doltmo

I totally agree. I've met Valentino on several occasions, and when me met at the 2009 Giro he did something that totally floored me. I had a photo of us that was taken at the 2007 Giro and I've always wanted to have him sign. When he announced his "retirement" I thought I would never get the opportunity. So when I packed up for the 2009 Giro I brought it (plus a spare copy just in case) along. I had him sign it before dinner the first evening. Then he asked ME to sign the copy for him. I never in my wildest imagination thought that the great Valentino would want my autograph on a picture. But it goes to show that he appreciates us as much as we appreciate him.

Sorry, the write up on LamboWeb on the mirror repair was not mine. You might want to contact John Monahan to make sure he adds these important details to his site. BadV10: Great work on documenting the process!

One last comment about the "whine". This can be one of two things (maybe more): drive line gear noise or intake air turbulence. Drive line gear noise will change as you go from neutral throttle to either slight decel or slight accel. On a level road with just the right amount of throttle (no accel or decel) you can make the gear noise go away momentarily. With the slightest addition of throttle the whine will start as power is transmitted through the gears. Same for a reduction of throttle where the opposite occurs and the drive train starts to drag down the speed of the car. I get a slightly different pitch on accel compared to decel. Some early '06's (maybe other cars as well) also had an issue with the gaskets between the DBW (drive-by-wire) throttle bodies and the intake air plenums. The gaskets were either the wrong size (possibly taken from the Murci parts bin) or slightly misaligned during assembly so that the gasket partially blocked the air flow through the throttle body during partial throttle. This manifested itself as more of a whistle rather than a whine. While driving with the window open it was clearly coming from the rear of the car (where the air intake is). This can be solved by removing the DBW's and cutting down/repositioning the gasket to fit correctly.

I driven my '06 Gallardo 6-speed for over 3 years and 46,000 miles and have always had the occasional clutch "judder". I'm on my second clutch now (the first one went over 32K) and I still have the "problem". It's a combination of clutch engagement pressure and engine RPM - too much clutch at too little RPM. Once the "judder" starts you can't stop it. Two ways to keep it from happening - (1) give the engine a little more throttle before letting out the clutch, or (2) let the clutch out enough to just start to get the car rolling before giving it any throttle. The latter is probably the habit to get into. By the way, I test drove an '06 e-gear before buying my 6-speed and the e-gear car would make the same "judder" if you didn't feed it enough throttle when starting off.

Good catch! Thanks for pointing this out.

I find it helpful to remove the wheels from the car to really clean the inside of the "barrel". Carefully scrape off any of the little "rocks" of black brake pad material that collect on the inside of the wheels. Use your fingernail or a piece of wood that will not mar the finish. This stuff will cause pits in the finish if left on the wheels long enough. Once they're clean, apply a good coat of regular car wax to protect the finish on the wheels. This is also a good time to clean the grime off the brake calipers.

