Muggy's RS6 Refresh 2020

[Muggy]

Hey Everyone...It's been time for a refresh on my RS6...I had a good idea that this would be needed when I purchased the car a few years ago, but was able to drive and enjoy for a few seasons first. An oil leak on a turbo finally forced my hand to get on the ball and get this done!

Issues to address:
Oil leak on the right bank turbo
Rear main oil leak
Minor weeping on front oil seals
Cam tensioners and chains
Upgraded torque converter

It took me a month or so to get my single bay garage reorganized after years of various projects and leftovers from them...first order of business was to get a QuickJack setup to get the car off of the ground safely. This is the 7000EXT version (7000 pound capacity with extended reach, perfect on the RS6) and uses the 12v DC pump motor. Gives plenty of lift to get under the car safely with a creeper from front to back without any obstructions and has lock bars that keep it set at full or half raise heights.

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And spent a few weekend sessions a few hours at a time taking my time to get everything disconnected and ready for the big pull. I'm not in a rush to do this, so taking my time to do it correctly and safely. I will give a shout out to the guy from Total Technik in England for his video on the RS6 engine pull...decided to purchase the viewing rights for the 3 hour vid, and it was very helpful finding some of those tricky connectors and hidden bolts, as well as giving good advice on the order of operations. I was somewhat confident that I could get it done before the video, but totally comfortable after watching through a few times...everything went just as he showed (and even easier for me with a non-crusty car!).

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Fortunately, I have enough space to fit the motor after the pull in front of the car, but need to roll it out a bit for extra space...problem is that I have a hill at the edge of my garage door, so I need to be careful that the car doesn't end up in the neighbor's front yard!

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And the reason for the pull....

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More to come soon as I start pulling stuff apart....:mech:

[jolio1994]

Great to see you've started making progress on the ol' girl! I can't wait to see it snowball into a 6sp swap :hahahehe:

Be sure you are going to roll the car in and I out, that the front axes are still bolted in. It only takes one time of lowering the car without them to destroy em... ask me how I know.

Excited for the progress!

[DKP]

You go mister. Always impressed with you home wrenchers. Agree on the total Tecknic you Tube web page. Used them quite a few times. Ive donated some money to their cause but sure wish they would finally get around to doing the brakes on the RS6. They seem to have covered everything but.

Sweet little lift.

Keep us posted.

[Muggy]

Thanks Joel...good tip! I did remove them completely before lowering the car again, so they're on the bench now. I was pleasantly surprised to find some Raxels installed by a PO...:applause:
We'll see if it rolls into a 6 speed eventually...if so, I'll host you for a week to come down to help! Your projects on various sites are inspirational for sure!

DKP...it is a pretty daunting task, but after years of wrenching on various projects, I figured that I could tackle it, especially with the tips from Total Tecknic! :mech:

Got the DP's off tonight, but not easy with the Miltek catless DP's...getting the turbos off is one of my most worrisome of the entire project for me....half way there, but need to get a long reach triple square 14mm to get some of the nuts off of the manifold studs to the turbos.

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[nubcake]

I did remove them completely before lowering the car again, so...

...you have destroyed your front wheel bearings!
Don't roll her around too much, or your front wheels might fall off.
It's a good idea to order new bearings now, they're not too expensive.

Outer axles "pinch" the hub together, so to say. Don't put the car on its wheels without axles being torqued to the hubs. Think that's what Joel tried to say.

[jolio1994]

...you have destroyed your front wheel bearings!
Don't roll her around too much, or your front wheels might fall off.
It's a good idea to order new bearings now, they're not too expensive.

Outer axles "pinch" the hub together, so to say. Don't put the car on its wheels without axles being torqued to the hubs. Think that's what Joel tried to say.

Yup! Easiest way to tell is if you jack the car back up without the axle and try and wiggle it. If there's any play in them at all, replace them! You may have gotten lucky, but if you lowered it and rolled the car chances are they are done.

I made the same mistake haha

[Muggy]

Got it....I guess I didn't realize how Joel's failed...I was under the impression that it was just forgetting to torque the axle bolt on one of the many engine pulls for the 6 speed swap.

I've only rolled it about 4 feet out once and in once, but I'll just plan on replacing them when it comes time to put the axles back in. Thanks for the heads up! :mech:

[GreggPDX]

I'm confused, how does rolling the car without the axles installed destroy the bearings? I'm quite sure I rolled mine around quite a bit during the my 6-speed swap, and I haven't had any issues with the bearing since then. It's been a couple years, I assume any issues would have showed up by now...

[nubcake]

Inner race of the wheel bearing is made of two halves, which are held together by the hub (outer half) and the axle (inner half). That big bolt in the axle's center actually holds the bearing halves together. If you remove it (and the axle), then the bearing's inner half of the inner race (I hope that still makes sense) is free to walk off the hub.

If you're lucky, you can just bolt everything back together with no damage. If you're less lucky, you can score some surfaces & bearings will eventually fail. If you're extremely unlucky - your wheels can fall off.
Hope this answers your question.

[Muggy]

I'm confused, how does rolling the car without the axles installed destroy the bearings? I'm quite sure I rolled mine around quite a bit during the my 6-speed swap, and I haven't had any issues with the bearing since then. It's been a couple years, I assume any issues would have showed up by now...

GreggPDX, sounds like you were one of the lucky ones....Jolio can attest that some blow apart from his experience, and it sounds like nubcake can too!

EDIT...looks like nubcake got his thoughts in while I was typing too...

Totally makes sense to me now, just not something that I had thought about....and appreciate the knowledge that others here have and are willing to share! :bow:

On a positive note moving forward, one of my biggest fears of the whole project were those 14 turbo mounting studs/nuts (from manifolds and to downpipes)...I was able to successfully remove them all last night, so one less hurdle to worry about! I'll have time later today and tomorrow to continue disassembly and hopefully get the turbos completely off. A quick check of the oil leaking turbo, and it seems that there is zero to very minimal shaft play...looking forward to getting that one in my hands to see exactly where the oil is coming from. From what I can see so far, it's not dripping down from the top, but coming from the inside and leaking out...

[Muggy]

More work done today...goal was to get the turbos and manifolds off and asses some other parts of the project.

Turns out that both turbos had some shaft play...about equal. Fortunately not enough movement to contact the housings, so all good there with new Melett CHRAs that I have for a rebuild. Another plus I guess is the oil is definitely coming from inside of the turbo, confirming my suspicions. Point being, I did a compression check before pulling the motor and had 200 +/- 5% on all cylinders, and the manifold pull confirmed that I don't have any issues with the bottom end or heads for an oil burn issue coming from the combustion chambers. Whew...heads stay on!

Next order of business is to separate the trans so I can get to the rear main seal. Need to do this first so I can rotate the motor to get to the converter bolts...after separating, I can lock the motor up and start pulling the timing belt off so I can get the cams out to do the chains and tensioner shoes.

All in all, no surprises, just time, effort, and organization! Got a little cleaning done too of the front subframe and firewall area since I don't have my dolly here that I need to grab from storage for the transmission.

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[kruat]

Looking good!

Good info on the wheel bearing/axles. I wouldn't of thought it would cause damage.

[Muggy]

Looking good!

Good info on the wheel bearing/axles. I wouldn't of thought it would cause damage.

Thanks!
Agreed on the wheel bearings...jacked up the car, re-installed the axles and put some torque on them...have it sitting on wheel dollies on the front now so the axles don't flop around when moving in the garage...also helps because I can push it side to side now as well, giving me a critical few inches here and there in my limited space!

Fingers crossed that I won't have any bearing damage...I had weight on them with the motor in and rolled about 5 feet, pulled the motor and rolled again another 5 feet. At least I can replace them if needed without an engine pull!

[GreggPDX]

On the wheel bearing thing, I suspect is makes a pretty big difference whether the engine is installed, or not. There is not much weight on the front when the engine/trans are out. Also, I always had my brake calipers installed, which holds the rotor in place, so maybe that helped keep things from coming too far apart.

[Muggy]

Finally got a bit more work done tonight on the car...this "work" thing is getting old...running a business that has definitely been affected by COVID (catering) has been a bastard. Generally 6 days a week if I'm lucky, but 7 this week with about a 4 hours of daylight weekend off. But...I have 16 full time staff that really count on us, so I just have to press on and dream of 3-4 hour stretches to work on the car every week or two.

In any case, my suspicions were confirmed for the rear main seal leak. A new rear plate with seal has been ordered...I'm not going to do this much work to save a few hundred $$ on just the seal alone. Also pulled the right side valve cover to check the cam chain tensioners, which I already have the shoes and parts on hand, and they are ready to be done...original at 105k...worn, but not a fatal issue by far...but with this age, who knows, they could grenade at any time. I also have the CHRA's on hand to rebuild the turbos if I just want to focus on that for a day...lots of smaller projects ready to happen. Just aggravated that I can't find my crank lock pin after reorganizing the garage to do this project...as soon as I get another one, I'll find the one I have...oh well, cheap at least!

Progress pics....

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[jolio1994]

I will be at H2o on Saturday if you'd like me to drop off my cam lock bar and crank lock pin.

If i need it anytime soon, I have bigger issues at hand... just mail it up when your done!

[Muggy]

Thanks Joel...wish I could peel away for a day...not happening...I'm sure I'll find that f'n pin soon enough, I know I didn't throw it out!

Update...found the lock pin...right where I left it in my special tools drawer...:doh:

At this point, waiting for parts...I prefer not to pull too much apart until I have the stuff to put it back together with...

Mini projects...
Rebuild turbos (have the parts for this, so may be first up on the list)
Cam chains and tensioner shoes (waiting on chains, have shoes/tools, tensioner gaskets, & new cam cap bolts)
Bufkin pipe (waiting on gaskets)
Rear main seal (waiting on plate/gasket)

I'm really on the fence with what to do with the trans...I haven't had any real issues, but occasionally a funky shift here and there (has unknown TCU tune). From documentation that came with the car, it looks like the converter was replaced by the dealer at about 45k (105k now)...I also see a few marks on the trans (initials, etc.) that look like they are from a pull at some point. Thoughts are to upgrade the torque converter or just leave alone for now...I do have a spare tip trans and converter (thanks Jolio!) for cores if needed on rebuilding, etc. I LOVE the idea of a 6 speed, but don't know if I have this in me, at least in the near future and definitely not on this engine pull session....too many other things to manage without throwing that into the mix! I did reach tozo and he is rebuilding tips for stock cars only...not sure if this means to a stock level, or if he won't even touch it with any upgrades/power adders...I'll clarify with him and make some decisions.

[Muggy]

I do have a question for any of those that know...how can I test the hydraulic cam followers? This may become very obvious once I pull the cams out for the chain/shoe replacement, but just trying to get my info ahead. Will one be squishy and others still firm after sitting for 4 months now during rebuild process?

Symptoms include on very cold (as in under 35 degrees F) and after several days of sitting, I occasionally get a pretty heavy tapping which sounds like the classic lifter sound. I also have a mild tap all the time, even when the heavy tap subsides after about 60 seconds. Last winter, when I had this issue, I did to an oil change with Amsoil 5w/40 European spec which seemed to help, but still get the mild tapping all the time that I'd like to address if I can make it less noisy.

I also get the clattering sound at 1000-1300 rpms on both up and down throttle...I've been told that this is "normal", but still quite annoying on a modern motor.

Any thoughts appreciated!

[nubcake]

I also get the clattering sound at 1000-1300 rpms on both up and down throttle...I've been told that this is "normal", but still quite annoying on a modern motor.

That's your cam chain tensioners (de-)activating.
It's actually the chain rattling.

[Muggy]

That's your cam chain tensioners (de-)activating.
It's actually the chain rattling.

Thanks nubcake...that's what I thought...hopefully new chains and tensioner shoes will help at least a little bit by taking up a slight bit more slack...

Still hoping that I can diagnose the hydraulic follower racket as well, I'm pulling the cams as soon as I have a couple of hours, hopefully this weekend.

[Muggy]

So, I was able to get some time to work this weekend...found a surprise here and there, plus confirmed a suspicion on my head clatter.

First up, I've been resisting wiping anything off until I could actually work on the part/area to diagnose any leaks or issues...Audi motors seem to weep a little everywhere, and I plan on replacing all seals, o-rings, etc,...but still good to know the problem areas to focus on. First surprise find was to come across a frozen cam belt hydraulic tensioner...it was an aftermarket part that looked pretty new, so could have been on the most recent timing belt job, which I was told was about 8k ago (3 years) by P.O. The tensioner was frozen solid and is a NTN part...unfortunately this seems to be the brand of choice in most timing kits out there...:rolleyes:

http://www.fototime.com/2BE07F5FD2DD708/medium800.jpg

Next up was the usual weeps...and a little antifreeze crust...all of these seals will be replaced along with the water pump and thermostat...

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And a final cleanup after documenting the mess....

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And now more important than the usual cleanup for one of these jobs...I've had an intermittent cold start hard tap when very chilly out and sitting for a couple of days along with what I feel is a slightly noisier than it should be valve train. I understand about the cam phasing and chain rattle, but this has been a telltale lifter noise, at least from my experience in the past with other vehicles. In any case, after removing the cams to do the chains and tensioner pads, it was obviously the ideal time to check the hydraulic followers. I haven't been able to find much out there on how to check these, so I just did a basic compression/squish test in my fingers. What I found was that I have 2 on one cylinder (forget the cylinder #, but closest to the driver) that would compress much easier and to full compression with just a squeeze. Now I understand that there are different levels of failure which could be a very slow leakdown to total collapse, and that the car hasn't run in a few months for the rebuild, but when only 2 out of 40 do this, I'd say that it's a pretty conclusive examination, especially since this has been a noisier area of the head when running.

Good follower uncompressed:

http://www.fototime.com/E1BD99C0CEE986C/medium800.jpg

Good follower compressed:

http://www.fototime.com/EBE41D794F0A8E2/medium800.jpg

Bad follower uncompressed:

http://www.fototime.com/2343A1EB2E5D500/medium800.jpg

Bad follower compressed...notice bottoming out to mechanical limits:

http://www.fototime.com/5BA0293A69A0AD0/medium800.jpg

Side by side uncompressed:

http://www.fototime.com/4044F56AD9B456D/medium800.jpg

Side by side compressed:

http://www.fototime.com/90428233DB6840E/medium800.jpg

I did peek into the rocker arm with a mirror and didn't see any debris, scummy oil, etc....very clean, but may need to pull the rocker arm bars out to confirm that they are absolutely clean. Not sure which side is fed with oil pressure, but doubt it's a coincidence that 2 on one rocker arm failed at the end (or beginning) of the rail. Does anyone know if there is any pressure regulation to the rocker arm rail? Hard to photograph the inside of the rocker arm, but very clean oil and no debris visible...

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Now the dilemma...do I replace just 2 (or all 3) followers for just this cylinder on the intake side, or go for all of them...at $27-$29 each...you get my point...:confused:

[GreggPDX]

I don't believe lifter failure is a regular thing with these cars, although what you are describing sounds pretty mild. I have occasionally had a mild "tic" for a few minutes on start-up after letting the car sit for more than a week or so. I would probably only replace any lifters that seem suspicious since again, I don't think they fail that often. If your thought is correct that it has something to do with being at the end of the pressure line, then that would also support just replacing those.

Are you going to replace the front main seal? I did this when mine was apart, and it's an adventure! Mainly because the crank bolt has a ridiculous torque setting. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it's essentially "really damn tight, then go another turn!" I had to wait until the engine was bolted back in because there is no way I could have applied the necessary torque with the motor on a stand. I also fabricated a custom locking bar for the pulley because I did not trust using the lock pin. It really is a crazy amount of torque! Oh, and I also used the project as an excuse to buy a really beefy impact gun, since you'll want one of those to help get the old bolt out. I'm happy to share the details of my lock-bar setup, if you want.

[Muggy]

Appreciate your thoughts....Got the front crank bolt out, but I agree, probably an engine in re-torque! Honestly the rear flex plate bolts were worse...especially since there are 10 of them...my neck muscle was seizing up and twitching by the time I was done since I had to hold the front and back of the breaker bar so it didn't swing the motor too much on the hoist...now I know what the HULK felt like when he started to twitch out!

I hate the thought of replacing 40 followers, especially at $27ish per piece! That said, it's an engine out project to do it again. I had a pretty significant lifter tap on some cold starts and just an annoying tick in general, so I may just do them all...we'll see how deep the pocket is now that I'm collecting parts in batches of $500-$800 per package. Thought it was bad enough to need 14 new turbo studs and bolts at $30ish per stud/nut...:nana:

[Muggy]

Alright...what do you do when you can't sleep thinking about the path of oil through your motor? ~ You get up and go out to the garage at 4:30 in the morning and take some stuff apart! :mech:

So what I've found is the followers that seem to have failed are at the end of the rocker bar as far away from the oil inlet as possible...you can see in the pic, the large oil journal in the far end of the bar I would assume is the feed, and then in the very end of the bar one rocker away in the opposite direction is a smaller hole for the outlet. There are obviously small holes in the bar for each rocker that feed each follower, but mine in question are basically at the end of the bar that most likely don't really get any flow through, but kind of the end of the run that just gets pressurized. I could be totally speculating here, but I can see how the oil just sits at that end and just gets put under pressure each time you start up, where the rockers in the middle of the run get oil circulation as well, not just pressure. The oil did weep out of the holes under my rocker in question, and I wasn't about to fire up the compressor this early in the morning to blast a shot of air, but I suspect that it is not clogged with anything, just maybe a slight failure in design. I could see a better flow through the rocker bar if it had an outlet at each end for oil to flow completely through in a circuit, not just pressurizing one end and flowing through the other. All that said, I'm sure that some oil does flow though the rocker bar at all points as it lubricates the rocker arms, but not at the volume of the opposite end from the inlet to the outlet...sorry for the winded explanation, but I couldn't find anything else out there on this, so figured that at some point, someone may find this helpful in the future... :stick:

Pics showing my ramblings this morning...notice the location of the oil feed in comparison to where my failed followers are at the opposite end (last 2 followers in the run)...

http://www.fototime.com/E665DEE8219B417/medium800.jpg

And the outlet for the flow at the opposite end of the bar from my point of issue...

http://www.fototime.com/CD66BCAC88A2027/medium800.jpg

And now my biggest dilemma of the day...replace just the followers at the end of the run (all 3 on last rocker), do the same on the opposite side of the motor too, or replace them all...:confused:

[nubcake]

I'm voting for "replace only the failed ones".

