cliffcoggin

I hate to think what your insurance premiums are if it is cheaper to pay the £500 yourself.

If only the paint is damaged, not the metal, then one of the mobile "scratch and paint" repairers that come out to you should be able to deal with the problem for two or three hundred quid. However it is hard to imagine that a scratch that runs across a door pillar and the edge of a wheel arch could do so without creasing the metal. If the repair truly is expensive it may be worth claiming on insurance if you have comprehensive.

Another stripped thread Will? Perhaps your mechanic should stick to tractors. <g> I agree with others that forcing on oversized bolt, (even one that has been grooved with a flute or two,) into the hole is a bodge more suited to your mechanic, and would in any case push swarf into the sump, but unlike Gareth I would happily use a proper tap. However to do the job I would want the sump removed and mounted on a drill or mill table to get the correct angle, then cleaned thoroughly of swarf before fitting to the engine. I doubt that would be easier or even necessarily cheaper than buying a secondhand sump from a breakers yard.

Fair enough Will. I had to ask as it's an easy spelling mistake that a spell checker would not detect. As a matter of interest what is an oil filter cap? I only know of disposable filter canisters.

The most likely source of oil to my mind is the oil cooler. A pressure test should settle the matter.

Ensure the cambelt and water pump were changed. It should have been done at about 70000 miles.

About £700 is what I paid early this year for belt and pump at a main dealer. It seems to be a typical cost. Yes it is expensive, but skimping on quality or time interval can be vastly more so.

Do you really mean filter cap? I see lots of of Audi oil FILLER caps on Ebay,. I have not looked for specific models.

Condition is more important than mileage, and only you can decide whether the cars condition is worth the cost. It is fair to assume some money needs to be spent on the car to either make it roadworthy or to put in an acceptable cosmetic condition so you need to factor that into your budget.

Jay. In that case the starter and battery have nothing to do with the problem. Without far more detail one can only speculate about the cause. For the engine to fire it needs three things: [1] Compression. Are the valves or rings worn? A compression test would give you the answer. [2] Fuel. Has the fuel filter been changed recently? Is the pump delivering enough pressure? Are the injectors working properly? [3] Air. Has the air filter been changed recently?

Jay. Are you saying it is reluctant to turn over, or it turns over well but is reluctant to fire?

Best of luck Gavin. Let's hope Audi are prepared to be pinned down on the diagnosis.

Gareth's thoughts echo my own: glow plugs are only for starting.

I share Gareth's concern about throwing good money after bad, however if Audi will guarantee that their repair will stop the noise and eliminate whatever movement you can see, (which I admit I find hard to visualise,) then I would consider having it done. You need to weigh that cost against the likely cost of repairs to a different car. (I am a firm believer that secondhand cars will always need spent on them, no matter what the dealers offer by way of guarantees.)

I couldn't do the job in anything like that time, but I am no mechanic, however £150 per hour is an extraordinary rate. What will you do?

I solved a similar problem supplying power to a satnav last year. I prised off the right hand end panel of the dash to expose one of the fuse boards and used a piggy back fuse (I think that's what it is called,) mounted over one of the existing fuses. I don't recall which fuse I used or what the colour was, but the wiring diagram will reveal which of them are switched from the key or you can use a meter. I suppose the ideal would be to use the existing radio fuse.

That's a new one on me Dan. I'll bare it in mind for the future.

Dan. Do you really mean the rear wheel bearings? I am struggling to understand the relevance.

Could you borrow a syphon pump? That would empty the tank without blocking the jets.

I suspected from the start that the noise you describe was that of a CV joint, but your later messages suggested they had been tested. Like you, I do not believe the gearbox is the problem as the noise would then happen with the steering straight ahead as well as the turned.

Can't say I have ever noticed any odour from the screen wash. Perhaps your problem is why most proprietary screen wash fluids have a strong perfume.

Sadly I am not convinced Gavin. You said in your first post that you swapped the wheels around and it made no difference. You also said that vibration was detectable when the wheels were in the air. To my mind that rules out tyres as a factor. You have renewed or tested all the other likely candidates, so I am stumped.

I would agree with Gareth that if the mileage is very high, the deeper you look into the engine and gearbox, the more faults you will find, and the more expensive the job becomes. However I see no mention of mileage yet in Peter's comments so perhaps we are too pessimistic (or too cynical), and some new seals will keep the car going for many years to come.

Main dealer, local garage, auto electrician: you pays your money and you takes your choice. It depends on how competent they each are, and I really can't judge. If you car is being recalled to a main dealer for other reasons I suggest letting them test the electrics while there, then decide what to do. Is it possible the recall is because of electrical problems?

I'm no electrician but it sounds to me more like a bad earth.