About a month ago I bought a 1999.5 A4 Avant quattro 1.8t 5-speed. I know plenty about cars and have been working on cars since before I could drive, but I know nothing about Audis and this is my first turbo engine (ok, I did own a 2001.5 Passat turbo, but I never did any work to that car and traded it in in less than a year). I understand how turbos work, and have researched them a lot (thought about boosting a couple cars I use to own).

Anyway, my A4 came modded, and from the owner I got this:

So first off I have questions about my mods. A friend of mine who did service writing for 2 Audi dealerships confirmed that there was some well thought out work done to the car, but I know nothing about this stuff.

So please, some comments/explanations on the items/work stated above would be great. Pros and cons.

Also the car came with some work needing to be done, here's what the seller offered:

The car does run cold, I don't think I've seen the temperature gauge reach the mid point. Should I replace the thermostat? Do they offer different temperature thermostats? Where is the stat and how much trouble is it to change?

Someone is giving me a front mount intercooler, will this block the radiator enough that I might appreciate the cooler temperature? Is there anything special about the "race products" side mount on the car?

I feel the throttle cut on the car, but it only seems to happen when the car is boosting slower, when I really get on the car, I don't experience the throttle cut. I don't know what a throttle cut defender is, I think I heard it was cheaper and easier to install than a manual boost controller. Can someone explain this?

Those issues came with the car, I've made my own issues since I got it.

The driver side wiper quit working, the passenger side still works. I've checked the the wiper arm is tight on the shaft, but you can move the wiper freely by hand (shaft turns too). Is there a linkage from the passenger side that could have come loose? A parts guy told me that the linkage assembly is part of the motor assembly and not available separately. Of course I haven't even opened up the cowl to see what happened yet. Any ideas?

I broke my hood latch release (behind grille). I didn't realize that the latch needed lubricant and it was tight, I pulled the little latch that comes out of the grille and broke the plastic piece off the end of it. I can still get my hood open, but I'd like to replace the latch, does anyone have one for sale? I can get a whole new latch from a parts guy for about $40-$44, but that's the type thing I figure I could find a lot cheaper off a hood someone is parting out.

Guys, any help on this stuff would be greatly appreciated! TIA

 

Forgot a couple things. I have a boost leak, I can hear it when driving in boost. How can I hear it (and therefore find it) with the car running parked?

A friend gave me a newApexI turbo timer, any install tips would be great.

 

Seems like you've got a piece of art!
Any repair shop will be happy to have your car for a week...
Sorry,

 

Sounds like your thermostat is bad. Mine was stuck open (or installed backwards {longstory}) and the temp never rose above 40%. Now my temp is 12:00 and the car warms up in like 5 min; used to take about 20. Oh, and I have heat on cold days now. My mechanic said the termostat is behind the alternator in a hard to reach place and wanted $500 to replace it. I talked him down to $100 since I already had it in for a timing belt.

My thermostat is a "Stock 87 degree Behr German Thermostat".

Sorry, don't know much about the other stuff you got. Nice ride though.

 

Ha. I do all my own mechanic work, it's always a learning process, but I come out knowing more in the end, and saving money. Having multiple vehicles is the key, because then you can have one down for repairs, with extras to drive.