Stevey Y

Hi you are supposed to put it in as a substitution for 400ml of oil when you do your oil change, using fresh oil will give the best benefit of the product, I like Kev have used Slick 50 for years and obtained spectacular milage from all of my cabs, 247k, 310k, 270k, with minimal engine wear internaly so from my perspective these thing work as they are basically a friction reducer, you will always get the element who think all of these products are Snake Oil but in my opinion how can you knock something if you have never tried it and have no idea what it does, I think the question was, having decided to use the Forte do you add it as an extra or take out 400ml first to accommodate the additive, I hope I have answered your question. Regards Steve.

Hi welcome to the world of diagnostics, best advice is clear them all, pump up the tyres all round and reset the TPMS on the MMI, i get a load of rubbish codes like this as I use my car as a cab and do a lot of milage so they rack up I just clear them all about once a month you will soon learn that the only codes worth worrying about are the ones that put up an EML and throw you in to limp mode. Steve.

Hi no its not, the Dealers are told to tell the customer its filled for life NOT the same thing. Steve.

Erm, forgive me if I have missed the point, they only want vehicles between three and six years old with nil milage, I expect the que will stretch round the block to give them nearly £800, most of these cars will in all probability never have any problems also there is no mention of the components changed during the two services and I would love to see the list of whats not covered on the extended warranty, yet again media manipulation of the average owner. Steve. Well spotted Richard.

If you consider that C.A.R.B in LA in America have been since the sixties the architects of fuel injection and OBD rationalisation which massively cut emissions so the rest of America adopted these new strategies, we on the other hand did none of the above until the late seventies and now the government wants to set the blame against the voting public by manipulating our consciences. The worlds weather will change anyway, it always has, if you look at the facts the ice age was caused by a tropical planets land masses having loads of swamps and rotting vegetation all giving off methane and carbon monoxide, and there wasn't an Audi in sight, this blew a dirty great hole in the Ozone layer which then caused the ice age for god knows how many million years, No, no the experts cry but the fact of the matter is that if I was offered that sort of money to wander round spouting crap to anyone who would listen, they all have dual standards take dear old Greta who sails a solar powered yacht over to America to harangue Donny Trump, when its time to go home the replacement crew were FLOWN out to sail her miserable moon face back home, of course she isn't getting sponsored or paid for any of this. Anyone just see that flying pig. Steve.

Hi Don judging by the symptoms you describe it fits the criteria for what you have try phoning these guys and have word Control Units in Devon your problem is definitely on their list and the advice is friendly and free, contact details: 01884798090/07706445537, they may well be able to tell you where the unit is located. Steve

Hi Don no such thing as lifetime oil they only made a limited number of sealed for life boxes which their definition is 100k game over, having done a bit of research it looks as if it could be the ECU on the box which looks like it mounts on the side of the box and has a big fat wiring connector, apparently these frequently go up the wall [starts slowly and gets worse] they are a fortune to buy from everybody friend but there is a place that repairs your unit for £155 with a two day turn round and its plug in and play. Steve.

Hi Don I think I may have found it but can you describe the symptoms that go with the fault and if I am right its a module in the car of which I have yet to find where its hidden. Steve.

Hi Don my knowledge of DSG/Mechatronic boxes is pretty limited but if you can bear with me and give me the fault code for your problem I will do some digging amongst the finer brains I have access to, but if we start with the basics like when was the box last serviced, have you checked all wiring connections to the box for corrosion as in my experience I would guess its intermittent nature would suggest its something as simple as bad gear oil or corrosion otherwise it would be an embedded fault. Steve.

Hi lets all rush out, remortgage the house, put the missus and kids out on the street so we can buy an electric car, what planet are these people on, if you factor in the job losses globally of all the staff at the component factories for conventional vehicles it will be like the worlds largest permanent lockdown and then it won't matter if the electric cars are £1000,00 no one will be able to afford one if you haven't got a job, I don't think those that know best have thought this one out, if you want a prime example of what happens when industry pulls the plug take a look at Detroit which has massive poverty and unemployment despite massive cash injections from the government and incentives to open new businesses over the last thirty years, this bizarre fascination with electric cars is in my opinion driven by those that can afford them and in the fast lane of life status is everything especially if you have green credentials and sod all consideration for how many Joe Averages you drive on to the dole which a lot of countries don't have. Steve.

Hi unfortunately this one could be a Pandoras box normally the EPC is activated by something that the ECU classes as a threat to the engine or will raise emissions so an educated guess would say that it is the swirl system as that would raise emissions, I don't know which scanner you are using but if its VCDS that would be giving you a description of the fault and the frequency of the fault, with regard to your registered fault I believe there is a number of repair/delete kits on the market, swirl flaps are a good idea in principle and where they fall down is they are made of plastic on the moving parts and are guaranteed to fail, but with the absence of any other codes its a start. Steve,

Hi sorry to learn of the violation of your wallet but on the plus side at least you now have a usable car which will last you a while also the added benefit that if the fuel system fails again any time soon you have a large bill to beat them with along with the thinly veiled threat of trading standards, I hope you have no further troubles and your confidence in the car returns. Steve.

Hi, try the VCDS by all means but as I said from what you described it sounds as though the mechanical part of the calliper is having problems reaching the disc hence the weak hand brake, however recent the pad change 8 months is a long time considering the winter etc for road dirt ingression salt etc, as I said the stainless pad runners should always be changed with the pads, I didn't do this the first time I did mine and ended up with a similar problem over £8 worth of parts, the brake fluid should be changed every 30k or two years I have always adhered to this as it stops alloy rear callipers from seizing as brake fluid is hydroscopic and will absorb water from the atmosphere which then pools in the piston chamber and rots it. Regards Steve.

