Stevey Y

Hi, I would say that what Clifford has said is bang on but the particular end of the pool you are considering diving into is complex as some of these cars are without doubt cheap but look beyond the bling polished finish, if the car has starship milage on it I don't care if the bodywork is pristine unless it has a comprehensive service history [oil and filter changes are not the be all and end all] you have to consider that most of the suspension bushes/shocks unless changed recently are probably shot and unless you are prepared to roll up your sleeves could be an expensive hobby, you are buying an old car which will without doubt have problems looming in the distance, most of the guys on here have had their Audis from within usable age/milage and have been rigorous in the maintenance of these vehicles which is a pretty thin commodity these days. The other thing to consider is the VED rate as in about four years of ownership that could add up to a fair chunk of the original vehicle purchase price and this is without repair costs, if I were in your position I would be aiming at a later car with lower milages it will save you money in the long run, as for the problems with any car A3 or otherwise if you factor out known manufacturer problems most of the problems are caused by the lack of interest by the owner in any warning lights that appear and will carry on driving for months with that EML because it won't be a worry until the Mot by which time the problem may well have caused failure of a major component further down the line, EML warnings are designed to come on when there is a compromised component in the emissions functions or braking efficiency, every warning has a purpose therefore the owners are normally the architects of all the bad things you keep hearing about, neglect and age related wear are not the manufacturers fault. I wish you luck.

Hi Gents, finally got round to changing the headlight bulbs on my A6 as I wanted a mild upgrade the original bulbs are five years old and getting a bit dim so I bought some aftermarket 5500k bulbs to replace the 4300 O.E. units, the Phillips units from Audi are super expensive as are they anywhere else so I opted for bulbs from a company called Limastar they work really well and give a much better light output and for £139.00 a pair with a two year warranty are also good value. I wasn't looking forward to the change as the videos I watched looked fiddly regarding removing the headlight access covers as there is a strong possibility of dropping the screws down the wheel arch liner but the good news is they must have gotten fed up with it as well so they have redesigned it, the liner access fixing is a bit naff as they are brittle with age and snap, you can fix this as I did by using a plunge inner plastic trim clip through the aligning holes on the panel and arch liner. Once in the rear headlamp cover is a simple twist off affair which exposes the bulb, the bulb is removed by twisting the entire unit to the ten to twelve position and gently pulling the bulb out, there is plenty of slack wire for you to unclip the connector, the other good news is the reflector assembly is made of alloy which removes the factor of the chrome burning off, a problem they had with the old glass type reflectors, the good thing is that there is no plastic locking collar to be attached to the bulb before mounting they are just direct fit, all good no ballast units to worry about as the ballast is built into the bulb this must have saved a fortune in production costs for this set up does not require headlight washers or levelling units at the front of the car. Steve.

Hi the engine on your car is pretty much the same as my car with slightly different emissions gear but in principle they are the same, if you can find out what the DTCs are we may be able to give an indication as to wether your timing has slipped as in the case of Big Townz the cam position sensor was not communicating with the crankshaft position sensor because the timing had slipped due to oil from a failed camshaft seal getting onto the belt itself, its worth a read of that thread as the guy gave a fully documented history of what had happened and the work to resolve the issue which is a great road map for the rest of us. Regards Steve.

Hi, Try reading a thread on the A6 C7 forum by Big Townz that will give you a good insight into whats happening if indeed your cars timing has slipped, do you know the cam belt change history and the other thing I would be asking is what the codes are that led them to deduce timing belt failure, read the thread intensively and see if any of your data matches, £1200 seems pretty steep for a cam belt change I recently had mine done at a good independent garage for half that and they used an O.E. kit from TPS with a two year guarantee [unlimited milage] which is manna from heaven if like my car its being used as a cab. Steve.

