Those were the faults which were immediately apparent.
I then decided to take the car to one of the more popular auto workshops here in order to get my car scanned and reveal the reason(s) for the CEL etc. Unfortunately they didn’t have the VAG scan tool and had to rely on the Autoboss generic scanner. It however seemed like the Autoboss scanner actually downloaded some VAG software (not too sure though).
The setup of the workshop I went to was very nice… Air-conditioned, had a secretary, accountant etc., lots of hydraulic tools and Lifts, Mechanics all uniformed, good HSE, A dedicated area for ongoing repairs etc. BUT the only person in this workshop of more than 6 mechanics who knew what he was doing was the proprietor (I think he’s an Engineer) and unfortunately he happened to be too busy at the time I came. He sent one of his boys to run a scan on the car (@ N5,000). Can you believe that this dude did not even know how to go about the scan…? I had to take over from him and run the scan myself.
This highlights the problems with some of the “classier” auto workshops here in Nigeria… some of them look quite good with lots of tools etc, but still the level of expertise still leaves a lot to be desired for. In most cases (like where I went to), it’s just the proprietor seemingly who has the expertise, but if his boys can’t even perform a simple scan, then… I hate to think of what happens to all the Range rovers and other exotic cars parked outside when the Proprietor of the workshop is out of town, and the cars need to be worked on.
Moral of this gist is that we should not be be carried away by just the looks of an auto workshop-try and determine the individual levels of expertise and have the most competent person work on your car.
Anyways, after the scan I pulled almost 30 error codes ;-( Cylinder misfires, fuel pressure low (obviously due to the leak), Oxygen sensor kaput, Almost enough to fill 2 pages….


Screenshot of one out of the numerous pages of errors detected by the Autoboss scanner

After pulling all those assorted codes (I must confess I was a bit overwhelmed initially), I went to the Ross-tech website to look for interpretations and possible solutions; Of course I already knew I needed to get a new fuel sender unit, new radiator and AC condenser units, Timing belt kit, water pump, AISIN gearbox fluid for the Audi Auto tranny and the auto transmission filter.
Note that the Transmission fluid + Filter, as well as the Timing belt were only indicated as part of preventive maintenance-there were no symptoms of issues with the transmission, and the timing belt, on assessment, seemed quite new (though timing belts cannot be assessed by looks).
I'd rather spend the money now and change these items at a relatively lower cost, than have my engine or transmission go bust on me on some lonely road.

Mother luck seemed to be smiling on me, an expatriate Engineer friend of mine who works in the Mechanical section of one of the multinationals here just happened to formerly work for Audi in Germany and at some point owned an independent specialist Audi garage… How much better can it get…?? ;-) . On telling him my woes, he asked me to bring in the car for a comprehensive checkup. He also revealed to me that Audis had better quality control standards than VWs… even though they are products of the same company. This is not to say that VWs are bad, just that side by side the Audi would be much more rugged and reliable than the comparable VW model.

And it starts... drove my car to the workshop and had it scanned by the biggest VW/Audi Scan tool I have ever seen. I jokingly asked of the price of such a unit, and he told me that you can only get it from VW...that as far as he knew, its not for sale.

T-die.. Well done.

T-die's parts have begun to arrive. All parts he ordered are listed here, with the items received by myself in green:

Timing belt kit
Water pump
ZF ATF fluid and filter kit
Fuel pump
Spark plugs
Lambda probe
Coolant temperature sensor
Radiator
Aircon condenser
Serpentine belt
Headlamp eyebrows
Trunk spoiler
Bumper central grille
LED tail lamps
Side skirts
Thermostat
Angel eye headlamps
Claybar kit
VCDS lite
Foldable key
Bonnet release handle - LHD
Bonnet release cable - LHD

I'll take pictures of the individual parts, email them to t-die, then he can upload them here if he so wishes.

In order to have a more detailed look at the innards of the Audi, the front end needed to come off...

I must admit I was a bit intimidated by the size of the Engine of the A4... (Considering that I was coming from an I4 2.0L Sports hatch)
Meanwhile you can see the rewiring done... a straight wire lead from the battery terminals via some relay switches to the Engine fan...Causing the fans to come on once the ignition was turned on...

