National Gallery of Art.

Despite the weather, the Nation's capital was packed with tourists...and apparently from the faces and languages I saw and heard, from all parts of the country and the world.

My in-laws were wanting to check out the Edward Hopper (American Realist) exhibit at the National. Our car was sent to run errands after which I was awarded the task of running through the National to find my in-laws and get them out.

The modern art portion of the National has a massive marble ediface some 10 stories tall...a wholly modern archetectural design. The interior is open and airy and was absolutely packed with tourists.

I had no idea where to begin my search, so I decided to start from the bottom and work my way upwards floor by floor.

My walking pace was quite rapid but I gave pause when I passed a Warhol in the Pop Art section: 200 Campbell Soup cans. It was amusing.

I hurried along and slowed again for a Georgia O'Keefe work; very surreal phase of her career.

Turned the corner and saw a Picasso: interesting jumble, I thought to myself.

I continued on to the lowest level and paused again, even lingering abit in the Mark Rothko room in the Abstract Expressionism section. Wow. I had no idea that "Red and Green in Blue" was soo massive. A true visionary, his latter works totally broke from all artistic convention.

Knowing I had to continue my mission, I moved past the final corner and prepared my way to move upstairs.

But that's when I saw it. I froze in front of it. A dozen others stood gawking as well. "Lavender Mist"...artist, Jackson Pollock.

Mind you, I really can't stand most abstract expressionist art. It seems soo utterly self-indulgent, arrogant in its deliberately enigmatic presentation, and such complete bullshit at times. But Pollock blew everything out of the water. One must understand his work within its historical context...this stuff came out in the late forties! He broke all the rules in one fell swoop...and I respect him for that.

City Life.

Having grown up in S.F. has really spoiled me with regards to its obvious offerings. I measure every city against S.F. in some way. I've become arrogant by virtue of where I've lived,...that in a way, I've become more tolerant and cosmopolitan, or more worldly and progressive, or more politically or socially aware than most.

Some cities come close: Madrid, Amsterdam, the Hague, Delft, Granada, Seattle, Vancouver, and D.C. And when one thinks of S.F., you think of it's historical importance, it's beautiful and completely unique geography, it's avant-garde politics, and it's cultural contributions. As for Washington, just being here and walking through the city, reading it's newspapers, seeing the red-bricked Colonials, driving across the Chesapeake into the Capitol, I am struck by the undeniable importance of this city to this country, and to the world; for better or worse. The number of political movers and shakers, Legal Firms, Federal headquarters, etc. etc. are soo concentrated that much like an aspiring actress is drawn to Hollywood to dream of making their mark on the silver screen, one goes to Washington to make their mark on the world. I don't know...it just feels that way here.

Anywayz, I've been reading about former Pakistani Prime Minister Bhutto's assassination. I'm so utterly saddened by this. According to everything I've heard or read, this murder cannot be more accurately characterized than as an act of evil...and a true act of terrorism...one that attacks at "Hope".

Also, if you are going to read only ONE book this year, please, please, please read "Kite Runner". Great literature has the power to transform the audience/reader; the way they see the world and see themselves within that world. "Kite Runner" does just that. It will blow you away.

Also reading "The Audacity of Hope" by Obama. I was skeptical about him going in...much too idealistic, not at all a realist. I think I'm changing my mind. If he means what he says,...well then again, if any politician means what he/she says. The Craftsman's wife is reading this book as well...we should compare notes.

Talk to you tomorrow

Driving south.

...Drove south through Philly. Really ugly city...

...Drove through Wilmington, then Baltimore (Camden Yards looks awesome), and finally through beautiful D.C....yes, I've come to see this city and suburbs as quite beautiful. The Mall, the Pentagon, the Beltway, and the endless Government buildings are impressive every time I see them...

...In Alexandria today. More family get-togethers and holiday parties...

...The weather isn't too bad. Walking every evening...not in the mood for any running. And my cold-weather "Gear" is up to snuff. North Face jacket; keeping me toasty warm, but almost too warm. Could use some pit-zips. Mountain hardware shell and Marmot polartec pants provide more than enough warm and ventilation. My had sucks though. Great design with it's polartec ear flaps, but too damn scratchy. And my REI gloves (the GM also has a pair) make my hands smell and sweat and in sub-zero temps do a terrible job keeping my fingers warm...

