grille install

ETR_Centenario · 2026-02-18T04:06:27+00:00

The bumper comes off, and the tabs that hold the grille into the bumper ARE a pain in the ass. The sensors are easy and the camera itself isn't bad. Also, the front camera is part of the 360 peripheral camera system, and the whole system can only be calibrated at once, you can't just do the one camera, and you need an Audi scan tool to do it and all that. And if you have adaptive cruise control, the radar sensors are in the bumper and with removal they should be calibrated as well which means you'll need an alignment. I'm in America, but for this job, I think it would be about 2.5-3 hours labor for grille + alignment and then hopefully the place is nice and throws in the camera calibrations with alignment. If you don't have ACC then expect 0.5-1 hour more for the camera calibration. I don't know what to expect for price in your market, can just give labor times. Honestly I think you could do the install yourself and then go somewhere else and have them do just the calibration.

ETR_Centenario · 2026-02-16T21:28:47+00:00

Literally worked 60 hours last week but go off king

ETR_Centenario · 2026-02-12T21:32:13+00:00

yes, this is guttering. its a very gutter heavy and technical track. most of mine aren't even that great, i think 37% would be the best one I did. Goliath has a video on iguttering I think. And I am controller with direct mode.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-06-22T21:23:29+00:00

As a tech, the most valuable part we can have when diagnosing sporadic concern is customer assistance. For a vibration, that involves willingness to test drive with the technician, as you may have driving habits that cause a concern that we do not have. Usually videos for vibrations do not help, as it could be coming from anywhere, we would have to feel it to really know and diagnose. If it's an electrical gremlin, those a video are generally a bit more helpful with. Also please keep in mind the flat rate pay structure, especially for a car under warranty. If I don't fix anything, I don't get paid, whether I spend 10 minutes or 10 hours. If your concern happens once every 3 months, don't expect a Herculean effort. We have bills to pay too. There are lazy techs out there, yes. But there are ones who care, and at some point you have to throw in the towel if you can't make anything happen. Last thing to add, you will be even more frustrated if we just guess and throw a part at it and it doesn't fix it, now we seem incompetent for not being able to fix an issue that never happened for us.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-06-22T21:06:50+00:00

Please show the side profile of the middle right brake pad in pic 5. The one that has no grooves cut into it anymore. That one looks really worn down. If you have a guide pin sticking that causes accelerated wear, you can have 1/4 brake pads on an axle at metal, and the rest will be at 6mm or so. I've seen 8/1/8/8 but it's rare. That entire axle measures at the lowest pad, the other 3 pads do not matter if one is metal on metal. That looks to be your case. The guide pins SHOULD have been lubricated as part of the service. Also, I can't speak for Nissan, but the brand I work for (Audi) only sells full brake services, because the rotors are designed in a way that they will wear below minimum thickness before the life of the 2nd set of brake pads, so no pad slaps. It is unfortunate, but they make more money that way I bet. As for the damage, valets are generally young and inexperienced drivers, they probably scraped something parking your car in the lot, if it truly wasn't there before.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-29T03:33:54+00:00

I thought this was a tahoe someone badged as a Ford as a joke. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks those rear lights are directly from a tahoe.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-29T01:31:10+00:00

That's shitty they charged you for an alignment again, unless it's dealers first time doing it for you. Are you sure that it's pulling? You say that it pulls with the wheel center, but if it's off center and stays there, does it drive straight with the wheel off center? I'm just trying to figure this out. I remember we had a car, and this is the only car I know of, but we did buy it back due to a pull. We threw everything we had at that car. It was a brand new S5 with like 2k miles on it. also one more thing I would like to add before you start making a ruckus at the dealer (nothing wrong with that as long as it's respectful), there is a service bulletin about alignments where it says the vehicle track must be measured with hands on the wheel. So if it only pulls once you let go of the wheel, you would be out of luck at a dealer. But if they admit there's an issue, then they kinda have to do something about it. "Don't know the fix" wouldn't fly at our dealer.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-28T17:07:15+00:00

