Well it was time

[Bigglezworth]

Time for the high mileage ride to receive a little love. Front end was a bit loose and shaky over 200km and have had a recent flurry of CEL codes thrown so time for some maintenance. Have the front clip off and will be doing valve cover gaskets along with PCV valve (hopefully addresses a bunch of the CEL codes). Also have all four control arms taken off along with outer CV joints. Rear uppers were TOAST and that's putting it mildly. Will be replacing all 8 control arms, pads, & tie rods as part of the freshen up. Also going to strip out the aux radiators (being as I live somewhere where it doesn't get all that hot even during the summer), and also remove the stock IC's and bench test them to check for leaks. Finally, will be doing the timing belt, water pump, tensioners, thermostat, etc. Hope to get a clean bill of health on the VAG-COM after things are complete and keep pushing the ride until she tops a quarter of a million miles! If nothing else, a cleaner garage floor once the coolant and oil leaks are remidied. :)

[4everRS]

Sounds like fun! Best of luck with the in-depth tune up.

[Amar]

So what are the benefits of removing the aux radiators? I have them in my RS6, only the 'plus' models in the UK came with the aux radiators of which there are only a few, so nothing is documented on this on the UK forums...

[Bigglezworth]

Well, progress has been slow due to a number of other projects on the go, but alas I have everything apart, most of the replacement parts delivered. Now just need to wait for my valve covers to be finished being powdercoated and I will start reassembling everything. In the mean time I've pressure washed the intercoolers and will be bench testing them for leaks. Might be doing some other maintenance soon as my drivers side intercooler expelled a 1/4 cup or so of oil when I peeled the lower hose off.... Car already had both turbo's replaced, but that was a while ago. >ack<

[Bigglezworth]

Quite possibly the slowest maintenance effort I've ever undertaken, but everything is almost buttoned up and ready to be back on the road for thousands of more miles of bliss. Just need to procure one of those metal bushings that inserts in to the bottom of the aluminum splindle to accept the rear lower control arm (accidentally threw one out in the garbage a few months back while still attached to the ball joint.... damn).

Glad I am able to personally do my own wrenching on cars. Lots of $$ and time put in with this overhaul. Can't fathom on what stupid amount of $$ this would have been to undertake at a shop (or worse - a stealership). All work elected to be done was without removing the powerplant, so no EGT, O2, etc. Perhaps another time when something like a 6spd manual is entertained.

Finally tally of new work this overhaul:
- Timing Belt
- Tensioners
- Rollers x3
- Waterpump
- Thermostat
- PCV
- Divertor valves x2
- Valvecover Gaskets x2
- Valve cover clean/paint x2
- Intercooler removal, leak test, repair x2
- Coolant sensor
- Upper control arms x4
- Lower control arms x4
- Outer CV Axles x2
- Wheel bearings x2
- Rotors x2
- EBC Reds
- Outer tie rods x2
- misc bolt replacement for seized or rusting items xlots
- silicone vacuum lines
- coolant system flush
- oil filter & drain/fill
- Spark plugs x8
- scrapped aux radiators, piping/hoses x2

Wet & dry compression test performed. Negligible delta's between both. Dry compression across all 8 cylinders is less than 3% off OEM spec - after 225000 miles. Pretty good and then some if you ask me.

Next to do on the list is a tranny gasket, filter, & flush and an oil pan gasket during next oil change.
1336313362

[mik15]

impressive work :), you did both valve cover gaskets without removing the engine as i can see from the pictures, how difficult is it on the passenger side?
BTW - that's quite some mileage you did with an RS6, it must be the highest one on the forum, i am really glad to see these cars can really go that far! Original tranny?

[marklar182]

EBC Reds are junk. I would reconsider. Try Stoptechs.

[lswing]

So what are the benefits of removing the aux radiators? I have them in my RS6, only the 'plus' models in the UK came with the aux radiators of which there are only a few, so nothing is documented on this on the UK forums...

Aux radiators are needed in warmer environments. Mine were leaking so we pulled them and plugged off the system, just using standard radiator basically. No issues last summer, but most days are 80F. Another benefit is better airflow/less heat soak as they sit right behind the IC's.

That's some serious work there Bigglez, congrats. I think my mechanic has come close to that over the last year on my beast. Feels great to have to many parts updated and sorted!

[Bigglezworth]

impressive work :), you did both valve cover gaskets without removing the engine as i can see from the pictures, how difficult is it on the passenger side?
BTW - that's quite some mileage you did with an RS6, it must be the highest one on the forum, i am really glad to see these cars can really go that far! Original tranny?As many on the forum can attest to, the passenger side is a bear. Not impossible, but a bear. It's double the time to do compared to the drivers side. All the praise we give to the Audi engineering group for style and performance is quickly trashed when it comes to maintenance. Other can provide their insight, but for me there were two items that could have been better designed to facilitate what should be one of the easiest items to repair. The main coolant line where it snakes along the side of the block and then rises next to the last cylinder bank. It had to be 'flexed' out of the way gently in order to allow the cover to clear the rocker arms. A second unnecessary complication was the location of the gas line coupler. It could have easily been just a shade further back vs an inch inwards over top of the rear cylinder area. Small flaws. I loosened off the mounting bolts for the gas line/manifold from the intake, but didn't remove it in it's entirety so as to not be subjected to the reinstallation to the injectors. If you aren't impatient and do gentle movements, you can get it on and off without damaging anything whatsoever.

As for mileage, I could be wrong, but I suspect it's the highest mileage beast in NA. I have yet to read or hear of another higher. Lots around 170-180'ish. 200K of that mileage was put on by the original owner. 5K by a guy who likes to tune forced induction rides, and the last 20K by me. It had turbos and tranny replaced under warranty back around teh 100K mark. Ironically, the DRC lasted 220K and hadn't failed prior to being retrofitted with the second gen system. Then like clockwork, both front suspension hoses burst 3 months apart.



EBC Reds are junk. I would reconsider. Try Stoptechs.Really? I had no idea. I have both reds and yellows. One of them is going on this car and one on the other. I have run Stoptech and Hawk on my NSX, but didn't consider either here. It's going to be what it is right now. It will only be a couple of years by the time I need to do the brakes again so can change styles then.

[Aronis]

I was able to have my valve cover gaskets changed without an engine pull also.

The two items you mentioned are a very silly design issue, especially in light of the fact that that configuration has been around for multiple model years. At some point they could have changed the location. The rear of the engine where you described the gas line coupler, that is just mm's in the way! It just needs to be loosened about 3 mm to push it back.....

Mike