Stevey Y

Hi , here goes, the only cars built with all leather seats are Bentleys, Rolls Royce and some top end Mercedes and BMWs, the rest of us lower end users have to exist with leather fascias on the face of the back rest and the bolsters, the sides and back of the seat is Faux of varying qualities depending on the manufacturer and I don't think any Vegan would consider consuming this however attractive. All the wear areas that you sit on are a painted colouring which is sealed with a clear plasticised coating to prevent cracking don't believe anyone who tells you that hide food sinks in it does not unless you have any of the above high end vehicles, the best products to clean the surfaces leather/faux is Autoglym cleaner after which use Autoglym leather balm which reseals the surface and prevents further dirt build up in the grain off the leather surfaces. Steve.

Hi its Ok I have come across this idea before and recently on youtube with some lunatic hosing down the inlet pipe, it made me cringe as I was present when one of my fellow cabbies had driven his Toyota through a puddle at his speed which had caused compression lock when the mechanic took the head off the cylinder that had the snapped con rod had only about an egg cup of water in it, just enough to lock it up snap the rod in half and then the remainder of the con rod had bashed a hole through the block, game over. The brake fluid idea was used on old engines and did work as brake fluid melts carbon and can be burnt off when the plugs are reinstalled and the engine is started, my mechanic had a customer who was head of the local church he owned an old seventies Dolomite Sprint he used to do a lot of the work himself but didn't fancy a decoke himself so he tried my mechanic who was not keen as removing the cylinder head was nigh on impossible due to bi metal corrosion, all alloy engine, he suggested the cheap fix with brake fluid but forgot to tell him the engine should not be running when he did this just turned over with the plugs removed, the guys nickname was born again Bob and after he tried it with the engine running, when it flamed back through the carb and set light to his hair he was then renamed Burn again Bob which even he found funny. Steve.

Hi I wish you luck, I have come across dodgy hall sensors before on one of my Fords despite the fact it was a Nippon Denso it turned out the length of the pick up meant that it was to close to the reluctor which gave me all sorts of problems I eventually changed it back to Delphi which had the same pick up length as the Ford original. Steve.

Hi try eBay or a general google, I have never replaced one of these but if you find a replacement unit the studs on it will give you a good idea of where to undo the nuts on the rear of the unit once you have removed the rear interior trim in the boot. Steve.

Hi the Audi perspective is that the boxes are Filled for life the Sealed for life boxes they produced did not sell cars so they abandoned that one but they are not about to tell you the oil needs changing along with the filters etc as that won't help with the sales of exchange boxes, my mechanic recommends every 35k or two years, as he services several taxis in my area that have DSG gearboxes and none of them despite starship milage have suffered gearbox failure I would be led to believe he may well be right. Steve.

Hi this method of decarbonising was used years ago on commercial Diesel engines, Gardener etc just the same as pouring brake fluid into carburettors on petrol engines [NOT WHILE RUNNING] and leaving overnight, carbon build up on the backs of valves is a common problem with direct injection systems, back in the days of inlet manifold mounted injection the mixture of fuel would keep the backs of the valves reasonably clear. Unless you want to scrap your engine observe the following, if you inadvertently spray in to much water you will cause whats known as compression lock as water is not a compressible medium this will have the effect of best case bending a con rod, worse case cause the con rod to snap, if you are super lucky the large chunks of carbon shaken loose will be inducted and go into super heat, then its the turn of the DPF to deal with these superheated fire balls which are so hot and hard that they just stick to the surface of the core eventually causing catastrophic failure of the core. Using a proprietary fuel additive will have the same effect by dissolving the carbon down to a more manageable size for the DPF to pass. Steve.

