Audi A4 Motorola Bluetooth Integration

There are many phones and many Bluetooth kits out there. This is only one option available - I dont profess this set-up to be the best, but it fits my needs.

Phone Model: Motorola v-505
Bluetooth Kit: Motorola 98500 / S9642C

Why Bluetooth? 2 main reasons:
1) Bluetooth functionality allows the phone to integrate with the phone functionality that is already wired into Audis without any wires. Meaning, I can now sit in my car and place calls by voice while the phone is remains in my pocket.

2) But more importantly, you are no longer tied down to the phone. One disadvantage of non-Bluetooth phone kits (such as the Nokia 8260s I had prior to this one) is that the hardware is specific to that particular phone. Therefore, I was stuck with the Nokia even as phones got advanced and had more features. So now if there is a new phone that comes out in the future with features I like, if it has Bluetooth, I just have to take a minute or 2 to configure it to talk to my bluetooth kit I installed in that car and Im in business. All the hardware I had from the Nokia kit is now useless.

Heres the kit and its contents:



Basically, I connect the kit to the car in the same manner as when I did the Nokia 8260 integration. With an additional DB25 straight-thru cable, you plug it into the cable coming out of car in the CD-Changer area (B5 A4) and cut the cable as shown here.


I really recommend this method - as there is no soldering required with this approach. More details on that in my Nokia 8260 article

Then connect the wires from the kit as diagrammed here:
PIN on DB25#: -----> LINE:
10 -----> Orange
16 -----> Red Isolate with fuse
5 -----> Green line Isolate with fuse
3 -----> Black
19 -----> Speaker + (white line)
25 -----> Speaker - (black line)
15 -----> Mike + (white line)
14 -----> Mike - (black line)
[The Yellow and Blue wires are not used]

You cut the speaker and microphone lines in the kit and connect them to the appropriate lines listed above.

I placed the Junction Box (the black box in the 1st pic) behind the dash and Control Unit on the dash console as shown here:




Its possible to place this elsewhere - by the handbrake area or to the left of the steering wheel. I considered both, but I preferred this. Somebody more creative than me will come up with something else Im sure.

The blue button on the Control Unit is the main Bluetooth button. When the ignition gets turned on, that button flashes until a connection is made with the phone. When the connection is made, the buttons remains lit and the phone is now in Bluetooth mode. Heres a pic of the phone getting connected to the kit - again, this can happen with the phone in my pocket. This is just for demonstrative purposes:



The circular button in the middle is the Mute button. When a call is established that lights up in orange. If you press it, the mic is muted and it flashes. When you want to resume, you press it again and you can speak again. The Button next to that is the Voice Recognition button. If you want to make a call, you press that button, the radio is muted and it displays "Phone" and a sexy British female voice says "Say a name" You then state a name you have programmed - "Linda" for instance. Then it says back "Calling " - and voila the call is made. The 2 buttons on the right are volume buttons...

Heres a night time shot:



It took me about an hour to install this because it basically sat on top of my old installation. But if doing this from scratch, it should take about 3 hrs.

Other cool things/features:
-If you want privacy, you simply press the Bluetooth button until it is unlit, then you can just use the handset as normal. You can do this even when youre on the phone.

-You can program a keyword to use when a call comes in. In my case I use "answer". When a call come in I say "answer" and the call is picked up.

-The kit supports 2 types of voice dialing, the phones and the kits own internal voice dialing. The kits has the voice prompts and has to be programmed/trained separately.

-When the battery level on the phone is running low, the Bluetooth feature gets disabled.

-You can configure a few other optional setting to fit your preferences - ringtone, auto-answer, etc.

Read more →

Audi A4 B5 Stratmosphere Shortshifter Install

Required tools:
1. 3/6mm allens (6mm allen should have an 8" reach)
2. Socket set with metric sockets, extension, ratchet 8mm and 10mm open end wrench.
3. Circlip Pliers
4. Torx25 driver
5. Loctite (although not a tool, also not supplied but HIGHLY recommended)
6. Shop towels to wipe your hands free of grease!
7. A friend is a valuable tool to assist you in the install, although not required
also highly recommended.

Step 1: is to remove the shift knob by turning the knob counter clockwise till
the knob is off. Then carefully lift up at the seem between the shifter assembly
cover and the center console as depicted by the red arrows.

Step:2 With a 10mm socket wrench, remove the 2 10mm nuts holding the foam padded
sound break.

