Am I blue? No, the new car is though...
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 4:59 am
As mentioned earlier, I picked up [sigh] another car this weekend.
It is well equipped: climate control, factory 6-disc CD changer, power everything (including the top -take that, '88 'Vert Camaro! ), ABS, traction-control/stability control (which can be turned off ), all-wheel disc brakes (if you like that sort of thing), heated leather seats, remote locks, etc, etc. I will be testing the transmission hopefully this week, maybe fixing the exhaust too, or maybe just sizing it up for an upgrade, of, um, up-sizing. If the tranny is definitely bad, I may just replace the valve-body for a few hundred bucks, or I may swap the whole thing out for a straight manual six-speed trans -CVs are the same, so I'll mostly be looking for shifter, cables, pedal assembly, hydraulics, clutch/flywheel, the tranny itself, and possibly an ECM, might go with a 'chipped' one then, depending upon cost and what my research comes up with. I've worked on a LOT of Volkswagon/Audi Group vehicles, and I know how they are put together. Overall, the build-quality of these cars is usually decent, but the materials themselves (usually plastic, basically everywhere) is the downfall. Some aspects of the designs are really smart and ingenuitive, some aspects are plain stupid. I am not 100% sure this car fits us all that well, but for now at least, I am willing to give it a chance.
I had no intention of keeping the little thing, or even liking it, but when my efforts to use one of my old Camaros to tow the car home met with haulting failure (stuck rear brake caliper ), I just went out to 'look at it'. Then I found out it was actually driveable, though in need of a few fairly major repairs. First two were the ones I knew about beforehand -transmission problems, and an exhaust issue. The car is an '04 Audi TT Convertible Roadster, base-model FWD version, with a sport-shift six-speed automatic coupled to a 180 HP Turbo 1.8-Litre DOHC engine. I am amused that this smaller turbo car has the same HP rating as the earlier Beretta Quad-4 engines... The car is in really clean condition, aside from the glaring mechanical problems, and even has a new convertible top, installed just before the tranny started acting up. Very salvageable car. It started growing on me almost immediately, and by the time I got it halfway home, I was seriously considering adopting this car into the family. My better-half has been wanting a 'newer' car, and this qualifies -the two newest vehicles we drive are a pair of almost-twenty-year-old Toyotas, each with +/- 1/4-million miles (literally: ~280k and ~240k, I think they are at). This little German car has under 100k on the clock. The main issues I noticed while driving the car, aside from virtually every warning/malfunction light on or flashing on the dash, was that the tranny slips intermittently between 2-3, it downshifts harshly, the exhaust-pipe before the catalytic-converter is broken wide open (actually sounds a little mean, for a 1.8-Litre), and the car is cruising on a doughnut-spare, because one tire had blown apart. A few minor flaws accompany the car, but mostly it is in well-cared-for condition.
I did a quick walk-around the Audi tonight. Noticed a few things, then went through the paperwork that came with it, including the original window-sticker, tire-purchase receipts, oil-change records, etc, and a recent inspection report... Funny that I noticed most of the things they did that needed attention. Rear brake pads are nearly done, driver's-side CV boot is leaking, coolant running a little low (I had a heads-up on that one though), oil dipstick-tube is broken ($.90 on Rock Auto, about $4 locally)... They also noted the axle-shaft seals from the transaxle were both leaking (I haven't been underneath yet, so haven't seen those), but nowhere did they recommend a timing-belt service and I find no indication that it has ever been done... Nor did they record that they checked the transmission fluid level or condition, so I am now wondering what the odds are that I lucked-out with the tranny, and it just needs fluid or even a service. Nah, probably the whole valve-body is shot. Still, worth a try. This is one of those stupid designs where the fluid level has to be checked from underneath by filling through the drain-plug hole until overflowing the stand-pipe, like newer Fords. Yay. I doubt the tech inspected that...It is well equipped: climate control, factory 6-disc CD changer, power everything (including the top -take that, '88 'Vert Camaro! ), ABS, traction-control/stability control (which can be turned off ), all-wheel disc brakes (if you like that sort of thing), heated leather seats, remote locks, etc, etc. I will be testing the transmission hopefully this week, maybe fixing the exhaust too, or maybe just sizing it up for an upgrade, of, um, up-sizing. If the tranny is definitely bad, I may just replace the valve-body for a few hundred bucks, or I may swap the whole thing out for a straight manual six-speed trans -CVs are the same, so I'll mostly be looking for shifter, cables, pedal assembly, hydraulics, clutch/flywheel, the tranny itself, and possibly an ECM, might go with a 'chipped' one then, depending upon cost and what my research comes up with. I've worked on a LOT of Volkswagon/Audi Group vehicles, and I know how they are put together. Overall, the build-quality of these cars is usually decent, but the materials themselves (usually plastic, basically everywhere) is the downfall. Some aspects of the designs are really smart and ingenuitive, some aspects are plain stupid. I am not 100% sure this car fits us all that well, but for now at least, I am willing to give it a chance.