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JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2023 6:00 pm
by JamesBaby
I carefully unbolted the vacuum plunger assembly and set it aside. Ready for the big clean of the manifold. The picture above is obviously with nothing attached to it.

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In this picture you can see the bottom of the intake has been separated for manual cleaning. There are some hoses which are very difficult to remove so I left them on and made sure they were clear upon re-install.

NOTE: Be careful with the gasket in between these sections. You can’t get the part so you have to re-use it. Carefully pull it away from the mating surfaces and set it aside.

The main plenum was then worked on. I got the pressure washer on it with a degreasing solution and went to work with a brush.

The intake’s ports were really coked up and dirty. I used a Dremel tool to work it all off in each port. Then I used a scotch pad to clean the inner surfaces and especially the mating surfaces for the gasket.

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Note: Pay special attention to the long channels where the shaft locate. Those areas will be lined with gum. A long thin brush and brake cleaner to is useful clean them properly. You want to ensure the cleaned shafts sit back in and move freely with no resistance.

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Clean the intake shafts properly. The metal sections, and the nylon sections. Use a scotch pad on them to ensure they are free of any dirt.

Then reassemble the intake manifold lower section with its gasket. Reassemble the shafts into their respective ends, with their rubber seals.

Once the shafts are located, clean and dry. You can now re-install the flaps using thread locker on the screws. In this image you can see the cleaned flaps reinstalled.

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Here you can see the 034 Billet Linkage Arms installed and the new Manifold Flap Position sensors installed.

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With the manifold fully reassembled after cleaning there was zero play in the shafts. So an intake manifold can be refurbished if you want.

Whilst the intake was off the car I replaced all 4 Knock Sensors as well. The shiny cables in the middle of the V.

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Then onto the carbon clean of the intake ports. :)

Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2023 2:13 am
by Stu3y
Amazing thread. Great attention to detail.

I've just bought an Rs4 and will be looking to do the reverse camera ASAP. I have bought the whole boot handle unit, though, as I have a saloon and it has the lock barrell in it which prevents a camera being added like yours.

May be asking some questions once it gets here.

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Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 11:29 am
by Stu3y
JamesBaby wrote:Audi RS4 Avant Reverse Camera Install

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I recently fitted a reverse camera to my Rs4 Avant. By using the harnesses from Enfig.com it’s quite easy.
I already installed an aftermarket head unit to my car as posted earlier in this thread. In that thread you can see I used a special harness that allows the simple swap from the factory Bose system to any aftermarket unit.

https://enfigcarstereo.com/ENFIG_SRWH_AUD3_HILO.html

What is special about this harness is that as well as the hi-lo convertor required to provide correct power to the Bose speakers\Amps (otherwise you get poor volume and quality), it also provides a Switched live, handbrake signal, and reverse signal wires. All this without tapping feeds and messing about.
I also used the Enfig ISO harness rather than the one supplied by Pioneer in the box. It does the same thing but the wires are correct length and pre terminated with bullet connectors making it simpler to connect. Plug & play.

https://enfigcarstereo.com/ENFIG_PNP_RADIO.html

Well, it transpires that Enfig also offer a harness that connects between the above harnesses that will provide a proper switched power feed for the reverse camera. This is important because most people faff about trying to tap a feed from the reverse light. This causes camera issues because of the CANBUS system which checks for bulb failure and thus requires yet another module\relay in between to convert the power feed to a stable one useful for a camera. You still have to route the video cable to the front, so a power cable doesn’t add any more work. Some camera video cables even have a power lead embedded in them.

https://enfigcarstereo.com/ENFIG_SRWH_BUC.html

The other important thing is that cameras are not meant to be powered on all the time. It shortens their life, and you can see many reviews online from people complaining their cameras didn’t last long. I assume this is because they haven’t created a proper switched power source only coming on when reverse is engaged. This harness removes all these issues.

I will assume you already have an aftermarket stereo installed.

The install process is:
Install the camera to the rear boot handle fitting.
Route the video cable, and power cable from the boot to the stereo and connect up.