...Going to the Mall today to check out some Primitive Modernist/Realist at the National Gallery. Might have time to check out the Sackler and Freer Galleries to check out their Asian Art stuff...

Doylestown.

...Chicago was icey cold...

...Doylestown is rainy cold...

...Beautiful town it is though, especially during Christmas...

...We're meeting up with my wife's friend and family at her high-school haunt...

...Going to church services twice today. Their church is ancient and the town center its located within predates the revolution. First service: 4pm, to see my newphew sing. Second service: 8pm, to actually attend Christmas Mass, oops, not "Mass", "service"...

Here at Pennsylvania.

...Asked for a Taxi and was sent a Limo, and at no extra charge. To bad the ride wasn't any longer than 6 minutes...

...The line through TSA security extended not only through the whole of Oakland Airport, but busted out the doors, down the sidewalk, and nearly to the end of the Airports walkway! The new grand remodel of Oakland International and its roadways are quite impressive, BTW. Like a mini Madrid International, only Madrid International was soo big, when you got off the freeway and got onto the Airport on-ramp, the on-ramp is 8 frickin miles long! Also, Madrid Internationale Aeropuerto is as big as the city of San Francisco.

...Out flight out was on-time. Got into Midway in Chicago. Major turbulence over the Rockies. Landing through the storm was like a 20 minute roller coaster ride. When we touched down and slammed on the brakes (Midway has short landing strips), the entire plane burst into thankful applause...

...Our flight to Philly was delayed for 2 hours. Ate crappy Chinese at a food court. Spoke to a older couple originally flying out of Cleveland. Told them about my buddy, the Discourser and his family, and their fondness of Cleveland, and they responded "Cleveland sucks, We want to move away from that city as quickly as possible". I was shocked at their bluntness...

...Read an article about the some 60,000,000 children in just India who, for mostly out of fiscal desperation, work in all manner of industry, for next to nothing and for nearly 12 hours a day and 6 to 7 days a week. I will repeat SIXTY MILLION in just ONE country. In New Delhi alone, the number of child welfare cases approach FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND...yes, 500,000 cases...and get this: I work with social workers who would picket and strike with violent outrage if they were told to increase their case-loads to 100...and to tell you the truth, I would support it! In New Delhi, they have a staff of FIFTY...yes, "5"and"0". To say they are woefully understaffed is not mere understatement, but commically and morally outrageous! Each case-worker carries a caseload of 5,000! When interviewed and asked WHY they do the work, they responded "Because we must". My God, these people are Saints...

Happy Holidays!

It's Friday morning and I'll be taking the next two weeks off. The wife and I will be heading over to the East Coast. ThePerfectLine will be caring for the cats and minding the house while we're out.

I'll try to blog while I'm over there. We'll be flying out of Oakland and into Philly this weekend. Then heading up to Doylestown PA, hanging out through Christmas and attending yearly family/friend get-togethers. Then we'll be heading down to Washington and Alexandria VA for a few days, then back through Philly to my wife's sister's home in North Philly. Then on New Years, we'll be taking the bus to Manhattan and getting off at the Port Authority on 42nd St., walking a couple blocks to our Hotel in Times Square. I'm soo looking forward to seeing Manhattan. We'll be checking out a Broadway Show for sure, and touring: Midtown (the Empire State, Rockefeller Center and its ice rink), West Village (SoHo, Greenwich Village, and Tribeca), and perhaps Central Park via upper eastside and upper westside routes. Then the subway to JFK and back home.

I'll take pics along the way and post them when I can.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Yet another Car update.

So the car is running...badly. They say it takes a few weeks for the ECU to all the new sensor readings but in the meantime, it continues to dumb down MAPS (Air/fuel/boost matrix) whenever it receives DTC or error codes.

