JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

[JamesBaby]

Water Pump RS4 B7 - 079121011Q

So I figured it’d be good to renew the water pump on the RS4. No particular issues other that some minor misting but decided to replace it.

I also replaced various O rings, seals and bolts at the same time. I recommend new bolts as the original ones want to strip and round when you try to remove them.

Here’s the old one.



It comes as a whole unit. There are aftermarket pumps but they don’t come with the plastic housing.

Part number for the pump is 079121011Q.

Bolts for the job:

N90931202 x2 Bolts for the front coolant pipe.

N10626801 x2 Bolts for the pump M6X70

N10470703 x2 Bolts for the pump M6X50

Coolant is 9.5 litres but likely only take 8 unless you wish to do a vacuum fill to replace it all.


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[JamesBaby]

Seat Belt Refresh

As the car ages the seat belts can get slow to retract. As a belt is something we use every time I wanted to reinvigorate them back to that new smooth movement, and fast retraction.

Once you know how, it’s actually very easy to access and remove them. This allows you to wash the belts, and lubricate the seat belt mechanism. As well as clean where the belt routes through.

Now my seat belts have a slick movement and a nice strong snap back.


First you pull off the cover at the seat. This allows you access to the belt connector. It’s tight, pry it from the top, or left of the button in this picture.





Now you can see the metal belt clamp. Notice in the pic above the round hole.
Using a screwdriver insert it into the front facing side of the clamp. Lever the screwdriver towards the seat. This cause the latch to disengage from the round stud. At the same time push the belt connector down, and then off the round stud.


Now adjust the seat to access the interior B pillar trim. Take a firm grip of the upper trim at the points located in the image. Get your fingers in there with both hands, and give it a huge firm strong tug towards you.




Once popped off, manoeuvre around until it pops out of the underneath of the top trims. Feed the belt buckle out and set aside.



Now the lower trim. This needs to be pulled upwards after disengaging from the bottom first. The trim is clicked into the lower sill trim, by the back seat footwell. However it is under the sill trim at the front of the car side.

In this picture I’ve highlighted where it can pry upwards. It does not have to be fully removed. Just popped up and forward to allow access to the lower mech.



Undo the bolt at the top and the bolt that holds the main mechanism at the bottom. Be careful not to pull wires, as the airbag now needs disconnecting.

Manoeuvre the belt assembly to allow clear access to the purple/yellow airbag connector.



Using a very small screwdriver pry the yellow locking clip outward by around 2mm max as in the above picture. Do not snap it off. Be gentle, if you feel resistance that’s the end of its travel. Then carefully pop off the connector from the mechanism.

Cleaning:
I didn’t take pictures here sadly but you can imagine it.

Now unwind the whole belt and clamp it so it can’t wind back in. You can now dunk the whole belt material into hot soapy water and wash it. Giving it lots of squeezes and rubs. You will be amazed at the dirt that comes out.

Squeeze the belt fabric through a towel to soak up the bulk of the water and let air dry by hanging somewhere. In the meantime clean the seat belt recess in the car removing all dust and lint.

Spray the mechanism spinner with silicone lubricant spray. Don’t use grease as IMO it will collect dirt and foul the belt.

Also once dry, spray some into a clean cloth and wipe the length of the belt with the silicone spray. Just a surface wipe not saturation.

Let the belt retract in and out a few times. Then reinstall to the car.

Take note to ensure the height adjuster engages with the handle on the b pillar trim.
Insert the upper part of the upper trim first, It’s fiddly but eventually pops in.

Then ensure the two metal spring clamps engage in their mounts and snap the trim back on.

Then reattach the belt clamp to the seat by attaching to the round peg on the seat and giving a sharp click upwards to engage the clamp.

Enjoy your new smooth and fast seat belts.

[JamesBaby]

ECS Short Shifter for RS4 B7

So last week I installed the ECS Short Shifter and it’s a fabulous mod. Really gives the car a sportier feel.



