Soot Monster

[Martin]

Doing the 310.000 now in my Soot V70 D5. But only km not miles. Changed oil and gearbox oil yesterday. Gearbox does not like to go into reverse. And the clutch pedal is creaking. Annoying. I sprayed a lot of white maintenance spray where the mechanism is, but limited success. Seems to be a well known issue of V70ies.

[Nick Jones]

So at the start of this thread just 5 years (and 55k) ago, I was moaning about strange handling and in the end after changing many things at the front, the principle culprit was both the rear axle trailing arm bushes being shot to bits.

I once again have the very-fidgety-in-a-straight-line handling issue. This got notably worse after that last 12 car rally but was doing it a bit before. I’ve been poking at it again today and can’t find a lot wrong at the front. One of those trailing arm bushes is shot to bits again though 

This does not make me happy as it’s a horrible job. They were supposedly OE quality bushes too (Boge) but have only survived 1/5th the mileage of the originals.

[Nick Jones]

On 1/30/2020 at 4:46 PM, Nick Jones said:

They were supposedly OE quality bushes too (Boge) but have only survived 1/5th the mileage of the originals.

Checked with Audi last week. OE NLA....... and £ 92 (!! ) each anyway.  Nothing special - just a 50mm diameter void bush.  Most parts other than service items NLA for the C4 platform now apparently.

[Nick Jones]

Have sourced most of the suspension parts I think I need.  Can't find ARB bushes.  This is potentially a problem as I haven't been able to get them in the past either, so they are the original 330k items and just about done.  They are NLA from Audi.

There are at least 4 different bushes used and I already own three pairs - all wrong!  All have the same part number except for the last letter - which matters.  Problem is that it has the biggest available ARB (26mm) and they weren't fitted to many cars so the aftermarket manufacturers either don't list them or x-ref to the smaller 24mm, which definitely does not fit.

Edit:  Just had a fresh search idea as it struck me that the biggest ARB option is also used on the S6........ and found some.  But polyurethane and €€€€€!  I thought the price HAD to be for a pair ....... but no!  Hum.......!

Something up with the engine too.  MPG down, grunt down a little, more clattery than usual.  Has been coming on gradually, but two people have commented that it sounds particularly "agricultural" recently.  Hopefully just pump timing, which advances as the timing belt stretches (it's at about 50% life now).  Clutch a bit suspect too.....  Not actually slipping (yet) but showing a certain reluctance to bite up in the higher gears.  Getting quite crusty underneath in places too.....

For sure I've had the best out of it, but really no idea what the hell to replace it with......

[Martin]

Exactly my problem as well Nick. The V70 begins with some niggles. Clutch, rear subframe bushes, starter engine, driveshafts, injectors, … 

I keep it alive as long as nothing too expensive shows up, but I have absolutely no idea which car could replace it.

[Nick Jones]

Solved the engine "issue".  These things are known for needing a bit more glow-plug time when they age (was marginal when brand new) and the easy way of doing this is to connect a resistor in series with the engine temperature sensor to fool the glow plug system.  I did this in the autumn and the starting has been very much improved.  However, this "fix" really needs to to be switchable as if the ECU thinks the engine is colder it also advances the timing and increases the fueling a little.....  removed my plug-in fix and problem solved.....  Will be ok now as the weather warms up, but will have to come up with something more sophisticated for next winter.

You may rememeber my friend with the A6 V6 - he of the cam problems.  It's still running but recently started making a dreadful dry-bearing noise from the front of the engine.  This made him very unhappy as he thought he replaced every bearing on all the belt trains (and there are many!).  He didn't feel much like taking it apart again to investigate and access is too poor to diagnose it without.  We even went to view another car as a possible replacement.  But today he bit the bullet and took the front of the car off (again!) and we discovered that there is one bearing that he didn't change and it is knackered.  Though not so knackered as you'd expect given the appalling racket it was causing.  It's bolted to a light alloy casting that acts as a sounding board.  Not cheap, but alot cheaper than another car!

And on the A4 front, younger son called me on his way home from Plymouth today (university cancelled more or less) to say that he was getting odd vibrations and RH front wheel was getting hot - but no odd noises.  Had him check the tyre pressure, look for bulges etc and check wheel nuts.  All good.  He made it home and it proved to be a sticking brake caliper - rusty piston.....  More trade for Bigg Red. More work for me.

[JohnD]

Other means of transport:    Yesterday was the first really nice one of the year, so I jumped on my bike and rode twelve miles to Leighton Moss, the RSPB place.  I hoped to see a 'murmuration' of starlings, but its now too late for that.    Instead I saw the resident pair of Marsh Harriers - spectacular birds, especially the male:

 NOT my pic!

