S4 service

[shineydave]

This weekend I’ve given my S4 a service, thought it might be worth posting the procedure for anyone wanting to have a go themselves.

Of course I haven’t covered everything but I’m sure others will add to my ramblings

Oil change.

1. warm the engine to get the oil nice and fluid
2. jack up car at passenger side front, I used the jacking point under the front passenger door, insert an axle stand for security
3. remove cover from under engine by removing the 2 plastic ¼ turn fasteners located 1 in the front of each wheelarch using a flatbladed screwdriver. Under the front bumper are 3 x ¼ turn fasteners and 3 across the rear.
4. remove the oil filler cap.
5. locate the 19mm plug in the sump. It’s on the fron left of the engine just behind the oil filter. Undo the plug but don’t remove it yet.
6. drop the car back onto the ground. Place a suitable container under the plug (you will be draining about 6 litres so bear that in mind when choosing a container) Now you can remove the plug, you might need gloves for this depending on how hard you warmed the oil.
7. once the oil has drained replace the plug, it’s worth getting a new copper washer for the plug.
8. jack the car back up and locate the oil filter. You might find you can unscrew this just with hand pressure, I had to resort to a chain wrench. Once you get the filter turning place your container underneath to catch the oil inside it.
9. lubricate the rubber seal of the new filter with a dab of fresh oil to make it easier to screw up tight. Install the new filter.
10. drop the car back onto the floor and refill with approximately 6 litres of fully synthetic. Check the level on the dipstick.
11. replace the filler cap and start the car, allow to idle for a few minutes to ensure there’s no leaks then turn off and replace the engine cover.

You might want to check the lower hoses on the intercoolers whilst you’re under there, they're fairly obvious at each front corner under the engine. just for reference there are 2 options for oil filters for B5 cars, one is slimmer and specific to the RS4 because of the reduced space but either will do for an S4.


Spark plugs and airfilter

1. remove the plastic cover over the airbox and the 2 covers either side of the silver Y pipe.
2. unscrew the 2 phillips screws that hold the air intake pipe to the front slam panel just to the side of the R/H headlamp, remove the pipe, it should just pull away in one piece.
3. disconnect the 4 plugs ontop of the airbox and unclip the pipes that are held by 2 plastic clips to the airbox lid.
4. release the 2 spring clips that hold the MAF to the airbox, extract the Maf, it’s not necessary to disconnect it from the snorkel pipe. Beware, as you pull the MAF free the “O” ring that seals the MAF to the airbox may come out and drop between the body and the engine.
5. release the 4 spring clips that hold the airbox lid in place, you may need to pry these with a flat bladed screwdriver. The one at the back can be a real b**ch to get to. Lift off the lid and remove the old airfilter.
6. undo the 2 x ¼ turn fasteners that hold the “5v” plastic cam cover in place, remove the cover. you should now be able to see the coil packs, these are the 3 black square objects held by 2 x 10mm screws.
7. undo each coil pack in turn and pull it away from the engine. Somewhere deep down in the bottom of the hole you have exposed is a spark plug. Remove each plug in turn using a 5/8” plug socket. The front coil pack is a bit of a dog to remove but it can be done without disconnecting it by wiggling it around the pipe that it sits under.
8. check the gap on your new plugs, I believe the gap should be around 0.75mm (well that’s what mine measured, I couldn’t find an actual figure for it)
9. install the new plugs and refit the coilpacks.
10. refitting is as they say, a reversal of the above, just remember to fit the new airfilter. I found it easier to fit the rearmost clip first as if you leave it ‘till last it’s harder to fasten as you’re fighting the tension created by the other 3 clips.
11. the passenger bank is very similar but you need to remove the expansion bottle for the cooling system, this is just 3 screws. Whilst the bottle is off check the wiring to the level switch underneath as it tends to get brittle from the heat rising up from the exhaust and turbos.


Pollen filter

1. the pollen filter is located under the bonnet on the passenger side of the battery, depending on whether you have a pre or post facelift you may have to remove the cover that spans the area under the bonnet and immediately infront of the windscreen. If you have the cover to remove it, pull off the sealing strip on the front edge and slide the cover out towards the front of the car
2. locate the 3 x ¼ turn fasteners on the plastic scuttle cover that meets the bottom of the windscreen, these have a Phillips screw head as standard but are probably rounded off by now, don’t worry, some decent force and a flat bladed screwdriver will be enough to release them. Undo the 10mm bolt that locates the cover into the pollen filter housing.
3. remove the cover and expose the top of the pollen filter
4. you need to remove the rainwater collector that sits on top of the pollen filter, this just pulls out towards the front of the car, inspect the drains in it and unblock as necessary.
5. remove old filter and replace with the nice clean one.
6. clean all the build up of sludge, dead leaves etc from down the side of the wing where the rain water collector drains to. If this isn’t cleared it could cause water to overflow and enter the heater plenum chamber.
7. and as before, reinstallation is a reversal of the above

whilst in there I removed the battery and cleared the drain under there and under the brake servo. The drains are just a rubber grommet which are fairly obvious once you have the battery out, just make sure you have your radio code to hand before disconnecting the battery.

afterwards I did a TBB realignment with VAG-COM and also de-odourised the aircon with a can of Comma air-con deodouriser from Halfrauds.

Later in the week I’ll be readjusting the handbrake and greasing the door and boot hinges, checking the brakes and dampers etc to complete the job.

[mikecmr]

good right up dave il copy to a txt file if i need it, can you do a how 2 on fitting rs4 intercoolers please

[shineydave]

lol, that's Clives department

[Richspec]

Do you not need to prefill the oil filter on the s4's?

Rich

[MCB]

No.

[s4woody]

dave on the oil change topic.. number 10..you forgot to say once the car has been started and the oil light has gone out to recheck the level of oil in the engine and adjust accordingly..

[MCB]

Good point!

[shineydave]

yup you're right, i forgot that bit which you have to do because, as mentioned above, you can't pre-fill the oil filter as it mounts horizontally and all the oil would fall out of it before you got it in place. that means that you fill the filter when you start it and some will be held in there after you turn off.

[S4TAN]

I think that's why the book recommends 6.5 litres of oil for an oil AND filter change ... (1/2 litre for the new filter)

[Richspec]

LOL! Fair enough, spot the non S4 owner

For the time being anyway..

[Alps]

Thanks for the brilliant write up Dave. Me being someone who knows sh1te all about mechanics your write has given me some confidence to do some work myself. If the weathers good this weekend I might change the pollen filter on mine (seems to be the easiest thing to do )

[rolskii]

If yr running rs4 oil coolers on yr s4 .... get the rs4 oil filter .... not the s4 unit ..... its practically half the dia. for fittment....

I always used to fill my oil filter up - then twist it on.....
the amount of oil you lose is minimal, as the main apperture for the oil to exit(when mounting) is actually the thread yr screwing up on to ....
but hey ho...... horses 4 courses ~ do wot cha like .....

[david7m]

Dont you use engine flush before dropping the oil?

Dave

[s4woody]

with the engine warm the oil will drain out fine..engine flush is only good for removing sludge from engines that dnt get new oil reguarly..

[reserves]

Changing the gearbox oil on mine made a huge difference, fuel filter is a pain in the butt but is recommended.