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Story of buying & fixing my new project car, Audi A6 3.0 V6 TDI Quattro

18th October 2022, 20:55 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

I had also stumbled upon a mint Octavia VRS but before I could muster up the courage to let go of my Vento, it was sold.

BHPian Blackbolt recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

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 to posting about 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 lockdowns, there was time for introspection; thoughts on what made me happy and blah blah. The output of all that pondering was to buy project car #2 to replace the Vento. Criteria was simple, a quantum leap in power and better legroom 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 dialled 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.

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 to let go of a mint stock VRS at that price. 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 a 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 rare 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 the dash which the owner said was a sensor problem and that he would get it fixed before delivery. Went pedal to the 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 meantime, 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 arrived. I was pissed as the airbag error was still there (which got resolved a 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 an "F" sign on the dash in Red, was the car overheating? Coolant issue? I called the owner; told him what was with the 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 the coolant was low and he had topped it up, and gave me a new bottle of coolant just in case. By this time, I started doubting the car's internals and knew the guy has washed his hands off the car.

The 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 the Mumbai suburbs. He starts abusing me for buying the car without showing him. I tried to sell a passion story and I wanted it really bad, which 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 on our faces all the time during the drive, confirming the ride was a perfect choice. We take a small test drive of the car in Pune, and mechanically the car to a layman was perfect. We didn't know what was going on inside, they said they will 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 gearbox and the engine. We planned to attack that first. Also, there were traces of M-Seal everywhere (I was shocked at what's a plumbing material doing in my car) I will let the pictures do the talking now!

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

Should I bite the bullet? This meant we were entering into unknown territory; parts were 10 years old; engine mounts were fine but on opening what if they snap?! Well, I thought I wouldn't be able to take the car on long drives without peace of mind if I didn't 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 so freaking long. Check it out.

DIPSTICK HOLDER
CONTROL VALVE O RING
SEALANT FOR UPPER OIL SUMP 4PCS
OIL LEVEL SENSOR O RING
LEFT TAPPET COVER
RIGHT TAPPET COVER
VENT HOSE
COOLANT BREATHER LINE
O RING
COVER
SEALING FLANGE SEAL
SHAFT OIL SEAL
FLANGE SEAL
O RING
SEALENT FOR TIMING COVER 2PCS
GEARBOX OIL STRAINER
GEARBOX PAN GASKET
LEFT AXLE OIL SEAL DIFFERENTIAL
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

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

Haah! Surprise, surprise! There was bearing noise from the tyre area so 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 alloys on the waiting in Mumbai. I wanted to have the car now, the 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 the snap of how it left Pune!

Soaked that in guys? Let's not get complacent here; work is 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, that didn't work, tried with all the iterations and 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 tyres 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 the 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 the 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.

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