Hi Gents. I went off on my first job of the day this morning and the one thing I really rate on my Audi is the automatic wing mirror glass self clearing, you don't have to muck about turning them on and off if the lenses mist up again, anyway I noticed a shuddering on the nearside mirror which I assumed may be where the wing mirror might have been knocked in our car park at home, got to the customer and went to have a quick look before we left, the mirror casing did not move but the glass was loose so I gently pushed the mirror against the mounting and it seemed to cure it. Buzzing along a bit of dual carriageway when the customer pipes up that they think I have a problem with my nearside mirror, I definitely did the glass was flapping in the breeze below where it should have been on what looked like a sheet of plastic, I pulled over and removed the glass from the heating pad, apparently the glass is held on the pad by what is basically double sided tape what a rubbish idea. Got home and had to think hard about how to reattach the glass ordinary double sided would only fail again I needed something that would grip like my missus to my credit card and still transfer heat, the solution was Loctite make your own gasket which when dry grips to anything and is heatproof and just about any chemical proof, warmed it with the heat gun to get it started and the warm day did the rest, most other mirror glasses I have changed have had the heating elements attached to the glass as well as , the mounting ring to the adjustment motor, BTW just the glass without the heating mount £30 from Audi. Steve.

Unfortunately they have discovered that people have forked out for VCDS and are doing things for themselves so in view of the recent drought in car sales they have decided to flog the software department at HQ to produce an even more intricate version of Vagcom which they think no one will ever crack. Dealers have always been the same a few years ago I nearly fell over when my elderly neighbour told me he had just taken in his Fiesta for its first MOT and it had failed on front and rear wiper blades so he had asked them to change them so it passed, that added another £85 to the bill £40 for the wipers and another £45 for the half hours labour to fit them, Really. Steve.

Hi I bet no one mentioned the coding price when you bought the camera thats because they now think they have you by the short and curlys, thats what I love about this country there has always been a bright spark who has worked out how to get round what is basically a scam you don't mind giving them the donation because it denies the stealerships. Steve.

Hi either the SRS has an existing fault in which case as Magnet suggested would have meant that the airbag light was on permanently before the accident or the car has had an accident in the past and some clever clogs has put resistance diodes on the wiring as its cheaper than buying airbags, the diodes make the system think that when it is running through its check cycle that all is well as its getting the correct resistance signal from the diode regardless of the bag being inoperative. BMW tried to get round this a few years ago as cars that were crashed were appearing with no airbag deployment due to being diode equipped so they introduced a rather clever random voltage spike into the SRS check cycle with would blow the cheap diode and produce a light, under normal circumstances when all was in order the spike in voltage would not affect the bag units as they were designed to allow for this spike and carry on working as intended. Steve.

Hi, its lucky it still feels cool you are supposed to regas every four years otherwise the moisture in the system builds up and rots the cods out of the condenser and evaporation units, I would get it done while you are ahead most regassing machines these days dredge out all the old gas and compressor oil and then pressure test the system if it passes it fills the system with new oil and gas, the old gas is run through a recycle and cleaned up, thats where the garages will make a profit from using the cleaned gas on the next vehicle, believe me you will notice the difference. Steve.

Hi anything such as steering knuckles are always reusable as there is virtually nothing to wear them, anything with a rubber bush or ball joint is suspect second hand, with regard to the other bearing I would personally change it as if you start with two new bearings they wear as a pair, its false economy to change just one as if its sister bearing is noisy its safe to assume it won't be long before that one is knackered as well. Just torque the bolts to specified nm and leaves at that. Regards Steve

Hi sorry to be the bringer of bad news but I became aware of this situation a few years ago, when a car is ordered new it is specced for what the customer wants [options] I.E. fog lights, halogen or hid or now led headlights, electrically heated or cooled seats, the list is endless, all these options are within the body control module so when the car comes to the end of the line and the modules are all programmed in the options are activated and the car goes to the customer, problem is all the manufacturers were pixxed off with the companies who were making aftermarket add on parts as they could see a very lucrative market evaporating before their eyes. Solution to this was to make the BCM operate via the Can gateway all options are there but dormant until initiated via a specialised software which only they have so any aftermarket or genuine retrofit parts are rejected by the BCM because it won't recognise them unless they are given a code that the BCM knows, I had this with a late three series BMW my accountant has, I spent all afternoon during the main lockdown putting in the wiring all nice and neat only to find despite having the right voltage present on the power side and twin earths the !Removed! thing would not power up because the BCM was not having any of it and being as no one was open to buy a suitable Canbus interface I got round it in the end by taking the live feed from the back of the spare auxiliary socket in the passenger footwell, because the world plugs in computers, phones, mini vacuums and this portion of the electrical service has a massive tolerance to the different voltage draws the BCM did not consider it a problem, when I had my meter fitted to my A6 I had to buy a Canbus for that otherwise the BCM would not let it run or have power. all the aftermarket add on parts now normally include a Canbus with the kit. Steve.

