Hi guys, some of you might still remember me and my green airbagged 3.2 SB.
![Wheel Tire Automotive side marker light Vehicle Car]()
I still have this one, I haven't really driven it in couple of years at all tho. Long story short, had the timing chain done in our own shop, they failed and the CEL came on for cam position fails. I got fed up with the car, left it sitting in the shop yard and lost almost all interest on it.
Life goes on and few things happened. I bought a house with my girlfriend, ended up renovating all the interior etc. Good thing about this is that I now have 2 car garage and some extra space for my bikes and other stuff. We got a lil baby boy back in 2018 and it was time to move on once again. The house is perfect, it's more like letting go on my other love and piece of joy that I had for 11 years. The Audi TT Roadster. The car had some things on it when I got her, the same 19" Artec Turbo P Porsche wheels that stayed on for all those years - I thought they were a match and to me they were the only right wheels for the car. Those were the biggest reason for me to even go with this TT over a Porsche Boxster back in the days. I upgraded all sorts of things, installed air ride, Porsche Carbon bucket seats, made some carbon parts on it, the über rare LLTek Speedster humps which I covered with carbon...
![Tire Wheel Car Vehicle Building]()
I loved that car. But it was time to let her go, needed more seats and no question it had to be a convertible. I had been used to the open top driving and it's not going anywhere else if someone asks me.
So I started searching. Looked for Audi A4's, A5's, Mercedes E-Class Cabrios, BMW 3-series... none of those had a chance on the A5. Ofcourse I started the looking by running google hot on all of those cars on air ride, nice wheels etc. But it had to be the A5. And a facelift one, I did test drive a couple of pre-FL ones and they were pretty bad at how they handled. I was about to give up on Audi's at this point. There really was not much of the options to choose for in Finland, these are pretty rare cars here. So I started to look at Germany, Sweden etc. Then one night, a red A5 cabrio, low mileage, my choice of the engine 3.0 Tdi 180kw, neck heater seats came up for sale. The red/red really was not my #1 option, but all the other things on this car clicked. So I told the missus that we are going to have a look on this car, and drive it home. And that is what happened.
![Car Automotive parking light Vehicle Land vehicle Wheel]()
The red cabrio looked a bit shy, but I already had the basic plans to convert it "mine".
![Wheel Tire Car Vehicle Sky]()
![Car Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive design Car seat cover]()
Some 20", air bags, bumper swap from S-Line to Sport Edit, rear diffuser to RS-Style with custom exh mods, Concert headunit to Alpine, 10" sub etc. later I had this. It is the perfect family car to me. Lacks a bit of power, but it's somewhat economical, really, I mean really comfortable ride with the engine and air ride, has the style and looks that I was looking for.
So, back to the A3 and the whole timing fail. Got it on the lift, and started to tear it apart. Still haven't found a clear reason for why it's throwing the CEL on cams. All of the timing chains, tensioners, guides, intermediate gears are replaced by new ones. I did take it all apart myself during last winter. Gearbox and all out, checked the timing and did not figure out whats going on with it. To me, all the timing marks seemed to line up as they should. So I did put it back together and what a suprise, the freaking CEL comes on. The car was left to the driveway at my house for the spring and summer. Now that the winter is coming again, I've been wanting to get the cabrio safe from the elements, and would like to get the A3 going once again and drive it through the winter.
![Tire Wheel Car Vehicle Automotive tire]()
It's all apart again, the gearbox is still in because I'm 99% sure that the lower chain has to be right. I did use a dial indicator to check the #1 tdc from the spark plug hole, and it is spot on to the crank pulley mark. I know they may vary over the time, but this one seems to be right on it. I did pull the upper chain bridge out and VVT solenoids out. They had 3-4mm of slack on the O-ring part. I did search on Youtube and found a comparison on old vs new solenoids and the new ones seemed to be tight with no slack at all. Those can't really move a lot sideways while they are installed, but does the oil go through the right ways with correct oil pressure? I don't know, but there chances are that its not doing its job properly. So now I have pretty much all of the timing relevant parts changed. I have not replaced the actual VVT variators as they are frigging expensive. I would, if I knew those are the key to my problems. I'm going to change the solenoids, put the top back together and see where I'm at this time. Hopefully have it running asap to get the "better" car in, but not having high hopes as it has been a pain in the ass for the last years.
