Stevey Y

I refer to the process of being asked on at least two occasions for a ball park price and still sand bagging with statements such as well I have looked on eBay and ......, still no price!, I am open to offers, how long is a piece of string, I am right behind you with on your statement about stated selling price in adverts, even eBay has a start price unless its 99p on bid, so everyone tried to offer best advice to make the car an attractive proposition and based on some sketchy service history with no price and at first no pictures, then when we got pictures none were of the interior or engine bay, there was a guy selling an old Audi 80 on line he had pictures of everything and had noted any cosmetic faults it also had a price and went within four hours of the advert going in, thats the way to sell a car.

Hi Roy I meant press select not settings.

Hi Roy assuming the old callipers and system are still where they were get the VCDS up and running go to non UDS and that should throw up the menu, press settings and go to EPB press that and then go to basic settings and press that it will bring up a clear window which will have a box next to it put in 007 then press go you should hear the motors retracting the piston wait for at least three mins before pressing done, the piston will need prising back like the fronts then commence working at all times you must have a battery charger connected to either the jumper posts under the bonnet or to the battery itself this stops voltage fluctuation which will kill the module for the EPB, the reversal for this is pump the brakes a couple of times and then do all of the above after substituting the address for 006 and again wait three mins before pressing done. Steve.

Hi Gareth for once just cave in and admit this entire process like many others before is not unlike a pencil with no lead, completely POINTLESS.

Hi Roy if you will have to get the correct callipers as even if you get the EPB to retract they won't magically adapt to fit the existing discs as the vented brake pads are different in thickness, did you retract the EPB before you dismantled the old calliper set up as if you had the right calliper /carrier replacement it would have been a straightforward case of fitting then reactivating the EPB Steve.

Hi Roy why do you want to one the parking brake system?, thought you had already done the pads and callipers. Steve.

Hi please see the pics posted of my bumper just don't get the gun to close and keep it moving otherwise you will set light to the plastic best engage a suitable assistant to gently massage the other side when heating, BTW I DID NOT DO THE FILLING OR SPRAYING after, but in saying that yours is a straight edge which any competent spray shop should be able to do for a few quid as a side job.

Hi you won't need a new sill as if its plastic they just heat it with a hot air gun whilst pushing with something like a screwdriver handle from the other side and it pops out, ABS will always want to go back to the shape it was moulded to, it might need a skim of filler and definitely some paint. Steve.

Hi the revolution in injection systems started in the late seventies with the Bosch Motronic multi point injection system which must have been like the second coming for the motor industry, it spawned the likes of the Golf GTI which was the benchmark every manufacturer had to better, the early systems were expensive which is why Fords first ventures in to the arena were cars like the Fiesta Si which was basically a FOMOCO carb body with a Bosch single point injector mounted above the throttle butterfly and it was so successful in giving more power and reducing emissions they then got the hots for it and started buying loads of Bosch systems tailored to their requirements I.E. XR2i XR4i Capri 2.8i Granada 2.8i, the problem was all systems on these cars still used a plenum chamber so when CARB in California started putting the thumb screws on Ford/GM for even less emissions they started developing direct injection engines as allied to the new engine management systems gave a lot more power for even less emissions and fuel, the next revolution was again developed by Bosch was Piezo injectors, these operate on a fixed height stack of Piezo slices which when electrically charged compress and lift the injection pintle to 00.04 which is the optimal height for fuel passage then further enhanced it by giving the injector multiple injection ports which enable a good spread of atomisation, only problem is the ports are about two microns and when you consider a human hair is six microns is pretty small, then the fuel companies had to step up and remove the magnesium sulphates from fuel as this solidifies in the injectors and blocks the ports and the shame of it is magnesium is an excellent upper cylinder lubricant, any engine built 2000 on requires free flowing oxygen to allow for precise metering of fuel but only within the limits set by the management system, to much it gives problem to little its the same outcome, its all about the emissions. Steve.

Hi you can't force the car to regenerate unless its done via a scanner the car will do it of its own volition when the ECU notes the soot levels are above normal, when it starts just take the car for a drive for at least five miles until the cycle finishes, if you use a proprietary DPF additive with every third tank of fuel this cuts down on the regeneration time as it makes the soot particles smaller therefore they burn off quicker even during town driving. Steve.

