Playing with an Audi SQ5 TDI

[Lucas_R]

Hi Connor - yes I remember seeing you parked next to me at Supercheap. Small world huh, I hope your new car is treating you well so far.

[MrMcMulen]

Audi Newcastle gave it a clean bill of health, I've had the car 13 days and I've got an oil leak, seems like valve cover gasket on the right side and mysterious coolant leak, I suspect egr cooler.
Other than that its doing fine.
Loving the car so far

[SQ5Raphster]

Hi Lucas, have you considered doing a Liqui Moly Diesel Purge?

It's supposed to be fed directly into the main fuel line going into the engine, and then back out with a small inline filter into the same purge container, and the engine reved between 2-3K until all used up.

However when I looked under hood recently, I believe there are 2 main fuel lines on the left above the air intake filter box, and one return going back to the filter under the car near the fuel tank.

Any ideas on how best to do this and how best to temporarily connect it all up?



I'm thinking of taking the blue and yellow incoming fuel lines and adding a bit of hose with a T-junction inline connector leading to a single pipe connected to the single white return fuel line, to form a closed loop back circuit to the fuel filter - or pulling the fuse for the fuel pump.

Then just just dunk the blue and yellow hose leading to the engine in the diesel purge container to suck it up, and a inline small filter on the return white fuel line with an extra bit of hose on the other side to bring the returned in used fuel back into the diesel purge container.

What do you think? What could go wrong?

[Lucas_R]

Hi SQ5Raphster. Sorry I didnt see this post until today. To answer your question, yes I am aware of the Liqui Moly Diesel Purge product and I am interested in giving it a try at some stage. At this stage I have not looked into how to make it work on the SQ5. I am due to give the car an oil change either this weekend or next (if it ever stops raining) so ill have a bit of a look at the fuel line setup while I have the bonnet up and get back to you with my thoughts (i will use your image as a reference).

I do know that the fuel filter on the SQ5 is located under the car (under the drivers side) which is different to most other TDI vehicles in the VW/Audi range which have the fuel filter inside the engine bay area. Not sure how much this might or might not complicate trying to connect the Liqui Moly product to the cars fuel lines. If unclear or too complicated, ill just add the product to the fuel tank when the fuel level is under 1/2 a tank like I do every now and then with the DPF anti-clog cleaner product.

[SQ5Raphster]

Hi Lucas_R, I chickened out, as I suspected one of the fuel lines might be a high pressure line. So I used OBDeleven to monitor fuel level to just a couple of litres, and then poured 2 litres (to try and make up for the dilution) of Liqui Moly Diesel Purge into the fuel tank. Then drove the car with a spare tank of diesel in the boot, while monitoring fuel level with OBDeleven again. Car is due a oil service next week, so the fuel and oil filter will also be changed, in case they are dirty from this. Also did a full can of Liqui Moly diesel intake cleaner. Also batter died, so have just put a new Bosch battery in today as well. Battery BEM coding was fun to research

But now I need new rear brake pads and discs. I'm considering the Akebono ceramic pads that you have, but they seem to only be available in the USA , then like you also considered the ATE ceramic pads, but put off that they don't have ceramic front pads available (but do like that they come with all the extra gear and new bolts). Also looked at Jurid white ceramic pads, they seem to be an OEM supplier, but not sure about them. Also looked at Hawk Performance ceramic pads, they seem a bit expensive. So maybe still go for the Akebono pads, which will take ages to arrive from USA and get hit for duty and VAT . What exactly is included in the box? Also how are you getting on with them so far?

I'm also considering Zimmerman brake discs. What do you think of the drilled or slotted (black) versions, are they ok with ceramic pads? Or just stick with plain discs? Do you recommend any other brand?

[Lucas_R]

Hi SQ5Raphster. The Akebono brake pads are fantastic - I definitely recommend them. Essentially zero dust even after a few weeks of driving, no noise etc. Definitely worth the money.

Yes I had to order the pads from USA, I got them via Amazon. They took about 3 weeks to arrive from memory.

EUR1546 (front pads) https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B06WWRD...382012_TE_item
EUR1018 (rear pads) https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B007FF3...292_TE_3p_dp_1

Hawk pads are good but I have heard many reports that their ceramic pads squeal. I have never heard of Jurid but they might be a UK or Euro brand only? ATE dont make a ceramic pad for the SQ5.

As for Zimmerman brake disks, apparently Zimmerman are the company who make the disks for Audi so yes they should be good and are what I will be using if and when I ever need to replace my disks. I know Zimmerman recently released a drilled version of the disk, but was not aware they offered a slotted version.

[SQ5Raphster]

Hi Lucus_R, I have ordered Akebono Eur1018B (rear pads) from USA, and Zimmermann Sport Brakes Discs (cross drilled) (rear discs) from Germany Think the drilled look nice, and hopefully they have added benefit of shedding water when braking in wet Scotland! Not looking forward to the cost of the front brake discs though!!

ATE do supply a ceramic brake pad bug only for the rear. I contacted them asking why and if they will ever supply ceramic front brake pads. They responded that they don't provide ceramic front pads because there is too much power at the front axile. Which is a bit disconcerting as I plan to later get Akebono front ceramic pads Do you find there is enough stopping power with Akebonos on front and back axles?

[Lucas_R]

Try the rear brakes for a few months (this is exactly what I did) before committing to the front pads. I live in a much dryer environment than Scotland so cant comment too much on how they will perform in your situation. In saying that, we have just had the most unseasonal wet Summer that I have ever experienced and I have not had any issues. One thing you will notice moving away from the genuine Audi brake pad is that there is less initial bite. For me the initial bite of the Audi pads was too harsh and I found it hard at times to brake gently without feeling like you were about to go through the windscreen. I have had several VW vehicles over the past 10 years and all of them had this harsh initial bite which I did not like, and swapping to a different pad stopped it.

I initially went from the original Audi pad, to a Bremtec Euro pad which got rid of the harsh initial bite but still had lots of brake dust. Then moved to the ATE Ceramic pad.

If you need to brake hard, the ATE pad doesn't bite into the disk quite as much as a traditional non-ceramic pad so it does feel like it takes a little bit longer to stop, but it does stop every time and with the added bonus of basically zero brake dust. There are always some compromises between different products, and this is the compromise with the ceramic pads on the SQ5 vs traditional non-ceramic pads.

So with that in mind, I guess I can understand where ATE are coming from with their comment as they don't want to be responsible for possible accidents after people change over to their pads and need to adjust their driving style. but on the same token, I dont live in a busy city where I slam my brakes on all the time, and I have made small adjustments to my braking to allow for how the ceramic pads feel and respond on my car.

[Lucas_R]

Another 6 monthly oil and filter change for the SQ5 as well as an intake carbon clean spray. Also replaced the cabin filter. Gave the bottom of the engine a good clean up (just dirty) but no oil leaks etc which is good. Just ticked over 61,500km's now and nearly 6 years old.

Have ordered some new fittings so I can re-mount my catch can underneath the airbox instead of behind the passenger side headlight where it is currently. Also looking at intercooler upgrade options.

[Lucas_R]

Another small purchase for the SQ5. Darkside recently released a silicone intake pipe between the airbox and the turbo which is something I have wanted since I bought the car. I actually had purchased several 3.5" silicone bends etc to try and DIY my own intake pipe but couldnt get the shape right (its an odd shape with a twist + bend in it). The Darkside pipe fits perfectly and removes a plastic baffle just before the larger turbo.

Audi SQ5 3.0 BiTDi Airbox to Turbo TIP Silicone Hose