New to me RS6

[6172crew]

I bought the silver 2003 that was on bay earlier this week. I have to fly into TX to go get her this weekend and drive back to NM. 84K miles and 16k otd, but I have to register it here in NM but shouldnt be too bad. I live in Los Alamos and it snows off and on during the winter and figured the wife needed something to get groceries in. I have to admit, Im kinda spooked driving it that far without really knowing if the fluid levels and services have been done correctly.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-RS6-2003-QUATTRO-4-2-V8-BITURBO-SUNROOF-LEATHER-450-HP-/161801734520

[lswing]

Yikes, yea hopefully it holds together. I'm sure you know a new trans can be close to $10k parts and labor.

You could swing by Brink Motorsports in Austin, stay a night and have them go over the car. Quality shop with good work, $110 per hour I think.

[6172crew]

Yikes, yea hopefully it holds together. I'm sure you know a new trans can be close to $10k parts and labor.

You could swing by Brink Motorsports in Austin, stay a night and have them go over the car. Quality shop with good work, $110 per hour I think.
My sister lives in the dallas area, by then Ill have a better idea of what the car is going to do. Its about 4.5 hour to her place.

[Other_Erik]

Buy/borrow/steal a Vag-Com and pull up a full auto scan before you take it off their lot.

O_E

[lswing]

AAA, be prepared. I'm always ready for complete shutdown while driving at speed, scared the crap out of me. Pulled over, restarted, and just fine. Lots of picky sensors on the car too, mine was accelerating with cruise control. But scan it, even buy Ross-tech.com now so you are ready.

[6172crew]

Buy/borrow/steal a Vag-Com and pull up a full auto scan before you take it off their lot.

O_E
I'm going to call a local shop and see if they can send a tech with a scanner over. Thanks, I'm pretty excited and wouldn't have thought about it.

[6172crew]

Buy/borrow/steal a Vag-Com and pull up a full auto scan before you take it off their lot.

O_E
I'm going to call a local shop and see if they can send a tech with a scanner over. Thanks, I'm pretty excited and wouldn't have thought about it.

[Turbowned]

That is the PERFECT car for New Mexico! I visited Carrizozo, Ruidoso and Roswell last month and all I could think of was how great it would be to have my RS6 with me. Enjoy!

[6172crew]

She made it home just fine. The local garage I spoke to in Houston wanted $400 for the scan so I just looked the car over real well and made a run for the Border.

There are a few things that need to be dealt with and Im all ears and could use some ideas. I got the car fax and Maintenance sheet, last time she was seen at a Audi dealer (at least that the sheet says) was at 80K and it was a pre-sale inspection. Im planing on swapping out all the fluids, hoses, belts, coils and plugs. It needs the rotors turns and yellow pads, pads have plenty of life but the rotors could be better and if they have the material I will get them turned. She has a very small leak on a valve cover gasket passenger side, I might be able to just tighten the valve cover. It pulls slightly to the right, its annoying because I had to apply pressure the 9000 miles back home.

As far as the cosmetic stuff it need a few things:
radio (symphony 1) knob which is ordered.
drivers side door panel looks like it was installed wrong and when they rolled up the window it cracked the top part so it needs a new one. I check fleabay and I couldn't find one in all black like mine.
The heater and radio controls are scratched to hell and the center info panel needs to be fixed.
The headliner is starting to drop and the seats need a good conditioning.
The front bumper cover is in rough shape, so Im on the look out for a silver one.

All said and done I love the car. I have access to some very nice cars (E63, Ferrari 456GT, Z8, M3) and I really like the RS6. I just need to get it up to spec and and use it now.

[DHall1]

Timing belt?

400 to scan! Order your vag com

[6172crew]

Timing belt?

400 to scan! Order your vag com
I mentioned belts, hoses, etc.

