Stevey Y

Hi they have cut down on the quality of parts for the new electric cars and this includes alloys, I was told by a Ford uk accountant just last week that all car producers are euphoric over how much money they can make out of electric vehicles as they all use the same drive train and globalised parts therefore they can cut down on the quality of most other parts that were expensive, looked inside an E Tron one of the other cabbies has bought, the seats are cloth which looked very much like a sixties settee, remember thicker lacquer costs more money. Steve.

Hi as far as I was aware Pagid have never been O.E. as they have never had an E11-E9 rating unless they have suddenly acquired a E rating we went through this before on here and JDragon produced a flyer from Eurocarparts of every pad they sell and only Pagid/Eicher did not have an E rating as they are both own brands, worth checking as I have used their own brands before, yes they stop but oh boy do they wear quickly, worth doing the research on line about E11-E9 ratings its most illuminating. Steve.

Hi looks like the outside temperature sensor has gone bad mind you it could be a sign of instrument cluster failure, not uncommon on that model and year.

Hi sorry to be the prophet of doom but thats what happened to a guy on here with an A3 of a similar year, after trying every cleaner known to the motor trade it turns out that was the problem no DPF and a bad map, I think the easiest route would be to consult another [reputable ] mapping specialist and they can normally spot someone else's bad handiwork and rectify it, thats what other guy did and I think it solved his problem, although he hasn't been on here since. Steve.

Hi sounds very much flywheel, it goes quite when you push the clutch in because that takes up the slack in the flywheel. Steve.

Hi sounds suspiciously like the DPF has been bored out and its had a remap as it definitely should not smoke as the DPF and CAT stop any excessive smoke, if it was standard you would have limp mode and codes. Steve.

Hi most of them are like that, the newer ones are even more complex its all designed to stop Joe average from doing anything themselves, I have VCDS and there are times when its a real mission to do these functions you mentioned especially unforgiving if you don't get the sequence right, it just locks you out, I got lucky being as I bought the entry level A6 and they couldn't be bothered to make coding the headlights a priority it was just a case of plug in and play with just a tickle on the manual adjusters, get this for insane the garage I use had a 16 plate Evoke in, top of the range with a headlight problem on the n/s, the LED bit had blown so the guy who owned it had to fork out £1800 for a new unit and guess what, it needed coding to the car. Steve.

Hi you would probably have to change the whole dash including the instrument cluster the whole of which will then need to be coded to the car then pray the BCM accepts the new coding for the immobiliser system, me personally I would live with the orange rather than potential failure and massive costs, its not like the old days when you took it all out and just replaced the bulbs. Steve.

Hi much as I hate to point this out if the throttle body has gone that will give you all sorts of problems starting and when it gets running it is probably running a default strategy which means yes it runs and moves but what you have is a get me home facility, surely common sense would dictate that would be changed first as if its not working properly that would throw up injector and air faults as the engine has no real control over either of the previous mentioned items, nearly all diesels use Total Throttle Position as the datum for air intake and injection. Steve.

Hi if the throttle body is faulty it wont move the butterfly in the unit to the start position [slightly open] when hot it may well work better as all the tar like substance is softer and allows movement try removing the throttle body and cleaning it, if that wont work you will need a new unit as they are also prone to stripping teeth off the plastic gear wheels in the control unit. Steve.

Hi don't bother with the expensive gizmos as it will only make the handling wayward, invest in a set of standard Avant springs as I believe the S Line is 25-30mm lowered from the factory, you will have to get it re aligned on a HUNTER four wheel tracking machine, change the front and rear springs otherwise it will dive at the front when braking. Steve.

Hi sorry to be the bearer of bad news but replacement is the only solution as these units are sealed and no spares are available, mine went the same this year I had to source a second hand unit its HID so its plug in and play, yours will need coding to the car. Steve.

Hi I think you answered your Question in the last sentence which equates to not a lot, all these engines were tested to destruction and when they break they take them to pieces to find out what caused the failure, they strengthen the offending part and up the torque/ BHP slightly, if it works well they just keep upping the power to way past the intended production run power, then whatever the engine has achieved up to 45% above the production Torque/BHP if it runs ok they reduce that figure by 45% to the production run power, thats your reliability factor, if you bear this in mind with the age of your car you are just putting more strain on an old engine thats made it this far with no real issues/wear and I bet if it all goes pear shaped and bits start failing he wont want to know unless it involves more money. Steve.

Hi could be a collapsing rubber hose holding the pressure so the pads are to close to the discs which would explain the fault not occurring when its been artificially cooled, I had it happen to me so I ended up replacing 1 calliper and both rubber hoses. Steve.

Hi Jon, as an awfully nice traffic policeman once commented about my cab callipers, painted red eh, makes it go faster does it, apparently he was one of the new breed that have to go on a course about spotting vehicle defects out on the road and told me all about it in great boring detail and when he finished I asked him about the reason why he thought I had painted my callipers, he didn't even come close so when I explained about discs becoming magnetic because of friction therefore attracting any small parts of rust that came off the calliper or disc centre and thats why the disc ends up looking like a 45 record, if they are painted no metallic debris other than what occurs naturally, all this came from a braking seminar for Lucas/ Brembo that I attended 30yrs ago, very glad they knew what they were talking about, they make the brakes. Steve.