Remove the boot lid interior trim to allow access to the boot handle. Here is a good YouTube for it:

https://youtu.be/S-io_SuWlpY

From inside undo the 4 bolts (2 each side) securing the boot handle assembly and remove from the vehicle. (If your number plate is in a frame you may have to unscrew it first as it may hinder the handle from popping out.) Here is a YouTube for it:

https://youtu.be/kYX_nGBJ0TM

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It is obvious when you look at the assembly where the camera can be installed. Namely to the left or the right of the boot switch.
After confirming the correct position, drill a suitable sized hole to allow the camera cable to pass through it. Using the fixings that came with the camera, bolt the camera to the fitting and re-install. My camera came with spacers that allow adjustment of the camera angle. I used the thinner 5 degree spacer provided, to tilt the camera upwards from the floor.
Route the cable neatly around the boot lid to the left boot hinge on a RHD car, as you will go down the left hand passenger side of the car to the stereo. (If your car is LHD drive do opposite).

Having removed the plastic trim from inside the boot lid you will now see the exposed hinges, covered in additional plastic trim. On the left hinge gently pop off to expose the rubber covered harness. You also need to pop off the central interior roof trim that meets the boot door seal at the top. It just pulls off with a firm action. There is a long trim along the top along the hinges that also gently pops off.

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You now have to pop off the grommets at each end of the rubber harness cover where it meets the body.

Now is the hard slow part. You have to feed the camera video cable and power cable through that sheath. Run the cable to the upper grommet. Using a coat hanger wire, tape the cable end to the coat hanger and push\pull the cable through. The tight space and the curve makes this a test of patience. Use of a silicone spray will help it slide through. Persevere. Image

If you know how to join wires you can actually cut off the Video connector and reattach\solder it back on later. This makes getting it through that rubber harness cover easier.

With the hard part over the rest is just a case of routing the cable to the front. Having fed the cables through the rubber grommet into the roof panel, you will see clearly that there are gaps where you can feed the cable through to the left side of the Avant boot.

The left trim needs to be pulled off its clips to enable you to route the cable to the left hand sills. Here is a good YouTube again:

https://youtu.be/7KEYRtLBzNM

On the saloon it might be different but on the Avant you have to undo the left boot strap mounts, remove the 4 screws for the load protector panel cover, and remove a screw on the left panel itself. Then with a firm pull pop off the trim. This allows access to behind the left boot trim enabling you to route your cables to the sills and to the stereo.

When going down across the sills i found that I could pull on the rear sill trims and push the video cable etc up into the sill. This saved me having to undo the central pillar trim, and rear sill trim. The passenger sill trim just pulls up. Then remove the left hand dash board cover, and trim. Undo the 6 bolts holding the glovebox and lower it or remove it out of the way. You now have free access to rout the video cable and power to the back of the stereo unit.

I'll try to post some more pictures later.
Hi,

Fantastic thread.

I am looking to do this on my Rs4 B7 saloon. I have the same head unit by the look of it.

Sounds very stupid but I just removed the head unit and can't find any Av cables.

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Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 11:57 am
by JamesBaby
Thanks for your comments folks.
@Stu3Y you will not find AV cables at the back. If your car has Bose you will have a quadlock connector which holds most of the relevant wiring. You then need an add-on harness that connect to that and splits out the relevant wires, and provide a live feed etc as explained in my write up.

Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 12:27 pm
by Stu3y
JamesBaby wrote:Thanks for your comments folks.
@Stu3Y you will not find AV cables at the back. If your car has Bose you will have a quadlock connector which holds most of the relevant wiring. You then need an add-on harness that connect to that and splits out the relevant wires, and provide a live feed etc as explained in my write up.
Thankfully original owner gave me the head unit box. Just found the Av harness in it. Image

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Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 12:46 pm
by Stu3y
Where did you power your camera from?

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Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 12:50 pm
by JamesBaby
See my write up. I used the Enfig Stereo plug & play reverse camera harness. It provides all the power as well as the important switching for the camera without having to tap into anything.

Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:07 pm
by Stu3y
Ah ok.

I've just plugged the av harness in. And it switches fine. Just need to make sure the power is not on all the time.

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Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:35 pm
by JamesBaby
Finally managed to find a glovebox fridge for the car. My car is a daily and I have a healthy meal drink usually when I travel around. It tastes best when it’s cold.