Close up shot of the Relay Switch + Wire mishmash. The relays and wires were also heating up very badly when the fans were running... So many potential fire hazards in this car

Crude radiator mod...

If you look at the pic of the radiator, its clogged with dirt that will act as insulator on the cooling fins so your car will overheat, Pressure wash it clean.

According to my Engineer friend, there was a possiblity of the codes I pulled earlier being either old error codes due to faults which were not cleared after being fixed by the previous owner, or also possibly to to the various rewirings done... e.g the CANBUS Cable which was part of the wire cluster around the fuel pump had been cut into two and left open ended (See circled areas in the pic below). So he first cleared all the codes, and had all the rewirings reversed-(Cooling fan etc.)


Reversing the rewiring back to factory default...

Good morning fellow NL'ers good morning t-die. Mr t-die good work you're doing out there. Seems you still have a lot of work to do. BTW, why don't our high institutions engage their mechanical engineering students in tasks like this? I believe if our schools stop paying eye and lips services and engage in indept engineering/techincal works such as this, we won't have half baked engineers trying to chase NNPC or CBN appointments. To all the engineers out there pls no pun intended. #just saying#

currently carrying out a similar project on a '01 e46 330i BMW i got through a friend but ive been carrying out most of the repairs myself after scanning and going on bimmerforums to research on possible cases where the faults are, and so far its been going well

lomomike: Good morning fellow NL'ers good morning t-die. Mr t-die good work you're doing out there. Seems you still have a lot of work to do. BTW, why don't our high institutions engage their mechanical engineering students in tasks like this? I believe if our schools stop paying eye and lips services and engage in indept engineering/techincal works such as this, we won't have half baked engineers trying to chase NNPC or CBN appointments. To all the engineers out there pls no pun intended. #just saying#

Thanks. Got her back on Monday; All rewiring has been reversed, Car moves fine, AC was serviced and filled up-and now she chills like mad. Engine fans come on when they're supposed to. Think I still have an AC leak though. I was advised not to drive around too much for now-until the ordered parts arrive and have been fixed. My Engineer friend is currently on leave till next month. So everything is more or less paused until my parts arrive,- (Powered by Siena ;-), and the Engineer is back.

samuelk: currently carrying out a similar project on a '01 e46 330i BMW i got through a friend but ive been carrying out most of the repairs myself after scanning and going on bimmerforums to research on possible cases where the faults are, and so far its been going well

It would be nice if you could show us what your doing with your Beema. Let start to encourage people to either work on their cars themselves if they have the knowledge, or at least take them to competent mechanics. With the level of complexity of the more modern cars, it wont be long before our roadside destroyers start condemning even the latest Toyotas because of their electronic complexity.

While reading through another thread here on Cartalk about the effects of driving through a flood, I couldn't help thinking about removing the air hose (or tube..??) that turns downwards from the upper part of the airbox/air intake chamber. (See previous pic where the engine cooling fan is being worked on).
Would removal have any side effects?

Jeez... going by what I have read from the beginning, if your friend didn't sell this to you, the car could have sent him to early grave considering those dangerous wiring....

This is the pathetic level of our lazy mechanics who refused to upgrade their knowledge. People also need to be cautious of who they give their cars to work on.

Kudos to you bro..

Removal will allow the engine to draw in warm air, instead of cold which is much denser. There'll be a marginal loss of power, but not enough to notice in normal everyday driving. If you have the resources, you can actually channel the ducting to a higher point in the engine bay.

But as much as possible, I would try to avoid driving through Fords, don't forget where your TCU is located - under the front floor section.

enlighten me on this. i can't pass any flood water that is 7 inches without the engine switching off. if i drive through any flood water that is 1 inch, the car will jerk for about 5 seconds (on motion). i believe the car is soaking water but don't know where. how can i solve this?

bros i need to know more about this

Depo "Angel Eye" headlamps:

can it fit in my old passat?

good job t-die, nice write up. After being "smoked" by the 2007 3.5l camry V6 (one of my threads), i have decided to replace the engine of my 2000 323ci 5MT with a 2001 330i...i have ordered for the engine but it hasn't arrived. Good job man.
Samuelk, welldone.

JUO: bros i need to know more about this can it fit in my old passat?

It will be good if you state the model year of your Passat. These headlamps are normally custom built to fit specific model years. They are not universal.