Stevey Y

Hi are you positive that is the pump?, it looks like a thermostat housing with the two bypass ports, [smaller bore pipes], the main pump is run by the cam belt, but the gunge definitely looks normal as most people dont bother to change the antifreeze at regular intervals or just top it up with tap water which is full of calcium. Steve.

Hi I am glad you are happy with the car, but it begs the question would anyone be happy with the depreciation of these vehicles from 95k + new to about 40k at three years old. Steve.

Hi if they do it under warranty for you its a simple fix, if you were paying for it thats a different matter, its horrific as you have to remove the front of the car to get the cat and DPF out, I had mine done twice , the parts are expensive, I dont think the garage that sold you the car have a clue about what's involved I did a fairly extensive description of it on the C7 part of the forum and all other members who own vehicles with the ULTRA system have had the same problems, A5,A6,Q5 etc, its a lousy design and if the fault is left the cooler ruptures and feeds adblue crystals in to the water system, thats fun, to be totally honest if I won another A6 in a competition I would have it up on Autotrader the next day the C7-C8 are money pits, what with the EGR coolers, stratospherically high parts prices for clutch parts and a dash light for every occasion I would definitely pass on another one. Steve.

Hi no just take the covers off and take a photo of the sticker on the main part the other stickers are part numbers for the stalks not the main body. Steve.

Hi only Audi can code the new keys as they have exclusive rights to them and wont release them, I needed a spare key for my daughters Q3 so I propositioned the mobile locksmith my garage uses and he said he couldn't do it for love nor money as Audi only have the codes and even if you got the right key second hand the chip inside needs recoding and be accepted by the dealership mainframe computer. I did enquire how much for a new key from Audi, just over £400, BTW coding a battery is a much simpler process. Steve.

Hi thats the boost solenoid its vacuum controlled and sits on the exhaust side of the turbo to control the vanes opening and closing, cheap good diagnostic is OBDEleven. Steve.

Hi if the guy has VCDS it should show the old code number for the original unit and is all you do is type in the code number for the new unit in new number box and press go and it normally accepts it. Steve.

Hi check the boost pressure sensor but its most likely the turbo vanes are sticking. Steve.

Hi Cliff, the concentration of the urea is in the purest forms of Adblue are a shade over 20% as you dont need anymore than that, believe it or not the quality of the water part of it is the most expensive component, I always used the top end stuff which was never in the tank long enough to crystallise so I only used the Forte a couple of times as a precaution, the crystallisation effect is only really caused by cheap Adblue and ageing whereby the use is infrequent which is why Audi recommend a complete drain of the tank and system flush every two years to prevent this problem, there are many chemicals in this life that via heating or cooling return to their native states over time, just look at the sweetener Aspartame when ingested and reaches body core temperature reverts to its native state, wood alcohol, adblue is the same whereby if left for sufficiently long will separate and the urea reverts to the crystal state.

Hi much as I hate to point this out, it has nothing to do with soot furthermore Rocks?, how on earth anyone could even consider this as a possibility is beyond me, SCR is its own system and suffers with crystallisation which blocks delivery pipes and pumps and spray heads at the catalyst end, good Adblue consists of approx 80%demineralised water and approx 20% of the solution which is synthetic urea derived from a fertiliser, it goes nowhere near the exhaust stream until it is metered in at the beginning of the cat according to information supplied by Nox sensors in the exhaust stream to convert Nox1 in to Nox 2 which is an inert particle and not harmful, there fore anything that stops crystallisation will aid the efficiency and the longevity of this system, unless you add adblue to the fuel , that will definitely cause problems. Steve.

Hi all independent garages buy belt kits, I can't even think of any I have used that just fit a new belt, new belt kit normally consists of cam belt, idler pulley, water pump, and associated bolts, they will if you ask them report back on cam shaft seals while its stripped and advise replacement or not, second hand gaskets are a myth as they self destruct on disassembly. Steve.

Hi its a panic now message just to worry the uninitiated, if its any help you can drive past this warning the one to watch for is oil service now, thats when the sensor in the sump has picked up oil contamination. Steve.

Hi it needs calibrating and coding again with VCDS or OBDEleven even if you bought a brand new unit from Audi it would still need the same, I suspect the garage did not lock the entering of the steering wheel when they fitted the rack it only has to be one tooth out to throw up the lights. Steve.

Hi how many more times are they going to spout such garbage, when the box goes bang [much more money for them] they will tell you that they never said it was sealed for life, just filled for life, they must be serviceable otherwise why does anyone bother buying the filter kits and oil, dont know where you are in Essex but there are a couple of garages in Rayleigh that specialise in gearbox services on German models, the gearbox should be serviced every 30k/3 years. Steve.

Hi they changed from HID to LED because they are cheaper than HID and allegedly last longer, only problem is when they do fail rather than pop in another bulb 9/10 you have to buy a new unit, I have them on my Passat and the main beam is nowhere near as good as the A6 Bi-Xenon set up which running uprated D5S 6000 Kelvin was a real pleasure to drive at night. Steve.