I thought I'd add some thoughts regarding installation of this shifter.

The ECS instructions are good but it has some incorrect points for our cars.

Firstly, it is impossible to remove the ashtray without removing the AC Unit and therefore the head unit. Don't even try it. You will scratch up everything if you do.
Ensure everything around the ash tray , and the tray lid itself is masked up with tape. You can install the shifter without removing the ash tray but it requires it to be moved around as you do.

Have a long Hex T handle driver ready to use for the two lower bolts. You will see that its slim profile gives you more room and a straighter purchase on the bolts than a socket with extension. Something like this:

Hex.jpg (18.89 KiB) Viewed 3800 times

Before you remove the top hex bolt of the original OEM shifter scrape a mark around the position of the bolt and its washer. This is critical so you know exactly where to replace that bolt. I used a small screwdriver to make a curved scratch around the washer. Upon refitting there was no guessing the correct position. You can see the bolt and washer in this picture:

The hardest part is trying to get the lower bolt and its metal curved clamp piece bolted to the main shifter rod. The location is so low down that they keep falling into the bottom as you try to position it into the screw hole. A magnetic pick up tool is a must and lots of patience. I won by ensuring the hex bolt was securely gripped\wedged into the Hex tool with tissue paper so I only had to focus on the metal clamping piece.

Now here is the issue that makes it tricky to screw that bolt in to the selector rod. The low L shaped part of the shifter (black thing in the first picture above) is free and moves up and down. When you line it up with the shifter rod which is also loose, to make ready to bolt together, both pieces are at a slight angle to each other. So when you try to engage the bolt from above, it wont thread and start into the hole. I wasted an hour trying. The L shape part needs to be simultaneously "lifted" up so its horizontal. Only then can you thread the bolt. Use a wire coat hanger shaped to cup the rods from below, and with one hand lift it up whilst at the same time with the other hand turn the hex bolt tool to get it to start into the thread.

Once this is done your on the home run and can follow the instructions and adjust the position of the gear lever, and its height.

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[JamesBaby]

Retrofit rear Sunblinds into RS4 B7




I love a good retrofit of an OEM option. (I’m still enjoying my glovebox fridge as detailed earlier.) This time I found a breaker selling the rear door cards from an RS4 which had the OEM factory blinds.

The door cards contain the blinds, but the hooks they hook onto are fixed to the doors. I had to buy the hooks and screws separately as the doors the doors cards belonged to weren’t available.

You need 2 hooks and 2 screws per side.

Hooks part numbers : 8E0861337 4PK
Screws : N90855501
Door panel clips : 8E0868243

I recommend the OEM screws as others you buy will be an unknown length and diameter and thread size and this guide might not be correct for drilling.

Swapping the door cards is quite simple. Removed the Trim piece, then unscrew 3 screws and pop off the door card. Get a few door panel clips as they can break when you pop the door card. Part number 8E0868243.

The panel trim piece is easily removed by gently pulling forward from the inner edge as arrowed in this picture.




This is a great YouTube vid of the process:

https://youtu.be/VfKK0dJDWQg?si=jSn7aAyk7ln7cMgx

Gently pry forward from that end, and then move along the trim and gently pop the lugs out as you go. Pull straight outwards only.

When you get to the last lug around 10cm from the end of the trip there is a L shaped hook. Don’t pull outwards from here, but rather slide the entire trim piece sideways towards the front of the car.

Then there are 2 screws behind that trim to remove. Followed by a third under the handle.



Then pop off the door card starting at the bottom edges. Here’s a YouTube vid of door card removal.

https://youtu.be/kyqrg33zH8Q?si=aSPGAdi96Rn7RC5z

Having swapped the door cards over it’s time to install the hooks into the door frame.

Raise the blind up and mark the right place for the hook. The blind should be under tension and held by both hooks when installed. So install one side, hook in the blind then mark up the other side so that the blind is level and under tension. This method eliminates install errors.



