Shaun

Hi all, been a while since I've posted but I thought I'd share some good news about my '01 A6. After a rough year for both me and the car, I decided to treat us both to a significant overhaul to remedy a long list of issues which have been building up for way too long. Here's the list of issues followed by the work that was done...

dead MAF and boost leak causing CEL
loose heat shield causing vibration at 3500 rpm
coolant leak under the intake manifold
2 blown engine mounts
several bad control arms
bald tires
bad alignment
probably some things that I'm forgetting

Add them all up and the car was just miserable to drive. It got to a point where I couldn't pass 1/4 throttle without worrying about throttle cut/limp mode. Really annoying. Anyway, here's what I had done over the past week...

new MAF
fix boost issue
fix coolant leak
new engine mounts (RS4)
full control arm / tie rod / end link kit
alignment
tires
tranny fluid & filter
coolant flush
oil/filter change
other small misc. stuff and general inspection

All I can say is WOW!!! I honestly didn't think the car would ever been this good again. It's literally better than new (taking mods into account, of course). Rock solid, quiet, smooth... just a pleasure to drive again. So much so that I got up at 4:00 this morning to head into the office before traffic built up so that I could stretch her legs a bit. What a blast!

Finally, I need to give credit where credit is due. All this work was performed at <a href="http://www.tonysimportedauto.com/">Tony's Imported Autos</a> in Manchester, CT. Needless to say, I've found a home for everything from maintenance to mods to general advice. Mike, the service advisor who I dealt with was very professional, knowledgeable and courteous while the guys who did the work were just top notch. They went so far as to fix a few small things that I didn't even point out to them. Fantastic. They also put me in a loaner free of charge while they did the work, which was a pleasant surprise. If you're in the area, don't hesitate to contact these guys.

I also should give a shout out to Tony Chick of EPL who steered me in their direction. Tony's a great guy who's worked on the car before. He's heavy into Porsche tuning now, so he didn't have time for the work but he did spend about 15 minutes talking me through some mod ideas and suggestions, which was great. Again, I can't say enough good about him and his crew.

Well, that's all. I'm still the only one in the office, so I may take another little spin to put that ****-eating grin back on my face...

Thanks for reading,
Shaun

MrFine

my results are as good as yours. May I ask which CA kit you choose? Also, how do you like the Eibach Pro System?

Again, congratulations on your great results!

vunu

I got the following OBDII reading: 'The ECM has detected a rich or lean air/fuel ratio condition on engine bank one and two'

This CEL comes on for few weeks and goes away for few weeks and I'm trying to figure out whether it is a bad MAF. I did clean the MAF, but doesn't seem to rememdy the CEL completely.

When the CEL comes in there's noticeable drop in MPG. What kind of symptoms could you see from your dead MAF? Your source for new MAF?

Shaun

They did mention that they upgraded me to the S4 tie rod ends, which are solid units with no rubber. Not sure how much of a difference it makes, but they are only a few dollars more (they actually threw them in for free!).

If you're sourcing your own parts, I don't think you can go wrong with the PureMS control arm kit. I've heard many positive comments about their products/service on all the forums.

Good luck! I don't think you'll regret the "investment". After this I plan on keeping the car for a long, long time...

Shaun

<b>8 Faults Found:
16805 - Warm Up Catalyst: Bank 1: Efficiency Below Threshold
P0421 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent
16684 - Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0300 - 35-00 - -
16688 - Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
P0304 - 35-00 - -
16690 - Cylinder 6 Misfire Detected
P0306 - 35-00 - -
16689 - Cylinder 5 Misfire Detected
P0305 - 35-00 - -
16487 - Mass Air Flow Sensor (G70): Signal too High
P0103 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent
17965 - Charge Pressure Control: Positive Deviation
P1557 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent
17547 - Fuel Trim: Bank 2 (Add): System too Rich
P1139 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent
</b>

You can see that I was getting a code that pointed straight to the MAF (16487). I'm not sure if yours is related or not.

You may want to try unplugging the MAF and seeing if it makes any difference. The car can run without it, or at least it will run better than it would with a dead one in play. Worth a shot to try to pinpoint your issue. Good luck!

absolutcq20v

I think I need to do engine mounts...as mine were leaking a long while ago, and the driveline just feels sloppy compared to the '02 A6 6-spd I drove the other day. Add it to the list. :P

CapeCodAudi

16805 - Warm Up Catalyst: Bank 1: Efficiency Below Threshold
P0421 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

98Quattro

Did they perform a flush or just a drain/filter change on the transmission?

Shaun

I'll continue to scan it periodically to see if that one pops up again.

Are getting that one too?

Shaun

and more amazing how much better the car feels when they're corrected!

Fwiw, my mounts also leaked out their fluid not too long ago. I think you'll notice a great improvement in shifting once they're fixed.