Due to family and other commitments, B5 420-R took a break.

The biggest issue has been the D3 Audi A8L that has been sitting on my driveway, with a broken engine due to a bust timing belt. Lots of other repairs have needed doing, it's all done now, and I took the car for a drive yesterday, and parked it in the street.

The work left on B5 420-R involves access to the fuse box, which means opening the driver's door fully. This happens to be the side blocked by the wall. I can now drive the B5 out of my garage. The weather's good to work in the open too.

The D3 Limo will be picked up before the week's out. The owner just needs to decide if he wants me to sort out the collapsed rear air suspension, or drive it out away looking like it's about to lay an egg:

 

Due to incompatibility issues between my ECU and harness (ME7.1. versus ME7.1.1) my car ran like ***, worse when warm. I removed the harness, originally to re-pin the connectors, but with so much different, it's not worth the time. It's so much easier to build a new harness from scratch. I have hacked up the harness, retaining just the connectors.

Time to transfer measurements across to my wall nail board. []

I picked up reels of wire in assorted colours and gauge, as well as a bag of assorted VAG harness terminals. I've got rolls of cloth tape already, so it'll all be well wrapped up.

I could have simply replaced the ECU with an ME7.1 unit to match the harness, but I want to retain wideband. On another note, I managed to get hold of a genuine S8 manual ME7.1.1 ECU, so no coding will be required. I just couldn't pass it up at the price the seller was asking for it.

For any interested parties, I have put together the C5 4.2 / S6 ECU pin-outs in chart form, for both the ME7.1 and 7.1.1 variants.

Audi C5 A6 / S6 4.2 V8 40V ECU Pin Outs.

 

The annual Vehicle Excise Duty on my B5 2.5 TDI V6 Quattro Sport expires on the 30th. I don't really want to renew it, as it's going to be taking the place of my Pelican Blue car - having a D2 S8 motor shoved in, while having the interior gutted.

Back to B5 420-R.

I need to get the immobiliser coded to my keys, as opposed to being deleted. I want to be able to soft code the cluster, which would not be possible if it doesn't get an immobiliser authorisation. It will store it as a code.

I don't like the way the power steering resovoir area is exposed. Sure, it's got a black surround, but still, it could be better. I ordered a full-size cover, which will be delivered sometime tomorrow. I also feel Audi could have done a lot better with their headlamp and lock carrier mounting hardware. They are prone to corrosion.

I have also ordered some stainless steel bolts in the same profile (domed head torx) with the correct washers, to replace Audi's nasties. Looks like this car's going to be ready just in time for summer.



A brand new OEM coolant reservoir makes all the difference too:

 

My left-hand side engine bay cover arrived this morning:

 

Manual D2 S8 ECU installed, of course, immobiliser is active, so the engine fires up for a couple of seconds, then shuts down. New ECU will be matched to the instrument cluster tomorrow.

I replace the rusty headlamp retaining bolts and washers with fresh stainless versions, gave the lock carrier the same treatment. I ordered a brand new lock assembly, which was delivered today by Audi. I'll tackle that replacement over the weekend.

I also need to order the appropriate lock carrier stickers. I hacked mine about way too much, it was a mess. I ordered and modified a replacement, which came off a 2001 1.9 TDI, so it has the wrong label attached. I also intend to order the A8 D3 4.2 specific sticker, which usually sits besides the one with the electric fan caution.

 

New stainless steel headlamp and lock carrier retaining bolts, and washers:



This sticker's got to be replaced. Why do B5 hood lock assemblies rust so bad? This one's pretty crusty:



OEM replacement hood lock assembly:

 

I replaced the crusty hood latch, and discovered the latches for I4 and V6 cars are different, they also differ between aircon and non-aircon.

For the first time in 6 months, the car is on the driveway, and I hosed down, and washed off months of dust. She looks pretty good. All that's left is to have the new S8 manual ECU matched to my instrument cluster, connect the 3 fans and coolant pipes, replace bumper.

And of course, get the aircon charged up, and the car tested and taxed.

 

Tomorrow, the radiator will have the angle on the top outlet altered. I will then fit the 12" curved-blade inner (puller) fan, then fit the radiator for good, with the top retainers in place.

I am running an OEM B5 S4 pusher fan in front of the radiator, with a 10" 120W curved-blade slimline beside it. The OEM S4 pusher, and the inner puller are being controlled by a B5 RS4 harness and matching controller. I will run the front 10" pusher independently.

 

My radiator is done, no more clearance issues.

But more importantly, the car now runs the way it should. I had the immobiliser coded with VCDS. This meant pairing the new S8 manual ECU with my instrument cluster (after extracting the SKC / PIN).

I could have gone with a simple immobiliser defeat, the issues with this are a flashing immo warning. This will be stored in the cluster as a DTC, which will certainly prevent any sort of future coding. I'm stoked!

I'll post a quick video later.

 

Update: 7th May, 2016:

After listening to the Audi A8 D3 power steering vane pump whining and groaning, and frothing the fluid, I was convinced it was not compatible with the B5 A4's rack, and I was quite prepared to put the front end in service position, and replace the pump.

I decided to give it another bleed this morning, and after about 2 minutes of loc to lock action, it gave a load gurgle, spat up a bit of fluid, then became quiet as it was in my D3 A8. I made an extension to the fluid reservoir, so I could put in more than the usual amount of fluid, without losing any. It worked, so that's all well.

I tested the alternator output with a digital multimeter, and it's dead. Hopefully, I'll be able to replace the combined voltage regulator and brush assembly with the alternator in situ, otherwise, service position calls.

I have been running the engine with the C5 RS6 oil cooler sandwich plate inlet and outlet take offs bridged with a loop of rubber hose. It came off while I was getting to grips with a nice, quiet PAS pump, so I shut the motor off pretty quick. I might as well do an oil change, so I ordered a genuine C5 RS6 oil filter, and Audi's Quantum Longlife Fully Synthetic oil. The oil has been delivered, though the filter won't be with me until Tuesday.

I also purchased some genuine Audi G13 concentrate coolant, though I have been running the motor with plain water. I would be pretty narked if I had to lose the expensive stuff, if the front end had to go into service position. The cooling system will be filled up and bled, once I'm satisfied the alternator doesn't need to be pulled.

I'm a bit of a stickler for OEM, and the incorrect Turbo Diesel sticker on the lock carrier bugged me. I got the part number for the sticker that would have been on the D3 A8, ordered it, and it was delivered. I removed the incorrect one, and carefully applied the correct one.