My A3 Quattro

Discussion in 'Members Gallery' started by sparrow, Aug 29, 2015.

  1. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    Carried on today with the wiring. I started at the front and worked back.

    Removed the bumper to make access easier, and the lights as well. I then started unplugging stuff that was not engine related. It all went quite well. The light/non-engine-stuff looms were quite modular, and I was able to remove them fairly easily.

    The passenger side loom is wrapped to the engine loom just behind the battery, so that was as far back as the will go. However, there's nothing else keeping that in the engine bay. This includes the fan wiring, horn and lights.

    The drivers side loom has lights, washer motor, coolant level and a few others. However, they're all going, so were disconnected, This meant the loom was free all the way to the bulkhead. There is one cable connected to this loom that goes down behind the brake servo, and then joins with what appears to be the lambda wiring coming up from under the car. Apart from this, there is just one earth in the scuttle, so I removed that as well.
    At this point, the car looked like this:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I then realised I'd not started the car at all since removing all of this. However, none of this was on the engine, so that should be OK, right?
    Er, no. It won't start, just turns over. ****

    Start plugging random stuff back in, but nothing. Eventually the battery started going flat. Last thing I put on was the earth, but by now the battery was nearly flat, and that seemed to have no impact.
    Dragged a running car on to the drive, hooked up the jump leads, and she started straight away. Hmmmm.
    Unplug stuff again, all fine. Last thing to try is the earth wire. Yup, that's it.

    Audi, in their infinite wisdom, have an earth on the lighting/accessories loom that stops the engine starting if it's removed. [:x]

    With that resolved, I carried on. The fusebox and relay holders are now undone as well, most of the wiring on the steering column has been unplugged, and that's as far as I can go now, and keep the car driveable.

    I'll speak to the wiring guy this week, and see when he wants the car. I'll go over there, and spend a couple of hours pulling the loom out. He can then fit the new one at his leisure.

    I also ordered a manifold from Bill at Badger5. It's back from coating:

    [​IMG]

    Cams are there, turbo is on order, and rods/pistons etc are there. I also picked up the 2L crank recently (thanks to Eddie who brought it to Autosport for me). The head is being cleaned and skimmed, so the build should start soon.
     
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  2. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    Gearbox has arrived:

    [​IMG]

    SQS dogbox with custom ratios. Flat shift will be set up during mapping.
     
  3. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    Bill has the turbo and manifold:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  4. Tristan

    Tristan Paid Member Paid Member

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    Love the coated mani. Great progress so far!
     
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  5. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    I've been crazily busy at work, and also been busy at the weekends, so I've not done much over the last couple of weeks. However, the interior loom has arrived today.

    Interior loom:
    [​IMG]

    Current weight, 1.7kg. I still need to add in the wheel speed sensor wiring, and the throttle pedal wiring. I suspect that won't make a noticeable difference.

    Steering wheel buttons and paddles:
    [​IMG]

    Total weight, 0.54kg. I need to connect the paddle switches to the loom still.

    Switch panel with breakers instead of fuses:
    [​IMG]
    Weight, 1kg.

    That should be quite a saving over the OEM loom and dashboard.

    I'm aiming to get the current loom out of the car on Sunday, so I can remove the bits I still need from it.
     
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  6. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    I spent a chunk of this weekend on the loom, and it's now completely disconnected. The only connectors not still connected to the loom were the two knock sensors, everything else came off without too much hassle. I did have to unbolt the entire steering column from the bulkhead to get the loom out.
    This is what an entire Audi A3 loom looks like on the floor of the car:

    [​IMG]

    Engine bay with no wiring left:
    [​IMG]

    I'll pull the bits off I need over the next couple of evenings.
    The engine loom up to the bulkhead is nearly ready, the connectors for the coils and cam sensor are now here. I just need to work out the pin outs.
    Once that's done and fitted, I'll work out where the ECUs are going, and then run the interior cables.
     
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  7. beetie

    beetie Forum Member

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    Currently doing the loom on my mk2. Takes ages and is a horrible job.
     
  8. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    I remember the loom on my Mk2. It must have been half the size of this thing. It's ridiculous. I'm glad I don't have to refit this monstrosity.
     
  9. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    This loom weighs close on 15kg. Now to strip out the 300g I need. I probably should have done a better job of marking the bits I need...

    I've also test mounted the paddles and buttons on the steering wheel. I need to lengthen two wires, and connect the paddles to the rest of the loom.

    [​IMG]
     
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  10. copeidge

    copeidge Forum Member

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    Yes!! what do all the buttons do? Even if they don't do anything I'll still be impressed haha
     
  11. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    Yellow button arms launch control, and the four white ones are to control the dash. The blue and green are spares. :thumbup:
     
  12. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    I made a good bit of progress on the wiring this weekend.

    On Friday night, I started on the loom from the bulkhead to the ECU. It looked like this after a couple of hours in front of the TV:
    [​IMG]

    At this point, I ran out of one of the contacts going in to the Souriau connector. I still need to run the connections to the STC which will add another ECU connector.

    I've not heatshrunk it yet, as I want to make sure it's correct. I'll then take it apart, and tidy it up.

    This morning I did a trial fitting of all the wiring. It went pretty well, I've got most of the lengths close enough.

    Engine loom:

    [​IMG]
    Weighs 0.75kg.

    ECU rough location:
    [​IMG]

    Engine loom test fit:
    [​IMG]

    Interior loom test fit:
    [​IMG]

    The interior loom is back out, so I can add the connectors required from the loom. There are a couple I need to work the wiring out on, like which is the brake light pin, why there are 4 wires from the alternator, and which starter motor wires are which, but this feels like a big step forward.
    I need to work out where to fit the switch panel. I need to be able to reach it. I'd like to be able to fit a passenger seat, so that rules out just fitting it next to me on the passenger side. Some thinking required.

