Just got a 99 T/A A4 with ~79K miles, got ?'s

1) The rear-end whines. Dealer mentioned something about the vehicles with traction control are notorious for this. My warranty DOES cover the rear end, should I get it checked out/replaced? Or is this totally normal?

2) Whats up with the "ovalized" stock exhuast piece? Doesn't that KILL power?

3) My SES light came on for about 20 miles @ 78500 miles, then went off. I noticed that the engine is idleing at 500 or just BELOW!!! I can feel, (I am notorious for "feeling" thing) a miss maybe, or just a stumble at this low idle. I think cause the engine is barely staying alive. But acceleration and everything else is fine. Are these LS1's supposed to idle that low?

4) Is stock exhaust supposed to be that quiet?

5) Did they go back to belt-driven water pumps in the LS1's?

6) With the traction control on, does it really affect performace? Is it bad to drive around with it off all the time?

Thanks for the replies

 

Traction control hurts performance yes. Rear end whine is usually due to gears, remove the rear end cover and see if the gears are aftermarket. The "oval" exhaust won't hurt power that bad since it seems a little bit wider then the traditional round exhaust piping. Yes the exhaust is that quiet. A4 cars should idle about 550 RPM while M6 cars idle between 700-800 RPM I believe.

 

hi, congrats on the new ride, well i am going through a similar situation with my '99. i just bought the car from carmax, and thank god it is under a loooong warranty. but yeah, it could be the pinion bearing gone bad, and i think my rear end will need to be fixed really soon, mine whines at around 50+mph when i lightly touch the gas . and no traction control is not known to cause your rear end to whine. but yeah i would take your car in as soon as possible. why not?
Nick

 

your welcome

 

as far as the rear end whine, after i got my car last fall it had the common pinion seal leak. so i took it in and $500 later they replaced the seal and bearings. but the car had a bad whine at 30-40 mph. i took it back and 3 attemps later they got it right. i believe its hard to adjust the gears properly.

 

What gizmo did you get from SLP and whats it cost. I need one. I would take the car in and have it checked out. The rear end on these cars a little off and have some problems.

 

This gizmo: http://www.slponline.com/view_produc...RTNUMBER=63015

 

Yep

 

sweet!...however, it says it's only good for the 99-02. I have a 98?

 

I just bought one with traction control, Ill have it monday. Is there anyway to turn it off such as a switch? I have a hypertech reprogrammer too if that helps.

 

darn.................HIJACKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks for all the pointers. The belts were just changed and so was the oil. Are there any parts that can help? I believe an aftermarket thermostat was put in.

I was wondering If a cold air intake would help keep the engine cool? It could already have one installed, I will check when i get it tomorrow.

I am not sure if the optispark was changed. Is there anyway I can check it's condition and when will i know it needs to be replaced and how much would it cost to replace it (or could i do it myself)?

 

The best path on traction control is have your PCM tuned for then you also would have the torque management and traction control detuned or even turned off and require then no other hardware.
These functions control timing and can yank as much as 50% of the timing out and then engine has to recover from that, esp on hard launches and shifts.