Hi from what you describe I would suggest stripping the brakes down on the rear as they may be sticking, if you have recently had the rear pads done its possible that the clip on stainless runners they operate on have not been changed with the pads unfortunately most people don't bother with these and they are a recommended consumable change. you can do a visual check on the pads to note their condition but if they are about three quarters worn best practise is to replace them with the runners, you possibly could clear this with VCDS but the problem will quickly reappear within a couple of drive cycles. Steve.

Hi, sorry for the late reply I have been busy with work, as for it dying on you this can happen to any car so I wouldn't take it personally I had it a couple of times with my Fords one of which cut out at 80mph on the M25 with passengers on board I could almost hear the rosary beads being counted as managed to shimmy the car across three lanes of traffic and get to the hard shoulder, it turns out the water pump was soaking the crank position sensor with red hot coolant, I was a bit P.O. as the pump had only done 15k. Anyway got it fixed and we did the next 80k with no problems, unfortunately its a fact of life that most vehicles over 100k will have some sort of problem and I am sure if fixed it will still be a usable vehicle for years to come, BTW I can't work out how he managed to get a fault code for the injectors unless they were already there before it stopped working. Clean the system replace the two injectors and the pumps and as long as the mechanic is thorough it should be fine. Steve.

Hi just a thought but is your VCDS an original Ross Tech version or A cracked version off of the web, I have both and there are definitely a lot of things you can't do with the cracked version. Steve.

Hi if you did not save the codings from the original set up and write them down you won't be able to do it especially if you had no long coding for the new clocks they would not have worked properly either, so now the BCM has spat its dummy out. Steve.

Hi I have worked on various different diesels and they all have bits of brass in the system due to the fact the high pressure pump loses bits of itself but even the high milage ones still run fine, the injectors have small filters fitted to the top where the feed pipe joins the injector to prevent the large debris going in to the actual injector, I would be trying the lift pump in the tank as from the strange noise you describe I would take that as the lift pump was failing which would cause the high pressure pump to be noisy just before the engine shut down. by the sound of it your boy has decided to change just about everything but the fuel rail is a bit excessive as you can take them off flush them through and then hit them with an airline, as for the injectors how would you know if they were shot unless the engine is running with the diagnostic plugged in showing anomalies with the live data. Steve.

Good shout, I have made the pilgrimage to the national Alfa day at Stanford Hall a good few times, what a first class venue beautiful scenery a bit of history and a good dose of classic Alfas. Steve.

Hi Chaps I am glad you have published this I was beginning to think it was just me or the area I work in, the BMW drivers round here don't indicate as most of them only have one hand on the wheel, normally the left hand is on the wheel the right supported by their elbow is on the door frame whilst the index finger on the right hand is supporting their nose. The Zafira owners club is in the next town so you only get the odd one comes our way normally driven down the high street at mach 1 by some over weight bird and her mates with their Bingo wings flapping through the open windows. The Astra boys round here are mostly seen at night appearing at great speed on any 30mph road while trying to get to the next drug drop, they all wear a uniform like a Dominos delivery driver but theirs is a base ball cap and an Adidas track suit and a well moody facial expression. The Corsa is an infestation without any cure same uniform as the Astra drivers but they have bigger wheels and exhausts and even less brains, I am surprised they did not mention Fiat 500s as I have been to to pick up a good few survivors in the middle of the lanes at night where their mate has stuck it down a ditch, I even got called out to one who did not want a cab but just needed towing out and said I have a rope can you tow me out it still starts I have tried it, after I explained the second word was off I pressed the no show button and departed. Steve.

Hi go on Breakers Yard or similar online they contact car breakers all over the country who may well have exactly what you want. Steve.

Hi I can't see properly from the photos you posted but if your car has the same lenses as Steve the lack of light problem is easily solved as all the Audis around the 1998-2010 suffered with the same problem the projector light bowls lose the chrome on them and have poor output, try a company called Retrofit lab they do a rather nice line in replacement bowls that are a lot less expensive than new units, I helped fit some to an A3 and the results with standard bulbs was astounding. Steve.

Hi good skills, just observe the position of your old actuator arm when fitting it to the new unit, they are pretty simple things really as they are a stepper motor that increases the signal voltage as you press the throttle down at least two of the feed wires will be can bus and one of them will be analogue, the can bus circuits for diagnostic purposes should ideally rise in voltage together with a variance of no more than five percent this is checked against the analogue reading by the ECU and if all is within accepted values it will start to pen the throttle valve as per the pedal demand. Steve.

Hi I have to smile this job either makes you lazy or so money orientated that you get an early ticket to a pine box, I think the car will give you the boost you need and you only appreciate its extra features when you do things like I did the other day and lifted the bonnet on my mates Skoda Octavia, without the hydraulic assisters they do take some shifting I know what you are going through as there are times when you wish you could pull up take their money, smile politely and just pull away without them, I had a good day today first for a long time I got a Polish guy who was going some 50 miles and did not speak English, paid up front and did not utter a word the whole journey, my kind of job. Steve.,

I wish you well with your new cab and I hope it raises your income, I expect they use the same bulbs and boot buttons on a couple of other models so I can't see it being more expensive unless you mention A8 just get the part number and see what else it fits. Safe journeys mate. Steve.