B5_A4

Hey everyone, just bought a used 98' A4 w/ 2.8 V6 and 5 speed. Got it for $3400 (inspected, new tranny fluid and new clutch), has 231,000 km on it. Just have some questions about the car.

- Rear end makes a lot of creaking noises, looked stuff up found its usually the bushings. Is it worth me changing them? I'm looking for this car to make it to 300k if possible. It seems well maintained.

- Tranny has a slight whine in 4th gear, barely audible, but is it is something to lookout for?

- Dash has been swapped out since the original one had almost no pixels left. However, it was switched out from a car with foglights. I bought a used manual off ebay, but is there any way to just pull a fuse or something to turn off the center display? It more or less only shows me warning lights, I don't really need it on.

- I was driving the other day, and the check engine light came on, flashing. Car sputtered a bit, almost died. Then, the check engine light held solid, and car ran great. Been running great ever since. Should I be worried?

- Oil pan heater. Do you guys run them? The car doesn't have one but I can't park it inside the garage over winter, is it worth buying and installing?

If there is anything maintenance wise I should be looking at for a high KM car like this, please let me know. It's my first Audi, so any info would be helpful. Thanks!

Irvine_Russell

Defiantly change the upper inner A arm bushings. creaks and squeaks will go away, and handling tightens up. bit of a PITA, but worth it. took me an afternoon. They will be pretty hard to get out, but nothing a hacksaw and a good table vice won't fix.

Irvine_Russell

My car has 367000kms and is going strong. I can trouble shoot the sputtering for you, but I would suggest getting a VAG-COM to reallly get down to what's going on.