[Muggy]

I'm voting for "replace only the failed ones".

And thanks GreggPDX for the same vote...sounds like I'll probably just do the 3 intakes on that rocker....woohoo...$90 instead of $1200...I can work with that!

[Muggy]

Piles of parts coming...damn, this car has a ton of o-rings, seals, and one time use bolts....

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[kevcp]

This might be out there already, but would you want to create a list for everything you replaced in this procedure? Part numbers, what failed, what was preventative, this would be great information for all of us. Possibly as a wrap up post when you complete this.. Then when I start the same thing come help me... :)



Piles of parts coming...damn, this car has a ton of o-rings, seals, and one time use bolts....

http://www.fototime.com/3322680EB89137C/medium800.jpg

[Muggy]

This might be out there already, but would you want to create a list for everything you replaced in this procedure? Part numbers, what failed, what was preventative, this would be great information for all of us. Possibly as a wrap up post when you complete this.. Then when I start the same thing come help me... :)

Thanks for the suggestion...I need to go through all of the parts bags today to make a list and cross check all of my o-rings, gaskets, crush washers, etc. to be sure that I have everything that I need...nothing worse than getting to a spot where missing a simple o-ring or the like can hold up a project. As we all know, there is never one source for every part that you'll need. I did find one issue while sorting through parts...the Iwis timing chains that I bought from ECS are the wrong part...it is listed properly on the box and cross checks with all other sites, but the sticker put on there (most likely by ECS) is covering the Iwis manufacturer's number. Again, cross checking from multiple sites since I could see through the label, it looks like they miss-labeled the wrong part with their sticker mistakenly showing as the correct number. Fortunately, these are easy to get, so I got another pair of off Europa with some other needed parts that should be here today and can return the others to ECS hassle free.

As far as working with yours...I'd be more than happy to help with it! I have a pretty solid tool collection from years of working on stuff at home and being fortunate to inherit a solid tool set from my dad when he retired...He owned a Shell gas/service station with 3 bays for 36 years...I started working for him when I was 12 and all the way through college. He had 2 brothers that worked for him as his primary ASE certified mechanics for just about all of this time...definitely all 3 were mentors to get me to my knowledge level today. I'm always happy to share my knowledge, time, and tools with anyone that is willing to put in the effort themselves as well. Both of my boys 24 & 26 now, are now very capable mechanics as we always worked on projects together and I'm very proud of them! I have another young man that is the son of one of my managers at work, I've know him his whole life and is now 17 and wanting to work on his own car that he bought himself...I had him doing the brakes, exhaust, tune up, oil change, etc. to get it through inspection and road worthy and now helping him work through a rough idle issue. He just got his license yesterday and so excited to be able to drive a car that he purchased with his own savings and is able to work on with a little guidance...unfortunately his father is a decent mechanic, but estranged from his family as the kids have made the choice to have nothing to do with him. I'm happy that even though he's a shy kid that he now feels comfortable reaching out to me for help...

I'm taking my project slow and steady as I don't generally have chunks of time right now and just wanting to be sure that I do everything correctly...this project would be far easier the second time around for sure. Also, you're more than welcome to take a short road trip up my way to Annapolis to check out the project as it sits...for me, I like to visualize what may be causing an issue but like to have it in my hands before just ordering a pile of parts that I may not need. As we know, parts for these cars are not cheap and you really need to be careful on what you can source aftermarket or if OEM is the best choice, no matter what the cost difference is. This would be a prime time to see mine as dis-assembled as it will get this time around if you want to see it as it sits.

One other mini-fail that I found on parts...It's hard to get an answer on the cam tensioner shoes on which ones to buy as there is no OEM replacement without buying the entire adjuster. I ordered 2 sets from RKX...parts shipped fast and looked perfect, but when I went to snap them on to the adjuster, it turns out that they are slightly rounded in the molding where there should be a sharp shoulder to snap it on to the base...I couldn't get it to lock on solidly and then noticed this issue. I ordered another set off of e-bay after scouring for photos of the underside and a close up of this area and found some that looked correct...they were perfect and snapped on solidly as they should. Fortunately these are cheap parts, but you get my point on what you really need to watch out for. While searching, I saw on 1A Auto's site in a review that they suggest "gluing" these on since their molding leaves it loose when you install it...sorry, but I'm not gluing anything on which wasn't done so as originally installed!

Here's a link to the "good ones" from Osias....https://www.ebay.com/itm/2PC-Camshaft-Timing-Chain-Tensioner-Shoe-Pad-For-VW-AUDI-A4-A6-TT-1-8T-2-8/353122646523?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Hopefully moving forward this weekend with putting parts back on as I'm running out of space with everything that I've removed! I'll definitely plan on re-capping this info in the end as you suggest to hopefully help make this process a little easier for someone else in the future. :mech:

[RS8]

I do not think you can easily know which follower is bad, by just squeezing them together.
Because if the valves are open on 1 cylinder, then there is pressure there, so then the oil is squeezed out of these followers if the engine is switched off and stands for a while.


In the same way, you can now with a pair of pliers or in a vice you can compress those that are hard so the oil seeps out and then it becomes as soft as these you think are bad.

When I disassembled my engine, I pushed everyone together to get out of the old oil and then every follower became soft.
But if there is debris in the hole, it will not be filled with new oil, so try to check this.

[Muggy]

I do not think you can easily know which follower is bad, by just squeezing them together.
Because if the valves are open on 1 cylinder, then there is pressure there, so then the oil is squeezed out of these followers if the engine is switched off and stands for a while.


In the same way, you can now with a pair of pliers or in a vice you can compress those that are hard so the oil seeps out and then it becomes as soft as these you think are bad.

When I disassembled my engine, I pushed everyone together to get out of the old oil and then every follower became soft.
But if there is debris in the hole, it will not be filled with new oil, so try to check this.

I appreciate these thoughts and have been contemplating the same situation...the only thing that leaves me suspicious on this area is one of the 3 on the intake was still firm, but I totally agree that this could have been under load when shut down (valves open on the intake) and could have done a slow leak down which is not unusual. I do get a pretty good knock on rare occasions on a very cold start for about 20-30 seconds in this area, so hoping for the best when replacing all 3 on this cylinder....not too bad for $100 to try it out, but $1200 to do all 40 is nuts!

Hoping to have some time to work on it this afternoon and I'll focus on checking into these further as you suggest!

[lswing]

This might be out there already, but would you want to create a list for everything you replaced in this procedure? Part numbers, what failed, what was preventative, this would be great information for all of us. Possibly as a wrap up post when you complete this.. Then when I start the same thing come help me... :)

If Muggy wants to put a list together, I'll add it to the maintenance section on my website. Cheers

[Muggy]

If Muggy wants to put a list together, I'll add it to the maintenance section on my website. Cheers

Sounds good! Gives me even more motivation to compile the list...

I did pull my oil cooler off to change out the "bufkin" pipe...found the original plastic one in perfect condition, but figured I'd change it out for the aluminum version. Unfortunately, Mr. Bufkin is no longer selling these, so I opted for a nice looking copy....no fly...waaay too tight of a fit... :doh: ordered another OEM plastic one with new gaskets to replace what was in there.

Got side tracked yesterday, so I didn't have much of a chance to work on the car except for pulling the oil cooler off as above. Found a house for my son on Saturday night (just listed same day), we toured at 11:00 on Sunday, offer in by 5:00, was the top contract out of 4 that came in within 24 hours, seller accepted ours!

[rah]

I just caught on to this thread and will be following closely, very informational. As an RS6 owner, and if you plan on keeping the car, we will all go through this or already have. Please do a part inventory at the end if you have a chance, it will definitely help some of us i am sure and keep the pictures and progress coming! Stay safe and i hope your business will come out of this Covid craziness in one piece.

[Muggy]

Thanks rah...I'll definitely put together a list of part numbers that I've collected so far and keep the progress coming! I'm glad that you are finding this helpful...that's my goal along with getting input here and there as needed myself. I knew that the parts would add up both in quantity and $$$...especially with all of the o-rings, crush washers, and one time use bolts that Audi likes to use! I've had to cross check things here and there, but for the most part, I've been able to find everything without too many issues, just not all from one vendor...that is unless I just ordered everything from JimEllis...but that would probably at least double the budget so far.

Another "while I'm in there" part that I picked up was a new power steering pump....I've been having a whine for a while and then a nasty growl on occasion. I did try and flush out the fluid with the proper Pentosin CHF11s, which didn't really help (wasn't low, no leaks). In any case, with the motor on a stand, all of the lines disconnected, and the fluid drained, seems like the perfect time to swap the pump. I found a brand new (not reman and no core charge!) ZF pump on Europa's site for $399 (up to $419 now a day later)...I'll probably also upgrade to the Pentosin CHF202, which looks like the "newer" synthetic fluid that is backwards compatible with the 11s in case of any residue that I can't get out.

Hoping to get some time to really get a bit of real progress on the car...with Covid, my business model has been turned upside down, but at least I still have my primary 18 staff members fully employed with no layoffs or salary cuts. Being in the food service industry...we've been very lucky overall...the catering side is of course next to nothing, but slowly picking up with 4 weddings this past weekend (but all smaller of course)....and our gourmet-to-go business is booming while still operating curbside for pickups. We do higher end carry out and have done so for the last 30 years...I have a fantastic customer base that has been very supportive. That said, the new way of doing business is posting daily rotating and seasonal menus and taking 30-40-50 orders via email every day that we fill first come-first served...this keeps me tied to my desk 6 days a week for hours every morning. In the past, we took some pre-orders, but most was just walk-in ordering of what we made fresh each day, so I had a LOT more flexibility in my schedule. Oh well, as I said, I have a great group of long term employees that obviously rely on their paychecks (and customers that say they'd starve if we closed!), so I'm not complaining!

Now back to RS6 stuff! One tidbit that I found out which I could never find a straight answer on...the turbo hot side housings...I didn't know if they were the same casting or different as they look identical and are stamped with the same number. What I can see is the casting looks to be the same, BUT, the waste gate actuating lever is different. Not sure if these are swappable or not, but I would say no without a lot of effort.

[rah]

Thanks rah...I'll definitely put together a list of part numbers that I've collected so far and keep the progress coming! I'm glad that you are finding this helpful...that's my goal along with getting input here and there as needed myself. I knew that the parts would add up both in quantity and $$$...especially with all of the o-rings, crush washers, and one time use bolts that Audi likes to use! I've had to cross check things here and there, but for the most part, I've been able to find everything without too many issues, just not all from one vendor...that is unless I just ordered everything from JimEllis...but that would probably at least double the budget so far.

Another "while I'm in there" part that I picked up was a new power steering pump....I've been having a whine for a while and then a nasty growl on occasion. I did try and flush out the fluid with the proper Pentosin CHF11s, which didn't really help (wasn't low, no leaks). In any case, with the motor on a stand, all of the lines disconnected, and the fluid drained, seems like the perfect time to swap the pump. I found a brand new (not reman and no core charge!) ZF pump on Europa's site for $399 (up to $419 now a day later)...I'll probably also upgrade to the Pentosin CHF202, which looks like the "newer" synthetic fluid that is backwards compatible with the 11s in case of any residue that I can't get out.

Hoping to get some time to really get a bit of real progress on the car...with Covid, my business model has been turned upside down, but at least I still have my primary 18 staff members fully employed with no layoffs or salary cuts. Being in the food service industry...we've been very lucky overall...the catering side is of course next to nothing, but slowly picking up with 4 weddings this past weekend (but all smaller of course)....and our gourmet-to-go business is booming while still operating curbside for pickups. We do higher end carry out and have done so for the last 30 years...I have a fantastic customer base that has been very supportive. That said, the new way of doing business is posting daily rotating and seasonal menus and taking 30-40-50 orders via email every day that we fill first come-first served...this keeps me tied to my desk 6 days a week for hours every morning. In the past, we took some pre-orders, but most was just walk-in ordering of what we made fresh each day, so I had a LOT more flexibility in my schedule. Oh well, as I said, I have a great group of long term employees that obviously rely on their paychecks (and customers that say they'd starve if we closed!), so I'm not complaining!

Now back to RS6 stuff! One tidbit that I found out which I could never find a straight answer on...the turbo hot side housings...I didn't know if they were the same casting or different as they look identical and are stamped with the same number. What I can see is the casting looks to be the same, BUT, the waste gate actuating lever is different. Not sure if these are swappable or not, but I would say no without a lot of effort.

I cannot give you an answer on the hot side of the turbos, i have not dealt with that at all but i would assume that they are from the same casting, but i guess assuming with the RS6 is a bad habit!

As far as off subject and life of a restaurant, i imagine that a strong customer base and community base helps tremendously! I am not in that business but my brother is, being the general manager of a restaurant wine bar, higher end and really has been relying on its customers to make it through this time. It is still hard since they are and very good wine bar and getting bottles to go has not been an option. They are set for re-opening in the near future but nothing yet, their space is smaller at both locations and have been relying on carry out.

I am glad you are able to keep your people going and yourself. Good luck with your business and will be watching the RS6 refresh development as it unfolds!

[Muggy]

Finally had a chance to get a solid several hours on the car this past weekend and hoping for another session this weekend. I decided to try another version of the aluminum "bufkin" pipe made by another vendor and had much better luck with the fit. I decided to order from Gruvenparts since they say they make them in-house, so I figured I'd have some recourse if I didn't like their version.

http://www.fototime.com/2D59793FA1C6B49/medium800.jpg

OEM plastic pipe, center is Gruvenparts version, right is an eBay version from "JP" (which is .4mm too large).

http://www.fototime.com/343FC527DDC7329/medium800.jpg

Next up was to get the cams installed...I fiddled with the 2 "bad" lifters that I had and even with purging and re-presurizing, they still seemed a little off compared to all of the others...decided to go with the 3 intakes on that cylinder...fingers crossed! Took my time to get the chains installed properly as I really don't want to pull it back apart for rushing through this sequence. New chains, adjuster shoes, and cam cap bolts. Now that said, I did see some telltale signs of non-OEM gasket sealer under the tensioner gasket, so my wear pattern on what I thought were the original shoes was definitely not from a 104k motor, but still glad that I have the peace of mind with new shoes!

http://www.fototime.com/6D681759FE3764D/medium800.jpg

And coming back together a bit on the front end....

http://www.fototime.com/A533CA72CDE1894/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/0DA8BE444D88BA4/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/FB388C30D8F3F78/medium800.jpg

Next up is to fine tune the cam timing...I'm just a hair off to my liking on getting the lock bar back on after several rotations...just need to pop the cam gears again to tweak. Once I'm happy with that, then valve covers back on and back on...this will give me a lot of my bench space back, so then on to the turbo rebuilds...:mech:

[kruat]

Looking great man!

[KBAN]

Hi Muggy - do you know a good place to get rotors and pads for a 2004 RS6. And do you recommend a certain brand? Thank you

[Muggy]

Hi Muggy - do you know a good place to get rotors and pads for a 2004 RS6. And do you recommend a certain brand? Thank you

Fortunately haven't needed to do brakes yet....I hear that the Zimmerman rotors are OEM, just without the Audi rings engraved...nistah has a set listed in the FS thread on the forum, not sure if still available but reasonably priced. For pads, I did a little research a while ago, but forget which ones were the go-to's...sorry to be vague, just personally don't have any good info on this.

Maybe someone else will chime in!

[AudiPilot]

Hi Muggy - do you know a good place to get rotors and pads for a 2004 RS6. And do you recommend a certain brand? Thank you

Good info on pads at http://www.audirssix.com/index.php/overview/brakes-wheels

Hope that helps!

[KBAN]

Fortunately haven't needed to do brakes yet....I hear that the Zimmerman rotors are OEM, just without the Audi rings engraved...nistah has a set listed in the FS thread on the forum, not sure if still available but reasonably priced. For pads, I did a little research a while ago, but forget which ones were the go-to's...sorry to be vague, just personally don't have any good info on this.

Maybe someone else will chime in!

Thank you

[KBAN]

Thank you

[Muggy]

Got a little more done tonight....re-adjusted the timing just a hair to get the cams lined up perfectly...

http://www.fototime.com/3B28C1DFD162F41/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/7100F8BDAE97026/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/A5797FFF250637E/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/80495E9D92597A1/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/228F33A8E783C3A/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/CFCB892CBEB7014/medium800.jpg

Now working on cleaning up the valve covers to get those back on and then to the turbos! :applause:

[Muggy]

Alright....time for some updates! I actually took a day off yesterday which is extremely rare for me with the COVID mess right now and my business...my wife is my co-manager and we have 16 more full time employees and they all stepped up to kick me out for the day...

I'm going to break this up into 2 posts...first with a few questions to follow and then with the turbo rebuilds. First up is the front side buttoned up...should be ready to go here for the re-install.

http://www.fototime.com/2AD8E3CD53278B7/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/6239E21C3B31A40/medium800.jpg

Next up are a couple of questions regarding the elimination of the SAI pump, and you'll see one of my reasons pretty clearly in the photos...
For the SAI delete, nubcake has updated my file to show a "no flow" as the norm, so should eliminate the CEL, but a question on vac routing and fuses.

First up, it looks like Audi used some of the leftover crap wiring from the old early 90's era VW's...if you've owned one, you know what I mean. The ground wires especially would corrode on the inside and then reek havoc with the electrical system...outside looked fine, but inside was copper dust...you learned to feel along the wire to get a crunchy spot and that would be one of many problems. In any case, this is not exactly the same thing, but as you can see, the sheathing has completely disintegrated on both the power and ground leads.

Question here is since I've deleted the SAI system, can I just yank the 40 amp fuse and call it a day? Hoping so!!!

Sheathing disintegrated all the way down into the loom...
http://www.fototime.com/3DE26AC66149986/medium800.jpg

40 amp SAI pump fuse is the orange one...
http://www.fototime.com/F4B2E3F5918CF2D/medium800.jpg

Next question, what should I do with vac routing up on top with the solenoid that controls the vac to the SAI Combi valves which were removed and blocked of with plates? I've heard to just loop it back (see pic) and cap off the other tee, or should I just leave the stubby s-line in there connected as OEM to the recirculation valve plumbing and unplug the power to the solenoid since it's been deleted from the tune?

