Magnet

Hello Del, You are effectively talking ‘classic car’ territory here, so it will be well worth doing online searches for classic car parts suppliers. A better alternative would be to wander into you local motor factors and enquire there - it’s surprising what remains on their shelves. Even if they cannot get one for you, they might be able to give you an aftermarket part number so you can check elsewhere. Unfortunately my ‘First Line’ cable book does not list any speedo cables for Audi, but does list for the Golf etc. of the period, which makes me ask the question was this cable driven? Another alternative would be to wander into as many (long established) Audi dealers as possible. OK the days of building up stocks of parts are gone, but one could still be laying on a shelf gathering dust. They might be able to give you a part number, and there might still be a round robin system where parts requests are relayed to dealers nationally. All worth a try. Finally, what’s wrong with your cable? Have you had it out and confirmed the cable is at fault? If you have, and you know where the fault lies - e.g. broken inner - then there is a company up the Swansea valleys by the name of Speedy Cables. They can remake to pattern, and also do instrument (speedo etc.) repairs. Not cheap, but.... Not really sure why you won’t drive this car until the cable/ speedo is fixed. If you drive it a bit slower than the immediately surrounding traffic then you should not run a great risk of exceeding the limit. Hope some of this helps Del. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Gerry, I think you are very wise to question the intervals at which the timing belt and it’s assembly should be changed. I would add a couple of points to the helpful information you have now gathered:- Change intervals are not based on mileage alone, but on age limits as well, so if you are reading 133k miles, there will be - or at least should be an...’or x years, whichever comes first’ ( where x is generally in the order of 5 to 8 years ). If the handbook does not mention any time limit, then personally I would question its accuracy. I don’t want to put a dampener on your findings, but handbooks can be generic and are obviously not updated with manufacturer’s changing recommendations. Upshot - beware! 133K miles seems on odd figure and doesn’t seem to tie up with an expected round km figure. OK, it is understandable that contra advice by main dealers is due to their money grabbing nature, but .....’ all are saying the belt is due for change at 75K miles.....’ might ring some bells, and since the word ALL comes into play, it could be that VAG’s recommendations have indeed changed. Sorry Gerry to cast second thoughts on this, but this is a critical part application and really does boil down to belt (pardon the pun!) and bracers research to avoid catastrophic results. You could try e-mailing Audi UK - giving them your VIN and asking for a definitive up to date (including these words) recommended mileage and age limit for changing. Whenever this belt is changed, you should also change the auxiliary belt (driving alternator etc. etc) and it’s tensioner etc. since failure of this belt has potential for wrapping itself around the crankshaft pulley and causing the timing belt to jump teeth - bad news. If (in caps) it is confirmed that the timing belt can run to 133k miles, personally I would be changing the auxiliary belt before this - say at 100k. Apologies for cats and pigeons, but.... Kind regards, Gareth. Experience is based on making mistakes:- Had a Cavalier from new, which was always serviced according to schedule. Cam belt snapped at 72K miles when recommended change was 75 K. Found out to my cost that Vauxhall had subsequently amended the recommendation to 50K!

Hello Ian, As Dan says, diesel contamination of engine oil is not good news, and does put some urgency on getting this issue sorted, and of course getting the oil and filter changed once sorted. You are correct in thinking injectors are expensive, and my experience of diesels does not extend to be knowledgable about whether seals are the key fix here. Personally, I would not simply entrust this to an Audi independent, but I would be seeking the services of a trusted local diesel specialist, since these will be the source of your expertise. Apologies to those reading this who have heard this on a number of occasions before, but advice on trusted diesel in your locality, can often be obtained by chatting with your local taxi drivers and asking for their recommendations. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Hauden, Please do not suspect head gasket issues until proved to be so. What you describe can be typical of the effects of condensation, and can be aggravated by short runs, when the engine does not operate at optimum temperature for long enough. If this were mine, I would be acquiring 5 litres of fresh oil ( I only use Quantum Longlife 3 - as was recommended by VAG, and available on the auction site), - please check your grade, if not 5w/30, a quality oil filter ( I only use Mann if not using Audi) , before removing the ‘mayo’ build up, and taking the car on a 20 mile run. Switch off and again clean off any remaining ‘mayo’ before draining off the old oil, fitting the new filter and refilling to the max. mark with the/new oil, and checking for any leaks. It would be wise to take the car on another 20 mile run and again remove any remaining ‘mayo’. Changing the oil again in 1K may be worthwhile. One question I would ask is:- does the car use coolant? If it doesn’t use coolant then your ‘mayo’ just cannot be due to head gasket issues. Perhaps you can let us know if the car is used on short runs, and if it does use coolant. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. I guess it would not have been possible to have amended your thread heading once entered, otherwise the wording would not have been in capitals.

