Stevey Y

Hi for what its worth I had this problem over about two years, multiple master cylinder changes multiple brands of cylinder, finally cracked it as it was all about the fluid used, I was of the opinion that all DOT4 was the same, ITS NOT, finally settled on Comma ESP 4 and a new LUK cylinder along with a complete flush of the braking system with Comma, gravity bled the clutch slave cylinder with a auto fill top up bottle and two years and 80k later no problems with the clutch pedal hitting the floor first thing in the morning, an oil/fluid technician I spoke to said that the cheaper brands of DOT4 contain an acidic compound which causes the seals to degrade and wear and in his opinion the Comma is as close to genuine Audi fluid as you can get. Steve.

Hi BEM codes are peculiar to any vehicle using VAG software, Bentley and Lamborghini being amongst them Ford and GM use a battery counter system which can be reset on the dash pod, Alfa Romeo use multiple model systems but they are all basically counter systems with different modes of reset, and then you have the Mito which requires Fiat Multiscan to reset it, as you pointed the BEM coding is a VAG system which is why its a source of many discussions on this site, its what their system demands to ensure longevity of the battery, yes not many batteries come with a new code but it is easy enough to make a new code from the existing code just by changing the last two digits of the old code, therefore the ECU recognises the new code and informs the BEM which relearns its charging values taking in the voltage maintenance of the new unit. Steve.

Hi the stop start fault may have become embedded but you can try and clear it if you have access to VCDS I have suffered that before when I have replaced parts, these cars are obsessive with hanging on to old faults I used to get the stop start fault randomly towards the end of my cars life and the hysterical thing is that I used it as a taxi but never buggered about with the wiring, my theory is that from 2010 on they have been cutting back on the quality of the parts as I ran one of my Mondeos up to 360k and never had a days trouble with the main looms only the headlight plugs corroding which was a very common fault. Steve.

Hi Cliff the whole two keys to the longevity of the new unit are the BEM code and the battery type Fleece/EFB. Steve.

Hi if you have a good auto spark that would seem to be the way to go, given the option of buying an expensive bit of kit which you may only use once versus a few hours of his time its a no brainer, otherwise you will spend hours howling at the moon before you find the fault if you actually ever do, I have normally been ok with electrical faults but this brand of vehicle gives me the willies as the electrics are beyond complex. Its more than possible the loom up from the clutch position sensor is broken, from memory the guy I was talking about ended running a bypass spur on the existing loom to fix the problem. Steve.

Hi it could be a damaged wire on the plug for the clutch position sensor, somewhere on here is an old post for an A4 which runs the same system the guy ended up Buying an IDOS system [expensive] but it does electrical test and trace in the wiring loom, other than that I can only suggest a good auto electrician, all this is based on your wiring bypass of the clutch position sensor. Steve.

Hi if you dont do all the right thing when changing the battery the new unit will continue to be charged at the same rate as the old battery because the information the BEM has is for the old battery, I knew my battery was on its way out as the alternator was charging at 14.5 volts continuously and when the car was off for a couple of hours the battery static reading was 11.2 volts, now we have static 12.6 volts and running 12.8 volts charging, as for the new battery absorbing all the charge you can throw at it, yes it will up to the point when It fails very prematurely within say a month if the vehicle is used daily, I can't see how you can compare the lead acid technology of years ago with the enhanced flood and AGM technology that the manufacturers helped to develop to accommodate the vast amount of background electrics [especially VAG vehicles], these need a very precise voltage continuity just to work, prime case was my neighbour who I fitted a new battery in his Q5, he had a new Varta unit fitted a month before by a mobile mechanic who told him no coding required as it sorts itself out, a month later it failed again and when he tried to return the unit to Tanya the supplier they asked him if the battery had been put on a conventional charger to top it up, either way they rejected the warranty as the unit in their opinion had been under to great a charge rate and dried out the matting on two cells, fitted a new Yuasa with the new BEM CODE and six months down the line he is still a happy man, if you look at all the YouTube videos for this process they all come under the heading of battery coding using various software platforms, are they all Wrong.

Happy Christmas, if the worst problem you get this new year is choosing which polish to use you will have had a real result, be lucky my friend. Steve.

Hi Steve I can see your bank balance heading South this year, nice work though if you can run to it. Steve.

HI if its just a battery with two posts you have just described coding it in perfectly, if it can't be coded to the car what is the point of changing the information from the new battery against the old battery information, my understanding was that the idea of changing any information including the battery BEM number was to let the ECU know there is a new battery fitted therefore the BEM will not keep charging the new unit at the same rate as the old unit therefore frying the plates inside the new unit, recently did my battery on the Passat and had to change most of the information especially the change from EFB to AGM+ and a new BEM code, maybe its just me. Steve.

Hi its probably in the owners handbook just a case of scrolling through it and finding the correct fuse box diagram and fuse number. Steve.

Hi there is only the coolant temperature sensor in the block not sure where , that would kick the fans in, if its both fans the control unit on the fan pack is probably faulty, easy test disconnect the fan control unit and take it for a drive and see if the temperature goes up to 90 degrees. Steve.

Hi from the top, as long as you have the first service with the dealers you are then entitled to take the car to any garage that turns over £30,000 a year + and pays VAT to have it serviced, as long as they use O.E. parts, Hengst or Mahle oil filters and Quantum oil all is good, these people know the vehicle is under warranty and by law have to fit the right part as they dont want any fall out in the event of a warranty claim, as for the service history Paul will have that in real time with his bill and resume of what's been done which to my mind is better than the the two sheets of Andrex that Audi supply with minimal information, when I first acquired my car at 36k I applied for their version of service history is all it told me was they had investigated a squeal on the front of the engine and replaced the timing belt and replaced it, when I phoned Manchester Audi they refused to tell me what parts they had actually replaced as it infringed data protection, really?, my suggestion is Paul arms himself with the right tool which will more than pay for itself at the next service and then have the ability to do his own resets, £100 is not to be sneezed at, as for future buyers if they have done their research they know its not worth the Andrex its printed on and how many times have we had posters claiming they have full service history from a dealer and they wont honour the warranty, you know full well what they are like. Steve.

Hi dont bother to buy manuals as everything you need to know is on YouTube real time. Steve.

Hi the reason for this is the year of your car, VAG fitted all vehicles with SFD software protection which stops anyone outside themselves from performing a lot of simple functions so they have to do them and charge a shedload for it, it used to be that you could do it on the MMI but thats gone, the only way you can do it now is with OBDEleven pro which has the ability to disable SFD, its not too expensive and would be a worthy tool for the future as you can also reset your inspection milage as well, I discovered all this when I bought a 2021 Passat so I bought OBDEleven that allowed me to reset it all, then I discovered on YouTube that you can reset it all by using the trip distance button on the dash, but in saying that I have since re adapted a sensor and coded in my new battery, all in all its saved me about £400 in diagnostic charges at the dealers. Steve.