Tuesday 25 August 2009
Bumper & mechanical damage
Weeks after Kolo was completely fixed; after everything was as good as new, I hit debris on the road. Mud to be precise. So what's the damage, well it hit just below where the intercooler is housed, dislodging a pipe. Bugger. The pipe now hangs clear of the lower aero undertray and swings 6inches lower than anything else on the car. Power is not effected and no warning lights show on the dash, in fact, it's like nothing happened at all. But being that low, it's going to get knocked off, being just inches off the ground. It's all shiny metal looking, that must mean it's important, doesn't it. Doesn't it?
Monday 17 August 2009
Blown bulbs and not much else, thankfully
At the end of last week, I noticed that I had blown a front sidelight LED bulb. A little 501 w5w.
The thing is, it was only about 5 months old.
When I took the back of the light cluster off I then saw why. On the A2, it is incredibly easy to access the light cluster housing to change the sidelight and headlight bulbs. Not so easy putting the latter one back in mind but it doesn't require you removing other parts to get a clear shot at it (unlike any other car I have had and the SportKa is a joke when it comes to this). But it does ask of you to put the watertight backing on with an obscured view. Thus not always making a good seal. Which is what I did last time I guess.
Yes, thinking about, they have been fogging up a bit since the rain's come back, hmm.
My solution was to buy more bulbs (I also have a brake & tail light bulb out too) online, 10 LED 501's for £9 including and 10 standard brake & tails for £12, both including posting. Don't know why I need 10 rears but the 501's go everywhere in the A2, like numberplate lights, interior lights, and other places, plus SouferKa could do with LED sidelights. I'll get someone else to put them in though.
The thing is, it was only about 5 months old.
When I took the back of the light cluster off I then saw why. On the A2, it is incredibly easy to access the light cluster housing to change the sidelight and headlight bulbs. Not so easy putting the latter one back in mind but it doesn't require you removing other parts to get a clear shot at it (unlike any other car I have had and the SportKa is a joke when it comes to this). But it does ask of you to put the watertight backing on with an obscured view. Thus not always making a good seal. Which is what I did last time I guess.
Yes, thinking about, they have been fogging up a bit since the rain's come back, hmm.
My solution was to buy more bulbs (I also have a brake & tail light bulb out too) online, 10 LED 501's for £9 including and 10 standard brake & tails for £12, both including posting. Don't know why I need 10 rears but the 501's go everywhere in the A2, like numberplate lights, interior lights, and other places, plus SouferKa could do with LED sidelights. I'll get someone else to put them in though.
Sunday 9 August 2009
Starts just like that.
Thank you to A for Audi of Clydebank
http://www.a4audi.co.uk/
Between myself and the 2 previous owners of Kolo, there has been 10+ opinions on why it spends a large amount of time on the startermotor. There has also been money spent by its second owner on a new battery (£97) and a new startermotor (£240 plus fitting) but the issue persisted. When it came to SL and I buying this A2, we had a long look at the history and balanced up the issue with what otherwise is a extremely well specified TDI 75. In the end, we decided that we'd get the car then fix it later on. It only really seemed to be noisy problem rather than a serious one, there was a new starter after all, which seemed to be only thing suffering.
6 months from that decision, enough was enough. As mentioned in previous posts, the problem was getting worse, so we took the plunge and went looking for a Audi or a diesel specialist. A for Audi came up in our searches a number of times and there didn't seem to be a TDI specific diesel garage locally. So off to Clydebank we went. We we're greeted by a mechanic called Andy who had a look at Kolo, within seconds, with just one attempt to start, he had the answer.
"It's one or both of the two fuel pumps, the low pressure one in the tank and/or the high pressure one just before the injectors in the engine bay. We can get that done tomorrow if you like."
Brilliant, or so I thought. Well it was good on one hand, at least we know what it finally was, bad because it'll be costly.
Fixed, it starts with no delay. Really, the fuel must travel like a, hmm, liquid bullet? The glow-plugs not need to engage until the ambient temperate is -15'c due to the high compression direct injection apparently.
The cost, ah yes, the cost.
The complication, well
The final bill...
But finally, a complete success. The 1.4 75 is on song. Starts consistently well. The power loss is a thing of the past now, it's a whole car now.
However, I'm glad it was re-mapped to 104bhp & 182lb-ft because it's quick but not lighting quick. That's 115bhp per ton after being worked on by Stealth Racing. The ability to push on above 2500rpm (max torque) is a handy trait, 63mph in 5th, but it's all gone so quickly, yes you finish well above the speed limit but it could be geared better, hmm maybe new ratios are the next thing, I'm sure I mentioned that before? It is off note, when on the garage car lift, the gearbox casing has a VW logo moulded onto it. I thought it was a custom unit for the A2 but if it's a shared VW group piece then maybe...
http://www.a4audi.co.uk/
Between myself and the 2 previous owners of Kolo, there has been 10+ opinions on why it spends a large amount of time on the startermotor. There has also been money spent by its second owner on a new battery (£97) and a new startermotor (£240 plus fitting) but the issue persisted. When it came to SL and I buying this A2, we had a long look at the history and balanced up the issue with what otherwise is a extremely well specified TDI 75. In the end, we decided that we'd get the car then fix it later on. It only really seemed to be noisy problem rather than a serious one, there was a new starter after all, which seemed to be only thing suffering.
6 months from that decision, enough was enough. As mentioned in previous posts, the problem was getting worse, so we took the plunge and went looking for a Audi or a diesel specialist. A for Audi came up in our searches a number of times and there didn't seem to be a TDI specific diesel garage locally. So off to Clydebank we went. We we're greeted by a mechanic called Andy who had a look at Kolo, within seconds, with just one attempt to start, he had the answer.
"It's one or both of the two fuel pumps, the low pressure one in the tank and/or the high pressure one just before the injectors in the engine bay. We can get that done tomorrow if you like."
Brilliant, or so I thought. Well it was good on one hand, at least we know what it finally was, bad because it'll be costly.
Fixed, it starts with no delay. Really, the fuel must travel like a, hmm, liquid bullet? The glow-plugs not need to engage until the ambient temperate is -15'c due to the high compression direct injection apparently.
The cost, ah yes, the cost.
The complication, well
The final bill...
But finally, a complete success. The 1.4 75 is on song. Starts consistently well. The power loss is a thing of the past now, it's a whole car now.
However, I'm glad it was re-mapped to 104bhp & 182lb-ft because it's quick but not lighting quick. That's 115bhp per ton after being worked on by Stealth Racing. The ability to push on above 2500rpm (max torque) is a handy trait, 63mph in 5th, but it's all gone so quickly, yes you finish well above the speed limit but it could be geared better, hmm maybe new ratios are the next thing, I'm sure I mentioned that before? It is off note, when on the garage car lift, the gearbox casing has a VW logo moulded onto it. I thought it was a custom unit for the A2 but if it's a shared VW group piece then maybe...
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