November 2009 - Dead Starter	Quick Links
This isn't car related but November 9th my wife and had our first baby at 2:15pm. Kayleigh is 7 pounds and 19 inches long.  Now we get got to find a second car, like a Audi Allroad around $8k or under. If anyone knows of a good one, please let me know. I had started noticing the S4 starting up slow (cranking slow). My first thought was the battery was going out. Had it checked out and it was just fine. The next conclusion was that the starter was dying. The day before Thanksgiving after going into the store I came back out to the car and it would not start. I would hear a click but not crank. So the starter finally died on me. Had my wife jump in the front seat and I started pushing the car to see if we could do compression start. Sure enough we got it started up via compression. After taking my car to my friends shop I.P.M. Auto Service the problem was cause by a leaking rear main seal. Basically the starter was filled up with oil. So got the started replaced and the oil leak fixed as well. They also noticed a leak in a power steering piping so we had that replaced since it was only a $40 part. They must have also clear some electrical terminals because my headlights are now super bright. Anyway the S4 is back up and running and I'm happy. I've owner this S4 for two years. I won't lie they have been expensive but as the saying goes "you gotta pay to play". Well worth it! But feel free visit some of the advertisers on my site... that will help the "paying" part for me.... Thanks! Pictures of my interior LED lighting. More info click here View from Front Passenger Side View from Rear Passenger Side View from Front Driver Side	November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 November 2009

September 2009 - Coolant Leak (Auxiliary Water Pump)

I get a call from the wife saying the coolant light is flashing and the car is starting to steam. Oh fun. I get the car over to my friends shop IPM Auto Service and we start looking for the source of the leak. My first thought is that it's the after run coolant pump (Auxiliary Water Pump) which is a known problem with these car. A few mins later we find the leak and it was the after run coolant pump. The fun part is that it's not easy to get to. If you haven't dealt with this problem before the pump is basically in the center of the engine under the intake manifold. Not as hard as changing the turbos or replaceing a timing belt but still time consuming. To get to it we had to remove: intake piping, fuel rail, bipipe, air box, mass air flow sensor, throttle body, and lastly the intake manifold... plus unplug 20 or more electrical connections and several vacuum lines. 4 hours later and all of that out of the way the broken pump pops out in 5 seconds. I wish I had taken a picture but basically one of the ends of the pump connected to a hose had completely cracked off the pump, leaving the pump blades exposed. Got the new pump in and another 4 hours later the car was back up and running. Not a hard job, just a timing consuming job. Big thanks to Erik at IPM Auto Service for getting the new pump out so quickly and guiding me through this repair. On a related note, I've been having a problem in which I would have cruise control activated and it would buck back in forth while going down hills. It was like the car could not decide if it should increase or decrease the throttle input. You could watch the boost gauge and watch the needle just bounce around like it was doing some sort of dance. During the pump replacement I completely cleaned out the throttle body so I'm guessing cleaning the throttle body fixed the problem. Something to keep in mind if you run into a similar problem. *Update: Problem came back... so nevermind. Also I setup a new page for those eBay shoppers looking for S4 related parts. Go to Parts for Sale on eBay.

August 2009 - Seafoam Smoke Show

I did the Seaform intake cleaning not to be confused with the oil/sluge removal way. I've done it a couple of time in the past on my MK3 Jetta VR6 but this was my first time on the S4. Super easy to do on the S4 since the vacuum line to use is the same one connected to the Boost gauge. I do want to add to the existing DIY's out there, is that you need a second person to do this. Luckly my wife was willing to help. Basically you need the second person to keep the car reving around 1500 RPM's. If you try to do it with the car at idle the car will die. Anyway, since this was the first time for the S4 there was a huge smoke show. I wish I had taken some pictures. Looks like my car was on fire or something but that's just how it works. After letting it sit for 15 mins I drove maybe 20 miles before all of the seafoam was cleared out (smoked stopped). The car for sure seems to have a lot more low end tq and the fuel economy has improved maybe 1-2 more mpg. I recommend this for anyone wanting to make sure there car is running in top shape. Here is a link to the Audi S4 Seafoam treatment DIY I used. Also changed the Oil Filter. Nothing too exciting this month.

