Stevey Y

Hi strip the rocker cover offend look for cam followers in the cam housing they will fly off if they meet excessive force in the opposite direction [the pistons] you will have to remove the injectors to do this, if there is nothing obvious get a remotely lit camera, cheap on line and inspect the top of the pistons through the injector port any marks will indicate collision with the valves, now lies the conundrum, no rockers moved, no piston marks, the only way you can test compression is to fit a new timing kit, but you may well find a valve has a slight bend [not sealing] or one of the camshaft lobes has twisted on its shaft, this is quite common as the lobes are sweated on to the shaft. Steve.

Hi not necessarily, I have found through experience that a lot of the time these weird noises are because the gear oil is so burnt and degraded that it wont do its job properly, [maintain an oil film between the gears] therefore you get metal to metal sounds, a service may not cure the problem but its a cheaper try than another box. Steve

Hi Cliff thats the whole point, the cheaper brands suffer none of that problem ergo one would be inclined to believe that Audi self proclaimed standard as a luxury manufacturer is a fairy tale insomuch as if you are paying that much money for a car that performs those sort of malfunctions, possibly terminal for the owner, why pay their prices when you can buy something without that kind of problem and at least have the facilities to warn you of impending failure, when the car just stops on a motorway with no steering or anything else I would cite that as a serious problem which they seem to ignore and hope it disappears, should this be the attitude of what was class A manufacturer, I think they have lost their way and probably a lot of customers when the potential buyers read about this problem. Steve.

Hi has the gearbox ever been serviced as it could be a sign of oil degradation. Steve.

Yes if you remember back a few years ago and on a lot of newer cars now, if the battery is not being charged by the alternator a bright red battery appears on the dash just to let you know, how hard would it be to have that sort indicator combined in to the wiring loom regardless of any European directive, apparently common sense is not a feature and if the European directive was that all Audi management were told to stick their head in an unlit gas oven do you think they would do it?. Steve.

Hi I don't personally think the mention of the car being a luxury brand is an irrelevance, after all thats what you have paid for, the build quality should be unimpeachable as with your Lexus and surely this fault should have been picked up on testing but I rather think that its the same old story, the testing vehicle was fitted with another suppliers alternator and performed well at well over the milage expected, then we have the first run of production where the cost cutting teams step in and start shaving money off the production line costs by sourcing parts from another manufacturer which are lower cost to them and almost certainly inferior in build quality, this situation you have now should not exist full stop and having done a recent search in to the reputation of Audi world wide and it doesn't make good reading, from a personal point of view I think Audi have reached rock bottom everywhere purely because of their myopic obsession with all electric which has cost them dearly so now they think they can recover some of the costs overcharging existing vehicle owners, it all smacks of desperation, when you bought the car in good faith it was probably due to the Audi legend of superior reliability as with Lexus, we all know things fail but surely not like that. Steve.

Hi I have been watching this from afar and what you poor devils are going through defies any logic or reason, having been involved in car maintenance and ownership for forty years and until I owned an Audi I never knew what an intransigent and uncooperative manufacturer was, having owned several Fords two of which I bought at four years old, for at least three of them I received letters for safety recalls that they did without quibble despite me having wracked up milage using the vehicle as a taxi, one of the problems was a section of rubber pipe to the fuel filter which was mounted at the rear of the car and if it ruptured it sprayed fuel all over the rear of the exhaust, the most unusual thing I came across was Alfa Romeo, they chased my car through the four previous owners to tell me to bring the car in to have the front bottom arm bushes replaced, the thing was nine years old when I bought it, Audi claim to produce luxury cars, with this problem would it be better to call them luxury COFFINS, don't get me wrong every brand has its faults but the faults that may kill you are like hens teeth, I really wish you the best of luck with this one, most of the American sites you look on are littered with people ranting about the Audi brand being unreliable and super expensive to fix and the dealers not very knowledgable, BUT they all stick together and work their way through any persistent problems, Try Rip Off Britain they would do a number on Audi with this one. Steve.

Hi congratulations that would definitely cause your symptoms and is not an expensive fix. Steve.

Hi I think the battery is on its way out, my daughters Q3 just did the same, the battery was just coming up to four years old so bought another Varta battery on line £155.00 if you fit a new battery its wise to fit the same brand which makes it easier to code in. Steve.

