Sold the beetles, OEM radios for sale

I don't want to trash them, they worked fine when uninstalled, Best offer, located in SoCal

dcproventests AT gmail .com

Installed Tempomat and enabled Onboard Computer

I got an SMLS with the 3 levers needed for that, so following a great post here audisport-iberica I decided to install the Tempomat (cruise control in Audi speaking) all went well, too busy for pictures, I only took a couple I share here, when cutting the plastic and with the steering wheel off. I only got confused by one point on the instructions there, to reset the VIN number on the SMLS, you don't have to login into the module 16 (steering wheel) but to get into adaptation for channel 81 and then change it to 00111, that will force the SMLS to query the VIN and get reprogrammed.

When I turned on the onboard computer I got the infamous warning for the wipers liquid, so I did bridge the pin 1 to ground on the blue connector behind the tachometer.

Overall, it was a lot of fun, since I love computers, to play around with this, I love the German engineering, as an engineer myself, I truly appreciate when they create simplicity and functionality at once, like being able to get the whole gauges panel with 2 screws... gotta love that ;)

A4 (B6) Light switch

So I got a cheap Light Switch, made in China of course, for the Audi A4. It didn't work although they claim it should (I believe is made for the B7 instead of the B6). By the way, the symptom is that the car will leave position lights on even when the switch is off.

As my real problem was the plastic fade off on the switch (it works fine), I decided to swap them so here is a little write up.

Here are some pictures of the process:

Old vs. New

 Old switch, to get the plastic part out of it, you need to move the switch to the left a little after prying the plastic tabs out, once you take it out it has a raised part, that has to come out of only one place. Once you see it, it makes perfect sense as always...

This whole thing is a piece, careful with the little springs, they shouldn't get out.

To get the switch plastic out you need to pry out the connector and electronics, you can use a little flat screwdriver

These are the new switch parts

And this is the final result, looking new, old electronics for around $30.

First VAG-COM connection

So I finally had time to plug the computer (with VAG-COM) to the Audi, it's fine, only small errors and intermittent ones at that:

Booster vacuum (probably when I open the oil filler with the engine on), one lock (never had problems to open the doors so it may be just a failure of the sensor), and one speaker has loose cables (this one, I've heard sometimes, I thought it was the speaker just very old and tired)... not too bad, all systems are OK.

It's good to have this great tool around, around 2000 Km and still strong and problem free.

A7

This is very cool. Maybe one day...

Oil consumption

As expected, this engine is notorious for high oil consumption, it looks like the design of the vacuum system is not that good and some oil makes its way into the intake, I'll have to dig around one day and see what can be done.

Good thing this car has a pretty advanced warning system.

So far I added 0.5L after a little less than 2,000 Km. not too bad and inside Audi specs (!!)

I'll keep an eye on it anyway.

First 1K with the Audi

It's been less than a month and around 1K kilometers so far, the car seems solid, there are some steering noises and vibrations when on the road and the first thing I suspected was the silent-blocs.

I am right, after checking them out, they are very worn and need replacement, also I found out one of the boots is broken and the other is about to. So replacement for that is in order.

Here some pic of the damage, so far.

Passenger side boot, broken, grease coming out, not good.

 Engine looks good, it doesn't have the plastic cover, but who needs it? :)

This is one of of the 2 top silent-blocs

 And this is the boot that is not broken yet, but will be soon.

Welcome to my other cars...

Since I already have a blog about my Land Rovers (past and present), I thought I should start blogging about any other stuff related to cars, that somehow interest me and see if someone else likes it or finds it practical.

Of course, for now I'll post mostly about a "new" old car I got to travel around roads, this is a 2001 Audi A4 (B6), 2.0 ALT engine, EVE box (multitronic CVT), with just over 230K kilometers, but still working great and seems to be well kept, just one owner before me.

Welcome to this blog and if you need anything drop me an email dcproventests AT gmail.com

Thank you.

David