Hi Thomas I would pay good money to see a video of you doing a Walter Rohle impression, nothing wrong with growing a tail and a pair of horns for half an hour, I hope it is the pads, as you say its the cheaper option I have had pads wear unevenly if I do loads of town work and it seemed to get worse with the abolition of asbestos this anomaly was explained to me by a Lucas brake technician at the NEC in Birmingham a few years ago, as he explained the new lining materials had a propensity to glaze and deform when used gently and worse than that because they use a higher thermal efficiency rating if you sit with your foot on the brake while at traffic lights the heat they have accumulated goes back in the disc and eventually warps it by causing localised hot spots. Steve.

Hi I agree with Magnet there is no point in comparing second hand parts as you don't know the history of the scrap part, rule of thumb is that you should always use new parts when it comes to road parts bearings, suspension arms, shocks, as if any component suffers a catastrophic failure after fitting at least you have a come back against the company that supplied the item. Wheel bearings these days are all pretty much sealed units and are pre loaded at the factory have no movement as the bearing inner is virtually an interference fit and any expansion through heat is already calculated, on old vehicles that used conical bearings you used to have a torque setting to bed the bearing into its running seat then you had to back the locking nut off a quarter of a turn to allow for the bearings heat expansion which gave it a small amount of end float when cold, they generally clapped out in record time but you could gain an extra few miles when worn by tightening them, then they would scream and howl when completely knackered, nowadays they just rumble. Steve.

Hi, it may well cause other problems depending on how they are wired for example on some Toyota Avensis models the boot handle failure causes the rear doors to stay shut but the other two fronts will lock and unlock from the key fob, easiest way to test is if you get the boot open hold the boot partially open and keep pressing the handle if its ok you should hear a clicking down near the latching point this will be the latch being activated, if you cant hear it it may well be your problem, I take it you don't have VCDS as all the locking mechanism is monitored and it will show which one is not playing ball, see if you can find someone in your area that can read it as the £40 is money well spent to find out where the exact fault is. Steve.

Hi possibly the dual mass flywheel is worn so at low revs the drive surface will wobble about when the friction plate hits the flywheel if you increase the revs on take off this masks the wear as the torque and extra revs make the flywheel travel faster in the drive direction and take up the slack caused by wear. Steve.

Hi I think your problem may be the rear boot handle, I have seen this before with other cars where the inside of the boot handle corrodes its only a box with a rubber covering with two sets of contact pads when working as normal and pressing the handle the contacts connect and run the handle to earth which makes the boot latch retract, there should be a boot release in the cabin somewhere which opens the boot so you can access the boot handle to make a repair via whatever trim needs removing. Steve.

Greetings everybody. I had a code come up for the oxygen sensor a couple of months ago but no MIL so I deleted the fault as it had only occurred the once, I had bought a sensor that was on offer on eBay, it was genuine Bosch I checked the hologram on the box when it arrived and it was all good and the code had not reared its ugly head again so between that and the not so happy memories of changing them on my Fords, awkward places they put them and the undeniable fact that even with anti seize paste I have had to heat them with a blow torch and cut the wiring and attack them with a wall drive socket I had been avoiding this job until the weather got a bit warmer and you could sit on the wall with a drink while the plus gas did its thing. Well today it went critical whilst out at work today [cabbie], full blown limp mode Mil on and supping diesel like there was no tomorrow so retired gracefully and fired up the VCDS, the sensor had definitely spat its dummy out and was running lean that would explain the rapid downward movement of the fuel gauge as if this problem occurs the PCM adopts its own fuel enrichment strategy to protect the valves from burning, problem with this is if you drive round for long enough like this the extra fuel will kill the CAT which when you consider the sensor is only ten percent of the price of a new CAT its a no brainer. So after letting the car cool to warm I went at it, because the sensor is at the top it won't suffer the same causes of rotting in that the Ford sensors do, I had watched a youtube video on the subject but the guy doing it was using a couple of spanners not my cup of tea, to much margin for error especially when the sensor is stuck between two other sensors which if the spanner slips there is a good chance of causing serious damage, I used a proper Lambda socket with a long 1/2 inch drive extension and matching ratchet boy is it tight in the housing, brain in gear I got a metre piece of steel tubing and put that over the ratchet handle a little easy pressure and click it undid, then once undone I removed the electrical connector and chased the wiring out of its clips when removed the reason for the non seizing became apparent some really clever engineer had put a high grade steel insert in the mounting boss so it cant corrode, happy days, between the removal of the sensor and reinstalling the new sensor as well as the code delete and readapting of the new sensor, forty five minutes. Steve.

