Hi folks,

Read through your post and the conversation that ensued.Please i need an advice,I am planning to buy one Audi a6 1999/2000 model from germany.I do not know anything about car engine.I chose this car cos of the look,its elegant and style.I´m i making the right choice? is it very expensive to maintain?.I do not live in Nigeria,i only want to get it so i can have something to drive every 2 week or 1 month that i will be using in nigeria when ever i travel down.So i do not forsee to much pressure on the car.
Pls advice.
Thanks.

Its not a bad motor mate, the quattro helps a lot with all the dusty roads etc. As you would have read, I've had a lot of problems with the 2.7T. It has been a nightmare. When it was working the engine was amazing, but I wouldn't recommend it, It's just way too much hassle. Go for a n/a engine, the fact that im finding it cheaper to replace the 2.7t v6 with a 4.2 v8 (even shipping one from england) rather than have them replace the head gaskets tells you a lot - and basically sums it up.

So if you do get the A6, and your not going to be using it everyday, and you want it to be working when to come to Nigeria. Don't get the 2.7. Hope this helps.

(if your not crazy about cars - you will be a lot better off getting an accord)

GLOBAL X:

Hi folks,

Read through your post and the conversation that ensued.Please i need an advice,I am planning to buy  one Audi a6 1999/2000 model from germany.I do not know anything about car engine.I chose this car cos of the look,its elegant and style.I´m i making the right choice? is it very expensive to maintain?.I do not live in Nigeria,i only want to get it so i can have something to drive every 2 week or 1 month that i will be using in nigeria when ever i travel down.So i do not forsee  to much pressure on the car.
Pls advice.
Thanks.

Choosing a car for the sake of elegance is not concrete.  The Audi A6 you quest has a very discriminating taste.  You'd be messed up if you can't maintain it.  Labour repairs are not cheap and will not be because it is precision crafted and space was maximised.  If you are into fancy cars, look for an korean or japanese alternative.  The word on the street is that they don't have issues.  If you aren't into dependability, go for American cars.  The A6 will reward you hansomely but from the questions you are asking, you haven't sat to examine the cost.

No its not Ivvie, he hasn't used the word "elasticity, or tensile limit" yet

^^^ Lol. You remember that too?

Siena:

^^^ Trac, you sound very muck like a Nairalander with the username Ivvie. Very knowledgeable when it comes to technical issues. He hasn't been on here since about 2008. Are you him? He's Stateside too.

Yes Sir!  Yep it's me, my final year in school and my username indeed. Can't remember my password either.  Can't remember AIM, mbworld and many others.  The associated email has been long gone.  I just started afresh. 

sultaan:

No its not Ivvie, he hasn't used the word "elasticity, or tensile limit" yet

I have reserved that for pipeline and fluid flow now.  How about lubrication effects on fatigue life?  Metals and chemical interactions!  (Don't mind me)

I was in the Formula SAE and in the design aspect, this wasn't negotiable (no waste and must be efficient).

Operation:

what are you talking about!? I bought a new car that had been used in nigeria. there is no way of telling what state the engine was in until you do a full a service on it, and when i did, i found out that the spark plugs had never been changed, all the filters were clogged etc etc. So i am happy i didnt wait until the next service was due as something could have gone wrong since it had missed its last 2!
Now, how did i know my head gasket was destroyed!? because the bloody thing started to overheat, then started to loose compression and finally wouldnt start. I did a compression test, and low and behold - right side is shot. What i found out about the mechs is that i was insanely silly to even think that they had an ounce of common sense. sadly that has just proven itself. when i finally towed the car home and had a look i found out that some during the service had ripped the electric fan wire,
I am pissed off because I have only recently finished at university (motorsport engineering at UWE followed by motorcycle design at Kingston) and this has taken a while for me to save up for. Despite having grown up between here and togo it still astonishes me at how someone who picks up a hammer can call themselves a mechanic --- and because they work in a large service station people will carry on going to see them.
whats worse is that people are still willing to defend them. so what if i didnt know anything about cars!? thats why im paying a bleeping mechanic to do the work because they are supposed to have the experience and knowledge, it makes no sense!

