hey guys, been doing some searching on here and the other audi forums and its finally time to post the rest of my concerns.

I'm finally in the market for a 98-01 A4 1.8t to use as my daily driver. I want a quattro sedan and since my turbo mustang is a stick, I want this to be an automatic so the tiptronic is in order. I've found several in my price range and started looking for recalls, etc on here and around but I'm finding only peices of what I want and its getting to be "buy time" this week and next so I need to fill in these holes....

1. Ok, first off, I hear of some sort of engine change mid 99 or so? is this true or are all B5 chassis models the same 1.8t??

2. How can I tell by a glance if the car is equipped with the optional sport steering?

3. If the car has the bose emblems on the door speakers, then it has the upgraded interior, or just upgraded sound system?

4. I know the moonroof and spoiler were additional options but basically if the car has both of them I can assume its probably fully loaded, maybe not??

5. what kind of noises/grinds/etc should I look for as bad omens?? How can I field test the quattro system and the tiptronic system??

6. what kinds of things wear first? seat bolsters, certain switches, window motors? etc??

7. How hard is it to get to the turbo so I can check for shaft play, etc??

help me weed out the bad eggs from the bunch, I dont want a possible money pit if at all possible. I'm looking at cars from 66k to 92k mainly because I want silver and thats the mileage on the ones I've seen thus far.

And now for my later questions

1. which chip is the best overall?? The way I'm reading, it seems as if the APR one is the one to get, but none say whether they are smog legal or not...I must be able to pass smog.

2. I've got an extra ebc from my mustang I'd probably like to toss on the car, can this be done straight up or do I need to play with other factors to do this safely?

3. I'm pretty sure these cars dont have bypass valves or IC's do they? sniffle.

4. Anything else that comes to your mind.

thanks guys!

 

bump, I really need to know some of this info in order to make an educated purchase.

someone has to have SOME insight??

 

2. red springs means you have a sport suspension. black springs are standard suspension.

3. fyi, the only indication of my bose system is the head unit displaying 'BOSE' when i turn the car on. don't know if the premium sound was separate from the other premium package.

6. suspension components, control arms, ???


3. they have a closed-loop turbo system with a dv.

4. apparently there's a pretty big problem with oil sludge in these a4s, might wanna pop off the cap and see if there's any sign of that (not sure if you can tell that way though). also, these are interference engines, and the timing belt should be changed every 60k miles. make sure this has been done on the car you get.


sorry, i own a 12v v6 so i don't know too much about the 1.8Ts

EDIT: i believe they come stock with ICs, and i'm sure you can buy fmics for them. here's a pretty gangster one

 

One sec

 

What do you need to know now?

yes the 99.5 -2001 B5 engine is different. The 01's have 20 hp more and some mods were made by Audi.
Sport steering wheels allow you to shift on the wheel. There is a +/- on both sides for shift up and down. ANd the manual calls for a timing belt change every 90,000. miles. All OHV engines are interference.

email me for others q's.

 

the manual does call for 90k, but any good mechanic will tell you that after 60k you're riskin it.

 

We'll I am a good mechanic ...well whatever. I have been repairing cars for over 20 years and my father before that. it is not that simple man. Depends on a few things like type of drive belt system valves etc.. but lets help this guy.

 

what should I look for "bad sign wise" in the quattro system??

is there any clunking to listen for or grinds?? I know on my old cherokee you could toss it in 4wheel low and cut quick tight turns to listen if the viscous coupling was going out (which was common on them and super expensive), is there something like this to listen for?

what about the differentials? are there cv's at all four corners I should check out??

so not all quattro cars came with steering wheel paddles??

is the moonroof known for leaking or sticking?? what about the power windows and door seals?? how does the heater core hold up on these cars?? should I feel the carpet for wetness and such??

Is there a quick way to glance the timing belt during a lookover of the car?? like is the top part simply held on by say....two 10mm bolts and then pops off so you can see it (like on honda civics)??

thanks for the replies so far guys, I'm sure as you answer my questions I'll come up with others.

edit: Also, I'm a pretty damn good mechanic myself so I'm not stupid...I'm just completely new to these cars is all and the recall info and such that I've found thus far really isnt all that helpful to me is why I'm asking all the stupid obvious questions heh.

 

the quattro system is pretty solid.

i have to replace all my cv joints due to the new transmission and having to open up the boots, but unless you have to remove them, they should be alright. you have four joints on the front, two outers and two inners.

sunroofs are solid as well, i haven't seen anyone with any sunroof problems (except occassionally the switch can go bad, it's an easy fix)