Stevey Y

Hi, it might be its reset the EGR back to its closed position past the sticking point, considering most manufacturers consider 100k or ten years is the service life of most vehicles it will be over the 100k that the problems start, I would thoroughly recommend half a can of Lucas Turbo and EGR cleaner down the air intake pipe follow the instructions to the letter its amazing stuff and a cheap fix often as not. Steve.

Hi you have to remove the boot panel inside the boot on the broken side this will probably involve removing the rubber boot seal that side and then have a gentle prise with a plastic trim tool, cam assuming your battery is in the same place as mine in the spare wheel well.

Hi I saw the same guy today as I had to take the customer back to get his car, the engineer waved me down before I left and asked if there was any news subject to what he told me yesterday, I told him none but he went on to say its worth visual checking all the wiring in that area apparently when the wire corrode its a case of chase the ace to find the culprit, I also found another interesting fact that most dealerships have a machine that plugs into the OBD port that runs its own test voltages on the wiring system throws up a schematic of the offending section or module, this normally takes 15mins and they can have lunch in the 1: 3/4 hours thats chargable and fleece the customer for both the part/labour and diagnostics, this guy used to work for BMW so I have no reason to doubt him. I do hope we can solve this problem as times personal effort you are overdue a result, as for talking to people this particular problem has gripped my resolve to find out what it actually is and by asking everybody and anybody who might know I learn things peripheral to the problem. Steve.

Hi yes the EGR will be shut as the ECU has no way of knowing the airflow/ambient temp of the air coming in so therefore goes into a default strategy which involves mixture enrichment so you don't burn valves, the map out is a good shout as its the EGR gas mixed with the oil from the crank case venting system that forms that sticky tar which in turn clogs the inlet manifold and enbalms the swirl flaps in thick black sticky crud, I think they do a swirl flap delete kit on eBay. Steve.

Hi its quite possible as the electrics on these cars don't like voltage spikes, fortunately from memory I think the BEM is on the earth lead on the battery and is fairly cheap/easy to replace, have a look on youtube I remember watching a couple of videos on how to change the BEM. Steve.

Hi Kev its normally a software delete solution for the EGR as blocking it will throw an EML try unplugging the EGR and running it, from experience the EGR is monitored but only chucks out a code when the valve is well and truly stuck so the control unit cant open or close it, I had this on one of my Mondeos where I fitted a new turbo and within a couple of months it was throwing up codes for sticky vanes, I enquired with the company I purchased the unit from and they came back with its the EGR leaking, the EGR was only 15 months old but I changed it anyway and shoved a can of cleaner through the turbo and it all stopped, I later took the old unit and poured white spirit in to the valve chamber and sure enough it leaked through and considering red hot gas is no where near as dense as white spirit it must have been pouring through the tiniest gap, but no codes, Delphi/Wurth are excellent softwares. Steve.

Hi Andrew, I have not heard anything from the techno twins about voltages but in saying that I had a run down to our local German car specialists today so while down there I picked one of the engineers brains, he said that he concurred with my theory that the switch on the cylinder was not able to communicate with the control unit and if you have already fitted an LUK unit which is O.E. and thats not worked its a problem at the other end in the control unit, he then went on to say they had problems before with CCM units in A6 late models as due to moisture ingression the terminals in the plugs had corrode and in one case the wiring to the plugs had become brittle and the plastic covering on the wires was crusty and failing, its worth looking, I am assuming you have the saloon model and if you can get the wiring diagram and position of the module I would be looking at that before I would spend any money on looms/ecus or master cylinders, I will start pestering the other two tomorrow for the voltage stats, but I have a strong feeling that the ECU in the boot is the culprit. Steve.

Hi to be honest I have used your diagnostic software before and found it to be lacking in its ability to interrogate the ECU and other modules, VCDS/OBD Eleven are much better, my guess is its not the MAF as when you disconnect it the smoking stops this is because the car goes in to a default strategy that shuts the EGR valve down, my guess is the EGR internal valve is sticking open sometimes and is still allowing to much gas through when it shouldn't , this would also cause problems with a forced regeneration and as for the car being doctored if the DPF was mapped out it simply wouldn't regenerate however good your software was. Steve.

Hi sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you will need the BEM code from the top of the original battery to code the new one, you have to have VCDS or OBD Eleven to code it there is a video on youtube about how to code the battery using the old code but you have to change one digit of the code so it thinks thats the proper new battery, fitting a smaller battery is no good as the dimensions and amp hour/cranking voltage has to be exactly the same as the old unit, my guess is that the 2015 battery was an AGM for stop start which runs totally different voltage when cranking and I think you have probably fried the BEM module. Steve.

Hi Andrew, I got my master cylinder done today and as per the engineers instructions there is a definite sequence to observed before bleeding it out, to my method I would have just fitted it, bled it, and then tried to start the car, wrong according to our instructions, before you bleed the unit out you must leave the pedal on the floor and then start the car run it for a couple of min then turn it off and bleed it out, looking at it logically think that by the pedal being at the furthest point of travel the sensor at the top of the cylinder registers itself electromagnetically like a Hall sensor and despite my mate snapping the sensor mounting, we had to re mount it and fix it on with cable ties but it still works until I get another cylinder. I have asked the engineer if he can get the voltages for the diagram supplied, he says its not his speciality but he will ask the electrician where he works to look and advise on voltages, to my mind the control unit is blocking the introduction of the new unit as you described you can see the data bits change but its not allowing the the cylinder to register to start the vehicle, I don't honestly think its a wiring problem but it won't hurt to try another piece of loom, I could well be wrong and that solves the problem, also before fitting the new unit we deleted any codes that were present, back to you in a couple of days, it was the master cylinder not releasing the pressure that was causing my clutch to slip, why are these cars so complex. Steve.