July 2009 - Dead ECU, MTM Software

My wife is driving home work in our S4 and is just about to get onto a highway on ramp when the car dies. She tries and tries but the car would not start. It was acting as if it was out of gas but it had more then half a tank. As I'm on the phone I tell her to try and switch to the stock APR program to see if that help. If you have the APR software you know you can switch it with the cruise control and can pick the problem by the number of times the CEL flashes. Well after holding the cruise control button for 60 seconds the CEL was not flashing. First thing that comes to mind is that the ECU is dead. Long story short I get a ride out there and my friend that owns IPM Auto Service meet met out with no luck getting the car started. His Vag-com kept getting a message of "unable to communicate with ECU". At that point it was becoming clear that either a relay(s) that powers the ECU was not working or the ECU was completely dead itself. I get the S4 towed to his shop and we check all of the fuses and relays to find all were good. Next day after talking with Achtuning I get to borrow a ECU to see if the car would start. Sure enough plug it in and the car fire right up. So I buy this ECU from them and the car is good to go. With the ECU I got from Achtuning it came with MTM software vs. APR software. I'm actually liking the MTM software better since I'm boosting around 18-20psi vs. the APR software boosting around 15-16 psi.

June 2009 - Wheel Bearing & New Amplifier

If you live in the State of Washington you might see me at the 2009 Leavenworth Drive. There should be 300+ cars there so it should be awesome. This will be my third year going. Below are the pictures I took: View all Get your own View Larger Pictures Click Here While driving to Seattle one day my friend Erik pointed out that it sounded like I had a bad rear wheel bearing. I haven't had the best luck with wheel bearings. I think I replace all wheel bearings at least once on my previous 1997 VW Jetta VR6 . After taking it to Erik's shop it was the rear driver side bearing that was bad so I got that replaced. Had my car realigned at Firestone since I have the lifetime Alignment service and the car needed it after the wheel bearing replacement. Back in May I thought my old subwoofers were bad so I replaced them with a Alpine Type-R Series SWR-1242D. I don't drive the car a lot since my wife uses it for work, so I didn't notice that the new sub was sounding bad just like the old one. So I look at the amp while I'm got it running and notice the "clipping" light is flashing on hard beats. Typically clipping is cause by a poor grounding point. I did move the cable a few weeks past so I figure that might be the case. For testing purposes I ran a ground directly from the amp to the battery and still the clipping problem was still there. At this point my old Infinity 600 watt rms mono amp has had a good 5 year life so it's likely time to just replace it. Now I'm on a mission to get a good amp at the lowest possible price. The Kenwood Excelon Class D Mono Power Digital Amplifier - XR-1S seem to be a nice little amp... because it's small in size but still matches the power I was running with my old Infinity amp. After going back and forth with 4 or 5 different companies I got one (ABT Electronics) offering to sell a new one to me for $280 down from $500. A week later I got the new amp installed it and had a little more power but still had the clipping problem. I tried re-wiring the sub to 2ohms and got so more power out of it but still clipping. At this point I'm getting pretty frustrated. My last thoughts are that the RCA cables are bad. These were a nice pair of 4 channel JL Audio RCA cables so it seemed unlikely. Since there were 4 channels I tried switching the cables around. I took out the my radio deck and found my problem. One of my RCA cables was unconnected. The amp was clipping because I had the gained turned all the way up so it was like trying to run a pressure washer but the presume washer was working too hard because not enough water was getting to it to be pressurized. I reconnected all of the RCA cables and sure enough fixed the problem. I thought about sending back the amp since I didn't need it, but I did like the small size of it so I kept it. So in the end I bought a new sub and amp for almost nothing. I basically just gain some space in my trunk which is still ok. Anyway if you got audio problems check all of your wiring first. Take it from someone that learned the expensive way.

• Installed a DDM 55 Watt 4500K Slim Ballast HID Kit to replace the OEM 35 watt HID system. It took me about 2.5 hours. The hardest thing was getting the OEM ballast out. They have very weird Hex screws... likely some security feature or something. The 55 watt HID kit aren't as bright as I wished they would be but they are still brighter. This kit provides more of true white color rather then a faded blue like my old OEM HID bulbs.
  
