Stevey Y

Hi, Clifford your analysis is not to far off the mark, I honestly believe a lot of these people rock up expecting an instant concise diagnosis based on the flimsiest of information and then take the possible reason and run off into cyber space with a cheers easy attitude, I personally now don't wonder why a lot of these first post problems don't get a reply, I admire people like yourself Gareth, Steve who along with a few others keep trying, I have come across the same situation on the Ford forum where one of the guys who used the forum worked for Fords and handed out good solid information like confetti and eventually got fed up with being ignored and never did post again, a massive loss to the forum and those who actually had thanked him. Steve.

Hi Stevie, I can't argue against the reliability and appeal of the pickups but I am glad its not only me who's noticed the cars are overpriced cr@p, what on earth is going on in the minds of the buyers of these cars it seems to be a kind of Monocular buyers syndrome, I really believe these people are readily brainwashed by the salesman. and only learn by the mistake when in a couple of years what they have for sale is about as popular as Covid, still there are those out there suffering the depravation of buying an approved used dealer car and that includes Audi unfortunately. I think even when my A6 has expired as a cab I will be hard pressed to get rid of it. Steve.

Hi gents, I had my first ever sit-down in a Hybrid today and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement, one of my fellow drivers had the back of his 2017 Skoda Superb caved in by another motorist and has been given a 2019 Toyota Corolla Hybrid as a replacement cab until his one is fixed, he kept telling me what a fine drive it is so thought I would take a look, to start with as an estate its cramped and does not even compete with my old Mondeo estate for room, the seats are some cruddy nylon material but comfortable enough, every other gadget known to man is on a fixed MMI replica, the doors are very thin and light and the interior plastics dash etc are made from rather uninspiring black hard plastic, here is the best bit if you sit with the ignition on position two as I often do when on the phone for a length of time say twenty mins the car starts itself so it can top up the drive battery, how is that running for fifteen mins cutting emissions furthermore I am running a five year old battery which when i turn off completely after using the phone still starts the car when I want it to, looks wise its still an ugly car even my old MK4/5 facelift Mondeo estate had more presence than this thing, it sat well and looked like the old MK4 on steroids, I defy anyone to say that the Audi styling is as bad as the Toyota and the trim is the same even the older Audis still turn heads how the Toyota justifies a second hand price tag of around £20,000 is beyond me as it is soul less when you look at what you could get elsewhere for the same money, it really made me appreciate climbing back into my Avant, the driver came and spoke to me just before I clocked off and admitted he actually can't wait to get his Skoda back. Steve.

Hi sound like it could be water ingress in a fuse box, was the new throttle sensor recoded. Steve.

Hi good skills Steve and well put, but have you not noticed the pattern, I heard her waffling on a radio talk show the other day and giving the host a roasting because he made a couple of counter points, the world is full of hormonally challenged old rotters who just can't wait to have a go at anything male because they hate us, I come across this a lot in my line of work as we have the worlds supply of middle aged dames around my town who's opinions are never wrong. Prime example, I picked up a fare a couple of weeks ago who wanted to go to a railway station in another town, why I don't know as she was going to London and our local line half a mile away goes straight through that station she was going to, anyway when she was turning out of her road she demanded to go through the lanes, I explained that it had rained and the temperature was only 2.5 degrees allied to the fact that they don't salt the lanes it was not best policy to go a longer more dangerous route, my god she exploded big time when I went the other way, she said I am paying for this, and I explained I was an owner driver and paying for the car and if she wanted I could drop her off, no charge, and she could try and get a driver of another vehicle to take her the way she wanted, she declined and contented herself with putting in a complaint to the company about me, they listened to the audio of the journey and found me not in the slightest bit wrong, they suggested she take her complaint to licensing who would also have a copy of the audio, she again declined, had her as a fare a week later and she was all sweetness and light, How are you and all smiles, amazing what an HRT patch will do, I wouldn't let it get to you as she will disappear into the abyss of politics as a nonentity sooner than you think. Steve.

Hi I would be getting the car scanned for faults, you say that you replaced a calliper but no mention of if you re programmed the new calliper as they are not plug in and play thats why they tell you not to unplug your original calliper as it loses its values. Steve.

Hi if you recently had the rad changed its probably the last of the air escaping when you remove the cap, if its not overheating don't worry as if you top it up to between min-max when warm it should stay there except when very hot and it will register max because that is why its correct term is expansion tank. Steve.

Hi Brett heres the pictures from parts catalogue.

