Stevey Y

Hi I very much doubt there will be any updates for your car for at least another eighteen months as they only write updates and issue them to rectify oncoming problems over time and milage.

Hi could well be a MAP/MAF sensor but thats an educated guess, you can't pin a fault down without scanning the car for codes, thats the golden key to unlocking your problems, from your description that prolonged acceleration causes this I would assume that one or more of the emissions sensors is breaking down, therefore a scan and reading of live data will pin point the cause. Steve.

Hi you may get lucky and the fan control pack is bolted on AKA hybrid and for reasons only known to Audi on some models its all one unit with the fans, either way unless you purchase from Audi the parts are pretty cheap as a lot of companies have stock for the older cars stuck up their backside so are pleased to get rid at a decent price, example I did a replacement pack on my mates 2013 Transit Frauds wanted over £400 for the unit, eventually got one for £140 with a two year guarantee and talking to the guy they used to supply Fords when they ran low on stock from Brazil.

Hi glad you got some resolution, well thought out plan, the lease should take up to 80c. Steve.

Hi its most likely the glow plugs from the symptoms you describe so it wont matter how long you leave the cycle just get them changed, they are cheap enough to buy and will make life a lot easier, as for diesel freezing that problem went in the early fifties and it was known as waxing where one of the components within the fuel separated and became like lard, modern diesel does not freeze due to the anti waxing and antifreeze additives, if you look at North America and places like Russia that suffer -40 degrees they all run around on good old standard diesel with the only addition of a temp monitor at the tank out feed.

Hi a hard reset used to work on old Fords and most likely on Audis fry the BEM module which wont be the source of a parasitic drain, the idea of putting a new BEM number in is to let the monitor know it is dealing with a new battery therefore it will charge at a lower rate so it wont cook your new battery, as for losing the map, the ECU on a car is one of the more expensive items, they don't fit ECUs that are specific to one model instead they build a unit with multiple map layers to accommodate the different engine types I.E. 1.0, 2.0 etc if you unplug the ECU you still wont lose the map as its embedded over your existing map from factory, thats why if you want the map removed you have to go back to the map originator to have it removed.

Hi yes the matrix would cause this as the heater is fed from a bypass before the thermostat so the car gets warm air quickly from starting, think I remember reading that the way the system is designed it is prone to clogging as it is not high pressure enough to clear naturally occurring debris in the water system, would also suggest a new expansion tank while your at it.

Hi the ballast and bulb are easy to change the headlight can be dried out once the bulb is removed with a hot air gun, removal of the unit is not to much of a drama as you can take th bumper fixings off that side and just pull the bumper back enough to get at the lower fixing on the unit, I did this on my A6 as I had to fit a new head light because the DRL had failed.

Hi perhaps you would like to expand on a few circuits, you have completely missed the point of the guys post the fact that the car is still not getting up to running temp with or without the fans, I completely agree with Cliff/ Gareth that solving one problem at a time and once the car starts achieving its proper temp, then worry about turning the fans off, the problem I suspect is a faulty fan control unit, the silver box on the fan pack and as they are both running and he can't turn the air con off that is the most likely culprit, as for wind chill the guy lives in Sussex not Siberia, my car used to take a while to warm up at temps around +2 and as soon as the ambient temp got to +5-6 it got very warm, are you a salesman for YouTube sites as they are only worth looking at once you have established the problem, a very wise man I studied under once said, you can spend a lot of money and time trying to cure the the effects of a fault but you really should spend the same time and money curing the root cause.

Hi they are all the same, in my experience failure of the alternator clutch is rare but if it should occur changing the whole unit is best policy as they tend to last the lifetime of the unit they are on, different if the car has only done 30k and the alternator is good but the only effective way of removal is to take the alternator out then struggle for hours trying to get the old clutch off. Steve.

Hi if they do the service properly and take the sump plug out the brush head will fall out anyway, easy way out is if it is billed with a new plug fitted ask them if they found anything else in the tray as its a family heirloom.

