Stevey Y

Hi if I were you I would go back to the beginning, you mentioned that they fitted a new battery, did they recode the new unit to the car as especially on Q7/Q5 this will throw up all these type of communication codes, I worked on a Q5 recently that had similar problems and it turned out that the battery was going sideways, not only was it a cr@p brand the mobile pillock that fitted it told the owner they dont need coding as they sort themselves out, WRONG!,I fitted a Bosch battery and that was over two months ago and coding it successfully made all the faults go away, what leads me to this is the fault codes you published which state intermittent which I would read as possible low voltage faults, if the battery was not coded it charges at the same rate as it did with the failing battery and effectively cooks it because no one has told the ECU it has another battery, the other thing to try is clean all the connector plugs on the ECU as they are prone to moisture ingress which they are not to keen on, I could be very wrong as Q7s are notorious for ECU failure. Steve.

Hi dont worry about the milage, I had to buy two aftermarket driveshafts which started clicking after six months or 10k eventually bough two driveshafts for £50 each from an online breakers re greased them and never had anymore trouble bearing in mind the two breaker units were from an A5 that was six years older than my car but the boots were a completely different material, more like rubber, I then researched other Audi owners on our cab fleet eight of them were battling with the same problem . Steve.

Hi it could be the outer CV joints going a bit dry, might be wort doing a quick visual on the outer boots as more often than not they split, if not remove the boot from the joint [Big end] and repack with grease, had terrible problems with my A6 outer boots even buying new OE boots at £60 a pop did not cure this, the boots are made of some sort of marshmallow plastic but the killer was the clear grease they used from about 2015 it just dries out unlike Molybednum Disulphide grease which lasts for years. Steve.

Hi from personal experience I would not go for any Audi with that kind of milage, Diesel/Petrol as you will be entering the land of excessive expense, I would really take as Gospel Steve Qs advice about the VW cars as I have recently discovered the Passat as my new cab and have covered 20k since this February with no problems other than servicing and tyres and new brakes all of which cost a third of what the Audi cost me, power wise its 150bhp and gets down the road quickly, economy is probably about 30% better than the Audi and the 1.9 Steve mentioned has just gone on to the list of engines that will do in excess of 400,000 miles if maintained correctly, I would also give you a little info from a friend who is a trader that most cars now are bought by Cinch or We Buy Any Car, they keep all the good ones to re sell and dump anything with real problems in to the auctions. Steve.

Hi the only thing I would personally change is the glow plugs, as for the loom just get it checked in other words if it isn't broken don't fix it, the glow plugs are probably well past their sell by date and well worth changing as they contribute a lot to engine function especially on start up on colder days as it stops unburnt fuel from killing the catalyst. Steve.

Hi Paul that looks about right assuming yours is the red type it says gearbox fluid but all older systems ran on that it was commonly known as ATF which served both units the later upgraded fluid is green why I dont know, just ask the seller the question to nail it closed, I have used their oil in my Audi and their products for the money are excellent. Steve.

Hi you should just use the mineral fluid as the new stuff wont work with your pump and rack seals, most motor factors should be able to recommend a suitable brand, if your fluid is brown in colour I would definitely change it as that is a sign its burnt and not up to the job anymore and will eventually wreck the pump and the rack which is far more expensive than a flush and fluid change. Steve.

Hi it could be the BEM module on the negative post on the battery these are quite delicate and have a history of failing on Q5/Q7. Steve.

Hi the bit you are missing is the registration number which would allow any potential purchaser to check its eligibility on the ULEZ website, as far as I am aware its only diesels that meet euro 6 requirements which would definitely involve Adblue and SCR Steve.

Hi if you have to press a start button and not insert a key it. is keyless as the coded signal from the key is transmitted to the centre console pick up, stop start has a completely different mode of operation, just a suggestion, disable the stop start every journey it will make your flywheel and starter motor las a lot longer. Steve.

Hi use Vanish foam fabric cleaner to remove the stains, when dry give the seats a good coating of Scotchguard. Steve.

Hi I think you will be better served waiting for the scan results as anything else would be guessing. Steve.

Hi Gareth this particular gnome seems to pop up every time he is bored, he comes from nowhere applicable which seems to sum up his over stated opinions and spelling. Steve.

Hi you lost the coding for the slip ring/ squib ring thats why you have no steering wheel functions , therefore it will need re coding. Steve.

Hi is it petrol/diesel how many miles on the clock, you wont really notice any difference from the additive at this early stage, the best additive I have discovered so far is Dipetane which can be used with either fuel. Steve.

Hi have you checked the linkage on the gearbox as they sometimes fail and its difficult to select first gear, how did you try to ventilate the slave cylinder, have you got a good clutch pedal?. Steve.

Hi yes is the answer as if you use a non stop/start unit the battery charging wont be the same. Steve.

Hi everyone thinks head gasket, the usual culprit is the oil cooler a rather snazzy little device that normally sits below the oil filter housing, it is a box that allows water and oil to circulate around each other through different channels so the oil cools, problem is the gasket fails and allows the two to mix, fairly cheap fix just a bit fiddly and requires a coolant flush after to get rid of the oil in the system, Vauxhalls are notorious for it, done a few of them, gearbox fault will require a diagnostic scan to reveal what's going on. Steve.

Hi the only thing I have ever used on any bolt I have re used is a dab of blue thread lock they wont move with that on them, I get fed up with all this rumour spreading about stretch bolts the rule of thumb being anything to do with the engine, clutch, timing belt you use new bolts, anything else provided the thread is good can be reused. Steve.

Hi yes, with any braking system cleanliness is all, as far as they are concerned a quick spin of the wheel and the pads are ok tells them everything, NOT SO in view of what's happening to you I would not be telling you its ok without having stripped the callipers down and inspected everything, pad runners, slider pins, is the piston easy to push back, brake fluid quality, I have not seen the car but in your place I would in view of the age consider all the above then, replace the slider pins both the rubber and chrome bits, clean the pad runner surfaces and then the two hoses followed by a complete brake fluid change using Comma ESP 4, that should about cover most things, slider pin kit £15 ish fluid £12 from Halfords , hoses around £12 each, all parts are fairly cheap, please note if the new discs are warped you might be in for a new set. Steve.

Hi just do it the simple way, they have a 2-3 working day turn round, there was one guy on here that had the same problem and they told him the original unit was irreparable so he bought a second hand unit and sent it to them and they programmed it from his old unit checked the doner unit out so it was plug in and play, no brainer really when you consider Audi quoted £3000 + the coding. Steve.

Hi is it both sides?, most common cause of this is the callipers not releasing fully due to the rubber hoses that run from the metal pipe to the calliper collapsing and not allowing all the fluid to return properly, this phenomenon is usually caused by lack of brake fluid changes, brake fluid is hydroscopic and absorbes water which in turn rots out just about everything in the braking system, calliper cylinders, brake hoses being the prime target. Steve.

Hi unfortunately the solution requires you to buy another plug [available from eBay ] and get ready for a serious soldering festival, alternatively you might get away with a good dose of contact cleaner. Steve.

Hi as cliff says its either a bad live/earth the indicator will still work as thats a separate circuit ie 2 lives 2 earths my guess is that one of the earths inside the female plug that fits on to the headlight is burnt or corroded. Steve.

Hi Body Control Module, you can't believe everything you see on YouTube as you have to read between the lines and have a good working knowledge of how the system works. Steve.