Hi no the EGR is at the back halfway down the back of the engine its a large Valeo unit which is water cooled, its exactly the same as the ones used on the Mondeo DW12 engines, just pray they don't go wrong as they are a real mare to remove and you have to get the car in the air so you can get the bolts at the top and bottom but you have to remove half the engine bay to look at it, the unit itself is operated electrically from the PCM for the gas flow control but the bypass valve is pneumatic and and gets clogged and throws a code after its managed to clog the main valve which burns out the electronic drive mechanism. Steve.

Hi Andrew I have today managed to try Vagcom on my car and there does not seem to be any readaptation for the switch also have done a fair amount of reading on American sites which only really mention the stop/start control module which I realise is not much help but looking at what you have done I will try to see if I can get any voltage specs Tuesday when my car goes in for the same. my new clutch is slipping and on the inspection Friday he also noticed I have an almighty oily grunge leak which I think is a turbo hose and the gearbox mount is past its best all JOY. And work has gone mad so I see where you are coming from. Steve.

Hi Halfords do an AGM battery for £200 and will code and fit it for another £25.00, in this weather its a no brainer and gets my vote with a five year guarantee, cheap fix if you cant code it yourself. Steve.

Hi you said the noise occurs when turning my educated guess would be a wheel bearing as lower arm bushes won't make that type of noise and when they fail completely they bang and leave you in no doubt about whats failed, with regard to doing any suspension work you have to have a good tool kit and not be afraid of going where Angels fear to tread. Steve.

Hi I hate to say this but most of your faults would lead back to the battery as when they go down hill it causes all sorts of weird and wonderful faults, if its the original battery it should have the year of the battery on the unit somewhere, if in doubt change the battery clear all faults and start again, see which faults reappear that will give you a good indication of what is realtime and what is caused by voltage draw being low, depending on your milage my pure guess is that the oxygen sensor is failing and your throttle body has excessive carbon this throws up ABS and traction control lights as both units are switched out when the engine is struggling to produce enough power as both these elements are a massive drain on engine power, I would stick with VCDS as it is a manufacturer specific software. Steve.

Hi the black oil is normal and its only the combustion particles in it that make it black which starts as soon as the engine starts after servicing, a gearbox filters/oil change may well improve its operation as wouldn't mind betting its never been changed, gear oil and alternator belts are always the last thing to be looked at. Steve.

Hi, not if you are prepared to get the car on ramps to ease access to the underside and get dirty removing all visible rust and coating it with Waxoyl underseal I would employ a reasonable bodyshop to repair the sills as they may need to cut out the rusted area and replace with new steel fillets which cuts down the use of excessive body filler as the filler if to thick absorbs moisture and rots out more of the sill, I wish you luck and please let us know how you get on. Steve.

Hi hate to contradict but thats the throttle body the EGR is at the other end of the silver ribbed tube, the cr@p falls out of the tube down onto the throttle butterfly. Steve.

Hi, precisely, there is a large market over here for ex Japanese grey imports because they are better specced than their European brothers and the average Japanese owner gets more money selling his car to the exporters as is won't incur any tax, scrapping it does. Steve.

Hi get an old spray bottle half fill with water and a little washing up liquid, shake until it foams and then spray around the air bags with the motor running you will see any leaks bubbling out in the foam, if its not that I would get the level sensors checked and reset. Steve.

Hi I do think you are more than methodical in your approach, it could well be that a smart charge wire is corroded but I would be inclined to check the Battery Energy Monitor on the earth terminal as these won't allow the alternator to charge properly if it is going down as it will tell the ECU the battery only needs twelve volts when it needs fourteen, I have read a lot on line about these and apparently they are prone to failure. Steve.

Hi you might want to check all the earths wile inside the doors and check the loom from the door to the body they are inside the rubber boot which insulates the wires, have a look at youtube for your problem there are plenty of videos on how to take the door cards off and what to look for, I don't think its the regulators its definitely corrosion somewhere, I wish you luck. Steve.

Hi well done and thanks for posting the resolution. Steve.

Hi I cite the case of the Cooper S on Bangers and Cash, it was on a pallet with barely any un rusted panels but it still made telephone number bids at auction, with regards to common as muck which could produce suitable donor parts from recycling outlets take a look at the humble Fords, MK3 Cortinas, MK2 Escorts, there was loads of them produced and then they suddenly disappeared, you would pay five grand for a well used car now and a whole lot more for a pristine model, its all about forward thinking what is common now could well be not so common and very desirable in ten years when the world is full of electric and hybrid cars that no one can fix or wants, so if you have the time and willpower not to mention space, why not.

Hi has it got a key, if so a door lock would be a good place to start, cant imagine they would have abandoned the door lock barrel just yet. Steve.