Magnet

Hello Simon, I’m sure there are others on here would will be more up to date on this than I am, but my slant on service intervals is -or at least was:- The monitoring system can be set for annual servicing if the vehicle covers low mileages, or If covering relatively higher than average mileages ( as you do) then it can be set for a Longlife schedule which generally comes up at around 18K depending on your normal journey. If (should be in caps) your car had been set on Longlife - and many aren’t since the dealer isn’t able to get you to have it serviced, then you are likely to have two services in your ownership, on this schedule. If it were mine, I would be returning with the car and asking them to check which schedule it is set on, and ensure it’s a Longlife one. Getting it serviced outside the main dealer? Yes, possibly if the servicing garage uses genuine parts and is VAT registered and I guess had access into the VAG system to record the service information. Question is, we use you really want to be arguing/ proving that the out-of-dealership servicing has had no effect on any problem that arises. Worth it for a few tens of pounds saving?? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Simon, Thanks for giving the forum a bit more background. So, is the heater control valve leaking? If it’s not, have you or the garage, found the source of the coolant leak? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Simon from the north of God’s country, Is the car loosing coolant? If not, there cannot be any connection (gasket failure) between coolant and combustion chambers - a la head gasket failure. Water pump? Well if around 60 years of playing around with motor cars counts for anything, then I’m still to come across a water pump which fails to circulate coolant without making its presence felt by making some sort of extreme protesting noises. Cam belt? diagnosis of this as the cause must simply equate to the dealer having a wish to upset your wallet! If this were mine Simon, I would be finding yourself a trusted local independent, before you spend even more money. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello both, I must say, I share Envy’s concerns about the National Grid’s ability to cope with all of this. Whatever the immediate future, the energy to run vehicles must be found from somewhere, and I wonder what proposals are in place to ensure the demand on the system can be met? Do doubt someone has worked this out. The all important availability of access to sufficient charging points has already been raised, and without this being adequately sorted then we are going to end up trying to run these vehicles and encounter the same problems as if say current fuel stations were say 100miles apart. If the future is looked at from the current vehicle usage and you - let’s say- observe the volume of vehicles entering a supermarket petrol station in an hour, you will get a measure of the number of individual charging points you will need. Now, while observing said fuel station, work out the average turn around time for a vehicle to be refuelled, and then think about each of those vehicles taking say 2 hours to ‘refuel’ in a charging up comparison. Pessimistic? , but it’s worth a coat of thinking about. Then we have another thought about the valleys around here and their terraced houses. Long extension lead sales are going to increase! Assuming you can park anywhere near your house. Of course, that will also apply to many inner city areas as well. Oh, and where am I still going to be able to get fuel for one of two 80 year old plus cars? Too much to be thinking about! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andy, Sorry to hear of your leaking issues. Such things can be a pain and lead to misting up and smelly car interiors. Since no one else has replied, perhaps my reply may be of some use, but it’s nothing scientific I’m afraid! You have possibly already been-there-done-that, but:- Pick a dry day and thoroughly dry the inside of the car. Strip out the boot area side and floor coverings and the internal rear light surrounds etc. Take the back seat out if you can, but certainly be able to lift the seat base. Get a trusting, good sighted little friend, and equip him with a good inspection lamp or torch, and stick him in the boot! With your hose pipe set on a localised spray, start to spray the lowest parts of the car, while said friend looks for water dribbling in. It’s important that you simply concentrate on the lowest points and keep the water localised. Only when you are satisfied there aren’t any leaks at that level, then move up in gradual localised levels, until you get to roof level. Sorry, I know it’s obvious, but... Just water spray locally and take your time. Flooding the outside of the car with water is quick, but not so effective in homing in on the specific leak site/s. Possible leak sites include. Seams ( repaired?) , rear light seals, tailgate seals, rear wiper seal, rear screen, flexible harness fitting points where wiring harness goes from main body into the tailgate, roof seams or hinge points. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Nadz, Ask your local taxi drivers for recommendations for local diesel specialists. Their living depends on such specialists. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mathew, I did make it clear that I sympathised with your disappointment, and that I thought your post would certainly be useful to anyone who may be contemplating buying an E-tron. At least it was a reply! - and an appreciation. I guess there are not many/none who have spent their hard-earned £70,000 on buying one of these or indeed are intending to, so the response was likely to be very limited, but if your post helps just one, it was certainly worthwhile. From a personal point of view if I’d spent £70,000 and had the dissatisfaction you have experienced then I would be ‘tamping’ as we say in these parts. Would be expecting to have slates on the roof and be paying council tax on it for that! Anyway Mathew, apologies for having bored you with my solitary response, but thanks again for making your post. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Steve, That’s great, but my first ( incorrect) thoughts were that the wording is typically what you expect from a trade sale, and might just put some people off - who would prefer to buy direct from, hopefully the long term owner. Of course, you could turn this on it’s head, and depend on the advert attracting buyers who think it is a trade sale, and will be spending their money with all the trade sale ad-ons such as warranties, finance and part exchange facilities. Good luck with finding it an appreciative new home. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Glen, Sorry to hear of your issue with the car. In the absence of other replies to date, my comments would be:- When you say you recently purchased the car - how recent, from what source, and what did the wording of the advert imply? It’s very difficult/ impossible to diagnose such issues without having the car. Down to the problem, 85K miles seems low to experience DMF issues, and indeed clutch issues in general, apart from possibly release bearing issues. Exceptions would be if the car has covered the mileage via. mostly frequent short local runs. Your neighbourhood mechanic may be right, but I would think this certainly warrants a number of second opinions before - as you say - spending a significant sum of money, only to find out you’ve been chasing an incorrect diagnosis. It this were mine, I would be seeking opinions from (a) a trusted local garage - probably leaving the car with them for a couple of days trial, and (b) taking it to a trusted diesel specialist and getting their opinion via. similar testing - this option being the preferred one. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello GS, It’s good to share your experience. Many thanks for that. Let’s hope Hauden gained reassurance, but it seems he has not been on this forum since early May. Shame really, since it’s always useful to have the promised feedback. Many thanks again and kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks Trevor, and apologies it’s come your way. I do - to some extent- understand the limitations of the system, but surely the editing out #Removed# system is driven the logic of certain words which will have been inputted into the system on the understanding they might offend. Isn’t it just a question of adding the abbreviations as they occur? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Joe, Apologies, but as I read your post it infers you are originally from Europe, recently moved to Australia, but located in Chicago ( is there a Chicago in Australia?) Guess there must be. I could be wrong, but I fear the specific advice you require may not come in volume from a number of opinions on this U.K. forum. Can’t your new friends who offered you the advice to have a Revscheck tell you what it’s all about, and how to progress it for a selected vehicle? Sounds to me like you will get further faster, by asking questions at source. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Perhaps it’s worth repeating:- ‘garage guy’ should = recommenced local diesel specialist. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Nadz, I wondered if it was a diesel before I got to your last bit of the post. ‘......by the time I take it to the mechanic....... he doesn’t see what I see.’ Why not leave it with them overnight? Better still in my book - get a trusted local diesel specialist to check it over - again leaving it overnight. Does it show any smoke or smell of diesel when it shakes? Injector/s issue possibly, but that would just be a guess. Kind regards, Gareth.

