# a S8 followed me home on St. paddys ........... mild s8 build



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

Picked this up march 17th..... plans are to get it tuned up and back into tip top shape then toss some mild mods at it. Don't know much about the car at this time aside from running the vag-com full scan on it and putting it on my lift to check the underside. But that will change soon......

didn't really want a black car but this one is in great shape so i pulled the trigger










i did however really want this interior package so that was a mega bonus










more to come


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

nothing like owning a used Audi......... the fun has began about 300 miles into owning the car this paid me a visit...........












1 Fault Found:

008569 - Bank 2; System Too Lean off Idle 
P2179 - 001 - - MIL ON
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 11100001
Fault Priority: 0
Fault Frequency: 4
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 139617 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2017.03.17
Time: 17:25:47

ordered the Bentley for the car so in the mean time i am off to google for research ..........


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

found a bit of a hidden mod not mentioned when i bought the car.........











looks like the previews owner had some kind of inline display mod done to the car, so far i have figured out how to get video but not sound ....... 


time for its first visit to the lift..... sure it will see a bit of hang time over the next few months












this exhaust system is intense, at some point ill put something a bit more free flowing in but for now just looking for leaks


----------



## hifigli (Jul 29, 2004)

carsluTT said:


> found a bit of a hidden mod not mentioned when i bought the car.........
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice pick up. I have an 07 and when my check engine light came on it was a nightmare. Ended being a fuel injector. Good luck

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

hay hifigli, nice to see you have been thru the joys of these cars. Mind explaining how you determine it was a bad injector for your car? seems the code i am getting can go a million different ways. My first plan is to pull the intake manifold, clean/reseal it then change the spark plugs before moving onto hunting for vacuum leaks. i have read a bit on situations where injectors were bad but not much on how guys got to that point. I ordered the Bentley but its taking the slowest path possible to my door so for now i am stuck with searching the web for tips/tricks.


----------



## hifigli (Jul 29, 2004)

carsluTT said:


> hay hifigli, nice to see you have been thru the joys of these cars. Mind explaining how you determine it was a bad injector for your car? seems the code i am getting can go a million different ways. My first plan is to pull the intake manifold, clean/reseal it then change the spark plugs before moving onto hunting for vacuum leaks. i have read a bit on situations where injectors were bad but not much on how guys got to that point. I ordered the Bentley but its taking the slowest path possible to my door so for now i am stuck with searching the web for tips/tricks.


I took it to dealer. I changed plugs and coils. Then the car under load the check engine light would flash and slight hesitation. After paying several indy shops said screw it. Took to dealer and it was cyc 6 had it replace and refurbished the other 3 on that side. After a week number 5 went. Swapped the rest of the injectors and trouble free ever since. Knock on wood

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

so far this car has been great, i just drove it from LA to Denver non stop with zero issues. along the trip i did discover plenty of items needing attention but nothing too major. 

no something i am having trouble with is updating the nav system. i bought the 2015-2016 disk for the mmi 2g system and the system can see the disk knows its more recent but when i hit yes to update the system hangs at 0% until the car times out and gives up. 

i also got a 3rd party Bluetooth module so i can paly music directly into the MMI system. it works okay but needs a power source so ill have to install an switched 12v usb for it. 

Before hitting the road i got some weather tech floor mats and trunk mat. odd thing is weather tech didn't have mats for the rear seat only front, ill contact them when i get home about this issue. but i am super happy with the front mats they fit great and i no longer worry about making a mess on the carpet. 

before leaving on the trip i ordered a lot of parts to service teh car but ecs wasn't able to get the box to me before i left so this trip started off with a simple visual inspection and crossed fingers. so far all has been well but i look forward to getting the hood open and doing a lot of service work on this car.


----------



## hifigli (Jul 29, 2004)

Glad to hear the car is running well. I don't use my car nav. I have aftermarket bluetooth and just use my phone.

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

took deliver of the Bluetooth adapter for the AIM system. i went with an bluestream Bluetooth adapter that connects directly into the AIM port in the glove box. so far it works great aside from one issue, it needs power fed to it. I plan to install an ignition switched USB port into the glove box to power it.


----------



## hifigli (Jul 29, 2004)

carsluTT said:


> took deliver of the Bluetooth adapter for the AIM system. i went with an bluestream Bluetooth adapter that connects directly into the AIM port in the glove box. so far it works great aside from one issue, it needs power fed to it. I plan to install an ignition switched USB port into the glove box to power it.