Thank goodness for the VAG-COM I purchased from Ross-Tech. What a life-saver. The VAG-TOOL is a diagnostic/programming tool you load onto a computer and plug into your ECU. It's completely BAD-ASS. I've only begun to scratch the surface of what this thing can do. The car has 157 different sensors monitoring nearly every aspect of the car's performance. I initially wanted it to simply scan for DTC codes so that I can know WTF is going on with my engine; in real-time, and with complete precision. I won't get into all the details but when utilized to it's fullest, I can do the following:

Measure several sensors and graph the results. For example, I can have the program log:
1. Engine RPM
2. Speed
3. Gear
4. Intake air temp
5. MAF density (Air intake volume)
6. Boost (turbo PSI)
7. Fuel consumption
8. Engine misfires
9. Timing advance or retard
10. Exhaust Temp
11. Intercooler density/temp
12. Power
13. Torque
To name a few. And this is the kicker...I can tell the computer to log the results on a graph, tell it to, for example, start logging in 3rd gear, 3000RPM, and end log at redline.

Massive amounts of info converted onto an EXCEL file and displayed ala DYNO plot. Totally more info. than I need but I NEED INFO. Here is an example of some logs:
http://forums.audiworld.com/s4/msgs/2723190.phtml

So far, it's telling me that my car is running shitty.
1. The N75 valve controlling my wastegates are fluttering and confused
2. The Intercoolers aren't up to snuff and sponging a good 3 PSI of boost (I'm shopping for new intercoolers), the engine is lean past 4000 meaning my OEM fuel pump is straining to provide gas (new high capacity fuel pump looks to be the cure)
3. Massive misfires, codes look like this:
16684 P0300 Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
16686 P0302 Cyl.2 Misfire Detected
16688 P0304 Cyl.4 Misfire Detected
Gotta pull the plugs and check the tips or re-orient the damn injector? If I wasn't heading out to the East Coast for a couple of weeks, I'd actually pull out the new plugs, check the tips, vacuum out the piston chamber, drop a magnet into the chamber to pull and metal fragments (ARGH! if I find any), check the coil packs for damage or discoloration, and re-torque the plugs to proper spec. Re. the injectors, the CRAFTSMAN and I made sure the orientation was within 5 degrees, I don't think that's the problem with the misfires.
4. And the old problem which I'll be having my mechanic take a look at this Wednesday re. the camshaft position sensors giving readings which are off-spec. Error codes as follows:
17755 P1347 Bank2,Crankshaft-/Camshaft os.Sens.Sign. Out of SequenceThey should read no more than 12 degrees positive and negative 20...mine are running left bank 14 degrees and right bank 16 degrees. It's killing the engine.
5. And of course, the Test Pipe issue and cats are pinging the following:
16804 P0420 Catalyst System,Bank1 Efficiency Below Threshold
16816 P0432 Main Catalyst,Bank2 Efficiency Below Threshold

As I'm reading AUDIWORLD forums, I'm realizing that my experience is not unusual. Practically everyone with Stage III cars end up working on their motors nearly every weekend...and that it's pretty much never ending. It's the few people that take the time to log, examine, pressure test, and VAG the car every week that are rewarded with a smooth running motor...but it takes weeks and sometimes months! It's worse when folks decide to run a manual boost controller and tweak their programming themselves. I could conceivable run 26 PSI, remove all fail-safes, over-boost, run a super-rich file, and get 100 extra HP out of the motor...but at great risk. AWE Tuning tells me not to..."The risk and headache isn't worth it"...and I completely agree.

Again, I just want it to run smoothly and I just want to get on boost without any lingering fear or concern...that's all. If I can just commute to work without worrying about the motor blowing apart, I'll be happy.

"Alleged" assailant is arrested on "Suspicion"....WTF!

Our legal language is at times perplexing to me, an American raised in the U.S....so it must be absolutely baffling to any foreigner reading our local small town newspaper the last couple of days. Here's the story in a nutshell:

A 19 year old man is seen having coffee with a 70 year old man at one of our local Cafe's. Twenty people are witness to this. He is seen leaving the establishment with the elderly gentleman. The older man's landlord hears unusual sounds coming from his room and calls 911. Law enforcement arrives to find the elderly man unconscious, in a pool of blood, and nearly dead. He was in critical condition at our local ICU and subsequently died from his injuries last evening. The younger man is found sleeping in the older mans bed, the bludgeon (a chair leg) sitting on the floor next to the bed, and the young man is found covered in the older man's blood. He is arrested under "suspicion" and is described as the "alleged" perpetrator.