Anyways, wanted to check back in after a few years of being silent to see who of the old members are still active from 5-6 years ago.
Thanks everyone, and happy to be back!
-Mici-
I still have this one, I haven't really driven it in couple of years at all tho. Long story short, had the timing chain done in our own shop, they failed and the CEL came on for cam position fails. I got fed up with the car, left it sitting in the shop yard and lost almost all interest on it.
Life goes on and few things happened. I bought a house with my girlfriend, ended up renovating all the interior etc. Good thing about this is that I now have 2 car garage and some extra space for my bikes and other stuff. We got a lil baby boy back in 2018 and it was time to move on once again. The house is perfect, it's more like letting go on my other love and piece of joy that I had for 11 years. The Audi TT Roadster. The car had some things on it when I got her, the same 19" Artec Turbo P Porsche wheels that stayed on for all those years - I thought they were a match and to me they were the only right wheels for the car. Those were the biggest reason for me to even go with this TT over a Porsche Boxster back in the days. I upgraded all sorts of things, installed air ride, Porsche Carbon bucket seats, made some carbon parts on it, the über rare LLTek Speedster humps which I covered with carbon...
I loved that car. But it was time to let her go, needed more seats and no question it had to be a convertible. I had been used to the open top driving and it's not going anywhere else if someone asks me.
So I started searching. Looked for Audi A4's, A5's, Mercedes E-Class Cabrios, BMW 3-series... none of those had a chance on the A5. Ofcourse I started the looking by running google hot on all of those cars on air ride, nice wheels etc. But it had to be the A5. And a facelift one, I did test drive a couple of pre-FL ones and they were pretty bad at how they handled. I was about to give up on Audi's at this point. There really was not much of the options to choose for in Finland, these are pretty rare cars here. So I started to look at Germany, Sweden etc. Then one night, a red A5 cabrio, low mileage, my choice of the engine 3.0 Tdi 180kw, neck heater seats came up for sale. The red/red really was not my #1 option, but all the other things on this car clicked. So I told the missus that we are going to have a look on this car, and drive it home. And that is what happened.
The red cabrio looked a bit shy, but I already had the basic plans to convert it "mine".
Some 20", air bags, bumper swap from S-Line to Sport Edit, rear diffuser to RS-Style with custom exh mods, Concert headunit to Alpine, 10" sub etc. later I had this. It is the perfect family car to me. Lacks a bit of power, but it's somewhat economical, really, I mean really comfortable ride with the engine and air ride, has the style and looks that I was looking for.
So, back to the A3 and the whole timing fail. Got it on the lift, and started to tear it apart. Still haven't found a clear reason for why it's throwing the CEL on cams. All of the timing chains, tensioners, guides, intermediate gears are replaced by new ones. I did take it all apart myself during last winter. Gearbox and all out, checked the timing and did not figure out whats going on with it. To me, all the timing marks seemed to line up as they should. So I did put it back together and what a suprise, the freaking CEL comes on. The car was left to the driveway at my house for the spring and summer. Now that the winter is coming again, I've been wanting to get the cabrio safe from the elements, and would like to get the A3 going once again and drive it through the winter.
It's all apart again, the gearbox is still in because I'm 99% sure that the lower chain has to be right. I did use a dial indicator to check the #1 tdc from the spark plug hole, and it is spot on to the crank pulley mark. I know they may vary over the time, but this one seems to be right on it. I did pull the upper chain bridge out and VVT solenoids out. They had 3-4mm of slack on the O-ring part. I did search on Youtube and found a comparison on old vs new solenoids and the new ones seemed to be tight with no slack at all. Those can't really move a lot sideways while they are installed, but does the oil go through the right ways with correct oil pressure? I don't know, but there chances are that its not doing its job properly. So now I have pretty much all of the timing relevant parts changed. I have not replaced the actual VVT variators as they are frigging expensive. I would, if I knew those are the key to my problems. I'm going to change the solenoids, put the top back together and see where I'm at this time. Hopefully have it running asap to get the "better" car in, but not having high hopes as it has been a pain in the ass for the last years.
Anyways, wanted to check back in after a few years of being silent to see who of the old members are still active from 5-6 years ago.
Thanks everyone, and happy to be back!
-Mici-