If you factor in to the equation that all dealers are franchised and different, from experience I have found out that the two dealers nearest me are like chalk and cheese, one is very helpful with advice on parts etc, the other is very trite and will not offer a shred of advice, prime example being an exhaust bracket I had to order recently one wanted £23.00 next day and the other wanted £32.00 and a three day wait, I guess its luck of the draw, no one on here as far as I am aware has ever claimed that indie garages are perfect just the same as a lot of dealerships are not perfect. In the final analysis if you have found a dealership you are happy with and your perception of price is reasonable good skills, with regard to the service history looking better, unless you are thinking of selling in the next two years the residual prices second hand are dropping dramatically as everyone will be pushed towards Hybrid or Full Electric so the service history will be thrown in with the pot of vehicles that no one really wants. I wholeheartedly agree with Steve and his philosophy on his Audi as most of the new generation of technicians won't have heard of his model, let alone worked on one. Steve.

Hi the sensor you changed is whats known as a Hall trigger sensor assuming it was working ok after you fitted it and taking in to consideration that it is only a collector of information supplied by the reluctor ring that would lead me to believe that something in the reluctor had broken down, therefore the only way to eliminate the sensor on that wheel would be to try another sensor, my guess is that some of the trigger sensors in the reluctor have broken down or corroded to the extent they have formed a chain rather than a circle of triggers with gaps between them, looking at the age of the vehicle if its the original reluctor and the replacement sensor is doing the same thing it all points back at the ring I am afraid. Steve.

Hi it is not the ABS sensor thats at fault its the reluctor ring in the hub that the sensor picks its info up from, possibly corrosion if its the tooth type on the C.V. Joint or alternatively if the ring is fitted to the face of the bearing its probably just knackered. Steve.

Hi no you are not being dim, and indeed you may well be looking at the wrong part, believe me I have tried on both sites GSF/Euros and is all they could offer was an email alert if they ever get anywhere near it, loads of second hand units in breakers in Europe, it seems that the lower HP models have available clutches mostly for the DSG gearbox but not the manual, I even managed to get a printout from my local spares shops Audi parts system which is more up to date I have picture of it but no part numbers for the kit.

Try youtube they often have fix it videos for that sort of thing even if the model shown is a couple of years older it normally puts you in the right ball park. Steve.

Hi Gareth, the clutches are definitely made by LUK I managed to get pictures of a second hand clutch on a German breakers site and it was the same model as mine except it was L/H drive and red, the clutch had LUK stamped on it, I know its the patent release issue as I had the same problem with Ford until a year after the car was six years old they released to aftermarket and the clutch fell down price wise to half price. With regard to type approval Europe ditched that back in the eighties as they suddenly realised how much the oe suppliers were making in the UK selling to the aftermarket outlets under their own name, will try Sachs its worth a go, thanks for the heads up. Steve.

Hi Gents, the A6 is just coming up to 100k so I thought I had better start enquiring about the price of a new clutch, its a six speed manual gearbox, nothing fancy, it would appear that none of the usual aftermarket suppliers of LUK clutches can get them so I thought I would try the local dealers, what a conversation that was they offered a deal on supply and fit £2,800 with the VAT, after my missus had given me a blast on the Defib unit I politely declined and tried TPS they were marginally better at £1,500 for the parts, I phoned LUK direct and they claim they don't make the clutches but the bit of info I gleaned from an American forum reckons they are made by LUK in Eastern Europe, what is the matter with these clowns, I think that Audi have not yet released LUK from the patent agreement yet but on a five year old vehicle, really, I am thinking I might just see how far the original clutch will go before taking a large bite of the guano sandwich, with that sort of attitude to after sales parts I definitely can't see anyone rushing out to bankrupt themselves on a new all electric model, god knows what mortgage sized prices the spare parts will command. Steve.

Hi from the excellent photo supplied it may be that the matrix is partially blocked as it looks as though only a small portion of it is being used hence the bypass effect. Looking at the writing on the side its made by the French which would explain a lot, never done one myself but it looks good for access if you are handy with a socket set. Steve.