Well done sounds a good option, if the code is for the unit it is most likely that thats buggered. Steve.

Hi thats the injector feed pipes, [the silver pipes] the black ones are rubber fuel return pipes these are prone to leaking with age, the other part coloured green is the cat with the oxygen sensor. Steve.

Hi you wont get a code up for the pump thermostat as its not monitored thats why they just boil up when it seizes shut, no warning other than the temp gauge going in to orbit. Steve.

Hi Jon you wont be disappointed, only other thing I would suggest is as you are rebuilding the rears clean the callipers off with brake cleaner and a Scotch brite cloth then mask off the rubber boots on the carrier pins and give it spray with some Halfords calliper paint, did that with my daughters Q3 when I did her pads and discs and it makes it look like new, still look great a year on. Steve.

Hi try buying the right part using your VIN/REG NO. then it will fit swapping bonded rubber parts is a disaster in the making.

Hi from memory you should have two stats one on the block and one on the water pump which is electronically controlled, its like a shroud that fits over the impeller and covers it when cold so the engine heats up faster, trouble is the shroud gets stuck wide open and can't start to close itself when the engine tells it the water temp is beginning to drop. Steve.

Hi Jon you wont need to replace the carrier bolts as these have a coarser thread as well as having grip washers on the bolt itself, as you will find out when you undo yours which requires a fair bit of grunt and a breaker bar, as for your wife's situation that is weird as they all come with the anti squeal pads already fitted you just have to peel the plastic backing cover off, not trying to teach my grandma how to suck eggs but another common mistake is copper greasing the backs of the pads, that will make them squeal as the idea is the rubber pad on the back with heat will attach semi permanently to the piston and support faces of the calliper. Steve.

Hi Jon, having run just about every combination of discs and pads over the last million miles I can honestly say that Brembo are excellent, both discs and pads BUT the ATE discs will last longer as the carbon content is far higher, Bosch pads are very good used with the ATE/Brembo discs, most other brands Febi/Mintex/Delphi are good but tend to wear faster, if you re use the old bolts 20nm torque is about right as these are stretch bolts and ideally you would use new bolts but absent new bolts you wont want to put to much pressure on already stretched threads, most kits worth getting have new bolts and a wear sensor as if you don't replace the sensor yes the old one works but fails in a short space of time leaving you with a dash warning light, you can phone TPS but have a Defib unit handy, then do the sensible thing and go on parts in motion web site or eBay I have just bought genuine ATE front discs and a Bosch pad kit with sensor cable and new bolts for £170, its all there if you search and the rear discs and pads are always cheaper by about 40%. Steve.

Hi finest upgrade is high carbon discs that are drilled on the front and just plain high carbon discs on the rear pad wise either Brembo or ATE, the biggest bonus will be achieved by changing the brake fluid using Comma dot 4 ESP, I used drilled ATE front and plain ATE discs on the rear of my cab the fronts now need changing but they have done 70k, grooved discs just eat pads and get bits of crud stuck in the grooves which wear the discs at an accelerated rate with no real benefit in braking performance, on the other hand drilled discs cool quicker as well as dissipating water on the discs during wet weather twice as quickly. Steve.

Hi you will need a suitable diagnostics unit which has the facility to put the car in to rear lining change mode, this is used when you have the car jacked up and the rear wheels off with the car in gear so it wont roll, switch the handbrake off and engage rear lining change you will hear the motor retracting the pistons, then with the aid of a beefy screwdriver inserted between the old pads and disc gently push the calliper piston the last bit back into the calliper the pads should be moving free now so its just a case of undoing the two bolts that hold the middle of the calliper to the main carrier these are attached to the slider pins which have a rubber boot covering them and allow the calliper to self adjust to compensate for wear, once released from the slider its a case of pulling the calliper away making a note of which side the wear indicator wire sits, you will have to replace the wear indicator as well as the pads, the wear indicator has the plug end in a slot in a metal bracket which you have to twist to release it so you can separate the plug and fit the new wire, make sure you fit the new pads the way the old ones were fitted that makes sure the cut out for the new wear sensor is on the correct side, take photos as a reference, clean the runners for the pads on the carrier with a stout wire brush and then coat them with a thin smear of copper grease and then mount the pads on the carrier and gently push the calliper body over the new pads, you will have to push the slider pins in a little to allow this, you must always use new bolts to hold the calliper to the carrier but in saying that you can get away with using the old bolts provided you clean the threads and use a blob of blue thread lock, do not over tighten these bolts as they will snap, nipped up will suffice say 20nm, once its back together give the brake pedal a push then take the car out of lining change mode then engage handbrake and replace the wheels, don't think I forgot anything but claim poetic licence. Steve.