Step 3: You will then see the core of your shifter assembly. Now with your 6mm
allen wrench remove the two bolts and the one metal plate that connected the
shifter linkage to the transmission linkage. They are loctited from factory
and so a standard allen wrench may not allow you to provide enough torque to
remove them. In this case, use a 6mm socket wrench adapter to remove these bolts.

Step 4: With the 2 6mm bolts removed, loosen the front 2 10mm nuts holding the
shifter "bucket". You do not need to remove these two nuts, just loosen.

Step 5:Completely remove the rear 2 10mm nuts. This will allow you to gain access
to the 4 torx bolts.

Step 6: CAREFULLY remove the 4 torx bolts (T25) that hold the shifter assembly
down. Be careful to not drop/lose one of the bolts between the shifter bucket
and the center console.

Step 7: Once you remove the 4 torx bolts, work the shifter linkage free from
the transmission linkage (bottom arm). Once thats done its easiest to get the
assembly out by pushing the top connection to the left as shown and pulling
the linkage out. It might take some work to get the assembly positioned to remove
it.

Step 8: With the shifter assembly out, take your circlip pliers and remove the
circlip that holds the linkage to the assembly.

Step 9: At the joint where the bottom linkage connects to the upper linkage,
remove the 10mm nut/bolt holding the linkage together. This will allow you to
remove the stock linkage from the assembly.

Step 10: Now remove the 2 rubber dampers from the flexible pivot cup, then
remove the pivot cup from the stock shifter linkage.

Step 11: Take the packet of silicon grease and liberally apply to the ball.
Install the flexible pivot cup to the Stratmosphere shifter linkage. Tie the
zip tie around the pivot cup. You should notice a decrease of slop/play in the
shifter. Do not over tighten.

Note: put the side with the notches facing upwards away from the bearings. Reassemble
the black dampers, the linkage should look like the following.

When replacing the circlip remember to place the metal spacer from the original assembly between the damper and the circlip.

Step 12: Assemble the lower portion of the linkage. Place one shim between the
bearing and the lower linkage on each side(3 were included, you only need 2)
Use a pen/small screwdriver to position the shim and secure with the provided
bolt and locknut. Tighten until the bolt does not spin freely, but do not over tighten.

The assembled linkage should look like the picture above. Note the position
of the lower linkage in relations to the shifter arm. The hole is facing the
bottom. This is crucial during reassembly.

Step 13: Now reassemble the shifter assembly into shifter bucket. Place one
of the 4 aluminum spacers under the ends of the 2 rails that hold the shifter
in place. Again be careful to not lose a spacer. Tighten down the 4 torx bolts
at this point.

Step 14: Reverse the disassembly process. First replace the two 10mm nuts at
the back, and tighten down the two in the front of the console. Now using the
unsupplied loctite you purchased, place a small amount on the thread of the
2 6mm bolts that connect the shifter linkage to the transmission linkage. This
is a very important step in preventing the bolts from vibrating loose
over time. Now position the shifter so that the bottom linkage is easily accessible,
reinstall the plate and the bolt. Do not completely tighten the bottom 6mm bolt,
you will adjust this later to ensure proper alignment of the assembly. Reinstall
the top 6mm bolt, again do not tighten completely. Now with both bolts partially
tightened, align the shifter in the position sliding it forward and back until
its sitting in the position you want it to be. Now tighten the two bolts (snug)
and reinstall your shift knob. With the engine OFF, test that you can
easily shift through each gear including reverse. Make sure that the distance
between shifting from neutral to third, and neutral to fourth is the same. If
you can engage all gears easily, and the bottom linkage doesnt come in contact
with the shifter bucket, tighten down the 2 6mm bolts completely. Now reinstall
the sound break, and the 2 10mm nuts that secure it. Carefully reinstall the
shifter cover/shift knob and take your car for a spin! Youre done! Now how
hard was that???? *DONT ANSWER THAT!* =)



Pictures used in this how-to are of Alans fingers and his gorgeous pearl white
A4.

Read more →

Audi TT A4 1 8Tq Clutch Replacement

DISCLAIMER: This information is presented merely as a guide. Due to changes from year-to-year and options-to-options it may not be totally accurate. I can not be held responsible for anything that happens as a result of using this guide.

This is not something that should be attempted by someone who has never worked on a car, or has little experience with them.

If you use this guide, I only ask two things:
1. Accept the disclaimer,
2. Provide Feedback - comments/tips/problems/differences.

