Ok, hi everyone. last year i bought a 1999 audi a4 1.8t quattro. so far its been a money pit. first off its slow. wayyy slower than i think it should be. i had my mechanic here in sioux falls take a look at it. he ended up replacing 2 control arms. tie rod ends. turbo bypass hose or something of that nature. i now work at a mechanic shop and my boss took a look at my car. "he is kind of an idiot." he says that both of my front half shafts are shot. i know i have a torn cv boot on the front drivers side but i dont know how to tell if the whole half shafts are bad. he also tells me both of my cams are shot. he says my shift points need reprogrammed and a bunch of other stuff. if any one can direct me on how to tell if these things are bad. or direct me to someone around the area that would be willing to help work on this car for not Graham automotives price of 140 an hour. that would be awesome. along with any tips and pointers on power improvements. wastegates, test pipes, all of this stuff i have seen but have no idea what they do or how hard they are to install. also need a few body exterior and interior parts if you have parts let me know and i can tell you what i need.

Sincerely, A college kid trying to afford to drive an Audi. Failing right now. been parked for 5 months and driving my 98 plymouth neon. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I just graduated college this year. Had my a4 for 3 years now, I understand trying to maintain these things on a college budget, it sucks.
I agree with the assessment that your boss is "kind of an idiot" :P I dont understand how your camshafts could be "shot". and I would also doubt that you shift points need to be reprogramed, i'm sure they're fine (Though I admit I cannot make this guess with certainty, because I've always owned Manual cars).
HALF SHAFTS: get that torn boot replaced asap. getting dirt in there will ruin your CV joints. A quick way to tell if your CV joints are bad or going bad is to go to a parking lot and drive around in circles slowly at full steering lock. If you hear/feel abnormal clunking noises coming from the front that's a bad sign.
NEXT STEPS: get a USB cable to pull Vag-Com codes. Ross Tech makes a great cable and program that comes highly recommended. But on a shoe string budget you can get a knock off Vag-Com cable off ebay for less than 10 bucks, then get the old version of the Ross-Tech software (409.1) for free. Then get the good version later when you have money. (if you just need to pull codes you can go to Autozone and use theirs for free if the car is drivable) The codes will give you an idea if you have bad ignition coils or a problem with your maf or junk like that.
AFTER THAT: keep reading around here to learn more and try to find other Audi guys in your area. You will pretty much have to learn to do your own work on these cars because taking it to a shop everytime something breaks is pretty much impossible on a college budget. Good luck and enjoy the Baller on a Budget ride!

 

The audi 1.8t is a slow car 170hp in 3800 pound car with add. slow slow slow. You have the wrong car if you cant afford to take care of it. Your boss is an idiot.

 

Welcome to AF! Where do I start?

A stock 1.8T is going to be slow. Especially a 99. They hadn't received the bump in HP yet by that point.

:facepalm:

Two control arms is pretty common. They do go bad with age and abuse, and can't be rebuilt so replacing them is the best option. Sounds like your boss really is an idiot. I would ask him why he thinks your half shafts are bad. If it's just because the boots are torn, tell him to **** off. Like Brian said, go to a parking lot and drive in slow circles at full steering lock in both directions. If your CV joints are bad, they'll click in this situation. If they don't click in this situation you'll probably be safe just replacing the boots. As for the cams, again I would ask your boss why he thinks this? Cams don't just "go bad." If he took the valve cover off and inspected the cams and the lobes are worn to the point of requiring replacement, then I'd sell the car anyway. That would be an indication of oil starvation in the head which is bad news bears. As for the "shift points needing to be reprogrammed", I can't offer any useful advice there, I don't know dick about slush boxes.

All of the things you've listed so far are easy DIY jobs, apart from the cam replacement, which I don't think you need anyway. Post up in the mid west regional forum and see if there's anyone in your area willing to help.

best bang-for-buck power mods are going to be a test pipe and chip, and supporting mods required for the first two like a new DV, boost gauge, etc. You don't need to start worried about waste gates until you upgrade to a larger turbo. A test pipe is simply a chunk of steel exhaust pipe with flanges welded to either and and bungs for your O2 sensors that replaces your catalytic converter. That's the thing with heat shields on it directly down stream of your turbo. It opens up exhaust flow, frees up low end torque, and makes your turbo sound cool . They call it a "test pipe" because removing emissions related parts on road cars is technically illegal
in the US and the name implies that it should only be used for "testing" purposes like dyno testing and off-road racing.

