Magnet

Thanks Allen. Apologies for asking, but obviously I wouldn’t have if you’d mentioned. Let’s hope someone might come along. Might be worth enquiring at your local garage. They usually know the ones to avoid. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Ian, Not a bad bit of maths then for 8 o’c on a Monday morning, and all to no avail. They say to wear the old ones out first, and it saved your brain having a headache - only joking. Not joking:- £1.40/ litre and 60mpg and you want to save money . We’d snap you had off here for that. And I thought the Welsh were tight! Anyway, well done for exercising my brain. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Pawel, When you say it doesn’t happen very often - what doesn’t happen very often? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Ian, So it’s maths time on a Monday morning then! 3,000 miles at 60mpg uses 50 gals of fuel. If ( in caps) you would hope for an optimistic 10% improvement in mpg then you would save approx. 4.5 gals on your 3,000 mile round trip - or around £36 at current U.K. prices. Cost of chipping? Maths points to needing to travel approx. 8.5K miles to recoup per £100 chipping cost. On-cost for increased insurance premiums -? This will obviously add to miles needed to be covered to reach the cost neutral point. Is a 10% increase realistically achievable? I think I would be pleasantly surprised if it was, and not too disappointed if it wasn’t. Your current 60mpg would be happy-days to most across the motoring spectrum. I think you’ve now got something to work with Ian. Incidentally - average diesel cost/litre in S of Spain? UK is around £1.80/ litre at the moment. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, Apologies for returning to this, but what engine do you have in your 2017 A3, and what is your current average mpg, and a description of your typical journey? This may help to guide others whether your mpg is typical or not. Many thanks again and kind regards, Gareth. Rather academic I suppose, but with the increases in fuel prices over the last year, I guess we are all driving Rolls Royces, in comparison with what we were getting previously in miles/£.

Hello Allen, Can we take it you have done a Google search for auto electricians in your area? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Ian, I guess it’s a set of economics then, whereby you work out the cost to chip, then what mileage you need to cover to get your money back (based on an anticipated mpg improvement). Then consider the possible (probable?) increase in insurance premiums going forward, which adds further mileage to arrive at the cost-neutral point. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, Am I right in thinking increased fuel efficiency is your primary aim when considering chipping your car? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ricardo from the homeland. Just search for a thread ( within the last two weeks ) dealing with a very similar potential purchase to what you are asking about. Most of the advice you will need will have already been offered there. Perhaps you could let us know what you think, and how it pans out for you. Kind regards, Gareth. Here goes:- ‘2013 3.0 ltr ……’ poster was Gary W. Different model, but same principles apply.