Hello Peter, As much as you have provided information on the issue, it would be very difficult to diagnose the problem without assessing the car. With regard to ‘... warm, which takes an age’ - this would suggest thermostat problems, and would entail renewing it. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Chris, You will be better placed than most to have a ball park figure for the for costings at your Audi dealer, since you know what you paid your local garage, but expect the labour rate to be around £90/ hour plus VAT. Personally, I wouldn’t have anything done to this car other than get an assessment at Audi, since your local gagare will understandably wash their hands on any remidial work, if someone else has been working on it. I would still have the used part number details off them beforehand. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Peter, Is the car new to you, or has it suddenly delevoped this leak? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Chris, I’m sorry, but I cannot give you a definitive answer to your question. By the way, you will find the ride height is measured from the wheel centre to the underside of the arch - not from the ground to the arch. My money would be on the probability that your local garage has fitted aftermarket springs supplied to them by a motor factors, rather than ones purchased by them from a main dealer. If so, they could well be wrong, and I’m sure you are right in believing it is no longer sitting as it was. If this were mine, I would be asking the garage to give you the part number and make of the springs they fitted (they will know this from the delivery note). Armed with that, you should be able to establish what the free/unfitted length is, but it might, just might, not be anything to do with the actual pre-fitted length, but the ‘strength/cross section’ of the spring itself. You will be needing to do some homework Chris, to get to the bottom of this, and if you are then still experiencing a reluctance for the garage to sort it out, then you will need to take the car to an Audi dealer for their opinion, and knowledge of the correct part number - from which you should be able to work backwards with your aftermarket make/number. Good luck in sorting it out. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Oli, Thanks for coming back on this. Here are the facts as I see them:- The car is certainly a high mileage vehicle, and it’s value will be (considerably?) reduced because of it, and my advice would be to first seek a true valuation on it. The car has been wrapped - by someone at some time, and for some reason. Any attempt to work out when and why, will be pure assumption. If (in caps) the car was initially the driver’s company car, and he bought it (say after 3 years of company ownership) then the car will be a 2 owner vehicle, not a one owner example. As I said earlier Oli, the true history of this vehicle rests with that (last/first) keeper, and personally, I would steer a mile from it, if I had not been able to speak with that owner before committing to buy. Have you seen and more importantly studied the V5? If you take the Document number off the V5, you can input it into the on-line MOT history enquiry and get the contact details of all the MOT stations. Can we take it you have contacted the servicing dealers shown in the service book, and asked if you can get a print out of what has been done to the car? Um! Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Richard, It’s probably time to stop Googling and simply get the system flushed and regassed, since it has to be done anyway. The people carrying out this procedure usual thoroughly check the system anyway. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Daniel, Of course, it’s always difficult/impossible to diagnose these issues without examining the car, but I wonder what leads you to suspect the flywheel is at fault. If this were mine, I would be first carefully examining the engine mountings, and if these were found to be serviceable then it is possible that the clutch release bearing may be the culprit. Flywheel at fault at 50k miles ?? Of course, the release bearing shouldn’t be giving problems either, but plastic doesn’t last for ever! May I suggest that if you do have to have any clutch parts replaced then the only make I would use would be LUK. This recommendation is a bit of a departure from my normal recommendation of using VAG parts only, but they charge a considerable sum (plus a surcharge) for clutch parts. Tales of reoccurring problems may be born of using some aftermarket parts, which are generally substandard to LUK. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Stephen, It seems replies on this are rather slow, and in order to suggest some sort of route to progress, the answer to you question of what the original plug set up would have been obviously lies with what sound system was originally fitted - Concert etc? The build record for the car should tell you this, and I believe there are some on-line enquiry searches where the VIN can be inputted and the build record accessed. An alternative would be to go along in the car, to your local main dealer ( equipped with the V5 as prof of ownership) and see if they can access the build record for you. It may cost a little, but.... Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Simon, I would be running out of ideas with this on a DIY basis, but it sounds as if you have a generally low fuel pressure - but that becomes a guess only. On the basis of additional simple things, is it worth renewing the fuel pump relay? Just incase! