Magnet

Large black coil spring Kieran. These can snap on one of the coils - as unbelievable as it may sound.

Hello Kieran, With regard to the suspension issue, it may be worth while inspecting the large coil spring to see if it has snapped - as they do! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mor, IF after fitting the new battery you find that is still losing power, then the probability is that one of the curcuits is at fault and drawing a current when it shouldn't, when the car is locked up. Although it may be possible to guess at what curcuit it might be - and it would only be a guess- I would suggest the car would then need to have an hour out with an auto electrician who would be able to measure the current draw and isolate each fused curcuit one by one until the offending curcuit is found. DIY possible? Well yes, assuming the correct meter is at hand, together with the experience of checking for these current drains. Fingers crossed, all will be well when the new 5 year guarantee battery is fitted. Kind regards, Gareth.

Well that's one option Piotr, but I would first be asking myself why this wheel cracked in the first place, and it is possible - just possible that the answer lies in .... RS4 STYLE wheels ... and the quality might be dubious. Would I run a car on a crack-repaired wheel - without the benefit of assessing the quality of the weld repair?? No prizes for guessing the answer. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Adeel, Have you tried any of the on-line scrap yard search facilities? Partsfinder is one -I think- and no doubt there are more. Just register what it is you want, and any yards which have the part will reply to you. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mor, I'm sure Luey's advice is going to be helpful to you, and yes, it's easy to assume that since you have replaced the battery then that cannot be the problem. Not true unfortunately in this day of substandard replacement components, so as with all electric issues such as this, the first port of call is to get the battery checked. I must reinforce that the battery must be in a reasonable state of charge before testing since the test includes its ability to deliver high currents for start up purposes and not simply voltage. As Luey says, it is also important to check that the battery is the correct type and power capability for the car, so yes, a photo or description of the wording would be great. Correct types of batteries is now very important in this age of "intelligent charging" if expensive damage to alternators is going to be avoided. Jumping way ahead of ourselves here but alternators being designed to be replaced and dosn't take a lot of work! I'll lend you the spanners to change say a Rover 75 diesel alternator Luey! To keep it simple Mor, Let us know the details marked on the battery, and it's make, then just make sure it is as charged as possible - take it for a good run - and get Halfords to check it for you. If they declare it to be serviceable then get them to do an alternator output check while you are there. Let us know how you get on and I'm sure there will be help on here with the next stage. But one step at a time. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Gavin,. Wondered how things were progressing with this. It would be great to have an update, or to have some more information to possibly close the thread off. Kind regards, Gareth,

Hello Mor, As Steve says. Is the battery on the car the original one? If so, then at 10 year old you would expect it to be near the end of its service life. If this were mine, I would be getting it tested (at Halfords?) after at least a 20 mile run if it has been jump started. If it proves not to be serviceable, would I buy a Halfords replacement? If you need a new battery then I'm sure someone in here can point you towards a good make at a reasonable price. I would be tempted to put the diagnostics on hold until you have had the battery checked. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, I think Steve is on the right lines here. Just because I'm in my dotage, and probably have shirts older than him, he mistakenly believes I'm good with these things - bless him he's losing it! Yes David, I would be looking at the toothed rings (about 3 inchs in dia. in old language) on the wheel ends of the front drive shafts, and I think (see, I'm not so good on these things) just behind the rear hub at the back. As Steve says, check these rings carefully for rust, since the sensor picks up the gaps between the teeth. If one or more of them are rusted then the sensor can throw a wobbly. Clean off any rust you can find, but you are really looking for crusted rust rather than surface rust. Not sure if you may have to reset the light after?? Could be wiring or a faulty sensor if you find all looks well with he rings. Last resort could - just could - be a fault in the ABS units. I know there was a "commonish" fault on these a bit later. This was fixable by replacing a "part AbS unit". Fingers crossed its just a bit of crusted rust. Kind regards, Gareth.