How is the bluetooth working out?
I am in the process of picking out new wheels hopefully this week i will pull the trigger 

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

so far my phone is happy seeing 2 Bluetooth systems and using them at the same time. the MMI also does a good job switching between the 2. aside from needing to supply power to the Bluetooth adapter its a easy install.


i did discover today the weather-tech drivers side floor mat needs to be trimmed. i cant get the car to down shift properly when going WOT. ill get the car into the shop and look into the issue more but at a glance it looks like the high rim on the mat is catching the back of the accelerator pedal and stopping it from moving all the way to the floor.

so happy to not have a paper plate on the car...... 










grabbed a quick Easter photo before brunch


----------



## hifigli (Jul 29, 2004)

carsluTT said:


> so far my phone is happy seeing 2 Bluetooth systems and using them at the same time. the MMI also does a good job switching between the 2. aside from needing to supply power to the Bluetooth adapter its a easy install.
> 
> 
> i did discover today the weather-tech drivers side floor mat needs to be trimmed. i cant get the car to down shift properly when going WOT. ill get the car into the shop and look into the issue more but at a glance it looks like the high rim on the mat is catching the back of the accelerator pedal and stopping it from moving all the way to the floor.
> ...


That car is looking good. I just ordered a new set of wheels so i should have them in about 2 weeks. Now to sell my rohanas

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

parts are slowly making it into the shop...... 

grabbed an ECS billet oil filter cap










while ordering from ecs i also got upper and lower arms (lowers are on back order for a about another month)










looks like early June all the suspension parts and motor gaskets will be delivered so i can pull the intake manifold and do the carbon cleaning service on the motor while tackling the suspension.

Ive been reading up on using the vag-com to do suspension mods. once all the suspension update parts arrive i will dive into adjusting the settings for the air suspension. so far this seems to be the most detailed info i have found about suspension setting adjustments, if anyone has info to add to this topic please feel free to advise me.


----------



## hiatussk8rs (Jul 30, 2003)

Looking Good 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

couch....... couch........ I'm sick i mean the car is sick and needing software help ha ha......

Talked with Owain from _*Malone Tuning*_ and setup to have a V2 FlashZilla shipped over so we can get some tuning taken care of.



















looking forward to getting into some real mods soon!


----------



## hifigli (Jul 29, 2004)

carsluTT said:


> couch....... couch........ I'm sick i mean the car is sick and needing software help ha ha......
> 
> Talked with Owain from _*Malone Tuning*_ and setup to have a V2 FlashZilla shipped over so we can get some tuning taken care of.
> 
> ...


How did the flashzilla work for you?
I just updated my wheels this week.









Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


----------



## [email protected] (Apr 14, 2016)

Turns out alientech didn't add this ECM into the database for the V2 (I could have sworn it was in there since this ECU is very similar to many other models), so had to swap that with a V3. Worked fine! He's off to the isle of man for a couple weeks 

Going to sound the business with the straight pipes!


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

after much too long of a time between drives im back enjoying the S8! The team at Malone Tuning did great helping swap out the Flashzilla for a V3 and off things went. Really cant thank them enough for the level of service they provide, definitely not your typical "chip" tuning shop. 

was able to do a spark plug swap along with oil change and a few other normal maintenance type services on the car along with the new tuning being installed. Its sad to say the previous owner of the car never did any of this well maybe the oil got changed but the rest were all original installed parts. 

"hifigli" the wheels/tires look great do you mind sharing the specs? rim size/offset/tire size....... i have picked a few rims out for this car but so far have been letdown as the manufacturers have told me over and over sorry we don't have that rim in stock or we discontinued blah blah rim..... 

been looking at 

rim size - 20x10 
offset - et35 
bolt pattern - 5x112

want something light/easy to clean and no fake bolt/nuts/glitter. seems far too many wheels these days are more Easter egg than rim. 

still waiting for a few parts to complete the suspension overhaul.... hopefully that will get going soon.


