2007 S8 restoring to its former glory

A8 All/ S8 All
#16

Coming up to 48hrs after working on the front suspension and replacing the front LH strut and all its not well.

Quick recap, the front end of the car was dropping (both sides pretty equally) when I purchased the car. When I stripped the suspension out I found that the LHS was the original and the RHS was an Arnott replacement build 11/15. I have no record from the PO of, if or when he replaced the RHS, but guess it was around 35-40k ago based on the dates on the Carfax.

So the car is dropping as follow at arpund 48 hrs standing:

LHF (New remanufactured Arnott) 7-10mm
RHF (35-40k old Arnott) 20-25mm
LHR (OEM 20k old) 0-3mm (I think it just settled slightly after my initial measurement)
RHR (Original) 5mm

I sprayed the RHF with soapwater and cant see any leaks, to be honest I think the LHF dropping is the sway bar pulling it down when the RHF is losing air.

I have ordered a remanufactured Arnott for the RHF, should be here by the weekend.

In the meantime, I will start the car again and pump up the suspension and disengage the front sway bar and disconnect the battery and measure again over the next day or so.

#17

So there is a leak in the air system. but your not sure if its the air shocks or not.

#18

Great posts by the way. lots of good work.

#19

Thanks Justin, working on these cars is a pleasure.

I think the RHF strut is leaking and with the sways attached it was pulling down the LHF. Last night I disconnected the sways and the battery. This should give me a more accurate guide as to whether that assumption is true.

I also think I have a very slow leak on the RHR, which is the original Audi strut so at 95k and 10 yrs it is probably on borrowed time!

#20

As mentioned I disconnected the front sways and the results after 48hrs are as follows:

LHF (New remanufactured Arnott) 10mm drop
RHF (2yr old/35k Arnott) 33mm drop
LHR (OEM ) 10mm raise
RHR (Original 95k) 14mm drop

Interesting that with the sway disconnected the rear left raised, I guess it is basically like a table with a short leg, you press down on that corner and the opposing corner lifts. The RHR original shock is showing some signs of age and I think I will keep an eye on it.
The interesting one is the LHF which I just replaced with a remanufactured Arnott. This weekend I will check the valve block and the airline connection to the shock to be sure that id good. Maybe that level of drop is to be expected. I’m not totally comfortable by it, but at the same time I don’t see the value in replacing struts on these aging cars with OEM at a cost of $1,800 a go. Trying to be pragmatic, if it means my compressor works a bit harder and every few years I have to replace that then so be it. My wife has a 1yr old Grand Cherokee, and that automatically lowers itself around 25mm every time you get out of it and the pumps it back up every drive, so I guess my 5mm a day shouldn’t be an issue.

I trust Arnott on the replacement warranty if the problem worsens, I called them about the bad shock and if I could have proved purchase they would have replaced it under their warranty, which is pretty good service considering I wasn’t the original buyer. Unfortunately, I don’t have any record of purchase and attempts to contact the PO has failed. I also had Arnott’s on my wifes previous GL450 with no issues.

As its only an hr or so’s work to replace them, maybe that is the price to pay to keep a a 10yr old top of the range Audi that’s worth 15% of its original list price on the road without breaking the bank. I guess time will

#21

So I’m pretty sure I have found my leak issue.

I pulled the inner fender out and checked the valves solenoid block, as mentioned before it was replaced by the PO, so expected that as it was replaced by Audi it would be good. Pumped up the suspension and sprayed the valve with soap water. So as you can guess bubbles came up around the green hose, you guessed it the front right. There was also over time very fine bubbles around the other fittings. Which would explain the very slow drop on a few of the others.
I tried tightening it slightly which only made the bubbles worse.
On removing the fitting it was clear to see the O ring was hardened and flattened and I guessed original and wasn’t replaced with the valve block. I checked online and it looks like Audi sell the brass fitting with the O ring and not separate, at a ridiculous price of $55 each. With 6 fittings it’s not surprising they don’t get replaced. I found one of a similar size in my workshop, fitted it and it was bubble free. So a trip to the auto store tomorrow for 6 O rings for a few $ should fix the issue.

I’ll report back on the outcome

#22

I actually just read about that today. That the pump seals can crack and cause a leak at the pump. That sounds like what you have.

#23

The original hardened O ring with clear fitting witness indents on the right, and Napa’s closest replacement for 40 cents.

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/453777287.jpg

#24

Well the 40 cent fix seems to have fixed the slow drop/leaks

#25

Well I am glad to say that finally the car is on the road and I love it ;D

I have it booked into Audi tomorrow to have a 4 wheel alignment and the Adaptive Cruise Control calibrated.

So far so good, no warning lights, no suspension dropping, no fluid leaks………….im a happy man.

Purchase a fuse tap this morning so I can hardwire in my V1 radar detector this evening, jobs still to do:

  1. Fix the trunk motor that wont auto open
  2. Work out why the home link buttons don’t seem to work
  3. Do a transmission, front, rear and center diff oil change
#26

D6lc Brilliant restoration your doing, you are a man of focus, commitment and sheer will.
:slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

I am sure ones the restoration is complete, your ride will be diamond rock solid :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Since the car is Quattro (four-wheel-drive system) i think the gearbox will have a transfer case.
i am not sure but i am researching on it, incase it has, then its a good idea to change its oil aswell.(if its serviceable)

#27

Thank you for the note. I know when Im looking at buying a car I like to read these forums for an idea of what is involved in looking after them.