Hi nice to find another member that knows their fuel, I learned this long ago from a petro chemist I had in my cab, cetane / octane use of additives can only do more good than harm as they in moderation increase both, its all about increasing thermal burn rate which in real terms actually means lowing it down so it burns more efficiently leaving less unburnt fuel, more bang for your buck, supermarket fuel is blended down using fillers and detergent this gives more volume to the saleable amount IE 20000 litres is increased by 20%, but because detergent is water based it burns far less efficiently leaving more unburnt fuel and moisture which leaves all that sticky tar in the EGR valves on petrol and diesel, further problem being nearly all engines are direct injection so the recycled gas tends to coat the inlet valve backs therefore more sticky gunge in the stream will eventually exacerbate the problem, good dry efficient burn is good, sticky wet moisture laden bad burn is not. Steve.

Hi NO most O.E. parts are BOSCH, NGK, FEBI, just packaged in an Audi box at twice the price, you will be safe with any make basically as long as it is not Chinese.

Hi its definitely not dangerous, it looks like you would have to replace the filler neck backing which is quite a faff, personally I would wait for a dryad give it all a good clean with brake/carb cleaner and then treat it to a blob of Tiger Seal and smoothie over with a teaspoon and white spirit. Steve.

Well Einstein anyone who has ever had a headlight apart will tell you there is a cooling fan on the rear of the bulbs built into the control casing to cool the pcb there has never been a fan unit to clear the condensation, the bulb fan is a very slow moving affair which concentrates on removing heat from the electrics and is aimed toward the rear of the unit so how will that clear the condensation from the lens if the small amount of heat is at the back and blown towards the breather,

I bought myself one of those induction heaters that only heats the bolt and nothing else, wicked bit of kit and at £130 best thing I have ever bought, used it a lot on the missus Alfa Mito they I think were made with pre rusted bolts.

Hi when it comes to calliper carriers judicious use of a blowtorch normally sorts it.

Hi I wish you all the best, please post the outcome, if its the rears just give the bolts a soak in plusgas before undoing it helps with the crud on the threads.

Hi a four point lift is great if you can get one as you have unrestricted access to the underneath and its a lot easier working standing rather than laying/sitting on floor, this will only give you arthritis or piles.

Hi have you tried changing the MAP and MAF as I have seen this before, similar symptoms when they are not communicating and it wont necessarily throw a code, you mentioned the throttle pedal replacement so it might be worth checking the condition of the throttle body as a sticky butterfly will cause no end of problems. Steve.

Hi a couple of six inch lengths of 4x2 wood between the axle stand and the cross member the stands dig in to the wood thats good for movement protection the other side spreads the load across the member.

Hi a fan inside, thats a new one, what a load of Scallops, there is no such thing its just wrong and thats it.

Hi yes normally O2 sensors need changing every 80k or five years if yours is the original I think you can safely say its had its fun. Steve.

Hi I very much doubt it has spacers as they are not factory fitted and my colleague who trades used cars informs me that when they buy from the auction site near me after purchase the wheels are stripped off and the brakes inspected/replaced within the guidelines of the motor trade sale of goods requirements, any spacers are discarded as they were not factory fitted and at most are 4mm and mostly found on aftermarket wheels, the spacers are to correct the wheel offset back to factory tolerances either way they use the existing bolts as these are within spec for the manufacturers 7mm requirement, I think you must be confusing the VAG globalisation policy as you mentioned Triumph Stags which were British Leyland who had different wheel bolts for every model and wheel, this outmoded practice has been scrapped by VAG as every model using the same 17mm bolt is the same, hence globalisation, one part fits ALL.

Hi can't work out your thinking, you were right about the bolts going into the disc but it will only be going in to the hub boss and no where near the friction surface, the hub flange has to be at least two inches from the bearing housing so worse ways the bolts would only go in an extra 5mm, with the advent of space savers in Europe type approval dictated you could use the same bolts within a 7mm tolerance to accommodate the tin wheel, allied to the fact that most alloy wheels have recessed holes to counter the bite distance between the wheel and flange there fore an extra 5mm of thread wont foul anything.