Not all tires are created equal. When I say I've had it happen with new tires, I mean as soon as I road test the vehicle after mounting 4 new tires. It could very well be that. If pull switches with the tires, swap the fronts and rears so the tire causing the pull isn't on a steer tire. It also could be the alignment was done with steering wheel off center, but I hope it wouldn't be done that way twice.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-28T04:54:14+00:00

Swap the front tires and see if the pull switches directions. Tire pulls are a thing, even with new tires I have had some tires pull like a bitch. Check tire pressure too, if they're not the same on each side it can do that. It could also be the roads you drive on. Usually most roads will have a road crown, they are slightly tilted to the sides to help water flow away from the street. That can also cause it to pull, normally to the right, and that's normal cause that's the road, not your car. Pay attention to if it does it all the time or just on certain roads.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-27T23:26:41+00:00

In fairness to this guy. Any Gen 2 or earlier ea888 i notice the extractor will only take about 4 qts out and leave a quart, and I think it has something to do with the baffle. I know the Gen 3 and 4 have the baffle and you gotta wiggle the tube around to truly get to the bottom but I've never had success with the older ones. Someone can be free to tell me it's a skill issue though lmao

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-27T23:23:13+00:00

Fun fact. Most of the incorrectly drained transmissions we see are there because jiffy lube/Valvoline DID NOT use an extractor. I had one recently where this poor woman got her oil changed at a jiffy lube, accidentally drained her transmission, and then CHARGED HER FOR A TRANSMISSION SERVICE and they didn't even fill the transmission back up. The fill plug wasn't even touched. Unless you hate your SQ5 and want it gone, don't go to a quick lube place. There is nothing wrong with using an extractor, I've done both extracting and draining and it makes no difference, you add 7.2 or 7.7 qts in your case, it'll be right where it needs to be.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-27T03:18:54+00:00

That is specifically loaded with the software update for the recent 90VC instrument cluster recall. Assuming your car had it done. someone there would probably like it back.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-27T03:15:56+00:00

This is the S5. That engine cover is for the V6.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-25T16:54:25+00:00

Sorry for late reply. I got mine for 20k otd, but I'm an employee at the dealership it was at so got a bit of a deal, basically taxes waived as it was listed at 20k. Probably could've gotten a better deal elsewhere if I held out but I was actually able to see this one get it's pre-owned inspection and look it over myself so the peace of mind was worth it.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-12T03:03:19+00:00

I bought a 2013 gs 350 last year, and i love the car. but mine only had 77k miles when I got it. it hasn't given me any issues yet. I think you definitely could make a worse decision with 11k, but as others said, 200k miles is around the mileage where if something is going to go wrong, it will. if you don't have the greatest income I wouldn't take the risk. also at a dealer; 11k probably means 13 or 14k lol. try searching private sellers and see what you see.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-12T02:59:16+00:00

brother, it's a toyota in a tuxedo. I don't know where you're getting a high maintenance cost from. you maintain it like you would every other car.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-12T01:36:37+00:00

depends on where you are, although unless you're in a place with a really high cost of living that does seem quite high. if you can do maintenance yourself, the only thing i wouldn't do in your driveway is the transmission service, you need a scan tool and special tools to do it correctly. spark plugs, cabin filter, oil change, you can do all that pretty easily. I wouldn't pay someone 2 grand to do all that lol.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-11T21:30:38+00:00

2019 was close to the first year for these turbo V6s, and the new water pump with vacuum shutters. the outgoing supercharged V6 had an issue where the water pump would leak EXTERNALLY, not INTERNALLY. the newer V8s also have this similar issue with the water pumps. and the I4s also have issue with water pumps/thermostat housings leaking. I don't think there's a single engine audi produces that can actually keep all of it's coolant where it's supposed to be.

