Leaderboard

Until I bought my Audi I drove and towed with a BMW X3 and cruise control was available when towing on that. I just can't see any reason why Audi have decided to do this. But I'd still have the Audi in preference to the X3

Welcome Aran, Not reaching temperature is usually a classic symptom of a failed/failing thermostat, so I would be renewing that first. Kind regards, Gareth.

Bought from a dealer, or privately Aran? Emissions recall?? Beware of entertaining that. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thank you Jasonj. You are the absolute legend.

Hi Jason, Thank you very much for this. I really found it hard to believe and was prepared to do battle with the dealership over it. Every day is a school day........

Whilst not wanting to stand on anyones toes or question anyones knowlege. I do find it odd that the Cruise control would be dismissed when towing. I used to travel with another friend when towing caravans and his A6 would have had cruise control on whilst towing. Having said that i dont know if it was a factory fit or retro fit tow bar to be honest. And when searching for information reference another friends Skoda and the same issue, theres alot of information to do with people having issues with adaptive cruise control when towing! Intermittent loss of use but not complete loss! I wouldnt be the most knowledgable in these matters but i do find it interesting that they would deem it necessary to restrict the use of a feature which is most helpful in everyday driving and in maintaining the correct speed, just because your towing a trailer or caravan.

Thanks Richard, There is better understanding, now that you have explained that the tow bar fitting specialist had already advised you that they know there isn’t anything abnormal about the situation you are left in. Knowledge of full facts is king if meaningful advice is to be given. Thanks again Jason, so the forum takes it that you have consulted with Audi Technical on this subject. If I may say, the forum needs to be assured that the facts it advises on are indeed supported. If they are, then that is fact If indeed they aren’t or haven’t been, then is must be taken as opinion or assumption, and that’s fine too - if stated to be. Many thanks and kind regards, Gareth.

I think we are going to get it booked in for compression test and clean the Egr valve and manifold and see what that does

Hello Jason, ‘They would have researched this….’ Is this statement in knowledge that they actually did, or is it an assumption on your part? I think my suggestion to Richard to seek advice at a specialist, before accepting what has been said, is both progressive and meaningful. Kind regards, Gareth.

Tow bar fitted by specialist company and confirmed the disabling of cruise control as Audi policy. They offered to see if the car could be re-coded as a work around but I declined this as too many possible unintended side effects. I understant the dead man's handle logic - very sensible - but I can't see any possible logic for this as the slightest tap on the brakes disengages cruise control.

Many thanks Richard, Since your car is 3 years old - and I guess has been fitted with its tow bar at some point after it was first registered - it may well be worth giving all this a good coat of thinking about before dismissing the possibility that it might be associated with the after-fitting of the tow bar, rather than an incorporated designed safety ‘feature’ Worth having a word with a towing bar fitting specialist-? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Zoe, A lot has been said, and some tests done. If it were mine, I would now be taking this back to first principles and getting a compression test done on each cylinder before embarking on more expensive in depth diagnosis. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Trophy? - guess you are talking the Leaderboard trophy Jason - well done you - a lot of time put in to get that.

Thanks Jason, that’s really interesting . I must admit I was less worried when we saw it was both sides having the same gap rather than just one , so we shouldn’t need to worry about this ?

Thanks- disconnected the battery for a reset. No joy. Have seemed to fixed the problem for now by removing the dash cluster and cleaning the connector terminals.

Just a update it’s finally running like a dream again ended up being the ecu not sure why garage’s can’t fix problems these days but if your car has this problem before spending thousands replacing all the parts get the ecu checked out.