For Sale - 2002 S8 *** PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION FULLY ***

[RICKY D]

It is with a heavy heart that I’m advertising Dolph for sale. For those that have been following my “progress” thread, it may not come as a complete surprise to know I’ve decided to give up on this project following a difficult time fixing issues and not having faith in garages to actually think outside the box and resolve issues. That combined with the growing number of “Sorry mate NLA” call backs from TPS has left me feeling defeated and I’m not prepared to throw any more money at it.

The final straw came in the last couple of weeks when an oil pressure warning symbol flashed up and appears to be the start of a dying engine. The car drives fine and doesn’t exhibit any issues but once up to full operating temperature after 20 to 30 minutes, the oil pressure and check oil level warning comes on. A new sensor was ordered from TPS but was on back order (now arrived) but whilst the pressure sensor was on back order from TPS we managed to source a spare used unit to test if the sensor was faulty, but the issue continued as before. Its highly unlikely both switches are faulty, so we came to the conclusion that the engine is toast.

I bought the car on Nov 5th, 2020, when it had 132k miles on it. 3 years later it is now only on 135k, as it was only used as a 3rd/4th car for weekend and show use. I am the tenth owner however, the previous owner bought it from a friend of his and 3 of the previous owners were father, uncle, and son. The history was a bit patchy, but it drove well enough, so I bought it.

I didn’t drive Dolph much until summer 2022 as I wanted to get the mechanical side of things in order first. In the last 18 months I have had the following work done.
1) New brake discs & pads front and rear. Genuine parts were NLA from TPS, so I settled on TRW which have been perfect after being recommended by some on the forum.
2) New suspension arms and bushes. Some of the bushes in the front were replaced with uprated polybushed items. The transformation from before to after was immense. I actually wanted to replace every bush under the car with them after this.
3) New budget coilovers fitted; TA Technix which are surprisingly comfortable. The old suspension was so bad that I thought if I get 2 years out of these that’s fine as the plan was to get my air suspension fitted by then.
4) Full Health check in May 2023 @134k by DS Autowerks who then carried out the below work.
5) Full timing belt kit replaced including thermostat.
6) Rocker cover gaskets replaced.
7) Service including oil & filter change.
8) A/C regassed
9) Coolant & antifreeze flush.

Annoyingly, after so much £££’s spent the car still developed a serious engine issue. The next big job I had planned on doing was a gearbox service but that never materialised. Ironically, I was reading through the forum a few months back and stumbled across a thread I started about engine conversions for the D2. I’ve always wanted to do that on one of these and I always said to myself that I’d put a VW golf R32 engine in longitudinally mounted with a huge turbo one day, but this has come at completely the wrong time. If I had more space for storage, I’d probably store this for a later date.

Other issues present with the car are creaking suspension. It’s been to 3 different garages, and they cannot diagnose it. I’ve had it blamed on the age of the car and been told it’s just something to get used to. The coilovers were also blamed even though it was making the same noise prior to them being fitted. There is some lacquer peel on the offside rear quarter which would require spraying. The front bumper has some damage to the lower valance and is partially cable tied and only noticeable up close. The drains are blocked up again. I’ve had them done twice in the past 3 years, but they will need a thorough going over again. I had a garage fit a used indicator unit earlier in the year, but it is partially faulty and makes loud clicking noises from time to time. I still have the old unit, which was better sounding, but the left turn indicator doesn’t auto cancel after turning. The headlights could do with another wet sand. I did them earlier in the year but ideally need some clear coat applied next time to seal in and protect the lens properly. There is a small ding on the driver’s door. Only noticeable in certain lights and at the right angle. It was something I had planned to get done by a paintless dent removal guy next year along with the lacquer peel. The panel under the steering wheel above the knee sags. I’ve tried a few methods, but nothing seems to last more than a few days and the weight of the unit drags it down on the left side again. It’s bodged up with a screw/nut solution for now but is still visible. The airbag light has appeared within the last couple of months. This disappears when there is a passenger in the front seat. The EML is on. This was looked at by DS Autowerks earlier in the year and they determined its either a faulty O2 sensor or a failing cat. Once it is reset it will normally come on again within a week. One of the Headlight level sensors has thrown up an error code on the dash. This appeared immediately after the coilovers were fitted. I asked for the garage to fix it, but they couldn’t get the part.

The car has the usual S8 equipment as well as the following options:
• Audi S8 in Dolphin Grey. Paint code LX7Z. Registered May 4th, 2002
• Swing grey interior.
• Solar panel sunroof
• Memory seat function for both driver and passenger
• Bi-xenon headlights
• Dark Myrtle wooden interior trim
• Servotronic
• Heated windscreen (although I have no idea if its still in the car or working)

I have also added the following items to the car. Full LED interior lights, chrome rear boot struts from a D3, chrome instrument cluster dial rings, D2 doctor brake block, D2 doctor rear boot bung, Marcel (Ronin on the forum) provided fixed led lights for the memory seat functions. He did an amazing job on these and is a nice little touch at night when the lights are on. It’s amazing how so many D’2’s do not have these working and never realised until he pointed it out…myself included.

