Found a a4 2.8 quattro manual with 183k miles. The car is black with white/black interior. it's a late 99(white side markers)

The clutch is completely gone in it. The owner wants $1600. I'm diy'er myself but I'm getting lazing every year.

Anyway my friend is a full time mechanic at an acura dealership and he gives me good deals on labor. Usualy we do it together(meaning I watch him most the time lol!) This at a shop with a lift and all the tools handy.

For example I paid him $250 to replace the clutch, rear main seal, guibo and driveshaft bearing on my M5 and he replaced my rear tires too.

Anyway how big of a job is it to replace the clutch in this car? Is sounds like it would be more work than the m5 due to the AWD?

And what do you usualy replace while its apart? Axle input seals? main seal? What kind of dough am I looking at for these parts? Is the flywheel resurfaceable or is it a dual mass setup?


Also is this car even worth messing with at 183k miles? My m5 has high miles and runs like a new one apart from noisy vanos. Is this car well built? This would be my first audi or vw. I'm a BMW guy but they dont have any cheap awd's so I'm jumping the fence lol!


Also .... how will this car feel like? Since I wont get to drive it before I buy it I wonder what it feels like? I have driven a 2004 fwd a4 with the 4cyl. It was allright but it did not like the lack of low end torque at all. I am kind of spoiled with the m5 bt I am a realist. My previous car was an e36 m3. So how with it feel compare to that? I dont want to mod it and all of that. Just keep it stock and runnign good.

thank you for any help.

 

well it's a little bit more work than a fwd if that's what you're referring to. with that many miles on it, i'd check the engine too. you know the usual compression and how well it idles and starts since you can't drive it i'm guessing. see if you can knock the price down a little more though. and you can't compare an a4 to an m3 man. you gotta compare apples to apples here. you compare like a 325xi to an a4 quattro. you won't like the a4 at all if you're gonna compare it to the m3. you should be looking for an s4 if you're looking for that level of car. the 2.8 will last longer than an m3 though. i personally think if the engine on that car is good, buy it, do a timing belt job, seafoam and drive. some problems you'll run into with a car with that many miles are the usual suspension and random sensors failing. good luck and i hope you join our family.

 

Thanks for chiming in. Yes I know I'm not gonna get e36 m3 performance out of it but I wondere what it feels like still.


Can you tell me about the flywheel? Is it a dual mass setup? Any oither things to while doing a clutch.

 

yes it is a dual mass. shifting is a piece of cake. you should go to ebay and get a cable called a vag com cable. you'll need that for all your diagnostics and logging. you'll probably want to have it for the clutch change as you'll need to fill the fluid while monitoring the temp so you get the right amount of fluid in. the clutch will be light and engage very high. it's a normal audi thing. and if you try to do heel-toe, good luck lol. the gas pedal is a little too far down to get your heel on it to do the technique properly. do toe-heel instead and you'll be fine though.

the e36 is rather brutal in the turns, the audi understeers like a **** but will keep you in awesome control. i just put in s4 springs in the front end(didn't get a chance to do the rears yet) and it feels much better. it feels awesome on the highway especially. even in 5th gear and doing 65, all you rly need is a little push to get it to 80 in seconds. the low end torque is much better than the 1.8 so don't worry about that. i think you'll be happy with it as long as you don't track or race with it. idk where you live but the quattro will absolutely blow your mind. you'll be able to get up icy hills like a snow mobile. not exactly but you get the picture. i think it's got enough power for a DD but the suspension should definitely be tweaked a little bit. the stock suspension is a little too soft for me especially with all the wear and tear of the mileage. another thing i'd get is a chip from speedtuning. it only gives you 10 extra hp and tq but it smoothes out the powerband a lot. it'll also boost the low end torque and the chip is only 145. no i don't have stock in them lol, i'm just a happy customer. other than that, a stock 2.8 drive's like a champ and the engine will run for a rly long time as long as you take care of it and don't beat on it. i'm guestimating you'll be able to pull another 80k out of it or so b4 you'll want to sell it or scrap it so you don't have to worry about constantly fixing it lol. o and a lot of chassis parts are interchangeable with passats and s4.

 

Your thinking of an Auto trans with vagging the trans fluid temp, that isnt necessary for a manual nor is there a sensor for that. A VAG would still be nice to check for any issues you might not know about, but you can probably pick most of those issues out by just firing it up and looking it over for a while.

 

well the m5 is a rear wheel drive car correct? so you still have the prop shaft as you would in an AWD car. its probably about the same level of difficulty, if you can change a trans in a BMW i would assume you would be able to in an Audi.

1600 bucks for a facelift B5 that just needs some trans work isnt a bad deal. you can probably even get the guy down a little more. as long as the rest of the car is in good condition its worth more then $1600 in parts alone. i would still go over the engine pretty good and make sure its in good condition. check the breather hose that runs between the heads, alot of the time that will crack and cause a bad idle and poor fuel mileage. its not an expensive fix though just something to look for.

and as always when you buy a new/used car, its good practice to change out every fluid as soon as you sign the papers. new plugs n wires, trans fluid, rear diff fluid, oil, filters, everything. just so you know exactly whats in the car and the last time it was changed. theres no reason this car cant last 250+k miles with proper maintainence.

 

I recently bought a dealer maintained 98 2.8q 30v 5spd with 190K for 2500-. I freakin' love it. Performance is fine and handling is good too(all stock). It is just fun to drive. Seventeen years ago I had a 84 4000s quattro (and before that a few 75,76,77 audi foxes) and my biggest impression of audis is that they are wonderful to drive. For 1600- I'd say YES! Isn't that what you m5 guys pay for a tune-up?
I've had an e30 and e34 and they were great. But awd for the money? Audi.

 

So it will need a clutch AND a flywheel? Do the dual mass flywheels need to be replaced when doing a clutch?


I dont really want to mod it but how much is athat chip Hiword?

 

Buy a clutch kit. Replace the pressure plate, throw-out bearing, and clutch disc. If the pilot bearing is gritty, replace it too. Be careful and weary of old clutch slave cylinders and be prepared to possibly replace it. Flush the brake and clutch fluid when install is complete. It's a longitudinal engine, so the only additional work over the average RWD car is unbolting the center propshaft and front driveshafts.

You will only need a new flywheel if it is gouged or heavily glazed. If the springs in the DMF are broken, you will have strange noises and drive-line shock, but it is often useable (though not desirable). You really will only know if you need a DMF when the trans is pulled.

Expect to spend about $300-350 on a quality or OEM clutch kit, plus labor. Add $400-600 for a flywheel for an OEM or light-weight replacement. Additionally, add $15 for brake fluid, and whatever the cost of a slave cylinder might be.

Additionally, peek underneath and look for power steering leaks (and noises), CV boot tears (and noises), and sloppy suspension components (and noises).

Good luck. It's a great car to own when it's running right, better built than a Bimmer (opinion built from personal, hands-on experience, please hold the comments), and Quattro is great in adverse weather, but don't expect a high-mileage V6 with a trashed clutch to be a "cheap" fix.

 

uhhhh want a black on black one that just needs a tranny? haha

as for the bmw convo, teh 2.8 is very comparable to the getup and go of the 330xi