High-Centered an Audi S4 on a Column Lift
This week was extremely busy. I got involved in several car projects.
The most interesting event was that I had "high-centered" my friend's Audi S4 on a single column lift. He brought his car to the class for an oil change. According to him, several shops charged $90 for an oil change!
Mobil 1 5W30 $6 per quart or $23 for a 5 gallon jug at Walmart. S4 needs 6.7 quarts.
Filter $5-$6
The oil change itself was quite easy. The S4 has the oil filter and drain plug in the most convenient location of any car that I've worked on. They're just in front of the left tire below the headlamps. I removed a plastic cover on the bottom which was held in place by about 5 screws and 2 plastic fasteners.
When he backed the car away the service bay, we heard a loud clunking sound. WTH?!
It was already 10PM and past the time when everyone should get out of the class. I discovered the bottom plastic cover was not fully secured - I had asked someone else to put it back on while I was hurrying to return the tools and cleanup. Even with the cover fully secured, the clunking was still present.
So, I flagged down one of the instructors to diagnose the problem. The noise sounded like something was rubbing against an axle or wheel. They put the car up on a 4 post lift which has no center column, and manually spinned each wheel to try to make the clunking sound. I don't think we heard the sound. Then they asked Andy to get in the car and run the car in 2nd gear while it was up on the lift. The sound came from the driveshaft rubbing against the catalytic converter's heat shield.
When I lifted the car with the single column lift, the column had pushed the exhaust pipe up against the heatshield, bending it against the driveshaft. This happened because the center of the car was slightly lower than the lift points on the sides of the car. I should have placed "cheater blocks" or angled the lift blocks at the end of each crossarm of the lift. This would have created a clearance between the column and the car's underbody.
The instructor bent back heat shield into the correct place with a pry bar and the driveshaft no longer rubbed against it.
The most interesting event was that I had "high-centered" my friend's Audi S4 on a single column lift. He brought his car to the class for an oil change. According to him, several shops charged $90 for an oil change!
Mobil 1 5W30 $6 per quart or $23 for a 5 gallon jug at Walmart. S4 needs 6.7 quarts.
Filter $5-$6
The oil change itself was quite easy. The S4 has the oil filter and drain plug in the most convenient location of any car that I've worked on. They're just in front of the left tire below the headlamps. I removed a plastic cover on the bottom which was held in place by about 5 screws and 2 plastic fasteners.
When he backed the car away the service bay, we heard a loud clunking sound. WTH?!
It was already 10PM and past the time when everyone should get out of the class. I discovered the bottom plastic cover was not fully secured - I had asked someone else to put it back on while I was hurrying to return the tools and cleanup. Even with the cover fully secured, the clunking was still present.
So, I flagged down one of the instructors to diagnose the problem. The noise sounded like something was rubbing against an axle or wheel. They put the car up on a 4 post lift which has no center column, and manually spinned each wheel to try to make the clunking sound. I don't think we heard the sound. Then they asked Andy to get in the car and run the car in 2nd gear while it was up on the lift. The sound came from the driveshaft rubbing against the catalytic converter's heat shield.
When I lifted the car with the single column lift, the column had pushed the exhaust pipe up against the heatshield, bending it against the driveshaft. This happened because the center of the car was slightly lower than the lift points on the sides of the car. I should have placed "cheater blocks" or angled the lift blocks at the end of each crossarm of the lift. This would have created a clearance between the column and the car's underbody.
The instructor bent back heat shield into the correct place with a pry bar and the driveshaft no longer rubbed against it.
posted by MyTravels at
2:42 PM
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