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Tips, fixes and mods regarding the Audi A8 & S8

Do you have a good tip or a detailed 'how to' procedure to fix a problem or do an upgrade/mod on the 8? This is the thread to post it, to save it for posterity. This thread will be made 'sticky' so it'll remain on top.

What to post:

<ul type="square"> [*] Any useful tried & tested tip

[*] Any detailed 'how to' project

[*] Any easy DIY fix for these cars

[*] A link to a (short) useful thread if that's better for clarity (copy pasting is better for single posts)

What NOT to post: (these will be removed!)

<ul type="square">

[*] Replies like "cool tip dude" or any questions! (You may do that elsewhere! Use a link or copy the post)

[*] Posts like "I've heard something, but not sure it works" (Tried and tested tips only please - discussions elsewhere!)

[*] External links (that's what the 'useful links' thread is for)

The exceptions:

<ul type="square"> [*] Links to www.audipages.com Since that is the Audi 8 bible. Always a good idea to check there first...

<font color="#666666"> (NB: it's not very useful to repost everything or put up a link to every single article - there is an index on Audipages - but if you have another tip based on an Audipages article, feel free to link to that) </font>

[*] External links to clarify your post - but if possible please copy it in here (it's a nicer reading, and links may stop working).

[*] Links to other posts on TSN - but again, the idea is to copy it in here for clarity and convenience.

Try to keep it neat and organized for every ones convenience. <ul type="square"> [*] If you copy an existing post please remove the [ quote] [ /quote] codes. It looks much better if not compressed by the software! [*] However, do make a reference to the author if it's not you. [*] Don't know how to copy a post? put a link in here to the intended post, and I'll replace it with the text later on.

Anything you think should be in here? Please post it. It doesn't necessarily have to be your post, as long as you refer to the author.

I can't do this alone, so if you know/remember something good and useful... Please!

Need help? Did I forget anything? Send me a PM! 169144-ok.gif

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Okay, I'll start off:

As promised, the procedure to install the rings.

231799-Dash01.jpg

The 'before' pic...

Taking out the dash cluster is pretty straightforward, just move the steering wheel all the way towards you and lower it as far as possible.

231813-V90-1153.jpg

Remove the covers like above.

231814-V90-1154.jpg

Loosen hex bolts (#5)

Now carefully pull the cluster towards you.

There are three cable connectors on the back, one on the right, two on the left. They are held in place by a clamp, you have to open this (they are hinged on one side) before you can pull out the connectors. Pretty self explanatory when you see it. They are color-coded, so don't worry, it's virtually impossible to mix them up later on. wink.gif

231800-Dash02.jpg

Out of the car, ready for the operation...

231801-Dash03.jpg

The back. The torx screwdrivers indicate the two torx #8 screws you need to remove.

231802-Dash04.jpg

The white arrows indicate the clips you need to loosen. There's a couple more at the bottom, so an extra hand is useful...

231815-Dash01arr.jpg

231818-Dash05%20arr.jpg

Pay attention to the clear plastic bit, indicated by the red arrow; it will fall out when you take the cluster apart! Put this part of the instrument cluster in a safe place, you won't need this for now.

231804-Dash06.jpg

The rings. Note the sloped back, and the rim for the glue.

231805-Dash07.jpg

The front. These things are very well crafted...

231806-Dash08.jpg

Put them in place. You need to squeeze the big ones a bit to get them through, but no worries, they get right back in shape. Tape them firmly in place so you have your hands free for the glueing. Note the tissue, to prevent any accidents (glue, scratches). Obviously I covered the whole screen.

231807-Dash09.jpg

The arrows indicate the rim where the glue goes.