----------



## hifigli (Jul 29, 2004)

carsluTT said:


> after much too long of a time between drives im back enjoying the S8! The team at Malone Tuning did great helping swap out the Flashzilla for a V3 and off things went. Really cant thank them enough for the level of service they provide, definitely not your typical "chip" tuning shop.
> 
> was able to do a spark plug swap along with oil change and a few other normal maintenance type services on the car along with the new tuning being installed. Its sad to say the previous owner of the car never did any of this well maybe the oil got changed but the rest were all original installed parts.
> 
> ...


Wheels are 
20 x 10.5
5 x 112 
Don't recall the offset


Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

and the fun begins!.......... last week we were running around in the car getting ready for a drylake test weekend and........... blambo..... i hear air gusshing out just as one may hear if they hit a nail on the road....... only no flat tires.... it was a case of flat car ha ha... no idea what went bad but something left the car sitting roadside laying frame... so far all inspections come back negative..... 

test 1...... air pump

---- working

test 2.... leaks at valve body

---- no leaks detected


test 3.... inspect air line to each front strut

---- lines show no signs of damage

test 4... soapy water party!.......

---- no leaks found


front of car is flat as can be..... rear was flat but after playing with the vag-com i was able to get the rear to cycle and hold air. so the issue is the front...... at this point i am kind of lost google/vortex and Bentley have all gotten us to this point. so...... new struts have been ordered since its next to impossible to see the bag and test it in the car. 

if anyone has a tip/trick/voodoo they want to pass along feel free.


----------



## hifigli (Jul 29, 2004)

Wow. Sorry to hear let me know what the issue was or is..

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

heading over to Stuttgart Germany in the morning but couldn't walk away from the shop not knowing what is going on with the S8 suspension. :beer:

A. - strut swaps on an S8 are surprisingly easy

B - struts swaps on an S8 are surprisingly not budget friendly (okay not a big shocker)

C - the issues of the low low car appears to be fixed but...............

D - the dash is still a xmas tree and it seems i somehow managed to create a leak at the coolant tank while swapping struts

no idea/time to work up a game plan for the xmas tree dash till i am back in the shop but did setup to get a new coolant tank in bound.



oh oh.......... forgot the most painful part of all this. per the norm for us we ordered a suspension arm kit from ECS. turns out somehow a lot of wires got crossed and ended up with a lower arm in the wrong bag/part number and 2 left upper front arms...... so basically ecs sent about 50% the correct parts but not enough to service one side of the car completely. so be warned that having your part # match the order isn't enough, you need to physically verify each part as this kind of stuff can make a project much less fun. 

with luck we will get the mixed up parts corrected and the other issues taken care of in time to make a few drylake passes in the next round as its the last one for the year.


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

couple pics ............

grabbed a quick photo of the car with zero air in the front struts...... 












this had to be one of the easiest strut swaps i have ever done..........











kind of funny how this worked out........ 3 of 1 style arm and 1 of another........ needed 2 of each. all kinds of things went wrong with this order and its ongoing. hope to have things corrected any day now










came back to the shop with inspiration to get back into some projects after a visit to a few places a touch into car stuff


----------



## 0-60Motorsports (Dec 27, 2009)

Nice find.


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

time has come to get under way with addressing a few issues........ first an oil leak, 2nd vacuum leaks and 3rd...... a few mods.










getting the front off was quick and easy aside from a need for about 4 extra hands










this was the hardest part of getting the bumper front end into "service mode"...... it holds the corner of the core support to the fender and the nut is on the inner wheel well side and not so easy to access










once the core support was moved forward all the sensors on the front of the manifold can be reached, note there are 2 bolts holding the knock sensors to the manifold that need to be removed before you can lift the manifold off the motor. 










with the manifold out..... its starting to reveal just how long/bad the oil leak is










looks like a classic case of the seal for the oil filter housing to motor leak...... all this work to access/replace 20 buks in seals










since the intake had to be removed, it will get a full cleaning along with the heads. the carbon buildup is lower than i had expected but more than acceptable.