But on the way, I was pumping uphill and was startled by a shot!   But the bang wasn't a sportsman, it was my rear tyre.    And I discovered that the sidewalls of the tyre were reduced to a network of kevlar or nylon fibres.   The hole was on the inside of the tube, but no spoke had caused it - I think a stone must have got inside between the fibres!      A roadside repair got me going, but now there was an odd jink with every turn of the rear wheel - the tyre was bulging ominously at one point.    Made it to LM, but was concerned that the tyre would not make it back home.   Luckily, LM is only 200 yards from Silverdale railway station, so I waited there for the next train.  Waited and waited, for an hour when at least one should have arrived.   The driver of a train in the opposite direction said that they had staff off sick and that might have cancelled some.   Anyway, the tyre got me the mile from Lancaster station to home and it now has new tyre and tube.     

JOhn

[Nick Jones]

Yes, have witnessed the really quite alarming bang caused by exploding bike tyres on a number of occasions.  Most notable was a bike race at the purpose built cycling track at Odd Down in Bath. With about 3 explosions in one race.  Days later the track was closed for resurfacing.  Later still it emerged that the originally surface was an experimental one that included recycled glass in the aggregate.  What could possibly go wrong......

Yes,  I'm planning to get out on my bike more.  Doesn't help the enthusiasm that all roads out of the village involve significant uphill stretches.....

Meanwhile, a shout out for Bigg Red who had seal kits and caliper pistons for the A4 in stock and a phone call 4.30 pm Friday resulted in a parcel on the mat at 9.30am Saturday.  Obviously the post office are equally deserving of praise.  A4 now fixed hopefully.

[Nick Jones]

Soot Monster has a new trick.  Heater has stopped working.  No hot air available.  At all.  Summer is coming..... but....

It has fairly sophisticated, and up to now reliable, climate control.  Diagnostic codes can be accessed from the control panel - so I accessed them.  Code produced - which says (paraphrased) "temperature control flap jammed"

This part lives under the bonnet, below the windscreen.  The internet says if there is nothing obvious stuck in the external linkage it's probably the servo motor, but not to worry, it's the most easily accessible.  Unfortunately that last part is only true for LHD cars where the A/C evaporator housing isn't hard up against it......

Blower motor housing dead centre, under the wiper spindle.  A/C evap housing is the box on the right.  Offending item lives in the (narrow) gap in the middle.....

You can see his tail..... but nothing else.  The heater box has to come right out.  That means taking a fair amount out under the dash.   Ah well..... it's only time.  I've got time......  Apparently the servos can usually be revived with a a good clean and some silicone grease.

[Nick Jones]

So I did get to this.  Started by taking of wipers, various cover panels and removing the whole wiper mechanism (easy).  That got me this pile of parts (quite small by Audi standards)........

..... and to this stage.  Red arrow marks the gap where the offending part lives.

At this point I had a really close look at things as most RHD "how tos" say you have to remove the whole heater box (which involves a couple of hours standing on your head under the dash after extensive trim removal), but there was one reference to it being possible in the car if you were prepared to break the plastic cover panel.  As it turned out, and somewhat to my surprise, someone had been there before me and it was already broken.  This meant that after some mucking about finding screw-drivery things that would actually fit in the very limited space and give enough torque to move the screws, I was able to get the cover off (orange arrows, yellows indicate those already broken due to being truly unreachable) without further destruction and then access the servo mounting screws (red arrows)  - one of which (bottom) was that Audi favourite thing - the fastener you can neither see nor touch - just poke and hope. 

Actually went ok, though I did drop the poke 'n hope one into the bottom of the plenum and had to go an find my telescopic magnet to rescue it.  Bit of early practice.

With the servo unhooked from the linkage, I checked the linkage and everything was moving as it should there.  Powered on the car and the servo did make some noises but didn't twitch.......

So this happened.  It's simple enough.  Just a small dc motor and a potentiometer.  Applying power from a 9v battery to the motor terminals made it go - albeit somewhat jerkily, with sparking from the brushes.  Popped the motor out of it's housing which meant that the rest of the gear train could be exercised.  It did move but felt very notchy at the end of travel it was stuck at (cold position).  Some more experimentation saw the whole thing apart (sorry, no pics).  The grease was old and crusty and seemed to be mixed with carbon from the brushes.  Cleaned it all off and regreased with silicone grease.  Also popped the motor apart and cleaned out the brush dust and made sure they moved freely.  This produced a much sweeter sounding motor.  Measured the pot resistance and watched readings through it's sweep - seems good.  Popped it all back together and it seemed to work.  However, re-attaching it to the car wiring caused it to motor straight to the cold end of travel and stall..... like before. Not what I was looking for.  Perhaps I'd upset the pot position.....?  Dismantled it partially so the motor gear was out of mesh and I could move things around and see what happened.  This proved most confusing, for me and climate control unit, which was doing all kinds of strange things.  Time to pack up for the night and consider.