Yea I was pretty bummed and figured the man upstairs had my back so I bolted, hard to dish out $400 and I would have to take the car to him. Only bad thing that happened was I hit some toll road without change and some douche canoe ina semi ran off the road and I heard the gravel hitting the RS6. I have a OBD connector for my Ducati and Im wondering if its the same as a vag cable. I have changed the maps on the 848 a few times and it works good, might be what I need for the Audi.

[lswing]

Glad it went well, and even if the car is a bit roughed up at least no major mechanical issues popped up. I had the joy of finding a failing torque converter driving mine home on day one, under warranty at least.

The search function on here is rough, so use google and add "site:rs6.com" to your term. The links are sometimes corrupted with porn/junk links, but just a simple back button and then forward and you'll get to the site.

ross-tech.com, useful for data logging and diagnostics, clearing CEL and service reminders, soft codes that don't throw CEL. Best $250 spent on the car, assuming you have an extra laptop.

Here are a few basic manuals, and some insight on owning the car for a few years. http://audirssix.com/index.php/extras

Leaking IC's are also a common issue, some easy fixes out there. Upgrade your TCU chip to MTM if you can, helps shifting and trans life. Check all water drain points, by front doors, under cowl passenger side is large drain and master fuse.

[DHall1]

Just making sure you were aware of tb

RossTech vag com is so much more than a obd cable. It's a must

[6172crew]

Just making sure you were aware of tb

RossTech vag com is so much more than a obd cable. It's a must

I was thinking the cable could be used along with his software, the one I have is a fleabay one like this one;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VAG-COM-KKL-409-1-OBD2-USB-CABLE-SCAN-TOOL-FOR-TRIUMPH-KTM-MOTORCYCLE-TuneECU-/161488916290?hash=item25997d4f42&item=161488916290&vxp=mtr

Is this the one everyone is using?
http://store.ross-tech.com/shop/VCKII.html

I saw a older thread about the coil(R8) and adapters that Im looking for and I need to find a spot to get my belts and hoses ordered. If it doesnt cost much more I might run silicone hoses, or is that a bad idea in these?

Again; thanks for the help guys. I will be doing most of the maintenance myself, my dad isnt a TV repairman but I worked on .mil aircraft and civilian aircraft for many years...which reminds me. Does the DVD maintenance book on fleabay have what the dealers use?

[SteveKen]

She made it home just fine.

Congrats on getting her home without issue.


radio (symphony 1) knob which is ordered.

The RS6 has a Symphony 2 head unit. I have some spare knobs if you have to end up buying the whole radio just to get a knob.


The heater and radio controls are scratched to hell and the center info panel needs to be fixed.

The wear on the buttons is normal, but not the issue with the display.

If you need to find a used one, expect that the + and - buttons will be worn.


The front bumper cover is in rough shape, so Im on the look out for a silver one.

These are very hard to find, let alone in the color you want. Find a good shop and see if they can do any needed repairs to the ABS plastic and then respray.

[6172crew]

Congrats on getting her home without issue.



The RS6 has a Symphony 2 head unit. I have some spare knobs if you have to end up buying the whole radio just to get a knob. The factory Nav system looks nice but seems expensive for what it is. I think you still need a BT adapter with those so its a $600-700 navigation system that replaces our factory system. ?

Im with you on getting the cover fixed, it looks like it was painted once before and the aftermarket ones are very expensive. I did see one website that sells OEm ones off of crashed cars but no Silver RS6.

I found another issue while cleaning her up today, the windshield washer isnt working, I checked the fuse but no sound from motor. Does the headlight washer pop up anytime the windshield is cleaned? That didnt work either, if it was supposed to. Im also missing the rear passenger piller cover behind the rear door. I never noticed it yesterday.



The wear on the buttons is normal, but not the issue with the display.

If you need to find a used one, expect that the + and - buttons will be worn.



These are very hard to find, let alone in the color you want. Find a good shop and see if they can do any needed repairs to the ABS plastic and then respray.

