Congratulations. Glad it worked out.

 

That would be for someone that doesn't have the proper torque wrench, not sure if I'd trust a general amount of tightening. IIRC, the spec is 280 ft-lbs.

 

Add a Billman TCT and you are set. Nice car!

 

That's great! Watch out for the salt though - it will corrode that underside in minutes!

 

Trust me I realize that. Unfortunately, I only have one car right now and the Mrs. doesn't take kindly to me stealing her car (which I still do on the days when there is the most snow\salt on ground). At the end of the day the S to me is a daily driver not a garage queen. So as long as the panels don't start falling off for a few years, I think I should be fine. My previous S was pristine but a small accident was the end of that. I guess this time I just want to drive the car without getting too paranoid.

I hope to get a third car soon (GTI) and then that can be my daily.

 

My car is not making any funny noises (that I can differentiate from normal). Is the TCT swap at 40K miles for an Ap2 necessary?

 

Gorgeous car. Love it.

 

I certainly wouldn't think so. But if you eventually wanted to do so just for the peace of mind that it provides, or if you are forced to at some point, it's nice knowing that it certainly isn't difficult to swap the TCT out for a new one. If you do go through Billman then he makes the process fairly painless and straightforward.

 

I was at 40K miles on my 2009 (stock car) when I began to look at the TCT issue. I had no symptoms at all. Billman and I exchanged a few emails and he said it was not a matter of "if" but "when" the TCT would go south. He tossed in some facts he learned over time with them. Based on his experience I decided to preemptively swap out my stock TCT with Billman's GenX TCT. I now have 65K miles on the car without issue in that department. Frankly, I don't even worry about it. I anticipate having the car for the duration so I don't want to deal with mechanical hassles if I don't have too.

 

I have reached out to Billmans and checked out a few videos online. The swap seems easy enough. I might wait a month or two till the weather gets a bit warmer and it is a bit easier to work in the garage.

On a side note, I found a penny in my seat rails yesterday. I am not sure if it was contributing to an unusual noises but it is always nice to find these things before they cause more trouble. Was watching a DIY video yesterday about the TCT on youtube and the guy found a tool lying around in his engine

Got the lose 12V power socket fixed yesterday. Have an alignment coming up at RRT this Thursday. Will have the rear axle torqued to 280ft/lbs as well.

The new S is coming together slowly.

THANKS for all the kind feedback guys!