Firstly, SUSPICION?!? Our system "suspects" him to be the assailant? Are you kidding me? Have we all become Morons or so completely paranoid and irrational as to think that this idiot had somehow been set up?...that we must dismiss what we see and hear lest we de-evolve into a vigilante society of chaos and anarchy? So we're giving this fool the benefit of the doubt, the problem is only a fool would doubt it!

And secondly, ALLEGED?!? We're certainly not judge and jury here but for crying out loud, we're not idiots! Real world crime is not an episode of "Law and Order" or "Perry Mason". Who are we placating by using this term? I know, I know, we must be consistent no matter the situation but for pete's sake!

The more I think about it, and once I come down from my anger induced adrenaline rush, I realize that, yes, folks are innocent until proven guilty, and yes, we need objectivity in all cases but it always enrages me how our media and legal system is compelled to follow through on what amounts to as a legal exercise when for all intents and purposes, this asshole is guilty.

End rant.

The Perfect Line's differential.

Doin thePerfectLine a favor. His diff. is in my garage and he'll be selling it on Ebay.

Here are your pics Bro.

Rear Diff., 3.15 final.




Sticker on top:

I HATE my car...and my 101st POST!

I hate my car...there, I've said it. I don't care if she hears me. I don't give a shit.

Issues:

Problem #1:
My lower intercooler hoses and clamps keep popping off!...they can't handle the new boost!! When they do, the car stalls and the motor shuts down. Though very unusual, these situations have led to immediate turbo failure. If that happens again, I'll be liable to unleash hell on a complete stranger; intermittent explosive disorder episode, clinically speaking. In the least, they've caused excessive turbine spool and will definitely shorten turbo life. Yesterday, in the frickin rain, they blew out twice on the freeway. I had to pull over into the emergency lane, get on my ass and back on the wet asphalt, pray no one hits my car (at least that would be an instantaneous death), and re clamp the hoses. Thank god for my portable tool set.

Solution for #1:
Called SAMCO and ordered uprated silicone hose replacements. Contacted their tech dept. for a recommendation on a bonding agent to further maintain intercooler placement. Picked up Zebra high torque clamps. Will unclamp and clean out lower intercooler housing of any debris and wipe down all surfaces. Will DOUBLE CLAMP inlet out outlet for ultimate adhesion.

Problem #2:
My EVO Motorsports Diverter valves, the pair of DV's that I've never had to worry abou HAVE FAILED!! The springs have slackened and the piston and double "O" rings can no longer hold a vacuum.

Solution for #2:
The one silver lining in this process, called EVO Motorsports and they'll be shipping out a new set of their updated uprated diverter valves FOR FREE!! Finally, something good comes my way. Black billet and bad-ass. Saves me 400 bucks right there.

Problem #3:
My ECU is reading error code after error code that I CAN'T READ. All I see is that my check engine light is on and that car runs like shit. Basically, the dozens of sensors all over the motor is sending values to the ECU that is way off the charts. It's still attempting to acclimate to all the new hardware.

Solution for #3:
I'm taking it to the next level and purchasing a VAG-COM tool. It's specific diagnostic and programming software that you load onto a laptop and plug via COM cable right into your cars socket. I will be aware of EVERY friggin thing that's going on with the motor...even tiny misfires, which piston chamber, and all in real time. So I'll know exactly what's going on and clear the codes if necessary.

Problem #4:
BOOST LEAKS! I have 40 hoses, ranging from tiny and short to massive, and of every type, in all areas of my car. Even the smallest leaks can: lead to turbo failure due to overspool, lead to ECU error pings and subsequent limp-home programming, major power loss, motor stall, and drive-line shock.

Solution for #4:
FINALLY, finally picked up a pressure tester. I'll be pressure checking the motor immediately and every couple of days to see it there's even the smallest vacuum leak.

Problem #5:
My cats have yet to come in. The car is obnoxiously loud, and my test-pipe coupler is ill-fitting. It's drooping down soo low, I can barely drive into my driveway without scrapping, I'm talkin 2 1/2 inches of clearance.

Solution for #5:
When I get the cats, I'm telling them to cut the ends and weld the suckers to my cat back....end of story. No more clearance issues, and forget about the test-pipes. It's so loud, It exceed dB levels at all the local race tracks.