(short "s" shaped vac line from tee usually connects to the solenoid on the end and the left part heads back to the Combi valves)

http://www.fototime.com/AE21506F15E734B/medium800.jpg

Any thoughts on this would be great, thanks!

[Muggy]

Now for the fun stuff that I really wanted the whole day to just relax, listen to some tunes, and wrench for the day...balmy 72 degrees and sunny, perfect day to have the garage door open and relax. If anyone wants my tips and tricks that I learned on the turbo rebuilds, just let me know...otherwise I'll let the photos speak for themselves. No surprises here, just time for a standard rebuild using the Mellet cartridges from England.

I had a little shaft play on both of these, but no interference with the blades on the hot or cold side on either turbo. I was leaking oil on the right bank which is why I ended up taking the car off the road in the spring to tackle this entire project. The right bank turbo was pretty grimy on the inside of the hot side and I really had to work to get the oil out that had built up in there, but no real issues otherwise....

http://www.fototime.com/7D081EB1E183E43/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/17B82AE70BC899E/medium800.jpg

Blade damage from when I knocked the cartridge out on the bench since I had new ones...
http://www.fototime.com/6CD2C7E2440065B/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/8FC89830C9F8E0E/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/18F35252E50C277/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/C977DD14DBFB41E/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/A4AE60F1BDAF534/medium800.jpg

A little photo trickery...my son gave me the Neon Audi sign for Christmas last year...reflecting on the shiny parts!
http://www.fototime.com/0F872E8F8BFA3FD/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/3605BFBDBD672E5/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/4944D426E2A51B2/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/20AD7B0B2FDBC55/medium800.jpg

All buttoned up and waste gates adjusted, ready for some boost!
http://www.fototime.com/E62A9E6DD7BA3CE/medium800.jpg

Next major project is to get the motor back on the hoist so I can get to the rear main seal plate...hopefully by this coming weekend!

[GreggPDX]

Looks good! Regarding the SAI solenoid, I also had nubcake tune it out, and I did the "loopback" and capped the tee where the "S" hose is attached. Worked fine, no codes.

[Muggy]

Looks good! Regarding the SAI solenoid, I also had nubcake tune it out, and I did the "loopback" and capped the tee where the "S" hose is attached. Worked fine, no codes.

Excellent, just what I was hoping to hear!

[P1054]

Looks good! Regarding the SAI solenoid, I also had nubcake tune it out, and I did the "loopback" and capped the tee where the "S" hose is attached. Worked fine, no codes.

I have the same looped line on mine and no issues here either.

[Muggy]

Ok, so not much progress on the actual wrenching the last couple of weeks...my son bought his first house and decided that he needed a pickup instead of a Lexus. We've been working on his new-to-him 96 Toyota Tacoma v6 5spd 4x4...nice little truck with only 125k on it but needing a little love.

That said, I've decided to bite the bullet and go for the 6 speed swap while everything is out and easy to get to. I've been under the delusion that my tip box would hold up, but the more I think about it, the more likely there were a few hints that it was not too happy. After pricing torque converters and talking to a few about a rebuild, I decided to divert my funds and pick up Jolio's SteveKen conversion kit and just get it done! The car has been laid up since April/May, so it's not like a few more months will kill me. Plus I'll have more time to work on it after we get through the holiday season with my work situation. I did drive Jolio's RS6 when he had it with the same conversion, and even though I didn't ride it hard, I could tell that I would really enjoy it!

Soooo, anyone have a line on a decent 6 speed trans and swap parts....:hihi:

[C5A603]

Ok, so not much progress on the actual wrenching the last couple of weeks...my son bought his first house and decided that he needed a pickup instead of a Lexus. We've been working on his new-to-him 96 Toyota Tacoma v6 5spd 4x4...nice little truck with only 125k on it but needing a little love.

That said, I've decided to bite the bullet and go for the 6 speed swap while everything is out and easy to get to. I've been under the delusion that my tip box would hold up, but the more I think about it, the more likely there were a few hints that it was not too happy. After pricing torque converters and talking to a few about a rebuild, I decided to divert my funds and pick up Jolio's SteveKen conversion kit and just get it done! The car has been laid up since April/May, so it's not like a few more months will kill me. Plus I'll have more time to work on it after we get through the holiday season with my work situation. I did drive Jolio's RS6 when he had it with the same conversion, and even though I didn't ride it hard, I could tell that I would really enjoy it!

Soooo, anyone have a line on a decent 6 speed trans and swap parts....:hihi:


I joined just to follow along this thread. It's AudiAR01 (Seth) and the info you were asking about the exhaust housings being the same. They are 100% the exact same housing. The k03 and k04 turbos also use the same exhaust housing for each side. As well as the RS6 turbos. Audi used the same cast for both sides. The k03 exhaust housings match each other, the k04 exhaust housings match each other, and the RS6 Turbo exhaust housings match each other. Lookn forward to watching this unfold. And you swapping the 6spd in....

[DKP]

Hey Muggy. I’m now also doing a muggy refresh but unfortunately without muggy. Anyway did the Gruven pipe fit as it should and were you happy or should I just stick with the oem plastic?

Happy thanksgiving from Colorado everybody

[Muggy]

Hey Muggy. I’m now also doing a muggy refresh but unfortunately without muggy. Anyway did the Gruven pipe fit as it should and were you happy or should I just stick with the oem plastic?

Happy thanksgiving from Colorado everybody

Hah! You can do it...unfortunately mine is taking much longer than I had planned, but I'm taking my time and hopefully doing everything right!

For the Gruvenparts pipe, it does seem to fit just right...that said, the engine is still on the stand and obviously hasn't been started yet to know if it seals right or not. When installing it, it feels like the OEM pipe as far as installation feel on the o-ring size which is positive. I can't say for sure, but it also looks like Gruvenparts used the OEM o-rings, where the eBay part had skinnier o-rings.

Hope this is helpful!

[DKP]

That’s kind of you to say but no I can’t do it. It’s at my local Indy shop. Went in for the suction jet pump and we’re now at engine pull to get to the pipe. As well as replace intercoolers every HVAC hose. Coolant hose and intake hoses. Now that the engine is out replace all the other little bits that need the engine out. Wasn’t really in the mood to drop this much coin but as they say pay once now or pay again later. Hopefully will have 3 or 4 years of trouble free motoring as I did everything and more on the front of the motor 10,000 miles ago.

will order that Gruven pipe today. Thanks.

[jolio1994]

Dude, I'm tellin' ya.. You're going to absolutely love the manual swap. Everything you thought of for a RS6 is just exemplified x10! I can't wait to see the beast up and running.

[Muggy]

Thanks Joel, I'm excited too....just sent you the final $$ for the swap kit, now just need to find some donor parts!

Finally spent last night with my wife and dog as an empty nester! My son and his fiancée are doing their final move in to their new house and spent the night there last night! I've been helping with that and also getting his new to him Tacoma 4x4 back to factory new specs...he sold his Lexus IS that was paid off and bought the 96 taco, something he's always wanted...had the $20k left after the car/truck swap to cover his closing costs on the house. Also got the boat pulled, cleaned, winterized, and parked for the winter yesterday...I just love getting sprayed in the face with 2 month old lake slime when power washing the outdrive, but it was a nice day and not 30 degrees. Point being, I'm just about done with "other" projects and will have time to focus on the RS6!

:mech::mech::mech:

[DKP]

Morning all. Hope everyone had a safe and tasty thanksgiving. Hey muggy since my engine is out it of course it gets me to thinking. Just out of curiosity what car does the donor transmission come from and in the end is the swap factory feeling? As in is the check engine light always on. Are the TCU issues all cleaned up. And lastly what kind of a budget would a guy be looking at. Good luck with your swap.

[Muggy]

Soooo.....I did drive Jolio's briefly when he still had it...definitely got me hooked and that was with a slipping clutch and no tune at the time. From what I'm told, it can be done so there are no CEL's or other lights to aggravate you, it just takes some effort to find the right people to put in the right coding. TCU will be disconnected, so no issues there, again, once coded properly.

Budget wise, I'm doing mine at home, so without labor, I'm probably looking at 5k for the SteveKen parts plus donor stuff. Most likely I won't source a cheap car to break down myself as I have too much stuff around here now to mess with that...I'll probably call Phil at Audis4parts and a few others that offer what is needed.

Parts wise, transmission with mounts and linkages, clutch (SteveKen kit comes with flywheel, starter, and adapter plate), pedal assembly, clutch master and maybe brake master?, center drive shaft, front drive shafts, and a bunch of other smaller parts. Again, all of this could be sourced from one car, or one breaker that has it to sell as a "kit".

We'll see where I am in the end...I'd say you'd be looking at $10k for an installed kit...

[SteveKen]

I've gone on record quoting $8k out the door for the conversion if they deliver the car to me and allow me to use used parts for the axles, prop shaft and transmission. The variable is the transmission and whether you want it rebuilt or not.

Good used front axles are very hard to source these days so aftermarket is the cheapest and quickest option. Same for a prop shaft. I've never done it before, but would consider looking into a shop lengthening the stock one if it can be done.

If I have all the parts gathered ahead of time and there are no issues uncovered during the teardown/install, then I can have it done in a week.

I've basically got all my projects sorted at the moment, so I have the room to offer this. Hit me up if you are interested.

[Muggy]

I've gone on record quoting $8k out the door for the conversion if they deliver the car to me and allow me to use used parts for the axles, prop shaft and transmission. The variable is the transmission and whether you want it rebuilt or not.

Good used front axles are very hard to source these days so aftermarket is the cheapest and quickest option. Same for a prop shaft. I've never done it before, but would consider looking into a shop lengthening the stock one if it can be done.

If I have all the parts gathered ahead of time and there are no issues uncovered during the teardown/install, then I can have it done in a week.

I've basically got all my projects sorted at the moment, so I have the room to offer this. Hit me up if you are interested.

Good to know! I'm sure that you are probably the master when it comes to these...price sounds very fair for someone that doesn't want to try themselves (with your kit of course!). :thumb:

[DKP]

That does seem reasonable to me as well. Right now my engine is out and unfortunately the car is in CO. Everything looks pretty healthy for 85,000 on the clock so Just going to replace everything I can and reinstall. I don't mind the auto I just hate that I feel like I have to be so careful with the right pedal. If or should I say when it implodes I'll probably have it rebuilt and beefed up if that's possible. So much conflicting info and opinions where transmission rebuilding is concerned.

[Muggy]

Went ahead and got on the list for a swap kit from Phil...said about 6 weeks or so, which I'm fine with given the upcoming holidays and my lack of available free time.

Looking forward to rowing the boat! :incar:

[SteveKen]

That does seem reasonable to me as well. Right now my engine is out and unfortunately the car is in CO. Everything looks pretty healthy for 85,000 on the clock so Just going to replace everything I can and reinstall. I don't mind the auto I just hate that I feel like I have to be so careful with the right pedal. If or should I say when it implodes I'll probably have it rebuilt and beefed up if that's possible. So much conflicting info and opinions where transmission rebuilding is concerned.

I think it's a fair price. Includes the adapter kit, clutchmasters clutch and Nubcake tune.

Additional hardware costs (and additional time) add up when it's also recommended to replace the downpipes, valve cover gaskets, intercoolers afterrun pump, valve cover gaskets, possibly RMS.

[Muggy]

Not a whole lot happening in the last couple of weeks...very busy with work through the holidays, but doing research and ordering & waiting for parts, so forward progress even without too much to show for it in photos. I've been doing research on the aux intercooler removal process, and have decided to do that as part of the project....from what I see, there are 2 good ways to do this. First is to remove all of the front piping and radiators and then plumb the pipe from the reservoir hose cluster to the lower radiator hose stub that feeds the thermostat while keeping the one way valve in there to halt any backflow to the reservoir. The other option is to completely remove this pipe and put plugs on the lower rad hose stub and stub back at the reservoir connection. I've ordered the 034 motorsport silicone plugs and am waiting to see if I like the fit when they show up. I like the idea of removing everything possible, but want to be sure that the plugs are solid first (nice looking silicone rated for higher temp, pressure, and water, so we'll see. Since this is strictly a fun car for me, I can avoid driving on those hatefully hot days (or at least in stop & go traffic situations), which really aren't that often here in my region. My reason for removing is to just eliminate all of that extra plumbing...so many places for a coolant leak to happen with the snake of plumbing on the front end. I'm also hopeful that I can get the aluminum radiator highlighted in another current thread here that also eliminates the auto trans cooling circuit for even more cooling efficacy.

As a Christmas gift, my older son hooked me up with a nice little 5000 watt heater for the garage. I don't have a finished ceiling, but it definitely helps to take the chill off on those extra cold days! He hooked it up for me since he's an electrician...220v with a 30 amp breaker and 10 gauge wire, so done right!

http://www.fototime.com/B47C6DED0E3BD2E/medium800.jpg

Last thing up...I have a set of Wraxles in my car now installed by a PO...coming out for the conversion, so hit me up if you need a pair of good axles for your auto box...or a whole transmission and torque converter for that matter. I have 2 transmissions and 2 torque converters for good rebuild cores...or honestly if you just need to get your car back on the road, my old one is still usable, not sure of the condition of the second one that was a gimme from Jolio. I also have 12 quarts of the real deal ZF Lifeguard5 if you need it for a trans fluid change...I got that off of eBay before I decided to go with the manual swap. Picked that up on the advice of Level10 when I talked to them about a rebuild...he said to only use the Lifeguard5 for any fluid changes.

[DKP]

If I wasn't already taking such a financial beating on my refresh I'd Take your old tranny, send it to Level 10 have it redone and keep it for a rainy day.

[Muggy]

If I wasn't already taking such a financial beating on my refresh I'd Take your old tranny, send it to Level 10 have it redone and keep it for a rainy day.

Something said for having the trans ready to go...not like your last fiasco scrambling for parts from who knows where...
Trans and torque converter would be freebies from me, you just need to cover shipping. Even torque converters are getting expensive and rare...many shops don't even have the cores anymore and need yours in rebuildable condition or no dice.

Honestly, Tozo is still doing rebuilds on stock only cars...yours is stock, correct? He'd be my go-to for sure. I reached out to him and he's still willing to do them, but as I said, on a stock car only...and mine isn't stock anymore....so that ruled that out....:burnout:

[DKP]

Now that all the parts I scoured the planet for are finally here the car can finally go back together and I'll see what my final tally is. Once I know that number I can look at the spare trans program. My question currently is does Tozo rebuild to stock standards or is it a little beefier. The car is bone stock and I'm happy with that but as we all know the tranny is under engineered for RS6 duty and I'd like to get things strengthened up as much as possible. Also is there any downside to a rebuilt transmission just sitting for months or years. Will things dry up seals fall apart etc? Muggy do you know what a Tozo rebuild runs? So before you give your old tranny the heave ho let me know.

Happy New Year everyone.

[Muggy]

Not sure what Tozo charges as we didn't get that far since he isn't interested in non stock rebuilds anymore. He has an excellent reputation on here, so I would definitely trust his work for a stock rebuild as he knows the common failure points. Pat at Level10 seemed very knowledgeable too, so I don't think you'd go wrong with either one.

If your trans is solid now, then grab a spare...once it starts acting up, get the spare re-done before the pull so it's ready to go...
As in, I hope not to store for too long...:cheers:

[AudiPilot]

For what it’s worth, I have a Level10 rated to handle up to 700 hp, installed by a PO (who apparently shredded his stock AT5 shortly after flashing a Stage 1 tune). According to their site, they’ll build up to 1,000 hp... I imagine that means beefier components where it matters, but I’d hope for the associated cost that they’d reveal a bit of what exactly goes into it. Verbiage on my receipt says it carries a 36 month, 30k mi warranty, but to get the full 36mo/30k mi warranty you need to service it at their shop at 20k mi... not exactly practical unless you live in NJ!

[Muggy]

I don't think that you'd go wrong either way...Pat at Level10 really seemed to know his facts on the RS6 and said that the've worked on quite a few...in fact, he was a little giddy when talking about the car and his appreciation of them. I'm also sure that Tozo would give you an honest appraisal of what's what as well. It was a conversation that I was just starting to have with both, but as I mentioned, Tozo won't work on a non stock car anymore, which killed that conversation for me and decided to go 6 speed which ended my conversation with Pat too.

Now a little progress on mine, finally had a short stretch of time yesterday to pick away at a small project...I pulled all of my aux cooling stuff out, but opted for now to leave the pipe in that connects to the heater core that will now tie into the lower radiator hard line nipple with the one way valve in place. This has proven successful for several in the past...and would be the hardest part to replace and would need to be another engine out project if I ever wanted to put it back in. I could also just disconnect and cap on both ends...I have the 034 silicone caps coming too for options. Personally, I'm happy to get all of this stray piping out of there as it just seems like so many more places to have a leak.

http://www.fototime.com/322CD10EA26A725/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/42625A86EA13C3A/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/AC5BF2DF12783D9/medium800.jpg

And I must say, these Wagner intercoolers are beefy and top notch!

http://www.fototime.com/60228B7EC95B0DB/medium800.jpg

Also decided to remove all of the extra piping for the trans cooler too, since I won't be needing that either.

http://www.fototime.com/A72ECDA46DB062B/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/A8C649619BFB657/medium800.jpg

[Muggy]

Received a couple of goodie boxes from Jolio....:thumb:

I went ahead and picked up his SteveKen 6 speed conversion kit, clutch assembly, and spare ECU...he threw in a spare new starter and mostly complete wiring harness...much appreciated!

http://www.fototime.com/BD15E863C72BDB4/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/FFDEB351B115D13/medium800.jpg

Now it's time to replace my rear main....I picked up the new plate with seal already installed...just need to strap it back on to the hoist so I can unbolt the stand to get access to the back side. I'll start the "no going back" process of getting the guide plug tapped out of the crank nose...

Spending this weekend building out a laundry room...been here for 22 years with it in an unfinished side of the basement, but now with both kids completely out of the house, we could sort 20+ years of crap out of the utility room, I promised my wife a clean space for the laundry area...after all, it is her birthday today and our 30th wedding anniversary on Tuesday (I was 21 and she was 22 when we got married, so I'm really not that old!)....happy wife, happy life!

[jolio1994]

Glad you got everything in one piece!

Funny, I'm actually working on remodeling my laundry room for my wife as well haha.

