[Blackbolt]

Originally Posted by manishkapadia

A mod like this on a pre owned car is definately not for the faint hearted. Heck even buying a pre owned German is not for the faint hearted. I remember how many times we have OBD scanned this one in anticipation of lesser errors. But the car is now kickass , almost Lusty. Pickup is bonkers . Nazaar utaar lo bhai iski.

Hahaha, yes those were scary days. We use to clear the errors in the evening and next day I use to drive to work and back and scan again for issues which we had to fix.

I still remember you taking a screenshot of the errors the car once threw which was upwards of 50 - right after the abs module change and I almost fainted. You sent it to me for a laugh later on!

(Most of them went away after clearing the errors ..fyi)

[Wakeup99]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Oh man that’s painful to go through so much and that too when it’s a garage owners car which should have been maintained immaculately!

Did you buy this from Jignesh of Viper Performance?

Nope can't be his.
This is an Audi A6 c7.

What Jignesh/Viper Performace had for sale was an Audi A6 c6. A completely different car.

[bigbearddriver]

What an impressive story. Motivates me to write about my experience with an A6 2.0 TDI that I have been driving for a year.

Please let me know from where did you find this wheel lining part? I want to order one for my car.

Originally Posted by Blackbolt

Also, had ignored the missing wheel lining part, which started making the engine bay dirty.

Attachment 2368722

[Blackbolt]

Well, it’s been a while since I updated this thread! Wondering if the title should read “Saga of owning a 10 year old German project car!” Well I guess you’ll would have got the drift that something else went wrong and it sure did. Right after I had posted this thread, basked in the sunlight of good comments; it gave me more armour to be patient. And then it struck…

I was returning from work in last week of November cruising () down sea link… I had taken an hour to reach sea link from Colaba thanks to Mumbai traffic and had to attend to natures call. I switch off the engine immediately after crossing the toll. come back to start the engine, it cranks a couple of times and then starts, I’m like starter motor, injectors miss firing ? Never has this happens before… maybe I switched it off too soon after giving it the beans, made a mental note that I should idle for 2 mins before switching off next time praying nothing should be wrong. Reclamation zooms past (the relief was temporary) then suddenly at the flyover I lose power! Press the accelerator nothing, from being lighting fast it had become painfully slow. I call Dhaval (Autolandmark) my go to guy, he said there is a possibility of boost leak mostly.

He picks the car next day does quick checks (no errors or apparent leaks) doesn’t find anything. I panic and call Vivek (ToT) that do u want me to send the car to Pune ; Vicky (ToT) mentions it’s not practical to send your car to Pune (Mehcanix Automotive) on flat bed let’s log your car at Redline and see what’s the issue why is the car in limp mode. I speak to Akshay (Redline) hesitantly; I din’t want one more garage in equation. Got the car in no errors or apparent leaks. They start to removing the hoses heading to the turbo and intercooler no apparent issue found. It was getting late and there was no place in the garage to leave the car there. So we decide to log the car over the weekend and they started to fix everything back and wait for it ! The thunderbolt is back! Leaving everyone perplexed. I had a big grind on my face and like wondering what tantrums this car throws. Thanks to the guys at redline they were pretty confident of fixing any issue but thankfully the car came out of limp mode.

Cars back baby! It has become my daily I don’t like it to be a garage queen, what’s the point of building it just to park in garage. Unfortunately my Vento has become one, it comes out on Friday/ weekends just to ensure that the battery doesn’t die.

Well next month was good, yes living by the day with this car. Suddenly one fine day I get suspension issue. Dhaval to the rescue, it was just a pipe connecting to the value block that was leaking fixed it in an hour and the car was back home.

15 days passed by I see oil stains on the car park. But but they are not near the engine bay but at the rear. I’m like shit diesel tank gone. I send the snap to Dhaval. He says looks like oil, check your spare oil can it could be leaking Phew! Extra oil can for top up was indeed leaking. How stupid !

I was slowly getting confidence that the car is stable now. Had driven it for 6k odd kilometres, service was flashing. Called Nikhil (Mechanic Automotive) fixed an appointment for Saturday following week. The d-day comes I’m excited about the drive, enjoying the roads and monstrous torque of the car. 25 kms away from the garage just near the last toll of expressway the brakes refuse to bite. What a v6 refusing to stop on expressway! My heart was freaking pounding. Change gears in manual use gear breaking to slow down. Turn hazard lights and hand out of window to warn ppl. I’m like why is the break pedal so hard ? Have they heated up? So I stop the car crank it again no luck. Call Nikhil after catching my breath, might need a flat bed. Limped to food court using hand brake to stop.

