For Sale - 2004 Audi S4 Cabriolet

[ainarssems]

As you say the important thing is that roof works now and it did not cost me anything other than my time. I am still a bit worried it might throw a fault at some point as you are pretty sure it was motor but I think it was latch microswitch. Weak battery might have played part as well if the roof was operated with the engine not running and voltage dropped under load and motor draw too many amps.

There are several reason I think motor or in fact the whole pump has been replaced some time in the past. I already mentioned that motor looks very fresh inside but it could be due to roof being used very little not because it was replaced. Other clues are oil under pump and it's old dried up sticky oil not fresh leaks so I think it's the oil that escaped from hoses when replacing pump and not cleaned up. The last one is 'Approved' sticker on the pump which I think might mean approved warranty claim replacement.

The sliding flap does have at least one tab/pin broken, I can get it partially closed but not fully. It's best just to replace it. New one from dealer £86 but I have sent messages for several sellers breaking A4 Cabriolets for parts on e-bay for a price quote.

All the garages are closed on Sunday so I went to Halfords for their free AC check. Does not seem like they now what they are doing. Opened bonnet, they had a look said they cannot do anything and I need to go to garage. I asked why - they could not find ports. I showed them where they are, they connected bottle with the gauge, it showed 0 pressure in system so advised that system is completely empty and while they can charge it for £50 it could all escape very soon and stop working again. I decided to try my luck. So they started filling it but when pausing filling it would still show 0 pressure in system so he advised to stop filling as it looks like there is a big leak and whatever he fills in escapes straight away and did not charge me anything. Went home checked pressure again on VCDS, it now shows 4 bar instead of 1 so it does not escape as soon as fast as being filled in. If fact now it has enough pressure to start AC but not enough to provide any meaningful cooling. Will check pressure again tomorrow again to se iff it is dropping and how much also it is hard to judge part filled system as the pressure will change considerably depending on ambient temp.

[paulrstaylor]

Isn’t it normal to vacuum evacuate the system and see if it holds!? It does sound like they were lacking clue, but hopefully a second cheap fix for you too

[ainarssems]

Yes that would be normal procedure but garages were closed on Sunday and Halfords shops only do filling from a DIY kind of kit from a small bottle.



Anyway dropped car 8am Monday morning at local garage and collected Tuesday morning 8am. They checked all lines, joints and parts that are accessible for signs of UV dye leak, did not find any so either no leaks in any visible places or no dye has been added in previous fill ups. Then did extended time nitrogen pressure test, then vacuum test and after finding no leaks finally charged it up also adding UV dye to make easier to find any leaks in future. Wallet is £64.80 lighter but S4 now has fully working AC. I know I could have had it re-charged cheaper especially with Groupon coupons but these days I have no time to mess a around, wait for booking and drive the distance so for the £30 or so quid I could have saved I chose to save my time.




Saturday night when wife and kids returned from holiday she said she was not impressed with my purchase and said I have wasted money for old 'junk', calmed down a bit when I explained that I got it at reasonable price with a look at selling it at higher price and enjoying car in process for a while and have already fixed biggest flaw - the non working roof. Somehow Sunday she could not wait to get behind wheel and later to go round friend houses to show off. She was also disappointed Monday morning that I have taken car to garage and she could not drive it to work. She took it to work this morning and was picking up colleague who's car had starter motor broken down so I suggested she should seize the opportunity plug it for sale. The answer was : "Sell A6, I want to keep this!". She's becoming addicted to the sound of Mliltek.

[paulrstaylor]

Second cheap fix The noise is addictive for sure, I am glad that it is growing on her

[ainarssems]

I was going to start a new thread about it but for the sake of continuity I think I will just continue here.

Not so sure about the second cheap fix; I have not tested pressures but it seems like AC already is not as cool as it was after recharging. A least garage put UV dye in so if it is leaking it should be easier to find a leaks if there are any.

The trim bit with sliding cover was hard to find with any breakers either not responding, saying that they do not have it or that they have sold complete interior or it being wrong colour, i finally got it for £40, not cheap but better than £86 from dealer.

Also replaced adjustable height roof compartment in boot as it was broken beyond repair. Got replacement for £30+5.99P&P which was a great price considering dealer price is £450+ but it was not without it's problems. In the end I made one out of 2 and a bit of glue that actually works , looks the part and does not rattle.

Attacked deteriorated headlight covers sanding them down and re-coating with UV protective lacquer. Looks a million bucks better.

Also spent a lot of time on roof. It was not looking bad , just not black enough but it had some moss/lichen in it. I washed it with cleaner, sponge and brush first, looked a lot better first while wet but a lot worse when dried out as mildly soiled areas cleaned up well but others stood out more. Next step pressure whasher, that got rid of most of green stuff, then copper sulphide solution to kill any remaining moss lichen and the a coat of Fabsil water repellent. 2 weeks later any remaining discoloured bits have one and water just rolls off.

Started cleaning leather seats. They did not look too bad to start with but leather were hard and was getting got worse as I was cleaning it. Rears where not too bad but fronts seems to be possibly covered with some kind of sealant in the past which has soaked up lot of dirt. Rears cleaned up fine with Woolite but for the fronts Woolite was removing some stuff but not other so they became more patchy and worse looking. Next step much more intense citrus+alkaline cleaner which did decent job but made already dry and hard leather even dryer and harder. Several coats of conditioner + red dye they are coming up pretty good but just keep up soaking conditioner so will need couple of more goes.

Also replaced battery cove( did I mention Paul put in new battery in the morning I collected? ) , this is cheap from dealer @ ~£8.50 but I just bought one online for £12.50 with delivery to save time and fuel going to dealers.

Valve cover gaskets were delayed in post from Germany but finally got them yesterday and hopefully will replace them tomorrow which should eliminate oil from leaking on exhaust manifolds and causing dreadful stench.

After that it should be pretty much sorted apart from rust on front wings and shone chips. I have put a sale price in window of £4395 to attract potential buyers but have not advertised it anywhere as I want to sort the leather and valve cover gaskets first.

So far I have had 2 interested persons to bu it but no serious bites.

The way it is now I have advertised it for £4395, this will include both front wing rub down, rust repair, repaint and do the front bumper at the same time as well as it's got a lot of stone chip damage. Or £4k as is or £4.8k with new wings + bumper repainting.

I guess Ian is releaved I won it and saved him a lot of graft.

If anybody from forum is interested I am open do discussion but would not deviate much from my £4k/£4.4K/£4.8k price points mentioned earlier

[ainarssems]

Other than that car has been absolute blast. I guess season is over now and I will not sell it cheaply so will probably enjoy it till spring when convertible market picks up. While it is almost 200kg heavier than saloon equivalent do to extra steel they have put it floor the centre of gravity is much lower so it corner very well and flat.

[ainarssems]

If I do keep it till spring I am worried I will kill tyres by then and will need to fit another set, they already are showing wear on edges which was not there when I picked it up.

As far as fuel consumption goes it did 28.9mpg on DIS on the run home from Manchester mostly in slow traffic 40-50mph without muchh start /stops. But the local blast brought it down to 12 mpg, while not as good as S8 with 14-16mpg but lot more fun going flat around corners.