Stevey Y

Hi the seats are only heated if it was specified as a build option when the car was build specked, very few manufacturers have a true heated screen as Ford own the patent for the quick clear screen, I have seen a couple of Merc models with it but Ford charge a fortune to issue a limited licence for other manufacturers vehicles. Steve.

Hi you won't get that on a petrol vehicle as its as you say a different set up, what you describe as turbo flutter sounds very much like the EGR doing its repositioning cycle my car does it and has done since the day I got it 62k ago, I think you are possibly over reacting to a noise that has probably been there all along I seriously don't think your vehicle has any major problem. Steve.

Hi are you using cheap fuel this will cause that sort of problem as it won't burn properly and causes larger soot particles, have a look on the net for a DPF cleaner that you can add to the fuel if you do a lot of city driving. Steve.

Hi wrong, the ASV closes to eliminate any further air going in when the engine stops once stopped the butterfly valve promptly goes back to its vertical position [wide open] until the ECU tells it to assume its starting position when the ignition key/button is at position two, as for the fluttering all turbos run on a couple of second after the engine shuts down, on the old turbines back in the eighties the advice was to sit there idling for at least five minuets after a run to allow the turbo to slow down, the bearing shafts on these old units ran in a small bath of oil but anything after that was pressure fed with oil so the bearing chamber is fed until the bearings stop moving, removing the pipe just dissipates the last of the air more quickly. Steve.

Hi what engine does you car have if its the same as my 16 plate a CNHA unit the boost pressure sensor sits at the back of the engine on the right hand side just above the inlet manifold on its own little bracket and a pipe which runs down to the inlet manifold, its easy to change and is about £60, if you can post a picture of your engine bay without the plastic cover then I can confirm. Steve.

Hi get VCDS then you can set the inspection due to rows of zeros so it never comes on again, I have done it with my car and the process is applied to all Audi models. Steve.

Hi I felt really sorry for your unsuspecting dealer for about two milliseconds, he was probably used to saying NO and the victim going away to pay for it themselves but he came well and truly unstuck with you, 10/10 for effort well done. Steve.

Hi not sure about Tourque Pro but I know you can use OBD11 that works, I must admit what your wife said about this site made me smile, thats why your mobile mechanic has not appeared as with the right tools its a simple job but the thing that scares him is the relearn, I suspect its a bit above his pay grade, this site has helped many people and we have given you the correct information to complete the task which begs the question, why ask the site. Steve.

Hi did you relearn the new values on the replacement throttle body if you don't do this they run like a bag of nails, also did you have a code for the EGR. Steve.

Hi like you said Gareth the car could have come from a PX arrangement from an Audi dealer and I am sure it would have been driven so the fault may have presented itself then, which proves my point, they lie to each other let alone the end user. Good skills Karl it just shows what a bit of persistence and your own flame thrower will produce, would love to have been a fly on the wall for that one. Steve.

Hi, sounds like a faulty thermostat or temp sensor or still has air in system or cylinder head temp sensor giving monkey. readings. Steve.

Hi, its most likely the EGR valve is staying open it only opens when the engine is warm but i think its opening and staying open when warm, if the turbo shaft that runs the vanes has no real sloppy up/down movement I think you can forget that one. Steve.

Hi Clifford, ref 2 when fitting a new emissions part you have to do a re adaption of the part so the ECU knows the part is new and will let it relearn its values when it should open and close, if you don't do this the ECU will reject the new part as the only values it has stored are for the the old redundant valve, you used to be able to not relearn on Fords and after a week it would sort itself out but I have found with VAG models they won't have any of it. Steve.

Hi Dennis I would not bother unless you are not worried about money, the dealers over here have developed fangs and once they have bitten your bank account will drain it, if you are that keen try eBay. Steve.

Hi Gents finally got to the bottom of the oil in the clutch problem there is in fact another seal which fits in the back of the slave cylinder but they don't tell you about that one, so we hauled the box out for the this time and fitted the seal, the save cylinder does not come with any seals despite being £1462.00 for the clutch kit why wouldn't you throw in the seals, oh no much better to not say anything and then charge them out as extra, I thought Ford were masters of taking the p..s but these people are a whole new level. I managed to get an updated version of the same parts system they use which is where I found the missing seal and have posted the diagrams for any other poor soul who might not want to fall down the same hole.

