[Blackbolt]

I have mostly been a parasite on this forum, seeking information & enjoying ownership posts by fellow BHPians... I thought of writing on the forum about my experience with VW Vento 1.6 TDI, but never came around posting on it, in over 10 years of ownership... However, this project car #2 is very close to me. It has taken more time & resources and hopefully people will enjoy reading it. So here it goes..

How did it start:

During covid lock downs there was time for introspection; thoughts on what made me happy and blah blah. The output of all that pondering was to buy a project car #2 to replace the Vento. Criteria was simple, a quantum leap in power and better leg room at the back. It had to be a sedan, not a fan of fast SUV or any SUV for that matter. I started frequenting secondhand car sites/apps and spotted a Jetta 2.0 TDI, it was a good one at the right price. Even if dialed it up the mod stages it wasn't going to be a quantum leap from Vento. So, I moved-on, wondering if did the right thing by letting it go.

Months pass by and then in July '21 I stumbled upon a mint VRS and did a test drive. I did write about it here (Skoda Octavia vRS : Official Review)



Well, before I could muster up the courage to let go of the Vento, the VRS was sold the very next day (come to think of it from today's obscene secondhand car prices I should have got it anyways, would have been able to sell it above cost price now )

Months passed by and I kept on thinking what a fool I was on let go of a mint stock VRS at that price. In the meanwhile, midlife crisis hit upon me with 40 years milestone approaching; all the thoughts of paths not taken started daunting me (added for dramatic effect ). The urge to act upon the bucket list became strong and I started hunting for the project car #2.


Car 1: Checked out an Audi A6 V6 TFSI "on the app" It is a super rare car. Spoke to the dealer, he said the car was coming in 2 weeks to their showroom as the owner was waiting for his new ride. Called him back in a week and he was like the car is rare and couple of folks from "Bangalore" are eyeing it; if I wanted it, I should pay an advance. I did pay an advance on the condition that I could see the car before he lays his hands on it (dealers can hide all the problems with some quick fixes). I run the number plate with a friend at Audi for service records and I was told to run away from it. The car was in shit condition. The dashboard had mechatronic error sign; the intake has been kept together with cello tape! damn who does that, imagine all the dust that has now gone in the engine. Cancelled the deal there and then. This action met resistance but got the refund after some frequent stern calls. That did not go well. Damn I was dejected. I thought I had found a rear gem, but destiny had a different picture in mind.

Car 2: I had shortlisted an Audi 3.0 TDI while I was searching for this car. The car seemed to be in good shape. I checked the car out over the weekend. It just had an airbag error on dash which the owner said was a sensor problem and he would get it fixed before delivery. Went peddle to metal in the car on sea link and it did feel like a quantum jump in power from my Vento (unlike the VRS). So, I took an impulsive decision yet again (letting go of Jetta, VRS and one bad lemon playing in my head in the background). Bargained a bit and cut the cheque. It has no funny noises, car shifted gears properly with paddle shifts at high RPM, was stable at three-digit speeds. Yay! Did I do the right thing or was I wrong the second time too?

Well, the trigger had been pulled; Audi 3.0 TDI V6 was the project car #2. So, time would tell if I was right or wrong on this call. The car had to be handed over in 2 weeks as the owner was waiting for his new ride; we decided he won't ride for more than 1000 kms during this time period. In the meanwhile, I got a call from him mid-week saying that the front suspension balloon had burst at the signal. He was going to fix it anyway as he had promised to give the car in good condition. I was happy I met the right guy and he was sticking to his words. He sent me photos of him replacing the front right balloon. The day of the handshake finally had arrived. I was pissed as the airbag error was still there (which got resolved couple of weeks later with him changing the sensor module).





I was so happy that I had got a rare CBU unit; A6 3.0 TDI V6 as my new ride. I started riding it to work and checking it before spending on it further and one day I see a "F" sign on the dash in Red, was the car over heating? Coolant issue? I called the owner; told him what's with error did he face this earlier? He asked me to just add water and send it over to his garage for a checkup. On inspection he said coolant was low and he had topped it up, gave me a new bottle of coolant just in case. By this time, I started doubting the car internals and knew the guy has washed his hands off the car.

Following day post my ride I thought I saw some oil underneath the car. Post this all hell breaks loose.