Hi Ryan, my pleasure, I don't consider myself an expert but during the 870,000 miles living with diesel engined cars I have learned a great deal, but one factor remains constant they all work on the same principles, as I said Audis are new to me but to say the least the thinking behind the engineering is superb, yes I agree with the mechanic that any DPF/Cat problems are a pain as you have to remove most of the front of the car to get at them but the trade off is that should you wish to change any sensors they are mostly at the top of the engine bay, MAP MAF Oxygen sensors, even the EGR is accessible from the top of the engine, the north south engine layout definitely works, I think they have had a real go at making maintenance as simple as possible for the Audi techs at the franchised dealers whilst making sure[ the how to] information is as difficult as possible to get to, thank god for youtube/VCDS it must drive the motor manufacturers mad the amount of free useful information out there, all supplied by people who get a kick out of helping their fellow man avoid the main dealers. Regards Steve.

Hi Ryan, good news, but expensive news, I really would not be bothering with the swirl flap delete as I have looked at the inlet manifold in depth and I am almost convinced that CNHA engine has not got them I will dig in further but in view of the engineering of the manifold [All Alloy] I cant see why they would spend fortunes on putting in swirl flaps into what is already a highly engineered part, the swirl flaps are used normally to create a vortex effect with the fuel/air mixture , this means that the mixture is already turbulent when on induction it hits the swirl bowl on the piston crown it creates a far more efficient mixing of fuel/air thus a better level of combustion, less emissions. As for the power remap I would say that is a matter for personal preference, myself I cant rationale putting an engine with that sort of milage under that much extra strain, if you look at the ways engines are developed they keep upping the BHP/Torque until they break, then having reached a maximum state of tune they reverse the process 40% which is the reliability factor and ensures a good level of longevity for consumables such as gearboxes clutches drive shafts, raising the BHP will only eat into the reliability factor of your vehicle. With the DPF delete you will without doubt gained somewhere near another 30 BHP from that alone, example being a guy on our cab fleet who had the DPF delete done on his 115 BHP Mondeo after this was done the car would give my 200 BHP Mondeo a hard time up to 70MPH, you don't realise how much power is robbed from diesel engines just by the DPF. Steve.

Hi Thomas, I forgot to mention another sign of what I posted was a slight blue tinge on the middle of the offending disc, either way trial of the method described will at least rule out that problem, if it is the caliper TRW are a really good make. Steve.

Hi Thomas, I really would not be buying a refurb kit unless you are bored and own a compressor to blow the calliper piston out, have found through experience that once the piston is out the calliper bore is corroded along with the piston and scrap basically. This would have been a long term problem from what I can conclude, first the warped disc and then the wheel bearing, and now it sounds as though the disc is beginning to warp again, I would try this first before I ran off and bought new front calipers, I had the same problem with one of my cabs it started with a shudder on the n/s front when braking so I changed both sides discs and pads this was fine for a couple of weeks until it started again, took the offending disc back they changed it and I refitted it, another two weeks I am back to square one but this time I have a rumbling wheel bearing as well. changed the discs pads and bearing, [the car is doing a thousand miles a week as a cab] two weeks later back to the same thing by now I am beside myself, so going back to basics if you work out all dual circuit brake systems are diagonally opposed so the n/s front and o/s rear brakes form a circuit this counters any catastrophic failure of the other circuit through total fluid loss from the reservoir, therefore the vehicle will stop with a level trajectory, in my case the o/s rear caliper was just holding on slightly just enough to prevent the brake fluid pressure to dissipate from the front n/s caliper, when all the parts are new the front discs and pads will suffer this anomaly until you drive a good distance because of the closer proximity of the pads when the disc expands the pads will drag albeit a tiny bit this then causes friction which heats the disc even more than normal then the hub and bearing become part of the heat sink and it boils the grease out of the bearing. A good way to test this is leave home slowly with minimum braking, find a nice bit of straight road drive for at least two miles with minimal use of the brakes then stop for ten minutes, get out of the car and touch the surface of the o/s disc gently it should be warm not red hot if you go to the n/s and it very hot that will be the problem. Steve.

