Monthly Archives: January 2017

Avant, Suspension

End Link Adjustment

The project today was adjusting the 034Motorsport rear sway bar endlinks.

034Motorsport Rear Sway Bar Adjustable End Links
034Motorsport Rear Sway Bar Adjustable End Links

It took a little while for me to determine the best way to go about doing this as they are supposed to be adjusted so that when the car is sitting with weight on the wheels that the sway bar is not under tension.

I decided to raise the rear so that tension was relieved from the sway bar and then disconnected the end links with the wheels off the car.  I then put the wheels back on and lowered the rear of the car onto blocks so there was weight on the suspension but I still had some room to work in underneath the rear.

034Motorsport Rear Sway Bar Adjustable End Link
034Motorsport Rear Sway Bar Adjustable End Link

Next I adjusted the top fitting so that the bolt would insert straight into suspension upright while there was no tension on the sway bar.  This was repeated on the other side and then all of the bolts were tightened up.

I also noticed that the Avant’s Neuspeed sway bay was set to the firm setting, more than I feel is necessary since the Avant is now going to have the Stasis Öhlins Motorsport coilovers.  I changed the Neuspeed sway bar to the soft setting.

Avant

Organizing

With the rear differential still out of the Avant I’m beginning to run short of things remaining that I can do with the car.  Today I straightened up the garage and swapped in this part:

034Motorsoprt Rear Differential Cross Member
034Motorsoprt Rear Differential Cross Member

With the underside of the rear absent of the exhaust and rear differential I had clear access to swap out the differential carrier.  In place of the stock part is the 034Motorsport cross member.  Installation was an easy job.

Avant

Putting Along

With the rear differential still out being worked on there’s not a lot of urgency to get the Avant put back together quickly.

After reinstalling some of the top end components I am ready to begin refilling the coolant.  With having two engines out simultaneously I’ve had to expand my coolant reclamation efforts.

Three funnels with coffee filters in them are straining out the dirt that inevitably finds its way into the coolant while I am draining it out of the car.  This process proceeds at a reasonable pace and I will intermittently stop what I am working on to refill the funnels so they can resume draining into the “filtered” jugs.

Adding a new upgraded part to the S4 is something I look forward to doing.  This shiny new piece arrived, a 034Motorsport billet aluminum rear differential carrier.

034Motorsport Billet Rear Crossmember / Differential Carrier
034Motorsport Billet Rear Crossmember / Differential Carrier

I don’t expect this part to make any difference at all in how the car drives, but it will give me a smile when I work under the back end of the car and see it.

Also, with the car not yet ready to be driven I’ve decided to take the opportunity to have the gauge cluster replaced.  My Silver S4 had a gauge cluster that was removed to be replaced by a sentimental favorite from my original Santorin S4.  Interestingly, even though the Silver S4 only had 43k on it the LCD was showing bad pixels.

Audi B5 S4 Instrument Cluster
AGS4 Instrument Cluster

The Avant’s cluster now has 290,000 miles on it with a failing LCD display and intermittently the backlighting goes out on the tachometer side.  I was advised to try a lower mileage cluster if possible and the Silver S4’s cluster was a perfect candidate.

I plan to ship this unit off to Tom at Speedosolutions to perform the repair.  Previously Tom replaced the LCD panel on the Santorin’s cluster and also took care of adjusting the mileage to match that of the car.