Changing the transmission fluid is another simple DIY (do-it-yourself) task that the average Gallardo owner can perform. It's not much more difficult than changing the engine oil. Standard disclaimer: You should not attempt this unless you are comfortable with working on your car. These instructions are not endorsed or approved by the manufacturer and any thing you do is at your own risk. Also, this procedure has only been done by the author on a manual 6-speed car. I assume the process is the same on an e-gear, but I'll leave that to others to confirm Step 1: Round up the necessary tools. 1/2" Socket wrench 1/2" extension(s) (16 inches min, 18-20" preferred) 22mm socket 14mm hex bit socket (a 9/16" will also work) funnel 18 inches of 1/2 ID plastic tubing 4 quarts GL-4 transmission fluid drain pan floor jack a coat hanger or similar stiff wire For the extension, you can get by with a 10" and 6" back-to-back, giving you a total of 16 inches, but an 18" or longer extension will make the job easier. You might also want to have a breaker bar handy if the previous mechanic working on your car torqued down the fill plug. I had trouble finding the 14mm bit socket. The normal Craftsman tool stores don't carry anything this large. I did find a set at AutoZone, so try your local car parts store first. I used Red Line MTL 70W80 GL-4 transmission fluid upon recommendation from a Lambo tech. You may want to use 75W90 in warmer climates. Check with your service tech to see what they've used in your car in the past. Stay away from GL-5 fluids - the additional additives in these are corrosive to the "yellow metal" synchro cones in the gearbox. Step 2: Locate and remove the fill plug. You may want to do this later in the process, as leaving the fill plug in place will slow the rate at which the fluid drains out of the gearbox, lessening the potential mess on the floor. However, I suggest you do this first. If you have any difficulty loosening the fill plug you can abort the process with the car still drivable. The fill plug is on top of the transmission housing directly behind the engine block. Open the engine bonnet, stand behind the car, and look down between the throttle bodies to locate the filler plug. There is another similarly-sized fitting just to the left of the fill plug. This is the bleed fitting for the hydraulic clutch - leave it alone!. See the picture below. There is a coolant hose directly above the fill plug that will make things a bit difficult. You can press it out of the way to get the 22mm socket on the fill plug. You may need a breaker bar to get the fill plug loose. Once the fill plug is loose, you need to retrieve it. This is the most difficult step, since there is very little room to fit you hand down through the maze of hoses. You may want to temporarily remove the electrical connector (shown) from its mounting bracket. The fill plug has a thin washer under it. This will likely fall off the plug as you retrieve it. I bent a small hook onto the end of a length of wire (a coat hanger will suffice) to retrieve the washer. If you've been successful, you should have a fill plug and washer: Step 3: Draining the fluid from the gearbox. The drain plug is on the bottom of the gear box, just inside of the frame member. Use the 14mm hex bit (with a socket wrench) to loosen the plug. Have your drain pan handy. If your drain pan will not fit under the car, you may need to jack up the rear end a bit to get more clearance. Position the floor jack on the frame member immediately underneath the gearbox. Drain the fluid. The fluid is the consistency of thin motor oil. It comes out quite fast. Inspect the magnetic end of the drain plug for metal filings. A small number of flakes can be expected. Large pieces are bad news. Clean these off and reinstall the drain plug once the fluid has all drained out. Step 4: Add the new fluid. Insert one end of the plastic tubing into the fill opening. Once you think you've found the hole, inspect it with a flashlight to make sure the tubing is actually in the opening and not somewhere else on top of the gearbox. Then twist the tubing a couple of turns to "screw" it further into the transmission opening. This will help keep it from coming out at the wrong time. Insert the funnel into the top end of the tubing. I found it convenient to wedge the funnel in place with the socket wrench extension bar, as shown below. Now add the fluid; four quarts are required. Remove the tube when done. Step 5: Reinstall the fill plug. Given the problems I had retrieving the fill plug in step 2, I thought it would be worth while to form a tool to lower the plug into position. Use the other end of your wire to form a "hook" of the proper size to hold the fill plug. Then lower it down until it's seated on the opening, carefully remove the tool without disturbing the plug, reach down with your hand and give it a few twists to start the threads. Finish up with the 22mm socket wrench. This completes the process. Check for any leaks over the next day or so. If anyone has corrections or suggestions please post them below.

The diagrams can be confusing but the first photo in that link shows where to lift the front. Use a floor jack, do it one side at a time, and position the jack so it contacts the body as shown below. I usually roll the jack in as far as I can and align it just behind the wheel opening. This will put the lifting point in the proper place. I use a small block of wood to distribute the force along the bottom of the car. You may find it helpful to raise the nose of the car first; most jacks are too high to roll under the car when it's down. For the rear of the car, position the jack on the frame member immediately below the transmission and you can lift the entire rear of the car.

I believe the noise you hear when opening the door is the motor on the E-gear hydraulic pump spinning up. The transmission shifter as well as the clutch on the E-gear are controlled by hydraulic actuators. On a manual 6-speed, you need to push in the clutch (and/or select neutral) before you turn the key and start the engine. On an E-gear car the same has to happen, and it takes hydraulic pressure in the E-gear controller to do this BEFORE you turn the key. The motor starts when you open the door to give the system time to pressurize. To answer your other question: You can activate the lift while driving at low speeds, so you can push the button while approaching an obstacle and be "up" by the time you get there. If the nose is up when the speed exceeds 40 MPH (or something like that), the nose will come down automatically. You can't activate the lift above that speed.

I installed one on my '06 coupe myself. It's not that difficult, but it does take some time. There are lots of things to remove and every fastener needs a different size wrench. The most difficult part for me was figuring out how to disconnect all the electrical plugs (particularly the O2 sensors!). Allocate a full day.

Three ways to tell if your car has nav: (1) Call a dealer and have them run the VIN to see if it came from the factory with nav. (2) Insert an genuine Lambo nav DVD disk and see if it accepts it. If is still says "Insert Nav DVD" with the real DVD inserted, you don't have nav. (3) pull the radio out of the car and see if it has the GPS antenna attached. This will take a set of Audi radio puller tools which you can get on eBay or maybe borrow from a local car stereo shop or an Audi dealer. #3 is not a 100% guarantee. You can hook up a GPS antenna to a non-nav radio and get basic GPS satellite info - actual ground speed, elevation, etc. but you have no navigation. If you don't have nav, you can get your non-nav radio "unlocked". See http://navparts.com/services/lamborghini-n...conversion.html

Yes. Got back late last night - 3725 miles in 8 days. Rain and hail in Illinois: Bunking down for the evening in western Iowa with a very distant relative: What was a road under construction leaving Jackson, WY. This crap went on for about 8 miles. Hammer down on the way home in Nowhere, WY:

another shot of the Blue Caelum GVB

Same here. Just got back from the 2009 Giro. 3725 miles on the G in 8 days - Indy - Salt Lake - Jackson WY - Indy.

