cliffcoggin

Pierce. Cable damage seems to be a common fault, See other recent threads here.

Chris. Is it a two part prop shaft? If so it should have a pillow or doughnut shaped rubber mounting near the middle, and if that is soft or damaged it can lead to vibration.

I agree it's most likely associated with the wheels such as worn bearings, mismatched tyre patterns, or loose wheel studs; however it could also be caused by a worn suspension or transmission joint, so your prop shaft bearing is a possibility.

Belinda. I can't think of one single engine fault that would cause all the symptoms you describe, so I suspect there are many faults. I think the best place to start is to have the basic functions of the engine checked to ensure the rings and valves are in acceptable condition. If they are faulty they could well cause the plug fouling, overheating, oil loss, power loss etc. so you would need a new or re-conditioned engine.

Like you, I reckon the switch or its down connection is probably the culprit. It's the only common factor for both faults.

The clutch thrust bearing lever might have been fitted incorrectly. Can you feel the click as well as hear it?

Neil. I don't know how hard it is to fix those faults, but whether easy or hard you have nothing to lose by returning it to the seller first and try to get him to repair them.

Martin. Blue smoke is a good indicator that the engine is burning oil. Intermittent smoke in combination with difficult starting suggests the most likely problem is worn valves and seals, though at 200000 miles it is likely the bores and rings are also very worn. If you can get a compression test done and it confirms low compression I reckon you are facing an expensive repair or replacement of the engine.

My guess is that they have a common earth connection. Have you checked it?

Mark. The fault could be many things: injectors, rings, valves, ECU, cam position sensor. Grey smoke alone is not enough of a diagnostic tool to identify which with any certainty. A full diagnostic check at a garage is my best suggestion, unless you feel like stripping the engine.

Carley. You would be better off starting a new topic. I'm not saying you will get an answer but some folk may be ignoring this unrelated topic.

I hope the clutch is working properly after all that expense.

That's unfortunate. I suppose it shows the DMF is essential for smooth running.

Have you dipped the oil level?

I didn't know such conversions to solid flywheels were available. Incidentally I see it comes with a clutch included which makes the price of £365 very attractive.

Well as you have only 4.3 miles fuel left I'd say it was a low fuel level lamp.

Ouch! That's going to hurt the wallet. Thanks for letting us know.

What makes you so sure the heating pads are defective, rather than the controls, the switches, the fuses, or the connecting plugs? Have you checked any of them? It would be a shame to throw good money after bad by renewing pads that may be perfectly good, but if you happy to pay for the job to be done there are plenty of people in your area willing to do it. Hint: they all have Audi in their company names.

Being unhappy with a car isn't usually sufficient cause for a claim on the warranty unless you can show that it is defective. Given that you didn't test the seat heating, despite it being so important to you, I think you will have a hard time getting your money back. Nevertheless I wish you luck. PS. How long did you test the seat heating for? The only car I ever owned with electric seat heating (a Ford Granada from the last century,) took at least five minutes for some heat to permeate through the upholstery, and another ten to fifteen minutes for maximum temperature to be reached.

I reckon the problem is more to do with acceleration after a period of over-run, than it is to do with the turning, so valve seals are going to be a prime candidate for the cause.

Frankly I don't see what red lining the engine in that test achieves that can't be achieved at idle speed, but that's by the by. If it was my car I would now get the clutch out as the only way to be certain of its condition, and if the clutch proves to be OK I would at least be half way to getting at the gearbox.

Well halfway up is right, and if there is no problem at idle there must something else going on, though it's hard to imagine why clutch opening should be speed or load dependent. I wonder if the splines of the driven plate or the input shaft are damaged so that the driven plate can not slide when under load. That's pure speculation of course, and I've never heard of it happening, but I can't think of anything else at the moment. Perhaps Gareth will have an idea.

10:1 the clutch needs either adjustment or renewal. Your clutch may not be slipping, but neither is it opening. Where is the bite point of the clutch pedal when it starts to engage?

It would be a heck of a co-incidence if the airbag sensor failed just when you removed the door panel. It's more likely I suggest that you have dislodged a plug connector or broken a wire.

It's common in such situations for pins to be plated, sometimes even with gold, to resist corrosion. Once the plating is removed corrosion can return much faster, though a few weeks seems unusually rapid in this case. Are you sure water isn't getting in or condensing there?