Simple retrofit lots of info online. Just unbolt the glovebox. 4 6mm bolts along the top, one of which is behind the CD changer on my car. 2 bolts underneath in the footwell. Unclip the CD harness and courtesy light.
Pop out the rear grommet for the connecting pipe at the back of the glovebox.
Pull out the rubber plug in the centre console and screw in the connecting pipe to the AC outlet.
Reassemble glovebox after attaching the pipe to the back of the glovebox.

I also put insulation on the plastic connecting feed pipe to prevent condensation and heat soak.


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Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 11:03 am
by coffey555
Nice work on the manifold, I have the 034 linkage arms and core plugs ready to be fitted so I might ask some questions if I get stuck!

Fridge upgrade looks good, I might get around to doing that as well once my A/C gets fixed/replaced.....

Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2023 6:23 pm
by JamesBaby
No problem mate. When you do it just get in touch and I’ll give you some tips and help.

Yes the fridge is a great little feature. Easy diy too. They’re hard to find second hand though.

Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2023 6:26 pm
by JamesBaby
JamesBaby wrote:So the wheels went off for a refurb so I decided to refurbish the centre caps.

Quite easy to do as the chrome trim and Audi rings come out quite easily.

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On the back there are 4 clips holding the chrome ring. By popping two adjacent ones at a time the ring comes away.

The Audi rings have pegs which can be pushed in by a precision screwdriver. Then they come off.

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Then scuff up the surface with scotch pad and prime with a primer in light coats.

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Then paint several coats of paint, again in light coats.

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The apply the lacquer. First a dusting, then a few wet coats.

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Allow to dry. I heated in the oven at 50 degrees C for 20 minutes and left to cool overnight.

The final result:

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Same colour as my callipers.

Pics with refurbed wheel coming soon. :)


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So further to the centre caps painting. Here are the wheel freshly refurbed and fitted with new tyres.

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Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2023 9:35 pm
by Stu3y
JamesBaby wrote:So the wheels went off for a refurb so I decided to refurbish the centre caps.

Quite easy to do as the chrome trim and Audi rings come out quite easily.

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On the back there are 4 clips holding the chrome ring. By popping two adjacent ones at a time the ring comes away.

The Audi rings have pegs which can be pushed in by a precision screwdriver. Then they come off.

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Then scuff up the surface with scotch pad and prime with a primer in light coats.

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Then paint several coats of paint, again in light coats.

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The apply the lacquer. First a dusting, then a few wet coats.

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Allow to dry. I heated in the oven at 50 degrees C for 20 minutes and left to cool overnight.

The final result:

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Same colour as my callipers.

Pics with refurbed wheel coming soon. :)


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JamesBaby wrote:RS4 B7 Caliper Refurbishment.

I set about a colour change and refurb of the front Brembo 8 Pot calipers and the rear calipers.

Before I started I checked all the bleed screws were free and found one on the front caliper, and one on the rear were seized. I figured I'd be able to get them off once the calipers were off the car but they were so badly seized that I rounded the head on them. In the end I needed the help of a professional to get them off. Jonny at www.brakecaliperrefurbs.co.uk in Rochdale was very helpful and got the bleeders out. Jonny did my previous caliper refurb on my Daytona Avant earlier in this thread. On this occasion I decided to have a go myself.

To prevent brake fluid escape from the system I pressed the brake pedal down and wedged it with a long bar against the seat. This meant that just a small amount of fluid from the line was lost and the rest can't get past the master cylinder.