Hi the trail starts thus, Air intake to filter box then in to MAF which registers the air temp coming in, the filter element is made of a cotton/paper mix with a porous surface of microscopic holes, thousands of them, when the material is past its best the engine vacuum will be greater than normal to reach its optimum flow rate this in turn deforms the pores in the filter material thus allowing larger parts of foreign matter into the air intake which then goes through the MAF sticking to the diode surface which as I said is constantly heating and cooling the bigger particles of matter will heat up and burn the diode surface which is covered in a heat proof lacquer which perforates and gives false readings, the last line of defence is the MAP sensor which picks up the extra air from the leak and reports that the MAF sensor readings are corrupted and the ECU needs to up rate the duration of the duty cycle of injection [more diesel] to cope withe the extra air it has logged, allied to the lost boost pressure this creates an over fuel situation which is what clogs the DPF, BTW if an air leak exists or boost pressure is lost the ECU suspends the regeneration process that naturally occurs as a safety protocol until the sensors have sorted out the communication problem this is to stop emissions from going up further, the situation you describe with petrol engines only existed with carburettor fuelled engines as the carb fuel flow rate was not monitored by the ECU where as the advent of fuel injection gave the ECU the facility to raise or lower injection cycles, most petrol engines from the early nineties with a blocked air filter would show a code for airflow threshold lower than expected and an EML, that came on when the ECU had exhausted its paramiters for cutting injection amounts, the MAF is upstream this designation is made from the calculation that the airflow comes into the box is filtered then passed to the MAF which creates circular used air into the turbine this stops air friction from warming the air as it travels in whilst creating negative vacuum to pull the crankcase gas through the system into the turbo intake, where boost pressure is lost the crank gasses do not mix efficiently with the intake air and start to atomise properly which also clogs the intercooler and DPF. Steve

Hi your problem is where the pipe goes in to the turbo the rubber seal is compromised thats why its letting all the CR@P from the PCV get blown out before it goes into the engine to be burnt, this also works in reverse as it allows air in which the MAF won't have registered and you will also be loosing boost pressure, you also completely defeated the object of the whole exercise as leaving the ducting off creates the same problem as it will draw extra air from all over the surface of the air filter rather than just through the ducting which is the prime source, if I were you I would add a DPF cleaner to the fuel and give it a forced regeneration before you total the DPF and the CAT, I change my air filters about six times a year or every 9k for what they cost its a no brainer and I wouldn't mind betting thats whats killed the MAF, they are very sensitive inside to dirt as if the filter has stopped working properly it allows tiny particles of dirt into the intake system which sticks to the diode inside the MAF, the diode goes into super heat when you turn the engine off this process cleans the diode of any oily film but if you have larger contaminants it will heat up and burn holes in the protective coating on the diode which causes it to read incorrectly, whilst running the diode constantly heats and then reports the cooling time to the ECU which gauges the ambient temperature of the in comming air and adjusts the injection ratios according to the latest information from the MAFF,MAP correlation. Steve.

Hi it could be a wiring connector to cylinder 1 coil pack or a faulty injector or an air leak on the air intake, provided you have not fitted a sports air filter check the ducting for loose joints other than that try a can of injector cleaner in the fuel. Steve.

Hi the air leak syndrome is well documented as a cause of DPF failure as extra air is getting in to the system that the MAF is not aware of because its getting in after the MAF, this in turn causes overfuelling because the MAP sensor has reported a higher than expected oxygen pressure to the ECU which then calls for more fuel to rectify the imbalance, the extra fuel won't burn as well so it creates more soot and blocks the DPF. If you are going to do an Italian tune up add a cleaner to the fuel like a bottle of Wynns DPF cleaner as this has a more aggressive content of Hydrocarbons which melts soot. Steve.

Hi it sounds like massive overfuelling and you have removed the obvious candidates that have had codes which brings me to the last possible options, the fuel metering solenoid on the end of the fuel rail where the HPFP in feed line comes in, I don't think these are monitored by the ECU and if its jammed open that will cause problems with excess fuel supply, the other one is the MAP sensor but they will normally throw a code when failing, check the fuel rail pressures on live data and see if the fuel rail pressure rises above standard demands when revving the engine. Steve.

Hi Canbus is the the electrical carrier to components on the car, Canbus error is when it senses something has been changed or altered from what it has been programmed to accept, Canbus error free means whatever you have changed will be sending back the right signal even if you have changed it for something different so it fools the module that controls it. if you understand the wiring diagram it should not be above your pay grade. Steve.

Hi see Roy you keep telling us your useless but look at how far you have come with just a little determination, keep going. Steve.

Hi all new starters since about 1970 have the Bendix attached to them as standard it comes as a sealed unit which can only be tested and replaced by a specialist reconditioner as the unit is new the starter Bendix would be new as well. Steve.

Hi some pictures may whet an appetite but the unfortunate thing with the Tax is its not transferable, also a ball park price is even better. Steve.

Hi well done, what are friends for, all nice and cold now? Steve.

Hi give it a good hosing with release agent WD40 or similar then push it in a couple of times to get the crud moving then give it a little wiggle from side to side when pulling out with the tab compressed. Steve.

Hi even post Brexit all cars sold in Europe are required by law to have the right gas in them, therefore there is no such thing as wrong gas as if you don't use it your system fails in record time as the wrong gas won't work and will trash the seals on the system, its feature in the new gas to prevent old gas being used in later cars. Steve.

Hi any garage that does regassing will have the appropriate gas for your model and the newer machines pressure test the system for leaks before they try and regas the system. Audi only use the expensive version which is the same as any other garage but theirs is cheaper there is no Royal Gas its all the same. Steve.

Hi if you get the car scanned for faults it should tell you which part is playing up its normally a bad connection on either of the front seats where they get pushed backwards and forwards, for a start take the seat connector blocks on the seats off and clean them with contact cleaner it may well solve the problem. Steve.

Hi welcome to the world of error free, well done. Steve.