My very own update thread by BaseDrifter

5 minute(s) of a 155 minute read

The A4 at the pick n pull today was a near copy of mine except for being an automatic. The interior was in fantastic condition and almost entirely in place. It was a 1997 1.8T Quattro, in europa blue mica with an ecru interior, winter package, non sport, no center armrest...with the addition of a trip computer.

Very rare to find LCDs in pre 99 A4s. For $38 I couldn't pass up the cluster. (I had to leave the wiper stalk control as I didn't have my torx to remove the steering wheel. I may go back for it depending on the route I take with the cluster...)

So as I somewhat expected, it won't work with my car. While at the junkyard I did some digging and found the cluster comparison, so I knew it wouldn't be plug and play, far from it. I'm missing the wiring harness for the 3rd plug on the new cluster (top left, white.)

At this point I have to decide whether I want to go back and get the arm and try to wire it up or just write it off. This project may be a bit out of my league.

Also, I haven't hooked it up to check the mileage, but it will always be wrong. AFAIK, theres no way to change the mileage. I also don't want to be staring at dead pixels, or pay $200 not to.

I also grabbed the ECU for $20. I'll have to recode it for a manual, but it will be nice to have a spare for testing purposes or to send off for a different tune later.

$5 got me the driver and passenger door pulls. Not in great shape by any means, but in better shape than the set on my dads car right now.

$10 got me the sunroof controls, also not in perfect condition, but in better condition than my old one.

And this is my friend's neighbor's house. Enjoy.

More to come...

Updates on my other projects:

Polished intake manifold: Still need to finish cleaning up some casting marks and get it media blasted.

New valve cover/upper coolant pipe: Thinking about getting it powder coated a matte/wrinkle blue (or paint matched??). I might end up with red, but I think blue would fit with the car better, if it looks right.

Flip key remote: Seems to be somewhat intermittent, confirmed last night with vag com. I may try to reroute the antenna. I've already spent $100 on this project so I might as well get the key cut and try it out in daily use. Might get that done today.

Fog lights: Haven't touched them yet. Searching for fog light grilles on ebay and the classifieds with no luck so far. Considering getting just the fog light surround and making my own RS4 style lowers grilles.

I still have an electrical gremlin somewhere that I'm trying to track down. That has motivated me to redo all the wiring I have done and to redo the shitty stereo wiring that the PO installed.

I should also diagnose why my cruise control doesn't work..at least I'm keeping busy!

Were those cars actually from Canada? This one is from Canada, including having the warnings in French! What exactly do you mean by changing the country? The ECU is currently coded as 06251. I need it to be 06201 but it won't take that recode. I CAN however recode it to say 06051. The first two digits, 06, should be a US code already.

On a different note I got the new door pulls and latch installed. What an improvement!

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