recommend R E Performance, did work for me and as Ricky's YouTube channel shows, he really is a serious specialist on fast Audi's.

Traditional auto. It's the 6 speed predecessor of the 8 speed fitted to BMWs and almost everything that isn't FWD these days

ianh · 26 Nov 2023 at 22:00

subbytna said:
Did you sell it?

Nope, still got it because I'm a bloody idiot

I'm using the excuse of the diff whine as a reason to keep hold of it, well in the sense of "I can't 'really' sell it like that so I'll keep hold until I get it fixed and then sell it" which it just a financially stupid choice only made because I'm an utter idiot at times with my cars!

Housey said:
Are these a dual clutch box or are they full auto? My R8 had a whine from the transmission, didn't impact the drive or changes, but it was there and needed a full gearbox replacement under warranty. I would recommend R E Performance, did work for me and as Ricky's YouTube channel shows, he really is a serious specialist on fast Audi's.

I know Ricky really well and it was him that did the uprated gearbox for me, well to be more correct he sent it to his contacts who did the work. The issue is the £2.5k minimum bill for the engine & gearbox to be removed/refitted and then another £2.5k for the box to be shipped and then rebuilt plus the one month minimum turn around to do that.

It'd actually be the third time the gearbox has been worked on - first time the "gearbox" was original time it was uprated and then second time it was rebuilt after the input shaft snapped, but both times the two diff's inside (Front and Centre) weren't touched.

I'm talking to a place in the UK who are ZF gearbox specialists and, as the "gearbox" part is fine so it doesn't need any work, its just the "diff" parts that need looking at, and you can do a lot of work on the diffs with the gearbox still in the car, saving a whole heap of money (£4k+) but that only works if the failed bearing is easy to get out. If its deeper inside then it'll have to be box out anyway which negates all the savings I was hoping to make anyway. Its doubling "annoying" because the part thats the issue will probably be <£20 to replace (unless the shaft its on has damage too) and it's trying to justify spending probably £4.5k+ on a £20 part which, other than noise, doesn't seem to effect the driving in any noticeable way, being that I've had the noise for 20k+ miles at 900hp+ so far.

Anyway, as above, with cars I love I become a bloody idiot and for my financial sanity I 100% should have sold this in 2017 before I went to Saudi!

ianh · 3 Feb 2024 at 13:54

So........................New Year, New Issue

This one looks to be a fairly simple fix to be fair (touch wood etc). I was driving back home at night like a sensible A6 driver (which is how I drive all the time Officer!) when I got a ESP fail message on the dash with the car throttle having virtually no response. I pulled over and the car barely held idle at all with some serious vibration felt so I switched the engine off straight away, gave it a few seconds and restarted the car just in case it was a weird transient electrical issue (the throttle is Fly-By-Wire or FBW on these, not cable) and the fault remained.

I always carry my 15-ish year old "maintenance" laptop with me (with VCDS, ETKA & ELSAWIN software etc to look after my car) so I could quickly diagnose the issue at the road side and reset any fault codes if required and get myself the 6-ish miles back to my house. I got the following message -

I had a quick google and that specific P3035 message for "Mechanical Malfunction" is almost never seen, there's plenty of other "throttle" codes but I couldn't find "Mechanical Malfunction" so the internet wasn't a great help, other than to confirm "something" was not right with my passenger side throttle body/valve. I reset the codes a few times and they did disappear but after a short distance they'd re-appear but the car was just able to drive in Limp mode so I could get it home with the fault still obviously there.

I had a quick look on Youtube and this video was quite helpful for showing me the internals of my specific type of throttle body and how it can cause failures due to age/wear etc - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-2Ui1PXQPc

I had a quick look at how the throttle body came away (looked simple) except for the bolts holding the throttle body in where Audi had used a type of bolt I'd never seen before on a car, a Spline drive or XZN bit, so I had to get a set from town before I could continue (got a second "commute" car so no issues).

Once I had the right type of Bit drive I following ELSAWIN and started to take apart the left intake setup which was fairly easy except for a few pipe/hose connections on the underside of the intake pipe and the extra Water/Meth injection pipework I've had fitted -

Once that was out of the way it gave me access to the throttle body which came out in seconds -

Once out, I took in the house to take it apart which only needed the simple removal of 6 metal push-on type tabs using a thin jewellers type flatblade. Once the clips were off the plastic backing comes away and you can see inside. The motor is on the left and that turns the centre cog which is a dual layer with the upper large diameter for the motor and a smaller diameter cog underneath which connects to the large arc'd cog on the right which physically moves the valve, only in my case it doesn't -

With the centre cog removed the motor spins freely but the valve, now isolated from the rest, only moves a few degrees then stops and won't move any further using normal "a few white knuckles" pressure to push it, whereas in the YT video it can be seen that the valve should easily move fully open.