Gallardo wheels fit the R8.

Yes - same problem. The bulb tip contact melts and becomes unsoldered. I've resoldered the bulbs and brought them back to life. If the repair remelts I'm going to try hi-temp lead-free solder next time. I can't believe the fender area gets hot enough to melt solder - the plastic would melt first. So it's got to be poor electrical contact between the bulb and the socket. The resistance induces heat, which probably gets hot enough to melt the solder. I've also had a problem with the left rear side marker light. It looks like it melted the plastic body and the dealer attempted to repair the damage with some glue - see photo below. I noticed the problem after washing the car and finding the red lens full of water.

I'm using one. It works great.

The tail light assembly is held in place by four (4) screws. You found the two "bottom" screws by removing the honeycomb grill under the tail light. The other two are up behind the light assembly. You can reach them from the grill opening, but you will be operating blind and will have to find them by touch. Once these last two screws are removed, the assembly can be easily removed from the car. The upper screws are actually hex head bolts. Here's a shot taken from inside the rear fender looking up at the tail light (and its heat shield). The two bolts you need to remove are marked.

Ben is right. The surface of the LCD is the actual LCD glass. Once it's scratched, you're screwed. There is no protective film on it that can be replaced. The only way to get rid of the scratches on the LCD is to replace it - which is actually easy to do. You might try to locate a "donor" RNS-E on e-bay, but there's always the risk that it has a worse screen than yours. There have been some posts on AudiForum regarding this topic. See http://audiforum.us/rns-e/10100-rns-e-new-...-installed.html

Hey Randy - give me some slack. The car's got a few miles on it.

It would be a good idea to verify that the vacuum system has not been compromised (i.e no leaks) by the mods. There are several ways; any one of the following will work: 1. remove the vacuum line from the top of the solenoid (the vacuum line from the engine) and plug it. 2. unplug the electrical connector from the solenoid. The unplugged solenoid is permanently closed and will effectively plug the vacuum line. 3. manually plug the vacuum line leaving (going to the exhaust valves). As to why the car should louder immediately after starting - it could just be the way the engine controller operates.

I've been watching a similar thread on another board and I got the impression on the later cars the engine computer monitors the current through the solenoid valve. If he unhooked the electrical connector from the solenoid he got CELs. If he just plugged the vacuum line he didn't. Don't know what year the car was. I also know that the later cars have some backpressure sensor that will cause CELs if the exhaust valves are constantly open. So, you may be looking a one or both of these issues on an '07. If you've tried plugging the vacuum line and you still get CELs then you may be out of luck until someone figures out how to fool the backpressure sensors. If you only get CELs when the solenoid is unhooked, and you still want to switch back and forth (between quiet and loud) electrically, then you may be able to fool the current monitoring by switching in a suitable load resistor to simulate the solenoid when in "loud" mode.

Looks like LOC changed their design over the years. I bought mine early in 2006, and the pipes loop up over the cat inlet and the exit droops down to the exhaust tips. It also attaches to the top muffler supports. Yours comes out of the cats and loops down under the inlet and has less of a droop to the exhaust exit. Here's a comparison (I rotated el_chorizo's photo to try to put it in the same orientation). Also, what's the big piece of sheet metal for? Is it a heat shield for the transmission? The early LOC systems (like mine) cleared the gearbox by quite a bit. I bet the new version comes a lot closer.

On the back, I'm running Michelin PS2's 295/30 ZR19 R01 (Audi spec) on the street and PZCorsa 305/30 ZR19 N0 (Porsche spec) on the track - both on factory rims. I stick with the standard 235/35-19's on the front. The 305/30-19 PZCorsas are a bit unusual in that they are exactly the same number of revs/mile as the PZRosso 295/30-19 factory rubber. I've actually measured the circumference with a tape measure to confirm this. The profile of the two are shown below. Both tires are a bit more "broad shouldered" than the PZRosso's, but I think the 305's look just fine on the factory rims.

Same here. You would have thought that MAG would have sent a letter out to all of Nelson's customers informing them of the change in ownership and welcoming them to MAG. Maybe with a 10% off coupon for your next service. But who am I kidding? I've not heard anything good about MAG, so I think we're all getting our first exposure to their way of dealing with customers.