While I was looking at the suspension after pulling the wheel to get that darned CV Axle out, I noticed the outer tie rod end was in sad shape. . . Grab it with my hand to see how much play there was, and I realized that it WASN'T the CV Axle after all, it was the darned tie rod end. . . Returned the CV Axle, picked up a tie rod end, and started in. Got all the bolts out, tried to "Push the tie rod end out of the spindle" like the Haynes manual suggested, didn't move. Started with the BFH mod. . . No luck. I just sprayed it down with PB Blaster (again), and hopefully the rest of this fix will go easy. Wound up costing me about $50 less than the CV Axle did, so now I have the extra funds to get the new DV ordered. . . About to place the order in just a second here.

While I was out there, I started looking at all the piping for the turbo, no breaks, cracks, or loose clamps like I had hoped for, and the intercooler doesn't appear to be damaged, so maybe it IS as simple as a new DV to get this thing running the way it should. I'm really hoping it's that easy, I'm not looking forward to going too much farther into the workings of this car. . . I've already got too much money wrapped up into it, and I've had offers to buy it from my Mom and a close friend.

I'm still only about $1,700 into the car though (including purchase price), so I'm in good shape so far. Whatever I sell it for, I'll be making a profit. lol

 

Just ordered the 710N DV from ECS Tuning, cost me $54 and some change, including UPS Next Day Air shipping, so I should be able to get the DV replaced tomorrow. I will report back after I get the DV installed.

 

Hope that boost comes back when you change DV and that you will keep the car . Yes, be sure to unplug the battery after you change DV, 10 seconds is enough. You`ll get unstable idle when you do that but after some driving throttle will calibrate.

In Limp you`ll get 4psi, so even than you`ll notice improvement .

 

I'm kinda pissed at the car right now. . . Bought the CV Axle, pulled the wheel to get started swapping it in, noticed the tie rod end was destroyed, so I returned the CV Axle and bought a replacement tie rod end. . . Swapped it out, turned the wheel all the way to the left (full lock left turns made the clicking noise before) and pulled forward. . .

Wouldn't you know it, the clicking is still there. . .

So far, I'm out $20 for the tie rod end, $70 for the CV Axle, $55 for the new DV, and all the routine maintenance I've done in the past. . .

I just hope I can get all this taken care of before my trip this weekend. If I don't, we're driving the Blazer up north, and that's just not gonna be any fun at all. . . lol

 

Damn a lot of problems with audis . I`m just afraid that something might be wrong with turbo. Now it is late but you can test DV by removing it and blow or put finger on vacuum line on DV and push diaphragm to see is it good.

 

I was going to do the upgrade anyway, so there's really no point in bothering with it now. . . I'll test the new one before I put it in, and I'll test the old one right after I take it out. I'm just hoping that's what the problem is. . .

It's sad, but I'm looking at Subaru's now. I'd REALLY like to get an Impreza WRX with the 2.0 Turbo/5 speed and AWD. . . That's a bit expensive though, and I'm not going to buy anything like that unless I KNOW that's what I want. I'm going to give the Audi a try, I'd really like to be able to enjoy it, but if it's going to be a never-ending money pit, I'm going to have to look for something a bit newer with fewer miles. . .

 

Is there anybody local to me (Lenawee County, MI) that may be willing to help me out tracking down and eliminating possible boost leaks? I'm thinking about replacing ALL of the factory hose clamps with screw-type clamps. . . That should be a fun little project.

Also, anyone with a VAG-COM in the area, I think I could really use a hand getting this thing fixed. My cruise control isn't working, and it would be REALLY nice to see what the ECM is reading as far as requested vs. measured boost. . .

 

Well, just got a visit from the brown truck, my DV is here! Unfortunately, I only got a little over 2 hours of sleep, and today IS one of my days off, so I'm going to go back to bed, and I'll tackle these projects this afternoon.

Updates to follow. Maybe I'll get frisky and get video of before and after the DV is replaced. . .

 

Boost back?

 

Nope. Vacuum is, it's sitting at 16-20inHG of vacuum at idle, still only spools up to 1psi at 4k RPM's. . . And the turbo can't be heard spooling while driving, you can hear that it's moving, so the turbo is alright, but something is preventing it from boosting properly. A friend of mine thinks the wastegate is stuck open, I'm thinking he may be right. . . If it was simply a boost leak, I should still hear the turbo spooling up, and (possibly) noise from the leaking area. I inspected all the hoses I could get to, I didn't see any damage, cracks, dry rot, anything like that.

I'm going to get a home-made boost leak tester put together tonight, hopefully I can get the boost figured out tomorrow. I really don't want to take the Blazer on our trip, it's an extremely inefficient vehicle. . .


Any advice? I'm about to start pulling out my hair. . .