Stevey Y

Hi Ann, I am good at the moment work has picked up [ Cabbie], I have a 16 plate A6 Avant 2.0 tdi, thanks for getting back to me I am pleased that this has worked out for you considering the eye watering alternative costs, yes it will be a lot faster as there is nowhere near the restrictions in the gas flow on the exhaust which equates to about another 25 BHP only advice I can give you is don't use cheap fuel [supermarket] as it will start to smoke as the fuel has quite a lot of light paraffin in it to blend it down and we all know what paraffin smells like when burnt. I have in the past considered a remap etc but I have two MOTs a year and the council have spent a fortune on the latest emissions testing equipment an effort to weed us dodgy cab drivers out so I have to play the game to a greater extent but I still refuse to have Greta Thunberg as a pin up. With regard to your car pics I think you would be best served asking the administrators on this site to remove them which I think would be the path of least resistance and they seem to be pretty much on the ball, just drop one of them a personal message on their drop box, try the guy called Magnet he seems to be on here quite a lot and is knowledgable. As for the belt tensioner if you can tell me which one it is I will do my best to advise, I am glad you have become a winner and not remained a victim of the thieving garages that exist in this world. Regards Steve.

Hi sorry for the late reply, yes they can change the oil as the manufacturers have to have a hole in it to fill it up, Fords had the same idea but people got round it by sucking the old oil out through the filler hole and then refilling it, by now some bright spark will have found a way of changing the filters as well, as for youtube I must admit I have never looked at this problem but I will now and if I find any thing I will let you know. Steve.

Hi, first question, don't use supermarket fuel as that will clog the DPF faster than blinking, google in Hydra fuel products they do a very good Dpf cleaner for people that only do short journeys add that to the appropriate amount of fuel and go for a blast for twenty mins. The audio button is replaceable there is a video on youtube about how to remove the centre console with buttons, get a s/h one off eBay, with regard to the fuel flap if you look at it when open is the little black button still on the left inner, if so give it a good soaking in WD40 and work the button in and out, my button does it and thats how I cure mine its a rubbish design. Steve.

Hi maybe they have modified the screens pacified area to address a problem they had on later higher spec models your guess is as good as mine, like I said try asking the advice of the local Autoglass depot as they are normally very helpful and probably know the real answer to your question. Steve.

Hi by rocker cover do you mean the plastic noise shield?, if so clean the oil to and run the engine whilst looking at the injectors hold your hand flat just above each injector in turn if one is blowing you will feel the pressure and heat so be careful, don't try removing an injector unless you have to as they require a tightening sequence which you will need a torque wrench for the tightening of the foot that holds the injector down, this dictates the crush pressure on the new seal and above all a clean seat and surrounding area of the injector is an absolute must, I would say something is amiss as the whole injector area should be dry, also look at the injector feed pipe unions for diesel leaks as this will cause uneven running due to the fuel pressure being lost at the offending injector. Steve.

Hi well done the pictures are very helpful, the dots are not hiding the sensor therefore I think the only other thing it could be is that a new sensor comes with the screen and is bonded to it either thats faulty or they have tried to get away with fitting the old receiver unit, both must be renewed when replacing the screen, therefore I would say it still down to them. Regards Steve.

Hi if whoever did the brake lining change did it correctly you put the EPB into pad service mode and when finished you take it out of service mode as long as the pistons were not wound in mechanicaly it should of been ok as when in service position the pistons are retracted to the start position for the new pads, therefore when taken out of pad service mode the piston moves ever so slightly forward, a few thou to accommodate the new linings. The only things to check are if the right pads were fitted and were the stainless steel runners for the pads replaced. Steve.

Yep, and thats whats blind siding the rain sensor and making it think its being rained on all the time, the sensor works on the principle of rain landing on the clear part of the windscreen in front of it when the water reaches the level that it starts to cut the light level to the sensor it fires the automatic wipe function, I think you now have what is a pacified area with the dots which appears to the sensor as a major downpour, and yes to many. Steve.

Hi my guess is its the wrong screen, I had that problem with another car a few years ago and it is where the dots cover the sensor eye so it thinks that its raining permanently as the sensor eye is pacified via the dots, the screen fitted is obviously for another version of your model where the rain sensor sits further down the screen in a clear patch, I think this one is down to them so don't take any twaddle they serve up as those dots should not cover the sender, if I were you I would find your nearest Autoglass centre and get them to have a look just to make sure. Regards Steve.

Hi NO as previously posted if the water jacket on the EGR cooler is perforated it normally pressurises the water system with exhaust gas, no oil involved, if you can post a description of what the oil in the water looks like, emulsified= white sludge or just plain black that would be very helpful. Steve.