    I also drilled out and removed the ignition barrel and housing, as I don't need the key, and the steering lock was still connected.
     
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  13. sambo Paid Member Paid Member

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    Great to see this progress Alex :-D

    So glad this car carries on in motorsport world!
     
  14. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    More wiring progress. I decided not to wait until I'd tested the loom to shrink the wires, as it was becoming unmanageable.
    Not much to show for it, but lots of bits ticked off.

    I've decided to mount the ECUs to the bulkhead to leave more space for a passenger seat.
    [​IMG]

    The only bits left I have to do to start the engine are:
    • crank plug on engine wiring loom
    • throttle pedal wires to main loom (already connected outputs to ECU/STC)
    • 12v feed to engine loom
    • Fit battery, then fit main feed wires to loom/starter/alternator

    The alternator has 4 wires coming to a plug. This is a picture:
    [​IMG]

    Does anyone know all the functions? Exciter/alternator light/??/??
     
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  15. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    ECUs mounted:

    [​IMG]

    Internal wiring all laid out.

    [​IMG]

    I'm just waiting on the battery wires, then should be able to start it up.

    Paddle shift system has shipped as well.
     
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  16. pascal77uk Paid Member Paid Member

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    Good to see this evolving.
     
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  17. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    It runs!! Very roughly, but it runs. The fuelling is horrendously far out, but it runs.

    I lost a week due to a stinking virus, but all the bits I needed arrived.
    I connected the last few bits up, and started testing. Instantly had a good crank signal, but no cam signal, so the ECU wouldn't synch. Turned off sequential ignition and injection, and it synched straight away. However, there was no spark or fuel.
    I then turned my attention to the STC, and had a problem with the pedal sensor values.
    It turned out I'd made two small mistakes on the wiring, so fixed those, and everything started working. However, the car wouldn't start.
    However, it was just because the fuelling is so far out. It eventually chugged to life. It won't rev, and pops and bangs, but I haven't touched the map, it's just a random 1.8t map I had lying around.

    I'll tidy some of the wiring up during the week, and make a list of the wiring that still needs doing. This includes the cam sensor, all the paddle shift connections, and fitting the rest of the chassis loom, such as the wheel speed sensors, brake lights, and more.
    I'll also find out from Bill when the engine will be ready, and when I can take the car over.
     
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  18. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    Well, that's been a frustrating week. After it ran last weekend, it completely refused to start again. As it ran, it obviously had fuel and spark, and was synching properly.
    I worked back through everything, checking all the wiring, checking it was still synching, getting spark, and fuel. This took most of the week as I only had time to look in the evenings.
    Everything seemed fine.
    Logic eventually dictated not enough spark, or not enough fuel. Seeing as I'd had sparks arcing half an inch from the plug to the rocker cover, it had to be fuel.
    On Thursday, I pulled off the fuel rail, stuck the injectors in plastic bottles, and ran the injectors. Immediately it was obvious something wasn't right. Injector 1 would flow a bit, and the amount of fuel would decrease across the rail. 4 would hardly flow anything. Stopping and starting would have a different injector with fuel.
    Only possible conclusion is the 10 litres of fuel I put in the tank when parking it up was gone. I grabbed a couple jerry cans, and headed to the petrol station.
    Halfway there, I realised what the problem was. I'd forgotten to connect the lift pump! No idea how it ran the first time, and having some fuel just mislead me.
    I had the pinouts ready for last night. Wired it up, and it still wouldn't start. However, the pump was working, and I remember that the map I had in (different from before) was for 1000cc injectors. I changed the injector opening time, and it fired up straight away.
    I may have danced a little jig.

    So a week later, I can now start tidying the wiring in the car, and sorting out the paddle shift system wiring.

    Before the car goes to Bill, I need to work out why I have no cam sensor signal, and also wire up the fans.

    There's loads more that needs to be done, wheel sensors, brake lights, etc, but the engine can go in and be mapped now.
     
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  19. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    The engine is built, I'm just waiting for Bill to have space for the car. I think that's next week.
    I've been working on the wiring, and the paddle shift system. That's all working now. Here's a short video of calibrating the shifters, and then shifting up and down a bit.

    [video=youtube;iNS9WVGNIBw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNS9WVGNIBw[/video]

    Still a bit more to do:
    • Alternator exciter wire
    • Brake lights
    • Fuel Level Sender
    • Wheel Speed Sensors. I have a Siemens converter to test.
    • More tidying with spiral binding, and cable tie bases.
     
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  20. sparrow Paid Member Paid Member

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    Massively overdue update.

    I was supposed to drop the car off at Bill's a few weeks ago. The day before I was due to, the trailer output on my car failed. I couldn't get it looked at for over a week, so I lost my slot with Bill.

    This gave me some more time to sort the wiring, but I didn't get much time. Between moving premises and doing real work, there wasn't much time. However, I've done all the above tasks as well as got the wipers working, and a few other bits as well.
    The only wiring left to do is to tidy the wiring to the compressor and air cylinder, but that can't be done until the shifter unit is mounted, which won't be until Bill does it.
    Then it's just a matter of sticking down loads of clips to hold the wire in place.

    Wheel studs fitted as well, and I checked the 17" wheels fit over the brakes.

    On the trailer ready to go tomorrow:
    IMG_20160722_172307.jpg

    Parts that have accumulated:
    IMG_20160722_165420.jpg
    KW suspension, solid suspension mounts, shorter driveshaft for the quattro gearbox.

    The car knows it's going for some serious work. The alternator stopped working this afternoon, it sprung a fuel leak from the feed to the 044 pump, and when I moved it, there were a couple of drops of oil and coolant on the floor.
    I can't wait for it to be running.
     

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