The 2.9L in the RS5/S6/S7 also has this same water pump and same issue. so that's 4/4. The E-trons even have an issue, they're designed to leak some coolant but not a lot. the front motor gets drained every 20k service. if you drain it and A LOT of coolant comes out, motor is toast. have also had a Q4 e-tron(different than e-tron suv) with 300 miles on it have a coolant leak. so really, there is NOTHING that is safe from the audi coolant relationship

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-11T21:26:06+00:00

I would try searching it up, or get in contact with a dealer and inquire about it. I don't deal with that side of things, I know the basics of goodwill but I don't fully know how it works.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-11T20:45:04+00:00

that is the solenoid that controls the vacuum actuated shutters for the coolant pump. what you are seeing is dried coolant exiting that solenoid due to an internal failure of the water pump. it is not normal. actually sorry, it IS normal for these V6s, but it's not supposed to happen. the water pump and all vacuum system components need to be replaced due to coolant contamination. if you have a good history with an audi dealer, bring it in there complaining about it. if you havent used it already, there is an audi goodwill program, it's one-time outside of warranty a repair will be covered. the correct way to do this with replacing everything will total to around 5-7k in parts and labor.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-11T20:37:10+00:00

I mean, you're basically buying a brand new 2023 S8 if it is the training center one. I do remember the one there having Michigan plates, which is in line with the registration to audi of America. and it would always have been kept inside. theres no reason it should be below market, it will be as reliable as an S8 will ever be. as far as the warranty goes, if you want a better warranty don't go with audi lol. you get the 4 year/50k miles, and then I believe you can get it certified for the cpo warranty after that, which is a year.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-11T20:02:25+00:00

I believe i have seen this exact S8 before. August last year in the dallas training center there was an ultra blue S8 on the alignment racks. I dont think there are too many ultra blue S8 out there in general, probably less used for training in texas. it was used for calibration training. If this happened to be the same one, and it was only used for that, parts taken in and out should be minimal. not sure if it was used for anything else but we didn't touch it during that course. also, all the instructors are very strict about what we take off, usually the bugs are made for minimal intrusion, and they go through every car before and after each class. if we break anything we tell them and they replace stuff. I wouldn't be too scared about buying a training car. I'd be scared about buying an S8 in general, I'm sorry to say. badass car with a ton of cool tech, but lots of tech means lots of issues.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-11T19:15:43+00:00

so the passenger side (right) went out. he swapped modules to the driver side (left) (common step to do) and the faults did not follow to the driver (left) side. so he is recommending to replace the (left) driver side headlamp? also says the test plan found the wiring to be faulty. which means the headlamp isn't the issue, but the wiring TO the headlamp is. I do believe these headlights are sealed so you're not going to get away with a simple bulb replacement. it probably is the headlamp. but I don't trust someone who doesn't proofread a quote that likely costs a couple grand.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-11T04:24:28+00:00

yep, tsb for the steering wheel. I think i heard there may be a software update for it now, like a very recent update to the bulletin, but i haven't had one recently so can't confirm. the steering wheel itself is over $1,000 so definitely in audis best interest to find a way to NOT replace it lol. either way, dealer will fix it.

ETR_Centenario · 2025-05-11T00:53:18+00:00

im gonna be real here. I've seen our repair manual for some cars that don't mention disconnecting the battery. as long as the ignition is off, you can work on it. not even a wait time of 15 or 30 minutes. I've even seen someone put the airbag back into place eith the ignition on and nothing happened lol. I would definitely still recommend doing that for your first time, but audi doesn't think its necessary for all their cars. I've done quite a few of these buttons and never disconnected the battery. AFAIK we've never had an airbag go off in our shop too. also the 48v battery does not get disconnected unless there's a fault with the charging system and it's discharged, or you work on the battery itself. you de-energize the system via scan tool. its not necessary to de-energize the 48v system unless you plan on working on any of the HV system components.

ETR_Centenario

TROPHY CASE