[eurovintage]

I don't think that you'd go wrong either way...Pat at Level10 really seemed to know his facts on the RS6 and said that the've worked on quite a few...in fact, he was a little giddy when talking about the car and his appreciation of them. I'm also sure that Tozo would give you an honest appraisal of what's what as well. It was a conversation that I was just starting to have with both, but as I mentioned, Tozo won't work on a non stock car anymore, which killed that conversation for me and decided to go 6 speed which ended my conversation with Pat too.

Now a little progress on mine, finally had a short stretch of time yesterday to pick away at a small project...I pulled all of my aux cooling stuff out, but opted for now to leave the pipe in that connects to the heater core that will now tie into the lower radiator hard line nipple with the one way valve in place. This has proven successful for several in the past...and would be the hardest part to replace and would need to be another engine out project if I ever wanted to put it back in. I could also just disconnect and cap on both ends...I have the 034 silicone caps coming too for options. Personally, I'm happy to get all of this stray piping out of there as it just seems like so many more places to have a leak.

http://www.fototime.com/322CD10EA26A725/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/42625A86EA13C3A/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/AC5BF2DF12783D9/medium800.jpg

And I must say, these Wagner intercoolers are beefy and top notch!

http://www.fototime.com/60228B7EC95B0DB/medium800.jpg

Also decided to remove all of the extra piping for the trans cooler too, since I won't be needing that either.

http://www.fototime.com/A72ECDA46DB062B/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/A8C649619BFB657/medium800.jpg


Hi Muggy,
Do YOu havfe any estimate how much weight savings can be gained with removing the auxiliary coolers ?
Thanks,
Ivan

[Muggy]

Honestly, not much weight to be saved....all aluminum for rads and piping. I'd say 20-25 pounds max including the coolant. If you need to know an exact figure, I can put it in a box and jump on the scale....scary notion though with my COVID beer weight...seems to flow down my throat every night now. :cheers:

I did this more to help eliminate leak points in the cooling system and to make it easier to remove the front clip in the future.

[eurovintage]

Hi Muggy,\
Weight is the enemy, every pound conts, especially up front on oour cars.
You chould drink champagne, is lighter !
If You could put on the hardware which is saved too, and let me know how much fluid You saved,
that would give us a very accurate picture and wight.
So far I managed to save about 230 lbs over stock, so this would be on top of that.
Cheers,
Ivan

[Muggy]

Hey Ivan, so true on weight...that's another reason among many that I'm doing the 6 speed swap...the auto tranny is like a ship's anchor!

[hahnmgh63]

SO true on the weight savings. I started out going with BBS RS-GT wheels, not cheap but close to 10lb lighter per wheel than stock. Aux radiator delete with all of the lines, Onstar stripped but B.T (OEM) added. Started with an Odyssey 925T battery going from the 50+lb OEM down to 26lbs, now I went to a Antigravity Lithium which takes it down to 5.5lbs (weight out back but still weight). Stripping the DRC and lines and going to KWV3 struts/shocks was at least another 20+lbs. As Muggy said, I think the 6spd conversion saved close to 100lbs. Catless saves some more.
So far I think I'm down over 200+lbs without losing any driveability or comfort....no rice mods.

[jolio1994]

I can send you my puller setup for the crank plug if you wish. Its been proven on 4 motors so far.

Let me know if you'd like me to send it to you

[eurovintage]

MUggy, have You thought of cleaning the Cats ? Done it with other cars incl. my rs6.
Removing them needs some cutting, and than later rewelding, but no big deal.
I did soak them in a plastic tub with parts cleaner for about 2 weeks, with some rinsing in between.
Cheers,
Ivan

[Muggy]

MUggy, have You thought of cleaning the Cats ? Done it with other cars incl. my rs6.
Removing them needs some cutting, and than later rewelding, but no big deal.
I did soak them in a plastic tub with parts cleaner for about 2 weeks, with some rinsing in between.
Cheers,
Ivan

I'm good...I have Miltek catless DP's along with a full Miltek non-res exhaust...

[Muggy]

Alright, time to get back to work on the RS! My younger son and his fiancé were living with us and working from home for about 8 months, but were able to buy a house in November. I'm finally kid and commitment free for my basement space, so I promised my wife that I'd finally build a finished laundry room space after being in the house for 23 years. I've done a lot of home projects over the years, but I kind of forgot how much work a 7'x9' room would be...but it's done now!

Before...
http://www.fototime.com/EFEA0DD7402C582/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/3F358BB2CB16E0D/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/A84653C473A4742/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/2088B4C07AEB740/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/7CCF9082804CD73/standard.jpg

And my reclaimed basement where the kids were living...

http://www.fototime.com/D332C6D85AA9C60/standard.jpg

I think I've earned some quality garage time for a while now....next up is my son's wedding in our backyard in October....time to lay a new paver patio!

Oh yeah, with all of the crap that I got rid of out of my utility room space...I was able to carve out an interior workspace and made a bench out of my old washer/dryer stand that I had built previously...was able to bring in all of my boat/fishing stuff along with house tools for carpentry, plumbing, electrical, etc...meaning clearing this out of my garage for more car project space! :applause:

http://www.fototime.com/652F6AE563F757F/standard.jpg

[C5A603]

Alright, time to get back to work on the RS! My younger son and his fiancé were living with us and working from home for about 8 months, but were able to buy a house in November. I'm finally kid and commitment free for my basement space, so I promised my wife that I'd finally build a finished laundry room space after being in the house for 23 years. I've done a lot of home projects over the years, but I kind of forgot how much work a 7'x9' room would be...but it's done now!

Before...
http://www.fototime.com/EFEA0DD7402C582/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/3F358BB2CB16E0D/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/A84653C473A4742/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/2088B4C07AEB740/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/7CCF9082804CD73/standard.jpg

And my reclaimed basement where the kids were living...

http://www.fototime.com/D332C6D85AA9C60/standard.jpg

I think I've earned some quality garage time for a while now....next up is my son's wedding in our backyard in October....time to lay a new paver patio!

Oh yeah, with all of the crap that I got rid of out of my utility room space...I was able to carve out an interior workspace and made a bench out of my old washer/dryer stand that I had built previously...was able to bring in all of my boat/fishing stuff along with house tools for carpentry, plumbing, electrical, etc...meaning clearing this out of my garage for more car project space! :applause:

http://www.fototime.com/652F6AE563F757F/standard.jpg


Looking good man. I have the A6 pulled clear apart now. Completely rebuilding it. New rods, bearings, pistons(30 over) make it a 2.8/.9 liter. But not going with the 3.0l crank. And debating on doing 028/029 turbos. I have a set of k04-025/026 rs4 turbos, and a set of TTE550s. But TTE I guess has been having problems with the shaft breaking. So I'm a little shy on putting them in. And having to pull the motor again. And I'm really looking into a BIG STK but haven't made up my mind yet. I still have time. Waiting in rods and whatnot to show up. I got both oil pans off now. To send the block to be hot tanked and bored. I ended up buying another Audi. Like I needed another. But I found a killer deal on a b5 A4. To build after I'm done with the A6.

[Muggy]

Thanks, yeah, been following yours on the Zine....nice progress! Sorry, but I don't have any input on turbos...Looking forward to seeing what you squeeze out of it once back together...by then, hopefully some COVID issues lifted/better and we can get the sisters together again!

[C5A603]

Thanks, yeah, been following yours on the Zine....nice progress! Sorry, but I don't have any input on turbos...Looking forward to seeing what you squeeze out of it once back together...by then, hopefully some COVID issues lifted/better and we can get the sisters together again!

Yeah man absolutely. I wanna go for a ride in that RS6 with the manual. That thing is a beast with the auto tranny. I can only imagine with a stick....

[ben916]

Muggy,

Small world.

I didn't put the pieces together but I ran into your son here (https://www.tacomaworld.com/members/an3.346524/) as he was posting about RS6 and how his dad was putting in a manual 6 speed.
I informed that I had one and it was a great car and that I was over here on this forum.

So from my sig here, you can see my progression from RS6 to Tacoma DCSB 4x4 (the mod bug never stops even if you change car application and purpose).

Nevertheless, keep up the great work!

[Muggy]

ben916, small world it is! My 6 speed conversion has been interrupted a few times while helping him with various projects from buying the "vintage" Tacoma to his first house...all good, I like to work on everything! Both of my boys definitely inherited my love of projects, and I'm thrilled to be able to help them both with whatever comes up and fun to watch them grow into very capable young men (now 25 & 27)...my older son is going for his Master Electrician's test later this month, no easy feat for sure. I actually have an artificial disk in my neck after damaging it while helping install new front leaf springs on his F250 7.3 Super Duty, but I'd do it again without question, maybe just be a little more careful next time!

Appreciate the reach out! :cheers:

[Muggy]

Alright now, finally getting back on the horse! And it looks like I found my Kryptonite...from most of the blogs, it seems that everyone has something that really is a pain that shouldn't be. For some, it's been the flex plate bolts or exhaust/turbo studs, for others, it's been cutting water pipes by accident or having clutch components miss-marked by the manufacturer...for me, it was the bastard pilot plug in the crank. I picked up an inside puller, similar to the snap on tool highlighted by SteveKen in his how-to. No dice...with either the puller or set up on a side hammer, it was not going to budge. I was hoping to save this piece just-because...I like to save stuff that really shouldn't need to be cut up. In any case, plan 2-try to find parts to do the tap method...would need to wait for stuff online and pay more for one-time use tools. In any case, the pilot plug is out after a few days of fighting a couple of rounds with it...:doh:

http://www.fototime.com/579B1C156053C60/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/C353CA52989F6F4/medium800.jpg

Moving forward, I mocked up some 6 speed goodies!

http://www.fototime.com/5F8417B053616C4/medium800.jpg

But need to change the rear crank seal first...it was leaking and part of the reason for the motor pull/trans separation in the first place. Can't seem to find my proper torque wrench, so final install soon...

http://www.fototime.com/7BD973BE99D727A/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/1090DDF03EA1BEF/medium800.jpg

Looking forward to having more time to work on this now with other projects out of the way! :race:

[Muggy]

Small updates tonight....Got the rear main seal/cover installed and pulled the tuned TCU that I won't need anymore for a fellow rs6.com member...:incar:

http://www.fototime.com/93C7689B494F8C0/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/2899A66C0164EA7/medium800.jpg

Unfortunately, I don't know who did the TCU tune, but the chip has obviously been swapped....

http://www.fototime.com/B493191EF432128/medium800.jpg

[nubcake]

I'm inclined to think all those tuning companies are flashing the same TCU file.
So whoever was looking for a tuned one - this is one of your options.
Soldering could have been tidier though. :)

[Muggy]

Moving forward, I have a question on the orientation of the flywheel and where I should have the "window" positioned for the crank position sensor. I have the lock pin installed, so the crank is definitely fixed at a known lock point. That said, when I took off the original CPS ring from the auto, it was in a different position then where I believe that it should be now. I'm 99.9% sure that I had the lock pin in for the marking (no reason to mark if not locked!) and removal of the auto tone ring as my neck twitched for a week after getting those old crank bolts out! Basically, since I picked up the parts from Jolio, it had been previously installed on a running project. With that, I can see a shadow of where the flywheel was aligned on the crank with the one extra offset hole on the end of the crankshaft that is at about 10 o'clock in the locked position. If I look at my old pics and check my alignment sharpie marks that I put on there when removing the auto box, the window is up just slightly above or aligned to the top starter bolt hole (about 2 o'clock). If I align the new flywheel to the shadow dot on the mating surface to match the offset hole on the crank, it is further down and closer to 4 o'clock. That said, at this position, it is 180 degrees or thereabouts from the CPS. Any thoughts here before I move forward? Anxious to get this locked down and checked off of the list!

Note CPS ring window from the auto at about 2:00 near the top starter bolt hole....

http://www.fototime.com/3F3E7807CCA3E76/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/1EF213261C9D2A9/medium800.jpg

And now with the flywheel installed and the CPS window at about 4:00 near the lower starter bolt hole and aligned with the shadow dot from PO's installation (180 degrees from CPS)....

http://www.fototime.com/67C04A21D1682AB/medium800.jpg

CPS window where my finger is...

http://www.fototime.com/A9217C397ED2DBD/medium800.jpg

Any thoughts, comments, and insight welcomed, thanks! :idea:

[nubcake]

Sensor mounting location in the MT housing is shifted by the same angle.
You should be good.

[Muggy]

Ahhh, fantastic! I don't have a manual trans in front of me yet, so didn't even consider that as a possible scenario!

Your quick reply is much appreciated so I'm not worrying about figuring this out all day!

[Muggy]

So I'm on to the next issue that I knew I'd need to deal with and hopefully the answer is as easy as I think it is...I'd rather figure this out now while I have easy access to the harness if needed for some surgery before it goes back in the car.

I've done the SAI delete with the block off plates, vacuum line loop/cap, and have the updated tune from Nubcake (thank you!) for it. Now, as many of you have probably seen, or maybe don't want to see...the wires running the power and ground for the SAI pump have an extremely brittle sheathing, I'm guessing from heat over the years. Both the power and ground wires have the sheathing crumbling off all the way through the harness up to the fuse block. Most people with the SAI delete could just unplug it and let it hang, but I'll have major issues if I do that and the SAI is triggered through the relay to get power for some reason. Long story short, can I just pull the big orange 40 amp fuse and call it a day? From what I see, you have the power coming into the harness from the white block at the ECU box, then jumping over to the SAI only 40a fuse block, then jumping over to the relay, and then the power wire out of the relay to the harness end is what is disintegrated. Only that wire and the associated ground wire are like this...must be an old hangup from earlier VW's...they were notorious for ground wires disintegrating inside of the sheathing and wreaking havoc with ground problems everywhere.

So, pull the fuse and all is good with the SAI delete tune? Y or N? Thanks for your thoughts! I'd love not to have to cut that harness apart! Thanks Jolio for donating your semi cut spare for my dissection experiment!

Power in from largest red wire here...

http://www.fototime.com/6062506E0938EE0/medium800.jpg

Jumps to fuse block here...

http://www.fototime.com/06DCC67E868FF6E/medium800.jpg

And red/black tracer jumps to relay here...

http://www.fototime.com/B4A55138982ACC9/medium800.jpg

And shinier red wire that is disintegrating out from relay to SAI connector...

http://www.fototime.com/29380ADB962635F/medium800.jpg

:cheers:

[jolio1994]

CPS window where my finger is...

http://www.fototime.com/A9217C397ED2DBD/medium800.jpg

Any thoughts, comments, and insight welcomed, thanks! :idea:

Is your crank timing pin inserted? I may be wrong, but if I remember correctly the timing window on the flywheel should be at 10-11 o'clock? If you look at where the 01e CPS is located, it almost looks like you're 180 degree's off timing, (assuming the timing pin is installed)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50781760431_2896c9c173_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2knpNaD)20201228_161106 (https://flic.kr/p/2knpNaD) by Joel Francisco (https://www.flickr.com/photos/150736981@N05/)

Maybe someone else will chime in, just something I noticed

[Muggy]

Thanks Joel,
I appreciate your thoughts...crank lock pin is in. As I mentioned, I used a faint ghost dot on the back of the flywheel that matched up to that extra hole on the end of the crank to install where yours was. It is 180 off from the sensor, but my main concern I guess was that the window didn't match up to the auto version, which makes sense now that the sensor is in a different spot on the bell housing...close, but about an hour north of the auto location. This would correspond to the different window location, albeit 180 off right now. I'll fiddle some more today...I haven't locked the flywheel down yet, as I wanted to confirm location first!

I appreciate your input, and anyone else that wants to check in!

[Muggy]

Amazingly enough, more progress today! I decided to tackle the joyous job of adjusting the oil and coolant line by the starter. As expected, it was a finicky thing to work with, but I'm happy with what I came up with...

http://www.fototime.com/734926E7A0AFA45/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/EC6725382392B32/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/C23C1C93D4B466A/medium800.jpg

And a test alignment of the starter...

http://www.fototime.com/FF1D8116D26A709/medium800.jpg

And just a reminder for input on the crank position sensor window at about 4:00...as Nubcake pointed out, I'm fine on the shift of the window from 2:00 to 4:00 for the auto-manual swap, but just want to confirm that I'm in the right position at 4:00 with the crank lock pin in so I can lock it down and move on (since there are no positioning dowels/keyways, etc.)... and also if I can just yank the fuse for the SAI pump and call it a day on that issue. Much appreciated!

[Muggy]

Thanks Joel,
I appreciate your thoughts...crank lock pin is in. As I mentioned, I used a faint ghost dot on the back of the flywheel that matched up to that extra hole on the end of the crank to install where yours was. It is 180 off from the sensor, but my main concern I guess was that the window didn't match up to the auto version, which makes sense now that the sensor is in a different spot on the bell housing...close, but about an hour north of the auto location. This would correspond to the different window location, albeit 180 off right now. I'll fiddle some more today...I haven't locked the flywheel down yet, as I wanted to confirm location first!

I appreciate your input, and anyone else that wants to check in!

Ok, just a follow up on this and to put it on the record for anyone searching for this...there is only one way to install the flywheel on the 10 bolt crank. There is the offset tapped hole (not a crank bolt hole) that indicates where there will be a slightly larger gap in the flywheel bolt spacing...making it a one position only situation to get all 10 bolts in. I was worried as I just put a couple in to hang the crank for a test fit, but then rotated to match where it had been aligned by Joel on his install (faint ghost mark on the back of the fly to match that offset hole). Turns out that when I did this, it was in the correct position and I stuck all 10 bolts in. If I hadn't rotated it from the test hang and tried to put in all 10 bolts, I would have figured this out pretty quickly...:nono:

With all of my reading, I found info on the 8 bolt 2.7t cranks that said you could install in a couple of positions and was worried that I could be in the same situation, but no worries on the 10 bolt...one way only!

Slightly wider gap here at my finger (where the offset hole is behind the fly)...

http://www.fototime.com/1085639A2E4F3F5/medium800.jpg

And this positions the trigger window at about 4:00 with the crank lock pin in, which is about 180 degrees (approx) from the CPS.

http://www.fototime.com/26FD6EE5638624F/medium800.jpg

The auto box trigger window is at about 2:00...and the difference in angle is due to the different position of the CPS on the 01E (thanks Nubcake for confirming)....

