Hello All,

Let me get this out of the way first: This car is new to me, I have never owned an Audi but I am an Airframe & Powerplant mechanic so not really a novice. My last car was destroyed in an accident and I just had spine surgery so I have read the forums quite a bit last couple days. Thanks for listening...

Ok, so my car 99.5 1.8t quattro 01V tranny tip, 93k miles. i notice sluggish acceleration, strange tranny shifting: in second gear i get a deceleration at about 2500-drops a couple hundred rpm and then increases again before shifting into third. same thing in tip mode but less noticeable. I am thinking replace the tranny fluid/filter, also clean Mass Air and throttle body. already did tune up. If I am taking the trans. pan off does the car have to be level when I refill? if yes then I am going to have to take to a mechanic and I dont like to do that. Any other ideas about sluggish acceleration? I am going to buy a Vag-Com in the next week and see if it throws any codes.

In terms of upgrades, I have been PM to Brrman: I would like to get 250hp but dont want to do BT setup. I was hoping GIAC, K04, injectors, borla, Forge DV, intake, etc. would get me there. Dont want to get crazy but 150hp is somewhat sluggish.

Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated. I have enjoyed the forum so far!

Cheers!

Tan.

 

Order a Bentley manual, that will give you a good guide for doing most things on the car.

As for the upgrade? How much you willing to put down? Most will say "worthless" to the K04. At a minimum do a GTRS BT upgrade, that is nearly the smallest(one under) that could be considered a BT, plus it uses stock exhaust manifold.

 

I would suggest getting a boost gauge very soon. You could see if your acceleration issues are related to boost issues. It's really a good tool to diaganose many issues with the car.

 

Yes, one of the items on my list is a boost gauge. I wondered why Audi saw fit not to include one in the first place. I have been reading about OEM DV failure. I had planned on replacing that anyway with a Forge DV. Bishop: I notice that you are running the K04. With the exception of the test pipe (cannot run that in NY) your setup looks close to what I was thinking in terms of upgrades. What type of power numbers do you see?

How much to spend? I am not really that worried about cost but I dont want to have to change manifolds or even the front bumper for that matter. I would like to keep a stock look if at all possible (although the car does look good with the S4 bumper, hmm...)

 

I don't actually know numbers, but it's never enough. Like everyone before me I would suggest skipping the K04, save your bucks and get an actually BT.

 

There's multiple things I would first start off with. Seeing that you're approaching the 100k mark soon, I'd start with the front of the car, and work your way back. Obviously things up front are going to be more "problematic" than things in the rear.

1) Timing belt. I'm sure you've heard people talking about it, or have heard about it through other various sources. Get it done if it hasn't been done already. I highly suggest you get that looked at sooner than later. You don't want to bend those valves

2) Vag-com is your friend. Get one, use it. Thrown codes are a hassle. With the help of vag-com, you should be able to post the codes here and/or google them and something will pop up. If you do come across codes, people here will help you sort them out and get you going in the right direction to fixing them. (We've got a great community amongst us Audi fans )

3) General maintenance. Check everything over. Hose lines, brake lines, brakes system, suspension, gas lines, headlights, tails, undercarrage, etc. etc. Just give it a good few hour check to make sure everything is running okay. #1 thing to do after repairs is USE PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE! Last thing you want to do is shell out 3,000.00 because of something stupid that you could have fixed 3 months ago but didn't feel like it. Treat this car with care and she'll take care of you

4) As far as mods go, Lots and lots and lots of upgrades available to you. You stated that you didn't really want to go BAT yet. That's cool, I myself don't have a BAT, yet I'm saving to go with something unique. First things first. Lets go stage one. Chip and exhaust. Simply put, that will get your base started and you can only go up from there After that, you can do a DIY intake. I simply just did a cone filter at the end of the maf, not the air box mod. The airbox was too bulky and too cluttered in my bay, so I removed it BWHAHA. After that, I'd recommend a boost gauge. As Bishop stated, you can then see if your "sluggishness" is from boost issues or just our car being uber slow stock haha. After that, you'll pretty much be able to do what you want. If you want to go K04, I'm pretty sure they're essentially bolt on.

If you've got any questions, you can search around here or www.vwvortex.com or www.audizine.com as well. All are great places. Any other questions, you can email me at teamdaraptor@yahoo.com!

Cheers,
Mike

 

I would not recommend doing with your intake what the above poster did.

Good call on getting a VAG ASAP, but in the meantime, it's probably worth a trip to Auto Zone or Advance to take advantage of their free scanning service. I'm not sure that they can pull up the tranny module though. As for the issue you're describing, I've read about it before and I can't remember what the diagnosis was (normal or otherwise), but you'd be surprised what a tranny flush can solve. I would the think the car does have to be level, but more than that, the temps need to be monitored as the fluid goes in...it's DIYable, but not a simple one.

 

Thanks for the responses.

The timing belt was done at approx. 70k and I have looked at it-its in good condition (as are the other belts).

I have done a solid "once-over" on all the hoses, lines, etc. Overall the car is in very good condition. The only thing that I was not able to do before surgery was change the fuel filter. I think it still has the original piece in there. Maybe that will liven things up a bit. As soon as I am up and around that will be changed.

I have an OBDII scan tool but the CEL is not on and there are no stored codes. I have read the VAG-COM can find things that do not set off the CEL so hopefully I will find something once I get one.

As far as the upgrades go it sounds like a good idea to start with a chip upgrade. It seems that most of you prefer the GIAC for moderate states of tune so I guess thats what I'll do. Can anyone recommend a vendor? I live on Long Island, NY.

As for exhaust, I have not had a chance to get under the car and check it out. Is it welded together, or flanged and clamped? From reading the posts Borla seems to be a popular choice. I would love some recommendations and, of course, vendors.

I'll start with those and see what I get. Like I said, I really dont want to go crazy with this (but I probably will!)

Cheers.

 

Hi TanRichGuy! I have the same exact car and the same exact issues. It shifts rightaway at 2500 rpm. And like you said rpm drops about 200 rpm before it reaches 2500 rpm or before it shifts to the next gear.
Please advice me on the cure. I would appreciate it very much.
Good Luck!

 

Hey Mel.

I will let you know. I should have my VAG-COM tool in the next week or so. Hopefully that will shed some light on the cause.

I am also thinking hard about ordering the tranny fluid change kit from ECS. I have a feeling the fact that the fluid has not been changed for 93k miles might have something to do with it.