Magnet

Hello Mark, Many thanks for being in touch. It seems you have indeed covered most bases in trying to solve this issue, and it’s very difficult to suggest a next move. Before putting a ‘friend’ - armed with light and some sandwiches! - in the boot, I think I would be removing the vent/s again and securely taping over the aperture to see if that influences the situation. Sorry, can’t think of anything else that you haven’t tried. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

My family and I would like to wish all members and their families on here, and of course, those who administer the forum, the best Christmas we are allowed, and hope that 2021 will bring an improvement over the past year. Take care all. Kind regards, Gareth.

Can any members help David out with the pressures they use with this model with these tyres? Have you checked with Continental, David? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hi Ian, Covid gun? Probably far too low a range. Worth looking on EBay to see what you can find, but my priority would definitely still be the belt associated noise - the coolant gets warm, even if not up to normal operating temp., so no great worry. If your belt is what I call serpentine, and goes around a number of comment pulleys and tensioner etc., then it’s worth doing a sketch of its routing before taking it off, so you know you’ve put it back correctly! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, Thanks for the additional information. I really think you have to break all of this down into individual issues, then plan and prioritise your actions. If you don’t, you will be trying to sort 3? problems simultaneously, and you will be at risk of disappearing up a certain orifice! Sorry to perhaps be coming over as critical, but much of your logic is based on assumption e.g. dodgy fitter, so he didn’t change the water pump and that’s what the problem is, etc. I wouldn’t be assuming anything, but I would be testing, rather than simply changing parts and getting no where. If this were mine, my priority would be:- Belt noise - since we now know this is a belt driven cam/s any noise becomes significant. My belief is ( but I’m not certain from your description) is that you believe the noise is associated with the auxiliary (in caps) belt and not the cambelt. If this is so, then things are potentially less urgently concerning. By auxiliary belt, we are talking about the visible belt which drives the alternator, air con, and power steering if fitted. If this is what you are suspecting the noise is associated with, then the simply elimination/ conformation, is to temporarily remove it to see if the noise disappears. If the noise goes then you will need to ascertain which of the driven components - or tensioner or idler- is the culprit. If the noise is still there, then sorry, this is worrying so let’s hope it’s not. Just report back on your findings, since we don’t want to confuse things even more. Moving on - car not reaching temperature. Repeating, refit the original thermostat and measure the operating temperature at the thermostat housing (when it opens) , using an indirect point-it device. Appreciate you don’t have one, but I doubt if they are that expensive, and you need it to prevent yourself going round in circles. Heater - I now gather that certain direction ducts produce warm (hot enough?) air, whereas some don’t. This suggests the matrix is reasonably serviceable, and you have issues with flap/ motors which divert the produced heating. I’m old Ian! and I find, and have found, it’s always best to tackle one problem at a time - don’t assume anything until you have test information - and fix the one problem before moving on to the next. If you don’t, you are likely to end up possibly having fixed a problem, but being unsure how, because you have been playing with two things at one time.

Hello Ian, Apologies for the delay. Water pump driven by external auxiliary drive belt - and not by a cambelt? If it’s noisy then it should be changed - urgently if it’s cambelt driven ( your description suggests it isn’t). When changing it, if not using VAG ( generally not so expensive than they used to be - particularly with discount - which I can point you to) then go for a reasonable aftermarket such as SKF etc., although I don’t have any direct experience of this brand. Thermostats? I would still get back to basics and check the operating temperature first. Apologies for being boring by repeating. Your original might be fine. If you are buying aftermarket again (and again repeating, I’m not claiming your Circoli ones are suspect) then Gates sounds better than most, but Gates make very good belts, but thermostats? I would live with the heater until you have fixed the other issues. Yes, you will get a flow through a partially blocked matrix. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paul, Thanks for being in touch. Do you have a question? If so, you will need to fill in some detail. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks David, now we are getting the full story. Thanks for repeating the question. XL are normally fitted to estates, and I guess they are classifying the Sportback as that. They have stronger and less flexible sidewalls, and will accommodate higher pressures. My suspicion is that the car’s ride quality is a bit on the harsh side, due to low profile tyres, the less flexible XL sidewall, and of course the sports suspension. Handling - if that’s your bag - should be good Although I would agree the pressures seem high, they are the recommended pressures for your vehicle fitted with the XL tyres, and logic would now point to following this recommendation unless Continental advise others - are you going to contact them? - pending any other owner’s coming up with their suggested pressures. Have you checked if these are run- flat tyres by any chance? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, We’ll try to go one step at a time:- Flushing agent that would unblock a scaled up and partially blocked heater matrix? If the heater core matches this description, then I can’t see anything will clear the blocked cores for the reasons already stated. Thermostats - I obviously cannot claim there is anything wrong with the Circoli stats you have,and it’s just a personal thing that I don’t tend to buy aftermarket parts on price alone - and these are usually sold cheaply. Genuine VAG may be expensive even with discount, but... Alternatives? Bosch, Continental, Gates - of course, you will appreciate that these will not be made in-house, but should be manufactured to a reasonable specification. Your car has thermostat issues? Would not guarantee that until you have actually measured the the running temperature, rather than depending on a low gauge reading. Water pump cause of issues? Yet to find a pump which has failed to circulate coolant without making some protesting noises to let you know it’s not happy. Noises associated with drive belts? Always worth investigating. Is the water pump driven by the cambelt assembly - if your engine has belt driven cams rather than chain driven? Hope some of this helps. Kind regards, Gareth.