£400 to £450 total excess is now becoming the norm so it seems ( (£150 compulsory + £250 vol.) in this cheapest quote wins game. Comparison sites often come up with this sort of level and higher, and quote for cover without any of the "used to be normaly covered" things like legal cover, courtesy cars etc. If I've got this right Patrick ".... Spoke to them so gonna to do it myself no hassle" means that they now know you have been involved in an accident, so at the next renewal, when they ask you if you have been involved in an accident, fault or no fault, they now know you have! Is this a bit like Dad's Army:- "Dont tell him Pike!"

Hello Sue, Well that makes the ones which I change on the A3 look pretty good! In the first photo, it appears to show a pair? of brake pipes clipped to the suspension arm. The nearest one seems to be rustier than you would like. Wondered if this has been carefully examined. Kind regards, Gareth.

I think you have answered your own question Patrick. If you are happy to take your freiend's advice, and he is happy with the repairers, then that must be fine with you I guess.

Hello Patrick, Very sorry to hear about this. Life is strange and levelling at times. You are having good fortune regarding minimum outlay to get the mechanical bits done, then you find yourself in a situation of having to pay for something which was certainly not your fault. ".... u think it will be OK after repair?? OK in what respect Patrick? Structurally, it's minor damage, so problem there. If you are questioning the quality of the repair, then I would think it highly unlikely that anyone on here would be able to answer that unless someone happens to have experience of the particular body shop you are going to use -around Margate? As much as £500 is, I would have thought that this price is certainly not expensive in relation to the work and materials involved - I would be surprised if they don't end up spraying the whole side of the car. As I see it, what is important to you is the standard of the repair, so it would probably be more helpful if you posted a new thread with a title "Anyone know of a good body shop in the Margate area?" It is often useful to visit the used car sales sites in your area and ask them for recommendations on good body shops. These chaps know who is good and not so good and who are competitive. I would advise that you take this somewhere where you have had recommendations from someone else with regard to the quality of their repairs. Good luck, Gareth.

Hello Will, Sorry to hear of your problem, but you are at least lucky that the oil has remained in the sump. Would I try using an oversize bolt to cut a 'new' thread in this critical application? No, I wouldn't. Would I use a genuine thread tap to cut a new thread? Again no, since a good quality new tap would be fairly expensive to buy, you wouldn't have any guarantee of tapping it at right angles to the plug face (with the possibility of having weeps), and you would likely to be able to guarantee you are going to get swarf in the sump! Sorry Will, but your action would be a classic from the Bodge-it and Leg-it handbook, and is likely to stand a risk of depositing 5litres of oil on the highway. Solution:- Buy a new aftermarket sump. Available from Europarts and others? Now that's a proper job. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Luey, CIn the absence of any other replies to date, I would be tending to follow your 3rd. possible point under "My thoughts" in this case. There are a lot of misconceptions about head gasket failures, since this gasket protects not only combustion pressure to combustion pressure, but this pressure to a coolant channel or the oil way. It can also protect links between (high) oil pressure and usually (the lower pressure) the coolant channels. If this oil was entering the coolant via this gasket, then there has to be the start of a failure between the oil gallery and an adjacent waterway. Not sure of how much this might help pending other replies. Can you extract the oil?? Using a srynge or similar, so you can check that it is indeed oil. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Nayan, You can't beat dealing with people face to face in your doorstep, so let's hope Steve's contacts can help. If not, there are national search lines (Partsfinder or similar name come to mind as one) who's service will check all scrapyards and those yards will then reply directly to you. A Google search should give you a selection of search companies. Good luck in finding what you want. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Patrick, Glad to hear someone is paying for your £792 EGR valve replacement on your 5 year old car. You don't tell us whether this is being paid for by Audi as a result of the dealer carrying out the emissions recall, or as part of the warranty, no doubt offered by the used car dealership you bought it from. In other words, the used car dealer will be paying the Audi dealer. I'm sure that if you read the posts under Recalls, you will see owners of cars with similar problems following having these recalls carried out, have found themselves having to pay these bills themselves, so yours would be a breakthrough if the bill is being met directly by Audi themselves. Could you let us know clearly on this since it would be most helpful for others. Kind regards, Gareth.

