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Since this section sees little activity,I thought I would wake it up and possibly raise a topic which might cause some controversy - so apologies in advance if it offends, but hopefully it will allow views to be aired. The forum appears to be experiencing an increasing number of ‘members’ joining the forum, to seek help via. their first post, and again simply saying it as it is, then some disappear without any acknowledgement or even feedback, never to return to contribute towards helping others at some point in the future. Steve Q generously welcomes new members who join simply to advise the forum of their interest in Audi, and without wishing to appear patronising, I think Steve’s welcoming attitude is to be applauded, as is the the time taken by some of the new members who don’t immediately want anything, other than joining a like minded community. I just ask- where does this welcoming attitude become taken for granted, and folks just join to seek a free - of charge, and future exchange - consultation? I believe some forums exercise a procedure, whereby new members must make a number of posts before say, advertising, and even requesting help, based on ensuring a participation, rather than a simple ‘I’m joining to pick your brains free of charge’. Just a thought - If new members wish to post a plea for help at a stage where they haven’t posted x number of earlier participating posts, then should they join and post a plea only as paid ‘Supporting members’? Apologies if any of this offends, or is considered non-welcoming, and indeed if any of the above is not shared by others. As usual - Kind regards, Gareth.

Hi Mike don't take any of this personally, its not aimed at people like yourself who have observed the proprieties and answered and said thank you, I can see what Gareth is driving at along with the others that try to answer a problem, 90% of the information that is given is at best thin and devoid of any real substance, the information you have given is good and you even reply to the requests for further information, Gareth and co are trying to get around the one post wonders who can't be bothered to reply TO ANY SUGGESTIONS OR REQUESTS, they have no preconceptions of what the ideal member is and I think the previous posts just reflect what has changed in the world and not singling out anyone in particular who is already a proactive member, the bottom line is if you attract answers for your problem at least have the decency to reply, otherwise it becomes an exercise in futility and I can honestly see why a lot of first time problem posts remain unanswered, more often than not we are on a hiding to nothing, I personally get a great deal of satisfaction from trying to help solve problems and especially when it all goes the posters way, it has nothing to do with personalities its just plain old helping each other. Steve.

I do fully appreciate where you're coming from Gareth, I've been speaking to Trevor about what we can do to retain members etc. My post can be found in our moderators section. I love helping others and setting up the shows but find it deflating when we get a low turn out for the shows. It's frustrating when you see fellow Audi clubs with large turnouts and we can only get a handful. This has got worse since COVID as we used to have good numbers prior. This includes loosing some regular members due to them joining other clubs or doing other activities. I think most people don't realise the level of investment the admin/moderators team make. You with your vast knowledge and in my case I research the topics once members ask a question which takes time. Plus updating the news section & Motorsport sections as well as the how to guides. I just wish we'd be able to increase our regular members base.

👆 Nice car. Great photos too. 👏🏻👏🏻

would never pay that like i have always done my lights when needed to rip off britan lol

Great pics!

Have the lenses gone cloudy? If so they can be machine polished either DIY or via a professional. I believe cleaning it with toothpaste with a toothbrush works too!

Got a result with the premature wear on my rear tyres after recalls 42L1 and 42L5. After contacting Audi Customer Services and not being fobbed off by Audi Leicester between them they are reimbursing me for the replacement cost of my tyres £631.00. Shame it took so long!

Thanks for your valid suggestions Gareth, we should be able to implement most of the above points. A short while ago we implemented the mandatory Registration for all members to view the forums rather than just peruse the content without contributing to posts. However, this may have inadvertently lead to new members posting and not responding once they have their answer Certainly I think the above recommendations could lead to cutting back on the unresponsive posters along with some other potential measures to combat this problem.

Many thanks indeed Trevor, It’s interesting to hear that this is being actively looked into behind the scenes, and without labouring the negative side of it, I do think anything which can encourage new posters to become more proactive, from the point of registering, to posting, and to react and follow up to advice given, would be a great step ahead. I guess we are into an era of ‘text message’ approach to question asking where posters dismiss any attempts at pleases or thank you s, and simply adopt the briefest of ‘I want, you know, you help me’ - and perhaps that’s the way it’s going to be for many. My suggestions ( in tandem with what you already have in mind):- Amend the Forum Rules to include words to the effect of ‘ please provide follow up on advice given…’ Have a mandatory tick box to agree to Forum Rules before registering. ( Yes, I appreciate horses-to-water, but at worse, it isn’t a retrograde step.) Can the system automatically e-Mail, alert first time posters, say after a week, if they do not respond? Again, better than nothing -? If that system is practical, is there any benefit in extending it to all posters who cut and run? Above all, forums should be a means of following alerted problems from point of asking to confirmed resolution, so members joining can search and hopefully find the possible causes. Let’s hope that raising and discussing this topic can only be beneficial - I’m confident it will be. Kind regards, Gareth.

