S2 Avant -93

[Antsa]

Replaced the throttle body hose and WOW! Feels like whole different car now. Also repaired the broken sunroof. It was fairly easy since everyhting it needed was a new motor. Just bolted it on and now I can enjoy the short Finnish summer

Speaking about summer and the few hot days we had, I realized that my AC was not working. Took a quick look under the bonnet and my compressor was not turning. Pulled the codes from the climate control panel and it seems that the low pressure switch prevents the compressor from starting. Then I opened one coupling after the condenser just to see the system is completely empty. Some of the hoses were badly cracked so I'm going to have to buy new ones. Genuine items from Audi Tradition are between 100 and 250 euros Hopefully some AC shops in here can make me new refrigerant hoses based on the old ones.

Also intermittent wipers are not working. Bought the new relay for that but it seems that was not the cause. I'm assuming there is something wrong in the stalk itself.

Interior lights are faulty too. They work normally when I turn them on but nothing happens when the switch is set to turn them on when door is open. Quick look to wiring diagrams showed that the interior lights are controlled via the V94. I guess I have to dig out my multimeter and start measuring So it's one problem solved and many more to be solved!

[Antsa]

Audi back on axle stands. It was fun driving for a couple of weeks though. Took out the steering rack today which was a memorable experience I would say. Also removing the brake booster nuts from the cabin side of the firewall was job of it's own. But its finally loose. Now I just will have to wait for my seal kit to arrive and I can start taking the steering rack apart. My plan is also to fit new trackrods while I'm at it.

[Antsa]

Today had a little time to work on my steering rack. Just disassemble it and change the seals, I thought. This end cap turned out to be a real b**ch to remove. Heat, penetrating oil and a metre long pipe wrench did not do the trick. Only option left is to give it a series of heat and penetrating oil treatment and the go for even bigger wrench. Then we will see if the cap comes off or the whole rack brakes in pieces!

[Antsa]

It's open, woohoo!

[Antsa]

After closer inspection I noticed that the threads of the end cap were totally ruined. Since local machine shops were not too keen on repairing the threads, my option is to look for a good used quick steering rack or finding a casing that has its ens cap intact and use my original internals.

So if someone has a working rack or just a bare casing for LHD car, please PM!

[Antsa]

Lately I've been struggling with my steering rack but its slowly going back together. I managed to repair the threads of the end cap with a thread file. Now the cap screws on just fine. Only thing I'm missing is the grooved o-ring support ring for the cap, but I'm getting close to the solution. Hopefully I can then put the whole steering rack back together and install it back to car.

I also bought new exhaust manifold from the RS2 Evo group purchase. Big thanks to Jonas_R for organizing it!

[Antsa]

While waiting for my OE steering rack seal kit to arrive (found it on eBay!!), I took the dash and ventilation box out. I was getting very little to no heat inside when weather was cold. Since the heater matrix is relatively new only possible cause left were the rotten flaps inside the vent box. After opening the box it was obvious that the flaps needed to be redone. As I could not find any self adhering foam, I had to use black upholstering cloth. It's same that's found on speaker boxes etc. Of course there was something broken to be found, in this case it was the AC evaporator. Luckily they can be found quite easily even these days, so I ordered one with some new o-rings Now I just have to wait for it to arrive and then put it all back together and enjoy the hot air coming from the vents

[Greg_S]

Heater flaps seem to be a common failing with the age of most cars now and will be a common job on peoples lists over the next few years I think. I had to do mine and the matrix this year too

[Antsa]

It's not the most pleasant job to do but hopefully the new flaps will last for years to come. I have learned that when you take something apart you most certainly will find something broken that you didn't know about. Like the AC evaporator. I wonder what I will find once the engine comes out

[Greg_S]

It's not the most pleasant job to do but hopefully the new flaps will last for years to come. I have learned that when you take something apart you most certainly will find something broken that you didn't know about. Like the AC evaporator. I wonder what I will find once the engine comes out

Internally I expect you will be pleasantly surprised. More likely plastics on sensors etc will be more of a problem

Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk

[Antsa]

Internally I expect you will be pleasantly surprised. More likely plastics on sensors etc will be more of a problem

Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk

Let's hope so, it's been going nearly 300 000km and i don't know if it ever has been opened! Although I'm expecting to see some cracks on the cylinder head as many have written that thay are quite common. I guess I'll just have find out in the future

[Antsa]

Just a quick update, seal kit for the steering rack arrived together with the new evaporator. Assembled the steering rack and fitted the blower box back. I'm having problems with the evaporator connections however. The pipes from evap are not precisely the same as the old one, so the big pipe from evap to dryer is really giving me a hard time. Hopefully I can solve this by loosening the other end at the dryer giving the needed play. Dryer is behind the right wing and of course I managed to strip the threads of one bolt! At this point I thought it might be wise to leave it for now and try again tomorrow.

[Antsa]

Just had the worst day with the S2 so far.

After fitting the new seals to the rack it was time install it back into the car. Everything went as smooth as possible, and with all the hydraulics fitted, it was time to start the car the first time in three months! No visible leaks at first, but after turning the steering several times lock to lock, POP! My driveway was flooding with hydraulic oil. Immediately turned the engine off and went to see what happened. After brief examination, it was clear that the end cap had come loose. After three months of looking for correct seal kit, finding time to actually work on the car and spending many hours to get my steering back together, it was a major disappointment to find that the repair was not successful My guess is that I never should have repaired the threads of the end cap. Live & learn

Already ordered used rack from ebay, hopefully it arrives within a week

[blux]

Shame it did not work out after all the time invested. Hopefully the ebay unit will get you on the roadforum quickly to forget the hydraulic fluid shower ofyour driveway

[Antsa]

I'm sure I the car will be back on the road by the end of the year It's also kind of a relief that the nightmare with the steering rack is over and I can just install the used (hopefully working) rack to the car now. I know that I will lose the 2.6 turn fast steering, but right know it doesn't bother me too much TBH