New S6 Owner & Project

A6 All/ S6 All
#1

Well after lurking heavily on here the last couple weeks, it’s time to finally post something!

After loving these cars for a long time, I just bought myself a black 2007 S6 with 81,000km a couple weeks ago and love it! I used to have a 2005 A6 S-Line with the 4.2L and had a lot of fun with it, however this is a totally different beast!

After combing through here it became apparent that aside from the performance upgrades I’ve been eyeing, I’ll also need to do a good round of maintenance. I then also a few days ago got a check engine light, code P2006 bank 1 flaps stuck closed. Up until that point it had been running great and smooth, little to no misfires.

I got my hands on the last 25,000km of service records for it and combed through everything and did find the motors on the IM have been replaced a couple times so I’m going to go ahead and assume it is shot and needs replaced. The previous owner had an extended warranty so it seems everything was kept up on fairly well but definitely hasn’t had the full once over or a real carbon clean (just one of the spray a bottle in the intake type has been done). I want to do everything right the first time and just do most of it in one round so everything is all fresh going forward and I can just enjoy the car!

So the list I’ve compiled is:

  • Carbon Cleaning Tool Kit X 2
  • Carbon Cleaning Solution X 2
  • Intake Manifold
  • JHM Intake Spacers With Additional Pair Of Gaskets
  • Coil Packs (OEM) X 10
  • Spark Plugs (OEM) X 10
  • JHM Cleaned, Flowed & Resealed Injectors
  • JHM Lightweight Crank Pulley
  • Serpentine Belt (OEM)
  • Oil Separator to Valve Cover Vent Hose (OEM) (Current one is cracked)
  • Both Valve Cover Gaskets (OEM)
  • K&N Air Filter X 2
  • JHM Cat-Back Exhaust
  • JHM Tuning
  • JHM Flashing Cable

I’m going to do all the maintenance and associated upgrades first and have it all cleaned up and running perfectly first and get some KM in then I’ll add in the exhaust and tune. Like I said though, until the check engine light it was running very nicely so I don’t have anything to give me major concerns but I’d rather go a little over the top on freshening things up while I’m already in there then have to go back and tear things down again.

One question (among the many more to come) is in regards to VAG COM and what my best option will be for that.
I came across this one on ECS that’s currently on sale for $150 but what I’m wondering is if this is as powerful and equivalent to the Ross-Tech system or if it will have limitations compared to it. Or if there’s a better option that either of these, just let me know.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben-by-foxwell-parts/professional-vw-audi-scan-tool/007868sch01b~scf/

I’m super excited to get playing with this thing, it’s a lot of fun even in it’s stock form and can’t wait to wake it up and have even more fun! Also I’ve been loving the fun of a powerful NA engine, I forgot how much fun not having turbo lag and an instant significant amount of power can be! I haven’t really went deep into a gas performance build as I’ve been playing with diesel trucks the last while so will be fun to switch it up and I’m sure I’m going to benefit greatly from all the informative posts on here to help me through a lot of these jobs!

Anyways if there’s anything I’m missing that should be included in this list, just let me know.

#2

Correction…

I’m sure I’m going to benefit greatly from all the informative posts on here…

Not sure how that became beit and also no idea how to edit my post haha.

#3

Welcome! Looks like you’ve done A LOT of reading then because that list pretty much is the right way to go.

One thing I think is worth adding is while you have the intake off, do yourself a favor and replace this vent hose while everything is taken apart. Unless you have access to a smoke machine this is one of those things that you’ll second guess yourself on after putting it all back together and further down the line the car develops a vacuum leak and your left wondering if it split. For only $100 USD more, I think it’s money well spent.

As far as a VCDS replacement, I don’t know how good that specific scanner is going to be with these cars given the fact that we have 2 ECUs. Personally, I’ve been eyeing up ODBEleven for a while now but don’t know if it’ll do much good with our setups when it comes to diagnosing something more in depth.

#4

VCDS is the “pro version” of something like OBDEleven or Carista… It’s the only way to go if you’re serious about digging into error codes and logs. It’ll also clear codes from both ECU’s. :wink:

Pricey though.

#5

The $200 variety is what I have: https://store.ross-tech.com/shop/vchv2_ent/

Works great and has already paid for itself in a few months. You will need a laptop running Windows to use it…

#6

Welcome to the site and congratulations.

