Project: Space Wagon

[Senor_Taylor]

Occasional stumble on low rpm (2-3k rpm), low throttle accel in 2nd/3rd and steady state cruise on highway in 5th/6th.  The annoying thing is that its not very repeatable.  Coil packs and plugs time, I think, parts ordered.  Car is a 68k miles.  Given my low desire to work on shit in the winter and lack of garage space, I will trade my time for throwing parts at the car that may not be needed.  

I dug into the depths of the internet and occasionally the MAF, vanos, and valvetronic sensors either go bad or their seals fail and they cake with grime but I'm going with occam's razor here.  It looks like I should probably clean my vanos solenoids, easy to do with the engine cover off.  The MAF is $300 for an OE part so I'm not inclined to do that, but looks like they do fail.

I have a super unheated garage and I owe you.  

Can also clean the MAF with MAF cleaner but I have never fixed an issue doing that 

Like honestly, who has cleaning it ever worked for? lol

*raises hand*

Hell, the E30 had a check engine light and i cleaned a coolant sensor and fixed it. It's the little things.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[.RJ]

plugs and coils changed, thanks for the help DJ!

car runs great now. the misfire was getting worse so I'm glad I knocked that out.

[.RJ]

Quattro > xDrive

I thought the xDrive would be better than it is, but I think RWD + LSD + Snow tires would be better. It just reacts too slowly and its very jerky as you can feel the center diff moving power around as the tires slide... really noticeable at slow speeds on really slick pavement. Turning TC off helps but not enough, I'd just rather it react slower and more gradually and let the damn tires spin a little. Once you get moving or really get the tires lit up it seems fine and pulls through, but, quattro just works better and its more seamless and transparent. At 69k miles I'm sure the transfer case fluid is long past its sell-by date so I'm going to have that changed next week along with the diffs and the gearbox.

Have I mentioned that I miss my A4? Meh.

[ScottyB]

does anyone make a diff controller so you can just force it to do your bidding? that's a common item for a lot of the Japanese boost buggies to tweak with but i suppose your unicorn wagon might be too small of a market.

[.RJ]

does anyone make a diff controller so you can just force it to do your bidding?  that's a common item for a lot of the Japanese boost buggies to tweak with but i suppose your unicorn wagon might be too small of a market.

That'd be nice to just fix it at 70/30 in the dry and switch to 50/50 in snow.

In the dry the system works pretty well, but traction is breaking loose much slower.

[Steve85]

Hmmm, hopefully they have improved it. My old E30 325ix was fixed at 60/40 I believe (there was definitely rear bias) and no traction control or anything to get in the way. The center diff was pretty much a truck transfer case...no "moving power around". It was a lot of fun on slippy days.

[.RJ]

I dont know if the F30/F31 system is different or not.

Its going in monday to drain & fill all the drivetrain fluids, and I'm going to ask the tech there about it. It feels like the wheels are slipping/gripping/slipping/gripping, but I dont know if thats a result of the diff trying to move power around. I am trying to modulate the throttle like a FWD/RWD car, and its also been 9* out every morning so who knows. If you just floor it, it spins all the tires and its fine so maybe I should just do that, I left the neighborhood sideways this morning.

[.RJ]

So... I dropped car at the indy shop to replace the battery and change all the drivetrain fluids (diffs, t-case, gearbox). 4 fucking places the fluids come from so that means 4 times they get to charge you. The audi had two, since the front/center diff was in the gearbox and you didnt have to remove anything to get to the plugs. They also want something like $150 to register the battery, I lol'd. No thanks, I can do that myself. I'm a little salty the book rate gives an hour to install it, but we've not seen temps much above 20 degrees in 2 weeks and this thing is about to go tits up. The A4 didnt have any of that nonsense or a stupid pyrotechnic link that blows off the battery if the airbags deploy.

Have I mentioned I miss my A4?

I also have had a weird stumble from the motor leaving my house first thing on these cold ass mornings ( < 10*F). It only happens once, maybe twice. I suspect its battery voltage related, but I went down the e90 internet rabbit hole of possible issues. Ooof this thing has a LOT of sensors and solenoids and motors and actuators in the cylinder head for the vanos and valvetronic. If one of the valvetronic sensors has gone bad, as they do because its oil seal leaks and gets oil into the connector, you have to pull the valve cover off.... and changing the valve cover gasket on these cars is a legitimate several hour project. I could do the same on my Audi in 20 minutes in my parking space.