Pick up point was decided and I limp there and wait for 1.5 hours for flat bed to arrive.




Finally reach Mechanix, they start the car they hear the engine, say something is amiss. Noise is weird so they shut the car immediately. We wait for the car to cool down. They know what to check the vaccum pump, it’s housed in the sump below ( how stupid with the engine oil) After a couple of hours , they open it up and guess what the plastic part is broken in the sump.





We check for prices of the vaccum pump. No one has it in after market , they try Audi officially, I almost faint at the prices. We decide to look for after market for a day. My joy ride had ended. I head back home in an Uber.

I’m bummed. I can’t be spending so much money on the car. It’s a wrong call I start thinking. Well I hated to do it but reached out for a favour, part not available in all of India. Part will have to be imported. I ordered the part at - much reasonable rate than I was initially been quoted. Shared it with Anirudhh from Mechanix to please help me. Usually garages don’t allow u to source parts, he made an exception and said please bring the part in as no vendor will get close to the rate.


Now the painful wait for 2 weeks for the part to arrive has started… meanwhile my Vento is getting the beans ! It’s a fab car , need to get one of those hoodies save the manual. It’s half as powerful as A6 but it’s so much more fun to drive in someway.

Guys please pray this is the end of saga, and only happy drives going forward.

Cheers.

[Blackbolt]

What’s the status on the car ? Did the car come back to life ? Been almost a year since the episode of being stranded on road ! Been wanting to write an update for so long and trust me there is a lot of drama that I had to put up with.

This is a precursor post, which will ensure I pen it down over the weekend !

Killing the radio silence with couple of snaps of Thunderbolt !

[Blackbolt]

Attention : Long emotional rollercoaster read ahead!

Now where were we ? If you are following the trail of the saga, I was stuck with delay in the delivery of the vacuum pump. The pump finally came to Audi Workshop on 27th April '23! A painful wait of over a month just to source the part as it was stuck in customs for a while!



Shipped the part to Pune the very next day! My head was already making plans to pick the car the following weekend. But destiny had different plans! After installing it and starting the engine, there was a knocking sound coming from the head side. Well to be honest, on hearing the video sent by Mechanix there was a knocking sound from my heart hitting my rib cage! No - No not more work on the car! The sound seems to coming from the head or the timing chain; to diagnose it we would have to get the engine out!

Now we were at Cross roads! What a mess have I got myself into ! I'm so far in that it doesn't make any sense going back, at the same time I can't see light at the end of the tunnel! Completely dejected by the situation , I give a go ahead for getting the engine out !

Deja Vu snap! Second time with in a year the engine is out!



On opening the pandoras box, we realize the timing tensioner failed and the chain also elongated. Now it was obvious we had to change the timing belt kit. Now the question was, did this episode bent the valves ?. Do we open the head. If we do, we need a new head gasket. Pondering on it and after multiple discussions, the call was taken to check the valves. Had we fixed the new timing belt and the piston was bent, the car would still have a noise from the engine and working anything on the 3.0 TDI meant the engine has to come out. Well what luck we took that call. One piston got hit from the valves.



Well we land up at another cross road. Is the hit within tolerance levels, if not the head needs an entire rebuilt ! We send it to the head repair guy, his diagnosis say 6 valves have minor bent, most of the valves and seals are worn out. Possible with age of the car but will affect performance a bit. Now I didn't build a stage 3 car to compromise on the performance. So I dig further into my pockets and ask them to rebuild the head. Valves need to be imported as they aren't available in India (which meant another long wait). The laundry list of parts that had to be changed

24 Hydraulic Valve Lifters
Head gasket
Timing chain Kit
Crank Oil Seal
Exhaust Manifold Packing
Intake Valves
Exhaust Valves
Valve Oil Seal
Valve Guide and insert


After another long wait (26th May if you are keeping track of my agony timeline) for parts to arrive and with the labor of Mechanix love, head rebuild (12th Jun) I could finally see some shining light from inside the pandoras box.




Mechanix guys did a trial run, the car was running smooth.

#bultnotbought and #projectcar these words have a new meaning for me after purchasing this vehicle. My first project car was a cake walk as it was driven by me from the beginning while this was a completely different animal. What was an impulsive buy; to get that tick on the bucket list before 40 had turned into a emotional roller-coaster for me!