231811-Bison.jpg

Mighty Bison Power, must be good then, eh? grin.gif

I found it very practical to use a toothpick to apply the glue. Just dip it in the glue, and let it slide into the rim. Easy enough, but you do need steady hand. (Therefore not recommended on the day after the night before). tongue.gif

Let it dry for a bit (dependent on the glue you use). When the glue is dry, remove the tape and glue the parts that were covered by it. (You don't want to chance a rattle or the rings coming off after you reinstalled the dash so make sure they are firmly fixated.)

When that's dry, reassemble the cluster. (mind the plastic bit and the two torx screws).

231808-Dash10.jpg

Ready!

231809-Dash11.jpg

Back in the car... does that look good, or what? cool.gif

231810-Dash12.jpg

Gratuitous S8 dash shot... smirk.gif

All in all a pretty easy job to do. Just a little care, that's all!

And This is where I got them. Not the cheapest, but definitely the best looking ones! Very nice folks to deal with as well. 169144-ok.gif

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The question reappears frequently, so here's a quick how to:

- On gas-discharge headlamps, switching slider -1- is accessible from outside.

- R/D - Position for RHD

- L/G - Position for LHD

<ul type="square"> 249155-HLswitch.jpg

- On halogen headlamps, switching slider is in headlamp.

- Insert actuator pin in hole -arrow- at reflector.

post-2215-137914284092_thumb.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

I am in Germany so I will see if I can get the German Audi dealership to do it. What about changing my KPH to MPH. Do I need a whole new dash or can anyone help me. Lastly I would like to put navigation in my car. My car's interior is just like a 1997 A8. Will my wiring harness fit any nav unit or what nav units would be compatible.

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  • 8 months later...

Car Computer repair.

Until the other day, i thought i had no dash computer due to the fact the the stealers told me it was an option and my control pad (next to the coffee cup holder) had no function. You can imagine my surprise when, after spilling what seemed like a litre of coffee into the control box, the on board computer came to life.

The problem was with the control switch located next to the cup holder. This simply pulls out (once you have removed the cup holder) and the wires are connected by a one way push clip.

The casing is easily removed by pressing in all six latches and pulling the main part free from the outer casing.

(pictures to follow)

Inside, you will find: A PCB, 2LED's, 2 button switches and 2 spring switches, with some misc components. This part is definately worth repairing because its simple and costs 160 pounds from the stealers!!! Slap yerself Audi!!

I cleaned the PCB, and checked the tracks :- finding some broken and corroded. I re soldiered the tracks to bridge the damage or used wires to bypass the tracks in badly damaged areas. The rotary switch uses the spring switches to monitor its movement. These switches can be cleaned with wet and dry paper to remove oxidation - and should then be good as new!!!

Replace all components in reverse order and hey presto!! Car computer!!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

Stealer tip:

My local stealer suggested cutting off the 'cruciform' valve end that seems to cause so much blockage trouble. His view was that a)it blocks too easily, b)situated in the transmission tunnel there was virtually no likelyhood of water going UP the pipe anyway.

Might save a few damp feet!

Steve

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  • 1 year later...
  • 10 months later...

Hi all,

just joined Tyresmoke and getting up..

So, in Feb/2006 got BMW 735/Manual and a lot of usefull info to get additional information from its' dahboard display, just to hold right key, wait to Test Tr.1 and so on was capable to get exct digital values of ll dashboard arrows, some additional and usefull info etc....

In Jan/07 got 01 S8,totally blck, interior, exterior... black tinted windows etc... lovely one ;-) but there is no info on suck kind of cheat codes to play with, (car is European version with NavigationPlus system, just TV module missing in bootlid compartment and have to get it ;-))

so, any usefull information or links regarding such kind issues?

Thanks in advance....

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  • 7 months later...

Some of you may remember some of my early posts on here when I discovered the rear coil spring on my car snapped at the bottom coil. I have been meaning to share some pics and tips for ages - so here goes.

