cliffcoggin

Fair enough. It does seem that LEDs are brighter.

I am curious to know why you want to do that?

I have feeling that the discussion of viscosities etc. is a red herring in this instance, and that there is an underlying problem that has not been solved. Let me explain. The oil pump should be capable of creating much more pressure than is required by the engine in order that the pressure is adequate at idling speed, no matter what viscosity of oil is used, any excess pressure as the engine speed rises being bled off by a pressure relief valve to maintain a more or less constant pressure in the oil galleries. In this case the pressure is not high enough to prevent the warning light showing, so the question becomes why that should be. The possibilities that occur to me are: [1] The oil pump is worn. [2] The pressure relief valve is faulty. [3] The engine bearings are worn. [4] The pressure switch is faulty. [5] The pump is sucking in air. Unless anybody can add to that list, or disprove my logic, the problem must be one of those five things. I know that some of those parts have been renewed, but even new parts can be faulty or incorrect for that particular vehicle. Furthermore I see no investigation reported yet of items [3] and [5]. What say you chaps?

Not necessarily all the time, however smoking is always worse when the engine is working hard. A dense cloud of black smoke is not the result of removing the EGR alone, something else is wrong. Perhaps the injectors, perhaps engine wear, perhaps the remapping, but whatever the cause its sounds as if it will fail an MOT because of the emissions so you need to resolve it. My natural cynicism would make me suspicious of any engine that had been modified in the way yours has. I suggest you get it tested and hope the solution is not expensive.

Blue smoke is a sign of oil burning, usually because the rings/bores are worn. Does it smoke under hard acceleration? Erratic idling may be part of the same problem if the engine is clapped out and has lost compression, or it may be unrelated.

Fair enough, it must be something else. The advice from your garage is utter nonsense. Soot can not be created or deposited in a non running engine.

A faulty battery can cause those sort of problems, even if the alternator is putting out a good current. Is the engine turning slowly when cranking the starter? Do you have to keep the battery topped up on a mains charger? Is the acid level up to the mark?

James. If these 13-15 year old cars you are looking at are still running I'd say they have all proven their reliability. How long are you expecting your purchase to keep going? Personally I can vouch for my own 2007 2.0 TDI, but then I have zero experience of other engines for comparison, so don't rely on my opinion.

Good day Kevin. Bearing in mind that I know nothing about audio, the only the thing I can imagine that would interfere with radio but not disc player would be the aerial. Perhaps check the connection at the back of the set to start with.

I think I recall somebody solving that problem a year or two back. Have you looked through old posts of this forum?

For clarification Martin, is the juddering when you are slipping the clutch, during take off for example, or when it is fully engaged? If the former I agree with Gareth; if the latter something else is wrong.

What engine? What fuel? What transmission? Give us a clue Martin.

Well I could see no picture in the video, there was only a faint sound; and telling me the smoke looks like vaping means nothing to me. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, such as coolant loss, sooty plugs, blue colour in the smoke, or a road test, I would go with the garage assessment of steam condensing in cold air. (Water is a product of the combustion process.) Sorry Will, but you have not convinced there is anything wrong. Can you supply any other information?

Revving the engine whilst parked outside your house is not the same as accelerating hard. Take it to a suitable road where you can accelerate with your foot to the floor for at least five seconds, and report the smoke appearance. You have not mentioned any garage until now. Tell us more.

If you can see the smoke it must have a colour. Describe it.

Is the smoke white/grey or blue? Does it get worse during hard acceleration? Is there a thick coat of soot on the spark plugs?

And the injectors?

The chances are that petrol has spoilt the seals in the fuel pumps and injectors so they will likely need to be changed. I hope your friend has deep pockets.

If the rubber gaiter has split and allowed grease out, there is a good chance dirt has got into the CV joint and worn it. That could account for the knocking sound, particularly on extreme lock, though I doubt it would cause any play in the steering so that must be a different problem. Test it by gripping the driveshaft with big locking grips and try to turn it both ways. Any rotational play at all means the joint needs to be changed. You mentioned earlier that one of the links needs to be changed. Do you mean a steering link because that would undoubtedly cause slack steering?

Daryl. You won't see anything simply by looking. You need to force the noise to appear while looking and feeling and listening. (Your ears and fingers are as good as your eyes when detecting small amounts of play.) As I mentioned earlier, test the steering joints with the wheels on the ground and an assistant rocking the steering wheel enough to induce a little movement at the road wheels. Test the wheel bearings with the wheels off the ground and an assistant violently shaking the wheels left/right and top/bottom, then spin the wheels and listen for roughness. Test the suspension with the wheels off the ground and use a crowbar to lever under the links. If all the above proves satisfactory inspect the exhaust mountings, engine mountings, undertray if it has one, the valence, the bumper, the battery clamps, anything in fact that is bolted to the car. To repeat, you need to strongly shake each component rather than hope to simply see a gap somewhere. Until you prove the noise is not related to the steering or suspension I suggest you keep the car off the road. Any problem related to the safety of the car is an offence under the Construction and Use regulations.

It could be many things. Have you looked under the car while somebody rocks the steering wheel? Watch for play at ball joints, rack mountings, etc.

From Audi perhaps?

I can't help. I am only writing to add that I have the same fault occasionally on the O/S/R door and boot lid, though it does not yet irritate me enough to do anything about it.

Perhaps, but that is not how it read to me. Nevertheless I agree with you that the problem should be investigated rather than simply dismissed as a faulty sensor.

Adam. On the facts you have presented nobody can possibly tell you what is wrong. It may be a turbo fault, it may be a damaged duct, it may be something else entirely. You or your mechanic need to first of all look for visible damage, and then proceed from there depending on what you find. Error codes can not be relied upon to tell you precisely what is at fault; they can only point you in the general direction.