So that would seem to explain the error code of "Mechanical Malfunction" as the valve doesn't move fully open, which the ECU can sense as the valve does move a few degrees to start but then stops. Now I haven't yet tried beating the valve open to see if this is just a temporary issue which might be fixed with some brute force, but seen as its already off and seen as something is clearly wrong with it, I decided it's just best to buy another just for peace of mind as I don't want this re-occuring at full throttle and this time it might stick open etc.

The new one should be here in a few days and I'll stick another post up once its fitted. If it does fix the issue I'll try beating (carefully disassembling Officer!) the old one apart and seeing whats gone wrong with it. Once a new one is fitted, again due to this being a "FBW" throttle there is an "adaption" which needs to be carried out which is very simple using VCDS, where the cars ECU drives the throttle body through a range of motion to make sure it has full control of the valve and it recalibrates the settings in the ECU for that valve i.e. 3 degrees requested actually moves the valve 3 degrees and not 2 or 4 or 90 etc.

ianh · 4 Feb 2024 at 10:44

Well I had to have a little play didn't I! Like someone using a fidget spinner, as I watched a film last night I was absent mindedly working the valve back and forth and after about an hour I noticed that the valve was opening just a tiny more and more as time went on (like another 1-2 degrees after an hour). As the hard stop didn't feel like it was something hitting metal, but more of a soft feeling thud like hitting compressed soil etc, I decided to leave the top part of the valve in some cleaning solution overnight (the top part in the below image has no electronics in it) and this morning after just a few minutes of working it back & forth again -

TADA!!!!!!

With a very rough feeling it finally was able to be fully opened (yay!), and then stayed open (bugger!) as the return spring couldn't over-power whatever was causing the jam. However, now I knew the jam wasn't permanent I squirted some electrolube where the rod entered the body and started working the valve again and after about 10-15 minutes the valve was able to open and, more importantly, the springs were able to close it.

It was still rough with one place about 1/2 way being a very obvious sticking point but after more electrolube and another 30mins the valve is now back to fully opening and closing correctly!

As fitting/removing the valve from the car is only a 15min job I refitted the valve to see if that clears up the fault and [Borat]Great Success![/Borat]. The idle hunts about 150rpm so the valve isn't perfect but at least when the new valve arrives I know it'll cure the fault and, as mentioned, its only a 15min swap over plus 30 second "Adaption".

As to what's caused this, I've no idea as nothing has come out (dirt/dust etc) during all this and the cleaning solution was the same colour before/after. If I had to guess based only on what the jam "felt" like, I'd say something organic rather than something metallic, but without taking the valve apart (potentially destructive) then I've no idea, especially as it happen whilst driving (which is 2-3 times a week) rather than say after being left unused for months etc.

ianh · 9 Feb 2024 at 20:14

Throttle Body - New one arrived, I'll fit it tomorrow

*****************************************************************************************************

Over winter I've been having a few issues with the cars battery getting very low if I didn't drive it every 2-3 days which was unusual. This low voltage causes the car to throw up some "quiescent current" faults, where the cars ECU's will gradually shut down sections of the car to keep the battery alive as long as possible (through 6 different stages of shutdown) and this can cause weird sensor errors, especially ones which are sensitive to voltage fluctuations (I was getting a few for powered seat modules etc). So today I checked the old Yuasa battery I'd fitted about 6 years ago I think (its outside warranty by now) and a few cells were degraded so it was struggling to hold charge and needed replacing.

I popped into Halfords for another identical one (Yuasa battery HSB020 - 5 year guarantee) and got a nice 20% discount from my old Trade Card, otherwise it'd have been £190 which is scandalous if you ask me!!!! Afterwards, as the cars ECU's had been been monitoring the slow degrade of the battery and they remember how poorly performing that battery was (and will pre-emptively adjust power levels for the bad battery), it now needs to be told that a new fresh battery is installed otherwise, yet again, it'll throw various error codes. However that was just a simple 5 minutes on my VCDS laptop where you change the serial number of the current battery to the new one (it needs to know the make, model and S/No of a bloody battery!), which tells the cars ECU's "hey this is a new battery, reset your power limits memory".

ianh · 16 Mar 2024 at 16:37

A few smaller things - Fitted the new throttle body a while back and all is good there, popped into MRC Tuning in Banbury during a weekend trip back to Stoke for an oil change (Fuchs Titan Race Pro-S 5w30). When we filled in my service book we realised it'd been over a year since the last service so got to get it booked in for a "minor" service in a few weeks time inc gearbox service/oil cx on top.

ianh · 6 May 2024 at 21:33

A free fix of something on the RS6 - NEVER!!!!

My car speakers started distorting, dropping out, crackling etc but only during full throttle and the sound returned to normal after braking. This was happening to both right side Front and Rear door speakers (6 in total, 3x per door) only so it wasn't a specific door issue and my initial "Oh god, now what!" thought was "if its everything on the right side of the car, its not the individual speakers or the wires to them" so it made sense to me that it was possibly the Bose Amp instead which runs everything.

