Audi A4 B7 Black smoke and heavy steering.

[koverino]

I've bought an Audi A4 yesterday, its from 2007 and the car is almost in perfect condition. 

The only 2 things that are weird with it is that it is giving out a lot of black smoke. If the car is standing still, and i rev it, it will give out some black smoke for like half a second and then it will go back to normal (non-coloured, and not a lot of smoke either). The engine is a 2.0 TDI (BRE)

The second issue is that the steering wheel is a bit heavy, not extremely heavy, but heavy enough that is it a bit hard to move it with one hand. Could it be low power steering fluid? 

And, another small one is that the Navigation screen isnt working. The owner said i just need to reconnect a wire. 

Any ideas on what the issues would be?

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum Alex, you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂

Black smoke could be caused by the dpf if the car has been used for town driving only. Also check to see if the car has an the emissions recall carried out. As various faults can occur after it's been done. 

the power steering fluid could be low but it could also be the pump that's on its way out. 

cheers

Steve

 

[koverino]

Thanks Steve. I took the car to a local mechanic and he had a quick look at it, he said he could not find anything and i should bring it on another day to have a better look, as he was busy that day. He also told me i should use this additive called CATACLEAN to see if it would help in any way. He also checked the power steering fluid and it was okay. Thats probably the pump. I'm gonna have it checked later today, and will come back with updates 🙂

I've also managed to repair the RNSE, the issue was the one that the owner said, I only had to recconect a wire. Been a bit of a headache to open the whole thing up and then put it back together tough :X

[Steve Q]

Glad you got the RNSE sorted despite it being a fiddly job. 

I can't say I've ever heard of the aditive but you could also try dpf cleaner etc. The power steering issue could be the pump or the pulley usually they start to become squeeky when they're going. As it was in my case for the pulley. 

Please keep us posted on how you get on 🙂

cheers

Steve

[Magnet]

Any particular brand of woof woof cleaner Steve!? Predictive text eh?  Glad I'm not the only one. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. Not electric power steering on this then? 

[Steve Q]

19 hours ago, Magnet said:

Any particular brand of woof woof cleaner Steve!? Predictive text eh?  Glad I'm not the only one. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. Not electric power steering on this then? 

Oh I hate predictive text!! At least it just said dog and not anything worse! 

You have a good point about the power steering Gareth. I'm not sure if it's hydraulic or electric. But if it is electric then the battery should be the first thing to check. Would you agree? 

Cheers

Steve

[koverino]

Fixed the smoke, it was a clogged EGR valve. It also wouldnt open properly, which caused pressure to build up, and then when it would open it would spit all the smoke out. 

tbh im glad it wasnt a very expensive fix, and yeah, there are no other issues with the car. got a really nice bargain.

[Steve Q]

Glad you got the egr sorted Alex. They seem to be a common problem on modern VAG cars.

Cheers

Steve