As the car stands I have it lowered quite far down on my 20” MRR HR3 alloys. Before this I had the original 18” Avus wheels fully refurbished about a year ago with brand new tyres. They did less than 1000 miles before being put aside for the 20” stance wheels. I plan to keep both sets of these for other cars/projects, however if you really want the Avus wheels I’m sure we could reach an agreement. They will only be sold with the car at present and not by themselves as they’re in almost pristine condition with 8mm of tyre tread. This may change in the new year though.

The car is being offered to forum members for 1 week as is for £2k WITHOUT the Avus wheels. It still drives and runs but will need a new engine unless a miracle happens over Christmas. This is a bit punchy on price, but I want to recoup as much money from this as possible. After 1 week it will go on Facebook and eBay. After this period towards the end of January if the car isn’t sold it will be broken up for parts and the shell will be scrapped. I’ve already spoken to a local breaker and they are confident they will be able to give me £800 for the basic shell along with the cats. At worst they said it will be fetch £500 which means I will make up the other £1500 in parts. I’d rather I didn’t have to do this, but this is purely financial at this point. I’m not in a super rush to sell and if you were interested in the car, I could arrange something whereby it’s put aside for a reasonable period until you were able to take it away.

I have some other items for sale which I will throw in for free for a forum member. This includes the rear blind in grey plus switch, the rare 3.3 TDI reservoir cover, billet aluminium reservoir cap and the Porsche oil cap.

PM or reply directly if you have any questions.

Pictures below of it of it in various guises over the past 3 years. Private plate will be removed before sale/scrap.

[RICKY D]

And the pics...

[RICKY D]

UPDATE:

It may be too soon to say it’s a victory, however my friend convinced me to change to used oil pressure switch with the brand new TPS item I had and the oil pressure warning light has not appeared since.

I’ve been driving Dolph all day without issue. I’m not sure what this means for Dolph and I going forward in terms of our relationship, but I will keep driving her over the Christmas period and see how she behaves.

Observations from my mechanic pal; when he inspected the old switch it looked fine on the car whilst idiling but once fully up to temperature AND after being driven, he quickly pulled it on to the ramp and could see it was p*ssing out oil all down the filter housing. He theorised that the change in viscosity at its hottest temperature was enough to expose the faulty switch. It’s still early days but what are the chances if this was the culprit the first…and second time???

As of now, Dolph is currently withdrawn from sale until I’ve had more seat time. I’ve done nearly 100 miles today without a warning. It would flash up after 7/8 miles previously so fingers crossed

I think I’m falling in love all over again

[steamship]

Originally Posted by RICKY D

As of now, Dolph is currently withdrawn from sale until I’ve had more seat time.

All good news, and hopefully a full reprieve on what could have been its potential demise.

[RICKY D]

Nearly 600 miles completed over the Christmas period without issue

Once it ticks over to 136k that will be just shy of 1000 miles completed and then I will make a final decision. Im 99% certain I will still sell Dolph, but it will be a case of trying to work out what to advertise her for taking all the niggles into consideration.

In other news I just bought a new to me 2016 Audi S5 Black Edition. Supercharged goodness

[RICKY D]

Well, that's 136k miles and some change now completed

In the other thread MJ was right after all - Thank you!

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

It may well be the sensor then - they can be pretty erratic when they are failing, and get worse when they're hot. They fail sufficiently often that I keep a bunch of them in stock and change them as a matter of course when I take the engine out. They are only £6 or so, although they are a bit of a bugger to change. I'd try that before abandoning it.

Based on the opinion of a garage I've been using for a while I very nearly scrapped/broke this car

My main garage is a friend of mine and he was the one who eventually convinced me to try the NEW pressure switch (after MJ advised it as well ). He normally does the easier stuff such as brakes, oil & filter, service, etc. and the other garage normally does the more technical, labour intensive stuff.

The problem is the owners back gave out in the summer and he's not been in as often leaving his head mechanic to manage most jobs. He was the one who said the engine is scrap and the car is pretty much scrap too. I've since spoken to the owner because I was told it was the oil filter housing debris, failing that starved the engine of oil. He said it was purely a coincident, but the housing failing was not that actually that bad . It had only partially collapsed and there was some debris in the pan, but nothing the oil pump, gauze and filter couldn't handle. Failed timing chain guide pieces he's seen in sumps have been bigger. He was surprised the other mechanic dismissed my suggestion about changing the pressure switch considering the cost!!! At least it's done now for the new owner (if it sells!)


It's left me feeling quite sad actually. I'm getting rid of a car I love because I cannot find a garage good enough to work on these magnificent beasts. I've had a D2 of some form for 10 years now so I know how they're meant to feel when driving but trying to convince a garage to investigate stuff is getting increasingly tiresome. At least I will still have my Green Beast for a little while longer...

[donp38]

What a result!
Fab. Well done MJ.

Should have been a straightforward diagnostics... plenty of independents...time to get a new one I think?