"Now you just found out you know just as much as your mechanic know about your car." - bullshit

Operation,

You were not pissed more than I was when I gave my car to a rewire to replace my starter solenoid, which was cating up, only for him to start messing with car wiring connections he didnt understand and ended up grounding the car. I temporally became a madman that day when I came from office to pick the car, only to meet my car undrivable. Hmm!! Bunch of clowns that call themselves mechanics and rewires in Nigeria that cant even differetiate Injector with throttle body. Bunch of clowns

With the workshop manual, i reversed, myself, the useless wiring connections he did and replaced all the electrical components he burnt/damaged that cost me fortune. None of those clowns will see my engine bay again, especially the rewires. I have resurrected the car again. Its now running, but have some issues i still have to take care of myself.

Start learning how to fix your car yourself. You will have a better understanding of your car than those clowns that have no access to online, to update their timid knowledge on autos.

Goodluck

Ikenna.

@Siena

I'm following through with your counsel to "Operation" and doesn't sound like a bad idea having a transplanted v8.  So far, by bolt-in drop, you mean cooling system, fuel components, drive shaft, wiring harness and some other misc. that I might leaving out. 

To also get you "straight," the rear end as well?


I believe the tachometer would need recalibration.

Are there other pitfalls or factors to consider? 


Any ideas on how to delete the SAI pump without a CEL?

Siena:

^^^ Welcome back, Ivvie. I've really missed your meaningful contributions.

Yes, the V8 bolt-in job includes the wiring harness and engine mounts. Driveshafts aren't affected, as the same tranny is utilised. The Audi A6 C5 was designed to have a 4,2L V8 as an option (Audi A6 4,2L Quattro, Audi S6) so it's an easy job. I did the conversion on my old B5 A4 Quattro, which never had a V8 as an option, and even that worked well. The V8 all-aluminium engine weighs a lot less than the cast-iron block 2,7T Biturbo V6.

The tacho wouldn't need recalibration, it would just need to be coded to count 8 pulses per cycle, as opposed to 6. The tacho in the C5 A6 is calibrated to count 4, 6 or 8 pulses.

Are you looking to delete the secondary air injection pump on an S4?

Thank you for your warm welcome, Siena It is very much appreciated.

Let's not forget one thing, you are the Performance Engineer and one with experience & feat. You are one of the few that I know that actually knows what he is doing. I remember you were on a magazine and a post of a 'style,' chassis and motor modification (stage 1, 4 & 5).

I've gotten everything noted and will convey it.

Re: SAI - No, I'm not referring to an S4 but A6. The Design and Function Service manual explicitly stated that a tuning device prevents the S4's ECU from being installed in the A6 to maintain its comfort setup. So, an S4 is basically what it is with a watered-down ECU. Honestly, I don't see its purpose but blowing air to dilute cold exhaust gases. O, lest I forget, it is bad and squeaks badly on cold-start up.


Many thanks in advance.

Siena:

^^^ The B5 S4 ECU can be installed in the C5 A6 2,7T chassis. The only differences are software related. Euro S4 without SAI still have the channels in the ECU, which can be switched on / enabled via VAG-COM or similar. The SAI channel in the A6 2,7T can also be disabled, so it doesn't throw a CEL. The same goes for using an ECU meant for manual and Tip applications.

I'm not sure which software you're using to communicate via OBD-II port, but there are several others at dealer level that can enable and disable the various channels / drivers.

A generic reader is what is being used to interface communication (sometimes, the cellphone). This is clear to me because I use the official Merc diagnotic and it's a lot intimate than what a generic reader would feed.

Your points are noted. It's time to buy more tools.

Many thanks!!!

I just bought an universal OBD-II reader off ebay, for the same price that people here seem to be charging for a scan, so i thought why not. However, i tried to scan the A6 a couple nights ago, but the reader wasn't communicating with the laptop, so it didn't happen. Did some research and turns out with the cheap copies theres only a 50% chance that they work, as the hardware is extremely dodgy. Shame on me for going ebay! once again. lol