I just want the car to RUN for cryin out loud. It doesn't even have to pull 2.5 FAT's, sub-12's in the quarter, or sub-3 to sixty. I'm trully looking forward to the day when everything sorts itself out and the engine just humms away without any problems. I'm so traumatized at this point, I've become gun-shy, completely afraid to tach it out lest the engine blow...and that's no way to live your life man.

Addendum to Wish List.

Firstly, forget about the Phenolic intake spacers. There is NO WAY I want to do this job. It took me 6 hours to get to the injectors and I'll be damned to go any deeper. I'll replace that "wish list" item with the new Tanogo shortshifter. Apparently I have a Toyguy short shifter. They SUCK.

Car update. Still not drivable. I took it out again yesterday for a short drive around the block. Throwing error codes now. I'll describe:
Idle: Nice and smooth. No misfires as far as I can tell.
1000-2000 RRM: Smooth, audible turbine spool, new KO4's turbos are much much louder than KO3's.
2000-3000 RPM: Rough as I get on boost.
3000-3500 RPM: Very rough, loud as hell, hesitant boost, and a boost cut severe enough to produce drive-line shock.
3500-3750 RPM: Boost back on, very rough and I lift.
I don't even want to push it past 4000 RPM at this point. The CEL light is on and I'll have to VAG scan the ECU for codes.

I suspect its one of the following:
1. Bad diverter valves. Mine, though totally bad-ass, have 60K miles on them and given they have a lifetime warranty, I'll be contacting FORGE to get new pistons, seals, and uprated springs. That'll save me 300 bucks.
2. N75 waste gate control. Possible need a new one, OEM is around 90 bucks shipped.
3. Bad Hitachi MAF module. 100 bucks a pop.
4. Bad passenger side upper 02 sensor. 125 bucks a pop.
5. Or bad programming.
When I get the VAG scanner scan the codes, my mechanic will let me know.

You have to understand, if you check out AUDIWORLD, the B5S4 crowd is nearly a cult. They bash all other S4 platform whether it be B6, B7, or B8. Our lives are about constant tweaking and modifications. The response to all the B6 and up bashing is invertibly "Okay, I'll agree, the B5S4 is more bad-ass, but at least my car isn't at the shop more days than it is on the road!"...and to that, the B5 crowd has no response.

Thanks to the CRAFTSMAN, the CAR is finally running!

FRIDAY Night:

8:00 PM - Drove my loud as hell car to the UPS customer service office to pick up the last and final pieces of the STAGE III system. Waited one hour in the cold along with 40 other folks but eventually received my package. The UPS guy scared the hell out of me when he said that he almost accidentally game my package away to some elderly woman with a similar address just a few minutes earlier...tragedy averted.

9:00 to 11:00 PM - Removed parts from the top of the engine to access the manifold and heads. Carefully took note of each bolt and sensor removed with care placed on keeping the intake openings squeaky clean. Here's a pic.

The engine bay is super tight as you can see.

11:00 PM - Went to bed.

SATURDAY:

10:00 to 1:30 PM - Began separating the parts in the kit and take pictures for EBAY. Gawked at the difference between OEM and AWE. For example, here is my old crappy plastic mass airflow housing compared to AWE's bad ass black billet aluminum piece:

Here is the old S4 24lbs injectors vs. the massive "Green Giants" flowing 66lbs:

And the old plastic transition hose with the ludicrous AWE Silicone replacement:

Then changed the spark plugs. The old ones, Bosch Platins, had 40,000 miles on them and need to go. The new ones, NGK Platinum's, are matched to the AWE kit. The Bosch had some degradation and deposit build-up but they didn't look to bad. The NGK is longer and has a traditional tip:

Getting them into the heads were a pain in the ass. You need to remove everything around them to get at it, then pull off the wiring harness, and pull out the coil pack. Also, it's surprising how deep they go into the motor:



1:30 to 2:00 PM - Had lunch.

