Stevey Y

Hi the shocks are all filled with gas/oil or they wouldn't work the oil stops foaming via the gas, more important is are the replacements twin or monotube as the monotube versions are less prone to oil foaming. Steve.

Hi I have to go down and see my mechanic tomorrow and I will see where that one pops up on his autodata though I am pretty sure its one of the three on top of the engine between the cat and turbo. Steve.

Hi yes if you use Autoglym leather cleaner and then the leather balm that normally works, it does on mine anyway all the other stuff just made the seats slippery. Steve.

Hi Roy for future jobs invest in a couple of brake hose clamps they are cheap and better than having to bleed the whole system, the clamps use just enough pressure to crush the hose without damaging it so after you finish you can bleed the brakes conventionally using a gravity feed fluid bottle also cheap. Steve.

Hi when it comes to Audi service and Q7s they ought to be sold with a sticker on the back saying Achtung Minen to denote the serious threat to your wallet. Steve

Hi why do you need to purge the ABS pump, have you replaced it with a new one? Steve.

Hi Steve, seriously I hope its not going to be your Audi as if it is it would be like giving your nan massive doses of HRT and hoping she will become a pole dancer, it won't end well, do you think an engine that age really needs any extra thermal stress. Steve.

Hi they are the amount of drive cycles stored after the fault, so as I said delete the codes as most of them are a one off and old, I would think your code storage must be about full as the counter numbers in theory should go down with each cycle within which the fault has not re occurred unless the memory is nearly full in which case they will remain stored with the original allocation number 255/40, therefore I cannot overstate the value of a once monthly scan and clearance of one time codes this will also give you a heads up with a failing component before it goes bang and ruins something else especially things like oxygen sensors, mine was occasionally throwing a fault but no EML so after I cleared it it reappeared a week later which was all I needed to be convinced replacement was the best option I could have just carried on clearing it until the thing failed completely and the car won't do any regeneration of the DPF therefore blocking it, timely replacement stops this happening along with a horrendous bill for a new DPF. Steve.

Hi the range control module has to be re adapted after fitting this involves switching to the manual headlight adjustment and then the beam patterns are checked against a wall or an mot standard light beam checker and then when this is done go back to the control module status and press done, this will have given the module its new operating peramiters so that when the lights are turned on they should both move downward and come up again to their operating height. Steve.

Hi how did you find out it had sports suspension all round, is it factory or has somebody been upgrading either way the factory shocks are designed to work with both and the ride height difference is less than 20mm when sitting on the road, whoever sold you the new springs should have asked the question with sports suspension or standard. Steve.

Hi Roy you have a ton of fault codes and guess what they are all ancient, easiest thing to do is erase the lot as I doubt you will see them again as a current embedded fault may reappear more than twice thats when you have a problem so erase all DTCs and scan it again in a couple of weeks to see if you have any current faults. Steve.

Hi its not the VCDS cable or the program thats useless its windows eleven thats the problem as it thinks the VCDS program is a virus in simple terms so it blocks it, what you need is an old laptop like I have that is running windows seven and has NO anti virus software downloaded because it never gets connected to the internet regularly it won't need it. Steve.

Hi when you fit the new sensor don't forget the adaptation for the new unit and before you give it a regeneration check the ash/soot levels. Steve.

Hi sounds like the clutch might have failed often as not the release bearing wears through the fingers on the pressure plate leaving insufficient clearance for the clutch to disengage from the flywheel. Steve.

Hi it sounds like thats best practise as if its not broken why change it and possibly run into problems you did not previously have plus the bonus of having two new spare servos, you will probably never need them but its always good to have spares. Steve.

Hi UDS is a more aggressive scanning mode that is more suited to Canbus data software systems, with regard to unplugging things I can see why people don't do it as when my car had a new clutch master fitted we unplugged a fair few connectors on the GEM module above it to get the GEM out to give access to the clutch master cylinder, the car was dormant and had not been run for about eight hours but when I plugged in to see if there were any faults BINGO every service we had disconnected from the GEM had a one time lost contact code the ignition was never on but the only thing I can conclude is all systems are monitored around the clock even when not in use. Steve.

Hi don't take any notice of the letters at the end of the part number as these are denomination for the year of supply, there are many who believe this letter to be critical, its not and a prime example of this is the glow plug on cylinder three it has a pressure/knock sensor built in, mine went sideways before the bank holiday and kept throwing an EML with a code for an implausible signal, it was on its way out, the part number for our cars is 03L 905061G, the plug they sent me was 03L 905 061K thats the supersession number, it fits, it works wonderfully and no more EML, I rest my case, BTW the same plug is fitted to the A5 A6 and several Volkswagen models. Steve,

Hi any idea of a price? Steve.

Hi unfortunately that particular design was doomed to fail shortly after the surround seal gave it up and let in water, if you poach the Audi part number off the listing you can Google it and see if its cheaper elsewhere. Steve.

Hi Roy most informative video, I particularly liked the soldering/saddering part where his industrial size soldering gun was flying about and melting bits of the shielding on other wires and the total omission of how he found which wire was what I heard something about a multimeter at one point. Anyway I digress the reason I said to save the long coding was that it gives you a reference point if you change the units and they don't want to play, chances are all will be fine as long as you know if your system is UDS/Non UDS as the procedures for cycling the calipers are different for both also make sure you have a battery charger or donor battery connected to the jump posts as sudden voltage drop will kill your hand brake control module, also he did not mention he had left the battery connected while mucking about with wires its a dodgy hobby. Steve.

Hi I think you will get exactly what you want with that finish, just stay clear of acid wheel cleaner as that will kill the paint in record time. Steve.

Hi if you get the car scanned the fault code should tell you which part is malfunctioning. Steve.

Hi disregard the previous post as I have just looked at mine and its the same as yours apparently the pipe with no connection measures the atmospheric pressure against the the realtime pressure from the pipe that is connected to the DPF via a long metal pipe, I think you are probably right about the DPF issue as the variables for that code are massive anything from boost control valve, clogged turbo vanes, boost diverter valve, they all lead to one thing a build up of crud, the cheapest option is give it a bottle of Wynns EGR cleaner and give it a nice long run down the motorway if that sorts it the crud in the emissions system is your problem, from a quick research even Audi have problems diagnosing this one. All these cost cutting solutions they come up with just create more problems than they solve for the end user. Steve.

Hi as I said both pipes should connect one to a metal pipe before the DPF and the other to a metal pipe after the DPF, its in there somewhere, have the splash pan off and have a look from underneath. Steve.

Hi in the old days you had a pressure sensor as a separate unit on the cylinder head therefore if you cut down on the extra machining and put the thing in one of the glow plugs its yet another manufacturing saving and according to the Gurus is a more efficient until it goes wrong, I have very rarely come across this before but apparently Vauxhall Nissan and a host of others have changed over to the same system, this means you have to buy four ordinary glow plugs to get the other three normal plugs unless you want to buy the whole set which includes the SPECIAL ONE for a shade under four hundred quid. Steve.