[Muggy]

Well....looks like the photo hosting service that I've been using for 20 years (Fototime) took a crap on me...just went black now for more than a week...real bummer as I find past threads with photos very instructional and entertaining, and created this thread to be just that for others looking for info and inspiration. At least Photosukit gave people the opportunity to pay a ransom and buy into a paid service...:noshake:

I may try to re-populate with pics from the new host, but in the meantime, if anyone coming across this wants pics, I still have them and will re-upload at some point.

[jibberjive]

Well....looks like the photo hosting service that I've been using for 20 years (Fototime) took a crap on me...just went black now for more than a week...real bummer as I find past threads with photos very instructional and entertaining, and created this thread to be just that for others looking for info and inspiration. At least Photosukit gave people the opportunity to pay a ransom and buy into a paid service...:noshake:

I may try to re-populate with pics from the new host, but in the meantime, if anyone coming across this wants pics, I still have them and will re-upload at some point.
That sucks. If you get time, I would love to see the pics again. After the photobucket saga, I started using imgur. But photobucket scarred me, and now I don't trust that anyone will be around long-term anymore. Imgur's been good so far though.

[Muggy]

That sucks. If you get time, I would love to see the pics again. After the photobucket saga, I started using imgur. But photobucket scarred me, and now I don't trust that anyone will be around long-term anymore. Imgur's been good so far though.

Thanks...this gives me a push to get it done...I'm using ImgBB now as a trial...seems to be working pretty well.
Now if I can just find the "edit" option to re-add links...maybe it's too early in the morning...4:00 wake up today...the one day in the last month that I can actually sleep in with no alarm...:doh:

[Muggy]

Scored a nice set of RS4 wheels...decent enough shape and rubber to tool around town for a trial fit. If I'm happy, I'll have them redone and re-skinned...I've always loved this style and found a set for a great deal and local so no shipping hassles/expense. No curb rash and seem to be nice and straight...not too much weight on for balancing which is always a good sign and came off of a running RS4 clone car that the PO swapped to Rotors instead. Finish is a good 5-footer...plenty of blems in a mediocre repaint, but seem to be good candidates for a full refinish if I so choose.

https://i.ibb.co/Lg7MvDt/68306-D0-D-9-EDB-45-C0-B723-5-D2-FA7-E565-CC.jpg (https://ibb.co/R6w17G0)

https://i.ibb.co/NjBzXG7/2-B4-FE2-FD-739-E-4831-BFD7-7-FA0-C4132348.jpg (https://ibb.co/mqW7mPS)

Also got the word that I should be seeing my trans on the back of a truck by the end of the week! :mech::mech::mech:
Can't wait to make some real progress....

And the look that I'm going for with the new to me rollers...photo picked from a BAT listing a couple of years ago but matches my color and wheel combo...I won't be quite this low since I'm static on Bilstiens and H&R springs...

https://i.ibb.co/hCzD41V/2-A8-E7279-94-C7-4-CB4-AD49-F5-AAB5-BE1-F31.jpg (https://ibb.co/x3TJB86)

https://i.ibb.co/02ZwG7Y/E65-CCA2-E-BF73-4-DDC-9-DB3-11135-D9-E4-F23.jpg (https://ibb.co/YQ8rLCf)

[Muggy]

Finally received my 6 speed swap parts..woohoo! Been waiting since the week after Thanksgiving...:vhmmm:

Time to get busy...I'll upgrade all linkage parts, etc....box is supposed to be upgraded with all of the best new internal wear parts (shift collar and synchros).

https://i.ibb.co/9qzckg5/1-C357-AFB-C4-C4-4-E5-F-82-E1-9-CF408-C93-F10.jpg (https://ibb.co/ZhtGpXD)

https://i.ibb.co/7J8KsMY/508-AABDA-03-C8-4532-84-F1-744336-E03-ECB.jpg (https://ibb.co/C5NQRC1)

https://i.ibb.co/9h7KRXb/E9-C009-F1-E0-B0-414-A-B51-B-AB9-D9-E5-A6957.jpg (https://ibb.co/G9qYgwW)

[AudiPilot]

If Muggy wants to put a list together, I'll add it to the maintenance section on my website. Cheers

Eagerly awaiting your “been there” stuff-to-do-while-my-engine-is-out list... probable failing driver’s side turbo (way low MAF 2 airflow, credit to @nubcake for his work helping me log!) will likely result in an in-shop engine pull around September... my (past) preferred shop won’t work on it anymore, says Audi officially cut parts support at the end of 2020. :doh: And they won’t work unless they can order the OE-specified part. (Sounds more like a dealer than an indy shop!)

[hahnmgh63]

Muggy, might consider changing out the plastic Slave cylinder for the metal one. The plastic aren't real bad but the B5 S4 guys say they do fail at a higher rate than metal ones.

[Muggy]

Muggy, might consider changing out the plastic Slave cylinder for the metal one. The plastic aren't real bad but the B5 S4 guys say they do fail at a higher rate than metal ones.

Appreciate the tip...the metal slave and line is in that plastic bag by the bell housing that you can't see through....:thumb:

AudiPilot, that's a real bummer...I saw your post about that. Before my son and I picked up the RS6, we tinkered extensively with a C5 2.7t 6 speed, so I had some idea of what I was getting into with the RS6 and assumed that an engine pull would be in the future. My slow progress is a combination of lack of time due to a harder work schedule and parts availability & shipping delays...thanks COVID! I agree that nubcake has been a great resource for tuning and diagnostics...at least you have a target in sight for what needs to be dealt with.

I now have a few boxes full of little baggies with o-rings, crush washers, bolts, etc. that I need to re-cross check so I know where they all go again. For me, I had 3 major "while you are in there" projects, but a smoking turbo forced my hand to stop driving...oil was dripping inside and outside of the turbo causing smoke up through the cowl and out of the pipes. Other issues were the rear main seal that was dripping and an obnoxious tap from the valve train. Hopefully all fixed...the somewhat unexpected addition was the 6 speed swap...the more I thought about it (always on the wish list!), the more it made sense since I felt that some sort of trans service was warranted. Figured that the same $$ was better spent on the swap since it's at my house in my space...not being charged by the hour to work on or by the day to store....

[AudiPilot]

AudiPilot, that's a real bummer...I saw your post about that.

Thanks, part of ownership at some point or another! I’ll definitely address anything that pops up with the engine out. If I shine a flashlight down the driver’s side to catch a glimpse of the belly pan it is quite reflective, so I’m pretty sure there are fluids coming from other places… hopefully can get everything remedied!

[Muggy]

Finally got a little time to carve out for myself to work on one of the many projects still to do...something that is satisfying to be finished with as I was nervous about carving up that beautiful carbon fiber!

https://i.ibb.co/6ZtZj9f/2-D28-E989-F383-429-A-9-DFA-AA16-AAE1505-A.jpg (https://ibb.co/mByBfZM)

With Some JHM upgrades...shifter, linkages, and weighted love handle...:incar:

https://i.ibb.co/hLk3zJf/2330-F2-F1-033-E-4765-8-B9-D-148743-CB60-F5.jpg (https://ibb.co/k5pNCs1)

[Muggy]

A little progress yesterday....dusting off the wrenches and anxious to get back on my project. So much going on this past year, I need to focus on getting this wrapped up. My goal is to have it out of the garage under it's own power in the next month, which is very doable if I just bite the bullet and take some time for myself.

Installed some JHM goodies to go with the shifter upgrade including the hiem joint linkage, cross rod, stabilizer bushing, and stiffer shift detent to center the shifter to 3rd/4th. The whole assembly feels so much better with the stiffer components and hope that it translates well in the car. I did have an A6 manual car for a bit with 200k that felt like I was stirring pudding with the shifter that gave about 0 feedback...not the case with this setup! :incar:

I do have the metal USP clutch slave and line as well as 034 density line mounts, but trying to decide if I should go with a stiffer motor mount before I put everything back in.

EDIT...just ordered the billet 034 motor mounts...I don't mind if it's on the stiffer side and want to feel comfortable putting the fun pedal to the floor! :hahahehe:

https://i.ibb.co/kcFkZ6r/58641157-DC9-F-4-C1-E-AC6-B-614-C0-A256-BE6.jpg (https://ibb.co/4Nx9kgD)

https://i.ibb.co/2KTgdT0/7-AE4-B933-FF28-4-B00-A2-FF-8-AC01-BC01600.jpg (https://ibb.co/HgjnqjL)

https://i.ibb.co/2SnYRQy/C9-E7-AB04-4-DF3-48-C6-8-F44-B73-C28314-C71.jpg (https://ibb.co/PMmzJnN)

[hahnmgh63]

I did the full JHM 01E linkage on mine and I'm glad I did. Still have a little fine tuning on the adjustment but all of the gears are there when I need them. Definitely not much slop which is nice. Congrats on the progress, you're getting close.

[IchBautAuto]

Good you did the short shifter? Probably the best "feel" mod I have done. I put a UK short shifter in my RS4 and have the JHM short shifter kit for my spare 01E. The spare box has everything JHM offers installed in it plus new mainshaft and bearings.

[Muggy]

Finally plugging away again...got the tranny attached, metal slave on, new throwout bearing in, and started re-connecting the oil and water feeds for the turbos. Hoping to get the turbos and manifolds on today...I'm really glad that I took lots of pics on the teardown to refer to after being laid up for 15 months! Also love having the motorcycle jack to lift the trans...made aligning and mating the engine and trans a breeze without having to use any bolts to draw together.

https://i.ibb.co/kBNbYVb/3-D7-FF556-732-A-4-C7-E-8-E8-C-C5860-F080-C4-F.jpg (https://ibb.co/tKVjywj)

https://i.ibb.co/b5sS0rs/950-BE130-A942-4-A42-9064-D41-B0-D959-D91.jpg (https://ibb.co/Kx2MP92)

https://i.ibb.co/K2JyQR1/D0-EC5-E6-F-5633-4-FBE-A714-C005-EA628-B4-C.jpg (https://ibb.co/hBS8nhq)

[hahnmgh63]

Looks like I may have the same engine hoist and motorcycle jack as you. I did use the motorcycle hoist to lift the transmission but I used a flat hydraulic table/cart (1000lb rated from Harbor freight) to set the engine on. I do have the luxury of a lift so the car was sitting about 3' off the ground and I rolled the assembly underneath and slowly lifted the engine/tranny into place. I have Miltek downpipes and found that the left side was rubbing slightly on the OEM transmission mounts bolted up to the 01E so I used these and they worked perfectly: https://audis4parts.com/audi-b5-s4/steel-01e-transmission-brackets/

[Muggy]

Excellent, I was looking at those mounts myself and thinking of the upgrade while out...the ones that came with mine are a little rough on the bottom that look like they were dragged across the ground.

I did get more work done today...did the "hard" side first...there certainly isn't much wiggle room in there! Hoping to finish the other side tomorrow night...again, glad that I took lots of pics on teardown and earmarked my sites to re-cross check part numbers on all of the crush washers and o-rings...:mech:

https://i.ibb.co/bgXCmCS/7-F1-C5-F2-C-6304-41-AD-85-C8-F9-CC78725-C26.jpg (https://ibb.co/mC42T2L)

https://i.ibb.co/0h1gXmt/0-F594-BCA-3342-49-F2-B9-CC-01-EFFC5-A99-DF.jpg (https://ibb.co/6gG3ZrB)

[Muggy]

A bit more work done last night...got second side manifold and turbo installed. I'll definitely need to hit the exhaust shop to move the bung a bit on the driver's side O2 sensor. Hoping to just rotate it a bit to clear the shift linkage. I have a decent custom shop about a half hour away that has done full custom systems on a few of my past toys, so this should be easy for them, especially since they will be on the bench. Plus, the top O2's are locked in solid, so probably need some serious heat our cut out anyway...since the whole thing started from a blown turbo spewing oil down the pipe on the right side, the sensor/s are shot and need replacing anyway.

Also, very close to bumping the trans mount on that side, already have the steel ones from A4P on the way! Glad to see that Phil was able to ship same day...after months waiting for the trans, I was a bit skeptical, but, thanks Phil!

https://i.ibb.co/LJ42rx0/957-CD973-A3-B9-4-D44-8-D1-A-0-DF0-A7-C221-EA.jpg (https://ibb.co/s6LMCKg)

https://i.ibb.co/Zcz892X/EBB53-C01-B1-FC-41-D4-9-FEF-9705694-D1-C78.jpg (https://ibb.co/SVwnSfy)

https://i.ibb.co/StdKxQM/468-E9283-F55-E-46-D2-8307-E484-FDFD1-F10.jpg (https://ibb.co/7nRGzgZ)

[hahnmgh63]

I had the same issues with the Left O2 sensor, had an exhaust shop move it a couple of inches on my Miltek pipe.

[Muggy]

I had the same issues with the Left O2 sensor, had an exhaust shop move it a couple of inches on my Miltek pipe.

Which direction did you go, towards the firewall or front? I'd imagine towards the back, but I don't want any clearance issues with the sensor and the firewall...

Shifter is in 3rd/4th gear resting position as shown in the pics, so obviously a no go for 5th/6th at this point.

[hahnmgh63]

I went to the back but also about an inch lower (downstream).

[nubcake]

Bear in mind, you want any water (condensation) being able to naturally drain from the sensor.
So don't install it horizontally or facing upwards.

[Muggy]

A little more headway this weekend...I mostly tackled the 3rd pedal install...decided to go with the retro-fit in place and swap the pedals, sensors, and clutch master to the existing bracket without pulling the brake master/booster setup. So far, about what I was expecting and not necessarily a pleasant experience, but very do-able. Still need to add the actual clutch pedal to the assembly, but got the brake pedal in with extended pin, switches, and clutch master up. Going with the USP metal slave and upgraded line and was pleasantly surprised that the clutch master that I ordered from Europa was a metal housing unit as well. Not thrilled with the condition of the clutch pedal pivot bushing though...and there doesn't seem to be much info out there about any replacement options...any thoughts?

https://i.ibb.co/wpY7cpB/837-F23-B9-EA3-C-44-A4-885-C-B696445-A3-DCB.jpg (https://ibb.co/p4nQh4b)

https://i.ibb.co/XYqc523/A0-F8-C879-334-E-4275-ACD1-57-A842-FDD1-E9.jpg (https://ibb.co/dmR8pWL)

Also started on the wiring...got the pin 39 wired up to the ECU for the clutch vacuum switch and am deciding whether to do the jumper bypass on the clutch safety switch or wire that in. Also have a plan with the pigtail supplied for the reverse light. Probably just going to harvest the connector off of a spare auto trans and make my own jumper cable for that. Also re-routed the speed sensor so I didn't need to cut that wire to extend.

https://i.ibb.co/kGfk8YF/FEB8634-B-E158-401-A-8-BA7-EAFFA08-AA915.jpg (https://ibb.co/51yt8qV)

Also picked up the steel mounts from Audis4parts to clear the downpipe on the drivers side...still need to get up to my exhaust shop to move the bung for the 02 a bit. I did check the placement of the OEM bung since I still have the top of the DP's that I cut off to save, and they would foul too on the shift linkage. Should be a quick project for my exhaust guys...they've done plenty of custom stuff for me over the years including a custom dump tube for my Callaway Rabbit, plus hand built header back systems for other cars.

https://i.ibb.co/yBWwKnW/5-C653-D5-F-B06-A-4-D64-95-E0-C84-D199-BEDDE.jpg (https://ibb.co/S7RhHXR)

All-in-all, a good bit of progress for my long weekend off "cough, cough" of about 6 consecutive hours in a row on Sunday without a work or family commitment...:dance:

[Muggy]

Got a little more work done last night...really trying to chip away each day that I don't have any other commitments to get this thing running by the end of the month. My son is getting married in early October, so I want the month of September to get it fine tuned and deal with any issues before his wedding rolls around...not a hard deadline, but a solid "wish" due date.

In any case, gotta love this view! For anyone that has done this, you can appreciate the sliced knuckles from the razor sharp brackets and aching back to get to this point...the pedal box and wiring were my 2 least favorite mini-projects to deal with, so glad that they are about done. Fortunately, after a lot of research and putting together bits and pieces from various threads, I should be all set on what is really very basic wiring needs...:thumb:

https://i.ibb.co/prdqXkQ/830822-DA-D281-4-AFC-9275-BACE39008-DA3.jpg (https://ibb.co/h1V08Tc)

Last thing to do in the pedal box is to wire up the 2 switches for the clutch vac and starter relay...I have pin 39 wired, and just need to pull that through, then tidy things up. I also made my own mini harness out of one of my spare auto tranny selector harnesses for the reverse lights. I was willing to buy one from Advanced Automotion, but the 8 pin connector is unavailable right now. I didn't want to splice in wires if I could avoid it, so I harvested the harness and made a proper jumper cable.

https://i.ibb.co/QbMDQMP/D8-EB9-EC5-D558-4-A2-A-952-C-DBEAB71-E7-A72.jpg (https://ibb.co/yfq4Pq6)

https://i.ibb.co/10Sp3y4/BB62-CC39-39-A4-4-E38-BD01-D0532-C816-A25.jpg (https://ibb.co/ZfZw34b)

While the interior is out, I decided to pull my cluster out and send to ClusterModzCo for the custom MFD. While the harness is out, I'll wire up to pin 101 for the boost output lead and jump that into the cluster harness. Cheaper and better looking than the pod/vent inserts to get a boost gauge plus so many more functions available...looking forward to seeing this in action!

Lastly, a little goodie box arrived from Canada...thanks Chase!

https://i.ibb.co/p44Znhq/95-F5-ECD2-D6-F1-40-F7-9-BC2-65-FFDD5-B569-B.jpg (https://ibb.co/TPPRrWy)

https://i.ibb.co/8MsgkQs/27-BC7954-CD28-4-F29-A9-B5-21-EC78-A8-C2-E4.jpg (https://ibb.co/tBKpR1K)

https://i.ibb.co/L6Rc3DF/36-A903-E4-0-BCE-4-E1-B-8-EB1-FAAFB3505673.jpg (https://ibb.co/Bj3Q9Hp)

I've been wanting coilovers for quite some time now, and with an end in sight on the engine/trans work, and the pop-up F/S on these, I couldn't pass them up at half the price of new...2Bennet was my preferred choice, so I didn't need to settle on these, it was a no-brainer to scoop them up. They have never been installed, just sitting on the shelf for a few years, but should be perfectly fine to run. Super high quality and pre-fitted with OEM aluminum mounts, custom spherical top mounts on the front, hardware, and all to easily drop and swap without needing to harvest any parts off of the set in the car now. That said, once I get these in, I'll have a nice set of Eibach Sport RS6 specific springs and Bilstein shocks/struts for sale...not a bad setup, just not quite as firm as I prefer and non adjustable.

