How'd it go on the S4?
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Cars suck
- Thread starter Geoff
- Start date
How'd it go on the S4?
Geoff
Well-known member
I have the USB cable and software for my GTI. I scan the thing for fault codes before every oil change. All the work is done at the dealer. The car is under warranty to 50K with an extended warranty up to 100K. Other than a fairly pricey 40K and 80K service where they replace transmission oil/filter and flush the brake lines, I'm not paying for much of anything beyond oil changes until the car crosses 100K miles.
My Mountaineer has 107K miles on it and is my winter beater to drive to the ski hill. The Service Engine Soon lamp is flashing on the dash. I could go to AutoZone and get the fault codes read for free but I don't have the garage space or the time to fuss with it. It's going to a local indy mechanic tomorrow who has a good reputation.
campgottagopee
New member
mondeo
New member
I find it humorous that they use the STI as the picture for that story. It describes very well the basis for the Outback and Forrester, as well as the base Impreza and Legacy. The Legacy GT, WRX, and STI are all niche vehicles that run contrary to what that article describes, the STI being just about the opposite of what the base of the brand is all about.
I don't know that you'll find a brand that has a more discretized customer base. Non-turbo buyers are some of the slowest drivers on the road, the turbo car buyers some of the most aggressive. I dread being stuck behind Outbacks and Forresters more than I dread Camrys or minivans.
WWF-VT
Well-known member
$3500 still sounds like a lot of $$ for that work. My independent Audi garage is less than $1000 for the timing belt/water pump and probably couldn't make up enough work to get a bill up to $3500.
Gahddamnit. Just brought the Jeep in for an alighnment...my wheel is at about 9 o'clock after having a drag link end replace. They can't align it...needs a rod end. I hate paying people to do stuff like that...ugh! I need a lift in my garage...and 8 extra hours in a day. I don't see either happening soon. :lol:
SKIQUATTRO
New member
there was a ton more stuff, i'd have to go dig out the bill......
a buddy of mine's xterra just went, he's going Subie....
a buddy of mine's xterra just went, he's going Subie....
campgottagopee
New member
No kidding---can't even friggin get the cars, looks cool tho.
hammer
Active member
I don't pay for maintenance visits yet on my Volvo but I saw this morning that they would have charged $180 for an oil change w/full synthetic, service light reset, and a few other inspections. :-o
Your owners manual calls for full Synthetic? Is the oil change every 15,000 miles?
hammer
Active member
Oil changes are every 7,500 miles. Full synthetic isn't required but my independent mechanic recommended it for turbo engines. I do pay for the difference at the dealer (around $40-$45).
I have a turbo with 22,000.00 miles on it. I was told by the shop not to change what type of oil the owners manual calls for. The cars performance is based off of that weight oil and changing it will effect it.
Who the heck knows.
campgottagopee
New member
True, don't want any warranty issues down the road and wanna keep that turbo coooool.
WJenness
Active member
To tell you the truth, it was easier on the S4 than the Jetta... Took less time too.
It helped that we had an hour long DVD that was basically a how-to... We could have used that for the Jetta. The fun with the Jetta was further compounded by the fact that we hadn't done ANY work on that car prior to that, so just learning where everything was and how it came apart took a bit.
The S4 he's had for a couple years and we've done a lot of stuff to it... We had to do the TB because his thermostat failed, and you've gotta basically do all the TB work to get to the thermostat.
Also, because the S4 is Quattro, the motor is longitudinal, as opposed to the transverse mount in the FWD jetta... so it's actually much easier to see / operate on everything by taking the front end of the car off, as opposed to digging through the wheel well...
The biggest issue we had on the Jetta was that you had to un-do a motor mount as the belt goes around it, and then shift it out of the way, replace the belt and put it back... We fought with that damned mount for a couple hours all tolled. No such pain on the S4.
-w
hammer
Active member
Not an problem for my car...from the owner's manual:
All the dealer does when I ask for synthetic is put it in and charge me the extra. They make no mention of any warranty issues.
So taking the front apart wasn't too bad? My Passat is going to be the same thing when I do it (since it's basically a FWD A4). The service manual makes it sound pretty easy, its good to hear that it went smoothly for you.
I've done timing belts on transverse VWs before, the lack of space can definitely be a PITA.
WJenness
Active member
Yeah, not bad at all a bunch of bolts to keep track of, but not horrible.... A lot of the DIYs don't say to drain the coolant first (which we didn't on the Jetta) but that makes a big mess when you pull the water pump... We did it on the S4 and it was much cleaner.
We started at about 5:00PM.
Here are some pics of our progression:
6:08PM
7:02PM
7:56PM
8:52PM
This was the end of take apart stage, from here it was re-install.
We finished about 20 after 2.
We did:
Oil Change
replaced:
Timing Belt
Timing Belt Tensioner and tensioner pulley
Idler pulley
Serpentine Belt
Serpentine Tensioner
Thermostat
Water Pump
and we replaced the Alternator, Crank and Power Steering pulleys with lightweight versions
-w
Holy crap that's a lot of engine crammed in there! Seeing it with the nose off makes it even more apparent!