However, after jumping on eBay and seeing the £300+ price of a 2nd hand amp I thought to myself "You're an aircraft tech dude, if this was a plane how would you fault diagnose this issue first rather than just replacing expensive bits on a hunch?" so before I went any further I did the following and found the free, simple fix to my specific problem -

I unplugged the Bose amp and checked the connectors (two plugs - 1 massive "zero insertion force - ZIF" connector and one '2 wires' Fibre Optic connector) then plugged them back in.
I use the iPod 100% of the the time and have done for 9 years, so does the sound also cut-out under other music sources like the Radio - No, it only cuts out using the iPod so that means that the Amp is OK (whew!).
Unplug the iPod in the glovebox, check it with some headphones (both sides play music so iPod is OK), then plug it back in and test - HaHaHaHaHa - Fixed

Looks like after about 3+ years of not moving the iPod whilst it was in the glovebox tray, 'something' had tweaked/nudged/bumped the iPod connector so unplugging it & plugging it back in fixed the issue. As part of all the investigation, I also rediscovered - i.e. remember I ONLY use the iPod, nothing else for the past 9 years of ownership - that not only do I have a DAB radio (makes sense TBF) but I also have a TV Tuner as well :eek:

which I genuinely had no idea I had, so I spent a few minutes watching the BBC news whilst I was parked up.

Then I took it out for some WOT testing and, after almost 2L of Water/Meth had been used (40+ WOT's - maybe a little overkill

), I'd say it's fixed and now I know what to look for in the future should this happen again.

ianh · 2 Jun 2024 at 22:18

Servicing time!

Whilst I was in Stoke I took the RS6 across to Grizz at Unit20 for a 10k service (back to 5W-40 Fuch Titan Race Pro-S oil after chatting to Opie Oils about shear values of the specific Titan oil), Gearbox service and complete brake fluid flush. The 10k service found some bushes on the lower arms starting to look crusty and would need replacing before the next service, and the front AP Racing brake discs, which I already knew had some existing light "crazing" due to heat cycling (but starting to get worse over time), had each started to develop a single shallow (just about feel it with a nail) crack away from those heat cycle areas with it instead coming from the edge of the disc, which is a huge no-no.

So I chatted to BG Developments, who I believe handle most of AP Racings bespoke work and created my original custom made (only 2-3 ever sold) big front brake setup of 410x36mm discs with AP Racing Radi-CAL calipers, custom rigid bolt mounting bells and mounting brackets etc, about a replacement set. By this point I've had that setup for 7+ years by and, since I bought mine, AP Racing/BG Dev created a much better selling setup for the R35GTR using a new 410x36mm disc with J-Hook discs (rather than my discs curved groove) with floating bobbin mounting bells which resist rapid heat changes far better than my old skool "just bolt it direct using M8 bolts" rigid bolted current setup.

After some back and forth over some design tweaks for my particular car (as I can't leave anything unmodified apparently), where I decided that I didn't want my new mounting bells to be anodised black like in the original kit as harsh brake cleaners eventually stripped the dye off the bell and left them looking purple and streaky over time, we agreed on a set of AP Racing CP4095 pattern J-Hook discs (410x36mm again) with new custom made anthracite (no dye to leach away) floating bobbin style mounting bells and mounting kit for both. There's a 10-ish week lead time for the J-Hook discs at the moment but thats not an issue for me with my limited driving time in the RS6 but when they arrive I'll post some pics as I build them up (attach the disc/bell together) and a few pics of the old discs for comparison.

Other than that, the GB service went fine with nothing to report but the brake fluid flush (3L to drain and refill) hit a minor snag as the rear caliper bleed nipples were both seized and needed induction heating to remove which is "odd" as I'd had paid for the fluid to be changed last year and it'd only taken 1L of new fluid, which probably only included the fluid in calipers (but the rears probably weren't touched which makes me wonder about the rest) and lines. However, it would not include the 2L-ish of fluid within the ABS pump which must have been at least 7 years old I would guess and therefore absorbed a ton of moisture. I realised this after I hit the ABS recently (love Norfolk's wildlife!) and I think it pushed that old fluid into the calipers and the brakes then felt horrible afterwards. So rather than mess about I just asked Unit20 to do a pressurised flush of the entire system with just over 3L of new fluid (1L+ for calipers/lines and 2L+ for ABS pump) until the colour of the fluid eventually showed it all to be new.

So, other than the new brakes and arms, next up as I kind of knew already but the OcUK car show kind of forced on me, as my car has just hit 125k miles, I really need to take a look at the cosmetic side of my car, with both rear arches and lower boot lid showing bubbling rust, the alloys all needing a refurb, the drivers seat bolster needing some leather re-dying white/cream where I've rubbed the dye away and a new windscreen due to 3 large stone chips (2 repaired, 1 new) and 4-5 very small ones (got 3 in one go from a freshly resurfaced road when a loon going the other way doing 60+ shot past me) etc.