[Muggy]

Mini progress...called my exhaust shop when I had a couple hour window at work to leave early on Wednesday...they said to bring my DP up (about 30 minutes from me), had it finished in 10 minutes for $25.00. :thumb: They are also excited to see the car in person to do some additional possible mods after I'm up and running...they are big VW Audi fans, but work on everything that comes in the door.

Before:

https://i.ibb.co/Zcz892X/EBB53-C01-B1-FC-41-D4-9-FEF-9705694-D1-C78.jpg (https://ibb.co/SVwnSfy)

After:
https://i.ibb.co/2Z5H7R8/4-E75-D042-ACD5-4-E4-C-BEA7-D2-C6-B6352-B2-E.jpg (https://ibb.co/FHnCbcs)

[Muggy]

A little more progress...collecting some final bits and pieces to get this thing finished up! I went ahead and ordered and just received the Accel yellow coils...I had a mis-matched set and never liked the way that the odd one connected as there was never a positive "click" on the harness. Not sure if they'll help or not over quality stock, but we'll see. At least they'll be matched and I have had good results from Accel products the past. Also got some crush washers for the P/S banjos and new o-rings for the A/C system plus new OEM bolts to tie in the drive shaft. Also coming are some universal male/female pin connectors so I can make a nice little OEM looking harness that can be disconnected for the clutch wire, boost wire to the ClusterModz upgrade, and signal wire for the meth at the ECU in case of any future engine pulls.

Next up which should be in soon...I decided to add meth injection while it's easy to get in there. Final choice after consulting with nubcake was the AEM V3 with a signal input via injector duty cycle. This "should" give a linear spray increase with the injector duty cycle if I understand all correctly and expected to be more precise than the MAP or MAF 0-5v inputs or with an internal MAP sensor tied to a boost line. Now, question is, does anyone have an idea where I need to tie this in for the signal? Can this come from a single injector (since they should all be at the same duty cycle with throttle position and ECU signals), or somewhere off of the main harness that goes into the ECU? Any thoughts?

First thing to do though is to get the car on the road...I can install the system but have it disabled to start. Nubcake said that we can have 2 programs to select on startup, so I'll just get the car running and deal with all of the 6 speed issues and figuring out what I forgot to connect after 18 months apart, then work on the meth tune.

Any knowledgeable input on where to tap for an injector duty cycle signal would be appreciated!

Thanks! ~ Eric :cheers:

So, I just did some tracing with the extra butchered up harness that I got from Jolio with some other parts which has been a great help.

I found that the main power comes from the black with blue tracer that goes to the large orange harness. Also traced down injector for cylinder 2 (easiest since it was a single color wire) is green and goes to pin 19 on the ECU harness (confirmed with Bentley and matching ohm continuity test). Question is, as before, can I just tap into one of these "signal" wires coming from the ECU to any of the injectors for a duty cycle signal for the meth controller? I'm hoping "yes" as this would actually be pretty easy to deal with, but a confirmation from a knowledgeable source would be great, thanks!

Final edit on this post...looks like I can tie into the signal wire coming from the ECU to an individual injector (not the 12v power lead), and all should be good! Trying to document in case anyone else looks down this path, and as always, educated input is welcomed!

[Muggy]

Making more progress...finally wrapped up all of the wiring stuff and hope that everything is set here...

1-Reverse light switch, made a mini harness out of the pigtail that came with the trans selector side and the linkage selector harness that I harvested off of the auto box.
2-Clutch vacuum switch, connected one side to pin 39 on the ECU and the other to the white wire on the brake light harness.
3-Clutch safety switch, connected one side to the brown/white wire on the relay #4 and the other to ground, may bypass later, but wanted OEM for now.
5-AEM WMI trigger, wired to pin 9 green wire on the ECU which is cylinder 2 injector duty cycle trigger to run duty cycle input on WMI.
5-Color MFA display by ClusterModz, wired pin 101 yellow/red wire on the ECU to pin 39 on the gray harness behind the cluster so I'll have an in-dash boost display. Unfortunately, the cluster harness doesn't have "empty pins" in the cluster like the ECU harness does and even though they look about the same form the outside, they are not. Glad that I picked up Jolio's spare hacked up harness for both bench testing continuity to confirm various circuits before hacking my harness, and I was also able to harvest a pin/pigtail out of one of the connectors for the main harness on the back side of the ECU. Nice solid OEM lock now behind the cluster, which is for the boost option on the MFA display. If anyone is doing the color MFA, let me know and I can get you a pigtail!

Between the wiring and contorting to get the clutch pedal group in, honestly, I think those were the 2 main mini-projects that I was dreading on the entire build...DONE!

https://i.ibb.co/zxT1sKb/3-F152956-1300-49-D3-8-C6-B-AB69444-C0-A6-D.jpg (https://ibb.co/6w72Y6b)

https://i.ibb.co/wgQFLBd/86-F7-AD66-2129-47-A1-BD27-F34-AA1-BDAAF7.jpg (https://ibb.co/029RXmn)


Also did an easy project and installed the Accel yellow coil packs...I had a mismatched set in there from PO repairs, and never liked how the odd one never "clicked" on the harness to lock it on.

https://i.ibb.co/hRFgPD8/A91-EFE51-9-B40-4307-BB51-D5-ACB99-CB4-C7.jpg (https://ibb.co/pvj1tJX)


Next up...getting her back up on the QuickJacks! Since I was already on my roller casters, I was able to squeeze the extra 8" lift blocks in there and now have almost 24" to the door sill....more than enough room to get the drive shaft taken care of, and really made life a LOT easer in my tiny space for the removal...and expect it to be a nice luxury now too for the re-install...:mech:

https://i.ibb.co/mRWXFtg/2-F22-AADD-BC8-B-421-F-B505-048262-B043-A7.jpg (https://ibb.co/8mZd42t)

https://i.ibb.co/54zRqjY/CFAF9-E0-B-E376-4-D8-D-8-AA7-2-E68-A201-DCFD.jpg (https://ibb.co/fFKxmN8)

https://i.ibb.co/1J8PVG2/42-EB784-E-6864-47-B1-AA24-D59-F7-E8-CA282.jpg (https://ibb.co/6JgTh0s)

https://i.ibb.co/sHmjM6p/AA5-BA7-D2-AF60-463-A-9-FDF-341-A69-DA5-BFA.jpg (https://ibb.co/k1HKW9V)

[Muggy]

Just banging through more stuff today...had a couple of hours here and there...

Got the driver's side axle shield clearanced for the turbo and removed the auto drive shaft completely now since I have room to work on the QuickJacks!...And surveying the good parts to re-install once it all starts to come together. The driveshaft that came with my trans swap was junk, so I was looking for one and grabbed this off of a seller on Audizine that had it on for a few thousand miles and got fed up with his 2.7t project and parted it out. It's a reman that has the replaceable u-joints and new carrier. I have the 034 carrier too, but will leave this one alone for now.

https://i.ibb.co/njNgmYH/DB1-D402-C-5157-467-B-8-BE7-B026371-ADBD7.jpg (https://ibb.co/NKdVCJ8)

https://i.ibb.co/F53wHS9/F235-ED8-D-63-CD-40-C6-B200-819-CC500-D75-A.jpg (https://ibb.co/1rQqzD3)

https://i.ibb.co/f1v6tHL/6766-C9-AE-6-A21-4-C72-9-CE0-A2287-A355190.jpg (https://ibb.co/mD8Zt4g)

All new hardware to install the drive shaft and motor/trans/snub mounts plus new front wheel bearings since I didn't know better early on and dropped the car on the wheels without the driveshafts in....

https://i.ibb.co/PDpdMfP/457-B1-B33-339-C-42-B8-99-FA-73-BB03923-BA7.jpg (https://ibb.co/xFvNYRB)

https://i.ibb.co/5ckYrPq/0-E2-F0-B5-B-37-F9-4543-9-C09-3-F7552123-DB2.jpg (https://ibb.co/HgCNtjm)

https://i.ibb.co/Z1B0p5F/E3-FD39-D3-9-FEA-484-B-B732-757831-D64-BC9.jpg (https://ibb.co/vv3S6pT)

https://i.ibb.co/r4SQ443/CD8-D7644-5518-484-B-8915-4543346-AB03-F.jpg (https://ibb.co/pJ81JJQ)

https://i.ibb.co/jVN64vX/ECD89032-F484-4029-900-C-CBFD2-BC579-F6.jpg (https://ibb.co/TKfvhB3)

https://i.ibb.co/TcZcPPS/796-E6-E00-972-C-447-A-AC6-B-ED3-D2883-BD9-F.jpg (https://ibb.co/v1b1LLG)

[Muggy]

Made some headway today, but had a setback also...:nono:

Got my starter/alt harness wired up to the starter...why the 'f I didn't do this before I put the exhaust manifold on that side was a fail, but eventually got it done...hard to believe what a pain it was to get that nut on and tightened properly on the starter lug....

https://i.ibb.co/sQ6kyjt/42-B3-F4-A3-0-A0-C-4-FB9-87-B6-F2383-F448-D44.jpg (https://ibb.co/S0dWRNJ)

Moving on...I was a little skeptical on the welded tranny mounts that I got from audis4parts...was hoping that they would be exactly what I needed to clear the downpipe on the drivers side, which it does perfectly...bummer is that I hope that this was just a bad one as it wasn't even close to lining up when I dropped the motor in the car. I was a little concerned when I put them on, as the motor didn't seem to sit as square on my 4 jack stands while out, but I really had no way to easily check. Long story short, I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

Oh yeah, since I was not 100% sure on these, I decided to do a test fit of the motor with all the new mounts to make sure that all was cool before I hook up the downpipes and other stuff along with all of the new 034 mounts...glad that I did!!

https://i.ibb.co/Jk2c24v/C2-DC2592-9332-4-C4-B-B376-5943-CDF67557.jpg (https://ibb.co/f0tXt5k)

https://i.ibb.co/wyrphBP/E217-C5-B6-CF6-A-46-DD-8500-3-AB50-E7-A85-C8.jpg (https://ibb.co/R24QTYs)

Passenger side trans bracket and 034 tip mount...

https://i.ibb.co/s6HCDT1/B597-F278-40-C6-40-D0-85-D8-66232477143-E.jpg (https://ibb.co/MG6fjz1)

Driver side trans bracket and 034 tip mount...

https://i.ibb.co/jf9btbC/2-C95-EA00-17-FE-4716-BFD8-5-B4498-FADA54.jpg (https://ibb.co/g9bmYm0)

Now with the OEM trans brackets in place with the same 034 mounts...

https://i.ibb.co/0yYJ066/67-B896-B2-A1-CC-4011-B087-9739-B5-E7-F7-BD.jpg (https://ibb.co/b5Nd4CC)

https://i.ibb.co/FnhNMqQ/DD3-B611-E-A389-4289-9-CE0-1641-C5-B02767.jpg (https://ibb.co/BwfdxKh)

So, I guess I'll call Phil to see if he has any insight on this...they shipped same day last time, so hopefully he has a few sets and this was just a fluke...if not, I guess I'll be modding the OEM mount to clear the drivers side DP...:rolleyes:

[hahnmgh63]

They were a perfect fit on my car so something must be up. You'd think they weld them up in some type of fixture to make it easy and all the same? Is it just me or do those mounts (Poly?) seem a little high?

[Muggy]

They were a perfect fit on my car so something must be up. You'd think they weld them up in some type of fixture to make it easy and all the same? Is it just me or do those mounts (Poly?) seem a little high?

Appreciate the thoughts...yes, you'd think that the brackets would be jig produced given the proper fit to the transmission. After a closer look and comparison, I actually had to radius the weld slightly on the questionable side just to get the bolt head to sit flush as it's right at the edge of the bottom corner...the OEM bracket has about 1/2" to the bottom edge from the same bolt hole.

On the mounts with the spacers, those are 034's and it's an aluminum puck that they produce...it's thinner than it looks in the pics and the motor seems to sit perfectly with them in place and the OEM trans brackets. 034 uses the same base mount and adds the spacer to the tip version, which this definitely needs for alignment so far.

Also, I updated my wording above...all pics are with the 034 tip transmission mounts with spacer that comes with them, first pics are with the audis4parts welded transmission brackets that show miss-alignment, follow up pics show the OEM transmission brackets in place, that fit perfectly and allowed the 034 heavy duty aluminum front motor mounts to settle and align as they should. Transmission and motor is level in the cradle and has proper spacing to the subframe and alignment front-rear as far as I can tell at this point.

I'll call Phil today and see what he has to say...I definitely do not want to run his that I have now as there would be a 1/2-3/4" spacer needed on one side which is far too ghetto for as much time and money that I've put into this so far...

[Muggy]

Alright...got some solid work done today. After contemplating what to do for transmission mount brackets, I finally decided to modify the driver's side myself to get this thing moving forward. As you all know that have done a 6 speed swap, most downpipes will not clear the OEM transmission bracket on the drivers side, and cutting it is somewhat of a no-no in my book. I picked up Phil's custom made trans brackets that he sells, but was unhappy with the fit of the driver's side. Fortunately, I tend to know better, and when something is not OEM, it may need some finagling to get right..and so was the case here, so I decided to drop the motor in without the downpipes or intent of hooking anything up right off.

Long story short, the mount sat about 17mm too high on the driver's side and would have needed not only a fat spacer, but some drilling of the mount to cut the hole forward. I'll give this to Phil, that the mount hole is designed for a non RS6 swap, so without SteveKen's adapter pushing the trans back, it probably would have lined up ok front-rear. That said, Phil gave me a story about how the solid mounts up front are throwing the trans off, yada yada...I call BS on this as the OEM mounts fit perfectly fine and level...only the steel ones are a problem and only on the driver's side.

Here's where I was with everything else level and good including driveline to the rear...

Passenger side, just kissing the mount without real weight on it...

https://i.ibb.co/FVMwRNR/68-AC165-A-D553-407-F-8-A7-C-1-A710-F4440-A2.jpg (https://ibb.co/5Fy8btb)

And the driver's side with required shims to get it level...

https://i.ibb.co/NysTRxv/E7-EF5-F5-E-0612-4323-8-EDB-D00-E287601-A9.jpg (https://ibb.co/d5rmZBT)

You can see the stack of shims on the left for the driver's mount...

https://i.ibb.co/LtLvVvf/D20-B0-E28-45-D0-4-E9-B-890-E-0-EF1-DF626-AF1.jpg (https://ibb.co/85WX1XV)

So, after thinking of the best way to tackle this, I decided to copy the mount plate that goes on the transmission and attach via welding and a couple of bolts to Phil's version. I was able to drop it down and forward to get a pretty nice fit now that I'm happy with.

https://i.ibb.co/Vj0LtFc/D9-F288-A3-E6-A2-4456-A81-C-814-EA8655-B5-C.jpg (https://ibb.co/ngqwbXN)

https://i.ibb.co/51v2YJr/5107-D7-FF-C44-C-4-CAD-83-A9-2490-CE908-EBE.jpg (https://ibb.co/j8GHVjy)

https://i.ibb.co/FH1NBfH/3887150-C-322-E-4-C71-B799-D9-D13-E08-BB42.jpg (https://ibb.co/kmTkhrm)

https://i.ibb.co/M2d3qNF/289-F14-B2-551-C-4728-B214-807-A7-C283172.jpg (https://ibb.co/Vj6PXBf)

Much better now...I'll still need a couple of thin shims to get it just the way I want it, but much happier with this fit.

https://i.ibb.co/f99SfX4/EFFBF5-A5-3730-470-E-B34-F-49-A5-E9244-D7-D.jpg (https://ibb.co/r33tYQ4)

Now it's time to yank this thing back out and start hooking up some DP's!

[Muggy]

Getting further along...did a final pull out so I can install the downpipes and begin to get everything hooked up. I had brain fade and only ordered 2 O2 sensors...should have ordered all 4, so the other 2 will be here early this week. Spent some time tidying things up and mainly color coding all of my harness connections with zip ties...it's been almost a year and a half since I pulled all of this apart, so I wanted to re-orient myself with how the harness will install and have everything ready to plug and play...

Did things like fine tuning the engine and trans mounts, adjusted the shift linkage, double checked the drive shaft, all of the stuff that I want to know is good before the final drop! We'll see when I have time to do the deed, but hoping within the next week or sooner... :R8kiss:

https://i.ibb.co/G0jPrhq/8-EF35-B0-F-B81-E-4-F86-93-B2-94-B232-AF10-E4.jpg (https://ibb.co/Vt8BkKs)

[Muggy]

Spent a chunk of the day yesterday working on the re-install...what a pain with the downpipes installed! If I need to pull it again, I'll definitely have some v-band clamps welded in ahead of the flex bellows. Glad at least that this was with the 6-speed...seems that the auto box would have been an even bigger hassle! Didn't get to a point to add oil and try to crank for a brief startup, but should be there with another few hours of work.

https://i.ibb.co/Yf4yDRs/675418-BE-95-CB-441-C-B097-7-DDE89-C7-C602.jpg (https://ibb.co/qmLW0yQ)

https://i.ibb.co/QkTbD3m/84-BC10-D7-D795-4-D8-E-9-B0-B-FF94-A8-A17501.jpg (https://ibb.co/zFBn6Tf)

[Muggy]

Chipping away at the mini-projects...took a few hours to start the harness re-routing and connections. Re-pinned the 2 rear O2's with the proper plugs that come with the sensors...thank you Amazon for the $15 pin pulling tool, multi color zip ties for harness matching, and the spare harness from Jolio that I've used for extra plugs, boots, and wire tracing!

https://i.ibb.co/m4mxccd/ECFF8950-DA00-484-F-A0-D8-0-B1508-BAFC8-E.jpg (https://ibb.co/KWY1rrB)

https://i.ibb.co/7KXdGLp/A49292-CD-9-B06-4005-8-C1-F-7-A4-DD13-F6676.jpg (https://ibb.co/FzKLBCY)

https://i.ibb.co/4YQ2bJ0/4-D6-ED714-D594-492-A-9-CD3-9-F2-C3-FA78-D73.jpg (https://ibb.co/5n7kQ2J)

[Muggy]

Ohh, so close! Got all of the top end harness stuff and main battery connections straight, just need to connect the lower boost pipes and oil cooler adapter, add some oil, prime it, and hopefully go for a first start! Once it actually starts and doesn't puke oil out anywhere, I'll continue with hooking up the clutch fluid line & bled, power steering, etc. Give it another quick fire to be sure that the trans engages properly, then finally get the radiator installed and bled...