You are very welcome Ian, Circoli thermostats? Um! I must admit that I’m not a great fan of ECP if only for the reason that they seem to trade mainly by attracting customers by offering attractive ‘limited-period’ discounts on so called retail prices. You will often find that competitors sell the same items cheaper - without discount - than they do after you have applied the codes! Also their subsidiaries can often sell items cheaper than ECP do. Still.... If not fitting a genuine VAG (often at discount) then I would only fit a well know brand such as Bosch or Continental - yes I know they don’t make them, but... Circoli are very competitively priced, but I don’t buy on price - I go on best quality at best price. I’m not claiming this is the cause of your heater problem, but flushing through with flushing agents is fine, and will certainly remove sludge etc. but seldom do they break down scale which actually blocks individual cores. The logic of my argument lies with the fact that the flushing agent will pass through a line of least resistance, by- passing blocked cores. I’ve seen too many old radiator cores still blocked after such treatment, to believe otherwise. I still think you have to break this down into the two separate problems you have, and I would be sorting the coolant temperature issue first and getting that needle sitting happily at the normal point. Hope some of this helps, Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Eduard, Simple things first:- get you local tyre fitters to remove wheels, thoroughly inspect the tyres, and check balancing. (Don’t tell me you’ve had that done and not said!) If no problems found, put front wheels to back and vice versa. Let’s eliminate this possibility before getting into more detail, and anticipated expense. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks indeed Gavin. Great and much appreciated. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Eduard, Manual or automatic? Could you confirm the car behaves perfectly well from cold? When you say it then shakes, can you feel this shake through the brake pedal and/or the clutch pedal ( if manual)? Reversing and issues:- does the problem arise on normal speed reversing, or are we talking fast reversing? Is there any vibration with the car when cruising at 65 to 70 mph? Kind regards, Gareth.

OK David, The XL will be embossed on the sidewall - if they are XL. You will need to look. 35psi and 32 rear would sound to be alright, and yes the car would appear to be alright, because the pressures are uniform across the axle m and have a variance back to front. Correct pressures though? Repeating:- If it were mine, I would be checking Continental’s website, or if the information there is not conclusive, it’s a question of making a good old fashioned phone call. Perhaps you could feed back to the forum for the benefit of others. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, Pending other owner’s reply. I too would think that those pressures would seem to be on the high side. Is the car a Quattro and/or, are the tyres Xl ( extra load)? I always follow the label on the car, but say 38psi front and 35 rear may be a reasonable starting point if non Quattro and not XL. Can we assume you have matching tyre makes across the same axle? If so, I would recommend you check with the manufacturer’s website/technical dept. for their recommendations. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andy, Welcome to the forum, all the more important at a time of trouble. I think the first thing is a bit of reassurance that most of us have been there at some time - it’s called experience and character building! Anyway, where from here? You will no doubt have the new sensor which should (hopefully) confirm that what is left there is a straightforward straight cylindrical shape which simply fits in the hole in the hub carrier. If so, two ways out:- simply tap the remaining bit further in with a close fitting drift until it falls out the other side - potential problem is that it extends too close to the driveshaft that you have insufficient clearance for it to be tapped out that way -so perhaps option 2 is a better bet:- measure the dia. of the shaft of the new sensor and choose a good drill bit which is approx. 2mm underside and carefully drill out the remains, taking care to only drill enough depth to come near to the bottom of the remains. It just a matter of then carefully tapping out/cleaning any remaining debris. Seems like you should be lucky enough to be able to get a drill in line with the remains. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, Thanks for the additional information - the story unfolds. Poor heating preceded the below- normal coolant reading, so unlikely to be connected to any significant degree. Why your gauge reads low - see earlier post. ‘Continually have air in system’. Logic suggests that since you have a closed pressurised system and no significant leaks, then air is unlikely to be drawn into this pressurised system. Despite bleeding, it suggests that you have remaining air in the system, rather than continually introduced air. It suggests you have some constriction somewhere and air is still being trapped. Heater issue? Either partially blocked core, or more likely some issue with the operation of the heating selection controls. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks for being in touch Myles. If I’ve got this right, you had a ‘Service due’ warning which alerted you to the need to have the car serviced at local garage A. Although they serviced it (level of service?) they were unable/ ill equipped to extinguish the Service- due warning, and obviously could not reset that warning to ensure you were alerted to its future servicing requirements. I would be tempted to follow the logic of them being ill equipped, which in itself is a little worrying, since we should not be talking super sophistication here, but pretty simple diagnostic/resetting plug-in equipment. ‘Last week my EML came on...’ Time lapse between service and this? You then took it to Garage B? who were unable to even diagnose the fault with their equipment, and recommend you take it to Audi to turn the light off! Blinking heck, you don’t just want the light turned off ( it’s highly likely it will just come back on on the way home), you need to indenting the fault code which results in the light coming on. What’s happening down on the south coast - don’t they want to spend money on reasonable equipment!? ‘Before I waste money on an Audi specialist...’. Well Myles, it seems you are already spending money unwisely at garages who don’t know how to deal with these things, and whatever cost savings made to date, will now be swallowed up by now having to go to the specialists. Perhaps this may have been the cheaper route in the long run. Not wishing to be pessimistic, but it’s going to be impossible for anyone on here to give you any valid opinion on the actual cause of your EML - as much as we would like to. Perhaps you can fill in the missing detail gaps, and let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Harry, Many thanks for being in touch. In the absence of any other replies to date, my slant on this is:- It will be difficult (impossible) to prove to Audi that the vehicle they built and supplied you with, remains in its standard form. In effect, they can quite justifiably invalidate or dilute the warranty which comes with the car, since a third party has modified it (it’s performance). ‘Common problem’ and nothing to do with the re-map’. In their eyes, you will have to prove (in caps) that, and I would see that as a totally impractical thing for you to be able to do. As I see it, this is the danger of modifying any vehicle with is still under the manufacturer’s warranty - there will always be a risk of (understandably?) affecting the warranty. Let’s hope someone on here has a contra opinion, been in your situation, and has been successful in getting this job done under warranty. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks for coming back on this Ian. If all 3 (no sure where the extra one comes from) thermostats are opening at (an accurately measured) 87 degrees then they are serviceable, and taking it that one of the 3 was the original, then a stuck-open thermostat was not the cause of your original problem of a low reading gauge. Repeating:- you have to get back to basics and measure the running temperature to assess whether it is normal or not. If it is indeed normal, then obviously the gauge is reading incorrectly, and if so, I would suspect the sender - gauges are generally reliable, but don’t assume anything. Fitting of thermostat - Sounds like the one you have has a rubber seal rather than a paper gasket. Rubber seal arrangements vary, and as I said, some have an internal groove into which the thermostat lip sits and the thermostat fits into the block with this seal around it and the housing is bolted on - compressing the rubber. Others might just have a rubber seal fitted on the thermostat on the housing side. Whatever, as long as the joint is leak free all should be well. If you have a leak, it is ‘just a leak’ and that leak will not affect the running temperature to any reasonable extent. it really is back to basics Ian, and to retest my advice would bore, but it has proved sound with me over too many decades! Heater running cool. May not be associated with the running temperature, but could be to do with a partially blocked matrix - but that is an assumption. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, I too would have diagnosed an open thermostat based on your symptoms. Strange that a new one appears not to have solved the problem. Perhaps we can take this back to basics, and eliminate a faulty temperature gauge (more likely temperature sender) as leading you astray. Did you check the actual running temp. with the old thermostat? You can do this with a remote ‘point-it’ meter, or as I do, with an older touch probe meter. If you didn’t, then no problem, you can check it with the new thermostat. Point digital meter at the thermostat housing and observe temp. at which it opens ( gets hotter quickly). When you say you tested the old thermostat and it seemed fine, how did you test it? I test these by heating it until it opens then passing a length of cotton under the seat of the opening section, and allowing it to shut again when it cools. You can then dangle by the cotton it in a pan of water and gradually heat the water and note the temperature at which it falls into the water ( the valve has opened). Do the same with the new one before fitting, to ensure it works correctly. Gasket? Not sure on your engine, but the car is old enough to have had a paper gasket. Nowadays, they tend to have a grommet type rubber ring which sandwiches twixt black and the thermostat housing - could be either. Re. new thermostat - what make are you using? Leak at this joint causing issues beyond leak? Not really. So there is now a bit of digging and testing to do to find your problem, so it’s one step at a time. Way of fitting? Usually self explanatory, but you should find that the spring end points towards the block. Hope some of this helps. