Magnet

Hello Steve, Thanks for joining and welcome. We’ve had a two year older one of these in the family since new - now on 172k miles, and now pending replacement of most of the rear suspension arms due to the rubber bushes starting to crack. I mention the rear suspension only since even with this known wear, we’ve never experienced of the issue you enquire about within the motoring we do, which includes occasional motorway, but mostly B and C roads. Great that you have checked the tyre pressures ( many don’t!), so that we can discount that. Incidentally, what pressures are you setting these to and does the car have matching tyres on the same axle - brands of all 4? If this were mine, I would be getting the rear suspension thoroughly checked for wear - and there are many links - and if confirmed to be acceptable then get the wheel alignment checked. Never get the alignment adjusted without checking for wear. Quite important :- How would you describe your driving style? Just comfortable motoring? Or specify the degree of ‘enthusiastic’ motoring that suits you. Please come back to us. Knee and centre console? Sorry Steve, not noticed any issues there either. Kind regards, Gareth.

Under-seat connections can be an issue due to dust etc. Worth getting some contact cleaner and giving them a good spray, but DO NOT disconnect OR wiggle them too much, or you run the risk of the air bags going off. Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome to the Audi Owners Club ! Good to have you onboard Hello Bel, Regrettably normally true, but check you at least have the compressor and an aerosol of tyre sealer all in a black polystyrene type holder, shaped to fit in the spare wheel well. If you haven’t, then you might consider buying ( or they pay for) a spare wheel ‘kit’. I you don’t have the shaped holder and compressor etc. then it is possible the car originally came with a ‘proper’ spare wheel, but a previous owner has ‘forgotten’ to replace it in the well! A requested copy of the build record should state whether it was originally supplied with a spare wheel. Let us know how things progress. Kind regards, Gareth.

That sounds much clearer Robert, and now makes sense. If you open the flap as normal and without removing the cap, thoroughly clean around the cap area and all inside the area that the flap conceals. You should then see a small rubber grommet or similar, in the bottom of the cleaned area - usually directly below the filler cap -i.e. at the lowest point of the compartment. You should then see a small (3mm or so) hole in the centre of the grommet which ( when clear - important) allows rainwater to run away. Get a length of suitable flexible wire and push that through to clear the blockage - which is likely to be further down. Diesel sometimes? Dribbles of diesel out of the fuel hose when returning the hose to the pump. Let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Repeating Gabriel, but just take it around to your nearest Halfords store and ask them to check the % battery efficiency, and the alternator output. If they say your battery is below par, then you have 2 options:- Pay Halford’s price - or come back to us for recommendations of other suppliers. Please let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Robert and welcome. When you say ‘open the filler cap’ do you really mean fuel cap, or fuel flap? Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome to the Audi Owners Club ! Good to have you onboard. Hello Gabriel, Sorry to hear of the issues with the car. If this were mine, I would be tempted not to automatically accept that the battery (and alternator) or ‘OK’., and I would want to know:- (1) By what means did they test the battery, and what were the results. (2) I would be driving the car to Halfords and getting them to test the battery’s % efficiency. Only when you have proof positive from both sources, would I be prepared to move on to investigate the more complicated possibilities. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Colin, Welcome, and many thanks for joining. Trying to be progressive here,(rather than dismissive) I must agree with ‘yikes’, and if it were mine, I would entrust the solution to the dealer you bought it off - you really shouldn’t have to worry about how to fix it Colin - that’s their responsibility. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Francis, If your battery is reading 12.2 volts then that’s not a good sign of its efficiency, and below par batteries can lead to all sorts of ‘stray’ warning codes. My advice would be to first get its efficiency checked. Halfords and others can do this, but please come back to us before committing to buy - if found to be substandard. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Huw! So where else have you tried?

Welcome to the forum you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂 Hello Huw, Have you tried an EBay search? Always my first port of call for such things. Perhaps you can keep us up to date on how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ben, and welcome. I would simply do as I suggested, and get at the washer pump and check whether it is getting a 12v supply. Washer pump issues, and/or clogging of associated pipework is not unusual. If indeed the fuse has blown, then that would be a more serious issue, since the circuit has been overloaded, and you will have to find the reason why - not as simple as just renewing the fuse. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on Ben. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello George, It’s all guess work of course, but possibly injectors - ? Probably cheaper in the long run to get a trusted local diesel specialist ( as opposed to ‘ordinary’ garage) to have a diagnostic look at it. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks for joining. Sorry Shay, but your post doesn’t seem to be explaining what you are trying to say. Kind regards, Gareth.

Unfortunately (for Dave!?) he doesn’t seem to have returned to the forum since the day he posted his advert - over a month ago. Do we term this post-and-run?

Thanks Mike. Now one question remains:- Is the washer fluid level low? Kind regards, Gareth.

Slightly different from the normal convention Mike, but certainly a possibility for Mark to check out. Kind regards, Gareth.

That’s better! A 40 profile tyre on the same width 21 inch wheel would sound about right, but you need to confirm via. an alternative diameter wheel suitability search. The larger the wheel, the lower the profile, the harsher the ride. I would think seriously about choosing XL tyres on 40 profile - you’ll end up by believing you are driving on solid rubber. Having said that, I wouldn’t be at all surprised that the original spec. for such a vehicle would have been XL anyway, so it would be worth checking that, and whether your current tyres are XL. A bit of homework to do! Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Paul, The question that remains is whether 21 inch wheels were listed as an option, and if so what size tyre would have been the correct fitment. It could be me, but I remain surprised that such a large vehicle would be running on such narrow (185) tyres. Even our humble A3 was fitted with 205 wide tyres. The handbook/ Google search should come up with the answers. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Darryl, When was the timing belt replaced? Seems odd that whoever renewed the timing belt didn’t renew the aux. belt at the same time. Still, you got away with that one to some extent! Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome to the Audi Owners Club ! Good to have you onboard Hello Graham, Could be barking up wrong trees, but starting to work once it’s part way open could be significant. Potential trouble spot ( but your vehicle may not be old enough) is the fracturing of wires in the flexible harness section twixt tailgate and body. When the tailgate is partly open the wires may just touch enough to make contact. Worth an eliminating-look at. Of course, it could just be a fault tailgate lock. Kind regards, Gareth.

Sorry to hear that Darryl. Auxiliary belts are often ignored, but can cause considerable damage when they part company, particularly when they wrap around the crank pulley and result in cambelt ( if fitted ) jumping - disaster! You say you have only had it 3 weeks. Private or trade purchase? If trade, then you should have redress. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paul, Now you are testing the maths of an old timer here! - but my calculations point me towards your 20 inch spare (when it’s inflated, and it’s of no use deflated as it is) will be 67 mm greater in diameter than your in-use 21 inch low profile tyres and wheels. That’s a lot , and too much in my book, but please check by inflating the spare and physically checking one against the other. Have you had a look at the handbook to check the standard wheel/tyre combination, and the suitable alternative sizes that could have been chosen? Kind regards, Gareth.

What’s a pass Steve? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Jim, I would have expected your car to have been fitted with (motorised) folding mirrors, but the certain way to check is to go into (not phone) your local dealer, and ask the Parts man to let you have a copy of the build record for your VIN - which you will have written down for him! Well worth spraying some WD40 at the mirror swivel points, and carefully easing them to turn, but if they are motorised, this may not be enough to sort the non-folding. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on Jim. Kind regards, Gareth.