In the morning the penny dropped...... the dim Red Monkey had put the motor in upside down which meant the terminals were reversed, so the servo was going in the opposite direction to command......  Reassemble correctly and connect to the car,  Fortunately the CC brain had recovered it's composure and went happily through it's self-test routine and motored the servo from one end to the other as it should......  Good.  Just a small matter of refitting.

Actually not that hard - apart from that bloody no see, no touch screw, which stole 30 minutes of my life on its own.  The telescopic magnet saw some serious action.  There may have been a little cussing......

But once together, it still seemed to be doing the right thing and was now moving the control flap as well.  Brilliant.  Reassembly time, just pausing to dismantle, clean and re-grease the wiper spindles.  I think it's safe to say the wiper motor current will have dropped a little!!  I'm amazed they were still working!

[John I]

10 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

So I did get to this.  Started by taking of wipers, various cover panels and removing the whole wiper mechanism (easy).  That got me this pile of parts (quite small by Audi standards)........

..... and to this stage.  Red arrow marks the gap where the offending part lives.

 

 

 

Wow Nick how did Audi get that white vacuum cleaner in such a small space. That's the self cleaning model.

I new they were clever but did you buy their "tardis" model 

[Nick Jones]

9 minutes ago, John I said:

how did Audi get that white vacuum cleaner in such a small space

Ok, ok.......  trusty shop vac does not in fact live under the Audi bonnet, but was called in to remove ancient deposits of who knows what origin - so you could argue that some (quite alot even) of the space inside shop vac is taken by things removed from the car......  Though that isn't why it's in the pic - I just didn't think to move it out of shot...... 

[GT6MK3]

The love and attention you give the soot monster is certainly the reason it keeps kicking along so well.

I remember being impressed with its ride and condition late one Saturday afternoon, it wafted along nicely.

Long may it continue.

[Nick Jones]

38 minutes ago, GT6MK3 said:

Long may it continue

Yeah...... but...... she's getting very weary....... 

Working up the energy to get the rear end up in the air to drop out the axle beam.  Then I can change the trailing arm bushes (again) as they are utterly shot.  I can also drop the exhaust and do something about the flange that has looked ready to fall apart for the last 5 years (MoT man comment for the last 3 years - can't believe that hasn't broken yet).

I have some new handbrake cables to install as I think the old ones may have some responsibility for persistent failures of the LH calipers - that means dropping the huge heatshield - easy with the exhaust off.  Very hard with it on.  That may answer a longstanding question about a mysterious and very irritating clonk as I recently realised it only does it with the handbrake off......

  I think there is also some fuel line that is horrifyingly crusty and needs renewing...... and maybe even some rotty corners needing welding.  After just 24 salty winters......

There are some cosmetic bits to do as well........  Replacement is looooong overdue but the "what with" question remains unresolved.

[GT6MK3]

I get how you feel.  I'm coming to terms with giving up both the Bogan Van (that I built), and the Monaro, which I drove out of the showroom new in 2002.

Trying to ind something to replace the fun I've had with them both wont be easy.

C.

[Nick Jones]

Some "junior soot monster" fettling today.  This is no 2 son's A4 (B6) TDI formerly my brothers.  Relatively tidy, lowish miles car, though they are London miles.....

Since it came to us the auxiliary belt has been very noisy, especially manoeuvring and using the power steering.  It's been a feature of this car for a long time and irritated it's previous owner.  The service history  shows belts, tensioner and even the PAS pump as having been replaced with only temporary effects, if any.

Lately it seemed to have got worse (not that the car has been moving much) with a violent pulsing screech when winding the steering wheel and with accompanying kick-back through the wheel.

Thought I ought to get involved...... Google said this is caused by the one way clutch in the alternator pulley failing (seizing).  Who knew such things even existed.  It also revealed a simple test to to prove it, which it failed.  Simple observation also revealed at least 3mm run-out in the PAS pulley which couldn't be helping matters.

So I organised a new clutch pulley (ouch!) new tensioner (it had clearly been taking a beating) and belt.  Keyhole surgery time. These things are not pleasant to work on....

Hunt the engine time......

Ah.....

That's a 4 pot diesel.  They also put V6s and even V8s in the same hole.  I've worked on a V6 andI never want to work on a V8!