As others have already said your list is the way to go for 100% These cars are fantastic once brought back up to proper running condition and from your list you look like your on that path.

If you can look into a car fax or possible maintenance history that would be helpful as there are little things like the fuel filter that might not be a bad add on.

Performance wise once you have done the JHM performance add ons your car is on par with great cars like the RS4 and that’s saying a lot given the bigger platform of the S6.

Looking at the scan tool. If you just want a generic tool even the foxwell is a taste over priced. I have the pro version of the https://store.ross-tech.com/shop/vchv2_ent/ For 50$ extra you get an incredible about of extra options and abilities with the ross-tech tool.

If you want to do your car and maybe a few friends cars then the limited car ability on the ross tech might be a deal breaker but overall for user ability your going to be able to unlock 200$ worth of hacks with your ross tech tools in things you can adjust in the car alone. So that would be the suggested way to go if your asking me.

#7

b.e.n.e.f.i.t. is purposely changed to “beit” for whatever reason. I’d ask God why that is, although he doesn’t seem to lurk in this particular section. :stuck_out_tongue:

Anyways, welcome and it sounds like you’ve got a solid list of performance and maintenance mods! That’s great, and I’d say the biggest challenge is getting the car caught up on maintenance due to previous owners either doing subpar maintenance or none at all. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! I’d say I’ve asked some fairly dumb questions and no one barked at me too bad. lol

#8

Hey no question is dumb. We are all hear to really help one another. Usually you only get drama with trolls and people who just like to argue.

The word your trying to type is part of a list of banned words or banned section of words. I think this is part of a way to keep the site on some search good lists or helps ban forge sites or links from when the site was new. once you know its part of the banned list I just use a different word like advantage or gain etc etc

#9

Right on thanks for the pointers guys, will definitely add that other vent hose to the list and I’m going to go back through all the service records again & double check for other items like fuel filter and such, just mainly focussed on the big things first scan through.

Also looks like I’ll be going the VCDS route for diagnostics set up, seems to be the consensus. Has anybody had any experience with the Hex-Net system?

https://store.ross-tech.com/shop/vchn_10/

It is definitely a little more expensive than the Hex-V2 cable set up however the idea of just leaving that in the car and being able to scan it with my iPhone if something comes up when I’m out isn’t so bad. However then there’s the reality of how often am I really going to need this feature, hopefully very rarely if ever but definitely a nice option to have.

As for the word that wasn’t working, I was trying to type b e n e f i t but I guess that’s a banned word haha. We’ll see if this even works or if I just keep typing more posts about beit lol.

#10

The hex 2 is going to be enough, There are several people that have the wireless option but to be honest. Its not really needed and once you have everything soted out on the car you probably wont use the actual cable or unit more than one a year. in a ideal world you would never really need it because the car will be running in top shape.

The added features like module coding are things you generally do when you get the car to customize it but again after you have done that your not really going to need it again. So for me. I would say save you money and spend it on the maintenance and performance items for the car.

If you like the more techy side and the extra money isnt an issue its not a bad way to go but over all its probably not something your going to need over the hex 2

#11

Just finished doing most of that sans JHM pulley, tune etc…
Careful removing RF torx bold from the pass side valve cover so as not to break the radiator neck… Ask me how I know… then discovered that the Aux radiator also had a tiny leak… so changed that too. After 120k miles my radiator plastic was dry / brittle and probably would have given way on some long trip anyway, so I don’t feel too bad about breaking it and led me to find aux radiator leak too. I added a thin coat of Toyota gasket sealer to the valve cover gaskets.
Fuel filter is located forward of pass side rear wheel. The connector are an origami puzzle that I even forget how they work… but you basically push down to release them.
vagcom is the way to go on code reader / programmer. They’ve been at this forever.
I’d recommend spending $$ on getting everything perfect before adding mods… the car is pretty good right out of the box. And once you’ve spent $$ and time on all the mtce. stuff you may be a little more tired and a little lighter in the wallet than you had planned for.

Good luck!

#12

WOW lots of work on your end. The JHM tune and pulley package along with all the other work you did should really wake the car back up. One neat thing about the JHM tune is that its adaptive. Not only will it feel and sounds better out of the box but give it a few days to adapt. The car will get faster and stronger

#13

It also apparently adapts to higher octane fuel… but I’ve yet to try this out myself… Has anyone in here run a 100+ octane fuel?