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Oli, I think you are wise to ask as many questions as possible before considering buying this or any other vehicle. To me, this 5 year old car has covered an abnormally high mileage (not always a bad thing in its own right) and this coupled with being wrapped would personally lead me to say ‘Thanks, but not for me’. I think you will find that the car had covered near to 100K in the first 3 years, and it appears strange that was presented for an MOT early in this year - Feb, when the previous MOt did not expire until May. Odd! Such things can happen when the vehicle changes hands and the seller puts the car through an MOT for the buyer. That would make sense, but may not be the true reason. I believe (but please do not take my opinion without confirmation of it being correct) that if a vehicle is declared to be beyond economical repair then the current MOT is withheld by the insurers and a new MOT has to be carried out prior to retaxing the car. Why would someone who covers a high mileage (company use?) want to wrap a car? I just wonder if although the car is believed to have just the one owner, it may have been purchased by a trader/repairer? and is now being offered for sale. I could well be wrong. You quite rightly ask if anyone has any prior knowledge of this one owner car - which is always a wise question to ask- but the answer lies solely with that one owner. Have you tried making contact there, or is the seller the one registered owner? If so, it might be worth being extra careful. As I said Oli, it would not be for me, but if I had to have my arm twisted to be tempted then I would at least be talking with the previous owner, getting the car HPI checked and preferably (definitely?)getting a paid for inspection on it. Is all of that worth worth the hassle with a vehicle you already seem to have some doubts about? There will be others. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Chris, Looking at the tyres I’m not surprised you are (very?) dissatisfied with the ride. You just as well have solid tyres, and Mr. Dunlop not have bothered to have invented the pneumatic tyre! Wheels cracking is a serious, serious concern for you, and the good folks of Staffordshire. Are these manufacturer’s original equipment wheels, or aftermarket? Apologies for probably stating the obvious, but the larger the diameter the wheel, the lower the profile of the tyre has to be, since the outside diameter of the wheel and tyre has to stay constant in comparison with the original engineered design. If you (very understandably) want a better ride, then the route to that is to fit smaller diameter wheels with higher profile tyres. You cannot simply fit higher profile tyres to these wheels. You will need to establish what the original equipment standard wheel dia. and tyre profiles were (from your handbook?) and work back from there. Apart from the supposed ‘improvement’ in cornering due to less tyre section to flex, what is the advantage in fitting larger dia. wheels? If the owner always attempts to drive around corners on two wheels - great. If not, then you have just found out the disadvantages of these set ups. Good luck in getting the ride as you want it. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Not to mention the lowering of the suspension - so we haven’t!

Simple things first Richard. Have you had the gas pressure checked/ topped up? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, Your mechanic could be right, but it is not unusual to have two coolant temperature sensors/ senders ‘sensing’ the actual coolant temperature. If there are two, one will be sending a signal to the temperature gauge, and I would normally refer to that as a temperature sender. The second, will again sense the coolant temperature and send that ‘resistance value’ to the ECU to control the fuel mixture. I usually refer to this as the coolant sensor. Others may have different interpretations. Having said all that, it is possible (probable even) that yours ( fairly old model) just has one, and this would make more sense since you have two sets of symptoms. What you are suffering from here David is a confusion by on-line motor factors, and this is not at all unusual, so if this were mine, I would be wandering into my local Audi dealer and getting the recommended part from them. Yes, it will cost you more, but you cannot put a price on the inconvenience of being sent wrong parts. The dealers schematic will probably also show its location, so that’s a bonus. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Stephen, I'm worried - but I tend to do that! This response is not meant to be critical, but just as I see it, and quite understandably, others may have a more moderate viewpoint. But if this is now tidier than it was, then I would not be going too far in this car without a fire extinguisher! Bare male/female spade connectors, dangling wire-exposed cables, unknown junction covered with some foam (insulation?). Oh dear! If this were mine, I would be attempting to the find a connection plug which plugged into the original radio ( from a scrapped car) and ideally getting someone to connect this back to the original harness wires, so that the wiring is returned to its (safe) original form. Personally, I would be soldering the connections to this replaced plug and insulating the soldered joints with shrink sleeving. Once the set up is returned to its original safe form, you should be able to buy the correct Pioneer converting plug to convert the original to your new set. It seems the previous owner was too mean to invest in one of these converter plugs, or may have been on a bonus handout with the local fire brigade! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Leigh, Yes, you can of course use you usual mobile mechanic, who’s rates you will know. You ask how you can get the battery and alternator checked and my interpretation of the question suggests - without paying your mechanics rates? Apologies if I’ve got that wrong, yet it seems you were prepared to buy a new battery without checking the current one, but would prefer not to pay to get yours tested. If this were mine I would be seeking local recommendations for a trusted auto electrician and driving the car around to theirs so they can carryout the necessary tests for you. Personally, I would entrust this to an auto electrician rather than your mobile mechanic, not because there is anything difficult about these tests, but doing it as I suggests, puts you in touch with electrically experienced assistance, should the battery and alternator prove to be serviceable. Hope this logic helps. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Richard, To me, your average journey runs would not seem abnormally low enough to cause recurrent issues, and the need to give it an "Italian tune" should not be necessary to the extent you have recently tried. If this were mine, I would be following Dan"s advice and give it one more high rev. cyclic burst run, when it is really hot, to see if this 'buys' you some extra time between issues. If it doesn't, then it would be time to have a serious chat with the selling dealer, although you don't tell us when you bought it ( obviously this will have an effect on what they would be expected to do). If the issue continues, and the dealer is reluctant to rectify it (if a recent purchase) then my next move would be to get the car assessed and reported on by an Audi dealer. This would be necessary to further any negotiations. This issue may relate back to the previous owner's usage. Did you attempt to check its background before purchase? Good luck in getting it sorted. Kind regards, Gareth.

Although this is an old thread, it might be worth posting that I would say Simon's 800rpm seems far more reasonable that the original posters 1000rpm - which to me is not normal. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Leigh, ‘.....so need to change the battery...’ Sorry but that is not what I would do. I can only repeat my advice and get the battery and alternator efficiency checked. Please do not replace anything until proved to be at fault. Not to lead you into unwarranted expense, my advice was aimed at eliminating - or otherwise - the battery and alternator as possible causes of your warning lights. Location of the battery? Sorry, I’m not sure on your model, but could be under the seat?? Anyway, no need to worry about where it is, since if you are going to follow advice then the auto electrician will know where to find it. Interesting about charging the battery. How did you trickle charge it if you don’t know where it is? Possibly via the cigarette lighter?? If so, not sure it is powered with the ignition off. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Alfie, Can we take it you are trying to replace just the dust cover rather than the complete link? If you are intent on buying from motor factors then I would anticipate that the price of a complete link from them may not be that much more than the cost of dust covers ( if available ) from the main dealer. I guess it’s worth asking yourself the question:- if the dust covers are than worn, would you really just want to replace the covers in preference to renewing the complete links? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Glen, Sorry to hear of your problem, and it does sound probable that the noise is associated with a release bearing issue, although it could be the dual mass flywheel ( if your particular model is not fitted with a solid flywheel). I guess you mean you bought this on 05 02 19, and if so, this issue is manifesting itself in some 7 weeks of ownership. I would agree with Cliff that action by the selling dealer will depend on the guarantee the dealer gave you. The length of time is obvious easily assessed, but the ‘small print’ relating to what is and isn’t covered may be more difficult to assess, particularly since most will have some element of exclusion for wear and tear. Clutches, as with individual brake components for example, can be considered as serviceable items which are subject to wear and may not be fully covered, not covered at all, or covered on a partial contribution basis. Some guarantees cover the cost of the parts but not labour - the combination goes on - and only you will be aware which applies to you. You don’t tell us the mileage of the car, but if it is a release bearing issue, then the service life of these can be variable :- our A3 gave probllems at around 150K, but we have previous experience of another German engineered car which went before 60k. If this was my car, I would be e-mailing the garage owner and informing them (in writing) of the issue, rather than simply depending on a phone call message getting through to him when he returns from his holiday. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Sam, I am very sorry to hear of your difficulties, and in my book, I think you are taking a very responsible route with this car, rather than leaving yourself in a situation of unpaid instalments. I am certainly not experienced with this, so cannot offer you any meaningful direct advice, but if were in your situation I think I would be starting with the Citizens Advice, and see what advice and support they can suggest. I really hope you can sort something out. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.