Magnet

Sorry David, but it’s highly unlikely that a new battery would be flat at the point of fitting. Back to my original suggestion:- potentially you have two problems here, one a starting issue on fitting a new battery, and/or a substantial ‘short’ or battery drain. Suggest investing in an hour’s services of a trusted local auto electrician. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Nick, I think that’s it’s more important to get the battery efficiency checked rather than be too concerned about the EML at this stage. Chances are that this battery will let you down again. Of course, we are assuming the charging system is up to par, but first port of call would be the battery check. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, It’s probably me not understanding, but could you confirm that you were unable to start the car immediately after fitting the new battery. If so, that set of symptoms is unlikely to be associated with the battery losing power when not in use - i.e. when something is draining the battery. Sounds like you might have two sets of issues here. Have you tried disconnecting the negative connection onto the battery and then observing any significant sparking when you reconnect it? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David from the Homeland, You have to give us a bit more detail to go on. ’Fitted same issue’. Does this mean it will not start even when a new battery has just been fitted? Or do you mean it does not start say after you leave it overnight? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Jacques, If you don’t get any luck on here, it might be worth trying wanted Ads. in specialist press such as Modern Classics, Classic Car Weekly, Classic Car Buyer, Classic Car Mart etc. since the car could now be classed as a ‘modern classic’. Another avenue would be on-line breaker searches such as Partsfinder? (there are others), whereby you register your want, and it gets circulated to participating car breakers, who make contact with you if they have the part you want. Kind regards, Gareth.

Sorry, I can see you say it’s 2010.

As you probably know, the car is currently MOT’d and taxed and had covered a bit over 150K miles by July last year. It’s probably me being over cautious, but ‘...want to in touch with the current owner .... have spare wheel for it...’ sounds a rather ‘incomplete reason’ to me. Personally, I would be wary of any disclosures regarding its whereabouts based on the information given by the middle-of-the-night first time poster. Apologies if this offends.

Hello Jim, Year? History of insurance loss, stolen etc? Why not enter the registration number into the WBAC website, get their valuation and start moving down value-wise from this point for a non runner. Take it you have done the on- line MOT history check. Tyres flat? Could/likely to dictate the need for a new set of tyres for safety. Objective of buying? To keep it, or work on it for a profitable return? Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Don’t forget the auction house will require the payment of an indemnity fee on top of the bid price. Do you know what this will be? I guess you will have also factored in transport costs at around £1/mile, return journey.

Hello Justin, I guess the car has stop/start facilities. If so, this facility puts batteries under stress and I would say that at 6 years old, it is likely to be passed its best. In the last year, I known one to fail (catastrophically) on a 15 month old car, and one just over 3 years old - both non-Audi. If it were mine, I would be getting the battery efficiency check following a 20 mile run. Halfords were doing this. Now?? If it needs replacing then I would be looking on line with the battery specialists , Battery Megastore, Tayna etc ( there are more). They will give you all the advice you need and deliver to the door. Personally, I would only buy Varta or Bosch batteries - buying their ones which have at least 4 years warranty. Kind regards, Gareth.

Apologies Terry, but I missed your latest post. Sorry this hasn’t fixed the issue. There has been suggestions of blocked heater cores, but personally I haven’t come across this with modern antifreeze solutions and concentration, but.......? I guess you could conduct a flow test if (in caps) you can get at the small diameter inlet and outlet hoses. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Steve, Slipping belt? - auxiliary one? Thanks for the additional detail - it really does help. Information is king when anyone is trying to diagnose anything at a distance and without access to the vehicle. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Not a fan of this, but you can get spray on belt anti squeal. It might be helpful as a test.

Hello Joe, My guess (but a guess it is) that this problem is plug connector associated. Where? If it were mine, I would be investing in some spray on contact cleaner and giving everything a good old squirt - including the fuse contacts. At least you are getting somewhere. Well done. Kind regards, Gareth.

‘.......Quantum stuff, not saying it’s bad oil’. ‘Why would it be ‘bad stuff’ when it is the VAG recommended brand? And why would the ECP’s own brand?- Motul oil be superior to it? I wouldn’t think it is! I know which one I would, and always have used in our >150K miles A3. Please don’t tell us you are using, or proposing to use, ECP’s Crosslands filters as well. Once a very well respected brand. Now simply a bought out brand name. Re. Flush additive:- I can only repeat that knowing what you have already done, I would not be using any additional aggressive flushing agent, in preference to a refill and drain with Quantum,but your posts comes over as looking for support for your intention of using it, and my feeling is you will use it anyway. Anyway, good luck with continuing your good work. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Joe, Peel back the flexible harness cover over the section of harness between the body and the tail, and look for any wire breaks or partial breaks, just to eliminate that possibility. Kind regards, Gareth.