  
• Also got a set of 3000k H7 type bulbs from DDM Tuning which I will install in the fogs. My plan was to us the old OEM Ballast, but that plan was going to require too much wiring for my liking. So when funds are available I will get another set of DDM slim ballast HID kit, but it will be the 35watt instead of the current 55 watt.
  

• Finished installing Lamin-x Covers on my fog lights. I went with the gun-smoke tint which makes the fog light fade in with the surrounding lower bumper grill. No changes in light output that I can notice.
  
  
• Well I have discovered that I have two cracked rims. The front driver side rim and the the full sized spare rim. I went to Achtuning and got a new rim for $200. As for right now I will just have to run around with no spare until I can get another rim.

• After installing a aftermarket stereo head unit -my radio reception was not like it was with the stock system. I tried all kinds of home-made antennas and nothing ever worked since the factory one did not work either. I was extremely frustrating considering the main reason for switching over was to have HD radio which worked but not that great. After reading many reviews I final went onto eBay and bought a Dakota Digital AM/FM Hidden Antenna for $35. Many people claimed it to be the best for people that don't want a exterior antenna like motorcyclist and custom cars. I was surprised to find that not only did this antenna do as it promised, but I also got AM radio which is something the stock didn't do that well either. Anyway, it works great and highly recommend it if you are switching over to a aftermarket stereo head unit to use a iPod or HD features.
  

• The APR Boost Gauge uses a standard incandescent 194 wedge bulb which does not continue the overall theme of the red interior lights. I replaced the incandescent light bulb with a red 194 wedge LED bulb from Superbrightleds.com. I also put the same red LED bulbs in the foot lights under the dash for the driver and passenger seats. Gives the floor nice red glow.
  
  
• I also replace the 4 BA9 map light bulbs (2 front and 2 back) to a cool white LED bulb that I also got from Superbrightleds.com. This matches the color the current dome lights as show in February 2008 post below. They are surprising bright but not blinding when you are driving.
  
  
• Lastly, I replaced the 4 incandescent 194 wedge bulbs in the 3rd brake light in the rear window with red LEDs from Superbrightleds.com. For one, the LEDs are brighter and activate faster then incandescent bulbs allowing drivers behind me to see that I am braking a split second faster. Every seconds counts...
  
  
• After replacing the 3rd brake light I ran into a problem with the bulb out warning displaying in the dash. After doing some research and reading suggestions from many online forums I order a load resister from superbrightleds.com and got the bulb out warning gone in a few mins.
  
  

• My family got me a APR Boost gauge for my birthday from Achtuning. I got it install but I replace the bulb with a red LED bulb to match the stock interior lighting. Install was not too bad, it would have been easier if instructions were included in the kit.
  

• After putting a good amount of effort keeping my car all maintained I'm running into my first problem. With my APR chip enabled at wide open throttle my car will buck and hesitate between the RPM of 3500-4000 and then run fine afterward. I have discovered a misfire on cylinder 1. I put in a new coil pack and all bucking is gone. I've been told when one coil pack dies the rest are likely soon to follow in the next 6 months. So I'll start saving up to get 5 replacements.
  

• I finally got my RS4 Clutch kit installed at IPM Auto Services in Redmond, WA.
  
  
• Since the clutch install required the entire exhaust to be removed I had the catalytic converters cleared to create a less restrictive exhaust flow. Yes I know it's bad for the environment so in the future I plan on get high flow down-pipe, catalytic converters, and exhaust. Nothing but smiles so far!
  
  
• Also I replace the coolant (G12+) and a oil / oil filter change.

• New Fuel Filter Installed. Took a good 2 hours to complete the install.
  