----------



## Der T4 (May 20, 2003)

Nice work! I look forward to seeing how this turns out


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

was able to get the manifold apart and cleaned, wow this has to be so overly built its mind blowing........spent 8hrs cleaning it and another 3hrs to reseal it. 




























this stuff fell off while working so its staying off.... :laugh:


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

not easy using a potato-phone to get detailed photos but the idea is there........... lots of carbon build up. id guess each intake runner was about .250" smaller in DIA due to carbon build up.










the tools i found best to work on getting the carbon out










spent a lot of time looking like this.......










one big problem for this service was moving the motor to close cylinders for the service. solution our team came up with was to make a custom strap wrench to move the crank safely. 










hard to see but the tool fits in the limited space and is easy to use










this is the seal for the oil filter housing to the top of the crank case......... it was the main reason for taking the motor apart due to the annoying leak it had become.










once the cylinders were cleaned focused on a few other items like plugs, new coils and some other tweaks.....










while waiting for the chems to soak on the carbon i popped out the HVLP gun and did this since i cant find real OE euro bumper inserts. 










final part of the SAI update was to cap the air box.......... turns out a 16oz coors cap fits perfectly...... and its aluminum so the cars keeping true to its roots. 










after the test drive last night i cant quiet explain how the car drives aside from its a whole new beast...... this carbon issue really kills these motors performance. car was fast before but now its wild fast..... wish we had dyno time before doing this service as the butt dyno says big change. at some point we will get this car on rollers and see how the *Malone Tuning* software is doing but i am going to guess its doing well. 

cars off to SEMA in a few hours, maybe some of the guys around here will recognize the car and come say hello.


----------



## 0-60Motorsports (Dec 27, 2009)

That’s excellent. What mods did you do?


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

over 2 weeks we took the car from LA to Vegas to Phoenix. zero issues and an overall average of 20.2 mpg........... cant call that bad for a v10. :beer:

the car has made a few solid dry lake passes and has proven rock solid around 140mph.... after the next round of work the car will be going back to the dry lake/track for more runs. there is a ton of power yet to be let loose.


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

time to make sure the fuel system is in tip top shape before the next outing......... going to be installing some Autotech Dual High Volume Fuel Pump Upgrade Kit Audi V8 V10 4.0T 5.0T FSI & R8 Lambo V10 5.2L


----------



## 0-60Motorsports (Dec 27, 2009)

Have you done a tune to the car?


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

0-60Motorsports said:


> Have you done a tune to the car?


Hello 0-60, yes we are working with Malone tuning post #15 talked about getting tuning going. have you dealt with tuning these 5.2 ltr motors?


----------



## 0-60Motorsports (Dec 27, 2009)

carsluTT said:


> Hello 0-60, yes we are working with Malone tuning post #15 talked about getting tuning going. have you dealt with tuning these 5.2 ltr motors?


No but i have heard good things about them. I love what you have done with the car so far. I was going to buy one locally but when i saw the prices for the front replacement struts i was like no thanks lol.


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

eh......... everything has a cost. the struts are cake to change and really not that much vs. performance struts/springs cost. more a mild sticker shock. our shop truck costs a ton more to keep on the road and its just a big diesel tow rig. struts last what.... 70-120k miles of use.... math says per mile vs. cost no so bad. now the biggest cost so far is me flipping about dings......... that aluminum body isn't going to protect itself! :beer:


----------



## 0-60Motorsports (Dec 27, 2009)

carsluTT said:


> eh......... everything has a cost. the struts are cake to change and really not that much vs. performance struts/springs cost. more a mild sticker shock. our shop truck costs a ton more to keep on the road and its just a big diesel tow rig. struts last what.... 70-120k miles of use.... math says per mile vs. cost no so bad. now the biggest cost so far is me flipping about dings......... that aluminum body isn't going to protect itself! :beer:


I understand, but personally I would rather have a 08 E60 M5


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

you had me at m5!......... actually Ive have had a few........ they are great cars! just wanted to do something a bit different this time around. either way your winning! are you finding cars locally in Bahrain or getting them shipped in?


----------



## 0-60Motorsports (Dec 27, 2009)

carsluTT said:


> you had me at m5!......... actually Ive have had a few........ they are great cars! just wanted to do something a bit different this time around. either way your winning! are you finding cars locally in Bahrain or getting them shipped in?


Locally bud, cant import vehicles older than 5 years any more. the S8 came up as there is one for sale with less than 50k miles on the clock for a very cheap price, Something like 12-13k USD. That made me look into maintenance items and mods etc before considering the car.


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

really, 5 year cap on import. i helped with sending 2x mk2 golf's to dhahran a while back, i know its not the same area but close. maybe laws are different there. also sold a car/shipped to dubui with zero issues but i really don't know how/if it was setup for street use upon arrival. either way ......... a really neat area to get out and drive!