Point one - there are ALOT of springs available for these cars. To get the exact one if you are crazy enough to go to a dealer you need to identify how many coloured splodges there are on the bottom coil of the spring. You can do this on the car - might have to remove the wheel but there will be a series of pink/purple splodges. These tell Audi what type spring you have. When I called a dealer as I was in a panic to get some they told me there are about 20+ to choose from (depending on the spec of your car) and they were going to cost me near £100 each. Enter A8Parts as usual, and 2 replacement springs arrived in next days post. This, I am forever grateful for since I was without a car. In A8's opinion it really comes down to if you have a sport or not - otherwise the ride height difference is nominal. I trusted that judgement and got some springs with about 5-10mm difference than those on the car.

First thing I did was clean them up and paint them - so its easier to see the spring.

To be honest, getting the old ones off was fairly easy. This is where I discovered that you really really need to max out your spring compressors though to get the clearence needed to get them out OR in. After a couple of attempts at different places on the coil with the spring compressor, and a convincing 'nudge' with my foot they came out. Ita a good idea at this point to examine the posts where the spring sits, and other suspension parts

IMGP0002Small.jpg

Notice the 'key' on the bottom mount. there are rubber top hats each end of the spring and the bottom one is keyed on the suspension arm so it only goes onto one place, and stops the spring rotating. Give this a good clean up and get rid of all the crud built up over years!

IMGP0003Small.jpg

Here is a pic of the bottom spring rubber - you can see the keyed part clearly

IMGP0005Small.jpg

So you are ready to put a new spring back in. There are 2 points to note at this point. 1 is that you really have to be brave with the spring compressors and get the spring as small as you can to get it in. I tried a load of ways of getting it in, without rubbers and trying to get them in later.. with one rubber and then trying to lever the spring up and pop them in and basically thats a non starter. You need to have both rubbers in place on the spring, effectively making the spring 2-3 inches longer each end - and thus why you need to compress the spring well.

You may read as I did that if you remove various other suspension parts and the car is jacked up etc, there is plenty of room - I found this not to be the case and even when I tried removing the end of the anti roll bar, and the bottom bolt from the damper, there isn't enough room unless you have someone with a bar pressing the suspension arm down!! - hard on your own!!

Point 2 - is thinking about the location of the spring compressors. Reason being when you put them on the spring and wind them all the way up, you will then discover that they foul the bodywork under the wing, and you can't locate the spring where you want it. Bear in mind also that the spring has to be put in a certain way - so the rubbers locate on the spring, and the bottom rubber locates into its key. It is possible to turn the spring a little when in place, but getting it near as when you start is very helpful.

I found the best location for the spring compressors was just before 9 and about 3 if you think of a clock face

IMGP0007Small.jpg

and the best coils to 'grab' where the second ones down. If you compress from the top coil you can't a/ get the spring in and b/ get the rubbers in

location of compressors

spring compressed (note the amount of thread that is now proud of the spring, hence getting them in the right place to avoid fouling the body and allowing you to turn them/unwind on the car!!) - good tip is to hold the spring up against the car with the compressors on and 'just starting to compress' and then they are still loose enough to adjust to a suitable position before you wind them all the way up and find you can't get the spring near the car!

IMGP0008Small.jpg

here is what you want to avoid, the thread of your compressor fouling the body

IMGP0012Small.jpg

So now you have a compressed spring and the compressors are in the right place. Time to fit!

First off make sure the rubbers are in place. here is the top rubber located in the proper place on the top of the spring. you can't get it wrong.

The process I found easiest, and this is not to say its gospel obviously - was to locate the bottom of the spring in place, keyway in the rubber lined up as best as possible, and then lever the top into place - you'll note that unless you have really really good compressors or have someone leaning on the suspension arm with a scaffold pole, there isn't at this point enough space to just slip the spring in!!

Now I did this on my own with nothing more for a lever than a trolley jack handle, but I imagine its easier with a friend.

Step one, remove the bolt from the bottom of the damper - this allows the suspension arm more travel downwards.