I called my school friend who runs Auto Landmark Garage in Mumbai suburbs. He starts abusing me for buying the car without showing him. I tried to sell passion story and that I wanted it really bad, calmed him down. He took the car in. His first words post inspection were, I would have never let you buy this car. This car has been worked on. The coolant and the oil are mixing, and the oil is leaking.

So, he sends me some scary snaps and said we will change the oil cooler.





Well, that was just the beginning of all the problems that were to follow to say the least. While waiting for the oil cooler the car had dropped from the front left side (same balloon which the previous owner had changed) I call him up again to check if there is any warranty on the part he replaced, which typically with FNG isn't there. We did the test of the valve block for any leaks by swapping the terminals to see if any other wheel was going down. There was no such sign, so had to bite the bullet and change the front right suspension balloon too.

The car still had not been checked thoroughly for oil leaks and coolant mixing. I reached out to Vivek & Vicky from Tune - O -Tronics (they had worked on my Black Vento; I trusted them with Project Car#1; hadn't run into any kind of issues for years clocking tons of miles). I was seeking their expert advice as to where I could get all this fixed. They directed me to Mechanix Automotive Garage Pune which was closer to Mumbai. Nikhil their teammate was there and was willing to work on the car with folks at Mechanix Auto to fix the mess. We drove from Mumbai to Pune for the drop, the ride was just bliss, the power on tap was just amazing and addictive with my brother-in-law and fellow BHPian hogging the ride. There was a wide smile pasted along our face all the time during the drive, confirming the ride was the perfect choice. We take a small test drive of the car in Pune, mechanically the car to a layman was perfect. We dint know what was going on inside, they said they check everything and let me know what to fix.

This was like opening the pandora box. The car was leaking engine oil from various places. The most prominent was between the gear box and the engine. We planned to attack that first. Also, there were traces of M-Seal everywhere (I was shocked what's a plumbing material doing in my car) I will let the pictures do the talking now!





Well post the sealant between the gear box and engine fixed, we had hit a junction where we had to take a call of taking the engine out, if I wanted everything to be in place. As there were traces of oil leak from top.


Should I bite the bullet? This meant we were entering into the unknown territory; parts were 10 years old; engine mounts were fine but on opening what if they snap?! There was M-Seal on tapid covers they were sure to snap on opening to do a proper sealant packing. Well, I thought I wouldn't be able to take the car on long drives without peace of mind if I dint fix these issues. Told sorry to my bank account; gave them a go ahead and out came the engine.



With the engine out, they could see all that needed to be replaced. Well, the list was soo freaking long. Check it out.

DIPSTICK HOLDER
CONTROL VALVE O RING
SEALENT FOR UPPER OIL SUMP 4PCS
OIL LEVEL SENSOR O RING
LEFT TAPET COVER
RIGHT TAPET COVER
VENT HOSE
COOLANT BREATHER LINE
O RING
COVER
SEALING FLANGE SEAL
SHAFT OIL SEAL
FLANGE SEAL
O RING
SEALEN FOR TIMING COVER 2PCS
GEARBOX OIL STRAINER
GEARBOX PAN GASKET
LEFT AXLE OIL SEAL DIFFRENTIAL
SUSPENSION BOLT 2PCS
BELT TENSIONER
IDEALER PULLY

Phew! Had to order these parts, there was no way out. The painful waiting period for the parts to arrive from Estonia had begun.



With parts reaching the custom clearance, the engine bay was prepped up!




Finally, the parts van arrived!







Work started with all the seals/packing having to be replaced. Open heart surgery snaps follow





Oil Stump with new sealant, attached




Wowhoo! All done, right guys? Want to see the final pics to the car? Finally, I will be bearing the fruits of waiting for 4 months since buying the car!!

Haah! Suprise, Surprise! There was bearing noise from the tyre area! So well, both front wheel bearings were then changed!




Finally, after waiting for 4 odd months the car was ready! Ready to be driven. BUT, a new issue had popped up. The AC was working intermittently. I had lost my patience by now. I had new tires and alloy in the waiting in Mumbai. I wanted to have the car now, AC problem was intermittent. I will try and fix that in Mumbai. Couldn't stay away from the car anymore! So, THUNDERBOLT came home, here's is the snap how it left Pune!



Soaked that in guys? Let's not get complacent here; work not done yet! Let's see through the last phase!

