Stevey Y

Hi Don my knowledge of DSG/Mechatronic boxes is pretty limited but if you can bear with me and give me the fault code for your problem I will do some digging amongst the finer brains I have access to, but if we start with the basics like when was the box last serviced, have you checked all wiring connections to the box for corrosion as in my experience I would guess its intermittent nature would suggest its something as simple as bad gear oil or corrosion otherwise it would be an embedded fault. Steve.

Hi lets all rush out, remortgage the house, put the missus and kids out on the street so we can buy an electric car, what planet are these people on, if you factor in the job losses globally of all the staff at the component factories for conventional vehicles it will be like the worlds largest permanent lockdown and then it won't matter if the electric cars are £1000,00 no one will be able to afford one if you haven't got a job, I don't think those that know best have thought this one out, if you want a prime example of what happens when industry pulls the plug take a look at Detroit which has massive poverty and unemployment despite massive cash injections from the government and incentives to open new businesses over the last thirty years, this bizarre fascination with electric cars is in my opinion driven by those that can afford them and in the fast lane of life status is everything especially if you have green credentials and sod all consideration for how many Joe Averages you drive on to the dole which a lot of countries don't have. Steve.

Hi unfortunately this one could be a Pandoras box normally the EPC is activated by something that the ECU classes as a threat to the engine or will raise emissions so an educated guess would say that it is the swirl system as that would raise emissions, I don't know which scanner you are using but if its VCDS that would be giving you a description of the fault and the frequency of the fault, with regard to your registered fault I believe there is a number of repair/delete kits on the market, swirl flaps are a good idea in principle and where they fall down is they are made of plastic on the moving parts and are guaranteed to fail, but with the absence of any other codes its a start. Steve,

Hi sorry to learn of the violation of your wallet but on the plus side at least you now have a usable car which will last you a while also the added benefit that if the fuel system fails again any time soon you have a large bill to beat them with along with the thinly veiled threat of trading standards, I hope you have no further troubles and your confidence in the car returns. Steve.

Hi, try the VCDS by all means but as I said from what you described it sounds as though the mechanical part of the calliper is having problems reaching the disc hence the weak hand brake, however recent the pad change 8 months is a long time considering the winter etc for road dirt ingression salt etc, as I said the stainless pad runners should always be changed with the pads, I didn't do this the first time I did mine and ended up with a similar problem over £8 worth of parts, the brake fluid should be changed every 30k or two years I have always adhered to this as it stops alloy rear callipers from seizing as brake fluid is hydroscopic and will absorb water from the atmosphere which then pools in the piston chamber and rots it. Regards Steve.

Hi from what you describe I would suggest stripping the brakes down on the rear as they may be sticking, if you have recently had the rear pads done its possible that the clip on stainless runners they operate on have not been changed with the pads unfortunately most people don't bother with these and they are a recommended consumable change. you can do a visual check on the pads to note their condition but if they are about three quarters worn best practise is to replace them with the runners, you possibly could clear this with VCDS but the problem will quickly reappear within a couple of drive cycles. Steve.

Hi, sorry for the late reply I have been busy with work, as for it dying on you this can happen to any car so I wouldn't take it personally I had it a couple of times with my Fords one of which cut out at 80mph on the M25 with passengers on board I could almost hear the rosary beads being counted as managed to shimmy the car across three lanes of traffic and get to the hard shoulder, it turns out the water pump was soaking the crank position sensor with red hot coolant, I was a bit P.O. as the pump had only done 15k. Anyway got it fixed and we did the next 80k with no problems, unfortunately its a fact of life that most vehicles over 100k will have some sort of problem and I am sure if fixed it will still be a usable vehicle for years to come, BTW I can't work out how he managed to get a fault code for the injectors unless they were already there before it stopped working. Clean the system replace the two injectors and the pumps and as long as the mechanic is thorough it should be fine. Steve.