IMGP0004Small.jpg

Locate the bottom of the spring, and using a lever on the spring mount across the suspension arm, lever down allowing you to pop the top of the spring, complete with rubber mount, under the spring post.

IMGP0011Small.jpg

IMGP0010Small.jpg

At this point, by levering and use of a mallet/copper_hide hammer you can tap the top of the spring/rubber (although rubber is has metal construction inside so you don't have to be super gentle) and pop it into place, hopefully with a satisfying 'boing' when the suspension arm pops back up to its natural position

At this point either you have been really lucky and got the rubber mounts etc in bang on the right place, or more realistically you need to turn the spring a bit to tightly locate the top, and bottom in place. My bottom key way ended up about 1/4 turn out on the first side, but but keeping the compression on, and perhaps worst case letting them off until you can move their position - then recompress a bit - you can turn the spring to where it should be. Bit of brute force needed. Eat your wheatabix.

Properly located top

IMGP0014Small.jpg

I didn't manage a pic of the bottom in place, but you can see what you are trying to achieve. If you note the location of the key in the bottom rubber and mark the outside of the rubber with a felt-tip, and put a mark on the suspension arm at the location of the key on it also, then you know if its in the right place. This may sound silly, but when the spring is in, and has some force back (compressors off) you won't know if the bottom key is in due to the weight on the rubber. Marking it up lets you know its in the right place.

Thats it - hope its useful in some way!. Simon Sorry for any spelling mistakes!! (had to omit a couple of pics cos of the ten pic limit, but they weren't all that important)

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  • 4 months later...

Have recently had the bulb on one side of the CC control panel burn out. Its OK during the day but you don't have a clue at night so decided to give it a go tonight.

ccbulbout.jpg

There's some ambiguity as to whether all versions of the E87 control units can have there bulbs replaced. For future reference it seems any E87 unit that has the "Off" button on the prefacelift cars can be refitted with new bulbs (mines a '97 FYI).

I followed the workshop manual and some advice posted here VWvortex Forums: 1997 A8 Climate control bulb replacement. There are a couple of mistakes as pointed out by PsYcHe (cheers+++).

One is that lower red arrow in the first pic on this link should be pointing the other way i.e. its the screw that is forward most of the two that you need to undo on either side.

26122008258.jpg

The second is the bolt that retains the panel behind the central vents which are prised out carefully using a couple tools made from an old coat hanger or a carefully placed screw driver would also do the trick.

dashventtool.jpg

X=about 6mm

dashventbolt.jpg

I sourced a pack of 10 286T 12volt 1.2w bulbs from ebay for a fiver. The OE ones on the control unit are Alba 12w 0.9w; though they are different proportions in size the new ones fitted fine and do not protrude from the front panel. There is no screw driver slot in the new ones so you'll have to use a pair of needle nosed pliars to rotate the new bulbs through 90 degrees.

26122008266.jpg

Black purchased from Ebay; Green is OE

26122008252.jpg

Despite the minute power increase there wasn't any noticable difference in brightness. From start to finish its a couple of hours work tops due to removing the carpets and console side trims etc.

Needless to say I replaced all three bulbs.

26122008262.jpg

Cheers

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RE; REAR COIL SPRINGS,

there is a much easier way to do this, take the bolt holding the swinging arm to the hub out (18mm)

take the abs cable off the swinging arm

place a second jack under the swinging arm to support it

then undo the other bolt (16mm) which is holding the swinging arm in place,

the weight of the arm and spring is now held by the second jack, the spring cant just fly out anyway theis second jack is just to take the force off the second bolt being removed

when the second bolt is out simply wind down the jack and the arm will lower, it wont lower far enough on its own to to release the spring but if you push the arm down (not hard at all) then the spring can be pulled out with ease. thats it.

put your new spring in, wind the second jack back up till the arm lines back up with the hub, push the bolts through and tighten

no longer than 30 mins per side, no need for spring tensioners.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Okay, I'll start off:

As promised, the procedure to install the rings.