OK, the situation is now clearer. On-line links for aftermarket parts are notoriously unreliable, so repeating my earlier advice - simply contact (first off) Bilstein and KYB technical help lines and follow their help with the part numbers you will need to look for - assuming S Line ones are available - but at least you will know straight from the horse’s mouth. Does all of this make you think twice about lowering this car? - and from my side, why? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paddy, Just wondered if any of the advice given to you is, or will be of any help? We notice you have returned to the forum and no doubt have read it. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Callum, It sounds as if you would indeed be wise to renew the shock absorbers and associated bits. What I’m unclear about is whether your car was built to an S Line specification or not. If it was, then I would have thought it should be possible to obtain aftermarket S Line shock absorbers, if you are asking in the right places. If it wasn’t built as an S Line, then you might well be in difficulties, since all aftermarket parts will point you to what it was built with. Bilstein and KYB? I used KYB over the last couple of decades and found them generally OK, but would I buy them in preference to Bilstein ?? Probably not. Two roads forward:- Try Car Parts in Motion ( I’ve used them to good effect). Contact Bilstein Technical and KYB Technical and talk it through with them and hopefully get the part numbers you will require. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Ensuring the air con. is on is a good way of clearing misting up Mike - assuming you haven’t got any water leak/ wet carpet. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Geoff, Worth looking on EBay for boot liners. You should find a selection there. Same for dog crates I would have thought. You could try Ali Express for boot liners ( they may do them). They will come from China, but I wouldn’t be too put off with this. The quality for price can be better than hoped for. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Gary, Sounds like you would have been far better off going with your first idea of not bothering with it. Still, it’s all a learning curve, and hopefully the lesson has been attended, and you know exactly what you have now got to do in terms of homework, before even committing to an inspection. Following on from your last statement it would seem that an inspection will have to be an absolute must. It’s all to easy to fall in love with a vehicle, and potentially so expensive a fine for doing that. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Gary, I thought you were going to give this one a miss. What did the report come up with? Also what did the MOT history tell you, also did the service history materialise - all before you had the inspection carried out? Sounds as if the seller has already sold it - unless the inspection came up with something adverse. ‘Sold your car before hand’. Yes, been there don’t that - myself, based on a walk around description of an intended purchase. The walk around must have been courtesy of Stevie Wonder! Anyway, all history now, and something far, far better turned up. Your recent experience is for a reason. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks Michael, Um! Possible explanation, but ‘old school’ was that there were two senders/sensors in the coolant system - often screwed into the same area of the coolant system. In that set up, the ‘sensor’ signalled the ECU to adjust fuel mixture etc., and the separate ‘sender’ signalled the gauge. It was not uncommon for these two be confused when ordering, and the wrong one inserted in an attempt to fix a problem. Yours and one doing both things-? If it (being the only one) is at intermittent fault then why isn’t the mixture set up giving problems as well? Still…… Replacement:- If it were mine, I would not be buying an ‘all sorts’ at best price. Perhaps Bosch if not using the expensive VAG replacement. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Stephen, There used to be a unique number on these sets, and armed with that - again used to be - there were a number of on-line facilities that provided you with the correct code for a fee. This service may also be available via. Audi dealers, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the original VIN would be a necessity - so back to your EBay seller? Let us know how you get on Stephen. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Rajeev, Thanks for joining and posting your plea. I think you are on a tall order if waiting for a response from the OP, who joined over 4 years ago, and last visited the forum the day after he joined, and didn’t even acknowledge the advice he was given? I think it would be well worth following David’s advice as a starting point. The other possible consideration is that the new mirror might - just might - need coding to the car-? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Michael, Sounds like just just took it around the block on your test drive - still, lesson learnt. Re erratic gauge:- check sender wiring and connections and give the connection a good dose of contact cleaner. If this doesn’t solve it then treat it to a new quality sender. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks for letting us know Sam. My recommendation is to always fit tyres in pairs on the same axle whenever possible. Are these the original tyres fitted new in 2018? If so make? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paddy, Thanks for joining and posting your plea. As you probably know, the ‘signal’ that the reversing sensors are going to work is a short bleep when you go into reverse. A long 10 secondish bleep when selecting reverse indicates a fault. When you don’t get any bleep when selecting reverse then you suspect the reverse switch itself. So, first thing - are the reverse lights working every time? Please report back on this. If they are working correctly then two possibilities:- one or more faulty sensors in the bumper. Some say you can hear the good ones buzzing when in reverse, or indeed feel them vibrating, so you might be able to find the faulty one out of these 4 -? . That hasn’t worked for me! Second possibility is the reverse parking module which usually lives behind the o/s boot side panel. How do you fault find? ( assuming you have tested that the reverse lights are operating). Diagnostics I’m afraid, unless you just throw a full set of sensors at it and hope! Diagnostics will pin point the actual sensor at fault, and the system seems to work on one-out-all-out. New sensors -around £160 each from Audi ( no the 0 isn’t a typo!). EBay ( try Parkingsensors Direct) - possibly less than £13 each, and you will probably find they will be embossed with the actual Audi part number! Oh, you will need the part number. Those doing the diagnostics should be able to give you that. Bad news:- likely the bumper will have to come off if it’s a centre sensor at fault. Let us know how you get on Paddy. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. some advocate a good spray dose of WD40 into each sensor. Wishful thinking, but worth a try.

Pending someone coming up with an answer to this Adrian - it is well worth considering having the auxiliary belt renewed at the same time. There have been reported incidences of these belts parting company, getting tangled up in crankshaft pulley, and putting sufficient rotational strain on it to cause the cambelt to jump teeth. On-cost should only be around the cost of the belt. Appreciating you have enough expense ahead of you, but if you think the cambelt should have been changed in 2018 (and again now in 2023) then one expense has been ‘saved’. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Callum, When the disc was renewed, was the mating surface on the hub thoroughly ( in caps) de rusted and dressed to ensure a true mating contact. If not, there is a possibility that the disc is not running true and creating a greater degree of friction on the pads - even when the brakes aren’t being applied. Just a thought. Wheel bearings? I would have thought that the wheel bearing would have to be completely shot to transmit heat into the caliper - rather than the hub itself. Personally, I would be putting this possibility at the bottom of my list. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Neil, But ‘’rather than the usual routes you have mentioned” . I don’t think you are going to achieve any greater coverage on a national basis than the ones I have mentioned, so I’m not quite sure what other market you are hoping to tap into. There are now specialist ‘modern classic’ publications, but these would generally deal with pre 2000 vehicles, but of course you could try these as well. If you think yours is a bot special then it sounds like it’s best to include Pistonheads in your coverage. Repeating:- please put an advert on the forum. Kind regards, Gareth.