The ride isn't over yet, stay tuned for the journey of getting #thunderbolt back home and the challenges it would throw at me !

Thanks for reading !

Cheers!

[Aditya666]

Blackbolt, I have to say the car is absolutely amazing as it is now.

One can clearly see the labor of love that has gone into it.

I fell in love with it at first sight when we first met each other thanks to the silver / black color scheme which is also what I am following on my car.

After the other day's drive, I have to say you have had me very tempted to pick up an A6 3.0 myself as we have discussed multiple times 🤣

The shove it gives is simply fantastic and I won't even mention how addictive it is. Infact, I was finding my car slow while going home from your house the other day.

Looking forward to more and more drives with this car as time passes, but I can safely tell you that this is one of the most comprehensive builds I have seen!

[Blackbolt]

So where were we; ahh at the high point of the emotional rollercoaster ride: getting the thunderbolt back! The car had been at the garage for almost 3 months ! Took the uber to Pune early morning; saw her parked and ready to go, I head to the car and taking a deep breath I turn the ignition on and the car purrs to life ! It was sounding so much more silent than before! I complete the the formalities at Mechanix ( basically empty my pockets ) and thank the team for puling this off!

Off we go !





The car drove like a dream! Since the engine had just been worked on I drive carefully without redlining it !

I daily the car for the next couple of weeks! Took thunderbolt to Bayview Motor Club meet. The car is such a sleeper; once parked no one gave it a second look !

On the way back from the event, we halt for a break! Raving how well the car was sounding after the build and that's when the tragedy strikes again! The car refuses to crank! Battery was not an issue as everything else was working. I try cranking it couple of time and guess what ! I saw smoke coming from under the hood! Damn Damn; its not even a month since I got the car ! I was devastated! After panic calling Shushant from Mechanix on a Sunday; we zero in on a possibility of starter motor issue ! I call my friend Dhaval from AutoLandmark and request him to open his garage to park the car there on a flat bed!

I was dejected! This car was turning into a bottomless pit; draining me of my resources (time & money) Time spent in building the car was much greater than enjoying it! I had hit a new low in the journey of project car 2! I dint have an option but to follow through keep going !

Starter motor was ordered! But nothing is as simple as it seems with this car!



The starter motor should have fitted like a glove but for a 3.0 TDI the back portion was a bit big and it din't fit! It meant new parts have to be placed in the existing starter motor and rebuilding it! Another week or so of the car was in the garage ! It felt like I was rebuilding the car grounds up changing everything except for the chasis! Thankfully the drama ended there and the car started with a rebuilt starter motor!

I was less enthused this time on getting it back! It was like it had to win my trust again (weird I say that , but I did feel betrayed) It did try to enthuse me every time I drove it; until the tragedy stuck again! Suddenly these errors showed up !





Arghh where do we go from here ! I didn't have a single month of a clean ride with this one! This car had built a track record of being completely unreliable ! We weren't able to code the suspension module and that's when I lost it ! I was down and out ! I told Dhaval do what ever u want with the car and keep me out of loop, tell me when its done. Its like I wanted to disown it but I couldn't; like I had a legal obligation of taking care of it.







Dhaval managed someone to get into the suspension module and changed the headlight leveling sensor which sit on the suspension arm ( crazy German engineering) What a savior.

The car from then August to December behaved well, it won me over little by little! Did a couple of long drives Nashik and Pune ! Finally I was in love with it again. Which meant pampering it. Added diffuser and boot lip; Dhaval took the car for Permagard coat and added missing underbody panels !






Well its been a long journey since I got this car ! It been almost 2 years of ownership and 12K kms with it! I have lived through this rollercoaster of a journey, an impulsive buy to win the heart over the head; which led to many a heartache !

Will I do this over again ? No-way, I have become wiser and will chose a better canvas next time. Do I regret the decision ? No, not one bit, its been a journey to remember, a memory etched as a crazy moment to overcome the mid life crisis. What I have built is a proper sleeper car with sport car credentials at half the cost! I always felt cars were an extension of ones personality ,an emotion to be associated with rather than just piece of metal to transport you from point A to B. Its almost a meditative state when you are connected to the car as you munch those miles ! I'm glad that I lived through this emotion.

Thanks for being a part of the journey by reading ! Hopefully we will meet on the roads enjoying our rides !

Cheers !

[rikhav]

Money apart, needs lots of patience with such a project. And with such setbacks in the journey anyone would have just given up.

And the result is absolutely superb.
Its a proper sleeper