I bought the knob on ebay and the subwoofer stopped working in the 103 degree heat in TX but works ok now, just need the knob. Thanks for the offer, if for some reason I bought the wrong one Ill PM ya if thats ok. The stereo would be pretty good if I could have used BT or a cable to play the tunes off my phone. The

[DHall1]

If you wish to infect your laptop and not have full Rosstech functions then go for it.

It really pays to just buy the Ross product.


I was thinking the cable could be used along with his software, the one I have is a fleabay one like this one;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VAG-COM-KKL-409-1-OBD2-USB-CABLE-SCAN-TOOL-FOR-TRIUMPH-KTM-MOTORCYCLE-TuneECU-/161488916290?hash=item25997d4f42&item=161488916290&vxp=mtr

Is this the one everyone is using?
http://store.ross-tech.com/shop/VCKII.html

I saw a older thread about the coil(R8) and adapters that Im looking for and I need to find a spot to get my belts and hoses ordered. If it doesnt cost much more I might run silicone hoses, or is that a bad idea in these?

Again; thanks for the help guys. I will be doing most of the maintenance myself, my dad isnt a TV repairman but I worked on .mil aircraft and civilian aircraft for many years...which reminds me. Does the DVD maintenance book on fleabay have what the dealers use?

[Other_Erik]

Gonna sound like a broken record here...

Get a real Ross-tech vag-com. Well worth the money, and you'll have access to their support and updates.

If you're going to do timing belt service, check out 034 motorsports and/or Europa Parts and/or JH Motorsports, probably some others that I'm forgetting - whoever has the best price on a timing belt kit with the BLUE Gates belt, that's who you should order from. Don't forget to do your upper rollers, thermostat, water pump, etc if you don't know the age/mileage on them.

Having done mil and civ aircraft mechanic work, you should be well aware of Aeroquip and other mfr's that put together good hosing/coupling/lines/etc... If you run across an area you want to improve, make your order and it'll probably still end up costing less than getting one from AoA. If it works well, post up the spec so others can share in the goodness of 10-year warrantee'd parts!

Would love to see some before/after scans with a good mechanic doing solid work and step-by-step changes being made. If you have the time, we always appreciate updated how-to's and this community is great for answering any questions you might have along the way.

Good luck with the beast! I hope we've got another life-long tamer on our hands, and it sounds like you're well-equipped to be a great addition to our exclusive little club!

O_E

[6172crew]

I was planning on asking the forum about the Gates blue belt, looked like a winner except a few folks were having some trouble getting it on because it was so stiff. One Mech complained it changed his timing and mentioned that in his review. Even with the Gates blue, is everyone sticking to the 35K 5 year swap? I appreciate the heads up on the other sources for parts, I will take a look at them all. I have started pre-planning in my head and have sectioned off the Maintenance in 3 groups. The TB and Coolant area first, Transmission Fluid second and the Brakes and Alignment third. The cost of doing all 3 at once would cut into the other hobbies and might have me eating top roman so I broke them up to most important first. The Sled was last seen at a dealer at 80K for pre-sale inspection but I couldnt find proof that the belts were done so Im worried. The transmission fluid will be the BND stuff and his filter and my buddy has a way to turn the rotors on the car and I will have him look for anything worn and do a 4 wheel alignment this winter so its fresh for next spring. A highschool friend of mine owned a buck grand national that had been Kenny Bell'd everywhere and it had similar torque to this RS6 so Im really happy I went this route instead of the Volvo S60R. I work about 5 miles from the house so she wont get a lot of miles so I plan on making sure she had fresh fluids and proper maintenance done as long as I own it. As much as Id like to check one out thats been tuned properly I will probably keep it stock unless something fails and they make a better aftermarket part.

It seems as if this FOrum is the best place for info so I will try to document anything Ive done with pics and pass them along so other owners can benefit from them.

thanks again for all the help thus far, I will certainly look at the real deal vag-com, I noticed his software was very reasonable and since I have a cable thought I could save a few bucks. Im not sure how I would get a virus since I have been using the cable to swap tunes on the Ducatiover the last couple of years but I do understand the value of tech support on a system I am unfamiliar with.