There, now that thats out of the way, lets begin.

Tools needed

• Jack
• Jackstands
• Transmission jack - I borrowed mine from my uncle, its from Sears, and has an angle adjuster and strap to keep the trans on the jack.
• Impact wrench
• 6mm allen socket
• 7mm allen socket
• 8mm allen socket
• 6mm allen wrench
• 8mm allen wrench
• 10mm socket (3/8" drive)
• 13mm socket (3/8" drive)
• 15mm shallow socket (3/8" drive)
• 15mm deep socket (3/8" drive)
• 15mm wrench
• 15mm "shorty" wrench
• 16mm shallow socket (3/8" drive)
• 16mm deep socket (3/8" drive)
• 16mm wrench
• 16mm "shorty" wrench
• 17mm shallow socket (3/8" drive)
• 17mm deep socket (3/8" drive)
• 17mm impact socket (1/2" drive)
• 17mm wrench
• 17mm "shorty" wrench
• 18mm wrench
• 22mm wrench
• 3/8" drive ratchet
• 12" extension w/swivel end
• 6" extension
• 3" extension
• screwdriver
• phillips screwdriver
• Torque wrench
• Plug for coolant hose (I used a 3/8" bolt)
• 6 point T40 Torx bit
• 12 point T40 Torx bit - special tool???
• Loc-Tite
• Patience
• Common Sense
• fan (gotta keep cool, right?)

If youre planning on changing the trans fluid, there are some special tools required. On my car it required a 17mm allen wrench (fill plug) and "3357 triple square socket" (drain plug) I bought the 3357 from http://www.zelenda.com and made the allen from a 17mm bolt welded to an old 1/2" drive socket.

I, of course, had these sitting in my toolbox, in the back of my car, 180 miles away :( So I made a new fill plug remover by welding a nut to bolt, and using a wrench on the nut, which turned the bolt, which turned the fill plug. I then picked the trans up and drained it through the fill plug. I used Redline MTL (75w90) fluid, it takes 2.9 quarts.

If you do change the fluid, do it after youre done. Wouldnt want to take the chance of spilling fluid in the area you will be working in/on for the next several hours.

Parts

• Flywheel
• Clutch
• Pressure plate
• Flywheel bolts (shorter than stock bolts)
• Pressure plate bolts (same as stock bolts)
• Throwout bearing
• Clutch alignment tool - not necessary, but helpful
• Driveaxle or driveshaft bolts - in case you muck up the ones you have.
• New lock-nuts for the turbo - Bentley manual says to replace them, I didnt
• New drive axle and driveshaft seals - Bentley manual says to replace them, I didnt

Instructions - Removal

I am following the Bentley manual for the most part. There are some steps I skipped, some that need to be added, and others that can be done differently. Im posting the steps and providing more info with them. If you are attempting this, you should have this manual already. It contains many other things, especially the required torque values for the bolts.

1. Disconnect ground cable from battery - 10mm
2. Remove driveshaft - ignore this step, its not necessary
3. Remove airbox - see pic
- Disconnect MAF connector
- Disconnect Power Output Stage connectors (see pic - 1)
- Disconnect Solenoid Valve for Wastegate Bypass Regulator Valve connector (see pic - 2)
- Disconnect EVAP canister purge regulator valve connector (see pic - 3)
- Disconnect hoses
- Pull airbox out

My car has a custom cone air setup, which is why the POS is mounted on aluminum and bolted to the fender.

4. Remove coolant tank and set aside
- remove three screws from top (phillips)
- Lift up and disconnect sensor from bottom (careful)
- remove top coolant line and plug.
- Leaving the bottom hose (big hose) connected, rotate the tank around about 135 degrees and lay it down

Coolant tank sitting position and O2 sensor connectors.

5. Disconnect second O2 sensor connector from under the coolant tank (leftmost connector - see pic) and free the wiring from any ties.
6. Remove O2 sensors. The manual does not say to do this, but I did it. Trying to remove the cat is difficult enough without having to worry about breaking the O2 sensors too. Takes a 22mm wrench and a little elbow grease. Youll probably have to track down the connector for the primary O2 sensor, or you might possibly twist the wires enough to break them (mine didnt break, but the jacket/insulator on one wire opened up.)
7. Remove nuts from cat-to-turbo connection. Three 17mm nuts. The shorty wrench will come in handy for the bottom nut.