The working area

It is as tight as it looks.  For jobs in this area the manual says "put front clip in service position", which translates to "take it's whole face off".  That's not a small job in itself and I was keen to avoid it.  Anything you drop falls on the undertray..... getting that on and off is a PITA too.  My telescopic magnet had a useful day!

Wrestled the alternator out.  Even having released from it's mooring it took me a couple of minutes to figure out which of the slightly too small gaps it can actually be squeezed through.  Then it was time to unscrew the pulley from the shaft......

This is the win shot.  New pulley on the alternator.... old one on it's back.  Wasn't an easy win.  I bought the special tool - it's a thick steel tube with 30 splines on one end and 17 mm spanner hex on the other.  The splines engage inside the pulley.  To hold the alternator shaft you put the Torx T50 bit down the middle.  It was tight.  Really tight.  The Torx bit started slipping.  That's bad.  Really bad.  Closer inspection showed that the alternator shaft had a 12 point spline in it whereas the torx bit only has 6......  Chris remembered an old set of splined bits which happened to include the right size 12 pointer.  Perfect.  Or not quite - it was was slightly to big to fit through the hole in the splined tool......  Lathe!  Bloody hard stuff they make these things from though. As you would expect.  Tool diameter reduced.  Take two....... success!  Phew....  Observe that during our struggles the stuck clutch has freed off and now works as it should.  Too late bozo - you're still fired!

Attention then turns to the tensioner, which will just barely come out in the available space, and the wobbly pulley. 

Chop off an allen key so it will go between the pulley and the rad (yep, that close) remove three bolts and the pulley comes off the pump.  I have another pump (ex Arosa) which the pulley fits, allowing a bench test to see if the pulley itself is bent.  It isn't.  Unfortuinately the spare pump, though very similar, is different enough to be a no-go.  Closer examination suggests that the pump on the car has damage to the "ears" on the pulley hub.  Two are bent forwards and one isn't.  Can only assume that the "new" pump in the history was actually a "remanufactured" one, bodged together by a cave dweller. Anyhow, found some shims to put under the less bent ear and after a bit of experimentation, it's good enough.

Reassembly cost a certain amount of skin (long skinny arms definitely an advantage!) with the major challenge being "pulling the pin" on the new tensioner 18" down a 2" gap with the belt in the way.

And...... it appears fixed.  Time will tell though.

[Nick Jones]

Today, with no missions for the Soot Monster planned for the foreseeable future and MoT expiry less than 3 weeks away I thought I’d better address its more serious issues.  It’s rear end is in the air and the beam half off...... but my back has just gone pop for no obvious reason. I’ve progressed a bit from lying on the drive whimpering, but not sure I’m going to get much further in the next day or two...... Unhelpful. Maybe nature is telling me to get a new car......

[sparky_spit]

I can relate to this Nick.  I had to replace the spare wheel winch underneath our motorhome a while back. It's Peugeot Boxer based and the winch is handily placed to collect road dirt and seizes solid if you are not careful to maintain it properly, and I obviously wasn't. New ones are £350, which is painful, but not as painful as the back injury that occurs when you try to balance a 15" van wheel and tyre on your thigh and hold it in position with your knee while you reach up and put the new winch's securing bolts in.

I can also relate to the problems with the Audi....  No2 son's Alfa 159 started having noise issues with the PAS pump groaning but we were able to diagnose the problem okay as I had had the exact same issue with my 159 a year or so ago. The fluid reservoir has a gauze flow restrictor that often just falls off and floats about in the reservoir and the fluid turns to froth, which the pump can't pump, and which then overflows everywhere like a scene from Ghostbusters. £14 buys a new one and mine was fine. His wasn't, as he to drive the car a fair distance to get home with the children in the car and he lost most of the fluid/froth. We tried to fix it ourselves but gave up as we couldn't get the belt nor pump off without the special tools. Our local garage took quite a while to do the job - new PAS pump, new aircon compressor (his is the 5cyl 2.4 and it got soaked and damaged with oil) 3 new belts, plenty of manhours and a bill for £700.

[Nick Jones]

18 minutes ago, sparky_spit said:

a bill for £700.

Oww...... Bought a whole quite decent working car for that yesterday.......

After the application of some fairly serious drugs of the muscle relaxant variety and some down-time, I did manage to progress a bit.  Axle beam now right out bar an ABS sensor wire (can't shift the sensor without killing it and new ones are $$$$$).  I've managed to extract the sleeve of the completely debonded bush (4 years old - can clearly be seen it wasn't bonded properly )  and fit the new one.  The other side appears ok but comes from the same source as the failed one so I'm inclined to change it too.