Gonna sound like a broken record here...

Get a real Ross-tech vag-com. Well worth the money, and you'll have access to their support and updates.

If you're going to do timing belt service, check out 034 motorsports and/or Europa Parts and/or JH Motorsports, probably some others that I'm forgetting - whoever has the best price on a timing belt kit with the BLUE Gates belt, that's who you should order from. Don't forget to do your upper rollers, thermostat, water pump, etc if you don't know the age/mileage on them.

Having done mil and civ aircraft mechanic work, you should be well aware of Aeroquip and other mfr's that put together good hosing/coupling/lines/etc... If you run across an area you want to improve, make your order and it'll probably still end up costing less than getting one from AoA. If it works well, post up the spec so others can share in the goodness of 10-year warrantee'd parts!

Would love to see some before/after scans with a good mechanic doing solid work and step-by-step changes being made. If you have the time, we always appreciate updated how-to's and this community is great for answering any questions you might have along the way.

Good luck with the beast! I hope we've got another life-long tamer on our hands, and it sounds like you're well-equipped to be a great addition to our exclusive little club!

O_E

[urs6ville]

I can only provide one TB change worth of evidence here... but I just have the TB service done on my new-to-me car... went with Gates blue... same compliant... tight... but I also have the belt that came off and I have to say, if you put it on the shelf and sold it as a new belt, no one, not even a seasoned mech, would ever have known it was on the car for since 70k (this was a 105k service). I had the 23 year+ master tech at the Audi dealer in Albany do it before I picked up the car, he was a bit surprised at how little wear there was.

So... I don't plan on doing the belt again in 35k miles... I WILL be checking it to make sure it is good from time to time... and will monitor it and other wear items... but after seeing all the parts and the front of the engine.. and replacing everything that was supposed to be replaced at the service... I don't think there is any issue with it going 60k before next TB.

Just my opinion, and I am open to other opinions as there people on here far more experienced with the RS6 than I.

[Bigglezworth]

One Mech complained it changed his timing and mentioned that in his review.A proper TB service includes realignment of the cam sprockets to ensure your timing isn't advanced or retarded due to the spacing of the belt teeth or 'stiffness' as you put it. Timing can always be maintained using a crank pin and cam bar and only torquing down the cam sprockets once the belt is fully tensioned up.

[P1054]

My personal two cents on the gates belt is that I didn't like it. No issues with timing or anything like that, as bigglesworth said that fully adjustable, but it squealed. It rubbed on the water pump pulley and made a terrible squealing/squeaking noise. To be fair, I wasn't running an OE water pump (I have a metal impeller pump from Blauparts), but after 5k miles I couldn't stand it and bought a new Continental timing belt, and the squealing vanished.

As far as wear goes, the Audi belt I removed at 105k had been on for the recommended 40k and looked just fine, certainly not at the end of its life span.

[6172crew]

My personal two cents on the gates belt is that I didn't like it. No issues with timing or anything like that, as bigglesworth said that fully adjustable, but it squealed. It rubbed on the water pump pulley and made a terrible squealing/squeaking noise. To be fair, I wasn't running an OE water pump (I have a metal impeller pump from Blauparts), but after 5k miles I couldn't stand it and bought a new Continental timing belt, and the squealing vanished.

As far as wear goes, the Audi belt I removed at 105k had been on for the recommended 40k and looked just fine, certainly not at the end of its life span.
Interesting; I read that too and thought maybe the reviewer was talking about the serpentine belt.

@ Bigglezworth, I assumed that using those tools was a must. I think they can be rented for $65 or so and Im glad to pay that much to keep the timing set from the factory. The car runs very well, no hesitation, gangs of torque and idles smooth as my girlfriends ass. I will end up changing out vacuum lines while under the hood, still havent made up my mind about swapping out all the hoses to Silicone or not.