Jretal

Only took a month and a half or so... :-P

Well, to be honest, the whole thing didn't take that long... but to get the car back to 100%, it took me that long.

I started out with an innocent order thanks to Joe@axismotorsport:

<img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/jretal/SFCPIGcD2GI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/EXVuuKn-UFg/s800/IMG_3137.JPG">

As usual, Joe came through with flying colors, delivering the best prices I could find!

And then the violating began...

I've known for some time that my coolant has been changing colors over time... I have had a slow leak in my coolant for a while now, and I've stubbornly kept adding water instead of coolant since it was only a cup here or a cup there... well, do this long enough and this is all that's left... yup, rusty nasty water!

<img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/jretal/SFCOwRIyoGI/AAAAAAAAAG4/0Om2rHnZ61w/s800/IMG_3138.JPG">

And then the true violation hit:

<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/jretal/SFCOXX4hcNI/AAAAAAAAAGg/sEz6w9zOWXM/s800/IMG_3145.JPG">

I replaced (in no specific order):

Timing belt, roller, tensioner, water pump, thermostat, both primary O2s (they were original, 12 yrs old and 180k miles). I then replaced my serpentine belt and tensioner and replaced my EFK w/ the stock fan because my EFK was 'compromised' a year or so back when one of the fins got stuck on the wire going to my elec thermostat to turn it on and off Though even w/ 4 fins, it still did it's job!

In the midst of this tear down, I noticed something that I didn't like... seapage from the corner of the radiator . So the executive decision was made to get a new radiator... but the catch? Well, I had an early '96... and apparently from '96.5 on they used a different radiator and upper radiator hose that used the stupid Audi clamp on hose vs the regular hose w/ hose clamp. Thankfully Joe had an extra upper radiator hose to provide to the cause, and I was back in action...

It is for these reasons that the car is now sporting some new stickers:

<img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/jretal/SJe769DNgWI/AAAAAAAAAK8/4R6zGxVbU2E/s800/IMG_3159.JPG">

Normally don't put company schwag on my car, but Joe has earned it in my book

Last night I finally got around to R&amp;R'ing the radiator. I added some prestone superflush to the system and ran it for about 10 min or so (whatever the directions said). I then drained the system and ran the car w/ the hose in the coolant tank until all the nastyness was washed out of the system. Only injury was splashing myself in the face w/ hot water! OUCH! No damage though.

Here's the 'ol girl under the knife once again:

<img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/jretal/SJe8ZHYFQzI/AAAAAAAAALw/loA_wpEIeHg/s800/IMG_3179.JPG">

PSA: All the wetness under the car is straight water for the greenies out there, I did not dump any coolant on the ground.

Old radiator vs new:

<img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/jretal/SJe8Z1hmmxI/AAAAAAAAAMA/MDJ_zOjjxjA/s800/IMG_3181.JPG">

I never realized how nasty the old one was getting... but the leak was def getting worse. After putting the radiator back in after the timing belt service I began losing all the coolant (well, water... no coolant as I didnt put it back in since I knew I was replacing the radiator) in the reservoir over the course of a week or so.

and the new one installed in it's new home:

<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/jretal/SJe85qOlWQI/AAAAAAAAAMU/70QOHY6nqrU/s800/IMG_3184.JPG">

reminder: those damn fins are SHARP! I sliced my hand in 2 spots putting the stupid thing in, and they bleed like no other since it's basically like a razor cut! This pic was after if finally stopped bleeding and kinda dried :-P

<img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/jretal/SJe8aWQfuwI/AAAAAAAAAMI/YLlfqukMtZg/s800/IMG_3183.JPG">

And as usual, more things changed between the '96 and '96.5 MY... the stupid plastic guide pins on the radiator that are used with the air dams b/n the condenser and the bumper were different... so a little cutting w/ the dremel and we're back in action

<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/jretal/SJe86EHb-SI/AAAAAAAAAMc/wXK9JjgINss/s800/IMG_3185.JPG">

And since I had the bumper off, I figured it was a great time to put in that nice foglight that Doug sent me free of charge from a fellow B5 AW'er!!!

I got a great laugh out of the box... thankfully he kept it clean :-P

<img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/jretal/SJhM0KcsQ2I/AAAAAAAAAMw/PIpi_a0hwxE/s800/Doug%20Box%201.jpg">

<img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/jretal/SJhM0Emch0I/AAAAAAAAAM4/ivicGLGjNw0/s800/Doug%20Box%202.jpg">

<img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/jretal/SJe78KckhxI/AAAAAAAAALU/BqQ8b89wm1U/s800/IMG_3171.JPG">

First step was to pull off the old light, which had seen better days:

<img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/jretal/SJe78qRmM5I/AAAAAAAAALc/QAoIvcsdYBI/s800/IMG_3173.JPG">

You can see in the background my 'custom' mounts I had made to mount the '00 fogs in my '96 bumper. They're fully adjustable and way over complicated for what they do :-P So needless to say, it's easier to R&amp;R the fog w/ the bumper off... though it's feasible to do it with everything installed.

Once the old light was off the car, something became very apparent when comparing it to the new light... anyone notice what it is?

<img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/jretal/SJe8YoVwGKI/AAAAAAAAALo/sSqqxpNQZT0/s800/IMG_3176.JPG">

True, the tabs were missing (not complaining here mind you) but despite that, the housing itself was slightly different This def caught me by surprise (they must have updated the design? The p/n on mine ended with a B and the one doug gave me ended in a D).

After some creative cutting with my dremel on the old light housing as well as the new one and some expoxy putty, I was able to get the new light mounted up as good as new. Unless you pull the bumper off and look at it, you'd know no difference what so ever. So in the end, it worked out perfectly!

Fully installed (but not 100% complete... I put on more epoxy putty after this pic):

<img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/jretal/SJe86duoy1I/AAAAAAAAAMk/lacGL4MiiCo/s800/IMG_3186.JPG">

So that about wraps it up. Only thing left to do on the car is to install new injector o-rings (those are original as well), and then the car is 100% back in action. I spent 4 hrs yesterday doing all this work on the car, so by 930 when I finally cleaned up I was in no mood to mess w/ the o-rings. I'll deal with those another day!

That's it for today... hope you enjoyed the story... now time for me to go back to work and look busy!

4Rings::G2 boosted::

repost from this morning A4 forum :P

Jretal

hush you :-P

bobster4

Nice work and glad to see the A4 is back on the road.