The nuts and O2 sensor have been removed

8. Remove trans-to-engine bolts that you can get to from above. I think there were three accessible from above (left, middle, and right) 16mm.
9. Remove engine pan/cover from underneath - 10 screws: 3 front, 3 back, 2 in each wheel well.
10. Remove bracket for engine pan/cover - 2 bolts (13mm I think)
11. Jack car up and put on jack stands. Im not really sure of a good place to put the jackstands, I now have two slight dents in the floorboard of my car.

Car up in the air. Possibly bad spot for jack stands.

12. Remove heatshield from passenger side drive axle. Three 6mm allen bolts, two accessible with an allen socket (left and right) and the top bolt requires an allen wrench.
13. With the car supported on jack stands, place slight pressure on the trans with a jack.
14. Unbolt passenger side mount/support (leave mount connected to support) - two 13mm bolts, and three 8mm, again, two accessible with an allen socket (left and right) and the top bolt requires an allen wrench. Also remove the spring mount from the downpipe. You can let the jack pressure off the trans now, it will be fine without.
15. Loosen clamping sleeve on downpipe-to-exhaust connection. Youre supposed to be able to slide the clamping sleeves forward, but I couldnt get it to budge, and ended up pulling the downpipe out of it instead.
16. Remove the cat/downpipe by pulling it out from under the car. I made the mistake of trying to get it out from the top. I did finally get it with a lot of swearing and fidgeting. Oh well.

Catalytic converter and downpipe

17. Remove RPM sensor from transmission. My car did not have this. If it did, it would be located on the drivers side of the transmission, above the flywheel (about the two oclock position if looking at the front of the trans).
18. Now the fun part (1st of many) Disconnect the driveaxles. The shafts are bolted in with six 12 point torx-head bolts. I was able to use a regular 6point T-40 torx bit to remove them, but I highly recommend trying to get the 12 point bit to reduce the chance of rounding one of these things off.
19. Disconnect Speed sensor and reverse light connectors on drivers side of the trans. Make sure no other connectors are attached.
20. Remove starter, two 16mm bolts and one 6mm allen bolt. The wires can stay connected. This can be done one of two ways: The long and painful way, or the short and painful way.
- Long way: Remove bumper, remove A/C belt, remove A/C pump, remove starter.
- Short way: Attempt to get at 6mm allen bolt with an allen wrench by maneuvering your hand and arm through the A/C lines. When finally out (wait until you have to put it back in) remove the two starter bolts, slide the starter forward and attempt to lay it aside somehow.
21. Disconnect shift rod, one 10mm bolt
22. Disconnect shift pivot rod - one 8mm (may have been 6mm, not sure) allen bolt. Space is tight requiring the use of an allen wrench. When its out to the point that the allen wrench hits the trans tunnel, remove the allen wrench and try turning the bolt or washer on the backside with your fingers.
23. Remove the heat shield for the driveshaft. My car did not have this.
24. Remove the driveshaft from the trans - six T-40 Torx bits, let it hang on the heat shield.
25. Remove the four engine-to-trans bolts on the bottom (all 16mm), and there should be just two left holding it together afterwards.
26. Place transmission jack under the trans and put pressure on it.
27. Remove drivers side trans mount-to-support bolt (8mm allen bolt), leave the support bolted to the trans.
28. Remove the last two engine-to-trans bolts.
29. slide trans and trans jack back just enough for the bell housing to clear the pressure plate.
30. Lower trans just enough to get access to the clutch slave cylinder. While lowering the trans, DO NOT LET THE INPUT SHAFT HIT THE PRESSURE PLATE "FINGERS" The clutch cylinder is held in with a 6mm allen bolt, and will take a little bit of wiggling to get it out. Careful, its made of plastic. Do NOT remove the line, and do NOT press the clutch pedal.
31. Make sure all drive axles are clear of the trans and lower it. You might have to pull the trans off the jack to slide/drag it out from under the car, or you can just leave it under the car, and slide it out of the way.

Empty trans tunnel.

Parts removed

1 - Passenger side trans mount and related bolts
2 - Exhaust clamp bolts
3 - Passenger side drive axle shield and related bolts
4 - Starter Bolts
5 - Engine-to-Trans bolts
6 - Turbo-to-downpipe nuts
7 - Exhaust hanger spring
8 - Driveshaft bolts
9 - Clutch slave cylinder bolt
10 - Driver side trans support-to-mount bolt
11 - Drive axle bolts
12 - Coolant tank screws
13 - Just a rag, ignore it :)

Removing the clutch/flywheel

1. Remove the six 6mm allen head bolts from the pressure plate and remove it and the clutch plate. A screwdriver might be needed to gently pry it off. Careful, the pressure plate is the only thing holding the clutch plate in, and it WILL fall if youre not paying attention.
2. Bust out the impact wrench to loosen the six 17mm flywheel bolts. You probably dont need the impact, but you will spend a very long time trying to get the bolts loose without one.