Hi just a thought but is your VCDS an original Ross Tech version or A cracked version off of the web, I have both and there are definitely a lot of things you can't do with the cracked version. Steve.

Hi if you did not save the codings from the original set up and write them down you won't be able to do it especially if you had no long coding for the new clocks they would not have worked properly either, so now the BCM has spat its dummy out. Steve.

Hi I have worked on various different diesels and they all have bits of brass in the system due to the fact the high pressure pump loses bits of itself but even the high milage ones still run fine, the injectors have small filters fitted to the top where the feed pipe joins the injector to prevent the large debris going in to the actual injector, I would be trying the lift pump in the tank as from the strange noise you describe I would take that as the lift pump was failing which would cause the high pressure pump to be noisy just before the engine shut down. by the sound of it your boy has decided to change just about everything but the fuel rail is a bit excessive as you can take them off flush them through and then hit them with an airline, as for the injectors how would you know if they were shot unless the engine is running with the diagnostic plugged in showing anomalies with the live data. Steve.

Good shout, I have made the pilgrimage to the national Alfa day at Stanford Hall a good few times, what a first class venue beautiful scenery a bit of history and a good dose of classic Alfas. Steve.

Hi Chaps I am glad you have published this I was beginning to think it was just me or the area I work in, the BMW drivers round here don't indicate as most of them only have one hand on the wheel, normally the left hand is on the wheel the right supported by their elbow is on the door frame whilst the index finger on the right hand is supporting their nose. The Zafira owners club is in the next town so you only get the odd one comes our way normally driven down the high street at mach 1 by some over weight bird and her mates with their Bingo wings flapping through the open windows. The Astra boys round here are mostly seen at night appearing at great speed on any 30mph road while trying to get to the next drug drop, they all wear a uniform like a Dominos delivery driver but theirs is a base ball cap and an Adidas track suit and a well moody facial expression. The Corsa is an infestation without any cure same uniform as the Astra drivers but they have bigger wheels and exhausts and even less brains, I am surprised they did not mention Fiat 500s as I have been to to pick up a good few survivors in the middle of the lanes at night where their mate has stuck it down a ditch, I even got called out to one who did not want a cab but just needed towing out and said I have a rope can you tow me out it still starts I have tried it, after I explained the second word was off I pressed the no show button and departed. Steve.

Hi go on Breakers Yard or similar online they contact car breakers all over the country who may well have exactly what you want. Steve.

Hi I can't see properly from the photos you posted but if your car has the same lenses as Steve the lack of light problem is easily solved as all the Audis around the 1998-2010 suffered with the same problem the projector light bowls lose the chrome on them and have poor output, try a company called Retrofit lab they do a rather nice line in replacement bowls that are a lot less expensive than new units, I helped fit some to an A3 and the results with standard bulbs was astounding. Steve.

Hi good skills, just observe the position of your old actuator arm when fitting it to the new unit, they are pretty simple things really as they are a stepper motor that increases the signal voltage as you press the throttle down at least two of the feed wires will be can bus and one of them will be analogue, the can bus circuits for diagnostic purposes should ideally rise in voltage together with a variance of no more than five percent this is checked against the analogue reading by the ECU and if all is within accepted values it will start to pen the throttle valve as per the pedal demand. Steve.

Hi I have to smile this job either makes you lazy or so money orientated that you get an early ticket to a pine box, I think the car will give you the boost you need and you only appreciate its extra features when you do things like I did the other day and lifted the bonnet on my mates Skoda Octavia, without the hydraulic assisters they do take some shifting I know what you are going through as there are times when you wish you could pull up take their money, smile politely and just pull away without them, I had a good day today first for a long time I got a Polish guy who was going some 50 miles and did not speak English, paid up front and did not utter a word the whole journey, my kind of job. Steve.,

I wish you well with your new cab and I hope it raises your income, I expect they use the same bulbs and boot buttons on a couple of other models so I can't see it being more expensive unless you mention A8 just get the part number and see what else it fits. Safe journeys mate. Steve.