But, need to replace this before I load it up with fresh coolant...been sitting on the shelf for 16 months and didn't notice until today...no way that I'm going to fill this up and put it under pressure...I can feel the cracks with my fingernail, so definitely not just a visual blemish...:rolleyes:

https://i.ibb.co/h2460yd/21-E57972-E450-4011-92-CC-ED81-B6755-CAD.jpg (https://ibb.co/j3QNtTw)

https://i.ibb.co/FHQmvyP/B0040-A37-52-B4-4473-8296-64-D9-DCF0-DE58.jpg (https://ibb.co/fD3qRyc)

Also, decided to bite the bullet and grab AudiPilot's headlights and R1 diverters...:thumb:

[hahnmgh63]

I used R1 diverters valves on my RS6 years ago and they made an obnoxious honking sound at part throttle. I ended up putting them on my Turbo Cayenne and they were nice and quiet. Maybe they've changed/updated the design.

[Muggy]

I used R1 diverters valves on my RS6 years ago and they made an obnoxious honking sound at part throttle. I ended up putting them on my Turbo Cayenne and they were nice and quiet. Maybe they've changed/updated the design.

Interesting...soon to find out...that is, if the car starts for me in the next day or so...:stick:

[Muggy]

Today was a good day....:revs: :dig:

https://youtu.be/L50u3mvtIdQ

[hahnmgh63]

Congratsulations. I know that feeling after all that work, wondering if something isn't quite right...and then magic it works. Now I'm a little jealous, I do like that instrument cluster. Gives the car a more modern update, even better than LED tail lights.

[Muggy]

Congratsulations. I know that feeling after all that work, wondering if something isn't quite right...and then magic it works. Now I'm a little jealous, I do like that instrument cluster. Gives the car a more modern update, even better than LED tail lights.

Thanks! Yes, I'm a bit of an overthinker, so with the car down for so long, then going back in my mind on how many mini projects that I did over the course of that time, I was a bit stressed out for that first turn! Hoping to have a few hours a night to chip away at the extras now...

Need to:
Install front wheel bearings (set the car down and rolled in the garage without shafts)
Install front drive shafts and main prop shaft
Connect power steering
Connect front clip and all plumbing
Connect A/C
Final torque on all mounting bolts
Install exhaust
Get it out of the garage and rumble around the neighborhood!
Mount front bumper skin/headlights, etc.

I do need to check my brake lights...when I gave the car power when I connected the battery for the first time, the brake lights came on and stay on. I need to double check a few things...I did adjust the pedal to contact the switch in various closure points, BUT...I realized after my first start that the brake fluid was low and my warning was on telling me to stop the car (fluid is too clear to see exactly how much in the reservoir!)...wondering if that would trip the brake lights? If not, I may have damaged the switch when monkeying around with the pedal install. I do have the power wire for the clutch piggybacked onto the white lead on the brake light switch pigtail, but disconnected that with no change. I'll go out and re-check this morning now that the fluid is topped off and look again...if they are still on, I'll check the brake light switch at the pedal...fingers crossed something easy...

Thanks to all for the support on this forum so far and for the awesome conversion kit from SteveKen! It's been a journey, but some of that my own making and really not that bad at this point for any of those thinking about the project. :incar:

[Muggy]

Found my brake light issue...looks like when I removed the brake light switch on the pedal cluster to swap pedals, I damage it...super fragile! Have another on the way...about 10 supersessions, so hopefully the one that I ordered will work fine.

Got the propshaft installed yesterday, just need to do a final torque on those bolts as I ran out of time. Also replacing the front wheel bearings since I dropped it on the ground without knowing better and rolled it around (heard from others that this is a death sentence for the bearings), and installing the front driveshafts. Could technically pull the car out of the garage once this is done before hooking up any cooling system stuff. My garage is on a pretty steep grade once you cross the threshold, so I definitely need to be under power to pull it out...or it'll never go back in!

[Muggy]

Minimal progress, but hoping for a big day on Sunday...got one of the front wheel bearings removed and the hub back on the new one...need to get that side in and torqued down with the axle in and finish the other side. Was able to do this at home with just a bearing splitter...avoided a trip to my storage unit to need the press.

https://i.ibb.co/6wkbYD2/402-FFB38-20-F7-4-E17-8-E5-D-A5-A12986-E143.jpg (https://ibb.co/g9xwytG)

https://i.ibb.co/kHSLrWB/AE7-B5-DAD-C637-4-DE9-B370-183-C77-DE70-FA.jpg (https://ibb.co/vwjNrKq)

I've started the car a handful of times now and let it run for 30 seconds or so...one thing that I have to say is that the throttle response is absolutely ridiculous! My son (and former owner) was over the other night and I gave him a startup rumble & he was blown away...really excited to get this monster back on the road!

I did get my new coolant reservoir installed and main propshaft aligned and torqued, so the to-do list is shrinking a little bit...
Install brake light switch when it comes in the mail
Finish installing front wheel bearings and axles
Connect PS lines (and purge once front clip on with cooler lines attached)
Connect front clip w/coolant, a/c, and p/s lines
Fill & bleed coolant
Install exhaust
Install bumper skin, headlights, and fender liners

I'd love to have this thing under it's own power in and out of the garage by the end of the day on Sunday even if not drivable on the road yet...my son's wedding is next weekend, so that has been a goal of mine...so far-so good!

[NerdyDeeds]

Today was a good day....:revs: :dig:

https://youtu.be/L50u3mvtIdQ

What a feeling! Well done

[Muggy]

Ohhh, so close! Got the wheel bearings done, axles in, and a few extra under-car BS things done...

Ready to pull the car out of the garage for the first time under it's own power...and no reverse! Playing with the linkage some more, and got some helpful info from the JHM vids including how to fine tune...hoping to find that elusive reverse today!
I did get a push out of the garage by my son, and forward feels fantastic...nice and easy clutch and no chatter/shudder at all on the hill in 1st gear or pulling up onto the ramps. I did install a used clutch (and SteveKen kit) from Jolio that had a few thousand miles on it already before he blew up his BCY URS6 monster and went v10...so far, so good! :incar:

https://youtu.be/ZaWXTQAApqU

Update...couldn't wait for a day of work before figuring this out...did some re-adjusting and can now get reverse! Sure that my neighbors loved the straight pipe fire up at 7:30 this morning, but oh well, time to get their asses up to go to work anyway! :thumb:

[AudiPilot]

Sure that my neighbors loved the straight pipe fire up at 7:30 this morning, but oh well, time to get their asses up to go to work anyway! :thumb:

They should be so lucky to start their day to that sound! If they complain you can remind them of their privilege to live adjacent to a prime example of the C5. :D

[Muggy]

They should be so lucky to start their day to that sound! If they complain you can remind them of their privilege to live adjacent to a prime example of the C5. :D

Hah, so true! Seriously though, my neighbors are pretty cool about everything...and for the amount of tools and general mechanical knowledge that I share, they put up with me! I live in a neighborhood that has some waterfrontage on the Chesapeake Bay and we have a small marina with 49 slips (plus about 15 out of 100 homes that have their own piers), so with all of the boats, there's always something to fix...if you thought Audis were finicky, then get a boat!

And on a side note, a big thanks to AudiPilot for the great deal on the headlights and diverter valves!

My goal was to get the car out of the garage under it's own power by this weekend...my son's wedding is on Saturday, and I have lots of friends and family coming for an outdoor rehearsal dinner on Friday night at my house. I don't expect to have it totally finished, but my plan tonight is to get the front clip on and get some coolant in there so it can run for more than 20 seconds a day...this is probably my last evening to have some garage time before then, so fingers crossed!

[Muggy]

Had a few hours last night to work on the car, and basically wasted my time with some rookie mistakes...I'll blame this partially on taking so damn long to get this thing re-installed and forgetting a couple of things that I had to re-do, wasting my valuable and hard to find wrench time. :noshake:

First up, on Sunday while I was installing the front wheel bearings and axles, I failed and mis-marked the right and left front axles. Wheel bearings were no problem, just taking time, but I installed the longer axle on the driver's side...was a bit of a pain to get in there, but got it done. Went to the passenger side and saw immediately that it was too short...F*&K! After an extra hour+ and being annoyed with dealing with the greasy CV's, got it installed and done. For anyone thinking of doing this swap, the 6 speed axles are much closer in length to each other than the auto axles, so I mis-marked months ago when they came in and assumed that I was correct..fail!

Next up on Sunday, hoping to get the car out of the garage under it's own power, and per the vid above, didn't have the shifter aligned correctly to get into reverse. Fortunately, I did re-watch the JHM vids on alignment, and got that taken care of...mainly stress here as I forgot that the linkage shaft had adjustments both side to side and fore & aft. My shim was covering the slot, and I wasn't using my flashlight, so I didn't see the fore & aft adjustability and was getting frustrated with the single adjustment and not getting it right. In any case, all set now!

Now, last night, I had 2.5 hours free....goal was to get the front clip on and plumbed. First was to install the P/S banjos, no problem, next was to install the extra water pump under the frame horn, no problem. Then installed the intake piping and got all that set as well as installing the drive belt. Finally, brought the front clip up from the corner of the garage and grabbed my radiator hoses out of the trunk...took one look at the lower assembly and realized that I was screwed and there was no way in hell that it was going in there without removing stuff again...:(. Off comes the intake piping, drive belt, and alternator....got the pipe installed, and then re-installed the rest of this stuff.

Another hiccup was the plumbing for the aux radiators and deleting them...I had planned on using the pipe and hose that comes down from the coolant reservoir, keeping the one-way check valve and then tying into the nipple that comes off of the lower hose hard pipe. I saw this done with my research on the aux delete about a year ago and didn't give it any more thought. Well, once that lower pipe was in after my other hassles, there was no way that this would connect with what I had to work with. Fortunately, I did get the 034 silicone caps a while back, and was able to use those and just cap it off. I need to order one more to remove the hose off of the pipe closer to the coolant reservoir, it probably really doesn't matter, but I'd rather not have hot coolant laying in that pipe that can't circulate, so I'll cap further up to eliminate coolant from sitting in that pipe.

So, all-in all, not hateful mistakes and no damaged parts to replace, but I definitely wouldn't make these errors the second time around...just wasted some of my hard-to-find "relaxation" time to work on the car! Still hoping to get a few late evenings in to get the front end plumbed, P/S fluid in & purged, and started up to at least pull it out of the garage by Friday...having a rehearsal dinner at my house for my son's wedding on Saturday, and several friends and family coming would love to hear it fire up! :dig:

Looking a little more Audi-like...pretty much just hanging there, but getting closer!

https://i.ibb.co/xYxBppw/5-E6-EC796-6533-4054-A5-E5-439-DD38157-C7.jpg (https://ibb.co/JqDGff8)

[Muggy]

Alright! Got the coolant in, P/S fluid in and purged, and heat cycled with no leaks! Met my goal to get this done by today, at least to be able to fire up and run safely & even creep out of the garage and around the block later before I put the front end back on and tie up the interior trim...:incar:

I need to learn some vid skills from Jolio, but you can get the feel from this...now to go out to the garage, yes at 6:00 a.m.!, to give her a little bath with Griot's Rinseless wash before a full day of work and the rehearsal dinner party tonight! :R8kiss:

https://youtu.be/bxsFF87Xon8

[AudiPilot]

Good looking DVs! 17 months… long time coming!

[strlgag]

Great job so far, keep it up the finish line is not too far ahead. Looking good.

And of course you are a constant reminder to someone of my limited skill set to abide by the old saying, "Do not try this at home".:lovl:

[Muggy]

Great job so far, keep it up the finish line is not too far ahead. Looking good.

And of course you are a constant reminder to someone of my limited skill set to abide by the old saying, "Do not try this at home".:lovl:

Thanks!...although the purpose of my thread was supposed to be encouraging to make others feel like they CAN do this at home! I must say, that in the middle of this, and also when it was time to actually start the re-assembly, I wondered several times what in the world I got myself into! That said, when parts just started fitting back together so nicely, and the baggies of nuts and bolts started to disappear, I knew that it was all good and it would be totally worth it in the end.

Also, I wondered how in the world guys like SteveKen can take someone else's car and do a conversion for them...or a shop for that matter to do this without too much documentation out there. I can say that at this point, If it were just the manual conversion, I'd feel very confident to do it again much faster and without any real issues. I need to reflect that I did so much more than just the 6 speed swap with this whole project...in fact, that wasn't even part of the plan in the beginning! If it were just the 6 speed swap, keeping the motor, turbos, etc. all in tact, the tranny parts are actually pretty easy (thank you SteveKen for an awesome kit though!!!).

I was able to get the car out of the garage under it's own power, cleaned up, and a quick 1st/2nd gear rumble around my neighborhood (about a 3/4 mile circle). All wrapped up within a couple of hours of my son's party which was my goal. Everyone including the ladies wanted to hear it fire up, and they weren't disappointed! It's always fun to hear "I didn't know that an Audi could sound like that!". It's running with just the down pipes and mid's in now to the rear axle...I never thought I'd say this, but I may actually consider a straight pipe option for a while...my local exhaust shop can custom fit one for me in a couple of hours, in fact the fab guy that did the O2 bung for me couldn't wait to get ahold of it when we talked about the project and he saw some pics.

Up for today...de-compress from the wedding last night! Hopefully get a few hours to finish getting the front end installed so I can rumble out for some extra laps!

https://i.ibb.co/tz3YMnd/8-E433-E86-1-F62-4588-85-D2-119826-C78301.jpg (https://ibb.co/hcC2Rrq)

https://i.ibb.co/f0NbG28/FFF7-C0-E8-E8-E8-4-D07-BA72-5-DCA8126-EE51.jpg (https://ibb.co/2KMwYy8)

[Muggy]

Moving along...after a few miles, I feel confident that it's going to be leak free...also felt solid up to highway speeds without any vibrations. Got the engine stuff tied up and front skins on...next up are fender liners, sway bar, and to get that 6 speed tune installed. Also went with the Wagner grills to really let the air flow through, especially without the aux radiators in there anymore.

https://i.ibb.co/fXkP0QT/5259-BC8-C-47-BC-43-C0-8-BD7-D056-CC814841.jpg (https://ibb.co/x21R53r)

https://i.ibb.co/5MfhnN9/17957627-9721-48-C5-ADE9-1416-C1783330.jpg (https://ibb.co/w0xhw9L)

https://i.ibb.co/hg3TTVQ/13-EC359-E-6-C95-4283-A850-0-EE390-B34-B75.jpg (https://ibb.co/GdzrrRY)

https://i.ibb.co/HYsJFnJ/9-A78-CAE3-6-A0-B-4-E5-C-837-B-0-E5-D4191-A5-C8.jpg (https://ibb.co/3WqJrBJ)

[nene]

:rs6kiss: :incar: :bow: :stick: :0: :0: :0:

[Muggy]

A bit more work done...fender liners in, RS4 wheels on...really happy with these without spacers and 9 pounds per wheel/tire lighter than the RS6 set!

Had an "oh sh*t" moment when I was putting the Milltek cans back on...saw some oil puddling up under the front end on the floor....turns out it was just the sandwich plate gasket that needed to be tightened down a bit. Had to pull the filter and tighten the nut that snugs the sandwich plate onto the cooler. I was nervous as this was the side that the turbo blew and caused the start of the rebuild process!

Also having the exhaust re-worked a bit...Milltek is just too tame for me now...stay tuned!

Just got Nubcake's 6 speed manual program in for testing...got rid of all of the lights on the dash, except for the Airbag light..that may be an issue to deal with. Tried to clear it with Ross-Tech, but popped back on immediately. Happy to have the ABS, Traction, and CEL OFF!

I couldn't get the logging program to connect right, but did get the base file in successfully....I know that Nubcake will reply to my email shortly and looking forward to moving to the next level.

https://i.ibb.co/KjD9gFQ/D9-A551-DF-8-FA3-46-FF-8019-69-E4-A2623495.jpg (https://ibb.co/HDCrynM)

https://i.ibb.co/QJdpgS4/8073-EB46-EDFE-4956-A405-E329-A997-DC24.jpg (https://ibb.co/p1yb7VS)

[hahnmgh63]

The ME7 logger program is finicky, I had to open up my remote access on my computer and let nubcake jump on for a minute while I watched to fix it, makes you a little nervous. If it comes to that just make sure you turn Remote Access back off and turn any firewall programs you have back on. The ME7 logger does log way more channels of info than Vagcom and Nubcake does a great job of working any issues.

[airtite]

looking really good, always loved that color... re the airbag light I had the same issue on mine the vcds code was pointing to passenger side airbag, I checked the plug under the seat and actually bypassed the plug completely that didnt work, changed out the airbag control unit had to remove half the dash to get to it that didnt work either, eventually all I did was fiddle with the connector to the airbag above the glovebox and hey presto air bag light gone.

[Muggy]

The ME7 logger program is finicky, I had to open up my remote access on my computer and let nubcake jump on for a minute while I watched to fix it, makes you a little nervous. If it comes to that just make sure you turn Remote Access back off and turn any firewall programs you have back on. The ME7 logger does log way more channels of info than Vagcom and Nubcake does a great job of working any issues.

Yes, finicky for sure! Good thing is the tune is in and reading data...Nub said that it should be recording if showing data, so we'll get it figured out...I don't think he ever sleeps!

And airtite, thanks for the thoughts! Yeah, first up may be to just go through and check all connections. Mine is saying a defective module, but we'll see. Fortunately this is secondary to the tuning!

[hahnmgh63]

I think Nubcake and I went back and forth on 6 data logs/software uploads on mine. That was probably 1 or 2 more than normally necessary but I had a boost sensing leak from one Turbo to the N75 valve. Once fixed it only took one more software log to get it just right.

[Muggy]

I think Nubcake and I went back and forth on 6 data logs/software uploads on mine. That was probably 1 or 2 more than normally necessary but I had a boost sensing leak from one Turbo to the N75 valve. Once fixed it only took one more software log to get it just right.

