Q7 Newbie

[Whittonstall-Si]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and relatively new to Audi ownership.  August 23 I decided to get myself a 2012 Q7 S-line.  It's a lovely car and amazing for the family.........the small amount I've been able to drive it.  About 1 month after buying the car we were taking a family holiday round the Lock Ness area and on the last day of the holiday the car decided to spit out injector 1 on bank 1.  Maybe it was in protest of having to carry 6 people, 3 dogs and luggage, but the car had been flawless up to this point.

I sent the car into my local independent Audi specialist, as I was a bit worried about the complexity of the job.  Whist in for repair, the garage discovered a number of other issues that needed sorting with the car.  It took two goes for the garage to fix the injector fault (I got the car back and a couple of weeks later the exact same injector decided to leap from the engine), and there was a lot of delays, but I eventually got the car back in July this year.  Unfortunately in that time the car had runout of MOT and it failed on rear brake performance.  Understandably the brakes were seized up, but I've stripped them down and have new shoes, discs, pads, and some refurbished calipers on order which should cure the problem.  Last thing I need to solve after this is the key not releasing from the ignition barrel (I have to use the little release pin with a screwdriver to get the key out).  There are no fault codes so I'm thinking this is probably related to gear position switch, or park position switch. Any advise would be welcome.

All this has come at about a £5k cost so I am feeling a bit sorry for myself, but....... The car is a lovely car and hopefully I am over the big troubles.

Interested to hear you opinions on this gen of Q7

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂 looks a lovely car. And Scotland is beautiful. I did the nc500 4 years ago and loved it. Sorry to hear you've had problems. 

[Whittonstall-Si]

The story continues...... The q7 is freshly mot'd and now seems in pretty good shape (although my wallet is a lot lighter 😅).  I have a couple of bits of trim to sort and a little patch of rust on the rear drivers side wheel arch.  All of this I'll sort over the next few months.

My biggy is the stuck key. I've had a look about and everyone else seems to be getting error messages. For me everything is fine othere than the key doesn't release. This suggest that the car knows it's in park (or neutral) and maybe the ignition barrel is the issue.  Well the thing is.... The ignition barrel has been replaced by a garage while trying to fix the problem, so I'm thinking maybe it's the "ignition barrel holder" or whatever the thing the ignition barrel screws in to.

So is there any chance any of you Audi friends can explain how the ignition barrel works on a q7 and/or point me to a diagram.

BTW, I'm happy to pay for a good workshop manual. Tried the Haynes one and another for about £20 and both seem to resemble chocolate fire guards.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate any advice 

Cheers.

[Steve Q]

Glad it's all motd 🙂 that's the thing with Audi's, no matter how old they get the maintenance bills remain expensive. 

I could be wrong but as the garage has supposedly fixed the fault then there should be some guarantee on the work or parts replaced. I'd be speaking to them asap. Obviously there's a chance it's not the ignition barrel as you've suspected but definitely worth a shot. 

Haynes don't really do any recent cars. Might be worth trying Bentley manuals. They're not cheap and it might be geared more to American versions (engines etc) but the ignition system should be the same even if it's on the opposite side. 

[cliffcoggin]

Sorry to read you have been sold a lemon Simon. It would have been better to return the car to the dealer as soon as the first injector failed, but it is too late for that now. I hope your luck improves.

Have you tried wriggling the steering wheel to release the key? Is the gear stick in Park position, assuming it is automatic transmission?

[Whittonstall-Si]

Thanks guys.

The garage told me they hadn't managed to fix the issue with the new barrel, so no come back unfortunately.

I'll look up the Bentley manuals Steve, and I'll try try wriggling the steering Cliff.