Hi Nick I would definitely get a second opinion as I know my guy got me to buy a new belt for one of my cabs even though it had only been on there for three weeks and the water pump had started leaking so that was being done under warranty by the supplier, its a bit like using brake pads that have only half worn on new discs. When I bought my car the service history said it had been fitted with a new belt kit under warranty at 36k because of a squeaky idler pulley so they had fitted new pulley tensioner and belt as its good mechanical practise, as for the journey thats fine its stuck open not shut which would be a new world of problems. Steve.

Hi, Just an educated guess but I have worked on a couple of 1.6 Skodas and the map sensors on them are at the front of the engine where the boost pipe runs across the front and the MAP is mounted on a rigid plastic pipe in the middle, easily spotted as its the only thing on the boost pipe under there that has wires and a plug on it. Steve.

Hi Jon, I looked at these this morning just not the one Kev found which to be fair at that price has to be worth a punt, I would genuinely believe it may well do the job based on Kev extended knowledge of older Audis especially as he only has a couple and you don't keep this one man collection going without having some idea about whats, what. they are very different from Ford/Vauxhall as they don't come with the pedal attached which should make it easier to swap. Steve.

Hi Jon just spoken to a mate who has suggested that you try and get the manufacturer number off of your old unit not the Audi number he says its probably a Bosch part so look for any other numbers other than the Audi one. Steve.

Hi don't just buy a job lot, just buy the one that looks the same as yours with the same part number bar the letters, I know they are a pain in so much as they get the engine to have flat spots which will make it a bad drive, I am pretty sure that it will work apart from which the garage should be able to get the current part number out of the main dealer, BTW I used my old Ford as a cab and it already had 130k on it when I fitted the new pedal, believe me when I say if the position sensor gets fixed you should see 160k easily. Steve.

Hi, no it was a Map sensor and an oxygen sensor and then rear pads all of which I bought without the correct letter at the end of the part number but fitted and work ok, I think its a bit of smoke and mirrors as remembering back to my Ford days I had to get a throttle position sensor and ended up going to Ford to get it, the price for my one for 2.2 titanium x was £104.00 but I think the guy on the parts counter must have been on a promise as he pulled me to one side and suggested I bought the £46.00 item with different letters on the end of the part number, apparently this one was fitted to the Focus and most Volvos at that time, the only difference was the letters which commanded the different price, it worked perfectly for the next 160k and the only difference between what I bought and should have bought was the Focus pedal did not have the holes for the go faster alloy pedal cover, soon sorted that, mark the holes on the new pedal, drill the new pedal and pop rivet the cover on. Steve.

Hi I think that your problem is that there was probably a part number supersession shortly after your car was built, I have had the same problem with my car but have found out that the supersession part number is not recognised but the old number minus the letters is, if the part looks the same it probably is the same as I am led to believe they changed the letters at the end which designates the year they changed suppliers. Worth a try. Steve,

Hi Clifford, lets try again, I was not suggesting the glow plugs had all failed at once just that they may be weak due to age/wear if you go on the net there are plenty of testaments to the problems old glow plugs cause without actually throwing up a code, the codes are only triggered when the plug fails, open circuit or to ground. With regard to the guesses yes they are just that but based on prior experience of problems like this I thought it was worth suggesting the two most likely candidates that won't cost the earth to change, maybe I should tell him to go to Audi and chuck a few hundred quid at it, thats the idea of the forum to remotely advise people from your own experiences, example being Don G he had a MAF code up so he changed it and still had the code back so I guessed from experience that the MAP sensor would need changing, he changed it, the code and light disappeared for a hundred miles but the EML re emerged but this time with a DPF code so I again from experience advised him that the DPF would need a regeneration and the codes clearing, he did just that and the car is now running well with no lights according to his last post, I am sure if you have any more concise suggestions this guy would be all over you like a rash, hate to state the obvious but the guy knows a bit about cars but not enough to satisfy the need for conclusive evidence required apparently.