Yeah, he's like NEO reading the matrix! :bow:
Also, the fact that he's so quick on the response to emails and willing to share great insight is invaluable and much appreciated, thanks Nubcake!

Got the ME7 logger figured out with the help of my son and some guidance from Nubcake...all good now on capturing the logs! Back when we did the original tune a few years ago, he mentioned that one turbo seemed to be working harder than the other...not a substantial issue at the time, but noted for sure. Now that I've run some logs with the base tune, he thinks that there is definitely something up that'll take a little more looking into. I have a heavier tune to drop in tonight and run some more logs for him to peruse, but know that I may have some diagnostics to do once there's a bit more boost in the mix. Good thing is that I am a LOT more familiar with the motor and all of the associated plumbing, sensor locations, etc., so hoping that it won't be a major issue to fix. Also knowing exactly what's been done so far (by me!), that maybe we can rule out some things too when figuring this out since it may be a pre-existing condition to the rebuild.

Fingers crossed and anxious for some extra boost! :stick:

[hahnmgh63]

My problem ended up being a leak in the braided Boost Sense line that goes to the compressor on both Turbos and T's then goes to the N75 valve. Not an easy project to do with the engine in the car since it is so tight and so many other lines on top of the Bell housing. I ended up pulling the intake manifold and slightly lowering the engine a few inches to do it. Also replaced the electric coolant pump and other hoses under the manifold while I was there.

[Muggy]

My problem ended up being a leak in the braided Boost Sense line that goes to the compressor on both Turbos and T's then goes to the N75 valve. Not an easy project to do with the engine in the car since it is so tight and so many other lines on top of the Bell housing. I ended up pulling the intake manifold and slightly lowering the engine a few inches to do it. Also replaced the electric coolant pump and other hoses under the manifold while I was there.

Thanks for the insight, I know exactly which line you are talking about...we'll see what we come up with after some higher boost logs...

That said, I need to go out and try the car again this morning...went for a test and log run after the tune install last night and no boost...:vhmmm:

Sent Nubcake an email and he said that he forgot to mention that there is a provision in that version for no boost if you start the car with the brake pedal pressed (called it "wife mode!")...coming from an auto on the RS6 and my daily that you have to do that, it's a habit! Spent the evening trying to figure out WTF I did to it, but hopefully all good...we'll see this morning after I try it again WITHOUT hitting the brake pedal to start! :revs:

[hahnmgh63]

Interesting, kind of a built in Valet mode.

[Muggy]

Getting some kinks worked out....dare I say that this thing might be too fast now? :dig:

[Muggy]

Slowly but surely making progress...Nubcake is fine-tuning my tune and I was a little worried about the shift linkage being too notchy. I do have the full JHM short shifter, and all of the associated upgraded bushings/etc., so I was expecting some notchiness for sure, but not as much as I had. It was taking me too long to shift from 1-2 and 2-3 safely, pretty much killing the advantage and fun of all the power. I re-watched some adjustment vids and was able to spend some time driving and adjusting, so now I'm pretty happy with it. It's notchier now when shifting into 1st at a light, but better on the road under load, which is obviously more important! These things do have a sweet spot for sure! I also still have it at the 35% reduction setting, and may go to the 10%, but now that I have it where it is, I may leave it. Also, I was using the very heavy stainless knob, but decided to try the weighted Delrin version (both JHM), and am happier now with the lighter one that is still a lot heavier than the stock POS.

All in all, a good test drive, but let's see what Nub says about the logs!

Keep :mech: ! :incar:

[IchBautAuto]

................ I was a little worried about the shift linkage being too notchy. I do have the full JHM short shifter, and all of the associated upgraded bushings/etc., so I was expecting some notchiness for sure, but not as much as I had. It was taking me too long to shift from 1-2 and 2-3 safely, pretty much killing the advantage and fun of all the power. I re-watched some adjustment vids and was able to spend some time driving and adjusting, so now I'm pretty happy with it. It's notchier now when shifting into 1st at a light, but better on the road under load, which is obviously more important! These things do have a sweet spot for sure! I also still have it at the 35% reduction setting, and may go to the 10%, but now that I have it where it is, I may leave it. Also, I was using the very heavy stainless knob, but decided to try the weighted Delrin version (both JHM), and am happier now with the lighter one that is still a lot heavier than the stock POS.

..............
Keep :mech: ! :incar:

I have both the JHM short shifter on a spare RS4 01E and a UK made shifter fitted in my car. They both look much the same and I haven't measured up for minor differences but the UK shifter is spot on. The OE setup is a fairly light clutch and a long throw which match in feel. My fitted box has the 1-2 hesitation with wear in the synchro and shift collar. Contrary to popular belief, fitting the short shifter actually improved the shift to where the 1-2 shift is actually quite OK as is. A reason I haven't prioritized a box swap yet.

Some years ago I added a plus 15 clutch and short shifter and the clutch is markedly heavier and the shift very short. You can certainly get the shift adjusted to a perfect alignment and the pair just complement each other in feel using a stock knob. Personally can't see the benefit in the weighted knobs with a throw of 2-3 inches.

I wonder if the short throw makes it feel notchy. I'd call mine firm but there is absolutely no interference between neutral and in gear and that's in an old box. Just ''click". That said, it took some time fiddling to get the alignment perfect. Made up a tool as a spacer gauge. In part you can tell when you are in the alignment ball park as you can get reverse every single time with no issues.

My fitted 01E box is the early linkage RS4 version and the UK shifter came in different versions for that one and another for the later linkages. The spare box has every bit JHM made thrown at it, in and out. I haven't yet fitted it but the PO spend a mint getting a race build and then wrote off the car, but he reported it as a sweet shifter.

JHM exterior bits

https://www.rs6.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19591&stc=1

https://www.rs6.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19592&stc=1

and the UK shifter

https://www.rs6.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19593&stc=1

[Muggy]

Appreciate the thoughts! At this point, I'm pretty happy...and I'm sure the more I drive it, the better feel I'll have. I'll keep fiddling and may try the throw adjustment to 10%, but happy enough to move forward on other projects.

Next up, Nubcake has been refining my tunes, so some more logging this weekend. I'm still amazed at Nub's wealth of knowledge and responsiveness...definitely a huge asset for us that have had the pleasure to work with! Thinking that I'm happy with the shifting now, and before I get too close on the tune, I should go ahead and finish up my exhaust and meth injection.

For the exhaust, I'm bored with the Milltek rear cans...way to mild for me now. I may yank those back off this weekend and get some custom work from the axle back...not open pipes, but definitely something that lets this car speak with authority when you want to hear it! I think these would be perfect on the S6 where you have the V8, but no turbos to tone down the rumble.

Also need to install the AEM V3 meth kit...I tapped the intake pipe when off for 2 nozzles and have plugs in it now, plus I ran a wire from an injector pin off of the ECU harness to use the injector duty cycle triggering option. Just need to do the simpler install parts now...hang the pump & tank, plumb it up, and do general basic wiring. At this point, I'm not thrilled with the location of the nozzles, as I'll need to keep my front carbon trim off. The location is close, but off just enough...I may pick up a spare intake pipe and re-do since I can see exactly where they should be at this point to be able to keep my trim pieces in place, but that is for another day as long as the system is functional. Other option would be to pick up a spare carbon and do a little trimming...not excited to cut my original, but would be willing to do so with an extra piece.

More updates soon, and a big thanks to all that have had input throughout the process to help me get this done! :cheers:

[airtite]

just a question, does your speedo and everything else work as normal after the manual swap?

[IchBautAuto]

.....................................
For the exhaust, I'm bored with the Milltek rear cans...way to mild for me now. I may yank those back off this weekend and get some custom work from the axle back...not open pipes, but definitely something that lets this car speak with authority when you want to hear it! I think these would be perfect on the S6 where you have the V8, but no turbos to tone down the rumble.
.................................................. .



Which Miltek system do you have. Way back Miltek had a 3 inch turbo back race system; DP's, no Cats, no resonators, just rear mufflers. I have that system with a pair of 100 CEL Cats added and it is acceptably quiet around town but very noticeable under hard acceleration. It is also quiet enough at cruising speed to prevent annoyance over several days driving.

It's only hardware and that configuration from anyone should work well. Only unknown is your local emissions laws and noise regulation. It isn't that quiet under a heavy foot.

[Muggy]

just a question, does your speedo and everything else work as normal after the manual swap?

Yeah, everything works as it should. Nubcake did my tune for the manual swap that took care of any ABS and Traction Control lights (plus SAI delete and more power!), so my only light that is still on is the Airbag, but that's unrelated to the tune...think it was just from sitting for 18 months without a turn of the key.

I did have to make a simple harness to connect the speed sensor on the 6 speed to one of the transmission harnesses...it's in my thread and very easy to make, but let me know if you need some tips. Speedo is spot on!

[Muggy]

Which Miltek system do you have. Way back Miltek had a 3 inch turbo back race system; DP's, no Cats, no resonators, just rear mufflers. I have that system with a pair of 100 CEL Cats added and it is acceptably quiet around town but very noticeable under hard acceleration. It is also quiet enough at cruising speed to prevent annoyance over several days driving.

It's only hardware and that configuration from anyone should work well. Only unknown is your local emissions laws and noise regulation. It isn't that quiet under a heavy foot.

My car came with the Miltek catless DP's that were connected to the factory sport system with a slight reducer coupling. I picked up the non-res Miltek system a couple of years ago and bolted that up...at the time, the change was almost unnoticeable between the 2 systems except for a slightly deeper rumble at idle. I'd imagine that it has some extra roar at full throttle, but after driving around a bit with the open pipes at the rear axle, it sounds almost silent. I would definitely miss the turbo whine, snaps/cracks at redline/shifting, and downshift gurgles and pops, which is all a part of the driving experience for a fun, sunny day driver that this car is to me. I could care less about highway drone, etc., but it is getting a little annoying to get through 1st and 2nd sounding like I'm on a drag strip at every light, even with the lightest of throttle to get moving.

I love every sound out of the system without the mufflers on the manual trans, but it is just too loud for any long term setup. I may just grow up and put the Miltek mufflers back on...that said, I was never happy with the fit...I had to space the center pipe out a bit near the rear axle to get the tips to line up correctly at the back end, which would make it bump on the tunnel which was/is annoying. I have an appointment with my exhaust guy this week, and he can either do a straight pipe system, somewhat muffled, or make my Miltek fit correctly. Unfortunately with current supply chain issues, he doesn't really have anything in stock like he used to, so all mufflers or resonators need to be ordered and paid for before any trial fitting...

As far as emissions, I really should have cats in there...I may have him put some high flows in up front...I squeaked through emissions a few years ago, but am due again now and have had a few extensions since the car was off of the road. They are supposed to do a visual, but can't see under my lowered car with the mirrors...that said, I honestly can't believe that they don't have a simple camera system that looks under the car, but this is just my speculation. Tune wise, I'm hoping that I'll make it through with the SAI delete in the tune as it takes out the CEL, but not the rediness code, which may cause it to fail. All that said, I'd be a year out on an exemption if I switch to Historic registration for 20+ year old cars that limits mileage (which is no problem).

I'll follow up in a week or so once I make some decisions and get some work done!

[IchBautAuto]

Vastly different registration requirements here plus our historic is 30 years. I do a lot of longer distance so livability is a premium. Luckily we don't have regular inspections so you would need to be defected and have the car checked to identify any changes in emissions, but other states are different.

I'm past the valves, flaps and speaker enhanced exhausts on new cars and really like the natural product where you can drive next to a patrol car and not raise any attention and yet get some roar when it matters.

You're in a good place with your upgrade when it's items like the exhaust that are your focus.

[Muggy]

.....I'm past the valves, flaps and speaker enhanced exhausts on new cars and really like the natural product where you can drive next to a patrol car and not raise any attention and yet get some roar when it matters.

You're in a good place with your upgrade when it's items like the exhaust that are your focus.

So true! Since my car is 100% a fun sunny day driver, I may keep the roar in it...and could easily throw the Miltek cans back on if I do want to take a road trip at some point. And yes, nice that my biggest issues now are the sound of the exhaust...at least for now!

And agreed on the piped in "open airbox" effect...my wife's car is a couple year old Mini Cooper S, and in Sport mode, it's got the "sound effects" through the front center speaker...I think the GTI's have this too...:harass:. That said, she loves the car and it is pretty zippy with the 2.0 turbo AWD...so I leave her car ALONE!

Also, an update on my shifter adjustments since you were kind enough to give some input...I did some more re-adjusting and have it pretty good right now. I did take it to the 10% throw decrease (from the 35% that it ships set to), and it's much better. Throw difference is minimal compared to the improvement in shifting confidence now. Still a little notchy, especially at lower speeds, but much more confident on that all-important 2nd-3rd shift that really had me nervous before. Hoping that a little more driving will help to break everything in too...really only 200 or so miles on the rebuilt trans at this point with all new Audi top end synchros, etc.

My only one to compare this to for reference was my C5 A6 sedan that I had with 200k miles and probably all original transmission and linkage...it was like stirring pudding with absolutely no feedback whatsoever on what gear you were in until you let the clutch out and gave it some throttle. I'll take a little notchy to know where I am compared to that any day.

[Muggy]

A little roll off vid...it's hard to put mufflers on this...and it is just my fun car...:incar:

https://youtu.be/RsnG2cQWP24

[IchBautAuto]

A little roll off vid...it's hard to put mufflers on this...and it is just my fun car...:incar:

https://youtu.be/RsnG2cQWP24

Not as loud as I expected. Mine with the full race miltek is not too far off that between 1-2000 RPM. Really howls in the 5-7000 range under full throttle. Maybe my mufflers are different internally to the ones you have. Biggest plus is that on a steady throttle, it is acceptably quiet.

[Muggy]

Got the tail end of the exhaust wrapped up...couldn't be happier! :revs:
Milltek turbo back system with custom rears from the axle back...3" straight through resonators on the back end...


https://i.ibb.co/v3y1dLb/22-DBB195-522-A-482-D-BD81-F2591-E8-C7698.jpg (https://ibb.co/sKxj1sh)


https://i.ibb.co/k3QV9gd/27-BBBC65-CC27-4-C4-E-9052-BED0-C396-E4-F8.jpg (https://ibb.co/ZHWRY6Z)


https://i.ibb.co/Br8hmg4/DA8294-FC-DE8-C-42-EB-B76-B-48-C584-A68182.jpg (https://ibb.co/cCzWPNb)


https://i.ibb.co/XDstXC7/FB0-A3927-AC8-A-4-B77-900-A-E232157-B5-BA2.jpg (https://ibb.co/PMhgx6c)


https://i.ibb.co/233XWfB/9-BE28975-00-B4-4-C36-BAF6-903506070499.jpg (https://ibb.co/HTTmBkQ)


https://i.ibb.co/xLvRKn5/5-F522-F9-F-40-F2-47-E7-A165-504379013-F9-D.jpg (https://ibb.co/pwD96HX)


https://i.ibb.co/Q66j69F/1-ED51040-1-F25-4-A72-B9-D3-7217-EB36-FA86.jpg (https://ibb.co/mHHFHJC)


https://i.ibb.co/52JdRTJ/5-E3-D59-D4-C9-F6-42-A4-9-F32-BED548-B979-C6.jpg (https://ibb.co/wY2Tzy2)


And a little sound clip...hard to record a true sound, but this one does give a pretty good feel overall. It definitely tones down the open pipes, and makes a deeper rumble overall, but keeps that turbo sing that I enjoy along with the downshift burbles and roar when it's appropriate! Mild drone at highway speed as expected, but not annoying...but this is my fun car, so I could care less about that! With the windows up, it's very quiet in the cabin...Honestly, I couldn't be happier with it! Big thanks to Jason at MBS (Mandrel Bending Solutions) in Glen Burnie, MD, for the custom work! Oh yeah, he didn't modify anything from the back axle end of the Milltek forward, meaning I can slip these off and put my Milltek cans back on in the driveway in about 20 minutes.


https://youtu.be/qYnonVheExs

[IchBautAuto]

Perfect. Sounds great. What is the next thing to finesse?

[Muggy]

Perfect. Sounds great. What is the next thing to finesse?

Next up is to install the 2Bennett coils and 034 upper adjustable control arms...then pull the RS4 wheels and have those refurbed and reskinned...then finish the meth injection install...then...then...then...:mech: :thumb:

[DKP]

OK Muggy. Consider me impressed with both the skill and the perseverance. Sound is great too. Nice job!! I've had four new DRC shocks in my parts bin but as we all no the soft hoses from hard lines to the shock are deep into the NLA category. If you're pulling your DRC can I have your used ones soft lines. I'm contemplating seeing if someone could make me some using yours as a template. If I didn't have the shocks I'd probably go the same direction as you but don't want to just abandon the new shocks. Plus I do like the factory ride. Let me know and again congrats on getting the beast back on the road.

[Muggy]

Much appreciated! It was depressing at times, not necessarily on hangups of the build process, but delays on parts and just lack of time on my part...I'd plan for a week to have 3-4 hours to do some work, and then something would come up that I just couldn't avoid. For months, it was definitely the red headed step child locked up in the garage, out of site, out of mind.

For the DRC parts, I think I pitched all of mine as I really didn't see any need for the leftovers. I'm usually a hoarder on old parts, but I don't think that these made the cut. That said, I'm happy to poke around my garage attic space today when I pull the car out just to be sure that I didn't stuff a box of parts up there. I had leaks most likely from the little o-rings, but the lines were heavily cracked up front as well. I'll let you know what I do or don't dig up shortly!

Also, I didn't think that I'd be able to find anyone to actually service it...the dealer couldn't even align my car right, good luck with the DRC! :doh:

[hahnmgh63]

I had the same issues with DRC years ago. My original was still working (I would have preferred a little lower ride height) but Audi did the recall and I thought, hey new and better DRC, maybe it will keep me from going aftermarket. I take it in for the recall and it comes out sitting a little higher in front and way higher in the rear. Took it back to the dealer and it was a little better but still not right. They obviously didn't know what to do. I took it home and within a week ripped out the DRC and installed KWV3's. The KW's are pricey but they are great, reliable, Lifetime warranty, Mx free, fully adjustable. I weighed the original DRC, lines, valves. I think the KW's came out around 20lbs lighter overall. I pulled out the cross lines too.

[RSBuzz]

PM sent with details for 904474

[DKP]

So conflicted. SO CONFLICTED>. Help me Obi Wan you're my only hope.