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Well it was never going to get better on its own. One or more bushes has perished, as Richard has said, and if it can not be identified you will need to change them all. Comparison with other cars is pointless because you don't know the composition of the rubber or the loads that have been imposed on it.

Yes I did wonder about water in the oil, fairly sure that's not good. I'm used to building engines and stuff, but this is a level of uncertainty I'm not comfortable with, and the potential consequences of getting ot wrong are dire. I've just spent £1000 on a major service etc, so I'm rinsed and mildly miffed.

We're back in France and the creaking is back ... (slighter) warmer temps, small, bending and bumpy roads. Would you expect suspension bushes to start to give up after 8 to 9 years? It's certainly not mileage and it's not rallied, so I'm surprised to be getting this. Can't remember changing bushes on previous cars, including Audi 100, A4, and A3, and BMW 530d (which did something like 230k miles)

Hi just had a look on line and its a Barsteward inlets off and the worlds supply of crud underneath the unit which sits in the middle at the top, easy enough to get to but a multitude of Torx fixings, all different lengths for certain holes so you have to draw a map of what goes where and a murderous amount of new o rings, only reason I think this is the problem is lack of reassure from expansion tank therefore not head related and you water is being fed into the oil system which is not good for any bearing within the engine so it will need a double engine flush after fixing to clear it all out. Steve.

I can ask the canoe club if I can get this canoe on the Sunday instead! Would Sunday work for you?

Mmm, will speak to my audi specialist but I suspect it's beyond me.

Hi not a job I have ever done on an Audi 3.0, done a 2.0 CNHA and that was a real drama, try YouTube and see if its within your pay grade, I thought the 2.0 looked fairly straightforward until I got stuck in and the amount of other stuff you have to remove to get at it was a major faff, loads of bungee cables attached to various panels to keep the pipe work and electrical cables at bay. Steve.

Thanks Steve, was hoping there might be another reason. Is it something I can do or is it something a professional should do?

Onboard video from Spa. GRMN-2026-06-03_19-59-38-exportedVideo.mp4

Few new pics below.

Thanks mate just coming back from 2 weeks touring been to South of France , Lake Maggiore , Stelvio pass through Switzerland and Austria back up through Germany via Nurburgring then on to Spa for a track day , stayed in Bruges then dor a couple of days and now back in Calais for Tunnel in morning. Epic roads Spa was madness half a tank and to do 6 laps lol averaged 9 mpg on track haha.

Maybe but the Audi tech man said most times this resolves the issues without any further issues so fingers crossed.

I’m doing a canoe race on the 13th on the Wye from Ross-on-Wye!

Hi most likely the oil cooler the gaskets are flimsy and as the water pressure is higher than the oil pressure it lets water in to the oil system quite cheap for an aftermarket unit but a sod to fit. Steve.

Hey I'm good thank you, definitely still interested. I'm in the isle of man until Wednesday evening. Weekend would be ideal 13th.

It might be a blown head gasket, it might be a cracked head, but the most likely cause is a defective EGR cooler.

I suspect that is more of a temporary fix than a permanent solution, because the source of the problem has not been identified and rectified. Nevertheless if it keeps the car going until the fault can be found it is indeed progress.

3.0T engine, 130k I should also explain the coolant remains clear, no evidence of oil. And the temp gauge never moves...

So progress has been made thanks to a friend of a friend who knows an ex Audi Master Technician. It appears the issues are well known. He got me to remove the battery negatives , leave the car 30 minutes, reconnect and try again. Did this and now the car is working perfectly, it charges, reports correct battery levels, all back to how it was before it went to the Audi dealership. He called it the Control Alt Delete fix. So for now I have a working charging system.

I think it will be on a sticker in your handbook pack which gives the car spec ?

Thanks so much, Gareth. In the end I rang the garage and he thinks he can do it on Monday morning. So very different from the days when you just undid the terminals and replaced the battery.

My coolant expansion bottle keeps emptying after about 6/7 miles, I suspected a leaky bottle cos I'd had that problem before but I changed it and it's still happening. Now I'm looking at the oil and it's not good, can someone confirm head gasket failure? Or another explanation for what's happening? Cheers Duane

Thanks Lucy, It would be wise to advise us of what make you intend buying before committing. Regards, Gareth.

Thankyou so much for this. It's around 5 years old but I will definitely follow up on what you've said when I've finished painting the kitchen! Very best, Lucy

Um.