Hi guys anyone noticed that Jaguar are already selling previously enjoyed refurbished F Pace electric models for a knock down price, which raises the following questions, how long has this model been out and why are so many being returned, I wouldn't mind betting the new R8 will go down as being as popular as a steaming hot glass of pork fat, why would anyone take something that well built by a specialist factory and turn it in to a milk float, in addition to which my insurance broker has already told me that most companies are running shy of offering terms for Hybrids in view of the massive repair costs or replacement vehicles, if we support the current range of proposals eventually car ownership will become a distant memory for Joe average. Steve.

Hi I have a VAG parts system if you can give me your VIN I can have a look on that for the part numbers but in all honesty if you are thinking of going to Audi have a Trauma kit available when they give you the prices, they wanted £160.00 for the part I wanted which I got from a VAG breakers near me who were on eBay for £40, big saving for a little looking/phoning about, have a look on line as there is a good chance someone is breaking the same car or near as damn it. Steve.

Hi I think the diagrams you have looked at will cover that as the estate versions are only a few inches longer which is only a body extension on a current platform, therefore the shielding etc is probably the same, theory/ practise I damaged part of the side shield over the fuel filter mount and bought one s/h from a breakers near me from a saloon that was a year older and it fitted perfectly on my Avant. Steve.

Hi Arnott are very clever in so much as their units carry uprated parts that are normally prone to failure on the O.E. parts fitted, if you get one its one of those things over time that you can actually see where the extra money went. Steve.

Hi, you most certainly have a case and yes if you can run to it get a solicitor involved even if its only advice, it is indeed their problem as the car was not fit for purpose, as for Audi approved I wouldn't give an old snotty tissue for their idea of checks the AA are about the most honest and precise checkers of car faults as they have no allegiance to any dealer and by the sound of it a trained Ape would have spotted that fault, I have personally witnessed the obscene lack of attention to detail with their service plans, go in hard and fast while you still have the whip hand time wise and don't let them string you along, the uneconomical repair bullocks won't hold water as wether or not under sold won't come into it as they were happy with that price, they sold you a car that is defective and not as advertised so taking in your after purchase fiscal outlay you obviously intended to keep the car and want it put back to as advertised condition, they are not known as Audi main Stealers for nothing. Steve.

Hi I can understand Jaguar having this problem as their software programs are abysmal along with the wiring and Can Gateway protocols ask any AA-RAC technician and they will tell you they hate working on them, as for the VW Caddy thats an ECU strategy program fault, I have come across this before with my mates Mazda 6, every time it came up for a service just before the due milage the DPF blocked light would appear which meant they had to force regeneration it at every service, we broke the cycle by forced regeneration before the service due came on and the blocked light still appeared and I finally worked out that it was part of the software programming so they could charge for the extra work as well as the special Low Saps oil at £70 for five litres, we got the DPF strategy programmed out and the core removed and guess what 9k later the blocked light appeared again just before the service due light, so how can something that has had the restriction removed be blocked, Transits have Adblue problems so do a lot of other makes, why, because clever old Audi, BMW, Mercedes all have heater elements in the Adblue tank to stop the stuff from crystallising when cold. Steve.

Hi I was privileged to a conversation between two Ford engineers who work on the development of commercial Diesel engines, apparently they were launching the new all electric Transit and were scoffing at the range which was quoted at 250 miles, they then told me it was easy to get the range down to 100 miles when carrying only half of its alleged ton and a half maximum thats why they were only building five hundred to start with, never heard any more after the launch. The subject went on to HGVs and they told me that the race was on to produce the first thousand horsepower Diesel unit for lorries, Scania were ahead of Ford the idea being that a thousand horses will have an incredible amount of torque between 900-2000rpm so no need to rev it and with the addition of upgraded Adblue systems 45 percent less emissions, they were amused when I asked if they had tried to produce an electric lorry the answer was no because as they explained a 40 foot trucker going to Manchester from London would need stop at least five times to recharge therefore with current HGV driving laws the journey could take up to two days if not more plus the load capacity of the vehicle is much reduced due to the weight of the USS Nimitz sized batteries. Steve.

Hi sorry you will have to buy a new filter as the sealing ring comes with the filter, or are we talking of a split in the metal housing in which case they are bolted to the engine and are replaceable even if its a second hand unit, it will help a lot if you can pst a picture of the offending split. Steve.