Having owned the car for a month now and working on it, I would say its pretty easy to work on and people should not be put off either buying one or working on one. When you open the hood for the first time that huge engine and all the electronics can be a little intimidating. Not to mention the wallet crushing cost of taking it to an Audi dealer.

#28

Latest update, I’ve been driving the car for a few days now and it really is a beautiful car, so smooth and comfortable.

So as a reminder when i purchased the car the Adaptive Cruise didnt work, the selling Audi dealer confirmed that it needed adaption and priced the car accordingly.

As the adaptation also involves a 4 wheel alignment I was waiting to finish the suspension work (upper control arms, tie rod ends and struts). So the car was booked in with Audi MN, was pleasantly suprised when they confirmed their fixed price of $249 for the job, especially as when i was reading up on other posts to see people being quoted $400-800 for the job.

So the car was dropped off on Tuesday, with the “it takes a few hours and we will call you”, honestly i expected a ca’. to say “before we can do the adaption you need all this other work doing” with a quote for $$$$.
Midday got a call to say, the 4 wheel alignment adaption has been completed but on the test drive the ACC doesnt seem to work and you can either come and collect it or we can look into it further my heart sank, and I had that put of my stomach fear that this was going to cost a fortune. I asked them to look into it further.
By the end of the day Tuesday they called to say they hadnt got a chance to look at it again, so Tuesday night i searched the web for costs of the front sensor which discounted costs $3000, i feared the worst.

Got the call from Audi Wednesday lunchtime to say the car is done, and that the sensor needed some more adjustment and re-adaption. And to add to the relief it cost $249 as originally quoted vs them adding more labor.

Picked the car up yesterday afternoon, and the ACC works great, steering is now perfectly straight and life is good.

Looking forward to tackling the next jobs, some more pre-emptive maintenance, a few convenience jobs and some cosmetics. Right now im going to enjoy driving a fully functioning, non leaking S8 :slight_smile:

#29

I didn’t do a lot to the car this weekend apart from driving it around and enjoying it. As we are coming into fall here in MN I opened the sunroof to enjoy the fresh air.

And as many of you will have experienced, I have the groaning sunroof wind deflector motor/mechanism. Which is a real pain as the automated deflector based on speed is a really good idea, basically it adjusts as you drive and you get a buffet free car. So unlike most cars you don’t need to crack a window open.

However the downside is that the motor is constantly working to adjust the deflector, so you get to enjoy the constant groaning. I decided to have a look at mine, to get to it you need to remove the dome light/switch cluster.

First pry out the light covers, they pivot from the rear (in relation to the car) so pry them from the front as shown.

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/375472540.jpg

Sorry but this pic has been rotated 90 degrees to the left

With those removed you can see the 2 torx screws inside the lights, remove those, then you can pull the complete cluster down. I didn’t make a note but I think the cluster pivots from the rear.

With the cluster out you can see the deflector motor, moving the sunroof back and forth you will hear the noise all to well. I found that angling my motor slightly reduced the grinding to almost inaudible (other have dome this mod if you do a search). I just packed out the RHS of the motor with a ~2-3mm plastic strip as shown below. It’s a crude bodge to say the least, and I am sure the correct fix is a new motor but it works perfect and for the few months a year when the weather here is good enough to have the sunroof open.

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/751936424.jpg

Again sorry but this pic is rotated 180 degrees, the spacer for me was to the right when you sit in the car.

It was a quick 10 minute job, went for a drive and I couldn’t hear the motor at all, just turbulence free 65 degree driving pleasure 

#30

awesome updates!

#31

Thank you sir

Some more work this weekend, I have the common weak trunk motor, meaning it would not open without some help, but would close. The very latest version on the motor has a cast metal casing, with a larger 201Nm motor, this has a part number ending in H, mine was the older plastic casing 188Nm motor, part number ending in G. I presume with age hinges wear and need more force to open, + the plastic casing flexes slightly allowing the clutch mechanism in the motor to slip.
If you search the inter web you can find some mods to fix the trunk even with the older motor. One of the fixes is to add a spring to the LHS hinge bump stop, I tried a few springs and got it to work, you need a spring strong enough to help the LHS to lift enough to help the weak motor, but not so strong that the trunk won’t auto close.
I got one to work but it was inconsistent and didn’t seem to work every time.
Another fix is to strip the old motor and add some abrasive 120 grit sanding disc to the clutch plate, I didn’t bother trying that one.

I found a later H version motor on EBay shipped for $310, takes 10 minutes to fit, just remove the 2 outer 13mm headed bolts under the the RHS hinge (don’t remove the central painted bolt, that is to adjust the hinge).

I now have a fully functioning electric trunk :slight_smile:

#32

After all the work, treated the car to a detail

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/873132416.jpg

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/354984911.jpg

#33

Replaced the Start Stop button, worked fine but annoying when they wear

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/884737137.jpg

Super simple 10 minute job, remove the ashtray, then removed the torx screw behind it as shown

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/558019279.jpg

Once the screw is out pull the ash tray frame out and disconnect the electrical connection. Then you can just pull the center console trim up and forward to remove.
Replacing the switch is straight forward, 1 torx and a small brass pin, sorry I didn’t take a pic of that, but it is obvious

#34

So my front right (2 year old 40-50k Arnott) strut seems to still be leaking as its seems to be dropping. Checked the valve block and I can see anything, so it looks like that needs replacing.

#35

WOW good to know it was that simple. Also thanks for the pictures I’m sure that will be useful in the future.