Hi had my new clutch fitted last Tuesday, the car drove great for a couple of days then I get this sinking feeling as the car stinks of gear oil and when you floor it the clutch slipped briefly at around 2000 rpm back to the garage, my mate pulled the box out again to find the bell housing had plenty of gear oil in it, despite buying the clutch from TPS and explaining that I needed to buy the full monty clutch kit including any bolts or seals I might need it seems they forgot to tell me about the seal between the diff and nearside driveshaft that you also have to change. You have to take the diff out to get at it as the drive shaft runs through the bell housing into the diff, the new seal is not available until tomorrow as they reckon the car is to new and not many people have had to change the clutch so they don't carry the spare seals, so thanks to youtube we saw a video on how to whip the diff out on a DSG box, they are the same, eight bolts and a pry bar and out it comes a million curses and five days out of work over a lousy five quid seal, well pixxed off still I know for next time. Steve.

Hi you get to the switch unit by removing the trim inside the boot, once open its simple matter of removing the two mounting bolts and one wiring plug take your unit out get the part number off of it and go fishing on eBay loads on there. Steve.

Hi Gareth, I think dealer/servicing all comes under the same sub heading, if you view the symbiotic relationship between the two its hard to see where one begins and the other ends, I think its highly unlikely that the last service centre had an air filter that was not only second hand but had the right build date that was the same as the car, having spoken to the guy I know at BMW service he reckon the dates are peculiar to when the part was fitted as built and would not appear on any subsequent part even if purchased from a main dealer. Steve,

Hi Thomas, just a thought do the sensors need coding, just about everything else on these cars needs it. Steve.

Hi if your thermostat is actually one of those plastic units the sensor is built in and is held in with a clip, if the other sensor on the old unit was working it might be worth swapping it on to the new housing, the only other sensors for water temp are the cylinder head sensor and one on the block but I am pretty certain the one on the thermostat housing works the gauge. Steve.

Hi Gareth, I have a morbid mistrust of dealers apart from the ones I know to be honest to a point, prime example being my daughters Q3 we recently purchased, although it was bought from a private vendor it had always been serviced by Audi with the last service being done at a Bosch service centre, I don't trust the bits of paper supplied so after I had sorted the brakes out I went on to do a full service myself all Febi filters which cost £42.00 the oil came in at £25.00 for VAG oil 504/507 fully synthetic, its not worth posting pictures of the oil and fuel filters as there is no readable print visible through the crud considering the car had been serviced in January this year they were in pretty poor shape as was the oil, the most interesting filter was the air filter please observe the date on the filter which is the same as when the car was built, the car has only done 62k so can someone please explain what these thieving b@£tards for the £350.00 charged for a service, not a lot apparently, as I said they all prey on those that know nothing about the mechanical side of cars, they only want the maximum profit for the least effort. Steve.

I like that turn of phrase, unsuspecting dealer, they know exactly what they are buying which is why they buy dirt cheap, the majority of what I would class as reasonably straight dealers I know would run the vehicle for a couple of weeks before selling and see what cropped up and then get it fixed, my mechanic is often tasked by the two dealers who use him to give the cars they sell a good going over and service fixing whatever comes to light. A few years ago my missus went and bought a Alfa 156 from a rather large and palatial dealer near us the guy had put a fresh MOT on it in his own MOT bay, a couple of days later she went back complaining of a clonking on the back end his Mot man said he couldn't find anything wrong and it was probably something the car did when going over large bumps, thats when she decided to get me involved, I found the cause in five minuets, the cotton reel bushes on the rear trailing arms had more moves than a dancer at a rave, I phoned him and he stood by what his MOT man had said, plan B bought two new trailing arms and fitted them and then went down to the dealer boiler suit and grime included, then displaying the old arms with knackered bushes I asked him if he would reimburse me for the new arms, at first he refused as he said how would he know if they were from the vehicle he sold, I invited him to come outside and have a look underneath the back which he did with the MOT tester, while I was there I mentioned the fact that I was able to appeal their MOT as fraudulent with VOSA, guess what, ten minuets later I walked out with the cash for my parts and a strong warning not to return EVER and that my wife six month warranty now no longer existed. Steve.

Hi having had a word with those that do these things my informant says its most likely the seal behind the torque convertor if its a DSG set up. either way its one hell of a strip down. Steve,

Hi Thomas I doubt the sensors from Audi are any different from the sensors you bought, sounds more like a wiring fault. Steve.

Hi is it where the gearbox connects to the engine if so thats the crank rear seal which would probably mean a new clutch while they were in there, but I definitely would not be going to Audi for that job, find a good independent garage with some minerals to do the job, or if its just weeping slightly leave it until the clutch packs up. Steve.