I got a new meyle reservoir last month. Finally had a free hour yesterday. Drained the fluid from the downtube to the cooler. Took the old reservoir out and low and behold. The filter was competely loose in it. Replaced the reservoir. Hooked it all back up. got the air out by left righting about 10 times with engine off. Then same with engine on. dont forget to top up the fluid 😉 Drove it a bit. Flow is a lot less than before. It all stays nicely in the reservoir. No sounds from pump or rack. Lets see if it stays that way. But it all seems good. So thanks a lot!! @Stevey Y

Hi all, Very valid points made in the above posts and myself, Gareth and Steve have been discussing this issue to try to come up with a working solution. It does seem to be an issue with this site predominantly, as I am on several other forums and this site does have many more un-responded posts (by the original poster). The issue is not easily resolved as would be difficult to get the OP to reply to their post if they do not wish to. However, we are actively looking to find a software 'plug in' to encourage members to reply to their own posts. Another feature we have is the 'Established Member' group promotion which has been active in the system for sometime now, albeit the original post number for promotion was set to 100 posts. We have now lowered it to 40 posts to qualify to be promoted to this group. The benefit of this group is that much like Premium Members get to see less advertising, Established Members see slightly less and also we can set other functions to benefit this member group. My thoughts are if we could get a plug in and run it in conjunction with the group promotion then it could see more responses from members in the forums. Also, as mentioned in this thread, we can enhance the Member Profile on sign up with a requirement to complete more information about their vehicle and interests in the group, e.g. events participation, specific interests, etc. Thanks for all your suggestions so far and will keep a close eye on this topic to see what else we can come up with to resolve this issue. Cheers, Trevor (Admin)

hi lads its an interesting topic youve raised and everyone has a different opinion,i personally find the forum very helpful and friendly and have gotten good advice in the past,i also see people come on here and get good advice but dont ever come back or offer a thank you,i guess theres a bit of that in all forums. on a personal level im here in eire so cant attend any shows but i definitely would if the journey was shorter and i dont offer much advice as i wouldnt have a lot of knowledge on some models,but i really do enjoy logging in and reading all the posts so keep it going and we can hope people will appreciate how valuable a tool that this forum is.greg

Hello Mike and Steve, Well at least the post has given an opportunity to air the topic of the benefit to the club/ forum of the membership of the first-post-for-help-and-run member, and perhaps I should make it clear that I simply ask the question about paying to be become a supporter if the first post is going to be a plea for free help - I don’t suggest it should happen, and doubt whether I would support such a proposal - I simply raise the topic. Your question Mike - ‘ …..I wonder if you ( take it that’s me?) have an accurate idea of what your membership is looking for? My honest answer would be I don’t know, but what I do know is that member’s requirements are highly likely to be very much diverse - as demonstrated by Steve’s wish to have face to face contact, and your own Mike ( as the only other one to take the time to post a response) being of an opposite requirement. It remains a good question, and perhaps that question should be included in the member’s profile at the time of registering. I just wonder if an analysis was carried out of the number of new members joining and posting, say over the last year, and assess what % return to the forum and have further involvement in any capacity. This post inevitably will indicate an air of pessimism, but I just wonder if the first post, free advice, and run posters, appreciate that the forum administration cannot run as a automatic cost free facility - folks at the helm no doubt have to work hard to maintain the service we enjoy for nothing. Sometimes a simple please and thank you will be an adequate price to pay, and it would be nice if that could somehow be encouraged - via. the Forum Rules? I really hope that simply raising this topic will be seen as a constructive move, and follow-up posts in relation to advice offered will be on the increase, and first time posters will return and participate - either face to face to support Steve’s efforts, or simply to offer their experiences to others. Kind regards, Gareth.

Whoop whoop,so ive managed as a pure novice to strip out the centre console so i could gain access to the heater matrix as i suspected this may be blocked .nothing leaked from it weirdly it was bone dry (red flag)i put a new one in and now i have no coolant warning lights yaaaay no rushback into header tank nothing ,APART FROM NO FUXXXNG heating lol i never had it in begining to be fair ,thats what this whole quest started from ffs .the only thing thats not been changed yet is the thermostat which im aiming to do this week as soon as ive you tubed it hahaha another first for me .i would like to thank everybody that has replied and gave me guidance 🙏

Hi Steve Just been checking recent service history for my car. Brake fluid changed 12k ago. Filters changed with major service 5k ago. All done at Audi. They didn't check history. Rear brakes don't look too bad to me. But, I have booked it in to Audi for cam belt replacement though. Local garage quoting nearly £700, so, Audi doesn't look too bad. Tony

Personally I'd be against having to pay to join to ask a question - I wouldn't have joined had that been a prerequisite. The nature of good forums I am a member of is that there tends to be a lot of experience built into the membership and - if you're new to a vehicle, or to a particular problem with a vehicle - it allows you to get advice free of charge. I always acknowledge advice I receive and make a point of posting follow-up news on how the solution works (or doesn't), but I recognise that some posters don't do this and just post and run. I think this is the nature of the internet, and I don't think it has changed suddenly. If you follow the path of 'subscribe before you get advice' - before you know how good or bad that advice is - then you'll see posts dwindle as you'll have thrown the baby out with the bathwater... Others will feel differently, I'm sure... Mike 🙂 ETA - I found this forum very welcoming and the advice (especially on my flywheel replacement) first rate.

Shame the main dealers don't get with these forums!!

Only thing I was able to find was when I shook the block attached to the positive terminal on the battery, the L shape one with the two chunky red cables on a connector labeled as 150A and a really thick cable (perhaps 2 inches wide) the car completely cut out, it didn't generate all the same errors as before, perhaps as I wasn't driving it?, I tighten up the nuts on those connectors, they weren't what I'd consider loose but there was definitely more play than there is now and I wasn't able to replicate the problem after. I'm not sure I buy into it being a loose connection there (as battery shouldnt really be in play at that point, though if its arcing I guess could be problematic, possibly I disturbed it enough to work a bit loose when changing the original battery (supports the starting when the spare wheel was put back though). I've not been able to locate anything looking corroded or anything loose. I've not driven the car since 2nd but have started it a numbet of times and its started each time with no issue. Car is going in tomorrow so hopefully will have, albeit potentially expensive (if its the ccm that needs replacing) fix.