----------



## 0-60Motorsports (Dec 27, 2009)

carsluTT said:


> really, 5 year cap on import. i helped with sending 2x mk2 golf's to dhahran a while back, i know its not the same area but close. maybe laws are different there. also sold a car/shipped to dubui with zero issues but i really don't know how/if it was setup for street use upon arrival. either way ......... a really neat area to get out and drive!


Dubai you can send any more year car, mk2 is more than 25-30 years old so that is allowed to be imported.


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

poor S8's been parked in the shop since X-mas, been busy and the car developed the classic vw/audi "random misfire" code with no time to dig into it . Today the S8 got 2 new Bosch throttle bodies installed along with rewiring cylinder 5 and 10's coil pack plug. the misfire codes are only on 5 and 10 so if the new plugs don't fix the issue next the car will get all new injectors. at this point the car has had a fair amount of new parts so this misfire code is a bit odd but after all its a vw/audi so game on :laugh: 

new spark plugs

new Bosch coil packs

new Bosch throttle bodies

carbon cleaning of intake valves

clean and reseal intake manifold

reseal oil filter housing

new high pressure fuel pumps

SAI update

new Maf's

new CTS

new valve cover gaskets

new Front air struts

new suspension air pump

malone tuning software

muffler valve mod

i hope to get time to do a few more test drives but so far all is looking positive. there are plans to take the car out to the dry lake late March/ early April for some runs.


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

time to open the top of the motor for the 2nd time since owning the car............. new injectors/seals and a few other odds and ends are inbound..... while the cars on the lift tranny service is going to happen. not real happy with the non-existing tranny dipstick or any real solid way to measure oil level aside from the "is it dripping out of the hole" method........ but so goes life. :beer:


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

boy, where has the year gone?...... been collecting parts and finally the S8 got some attention over the week.....

new wheels
new coil packs
new tires
new injectors
new park plugs
new fuel filter
lots of new gaskets
developed a plug-n-play catch can (pvc dripping into manifold go by-by:beer
clean all hard fuel lines on motor
new air filters
new maf sensor
new green coolant temp sensor

once the car gets a bath i will have some photos.


----------



## 0-60Motorsports (Dec 27, 2009)

carsluTT said:


> boy, where has the year gone?...... been collecting parts and finally the S8 got some attention over the week.....
> 
> new wheels
> new coil packs
> ...


That’s a good list. Looking forward to the pics.


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

also re-placed the plugs for both Throttle bodies and re-placed the plugs for #5 and #10 coil packs. had a few issues over the last year with getting the dreaded EPC light with associated loss of power. Looks like the throttle body plugs where the cause of the EPC light. What a pain to track down but super glad to not have the problem come back since replacing the plugs. best part about the Throttle body plugs, mk4 vw's use the same plug and can be bought much cheaper than D3 parts. think it cost all of 31 buks for 2 mk4 plugs with 6" pig tails installed vs. 50ish for just 1 D3 plug with no pig tail and the plug not assembled.


----------



## Bicycle019 (Mar 30, 2001)

Aaaannndd???


----------



## carsluTT (Dec 31, 2004)

Bicycle019 said:


> Aaaannndd???


the poor S8 has been in limp mode ( limp as in i cant drive it as i would prefer ... not motor issues) for a while due to waiting for 1 suspension part.......... got to love/hate the multi-link suspension. not worth getting into detail but i have had issues getting 1 specific part for almost 18 months........... not to get excited but i have a tracking # and box is inbound.....been through this before and if this box is a winner than wow! nothing like a trip to SEMA to be face to face with a supplier and ask them about 1 odd ball part for a 10+ yr old car they dont care about. 


aside from parts supply issues the car is a well........... not for taking the kids to soccer! ............. yes i owe photos if only i had a way to take photos not from a potato. my webfoo is slipping......... but ideas are sparking so!............ 

on a side note the catchcat setup is working wonders. pulled the manifold for the previous oil change and everything is 100% clean on the top end. guess the time tig welding and planning and designing parts paid off........... 



:beer:


----------



## Bicycle019 (Mar 30, 2001)

Thanks for the timely reply! :laugh:

Good luck, fun car, like the new wheels, maybe I can drive it next time I'm in town, who knows when that'll be??


----------