• UPS stopped by today and dropped off several sweet things from ECS Tuning:
  
  • Audi RS4 kit
  • Mann OEM Oil Filter
  • Mann OEM Air Intake Filter
  • Denso Iridium Spark Plugs
  • APR Bi-Pipe Kit
    
    

• (APR Bi Pipe for a B5 Audi S4)

  Installed the APR Bi-Pipe Kit. Pretty easy installed but just take a lot of time to get everything moved out of the way and old parts taken off. After taking the car for the test drive it sure seems like I must have had a leak in the old throttle body boot. Turbos seem to spool up fast and my RPM's do not dip at 3500 down to 3000 when at WOT (wide open throttle). I always thought the RPM dip was because of a slipping clutch but that might not be the case any more. So the RS4 Clutch install might be put off for a month or two.
  
  
  
• Just installed 6 new Denso Iridium Spark Plugs. The install was not to bad. Took me a little while to figure how to get the the left and right coilpack closest to the front of the car off. Finally figured out with the help of my wife that a silver intake piping could be remove with a single bolt removed from either side. After that I was in and out of the garage within a hour. The old NGK plugs actually didn't look that bad, but I do have to say that it seem like my engine revs a little faster and smooth with the new plugs installed. With the bipipe, spark plugs, and air filter, my B5 Audi S4 is feeling very strong right now. We will see how the MPG has change why I take a little trip this coming forth of July weekend.
  
  
• **Update** went on a 300 mile round trip averaging 28.5 miles per gallon. Not bad for a 300+ hp car.
  
  
• I was shopping around Joe's picked up something that I have fell in love called Meguiar's NXT Generation All Metal Polysh. Honestly I've never used metal polish before but this stuff rocks! First thing I went to town on was the stock exhaust tips on the S4 and I must stay the exhaust tips look like new now. I even polished the metal trim around the windows and all I can say is wow. I seriously have to recommend for anyone wanting to clean any metal on there car or anywhere you need this stuff. I polished my wedding ring and it look like new... no joke. Anyway just thought I would let all of you know.
  
  

• I went to the Tire Factory and got 235/45/R17 Falken Ziex ZE-912 tires installed replacing my Hankook Icebear W300 225/45/R17 Winter Tires.
  

  (Rear view of a B5 2001 Audi S4 2.7t)

  
  
• Since the new Falken tires are wider I also installed H&R 10mm wheel spacers in the rear to give some extra clearance and to give the car a better look.
  
  
  
  

• Gave the S4 it's first full detailing (waxing)... Looks awesome!
  
  
• I tried to do the clear corner headlight modification. Got the headlight out but just did not have the right tool to remove the orange reflectors. Headlamps are still looking stock as of now.
  
  
• After a day playing around in a snow covered parking lot I now know for sure that I am needing a new clutch. Time to upgrade to a Audi RS4 Clutch kit .

• Upgraded most but not all of the interior lighting (dome lights) with LED lighting from Superbrightleds.com.
  
• Installed my ScanGaugeII on top of the steering wheel.
  

• Modified the stock air intake box by cutting out holes on the passenger side of the box. (aka Air Intake Porting)
  
  
• Removed stock CD changer since it was not compatible with new Alpine head unit and was just wasted weight/space.

• Stopped by Achtuning to upgrade the ECU. After a hour of no success of re-flashing the ECU we found out my car had already be flashed with the APR software and was just in a "lock out" mode Finally got the APR software unlocked and it only cost $99 compared to $500.... thank you previous owner!
  
  
• Changed the Oil and Oil Filter with Mobile 1 0w40
  
  
• Installed PIAA Ion Yellow bulbs in the fog lamps.

• Purchase this B5 Audi S4 from a local small dealership Dream City Sports Cars .
  
  
• Removed stock stereo head unit and replace with a Alpine CDA-9885 with HD Radio, iPOD connection, and red light to maintain a stock feel.. all from CrutchField. If you want to get one of these units please use this Referral Code: pcer2-k1e4i-570c5)
  
  
• Installed Apline Amp and two MTX Subwoofers within the trunk that I had on my previous MK3 Jetta VR6. Sounds awesome but lost nearly 1/3 of my trunk space... ouch!
  
  
• Upgraded the rear fog light to light up for the passenger and driver side.
  
  
• Upgraded both of my stock diverter valves to stock Audi TT 710N diverter valves, which I got from Achtuning. Seems like it has reduced some turbo lag. Took about 20 mins to install so it is for sure a good upgrade to complete.