Cost effective maintenance as they age . . .

5.0 V10 50v biturbo - 571 bhp
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Doug_RS6
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Cost effective maintenance as they age . . .

Post by Doug_RS6 » Tue Mar 19, 2019 9:13 pm

Just wondering if people are looking into cost effective maintenance options like refurbishment of parts and the like. As these cars get older they will become uneconoical to maintain otherwise. I also feel it keeps values up as they make the car a less scary prospect. A lot of high end cars that have fallen down the price ladder have a good following in terms of user maintenance. I'm looking into the possibility of rebuilding a DRC strut to see if its possible.

Jim Haseltine
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Re: Cost effective maintenance as they age . . .

Post by Jim Haseltine » Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:36 am

Certainly some components are silly money when the only option Audi give you is replacement, so rebuilds/refurbishment can drop the costs considerably - but not always. Ancillaries such as alternators, power steering pumps and AC compressors can be rebuilt, sometimes on a core exchange basis if you're lucky, brake calipers too. Audi themselves offer a number of parts on a core return although for some reason a lot of dealers either don't know or won't admit it (although I can't see that a dealer would charge a customer full price for an item and then return the old one to cut their costs - much). For instance, inner CV joints and most belt driven water pumps are exchange items.
If, as appears likely, the turbos are a model used on Imprezas then the CHRAs are pretty much cheap as chips, running at around 1/10th of the 2.5K Audi want for a new turbo assembly.
Having said that, unless you're doing your own maintenance the cost saving won't make much of a hole in the labour cost of a job that requires the engine dropping.

Doug_RS6
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Re: Cost effective maintenance as they age . . .

Post by Doug_RS6 » Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:25 pm

Of course some items won't be rebuildable but if things like DRC could be repaired rather than replaced. That would be a big win. What's the script with the turbos?

Jim Haseltine
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Re: Cost effective maintenance as they age . . .

Post by Jim Haseltine » Wed Mar 20, 2019 2:01 pm

From what I've been able to track so far, the suggestion is that the turbos are IHI RHF55, which are also used on Imprezas and Foresters. As yet I can't get 100% confirmation on that though.
I'll keep digging when I have time although I'm probably going to have to end up either pulling one of mine or finding a wrecked one I can strip before I get an answer.
If it turns out to be correct, there's a ball bearing version of it.

Doug_RS6
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Re: Cost effective maintenance as they age . . .

Post by Doug_RS6 » Wed Mar 20, 2019 2:15 pm

That would be excellent news and a massive saving. As I say I'm currently looking at the possibility of repairing DRC shocks. Someone must have a stock turbo lying around? What about seeing if one of the tuners has a knackered one?

c3nturi0n
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Re: Cost effective maintenance as they age . . .

Post by c3nturi0n » Wed Mar 20, 2019 5:23 pm

Doug_RS6 wrote:
Wed Mar 20, 2019 2:15 pm
That would be excellent news and a massive saving. As I say I'm currently looking at the possibility of repairing DRC shocks. Someone must have a stock turbo lying around? What about seeing if one of the tuners has a knackered one?
that's an option... or another avenue would be breakers (not that many around) or ebay.
2008 RS6 Avant (Monza Silver)
- Stage II MRC tune with gearbox (720PS/850Nm)
- MIJ Powerflow exhaust (non-res)
- H&R ARBs

Doug_RS6
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Re: Cost effective maintenance as they age . . .

Post by Doug_RS6 » Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:56 am

Another item I'm looking at is propshaft centre bearings. Most places can replace the bearing for you for around £200. However often the only issue is the rubber has degraded. I'm going to be trying a fix with a polyurethane bushing making kit to see how that works.

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