Hate to point out the obvious but if you look at the fault codes you published they are all august last year so bear no relevance to your current problem and I would assume that the problem you have will throw up codes for the high pressure fuel pump being low if the seals were compromised.

Hi Ryan, logically I can see no reason why the Adblue delete would cause you any problems as is all it does is convert Nox particles to Nox2 which is an inert particle, same particle without the potential to convert into nitric acid if ingested, the EGR refusal seems good as it will cut down on the Hydrocarbons which will register an increase at the MOT test, just a word to the wise make sure the guy doing the remap is famous for his success in that field, correct software etc and get them to check the emissions when he has done the job. I used two tanks of supermarket fuel [against my better judgement] during the first lockdown as it was the only chance I had to get diesel when we went out to get food, the noticeable side effect was that I went through ten litres of Adblue in record time despite the all time low milage I was doing, conclusion was that the inferior fuel created more soot and therefore used far more Adblue to counteract this anomaly, since going back to work and using the Shell fuel I normally use the Adblue consumption has dropped by about eighty percent. The Adblue delete has been quite a popular pastime for the Transit minibuses in the cab trade as their love of supermarket fuel was costing a fortune in Adblue, you are quite safe with that one for a while as Boris will be to busy trying to screw more money out of Joe public to pay for Covid, the fun begins when he gets bored and starts on the motorist again and gives VOSA the funds to buy the equipment to test Nox particles, but I cant see that happening as he reckons we will all be driving Milk Floats in another ten years. Steve.

Hi David, I have not changed glow plugs on this engine yet but it looks as though its a fairly straight forward proposition from the access point of view from experience I would personally change all four as rest assured the other three failing will be close behind. please observe the following, the engine has to be warm not red hot, use a quality deep socket preferably wall drive, use a suitable extension for the socket and a longish breaker bar to turn the socket, use gentle force to move the plug if it won't give use plus gas or similar and leave to soak, try again when it gives if it is stiff when coming out apply more release agent and gently tighten again, undo as far as possible and if the plug still binds repeat the previous operation until it turns freely, on reassembly smear a film of Aluminium anti seize paste on the thread of the new plug. The torque value is on the internet but as a rule of thumb it is normally between 10-12nm, whatever you do don't go berserk when undoing as if you snap it off they are hell and a rather expensive extraction kit. Steve.

Hi Ryan, good pictures although they look pretty horrific they will definitely give anyone viewing them a real good idea of how the exhaust gas treatment system works and what can stop it doing its job, I might assume your car does not run on adblue as there seems to be a distinct absence of crystallisation on the EGR cooler which I am reliably informed normally causes the blockages in the cooler. The blockages shown are pretty standard for a high milage Diesel engine the oily crud is caused by the the crankcase gas being sucked into the intake system via the PCV unit this is basically engine oil vapour and moisture based contaminants from the combustion process, this is not easily burnt and forms the oily tar in the bottom vents of the cooler especially with the latest fad for cooler running engines to combat the Nox situation, not ideal really, which is why I am researching the possibilities of a catch tank system, ok it will be a pain emptying the tank every week but at least it stops 80% of the solid and water getting into the induction system and causing the the problems you have now. Unfortunately from what I can remember the increased back pressure caused by the DPF blockage will actually kill the turbo due to the decreased flow in the exhaust, the only saving grace with the rocker situation is that the rockers are designed to break rather than hold the valve down until it gets close and personal with the top of the piston and mullers the piston crown whilst turning the valve into a piece of modern art, I always thought that was a bright idea of PSA to make the rockers so they deform a bit and then pop off of the mounting and fall into the deep oil channel under the camshaft I have even seen realtime where the rocker has failed on one of the exhaust valves but the engine still runs even though not very well because it still has one of the two valves working, in the final analysis its a lot cheaper than new valves and pistons. I really admire your resolution in pursuing this as I know from experience its not a nice place to be, so far into this now that giving up would be a costly experience and will rob you of what will be a usable vehicle in the end, the only other thing that I might suggest is ask them as nicely as possible to put some clingfilm or plastic caps over the fuel rail outlets as any debris that get in there will definitely cause injector problems in the future. Regards Steve.