Using a metal drill bit, drill a 1.5mm pilot hole. Then drill a 2.5mm hole for the screw.
Screw the hook in with the correct screw gently. Don’t strip the hole. It does not need to be mega tight.

Do the same for the second hook. From the outside with window it looks like this.



From the inside like this.






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[JamesBaby]

RS4 B7 – Oil Burning issue resolved.

I had an oil burning issue on my car which I have resolved. I was having to put over a litre of oil in per 1000 miles, and gradually more often. Car is a daily and at around 120k miles.

The symptoms were occasional puffs of smoke at cold start, as well as a smoking exhaust during driving. Also at high revs when pushing on a spirited drive there might be some smoke.
On rare occasions in heavy traffic I also got a big dump of smoke after being sat idle for a while.

Also there was a suspected issue of a spark plug gasket leaking as I did witness wet oily plugs on a couple of occasions.

The overall symptoms seemed to imply an issue with the valve stem seals, spark plugs gaskets and fouled\stuck piston rings. Worst case scenario was that it was also worn valve guides. A lot of information online etc suggested it could be the latter which is a big expensive job to fix.

I trialled and tested a series of things to rectify the issue and I am detailing my journey to success in resolving this in order to help anyone else out there with similar issues.

The first thing was changing the oil from 5w30 to 5w40. Most specialists and tuners in the UK recommend 5w40 despite the Audi suggestion of 5w30. This had a noticeable impact to oil consumption. Simply put 40 is thicker at operating temperature than 30 and this has an effect on how much oil gets past pistons to burn.

The second thing was to deal with the issue of the valve stem seals and or other rubber gaskets which harden over time in the engine. After reading a lot of information and success stories I used the Forte Seal Conditioner treatment which is added to the oil at an oil change. This additive works on the rubber that is contact with the oil condition it again and thus revive it. It completely stopped the random smoke pluming issue I experienced in traffic or idle.

https://www.forteuk.co.uk/product/seal-conditioner/

2 bottles are required for our 9.3L oil capacity. The Forte Seal conditioner takes some time and miles to get working. The longer in the oil the better. I used it twice over 2 oil changes over the year, and I do a lot of miles.

At this point I thought I’d resolved the issues but after some considerable miles and many months later it was still burning oil again but now just in general driving. No plumes or big dumps of smoke, just a smokey exhaust regular need for oil top ups.

With a camera I inspected by pistons and they were covered in an oily film.




I had seen you tube videos of people doing “Piston Soak cleaning” using a product called Berrymans B12. I did this process right after an engine flush with BG EPR. My smoking has gone, and the oil consumption has dropped significantly to a more acceptable level. The car drives nicer too.

This was the process I followed:

First, Engine Flush with BG EPR. This product is not like the cheap engine flushes. BG’s technical information states that for our cars (which have at least 9 litres of oil in them) require 2 x 325ml cans.
1. Bring the car up to warm temperature, then add the BG EPR cans to the oil. Then idle the car at 1200 rpm for 20 minutes. I actually did it for 30 minutes at 1300rpm.
2. Drain the oil immediately and fully. I even added 500ml of fresh oil to get the last bit out of the sump.
3. Now do the piston soak and clean. (Do not add new oil at this stage. Leave sump open).

Now onto the piston soak and clean.

Get 3 x 444ml cans of Berrymans B12 Chemtool Fuel Injector Cleaner.
Remove the spark plugs and ensure sockets are free of debris with a vacuum.
Using a measuring cup, and funnel with a tube attached, pour around 83ml of the B12 directly into each chamber. (This amount will give you 2 fills for each chamber when using the 3 cans.)
Rotate the crank. I had the car on the ground with one front wheel off the ground. With the car in 5th gear you can rotate the wheel to rotate the crank. Easy.
Leave to soak overnight, but try to gently rotate the crank every few hours to create agitation. Cover the spark plugs holes so nothing falls in and reduce evaporation.
Next day you will find most of the B12 has dissipated.

I bought this piston cleaning brush from online.




