My S2 coupe bit of a rebuild and repair thread.

[Rikki Kitto]

I have managed to break quite a few of mine being heavy handed on removal I'm driving the car around with no interior trim or roof lining looks a bit of a mess and sounds as noisy as f

[K Simmonds]

I managed to crack the rear quarter trims in my RS2 and I was using proper trim removal tools as well taking my time, I'm either going to have replace them or get them professionally repaired.

If you want to quiet things down inside your car make a temporary headlining out of a thick blanket and use some bungy cords to hold it up, stops the reverberation... Not my idea Bowie's done it in his Coupe, far from an ideal solution but doesn't cost anything.

[newsh]

I have managed to break quite a few of mine being heavy handed on removal I'm driving the car around with no interior trim or roof lining looks a bit of a mess and sounds as noisy as f

Sounded good going off up the road yesterday though!
Once I’ve got my car back I’ll have a bunch of trim left over, might have what you need.

[B5NUT]

Had the S2 out today, roads were nice and dry and the sun was out for a change. It was a nice little drive but was spoilt by the squealing front brakes. This got me thinking of the list of jobs to do on the S2 this year.

Replace the squealing Brembo brake pads (Any recommendation would be welcome)
Replace the bulbs for the external temperature display, as the bulbs have failed.
Sort of the engine temperature issue, as around town driving the car is always 90, but drops around 75 when going on any sort of speed (40+)
Head liner, thankfully is only dropping around the passenger sun visor at the moment, so not noticeable until it's lowered
Find a screw that holds the lower B pillar trim.
Exhaust is still touching the prop occasionally so need the exhaust modifying
Fix a vibration rattle on the upper B pillar around the passenger seat belt height adjustment .
Replace the tyre on the spare wheel as it's 20 years old
Replace the rear quarter rub strips as they are badly painted. Already did the ones on the doors.
Couple of oil changes in March & October


So not a massive list and about a weeks worth of work including the painting.

[Rikki Kitto]

The bulb in outside temp lcd is a bit of a mare to do if your handy with soldering iron you will be fine the bulb is a grain of weat bulb, tiny, Kit has some I think, he fixed mine for me

[B5NUT]

Been told they are a little tricky to soldering iron so should be ok. I'm just waiting for the temperatures to start increasing before I start any of the above.

[johne]

If you use a 14 volt bulb it should last a long time, don't be tempted use a LED as the display won't look right with the more focused light source. There's a guide on here somewhere (by Jas11n?) to replacing it.

The car temperature issue you can do some things about and there's some aspects you can't change. Check you've got a thermostat that closes fully, doesn't have a jiggle pin or bleed cut out in its rim. Check if you've got a 3 or 4 pin MFTS. The MFTS drives the temperature gauge and the 3 pin all electro-mechanical ones are known to under read. Whilst you're there also check that the MFTS still has a rubber boot around it to help prevent it from being cooled as you drive along. Use Vagcom to read the true engine temperature so you know what's really going on. Vagcom reads from the ECU engine temperature sensor which is the more reliable indicator of engine temperature. The rest is down to the way the cooling circuit is implemented but covering the auxiliary radiator in winter or removing it completely help.

As for pads, I've not found any brand to be particularly quiet. The best so far for me are a set of the cheapest Chinese origin pads I could find

[B5NUT]

Not touching LED's on the S2, I'm sticking with the stock bulbs.

Even during the summer months it was still sitting around 75 when driving the car around, and would get up to temperature when idle. The thermostat was replaced last year with a new genuine stat I got from TPS. Also when I purchased the car back in Sept 21 it had the same fault. I figured it was a thermostat issue so it was changed when the belt was done. The rubber cover is over the sensor, however the sensor is still the original. I guess I need to check it out with VCDS and see what reading I'm getting. I did buy a MFTS but never fitted it.

Far as the brakes go there does appear to be plenty of options, however will most likely go for ATE.

[steve briance]

I would have suggested fitting a new thermostat to solve your problems but, it seems you have already gone down that route. I don't know what brand you fitted (vag with audi part number?) but fitting a wahler brand 'stat has cured over cooling issue on mine and others cars.

On mine, i actually replaced a new thermostat which it seems didnt have a strong enough spring to keep it closed...

[johne]

The last time I replaced my thermostat I tested 4 new ones in a saucepan of boiling water first. Brands included Wahler, Ford and QH. All met my criteria of no jiggle pin, no bleed cut out, 88 degree C rating. I chose to fit the one that fully closed first on cooling down. There's so much variation between individual thermostats that when it comes to a difficult installation like the S2 buying from TPS or using an OE supplier doesn't g'tee success, you need to test them before fitting.

I suggest you don't fit a three pin MFTS if your 4 pin original still works fine.

[B5NUT]

This was the thermostat I fitted.
stat.jpg

Thing is the car was doing exactly the same temperature issues with the original thermostat when I purchased the car.

This is what leads me to believe it could be a issue with the sensor as I cannot believe two Wahler thermostats one being fitted 20 years ago and a new one have the identical issue.

I also tested the old thermostat as I fitted an aftermarket one that was rubbish and that caused the car to over heat, which is why I purchase the genuine Wahler version
test.jpg

[steve briance]

Its nice to know that the factory fitted wahler thermostats

Good luck sorting yours, im sure you will get there.

I have had varying results with mfts on my car, they seem to provide various readings. The overhheating that seemed to be occurring when i fitted one was clearly nonsense as nothing else had changed on an engine that was otherwise running ok 10mins before. I read that Behr branded mfts are the ones to go for, some of the rubbish out there fails very quickly and leak coolant into the switch itself causing a short and red overheat warning on the dashboard.

[Tractor Dave]

It might just be that someone replaced the dials on the instrument cluster and didn't get the needle back in the right spot.

[B5NUT]

It could be, I need to check with VCDS and see what the sensors are telling me. However I hope that is not the case as the temps do go to 90 while at idle and they stay at 90.

[K Simmonds]

I do indeed have a bag of 94 odd grain of wheat bulbs, I seem to recall I was supposed to send you some ages ago but completely forgot about it, It'll forward you a couple before the spring.

There are two types of LCD display, one type can easily be repaired properly using a solder sucker and a fine tip iron, the other type can only be practically be done by snipping the legs off the existing bulb and soldering the new one the the stubs... Which to be honest is how I do both types as it avoids getting too much heat into the PCB and damaging another component.