#14

I tried mixing 110 octane with 1/2 tank of 91 that was already in the tank (there was a gas station that had 100/110 and some leaded racing fuel at the pumps in Fargo ND)

Noticed a bit more power up top and better highway fuel mileage… not night and day, but about 2mpg better than usual.

#15

Nice. Now that I know for sure that I won’t be the first guinea pig, I’ll be trying that next time we go to the track. Thanks.

#16

Same here. But I run the JHM 93 tune on my S4 you see a nice bump in power by adding 100 unleaded. Make sure to not add in leaded gas as it WILL cause issues sooner or later with your 02s and since some of your 02s can’t be easily changed without pulling the motor It would be best to not ever add a leaded gas to the car.

#17

With the craziness of December I haven’t had a chance to get on here for an update for a while so here it is…

I received my full order from JHM just before Christmas including the exhaust which was supposed to take 7-8 weeks so that was an awesome surprise! I also ended up going ahead with RossTech HEX-V2 for my VCDS so all set there too.

So now that the holidays are all done I finally have the time to tear into the car so today I got the bumper and headlights off so it’s prepped and ready to start on in the morning. Just wondering though if anybody has directions on fully removing the front core for doing the pulley, belt and SAI delete? I believe that I read on here previously that this can be done with keeping everything intact in it and removing the core as one piece but haven’t been able to find instructions on doing so. I have the factory manual but also haven’t had any luck finding it in there either as it just goes through removing the rad and such but not the full core support. So maybe I’m making this up and it does need to just taken apart but thought I’d check in on here first to get some direction.

One other question, in regards to the SAI delete…I’m planning on doing everything but the exhaust and tuning to start then put a few km on to make sure it’s all good then do the exhaust and very shortly after, the tuning. So what I’m wondering is if I should leave the SAI delete unit I do the tuning or just do it with everything else and know that I’m going to get codes from it until I put the JHM tuning on?

Other then that I think I’m pretty well set to dive into it all however I’m sure I’ll come across many other questions as I get going.

#18

I would do the SAI delete with the front of the car off, much much easier. TBH I’m not sure you could do that mod without the front clip removed.

I took the whole core support out with ease, most guys just put the car in service position which just slides the core forward.

I took out the rad cradle and there’s a few bolts on top, and you have to remove the bumper shocks as well. You’ll have to be careful with the a/c condensor lines and make sure you note how they are routed (just saves time when reassembling)

I didn’t use a factory manual or any DIY guides when removing it. I’d have to look at pictures to tell you a step by step method, but from what I remembered it was pretty straight forward.

#19

Work with JHM regarding the tune and codes for SAI delete. They can send you a tune that doesn’t throw codes for SAI delete.

#20

Progress Update…

So I’ve managed to get myself most of the way through the core support removal, it’s almost there but not quite yet. Issue I’m having is with the power steering cooling line, manual says that it can just be moved aside but it definitely doesn’t have enough slack to move very far. When you removed your core support murphenur (or any of you other guys that have also removed it) were you able to just move that line out of the way or did you have to pull it off and end up draining a bunch of power steering fluid off? Also did you pull the A/C condenser off the core support and set it aside to fully remove the core or just keep it all intact and set aside as one piece to keep the A/C lines all connected. Just wondering what the best way to go about it so I don’t make extra work for myself and/or break stuff lol.

My apologies in advance for all the questions (and very likely many more future questions) that will probably be for some fairly basic stuff but this is the first Audi I’ve worked on and will definitely be the furthest I’ve ever dove into the mechanical side of things on a car so just taking it slow and trying to not rack up too big of an extra parts bill hahaha.

Oh and smith6 I am already set up with JHM for the SAI deleted tuning however the tune is going to be the last thing I do so will just most likely have to clear a code or two for the SAI while I put a few KM on in-between finishing this first round of stuff and loading up the tune.

Also one other thing I’m noticing during my tear down is that I appear to have a oil leak, seems to be a common theme around here haha. Looks to be fairly minor and may just be the seal on the pan along the front edge but once I get the core off I’ll get a better look and will try to upload a few pics to get some feedback.

Thanks in advance for all the help on this guys, can’t wait to get this thing all back together!