Awful running

[Jamo]

7a leads are cheaper, something like £80+VAT, but they are a tad longer so the spark plug cover doesn't sit down fully. They work ok though, newsh has them i think.
Rotor arms are a few quid, If your still on your original then you will probably have to remove the dizzy to get it off because they are bonded on and need cutting off. If the dizzy has not been removed before then the anti tamper plate will still be there sitting over the clamp nut, dunno an easy way of getting that off without a bit of drastic action as in pic above. Also if you still have the plastic gear on the dizzy, i would change that too. Not sure of the price of the whole unit from audi, they might do an exchange service, the units they supply all have the metal gears on now.
Maybe if you take off all the leads and the throttle body you might have a bit more access from the back.

HTH
martin

Check ebay and buy the metal gear for tupence.

[Jamo]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...552777776&rd=1

[martinjs]

Meant to say about that in my post

[dan_b]

I've actually got a metal dizzy gear from the guy from ebay - he lives around in West London and I met him once in the GSF car park of all places. I've not done anything with it yet, it's still sitting in my glove box.

This all sounds like a bloody nightmare though.

[martinjs]

Its not as bad as it sounds Dan. Is the anti tamper plate still there at the base of your dizzy? You should be ok using Johns method of removing ISV etc. I only remove the manifold because mines been apart loads of times so dont have any problems getting access to bolts etc

[dan_b]

I'm afraid I don't know what the anti-tamper plate would look like to know if it's there or not?

If the rotor arm is bonded on, do replacements re-mount ok?
How does the metal gear fit inside the distributor?

How much am I looking at for new rotor arm, dizzy cap AND 7A HT leads do you think?

[PeteRR]

You could go for Magnecor 7mm leads. The are black/grey and I'm sure they do them for the 3B, they do them for the RR at about £120ish (with a 10 Year guarantee).

BTW, anyone know what symptoms does a nacked dizzy gear gives?.
I have noticed a kind of slight 'rattle' around the dizzy area on my engine when I was raising the revs slightly by moving the throttle cam by hand. Is it about to fail?! (car's done 86K miles).

And is a Bronze replacement a good idea?, not sure about bronze bits eventually floating around the engine!

[martinjs]

I'm afraid I don't know what the anti-tamper plate would look like to know if it's there or not?

If the rotor arm is bonded on, do replacements re-mount ok?
How does the metal gear fit inside the distributor?

How much am I looking at for new rotor arm, dizzy cap AND 7A HT leads do you think?

There is a u clamp at the base of the dizzy body which clamps it into the head, from the factory there was a plate rivited to it to stop people being able to get at the nut to alter the timing i guess. Here is a pic of my spare head.
If you can see the nut on yours you will be ok.

The rotor arm will be a tightish fit like on any other car but i would glue the new one on too.

@Pete, they do start to rattle, is it still the original plastic gear?, You dont want plastic bits floating around your engine either, thats happened to lots of people

HTH
Martin

[dan_b]

Thanks to Spink for popping round today with VAGCOM. Only having a 3B, we weren't given the full suite of diagnostic and parameter logging facilities that you ABY boyz enjoy, but it did throw up a few things!
Firstly - I definitely have an MTM ECU. That's nice!

The only error message it produced was this:

Oxygen Sensor G39: No signal - intermittent.

Looks like I need a new lambda? How much, where from, and what's it like to fit? Can a spanner-muppet like me manage a job like that?

I'll do the lambda first before embarking on the dizzie path, although I'm sure that's probably not in the best of health given that it's a 15 year old car with 125,000 on the clock in the damp English weather!

[jon_91_s2]

Im sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but I think that you can buy a Lamda from any motor spares place(doesnt have to be an Audi part) reckon the s2 uses a 3 wire and they cost about £60

Never changed one but I reckon its an easy job(Im a spanner-muppt also)

[dan_b]

Where does the lambda sensor actually go (apart from "in the exhaust somewhere)?

[PeteRR]

It goes in the downpipe, you can see it in the pipe opposite-ish the airbox.
Just did mine recently. Not hard to do but there's not much spanner weilding room, easier if you have the special lambda spanner/tool but it can be done with a combi.

If your car's never had a replacement it definately will need one by now. They usually need a new one every 60K.

try VAGParts for a Bosch one.

@Martin, I reckon its still on the placcy gear, another item on the to-do (now!) list!

[jon_91_s2]

You cant actually see it in this picture but if you follow the arrow you will find it.

It is attached to the exhaust with a wire coming out of it.

Not the best description but hope it helps,

[jon_91_s2]

Beaten to it

[PeteRR]

He-he sorry mate, nice pic though!