Stevey Y

Hi keep it as is and work it up to near concours condition and just enjoy it and the memories, if you start heavy modification it along with your memories will turn a bit Frankenstein. STEVE.

Hi you would have to get a donor car or loads of parts most of which will probably need reconditioning, then there's the problem of mounting points as well as getting the transfer box aligned properly, cost wise it would be more cost efficient to buy a later Audi which is already a Quattro. Prime example my attempt to turn my MK1 Escort 1100 into a Mexico cost me two girlfriends and cash wise a good deposit on a house. Steve. Steve.

Hi get the car plugged in and scanned for faults that should illuminate the problem. Steve.

Hi if you can get the car towed out it may well free the brakes, the discs will clean up when its driven could be the fuel in it has deteriorated but the only way to make sure is get the car scanned to pick up the fault codes, any mobile diagnostic tech should be able to do that for a modest fee. Steve.

Hi go on LLL carparts and plumb in the VIN that should bring up the correct diagrams and part no for your car. Steve.

Hi most of the time its one of the two lift pumps under the back seat, I don't know which code reader you used but if its VCDS that should tell you which one is misbehaving, yours is classic symptoms of a lift pump degrading the question, is it the main pump or the assisting pump, my guess is the assist pump which is on the n/s rear of the seat pan, you could be lucky and its a corroded connector which is a common problem. Steve.

Hi belt should be every four years or 80k + ancillary drive belt every 30k or two years, gearbox oil every three years or 30k, all the above are whichever time/milage occurs first, aircon every two years with regard to exceptionally hot summers like last year. Steve.

Hi there probably are but I would pick the one with VAG specialist in the title, most mobile techs are terrified by your type of car as everything needs a special tool just to do a service, I would be looking for a static VAG specialist, as they will have the right tools and knowledge. Steve.

Hi James, my idea of a service is oil and filter, air filter, pollen filter, fuel filter, plugs, if this is done once a year you won't go far wrong for the following reasons, plugs tend to degrade over short milage, air and fuel filters suffer the same, if you don't use anything other than premium fuel they may last longer but we have all of a sudden come from 6k or yearly service to 18k or every three years, this is all to make the car appear super cheap to run, then we have service plans which don't cover fuel filters and air filters, they might change the oil filter with the oil if you are lucky, main dealers are thieving scum, find a good independent and tell them what you want done, there are loads of posts on this forum from people who have dealership service history who have decided to have a go at changing their own air filter [simple] and found more dead leaves in the housing than are in your local park, over the years I have had more than enough arguments with main dealers over shoddy servicing, thats why I do my own at least I know its right. Steve.

Hi there are tutorials for this dash removal on YouTube they are not difficult, would suggest using ECU Testing, google up their site and put in a request they are very efficient and that is where the other guy got his fixed. Steve.

Hi if it was tap water you ran round the screen you won't find any leaks as tap water has a far higher surface tension than rain water has and won't do the low molecular creep found with rain water, get some water out of a water butt and if its a screen sealing issue it will go straight through. Steve.

Hi did not realise Khans buddies were there to, just got our ULEZ letter for my daughters Q3 but she is not selling that she just won't drive up there £3000 per year plus if she had her old job and yet a Q3 petrol emitting twice as much CO2 is ok, how does that work. Steve.

Hi try Nirrol in Barking in Essex. Steve.

Hi get the battery changed/checked as a failing battery will cause all those symptoms, get the car scanned for codes and if they are all low voltage its odds on the battery going down hill.

Hi happy days the callipers are even cheaper for the manual hand brake. Steve.

Hi here's the item number. Steve.

Hi its most likely the throttle body, had the same with my daughters Q3 and that was the problem if you can get a diagnostic code that will nail the problem. Steve.

PS when you took the pads out was the rear braking system in service mode?

Hi no, this is what happens when the pads are allowed to go to the bottom limit the rubber boot won't stretch any further and the piston pops out, in the picture it does look very corroded so I would suggest buying new callipers as your ones are most likely seized and won't do the seals inside the calliper any favours, exchange units are fairly cheap. Steve.

Hi sorry no thats what reversing sensors are for. Steve.

Hi the fitting of the motorised mirrors and other extras saves a massive amount of time and build reading as the line moves, whatever the customer specified is added at the end of the line by the mainframe computer that programs the ECU/BCM no man hours except for pushing a button, Mercedes,Porsche, Bently, Peugeot, Fiat,Alfa Romeo, Ford are all the same, they don't tell the customer thats what they are doing and if you asked they would probably tell you they had to fit different mirrors. Steve.

Hi I would be taking my advice from the mechanic as he obviously uses a supplier he trusts and has not had any problems with, in essence there are turbo reconditions and turbo reconditions, the clue lies in the price, how many parts did they actually replace or not to save money and what are the chances of redress if it goes horribly wrong, at least with your guy if there is a problem they will be less inclined to argue the toss as he fitted it and the supplier won't want to loose the business, I have used Essex turbos for twenty years and never had a problem, yes they are dearer than some other companies but they are happy to show you real time their reconditioning methods. Steve.

Hi they normally fit a space saver which is 17 inch but has a larger series tyre to make it up to the original diameter of your 18 inch alloy but you can fit any size as long as it meets the original rolling diameter. Steve.

Hi Steve this is how weird it gets, a few years ago through the Alfa Owners club they were seeing if any members had Alfa GTVs that might have taken part in a late sixties alpine rally that some really rich guys wanted to re create using any cars that had actually done it or the same model car to take part in the re run, the models required appeared droves, Austin Healys MGs Volvos Fiats and Fords, they needed one more car a Honda two seater sports car but they were told there are none left in the world, two weeks before the rally one turned up with some top uk management from Honda whom had convinced the boys in Japan that this was a top flight PR opportunity as back then the Honda came in third, the scrutineers were not having it at first as they stated the rule was the car had to be original and not brand new, Honda argued it was original but had been made from spare parts all over Hondas warehousing in the world, all the part stickers dates tallied up so they had to include it, I am sure they have your sump but can't be bothered to dig it out, me personally I would get a second hand unit maybe try our Kev as if he hasn't got one he will know where one is. Steve.

Hi Clifford yes indeed, the ECU makes the decisions about injection cycles based on information from the various sensors, Oxygen ,MAF,MAP,Coolant etc. and armed with learned information patterns will make small adjustments to the fuelling on each cylinder as the injectors wear, fuel supplied by the rail is also monitored by the ECU and controlled by it therefore there is always a slight over abundance of fuel to each injector to allow for sudden demand such as heavy acceleration, the overfill is cleared by the leak back system which is nominally small, this becomes a torrent when the injector becomes worn badly and the ECU can't control the fuelling or make corrections, the idea of recoding is to let the ECU know it has different injectors so it adjusts its fuelling peramiters to allow for nil wear and begin the process relearning what the new units will do. Steve.