Here you can see how they looked at the start, and a picture of the rounded bleeder on one of the Brembo's.
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I tested various Red colours on an old toaster and found a colour called Brembo Red High Temperature from a company on eBay called 'xtremeautos' to be the right one. £23 delieverd. The etch primer also came with it. There is a Pillar Box red from Hycote available from shops but I found it too orange looking in certain light. On this picture there is a matt and gloss version on the long edge, and the Hycote Pillar box on the short edge.
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I started with the fronts and rubbed them down properly with Red grade Scotch pad. You have to get all the dirt and grime off and remove any shine from the original coating. Also rub he RS decal area so there is no raised lettering to spoil the finish. Here is the caliper with the pistons masked up using proper paint masking tape. I left the old bleeders in loose so as to not bung the threads with paint during painting. I will later replace them with Titanium bleed screws as they will not corrode like steel against Aluminium does. I also bunged all the screw holes with tissue paper.
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I cleaned and then soaked all the metal pins and parts in Bilt Hamber Deox-C rust remover. They came out nice as you can see. It's a great product I used earlier in this thread.
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I created a paint booth in my garden shed by stapling plastic sheet to the ceiling and walls. I hung a pole across the width and used coat hanger wire to hang the calipers. With the calipers clean and rubbed down started painting the etch primer.
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The spray painting process.

The first coat of paint or primer is not the coat that covers everything. It is merely a dusting of paint to form the base on which the full coat will sit.

Use the light coat of paint or primer to get into the nooks and crannies of the caliper first, and then continue to a light dusting all round.
Leave it to dry for 10-20 minutes depending on ambient temperature. You are simply wanting the solvent to 'flash off', and you can tell when it goes from wet to matt looking.
Then apply a fuller coat following the spray can instructions. Approx 25 cm away in cross strokes, paint or primer the caliper lightly, ensuring the nooks and crannies are covered.
Finally after that coat has flashed off, paint your final full layer. It is tempting at this stage to keep adding paint to cover everything. Don't. Just wait and apply another coat if needed otherwise you will get runs.

After your light and main primer coat, you may need 2-3 coats of colour including the first light dusting coat.

I added new decals from brakecaliperdecals.co.uk. If you are adding new decals you have a choice of sticking them on top and be done, or like me paint over them with a clear lacquer.
I carefully stuck my decals on whilst the paint was touch dry but not yet dried fully or baked. This I understand allows the vinyl adhesive to dry out with the paint.

With the caliper touch dry I sprayed it with a light coat of clear lacquer. By that I mean what feels like an insignificant dusting of lacquer. Leave to dry for stated time (15-20 mins), and then paint a slightly fuller coat. Then finally and full wet coat after that. Then leave to dry for several hours.

Here it is drying in the sun.
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I wanted the paint to have immediate resilience so I heat baked the caliper slightly. I prepped the oven to 60 degrees Celsius and baked the caliper for around 20-30 mins. Then I turned the oven up to 90 degrees and as soon as it hit 90 and turned the oven off and just let the fan spin on until cool. Here it is in the oven :)
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The reassembly.

I bought new Titanium bleed screws for the Brembos. The rears are steel so new steel ones are fine. You will notice the PTFE on the bleed screws. Some say this is not needed as it's the seat of the screw that's creating the fluid seal. However, it is also said that using a pressure bleeder can force some fluid up past the threads and thus risk bubbling the fresh paint off. I used the tape and figured it should be fine and well away from the seat.
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I also painted the centre pad holder nut silver, just to brake up the red colour on the Brembo's. Here is the finished article.
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And on the car :)
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To say I'm happy with how they came out is an understatement. Though the process was not without it's issues.

The thread where the brake line enters the caliper was cross threaded. The second time it's happened to me. I found a place in Rochdale called Lockstitch http://www.lockstitchuk.co.uk/
They expertly hellicoiled the banjo thread on the caliper and I strongly suggest that you get this done to your Brembos. It is stronger as well.

Whilst the rear calipers were off I unscrewed the pistons and inserted new seals and lubricated them. They work great now too.

My pedal feel now is incredible too as a good clean up and regrease helps the brake system. :)
Hey mate,

You did a great job on the calipers. Did you replace the torx bolts on the front that hold the pad divider in place.

I need to replace mine but can't find the size or where to buy them?

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Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2023 9:57 pm
by JamesBaby
No I cleaned them up, then painted the heads silver as a feature.

Re: JamesBaby’s B7 RS4 Avant Daytona & Phantom

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2023 9:34 am
by JamesBaby
So had a new windscreen fitted. Managed to get a genuine Audi screen as the terms on my insurance only stated I had to use their approved repairer. Nothing about not allowing genuine parts. Autowindscreens can supply both. Had to argue with them but won in the end.

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Also gave the car a machine buff and new side repeaters.

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