Hi possibly an injector seal check round the injectors for oily tar like crud. Steve.

Thats what I love about this country there are some very clever people who always find a way round dealership excessive greed. Steve.

Hi so far, one humidity sensor under mirror Brand new from Audi £165.00, bought on eBay £65.00, air quality sensor I cleaned in alcohol and has been working fine ever since, headlight range control module, again cleaned contacts with alcohol works perfectly, one oxygen sensor which failed at 80k Audi wanted £190.00 for it so I bought the same sensor, again from eBay, genuine Bosch same O.E. for £69.00. The car has been brilliant, I use it as a cab so it has a hard life so the rest of it has been brakes and service items. BTW there are some amazing deals on Bosch filters on eBay so I have had a bit of a blitz on it as I have to service the car soon, Bosch air filter £13.00, Bosch oil filter £9.00, if you have your part numbers for your vehicle you can save a fortune on good quality parts. Steve

Hi I am pretty sure they do it on eBay and a multitude of other internet sites, I have used my friends OBD Eleven its good but I have VCDSso there is no point in buying it especially after the year I just had, taxi driver. Steve.

Hi for what it costs its well worth the money as you can do a certain amount of part adaptations as well as read faults, there are other what claim to be dedicated software platforms that are far more expensive and don't have half the capabilities of OBD Eleven if you want to go to the far side buy VCDS but it is far more expensive. Steve.

Hi coolant leaks are fairly easy to spot as the coolant colouring leaves a red stain which turns brown if it hits anything hot. Steve.

Hi, most modern cars are fitted with a rev limiter these days to stop people from sitting in neutral and revving it right up, with regard to the leak possibility if you arm yourself with a cleaned household spray bottle half fill it with water and a good squirt of washing up liquid, shake it so there are plenty of bubbles then start engine from cold and spray the bubbles on the exhaust joints in the engine bay DPF CAT etc you will soon see if there are any leaks as it blows the foam away and there is no way the solution you use can catch light. Sometimes exhaust joints blow minimally without any sound. Steve.

Hi they can be replaced, if you go on to youtube there is a video about how to do it, its a bit intensive and involves taking the unit out and heating the edge whilst cutting the sealant away I did it on another car a while ago I think from memory the replacement glass was about £40 plus another twenty for the sealant but even with the time spent about eight hours it still worked out cheaper than a new headlight, the lenses are sold on the internet by loads of companies

Hi thinking about what your friend said, it could well be a blocked or collapsed crankcase breather valve which would cause the sump to pressurise and blow oil past the rings. Steve.

Hi sorry I cant help with that one, the only way to diagnose most problems is to plug in and read the codes have you any access to diagnostic equipment, a lot of people use OBD Eleven which is cheap to purchase and very accurate and can be run on your phone, if other than the light the car ran ok it would not be a major fault. Steve.

Hi could be the EGR if its water cooled they can sometimes leak but that would manifest itself as exhaust gas pressurising the water system, is it a lot of oil or are we talking small globules of emulsified oil as long as the water jacket is not full of it along with the expansion tank you are ok just live with it and monitor the presence of the oil, the only other thing is a perforation in the oil galleries in the block and if that was the case the water would be in the sump oil as well. Steve.

Hi, the 5w-40 is better at protecting the engine at higher temperatures if you do a lot of motorway driving or when the summer heat exceeds the mid twenties, 5w and 10w oils have virtually the same cold flow characteristics when starting the 30-40 end is where they are different i.e 30 is good up to 30 degrees ambient temp whereas the 40 is good up to 50 degrees ambient temp. As long as its synthetic I won't matter. Steve.

Hi if you get the compression checked and that is ok chances are it is probably the timing chain if its not belt driven, apart from that the other thing could be worn cam followers, either of the above are cheaper than a rebuild. Steve.

Hi the remap won't cause oil in the water, being as you have just about changed anything that leaks I rather suspect the garage involved has not spent a lot of time flushing the water system, I did a vauxhall Astra oil cooler for my neighbour last year during the lockdown and it took longer to flush the system than it did to do the cooler, despite our best efforts he still gets the odd bit of mayonnaise in the expansion tank but the car runs fine and has been down to North Devon and back a couple of times with no problems. Steve.

Hi Thomas, clearing the boot is a good shout to start with, if that won't work it has to be a bush I would try the rear roll bar bushes first give em a squirt of silicon spray and see if that cures it if not just work your way around every link i.e. top control arm bushes then lower until the noise stops then you will have the culprit as it was the last item you sprayed. Steve.