Other things you should think about:

-When was your timing belt last changed? Do you have receipts to prove it?
-I know you're a poor college kid, but you should always try to save up an emergency fund for when **** breaks, because you drive a 15 year old German car and **** WILL break.
-Maintenance should ALWAYS come before mods. You're going to hate yourself for spending $500 on a chip and test pipe when the timing belt with 150k miles on it that you've been ignoring snaps and turns your head into valve salad

 

i just had timing belt, tensioner, water pump all of the usual maintenance as far as that goes done about a thousand miles ago. i didnt want my whole engine gone. and i had money saved up for stuff until then. cost quite a bit to replace all that so im trying to get saved up again. i am also getting new brakes for it. the rotors on it currently are so worn that the edge of the brake caliper is hitting the lip on the rotor and causing an awful squealing which is why the car has been parked. has anybody ordered from "Brake Motive" before? they have a set of 4 zinc coated slotted and drilled rotors and ceramic brake pads for around 200 bucks. seems like a steal? too good to be true maybe? i want better braking along with the less brake dust tired of scrubbing my rims.also what is the best company/ bang for your buck as far as test pipes boost gauges things of that matter?

 

Never heard of them, but 4 rotors and two sets of brake pads for $200 does sound a little bit too good to be true.

Test pipes are one of the few things that are OK to buy from eBay stores. Something like these would work fine for you, although those are quite a bit more expensive than I've seen in the past. Used to be you could find test pipes like that for ~$90.

As for a boost gauge, ECS has a pretty good selection and they're cheap as long as you don't opt for the mounting pods. Do a Google search for "Audi A4 boost gauge vent mod" or some such and you should find plenty of pictures to show how people have them installed in the HVAC vents.

For tunes, the cost is totally dependent on what you want. There's a company called Speedtuning USA out of Baltimore, MD that does good K03 tunes for ~$150. Down side is you'll have to mail them your ECU and they ONLY do K03 tunes. If your car is going to be parked for a while anyway, maybe shipping the ECU isn't a big deal. If you wanted a name brand like GIAC, Unitronics or APR, you're looking at a little more cash, maybe up into the $500 range. For that you get the brand name and the reliablility that goes with it. Most of those companies also offer discounts for upgrades, so you won't have to pay full price for a big turbo tune later on if you decide to upgrade. North of that are the big guns like Eurodyne Maestro. That's a full on tuning suite that comes with a program for your lap top and a **** ton of tuning flexibility for different ECUs, injectors, turbos, etc. The advantage there is the tweakability of the fuel/timing/spark/boost maps, and not having to ship your ECU to anyone. Down side is tuning is ******* hard and it costs $900. I feel that would be overkill for you.

You might look into a company called Motoza. They offer a remote tuning sweet, sort of like Maestro's little brother. You don't have to ship your ECU anywhere, all the flashing is done by you on your lap top. Dave will email you a base tune that's written based on the mods you tell him you have and then you email him logs to show how it works. He tweaks your tune based on the logs and emails you a new tune. You go back and forth like that until you're happy with it.

 

How much does the motoza tune suite cost? and how hard is installing a test pipe? also do u know any good places or people to find body parts. i need side skirts and a front lower valance. or just a full body kit. also a new grille preferabbly badgeless.

 

Forgot, Motoza only does wide band cars ('01+). They'll be of no use to you. Sorry about the confusion

Test pipe will be a pain in the dick if your car is still stock since you'll have to remove the entire airbox, plus what i can only assume are rusty turbine housing bolts that have never been off before, plus a rusty down pipe clamp that has also never been off before. PB blaster is your friend in those situations.

Cheapest place to find body parts is a junk yard or part out. Check out the classifieds on here and Audizine, there's almost always somebody parting out a car.

ECS has their chrome badgeless grilles on sale for $38. Chrome is hideous IMO but you could hit it with a scotch brite pad and give it a brushed look, that would be sick. You could also opt for a black one for a little more cash:

OEM / Performance Parts for Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Mini, Porsche & Volkswagen - ECS Tuning

 

i have tried all of the part outs on here and audizine and have never gotten a reply. but thank you.

 

anyother advice/opinions??