Hell, you cant even take the engine cover off without removing a bunch of shit around the cowl, and I need to do that to check the plug to see if its getting oil in it.

I suspect the only german car I buy from now on is older than 2005 or brand new with warranty. I got a lot of shit for buying that Audi but man that was a great car and didnt have any of this bullshit and was soooo simple and easy to work on, all things relative.

[JustinG]

And now I'm back on the Ridgeline

[.RJ]

This is still way better than ridgeline ownership

[JustinG]

You aren't selling it very well.

[D_Eclipse9916]

So... I dropped car at the indy shop to replace the battery and change all the drivetrain fluids (diffs, t-case, gearbox). 4 fucking places the fluids come from so that means 4 times they get to charge you. The audi had two, since the front/center diff was in the gearbox and you didnt have to remove anything to get to the plugs. They also want something like $150 to register the battery, I lol'd. No thanks, I can do that myself. I'm a little salty the book rate gives an hour to install it, but we've not seen temps much above 20 degrees in 2 weeks and this thing is about to go tits up. The A4 didnt have any of that nonsense or a stupid pyrotechnic link that blows off the battery if the airbags deploy.

Have I mentioned I miss my A4?

I also have had a weird stumble from the motor leaving my house first thing on these cold ass mornings ( < 10*F).  It only happens once, maybe twice.  I suspect its battery voltage related, but I went down the e90 internet rabbit hole of possible issues.  Ooof this thing has a LOT of sensors and solenoids and motors and actuators in the cylinder head for the vanos and valvetronic.  If one of the valvetronic sensors has gone bad, as they do because its oil seal leaks and gets oil into the connector, you have to pull the valve cover off.... and changing the valve cover gasket on these cars is a legitimate several hour project.  I could do the same on my Audi in 20 minutes in my parking space.  

Hell, you cant even take the engine cover off without removing a bunch of shit around the cowl, and I need to do that to check the plug to see if its getting oil in it.  

I suspect the only german car I buy from now on is older than 2005 or brand new with warranty.  I got a lot of shit for buying that Audi but man that was a great car and didnt have any of this bullshit and was soooo simple and easy to work on, all things relative.

LOL still about 2 weeks out from getting the race car back from the cage shop.  Want to try out my motive power fill?

[.RJ]

Do those things work on diffs? I may take you up on that to change the oil and brake fluid though.

[Apoc]

Hey, at least it's a manual. Amirite?

[.RJ]

Manuel 4 lyf3

[D_Eclipse9916]

Do those things work on diffs?  I may take you up on that to change the oil and brake fluid though.

   I have a Mityvac for oil, Power Bleeder for brakes, and Powerfill for Trans/Diff changes.

[.RJ]

SO MANY MITYVACS

[.RJ]

Quattro > xDrive

I thought the xDrive would be better than it is, but I think RWD + LSD + Snow tires would be better.  It just reacts too slowly and its very jerky as you can feel the center diff moving power around as the tires slide... really noticeable at slow speeds on really slick pavement.  Turning TC off helps but not enough, I'd just rather it react slower and more gradually and let the damn tires spin a little.  Once you get moving or really get the tires lit up it seems fine and pulls through, but, quattro just works better and its more seamless and transparent.  At 69k miles I'm sure the transfer case fluid is long past its sell-by date so I'm going to have that changed next week along with the diffs and the gearbox.

Have I mentioned that I miss my A4?  Meh.

The more I've thought about this, the more I think what I was feeling with the drivetrain, is something in the motor, and I think something either related to the low battery voltage from the dying battery or from molasses thick oil in the vanos or frozen condensation somewhere doing something with the DISA valves from having a hard time getting the motor all the way up to temp when its 9*F outside. 

this is one of the few times I had a laptop with the diagnostic software on it so I could data log all the sensor channels and see if something wonky is going on.  If it goes away with a new battery and return to more reasonable temperatures, and then I'll forget about it.  In the mean time once we get some real snow I will have to go do some uh, xDrive research, for science.

I'm still surprised i can go start up a car when its 6*F and just drive away in it and it feels mostly normal.

[.RJ]

Headed up to canaan valley for the weekend and went out to play in the snow at blackwater falls park yesterday.  Car did just fine, and started up without hesitation when it was 0*F.  I'm glad I replaced the battery last week. 

[JustinG]

How's the AWD compared to the Audi?