First, let's fix the AC! Couldn't freaking figure out what was wrong with it. Race the car the compressor would come on and work. In stop and go traffic it would stop. Changed some sensor chips didn't work, tired with all the iterations finally had to replace the AC compressor



This is a project car isn't it, what I have done is just fixed what was broken, what about how I wanted the car to be?

Let's get the logo painted black, get those alloys and tyre to fill in the wheel arches and finally let's get that steering wheel I always wanted!





Done! Here's how my vision turned out! Check it out! The end, right? Time for fellow BHPians to comment?

Nah nah; wait wait! I'm not done yet. Never say never! Took Thunderbolt to Nashik! Shit roads! Suspension error popped up along with rear LED light not working!



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



So, got these things fixed





Now I'm finally done. I cannot end this without thanking people who helped me see my vision through with their hard work! Glad to know there are people who have the knowledge and play a big role in keeping the auto-enthusiast culture going on!

1) Auto Landmark Mumbai - Dhaval Shah
2) Tune-O-Tronics: Vivek, Vicky & Nikhil
3) The Mechanix Automotive: Anirudhh, Sushant
4) Straightline: Trevor
4) NT Composite: Nirmal



Cheers!

Drive Safe!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[shankar.balan]

Quite a saga indeed! Your thread is a nice read.

You have great patience to persevere and see everything through. And that really is your reward.

Your story resonates with me a great deal because of a similar series of experiences I had with an used Gypsy in 2018-2019.

And to a certain extent from 2019 onwards with my maintenance efforts on my Mini Cooper S.

These pre-owned German cars always do require care just like good race horses do. And once you’re in, its hard to get out.

[sarfraz1997]

Nice ride, I think I’ve seen your car while I was at Mechanix in June getting a few retrofits installed by Nikhil on my Octy. I wish you happy miles ahead!

[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?

[Turbolove]

Wow, hats off to you for having the patience and courage to go ahead with a project like this. Despite the troubles, seems like the joy of driving the machine made everything worth it.

[100Kmphormore]

Wait, theres a big dent on the right side of the engine bay next to the headlight when he mentions it left for Mumbai. Any accident?

[shahadav]

Excellent. I am also managing my crisis with my project car—A6 2.8 FSI Quattro (C7). Had to replace both oil coolers, water pump shortly after ownership. Several DIYs to fix sunroof, broken MMI sliding mechanism, faded DRL etc.

Currently waiting for the mechatronics repair kit with PCB and solenoids for the next DIY to revive the 0B5 transmission.

[Blackbolt]

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Wait, theres a big dent on the right side of the engine bay next to the headlight when he mentions it left for Mumbai. Any accident?

No Bro, it’s just the reflection of a huge halogen light placed right above in the garage. I can’t take any more damage please. Fingers crossed.

[BHPjunkie]

Man that's quite a bit of an ordeal you have been through. I am curious, how much percent did you end up spending based on the cost of the vehicle. I am in a similar situation where I am looking to get an used German example but would restrict the same to a 5-6 year old. Looking at the headache you have been through, I don't have the time or patience to go through the same, money apart!!

Kudos on the ride and wish you many happy miles.

[100Kmphormore]

Oh not at all. Wish you more redlining and a trouble free experience. Car looks awesome

[rikhav]

Hi
Glad to know the car is finally up and running.
Have you kept the engine mod part and remapping for the second post or its actually not done as you are waiting to make sure the engine works fine after fixing the number of issues you found ?

But still congratulations

Anyone else would have given up and just made a promise to God that you will stay miles away from buying used car and that too such a rare one

[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.

[GTO]

Sorry to hear about the troublesome beginnings with this car, but hey, I hope things turn around now. Wishing you good reliability & many satisfying road-trips in the future .

What I usually do before buying a pre-owned car (especially if it's a German) = full PPI at an authorised dealer, study its service history, call the insurance company to check for big claims, drive different examples of the same model to get a feel of what "good condition" means and generally follow our used car checklist to the T.

But it's okay. All of us make mistakes. Glad you found the right friends & workshops to work on your car. This is a timeless Audi generation & I hope she serves you well.

[Blackbolt]

Originally Posted by rikhav

Hi
Glad to know the car is finally up and running.
Have you kept the engine mod part and remapping for the second post or its actually not done as you are waiting to make sure the engine works fine after fixing the number of issues you found ?

What got done in Pune got done my friend. The line has been drawn. Nothing happening in the engine bay.

Minor changes like this Lambo start switch will be done going forward.