231799-Dash01.jpg

The 'before' pic...

Taking out the dash cluster is pretty straightforward, just move the steering wheel all the way towards you and lower it as far as possible.

231813-V90-1153.jpg

Remove the covers like above.

231814-V90-1154.jpg

Loosen hex bolts (#5)

Now carefully pull the cluster towards you.

There are three cable connectors on the back, one on the right, two on the left. They are held in place by a clamp, you have to open this (they are hinged on one side) before you can pull out the connectors. Pretty self explanatory when you see it. They are color-coded, so don't worry, it's virtually impossible to mix them up later on. wink.gif

231800-Dash02.jpg

Out of the car, ready for the operation...

231801-Dash03.jpg

The back. The torx screwdrivers indicate the two torx #8 screws you need to remove.

231802-Dash04.jpg

The white arrows indicate the clips you need to loosen. There's a couple more at the bottom, so an extra hand is useful...

231815-Dash01arr.jpg

231818-Dash05%20arr.jpg

Pay attention to the clear plastic bit, indicated by the red arrow; it will fall out when you take the cluster apart! Put this part of the instrument cluster in a safe place, you won't need this for now.

231804-Dash06.jpg

The rings. Note the sloped back, and the rim for the glue.

231805-Dash07.jpg

The front. These things are very well crafted...

231806-Dash08.jpg

Put them in place. You need to squeeze the big ones a bit to get them through, but no worries, they get right back in shape. Tape them firmly in place so you have your hands free for the glueing. Note the tissue, to prevent any accidents (glue, scratches). Obviously I covered the whole screen.

231807-Dash09.jpg

The arrows indicate the rim where the glue goes.

231811-Bison.jpg

Mighty Bison Power, must be good then, eh? grin.gif

I found it very practical to use a toothpick to apply the glue. Just dip it in the glue, and let it slide into the rim. Easy enough, but you do need steady hand. (Therefore not recommended on the day after the night before). tongue.gif

Let it dry for a bit (dependent on the glue you use). When the glue is dry, remove the tape and glue the parts that were covered by it. (You don't want to chance a rattle or the rings coming off after you reinstalled the dash so make sure they are firmly fixated.)

When that's dry, reassemble the cluster. (mind the plastic bit and the two torx screws).

231808-Dash10.jpg

Ready!

231809-Dash11.jpg

Back in the car... does that look good, or what? cool.gif

231810-Dash12.jpg

Gratuitous S8 dash shot... smirk.gif

All in all a pretty easy job to do. Just a little care, that's all!

And This is where I got them. Not the cheapest, but definitely the best looking ones! Very nice folks to deal with as well. 169144-ok.gif

Hi the link doesnt work for where you got them from. Does the place not trade anymore? Any one else got any suggestions?

Thanks

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You can also try these people

I Purchased on ebay, from the-tuning-shop-team,Interesting point,the speedo rings are the same size as on an Audi 80.

If you go to their shop,the pics they use are,from my motor,I personally am very happy with them.

Congrats on a very nice purchase,

Edited by topgolfer1
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  • 2 months later...

Hi there,

Stealer tip:

My local stealer suggested cutting off the 'cruciform' valve end that seems to cause so much blockage trouble. His view was that a)it blocks too easily, b)situated in the transmission tunnel there was virtually no likelyhood of water going UP the pipe anyway.

Might save a few damp feet!

Steve

Where / What is this. Would this give a passenger side undercarpet dampness ???

Ta,

Lee

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Hi Lee,

I think these are located in the front wheel arches. When I heard about this I had a look and discovered someone removed mine completely, leaving just the hole in the bodywork. This seems to make blockages less likely, I have never had standing water under the bonnet since I bought the car (1 year ago). Some have voiced concerns that the rubber grommets help protect the paintwork around the edge of the hole, so perhaps the best way is as suggested - keep them there but make the hose much shorter by chopping off the cruciform end.

Goz

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