Personally, I would not be adding any flushing oil, in view of what you have already done with cleaning the sump etc. Quantum 5w 30 Longlife 3 is a fully synthetic oil and has adequate amounts of detergents which will both clean the engine and ensure the oil retains the correct lubricating properties. If this were mine, I would now be doing as you propose - but without the flushing additive. If you drain this off after an hour’s running then I feel you have then conducted an over-kill maintenance on the engine lubrication side. Since you are now going to need an extra 20 litres over the next 500 miles, have you looked on EBay for sellers of Quantum Longlife oil at probably more attractive prices than you have had to date - and delivered to your door. Not sure what filters you are using, but if not genuine VAG, there are again some good deals on EBay for Mann and Bosch ones. These are the only ones I would use if not using VAG. Keep up the good works. Kind regards, Gareth.

Sorry, too old to know what ‘Q’ is supposed to stand for!

Hello Steve, If indeed they haven’t tried that, then I would be seriously looking for another garage! You don’t tell us:- Engine rev. associated? Only when the car is moving? Being constructively critical, you are not giving us much to go on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Carl, Open the tailgate and look up - probably near the hinges - for where the harness links from the body into the tailgate. It will run in a fluted cover over the wires, and a shaped grommet secured into the body and tailgate. Peel the grommet out from either and pull the flexible cover back to reveal the cables that run through it. I you are unsure, or not confident, then I would return the car to the auto electricians. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Carl, Have a look at the harness where I said - if only to eliminate that as the cause. Doesn’t cost anything to inspect it! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Carl, So to clarify the situation:- You told us that the original window heating element was damaged in a number of places - to an extent where your only option was to have a replacement fitted. You have now had the screen replaced with a new one, but the the HRW still doesn’t work. You tell us you have had a ‘number of garages’ trying to diagnose why, but they ( how many garages?) have all failed to find out why. You are now going to consider taking the car to Audi for them to find out why it isn’t working, and presumably rectify the fault/s found. The story unfolds that although a simple visual examination of the heating element showed it to be damaged, it was assumed that that was the only fault with the whole system. Turns out, that assumption was incorrect. You might not know, but did the garage carryout a simple test to confirm the heating element was getting a full 12 volt supply and the earth was adequate? If this were mine, I would be pulling back the flexible harness cover off the section of cabling which runs out of the body and into the hatch - a common site for finding broken/damaged wires due to many years of opening and closing the tailgate. It’s always worth doing this even though you must measure 12v at the element, since a wire may still have a very basic remaining contact to satisfy the test meter, but not support the current necessary to operate the HRW. Have you considered investing in an hour’s services of a trusted auto electrician? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks David. Thought you were going to DIY it.

Hello Klyle, Driver’s door? - the most used. This sort of issue frequently occurs with the same fault in the flexible section which leads into the hatch/boot on ageing vehicles. Generally gets aggravated in cold weather when the cables are less flexible. Of course, the driver’s door is opened and closed more frequently than the boot, so quite likely to give problems. Well found! and thanks for letting the forum know. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Duncan, Preparation prior to painting will be king here, to ensure you are not disappointed with the end result. Do you intend to paint (and prepare) these in situ? Kind regards, Gareth.

Apologies for being a pain Wesley, but please don’t under inflate the tyres in an attempt to minimise flat spotting. You are better off moving the car about at regular intervals and/or slightly over inflating the tyres - of course remembering to reset the pressures before using the car on the road. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks for coming back Wesley. With regard to keeping the battery ‘topped up’ when not regularly used, I simply start the car twice a week and let it run for 20 minutes. Apart from keeping the battery up to par, it also ensures the engine gets up to operating temperature and gets a good lubrication. Moving it a few feet on the drive also assists by minimising the risk of the tyres getting flat spots. For me, the battery charger would be going back, since I guess it’s still not clear what (Chinese?) charging cycle it should be set on, so it’s unlikely to get used. Kind regards, Gareth.