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Charlie, Many thanks for the additional helpful information. The facts are that you have just bought the car, and it appears to have a significant fault ( albeit yet to be confirmed by your garage report). OK you bought it privately, and the general opinion is that there isn’t any redress, as there would be if you bought it from a trader. You will need to take professional advice on this - CAB would be fine - since although bought privately, the vehicle condition must satisfy the wording of the advert. So ‘...but mechanically sound’ equates to just that - and by your description of the faults, it isn’t. There may be a caveat here - for example, if you offered a price below the asking price and it was accepted on the understanding that ‘you accept it as it is’ for example, then that is likely to dilute your case. Also if your receipt ( did you have one?) states something like ‘...... received in condition as seen tried and approved’ ..and you signed to accept that, then again this can dilute your case. Private sellers often now describe vehicles as ‘goes, stops, steers’ or something similar - so obviously no comebacks. Sounds like you’ve got a bit to do quickly Charlie. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Charlie, Thanks for being in touch, and welcome to the world of motoring. ‘Not the greatest car guru’ - aged 19! I wouldn’t think so. Anyway - fact of life - the vast majority of motorists start their motoring life buy buying unwisely, so whatever happens from here, good or bad, then if nothing else, it will all be an addition to the memory bank. To be honest, I think any parent would form the opinion that someone of your age buying such a large engined car was not a good move - I think I would judder as much as the car does at an estimate of what your insurance premium must be, still, you have the car now, and it must be onward and upward, and sitting down and working out an action plan. Can I ask Charlie:- did you buy this car from a dealer, or privately, and irrespective, what was the detail of the advert? I’m really sorry to have to suggest this, but you need to get this car inspected by a trusted local garage as soon as possible, since you may have redress against the seller. From your description, my stab at it that you are likely to have (always difficult to assess with inspecting the car) issues with the clutch, and in particular, the dual mass flywheel component of this assembly, but let’s not labour any issues until you report back on your local garage’s findings. Perhaps you could let us have the additional detail asked for, and later, the garage’s report on the car, and no doubt we can advise further. I wouldn’t hang about in arranging that. Take care. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Clifford, There may be an issue with the micro switch/es on the key fob, and if so, that would have to sorted before any re syncing. EBay has been a source of replacement micro switches for some makes, or complete fob assemblies. There are a number of suggested procedures for re syncing remotes - some requiring one working fob, and you should find theses via. a Google search. You may be luckier than me, but I tried most of them without success, when I’ve tried to re sync. my spare fob, but you may have better luck. If not, then it will be a matter of getting the fob reprogrammed at an Audi dealer or an independent specialist. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Gaynor, I’m not a fan of buying cars at a distance, since teething troubles are probably inevitable, and it’s just impractical to rectify them with the seller. Having said that, I would most certainly be interested in the terms and length of their warranty, and most certainly wouldn’t be progressing a purchase without being armed with that information. The above limitations if anything goes wrong is realistic, but very often, seller’s warrantees can accommodate repairs carried out independently of the seller, so my first statement may not be as harsh as it sounds. Independent warrantees will be what the small print covers, but may - just may - only apply from the end of the seller’s statutory warranty, so some digging and caution needed I guess. Personally, I would be first checking with the seller as to what you are getting - since this will be your basing point - and who knows, their extended warranty may be as good as/ better than/cheaper than others you are considering. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Probably not my business, and a bit of a deviation off topic, but have you actually viewed the car before committing to buy? If not, and it disappoints on viewing, and a deposit has been paid, then I think you may find that deposits can be non refundable, unless the goods aren’t as advertised.