I've also dropped most of the exhaust out as there is a clamping arrangement midway that is corroded to the point of disintegration, though the actual exhaust is fine.  24 years/334k...... pity the clamp is not made to the same outstanding standard as the exhaust, especially as it's not directly replaceable....  These has also given access to heat shield securing screws allowing access to the handbrake cable mech - I need to fit new cables....

Another observation, which I may have made before is that the original exhaust mounting rubbers lasted 20 years.  Since then I've had to change them every year (sometimes less), even though last time around I went to some trouble to source decent quality ones.

Got sore again and had to stop.  Going to be driving something else this week.

[sparky_spit]

Hope you feel better soon. 

TBH, modern cars are not meant to be repaired anymore, just end of life recycled.

[mpbarrett]

Nick, so what did you buy with you £700?

 

 

[JohnD]

Good for you, Nick!   The modern advice about a sore back is to keep going, rest  does no good, but I know from personal experince that it's advice easy to give and difficult to take!

John

[Nick Jones]

6 hours ago, mpbarrett said:

Nick, so what did you buy with you £700?

Chris bought a 2005 Skoda Octavia estate 1.9TDI.  Not pristine but should have a few years left in it.

 

3 hours ago, JohnD said:

The modern advice about a sore back is to keep going, rest  does no good,

Yeah..... well, after getting drugged up yesterday and taking it easy for a couple of hours, somewhat creaky and not entirely comfortable motion was restored.  Shuffled around the garden a bit.  Picked some hazelnuts (the ones out of easy reach hang for another day) and then returned to battle under the car.  There was some tutting from SM.  I did make some progress, but most of that progress was achieved lying down (!)  I was being ultra careful, but after a while it began to get really stiff and sore again, so I had to throw in the towel.  Was well drugged up again come bedtime.  This morning.... wah..... could barely dress myself.  In fact, help was required for socks.  So I'm not doing very much today.  I have been for a walk on firm surfaces and have been doing stretching exercises.  I have been sitting on dining/office chairs. I have definitely not been lying down as getting up hurts too much!  It is getting a little easier now and I'm anxious to maintain that progress.

[thebrookster]

2 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

Yeah..... well, after getting drugged up yesterday and taking it easy for a couple of hours, somewhat creaky and not entirely comfortable motion was restored.  Shuffled around the garden a bit.  Picked some hazelnuts (the ones out of easy reach hang for another day) and then returned to battle under the car.  There was some tutting from SM.  I did make some progress, but most of that progress was achieved lying down (!)  I was being ultra careful, but after a while it began to get really stiff and sore again, so I had to throw in the towel.  Was well drugged up again come bedtime.  This morning.... wah..... could barely dress myself.  In fact, help was required for socks.  So I'm not doing very much today.  I have been for a walk on firm surfaces and have been doing stretching exercises.  I have been sitting on dining/office chairs. I have definitely not been lying down as getting up hurts too much!  It is getting a little easier now and I'm anxious to maintain that progress.

Dare I say it Nick, but some gym time might be worthwhile? For the last few months, I have started doing some regular gym time (gym for two days, third day rest), albeit only 20 mins to half an hour each session and the difference it has made is staggering. 

I hate the idea of becoming a gym monkey, so I have stayed well away from weights and machines, and gone for bodyweight exercises only. Apparently called "Calisthenics", basically it is push-ups, sit-ups etc etc. All stuff you can do at home basically.

I haven't lost weight, but I have "trimmed down", and I have made good movements into fixing my knee and lower back, where I have had long term "issues" since my car crash 15 years ago.

Maybe not something to jump into straight away, but longer term it might help?

Edit: the Skoda. Which engine (which letters are red on the TDI badge)? That was the era of Octavia's that convinced Taxi's to start using them wholesale, the 1.9 was a very good engine! Just don't tow a Herald with it, it might blow out the water thermostat housing on a motorway!

Edited September 21, 2020 by thebrookster

[Nick Jones]

It's the base 100hp 1.9 TDI PD.  They chip up ok apparently but that's not the point of it.  I had a colleague a few years ago with a Seat Leon Cupra TDI (I think all the letters were red) as a company car.  150hp supposedly and it was indeed quite rapid.  Then he got his hands on a plug-in tuning box..... it had a dial on it - 1 to 5, which seem to relate to which gear you wanted to be able to smoke the tyres in.  Turned up to 5 it was just daft and would break traction (or set off the traction control) in 5th at 60mph.  In 6th it just slipped the 40k miles old clutch......  It was a lease car and probably didn't make a great used buy!