Why not have a look at the 19 inch wheels Mozza is selling on the Sales and Wants. These are genuine Audi wheels with newish tyres apparently. No doubt your insurance company would look on those more favourably as a non original equipment ? replacement to the probably made-in-China ones.

Hello Barry, I'm sure Steve is far more up on this than I am, but let's say you cover 18k miles in say 20 months and your car will need servicing then on a Longlife schedule since it has reached its mileage recommendation - so you visit your Audi dealer and get it done. 4 months later, when the car is now 2 years old (or at a 2 year interval after that), you get a service indicator up, to tell you to come back - this time to have the brake fluid changed. Is this example correct? Kind regards, Gareth.

Anyone else have any experience of average costs of a main dealer cambelt assembly and water pump change on this car, which could be of help to Guy?

VAG were/are using Quantum branded oil. There is a Longlife 3 and a 'normal' mileage change equivalent. I always use their Longlife 3 even though I change it annually at a fairly low mileage. Not worth the very marginal saving, to do otherwise. You will need to check which grade to use, but it is generally 5w/30( fully synthetic) - but please check as I said. Quantum is available via. the on line auction site - generally being sold by VAG dealers. Filters:- I only use main dealer filters (often available at discounts) or Mann. Again just not worth buying simply on price. What make filter have they fitted to yours? Kind regards, Gareth. p,s. You will need to get your service indicator reset once you change your oil.

Blinking heck Patrick. £649? I think I must be well out of touch with the costs. I'd be wanting gas and air! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Patrick again, As I recall, you bought this car from a car sales lot, in which case it would not be uncommon for the oil used to be of "best deal volume purchase' brand. Is it the correct specification leave along the 'normal' VAG Longlife fully synthetic oil which can be used for say up to 18K miles? As a matter of interest, have a look at the oil filter and see what make it is and let us know. The make of this filter may decide what action you take, since it will give you a marker for the likely quality of the oil they used. If they have used the correct specification Longlife oil then you can extend the oil change to around 18K, but it might be advantageous to change it one a year or 12k miles whichever comes first anyway. Do you do your oil and filter changes? Let us have the answers to the above questions and no doubt we can offer some advice from here. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Guy, I think it's great that you are treating this with the responsible concern it warrants. As you probably know, ignoring this, or trying to extend the service period (as you ask for advice on) increases the risk of simply wrecking the engine, which of course, is never worth the extra time over getting it done. I would simply contact say two Audi dealers in your area and ask the question in relation to the known history of change for your car. It will indeed be X miles or X years - whichever comes first. I learnt a long time ago (at the expense of having a snapped belt on a Cavalier) that manufacturers review these periods based on updated experience. I would add that when you decide to have this done, do not run the risk of treating this as a best cost job. If you are not having it done at a main dealer then cheaper quotes usually mean aftermarket kits and using aftermarket water pumps. The water pump plays a vital link in this set up, and some aftermarket (most?) can be substandard and cause issues - as if you had ignored getting the belt done in the first place! Main dealers often have offers on cambelt changes as Steve says. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Patrick, The whole situation is much clearer now, and it foes demonstrate the importance of listing the detail and sequence of events. Still we are getting there now. Yes, understandable Audi will not accept any fault code readings other than those carried out at their dealers. Good and correct. So if it turns out this car has EGR (etc.) issues then Audi are going to carry out this work free of charge then? Almost unbelievably joyous news to the ears of others who have suffered after these recalls! Where we potentially fall down on detail again is - did you buy this car from an Audi dealership? If so, is it possible that their offer to pay to rectify the fault is as part of the guarantee for the car, and not as a result of any problems arising following the recall work being carried out? Kind regards, Gareth.