Hi no the vacuum circuit for the servo is completely separate and driven from its own pump, just change the MAP sensor that would be the cheapest option to start with it will also need adapting to learn its values. Steve.

Hi try ATE, BREMBO, DELPHI, they have used them all, if you have the part numbers try Partsinmotion, as long as they are E11/E9 marked they are all good. Steve.

Hi it could be the dmf rattling the clutch slave cylinder bearing or even a driveshaft C.V. joint, could also be a stone lodged between the backplate and a disc, thats just a few of the variables, take it to a garage and get them to test drive it they may have a diagnosis. Steve.

Hi I can understand changing badges etc, mapping and then towing not a good idea as further down the line you will experience problems that your local garage probably wont be able to fix and the main dealer certainly wont entertain on a car thats three years old and has been modified, its up to you but I would definitely mention the remap to your insurance company as on a car that age they quietly check the car if its going to be written off as a way of getting out of paying out should they find its been modified. Steve.

Have you tried sticking the key on the little sign on the dash so it recognises the key with a new battery. Steve.

Hi little more info like where it seems to be coming from might draw more response. Steve.

Hi its probably had it or needs a software update, remove it and try cleaning the plug contacts see if that improves your situation, alternatively get the car scanned for faults in case its permanent. Steve.

Hi unless you have the facilities to dismantle the head light you will have to get a second hand or aftermarket unit as I guarantee the DRL unit is very difficult to obtain, that was the problem I had, just make sure the replacement has the same part number as it will still have to be coded to the car. Steve.

HI like Cliff said do a web search for fuel pipe manufacturers and try them.

Hi dont hold your breath it will get worse as they are trying to exterminate fossil fuelled models, the pump situation is just spiteful because we are out of the E.U., there are loads of units available in Germany, Ebay are doing a roaring trade with any company in Europe that is advertising them they soon run out, we are that starved, my local garage deals with just about every brand of car and the only brand they have trouble getting major parts for is Audi, Peugeot two days to get a screen camera for the lane assist, Audi possibly three months they are not sure, I know for a fact I wont buy another one while this situation persists. Steve.

Hi there is not enough Pigs on the planet to cater for our needs, its actually a granulated fertiliser that is a synthetic but behaves the same way converting Nox 1 into Nox 2 [inert], thats why when Vlad the Impaler invaded Ukraine the supplies started to dry up so the Chinese the other mass producer decided to jack the price up. Steve.

Hi have any of your relatives got an old Dell or IBM they want to get rid of thats how I run mine and to be honest when I got it I have not been anywhere near a dealers since 2019 and if I am honest between VCDS and OBD Eleven there is not much you can't do yourself both systems have saved me a fortune probably six times what I paid for both systems and the handy bit about OBD is you can keep it in the glovebox, its tiny, for when you are out on the road as it runs on your phone. Steve.

Hi its probably the TPS on the pedal has some wear have you plugged it in for faults you can usually find what's wrong with the pedal sensor on live data as if you hold the pedal in one position you can see the voltage disc moving on its own.

Hi they dont reset the gearbox after a service especially if its a dealer service, its something you have to ask for so they can charge you a shedload more money for it, same as software updates, my assumption based on your milage is that it would need a reset as that removes all redundant info from the gearbox control so it re learns its values with what is now a gearbox with milage wear, best find an independent that have the capability to perform this task it will cost you less. Steve.

Why the diagnostic?, its obvious visually why there's a problem, technically you can only back the vehicle as unfit for purpose if its a recent purchase, I used to be a firm fan of Audis but their breathtaking lack of customer service and overcharging for parts has changed my view, even the parts guy at my local VAG dealers remarked on the widening gap between the rest of the group and Audi with the pricing structures, this is because of the abject failure of their electric models of which they have suspended production a few times, these cars have had more expensive problems than their fossil fuelled cousins and actually cost less to produce, allied to the statement that they were going to concentrate more as a luxury car producer that immediately ironed out sixty percent of the potential market but with all the problems with the premium electric vehicles the forty percent market is not as keen as they first thought. Steve.

Hi if its had a service it might just need a reset, you don't mention how many miles you have done since the service? Steve.