Hi Steve, with regard to the chip oil I went into that myself and what was required, basically you would need to have your own small refinery in the back garden and then the purchase of the additives to make real Bio Diesel, the cost did not quite make it a going proposition as unless you were going into major production the savings were minimal which is why McDonalds who run their lorries on their waste oil get it blended at a refinery which in view of the volume makes it a cheap option. We then came to the tale of the Bio Diesel plant that opened up on an industrial estate next to my local garage, at 30p a litre cheaper than them I thought it would start a price war, WRONG, the garage was not getting in to a Dutch Auction with the Bio boys because they already knew what was going to happen, Shell makes fuel at a refinery and it has to reach stringent criteria to be sold, look at the Tesco fiasco a few years ago when an over treated batch of fuel was terminating the customers engines. I digress, in the event everyone and their dog was making a beeline for the Bio boys outlet, this went on for most of the summer then when the world cooled down thats when the fun started a lot of my fellow cabbies were using Bio and were suddenly experiencing loads of limp mode, one of them asked me to plug his in to find any faults, virtually all the 1.8 tdci and 2.0 tdci I plugged into that day had the same problem, low fuel pressure which begs the question how can so many HPFPs fail at once, the answer was in the first one I changed the fuel filter on it and it was full of what appeared to be black Rowntrees jelly, because most of the early Mondeos had the filter housing hanging down by the rear subframe and open to the elements and whatever was in the Bio solidified and inhibited the fuel flow, new filter and a clean out of the filter housing produced miraculous results, the moral of the story is if its that cheap, why is it that cheap, you wouldn't give your family recycled food waste. Steve.

Hi Anton the tanks on our models hold at least 17litres 10litres normally shuts it up, its easy to do and unless you put HGV Adblue in you can't go wrong all brands for cars are twenty-five percent Urea and seventy five percent water, yes good old H2o, it is not corrosive and is easily dispersed with tap water it will stain cotton clothing as the bleach in the Urea [urine] will attack the dye. You can't overfill the system as there is no level monitor as the usage is monitored via an ECU calculation per litre of fuel burnt, I always fill mine until it comes out of the filler neck, then wash the cap under a tap and refit the cap then wash the whole thing inside the filler cap with a watering can, job done, sometimes it won't even take the fuel 10litres this is where the ECU has over calculated the usage. Steve.

Hi Steve as you pointed out its all about the TAX, I still think it will make hysterically funny viewing when they try to tell the car owners in America they can't drive their Dodge Rams and Ford Rangers anymore, what you have to factor in is the fact that a large percentage of this country know nothing about cars except how to steer them and a lot of them have problems with that and will buy whatever they are coerced in to purchasing because the government says its better than what they had before, prime examples are people who have already purchased Hybrid Audis are already posting problems that no one really knows any definitive answer to, these poor souls are trapped in their own little universe between main dealers who won't give them answers because they don't really know and want to land them with an eye watering bill why they practice on the customers car, then us who simply don't know, or from my perspective don't want to, come on guys do your homework rather than being worried about how cool you will be with an electric/hybrid car no one in the real world gives a rats !Removed! about green credentials, its about the survival of your future lifestyle with your family, do you realistically want to mortgage a car, anyone who wants to buy a car if they have any sense will ask themselves the following, will the family fit in to it and if so what are the running costs, are repairs and servicing going to be affordable, can I fix small problems myself with help/advice, if the answer is none of the above go buy electric/hybrid and you get life membership to the I just bought the latest LEMON club, google in about the field just outside Paris with redundant Renaults etc where the batteries have died and they don't know what to do with them, no available disposal plan. Steve.

Hi no problem, its just a bit frustrating when you can't physically see the vehicle and are just hoping you are giving some advice that may help, thank you for publishing what did and did not work this will at least give someone else in your position a few options they might not otherwise have been aware of. Steve.

Hi it won't come back as good, the clicking is the solenoid on the starter trying to engage the starter dog gear without sufficient power, other than that the starter unit could be extinct, or even the alternator, the battery is a good place to start. Steve.

Hi thats a bit different the transponder is that part to the left with the winding coils and the beggar is cold soldered in, if you can get the part number for your key there are loads of new un programmed fobs on eBay for not to much money, I was expecting to see a black transponder chip wedged on the board somewhere, I have spoken to a friend who is an automotive locksmith and he said the plug in keys are a nightmare which is why later models had the key modulation from the fob rather than the key having to be physically inside what was the ignition barrel, I would consult a local car key locksmith as they may well have a solution for you, Jamie has always told me what fob to buy and where to get it from and then programmed it from the original. Steve.

Hi can you publish the bulb types you have originally. Steve.

Hi you can buy a new lens on the internet, you will have to take the unit out and take off the old cover with a heat gun or similar, plenty of videos on youtube on how to do it and it is the consuming but the savings are massive. Steve.

Hi its quite a big husband and wife concern with branches all over London so its perfectly possible, head office I believe is in Thurrock. Steve.