Wondered if this a trade type sale Steve. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Brad, Glad that suggested route worked out for you. Yes, I know it’s rewarding if you can do everything yourself, but if you weigh up the time, effort, struggle and frustration you spent on this, you now have to ask yourself why did you bother. Add to this the potential of doing yourself some serious injury, and/or rounding off bolt heads etc. because you just didn’t have the right tools or facilities, and I think it’s lesson well learnt for the future. Not for me to suggest what you do re the ‘.......they didn’t even charge me a penny’ bit, but if it were me, I would be quickly returning with a nice box of biscuits to go with their tea. You will then be recognised as the nice appreciative chap from up the road, rather than someone who calls in for a favour for nothing. Such contacts are worth the world. Look after them and they will look after you. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Connor, Speculation is fine, but in basic terms it’s no better than assumption , and as some wag once said ‘Assume’ translates to making an !Removed! (out of) u and me! Working on fact and basic logic generally pays dividends, whereas assumptions tend to lead you off at tangents. Again it’s great to be self-contained when carrying out jobs, but it boils down to the right tool for the job. If you don’t have it, then it’s best to employ the aid of specialists, unless buying the tool will be covered by a sufficient volume of future work. In this case - highly unlikely. Another benefit of going to the specialists with your oil cooler is the likely possibility of being able to pick experienced brains - always worth that little bit of outlay. If it were mine, I would be treating this as a one thing at a time job, and trying not to worry about the next stage until you need to. Was it Yogi bear who said ‘Worrying never did help none!’ Changing the oil when you get to the root cause of the problem? Most definitely - using only good quality oil and filters. For me - Quantum oil and Mann filters if not using VAG filters. Kind regards, Gareth. The #Removed# bit is the first three letters of the word assume!! No one really wants to tell me why this great? editing system removes this for the example, but allows the abbreviated form of four letter words to sail through.