By attaching to a drill on slow speed you can gently agitate the surface of the pistons.

Now go around and evenly add the remaining B12 into all the chambers. Rotating the crank as normal and using the brush to agitate the fluid on the piston surface.

Here is a piston prior to vacuuming out the slurry: Much better already.




Now you have to vacuum and extract the slurry mix. I got some flexible tubing and taped it to the wet\dry vacuum and sucked it out. By rotating the crank and moving the tube around you can get most of it out.
I added a litre of oil to the engine to help drain out any B12 that was left in the sump.

With my pistons and rings cleaned out I refilled the car with fresh 5w40 and rotated the crank a few times. The put the car back together and started it up. It took a few goes to get the oil pressure up but it started fine.

Over the next miles it burnt off any residues, and over the next few weeks I did some spirited driving to help clear it out. I then changed the spark plugs as when I checked they were caked up. Probably from the resecured being burnt off.

I did this process at the end of November and its now March and I’ve done thousands of miles. Car has been smoke free and faultless since.

I believe the piston soak and flush clears out the piston rings.

[JamesBaby]

High Pressure Fuel Pumps

So I did another carbon clean, the second in this year as I wanted to renew my PCV valve as I found a deal on a new one.

I decided to continue with the ongoing refurb and preventative maintenance on the car.

This time I changed the high pressure fuel pumps and the cam followers on my B7 RS4.



The Hitachi OEM pumps can be bought from Autodoc. The cam followers and new bolts were direct from Audi or LLLParts only.




It’s quite an easy swap out and very easy if you are already taking the fuel rail off for a carbon clean.


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[JamesBaby]

Injector service and carbon clean.

Earlier in the year in February I did a carbon clean and injector overhaul. I just realised I didn’t put it in my blog so this info precedes the fuel pumps mentioned in the previous post.

I sent 8 injectors to Decimal Tenths in the UK. They came back perfect, with stainless baskets etc and with a good report which allowed me to balance both banks perfectly.



Fitting them required an injector pulling tool. I first used penetrating oil where they sit and left to soak. 6 came out easy, 2 required the puller. Don’t try to force or pull an injector with anything else. You’ll destroy it.

Here is a cheap kit with puller available on eBay.



My fuel trims are now within 1.2% across both banks. Car runs lovely.


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[JamesBaby]

I also renewed the brakes. Again Reyland were the perfect option along with DS2500 pads all round.

I’ve posted earlier in this thread my process so here are some pics.


Clean hubs. No grease or anything added.


New bolts from MTec as mentioned earlier.



Using the bells from the original Brembo discs. After a good clean up.



Done.



Front & Rear



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[Mav8]

Nice work

[jamiej]

As ever. Great posts and top work

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[JamesBaby]

Thank you.

In May I had another euro trip and this time went to Cologne and then onto the Nurburgring for the first time.





The DRC suspension on KW HA Springs were sublime and planted.

The DS2500 with Reyland slotted discs also performed admirably. Can’t fault the combo at all.


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[r8wut]

Loving the workmanship...

Pics @ Nurburgring came out great - did you have a mate taking those ..? or do they have some kind of track photographer at every corner?

Been few times to Germany.. went to Hannover last year in our van .. Autobahn experience was interesting

Love to take the RS to the ring one day

[JamesBaby]

Hi. Thank you. It’s an ocd labour of love

There are professional photographers at the Nurburgring. They load them to a site where you can order the digital files. Got loads from different angles.

It’s a great day out. No need to worry about ‘racing’. You can just go at your pace whilst letting the traffic pass you. Great fun.


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[JamesBaby]

Still love driving this, but wondering if I should sell it..........

[r8wut]

Still love driving this, but wondering if I should sell it..........

After all the nice work you've done to it - have to ask why.. ? Are the maintenance costs a factor?

But, particularly when current 2nd hand car prices (well B7 RS4's) seem to have taken a little hit .. and a V8 manual that drives this good, in my opinion will be something to cherish in years to come..