2:00 to 3:00 PM - Now the hard part. Began removing the fuel rail. Had to disconnect a bunch of hoses and connectors just to get to the four bolts that hold it in. According to the instructions, it's just a matter of "gently wiggling out the rail and the injectors will come lose". WRONG, what a pain to pull the old ones free. Then it's just a matter of replacing them. I want to murder the guy who authored the instructions! I ran into 4 seemingly insurmountable problems:
1. The new injectors need to be oriented 90 degrees from stock injector orientation. They won't FIT THAT WAY. There is too much crap in the way.
2. It's impossible to insert the wiring harness clip back into the injectors...ARGH!!
3. I can't unclip 2 coolant lines that are in the way of the rear injectors. Without them out, I can't even think about putting the new ones on.
4. How the hell am I going to cut an opening in my airbox,...and to the specifications noted in the instructions? Perhaps I can spend 5 hours drilling 790 holes and sawing the remainder? IDK!

The Answer? A new set of eyes. Called the CRAFTSMAN and he showed up within the hour.

4:00 to 9:00 PM - The CRAFTSMAN pretty much figured it all out. The orientation and wiggle room problem required carefully slicing the wiring harness sheath. The wiring harness clip,...well I was completely an idiot about this one. He simply put the wire clip in and pushed it on. No brain surgery necessary. And the coolant hose required simple compression on either side to free. Finally the airbox modification, he grabbed thePerfectLine's angle grinder, slapped the box on the vice, and busted it out in 3.5 minutes!!

So at about 8:30 PM, we had the injectors in, the connectors on, the rail bolted in, the myriad hoses, clamps, the clips back together, the airbox in, the massive MAF housing on with Hitachi MAF inserted and airflow screen properly oriented, the transition hose one, the Y-Pipe bolted on, the engine covers back, the new ECU in, the tools all packed away, and the garage cleaned up.

I hopped into the car and put the key into the ignition and clicked it to the first position. We hear the oil and fuel pump prime and then suddenly gasoline starts spilling all over the place!! I race to shut off the car and placed a metal pan underneath the motor and luckily caught most of the gas.

We peeked inside the motor and discovered that the gas was coming from 2 injectors. Our hearts sank. I quickly fell into a near tearful depression. We both agreed that the injectors weren't damaged. It had to do with seating problems. So the answer?...we do everything ALL OVER AGAIN!! KILL ME!!

The Craftsman drove home disheartened and after 10 hours of car work, I was both exhausted and punchy. The garage stank of gas and the car was nowhere near finished. I made myself a Swanson's Hungry Man Dinner, drank a Newcastle, and went to bed at around midnight. My wife was supportive.

SUNDAY:

10:00 AM - Got up and changed, had a bowl of cereal, watered the lawn, plants, and potted citrus trees and got back into the garage determined.

10:00 to Noon - Got everything out, yet again. Got the fuel rail off and pulled out the leaking injectors...and sure enough, the "O" ring was damaged. I grabbed one off an old injector, lubricated it with some brake cleaner, and slipped in on. It seated with a nice suction sound. As for the other injector?...well we just didn't seat that one at all. It fell off the rail as soon as I pull up on it. The "O" ring looked good and I re-seated that one as well. New problem. How do I get the injectors back on and oriented properly, and how do I get the spacers on! I only have 2 hands!

Noon to 2:00 - The Craftsman again shows up to save the day! He orients the injectors, clears some room around them for the wiring harness, and pushes them in. Then we orient the fuel rail and the Craftsman deftly maneuvers his fingers and places the spacers in the right position. We plug in all the hoses and connectors, and this time, we don't put ANY tools away. I get into the car, click the key to first position, the Craftsman eyes the rail, the fuel pump primes and NO LEAKAGE!! WOOHOO!!!!

The motor settles to a very nice and smooth idle, the Check Engine Light is off, no smell, no dripping,....IT WORKS!! We high fived several times and cleaned up the garage.

After about 5 minutes of engine warm-up, we take it for a spin. My mechanic said it would take a week for the ECU to shake down which means that in the mean time, I might have some cold-start, boost hesitation, and idle issues. He told me to set up a follow-up visit in a week. The boost hesitation is actually quite bad. It's less hesitation and more like boost disappearance. It simply cuts out and comes back on. I eased off the throttle and I'm not bringing the revs anywhere past 4000 until Dynospot takes a look at it. I'll set up an appointment tomorrow.

4:00 PM - Writing this blog entry. I'm tired of typing and I'm hungry so I'll get back to you guys tomorrow.