Try your local reconditioners I personally have had loads of odd bits out of them for very little money if you ask nicely they normally have something laying about they generally keep everything in case they ever need it, I wish you the best of luck with it. Steve.

Hi, have a look on eBay. Steve.

Hi good skills, the only problem is that the home made actuation arm may cut down on the turbo flow rate as the Turbos when manufactured/reconditioned the actuator functions are set up in a flow tank using coloured smoke and measuring devices for airflow, I was privileged to watch one of my turbos being rebuilt at a local specialist, you don't appreciate how precise these things are until you watch the calibration process as the slightest adjustment of the actuator arm causes quite a dramatic difference in the flow rate across the rev range. I think Steves idea is a good one as a stock arm because its rose jointed would definitely put you nearer the middle of the ball park and at least the remainder of the old unit could be reconditioned for use another time or sold on if you don't use it, my old 2.2 Mondeo turbo I had reconned I never used it it cost me £360.00 to have done and I recently sold it on a Ford enthusiast site for just under £500. Steve.

Hi try brake depot online

Its all about the attention to detail with servicing and checks as well as timely consumable part replacement, with the correct engineering platform I am convinced these cars can go on forever if looked after. Steve.

Gareth try and disagree with the above, both are high profile manufacturers of braking consumables to both aftermarket and motor manufacturers, I really don't think they would publish either of these statements if there was even a hint of culpability if the information is wrong, I would draw your attention to the first paragraph of the EBC blog and then to the first paragraph on the ATE blog, they state that both OE and aftermarket are manufactured to a comparable standard to achieve certification. Steve.

The tyre manufacturers tender their tyres for approval for testing on new models to be launched, the vehicle producer specifies nothing involved in the business of making the tyre, its all off the peg if it fits and performs well they buy it and use it in production the only thing they specify is the profile and width therefore does that mean Fords 225x55x17 won't fit the same size rim on a vauxhall because Ford specified it solely for their cars. As for comparing a food retailers product to discs and pad manufacturers that could not be a more inane analogy, its patently clear in the world of cars some folks have a phobia about original parts, some don't, but the aspect I find unpalatable is miss information on the choice of products available based entirely on personal preference and no practical experience of using these alternative products, its not fair and unbiased advice. Steve.

I am all over the progress bit my little piece of technology has just blitzed a seven hundred mile round trip averaging 40-45 mpg at motorway speeds, never missed a beat, by far and away the best car I have ever owned. Steve.

I would seriously question the logic of the last couple of statements, why would a disc manufacturer run a separate production line for manufacturers it won't make any fiscal sense especially when they make more profit from selling aftermarket than from the prices they are bolted down to by the manufacturer are better just because something is cheaper if its made by the same disc manufacturer why would that make it substandard, same goes for the batteries, the original Silver Calcium battery fitted to my last Ford lasted about four years before I replaced it with a Yuasa equivalent which was still on the car when I sold it four years later, Believe me over 800,000 miles between three cabs I have just about tried every combination of discs and pads going and as long as you use Bosch,Brembo,TRW, all OE supplied units I never got less than sixty thousand miles out of each brand which from a cab drivers perspective is awesome considering we live [Or Die] on our brakes, most branded aftermarket discs are coated to prevent the rotting of the outer edge and the mounting boss coating stops the grooving on the disc caused by the corrosion on the boss, if you consider that with use most discs become magnetic the surface of the discs will attract the particles of rusty steel as it flies of of the boss, no rust no grooves, the easiest way to help upgrade your brakes nine times out of ten is to change the fluid every 30k most people forget that brake fluid is Hydroscopic and as the filler cap is vented it will absorb water. Now we come to the old cookie of your first set of tyres lasting longer, they do, but I was told by a Michelin rep that is common practise as it ensures people buy the same tyre in the future which won't wear nearly as well [guaranteed repeat custom] the original tyres are a better more expensive compound to impress the new owner witless. Steve. Steve.