Hello Nigel, Just wondering if the 3 year warranty applies over in Ireland - ? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Connor, I must applaud the attention to detail you have taken in describing the symptoms, and the way you have gone about the rectification procedure. I agree with Cliff regarding the usefulness of compression testing for certain symptoms, but in my book (apologies Cliff - and it’s only my opinion) I wouldn’t be going down that road at the moment. Compression testing is great for major gasket failure detection, where the gasket has failed between say two adjacent cylinders, or to detect valve or piston issues, but seldom ‘minor’ oil/coolant mixing problems. If this were mine, I would be removing the oil cooler it’s it’s not too difficult - usually isn’t- and subjecting it to your flushing/ cleaning routine, before having it pressure tested. Automatic transmission specialists can normally do this. This could be the source of your issue, so needs to be eliminated/ confirmed before going further into anything else. If it prove to be serviceable, then I would then ( and only then) move on to getting the coolant system pressure tested. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on Connor. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Richard, Checking the Cold Cranking Current (CCA) efficiency is a way of assessing the efficiency of the battery under load, and many vehicles are now fitted with a battery monitoring module which continuously monitors its efficiency and it has set parameters which must be satisfied otherwise warnings are given, even though the battery may now show any symptoms. It could be said, yours is too old to be fitted with one. I could narrate a very recent example of this type of ‘failure’ on a so called prestige vehicle, but it may bore. If it were mine I would be looking to substitute the battery for another, after I had checked all battery linked cables and associated main earths. Kind regards, Gareth.

OK, short answer = yep! Next question:- what parameters of the battery were checked? Included cold cranking current values?? It’s still - kind regards to you in Guadeloupe from Gareth in Wales.

Hello Alan, I too would suspect the immobiliser. Sounds typical. Worth trying another auto electrician? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Richard, ’....... battery is fine’. Have you actually had it checked and confirmed as so? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Richard, I suppose the first obvious thing to check would be the battery efficiency, followed by the charging rate if the battery proves serviceable. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello, My alternative-to-Audi first, port of call would be TPS (Trade Parts Supplies) where you get genuine VAG parts, often at discount. If you are going down the aftermarket route then the rule of thumb is never simply buy on price, but buy quality parts at best prices. In my experience, I have used Febi Bilstein parts and generally they appear to be well manufactured. Meyle may be another make worth looking for, or of course (depending on what parts you want) Bosch. You will be able to get competitive prices by comparing on the well known auction site. What did you do about the engine oil after? Kind regards, Gareth.