uncre8tv

Clean the grounds, you said. Repeatedly. And I took half a stab at them.. jiggled a wire.. scraped down a few terminals.. replaced some relays.. checked some fuses..

Finally after so many different weird intermittent fails that had other pointers (hot start cold start hitting bumps looking at it funny) I just said screw it and took a sanding sponge and terminal brush to all the grounds in the diagram. And today I went for a 15mi drive with a few restarts (gas and lunch) and several 0-50 sprints (to the chagrin of my neighbors) and didn't have a single hiccup.

Thank you all.

Now, items left before I really consider it road worthy (besides a couple more trips without incident):

- Gas smell. was there before I removed the FPR and Damper and is there now. No visible leaks at my new hoses (off the shelf and clamped onto barbs - temporary, i know it isn't right).
What are common causes of fuel smell on S4s when no leak is visible?
Exhaust was VERY rich before the grounds were cleaned and is less so now (or maybe I'm just getting used to it) but the fuel smell is the worrying part.
- washer hoses. got frustrated when taking the hood off and clipped them. just need to get some hose couplers and clamps
- cluster connections. need cleaned, gauges are slow and lights are dim/flaky at night.
- suspension. this is the big $ one (well, one of them, depending on fuel issue). still riding 50mm low which is painful when i see the AC and Alt digging up asphalt in my minds eye.

Oh, also, my fans don't come on until I'm at the second temp mark (2/3rds on the gauge.) So when warmed up I basically live at that second mark. I don't know the gradients on the gauge but this feels too warm to me. Is it normal?

Ok, that's it for today. Going to a show in the Springs tonight so I'm going to call it a day for the garage. Will probably get back into it after football tomorrow.

Thanks everyone. Would name names but I don't want to miss anyone, you all know who you are

nc_growler

Ok. I'm inspired to finally do this myself. I kept telling myself that the PO's work 4 years ago was sufficient, but I've been fighting gremlins. I'm going in do to them all. Thank you for sharing your success story!

Leon Speed

Y-connector by the carbon cannister in the right wheel well. You need to remove the right front wheel and remove the well liner. Look up to see a black cannister. Below it are four hoses, three of those are connected with a plastic y-piece. This will probaly be broken. Replace it with a metal one (hooked on cars or Jaeger).

Weird. They can be easily pulled off when removing the hood. Then again many times the check valves are blocked so it is a good time to get new ones - generic ones at an automotive shop are fine.

Replace the fuse!

It will be bigger than your fuel issue since there are many things to replace once you are in there

"Normally" an S4 runs a little below the second mark but the gauge may be a bit off. Also your cooling system may not be running optimally; a new thermostat, o-ring behind the thermostat, new tank cap, and importantly clean the crap between the radiator and the A/C condenser. [/QUOTE]

dr bob

Fuel smell even after new hoses --

The Y connector in the wheelhouse as others mention. I have an instruction for that... (attached PDF...)

If the smell continues, I recommend tat you use your nose and fingers (not in that order) to feel every connection in the engine bay. First, make a jumper out of a piece of 14ga wire and a couple male spade crimp connectors. Put a switch in the middle if you want to get fancy. Pull the fuel pump relay, and use the jumper between the 30 and 87 terminals in the panel. This will cause the fuel pump to run continuously. Remove the air cleaner housing completely so you can get to the fuel pressure regulator and the rear damper, the connecting hoses between those and the drain that connects to the fuel cooler on the firewall. Engine COLD, air cleaner housing completely removed. put the jumper in, verify that the pumps are running by the buzz from the tank area in the rear. Then feel for fuel wet at each connection including the threade ones. After each 'feel', follow with a sniff of the fingers for fuel smell. Don't lick, just sniff!!.

Fuel connects to the engine via that hose on the right side (passenger side on US cars) to the steel line that loops over the cam cover and screws into the bottom of the front damper. From the damper, fuel flows back through the driver's side rail to the rear damper, and in paralle through that hose across he front to the passeneger side rail. At the rear of the passenger side rail is the fuel pressure regulator, with a steel-with-rubber-loop jumper from the rear damper. Fuel from the regulator flows through a hose to the fuel cooler, then goes back to the tank.

That rubber-loop jumper in the rear has aradius that's tighter than common EFI hose will tolerate with risking a fracture of the plastic liner in the hose. Clamps on the plastic-lined EFI hose on barbs risks cracking the liner too.

At the front of the passenger-side rail there's a cap that threads to the rail, and has a ball-bearing inside to seal against the flared end of the rail. If the cap has been off or the ball is missing (easy to drop/lose if you don't expect it...) you'll have some seepage.

Fuel leaks are ALWAYS a disaster waiting to happen. Don't drive until you find and fix yours.

uncre8tv

nc_growler, you won't regret it. Being a noob to aluminum blocks I did cross thread one hole getting to VIII (which, once I had it apart, I realized I didn't need to remove that bolt anyway) but it was not too bad all in all.

Leon Speed/Aryan - thanks! great tips, I'll check the y-connector tomorrow

uncre8tv

thanks dr bob!