Installing the clutch/flywheel

1. Look at the flywheel and youll notice the bolt holes are irregular. The flywheel only goes on one way. when you have all 6 bolts in, torque them down. I held a screwdriver between a flywheel tooth and the block while tightening. The manual calls for 44 ft lbs + 90 degrees. The shorter bolts for the new flywheel probably dont require the 90 degree turn. Check with APR to be sure.
2. Put the clutch disk and pressure plate on, the clutch disk has to go in a certain way (the taller middle side goes towards the pressure plate) Start putting the bolts in, but dont tighten yet. You need to center the clutch disk in the pressure plate. I eyeballed it since I didnt have the alignment tool. Torque the bolts in stages in a triangular fashion when its centered.

Time it took me to get this far, about 7 hours.

Take a break, the hardest part is about to begin.....

1. With the transmission on the transjack (if it has an angle adjuster, make sure its on the correct side), slowly lift it into place, making sure that nothing is in its way. You will need to match the angle of the engine with the angle of the jack. You will have to slide the trans in a little, jack it up, slide it in, jack it up, etc until the trans is aligned withe the engine. It may help to have a greater angle on the trans, and when its lined up, equal the angles out. DO NOT LET THE INPUT SHAFT HIT THE PRESSURE PLATE FINGERS. If one of them bends, bad things happen.

Jack on transjack - notice the the dents from the jackstands.

2. Put the clutch slave cylinder back on. Trust me on this one, do it now, before the trans is connected.
3. Now the fun part, inserting the trans. Mine slid right in, but if it doesnt, remember patience is the key. Put the trans in gear and try rotating the driveshaft end. this rotates the input shaft, and may help align it. If all else fails, pull the trans out (careful if the slave cylinder is bolted on), and check to make sure the clutch is still centered.
4. The trans probably wont slide all the way in. Get it in enough to get a bolt started on either side (start with the bolts that go through the guide pins.
5. Basically, everything else is the opposite of removal, just a little more difficult.

Reassembly time, about 8 hours.

Things to avoid (aka what I did wrong)

1. Remove the cat/downpipe from the bottom. It will come out from the top with a lot of struggling, yanking, and cursing, or it will drop right out the bottom with slight maneuvering.
2. when putting the transmission in, I got the shifter pivot arm caught between the trans and the hull, and bent it straight. I found this out after I had everything in, and realized I couldnt shift into 1st, 3rd, or 5th. The shift rod wouldnt come back far enough because it hit the shifter pivot arm. A jack and a 2ft long 2x4 promptly bent the arm back into shape :)
3. I tried to put the clutch slave cylinder on after the trans was installed. I could not get it to compress enough to install. I had to crack open the bleed screw and then push it in (I had a hose and container hooked up to catch the fluid), and then bled the clutch system afterwards (not a big deal though)
4. My APR flywheel/clutch was used and didnt have any bolts with it. I had to cut 5/8" off the end of the flywheel bolts in order to use them.

Notes/Comments/Suggestions:

Plan on a weekend for this job. Start Friday night, and if all goes well, you should be done Saturday night, or Sunday morning.

I started Thursday night about 10pm, worked until the trans was out at 4am. I started again Friday night about 9pm, worked until 4am and finished up a couple little things Saturday afternoon.

I should also say that my clutch and center Torsion were replaced about 10 months ago (25K miles) so I didnt have any stubborn bolts.

You might want to start by trying to bust the driveaxle and driveshaft bolts loose first. These will probably be the toughest bolts to get out. If you cant get them out, theres no sense in continuing, and it would suck to have to put everything back together

Some tips in case of a stubborn torx bolt:

1. hit it with a hammer a couple times
2. If it rounds off inside, try pounding an allen bit into it.
3. You could try grinding a slot in it, and using a screwdriver.
4. Try Vise Grips
5. Youll notice that there is a connector between pairs of bolts. If its the right bolt of the pair, you can use this connector as a lever (assuming the left bolt is out of course)

Read more →