Stevey Y

Hi sorry to hear of your troubles, you should not be having these problems and certainly not have to wait until new year for them to fix it, my personal view is that they have all bought the golf cart revolution and are just trying to get rid of what they perceive as redundant stock out of the door before they take on more of the new stock, I have met a lot of people, [cab driver] who have had various electrical problems with their Audis and most of them are under fifteen months old, its good for me for all the wrong reasons as they get cabs to work because the cars are back at the dealers for weeks sometimes, Audi are doing a first class job of destroying a hard won reputation, if that was mine it would be going back with the statement, I want a car that works, I know cars need updates to avoid future problems at around 40k but not 900 miles. Steve.

Hi dont qote me but I think they are plug in and play if thats a whole rail you bought you only need the bit on the end, just get anew seal. Steve.

Hi you can't beat a good old heavy oil burner, just drive along looking for a garage if you feel the need, I know where you are coming from I did a trip to St Ives back in the summer 350 miles there and still had half a tank and I wasn't hanging about. Steve.

Hi is it a DSG gearbox, if so it could be a problem with that. Steve.

Hi as far as I am aware there is not one, after my cam belt was changed the mechanic ran it up to temp with the heater on hot then turned it off took the tank cap off and just kept squeezing the hoses either side of the rad and the air came out, then he just ran it again for about five minutes with the cap off and few more small bubbles appeared in the tank, cap back on and that was it I topped it up a couple of days later and its done 800 miles since with no problems. Steve.

Hi I would hazard a guess its the fuel rail sensor as if it was the pump regulator it would be running all over the place when driving, apart from which the rail regulator is the easiest and cheapest to fix. Steve.

Hi it probably is compatible if the site says it is as the letter is a build year denomination, for example I have just bought two engine mounts which have the supersession numbers stamped on the box same part number as the originals just a different letter, so are they the wrong ones?, I think not. Steve.

Hi nice clear pictures well done, I must say the trim removal is to say the least comprehensive but thats better than tearing your hands to pieces trying to work in a confined space, just shows that the shortest route is not necessarily the quickest, good skills and you have saved yourself a wad in labour doing it yourself. Steve.

Hi Clifford maybe the lass thought she may not have posted correctly the first time, we have all done similar things.

Hi as I said if you get a sniffer test that will prove if its the head gasket, with regard to the other thing we are nearly all old on here and are sometimes easily confused, don't take it personally. Steve.

Hi it sounds like the bulb inspection covers on the back of the headlight units have degraded and no longer seal what they are meant to protect, the light units are easy to remove two screws and a bit of a wiggle, after removing the wiring connector remove the back cover and place the units near a radiator in the house overnight to let. the condensation evaporate, faster than this is hijack the missus hair dryer and give them a blow out with that. If you then inspect the covers they should have a rubber seal embedded around the edge, you can go at this one of two ways either buy new covers or the cheapest option is give the seals a good coat of silicon grease and then reassemble and see if that works, if it doesn't have the back plates off and run a thin bead of good quality black silicon sealant around the seal let it dry and reassemble them. Steve.

Hi poor MPG would be a factor that would manifest itself when the ambient temperature is very low and the enrichment strategy on the injection system runs for longer to try and get the engine up to temperature, its been quite mild so at around 9-12 degrees you won't really notice any difference, in view of the cost of a new thermostat its better to just replace it rather than limp along with a problem that in the long run may cost a whole lot more to fix. Steve.

Hi sorry they are on youtube.

Hi is it auto or manual, either way there are a couple of videos from a company that does retrofit buttons for your car it may be well worth contacting them. Steve.

Hi most likely the thermostat is stuck slightly open which is a better prospect than stuck shut with tat you would get plenty of heat at two miles and at twenty a lot of steam. Steve.

Hi, cam belt is every 80k or five years despite what Audi tell you, I would get it done on principle as if there is no mention of it in the service history now would be a good time, my daughter bought a Q3 with the same milage but a year older than your car, that was the second job I had done after I had replaced the discs and pads and serviced the car, my mechanic showed me it was the original belt to be fair it was in reasonable condition but when placed against the new belt the original had stretched about 3-4mm. the other thing is check for a gearbox service as these can give no end of trouble if the oil is not changed about every 30k, other than that just the usual consumables filters oil etc. Steve.

HI, Clifford is right it may well be the battery in which case replace it and while they are coding the battery the new battery get them to clear any faults, the emissions light may well be a dodgy oxygen sensor which is an easy cheap fix. Steve.

Hi, I would be aiming it straight back at Carbase with the facts, not fit for purpose is the term used, let us know how you get on, half these warranties are not worth the paper and small print written on them. Steve.

Hi thats one of the weirdest convertibles I have ever seen, the only way to confirm if its the head gasket is to take it to a garage that has a sniffer test kit, they remove the water bottle cap and instal the device with a special liquid in it and leave the car running if the device detects any exhaust gas in the water system it changes colour. Steve.

Hi you are right about almost all of it except the fans run for about five minutes after the regen if you are standing still otherwise there is a real possibility of having to call the fire service which is why if you have a problem with your fan circuit the car won't regenerate. Steve.

Hi, the first port of call would be change the pollen filter as if this is blocked the ambient air temperature sensor in the engine bay will be sending information to the other sensors in the heating circuit which won't tally up with the out side readings as the filter won't be letting in enough of the right temperature air so that the other sensors raise or lower the cabin air temperature. Steve.

Hi Gareth, when I asked the guy the first time the clutch started slipping what brand of clutch they had used he replied that they are their own brand of remanufactured clutches, then explained that the clutch assemblies were stripped cleaned and any parts that were badly worn were replaced and new friction material was put on the driven plate, sorry but any metal component that has springs and bearing surfaces and been living in a world of five hundred degrees for 70k is not really usable due to metallurgical deformation. Went into the world of remanufacturing and it makes for depressing reading, the wear checks are if it looks ok it will go again, rebuilt is a better world marginally as if done by the manufacturer of the original item as this involves a lot of new parts so the item technically will perform as new, an example that springs to mind is a friend of mine back in the eighties had a 3.0 S Capri which had knocked out the big ends, A genuine Ford recon engine was about a grand so he opted for a remanufactured unit from a place in London at £500 we went and collected it in his dads old Vauxhall Viva van, we then spent a weekend fitting it and it wouldn't idle smoothly, we looked at the invoice which mentioned reground crank new shells etc as well as completely remanufactured heads, all good, a week later we got a carb overhaul kit and still no joy, we both stood there in a fit of despair, my mate was talking about setting light to it and claiming off the insurance, I decided to have the rocker covers off and run it to see if there was anything obvious like a bent push rod and there was the answer, as it was a V6 it had two cylinder heads and on one of the castings it had HC hi compression the other had LC low compression, they had fitted the first heads that came to hand. Steve.

Hi get the build spec for your car, even if fitted the new panel will need recoding and unless you are confident with VCDS leave it alone as if you get it wrong you can cause a world of problems especially if its not fitted with heat pads or cooling motors. Steve.

Hi not Mr Clutch, they only use there own refurbished units which go again in record time thats why they are cheap, they did a clutch on my Alfa and the first one went in six weeks, after the replacement was fitted it lasted three months after which I bought a genuine Valeo clutch and fitted it myself, that was two years ago and its still fine, have a look on eBay and buy your own LUK unit then as Gareth suggested find a local garage.

Hi have look on a website called Zap 7 and get the part numbers, alternatively ask a turbo specialist they are normally pretty helpful. I strongly suspect they are the same but best advice is check twice do once. Steve.