Solent muppet

Well she's still sitting level so no leaks yet......damn,I just had to say that......we shall see. For the moment all seems OK. I have no doubt I'll be back with other sob stories 🤣

Well, ya know how it is when you've had......2 rear air bags, 2 alternators, a battery, a headlamp leveling control module, a crankshaft vibration damper and a serpentine tensioner pulley, you sorta reckon it's gonna be the most expensive repair there is.... the part that went south( literally in this case!) was the ball joint joint and the rod was rusted so thin I was able to bend it with finger pressure. I have a respectable collection of bits myself but nothing that could do the job needed. Good story anyway, cheers.

Ayoop folks, we took her out for a run (breakdown services unknowingly on standby!) and put her through her paces on comfort setting, so roundabouts, fast exits from junctions etc and all seems good......I kinda wonder what's going to sulk next, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. In the meantime, the fuel gauge isn't working and I sometimes can get it to work by folding down the offside rear passenger seat, or placing something heavy on the seat cushion. I wonder if this means a wiring fault as opposed to a failed(ing) sender unit. As I rarely use the performance, 600 miles between refills is what I go with, but the range data would be nice to have again.....thanks again everyone.

Ayoop Kev, just looked out the window and looks like she's still level so no leaks yet. I'll call it a win......but she is a high maintenance side chick so I'm wondering what the NEXT sulk is gonna be about.....if I WILL date these outta my league expensive birds....🤣 anyway, thanks again everyone for thoughts, ideas and support....as Arnie says..... I'll be back.

Hi guys, newsflash.......parts arrived from AutoCarPart 1 @ 15:15......fitted the replacement sensor (and detachable arm!) to the offside front......deep breath, ignition on, turn Jacki g mode off and....start. 30 seconds later the car is LEVEL. YAAY!!! I want to thank all you fab people who input their thoughts and support.....trust me on this, I'd not even have started on this without you guys cheering on from the sidelines.....I'm back on the road again....as soon as I've done the nearside just to be sure. Thanks everyone again.

OK, AutoCarPart1 (4592) in Brum has a pair £146.82 incl delivery.....does this sound reasonable? There are MUCH cheaper on Ebay but I thought a mid range price would be fairly safe.....should I be asking myself "what are you like" or am I probably OK with these? Thoughts welcome.

Right, just talking to audi now, if this is the problem, a new component ( because of course, you can't just buy the unscrewable ball jointed little metal arm, oh no, it's a complete sensor assembly) at just shy of £205........going on Google now with the part number he very kindly supplied me ( totally against company policy of course). So I'm looking for 4F0941286B and hope that I can get a pair for rather less. He did talk to their senior tech who knows about "legacy vehicles " - his words - and was told that this may sort the problem but if not it's a recoding exercise at the dealer, probably about £100. I'll keep you posted folks.

Gawd, I WISH I was computer literate......I'm doing this reply on my Samsung tablet, taken a piccy of the dangling arm but don't know how to get the image onto this reply.....I know, I'm hopeless 😢

OK, I hope this posts....bugga, not IT literate, how do I attach the photo? It's on the driver's side, one end attached to a green plastic thingy and the lower end is floating loose.

Newsflash.....OK, managed to get a jack under the car, got the offside wheel off ( may I recommend the Parkside 400Nm ugga-dugga, very quick!) and had a look. Now I'm not an expert on these matters but the suspension height depends on what the little sensors on the body and attached to the lower suspension arm should be attached by a little cranked arm with ball joints on each end......the lower ball joint has disintegrated and the rod is dangling free.....this would cause the problem I'm having, yes? I dunno what the little cranked arm is called but I intend to replace both sides as a touch inspection of the nearside one feels very wobbly. Thoughts much appreciated folks.

OK folks, newsflash. Ade dropped by a few minutes back, plugged in his scanner (a Snapon multi vehicle with a VCDS connector) but it couldn't find any module related to suspension. Okaaay.....so we discussed the sequence of what actually occurred and in his opinion bearing in mind the age of the car (19 years old this September) he thought it very likely that one (or possibly both) suspension bag had an ongoing leak and the third speed bump just massively increased it, and as the compressor had probably been running near non-stop a failure of the relay and compressor was most likely. He's dropping by tomorrow with a jack that can get under the car, we can hoik the wheels off and have a look at the legs. Stay tuned.

Ayoop folks, well my local garage with whom we have a good relationship (using them for 23 years now) have agreed that as I currently have about 6cm of ground clearance (one passerby said it looks "sick", I said it was very ill ) and even getting off the drive is nigh impossible, they'd drop by with the VCDS setup and scan to see if the fault can be identified.....I'm beginning to suspect one of the legs has given up the ghost but can't tell which one......and jacking the car is gonna be a nightmare but I'll find a way. I'll come back with an update when she's been scanned. Stay tuned folks.....

Cheers OJ! I guessed as much and fortunately have a laptop running an older version of windows. -the one before 10 I think - and now that I think about it, my bruv (who has the full VCDS setup) has loaded parts of the workshop manual as relates to bodywork on it I think......but he lives 300+ miles away near Newcastle and is currently on the other side of the planet for work.....I guess if it can hold the manual, it could take the software....I have heard it's pricey to obtain but that might just be scuttlebutt, I dunno. Ho hum, onwards and (hopefully) upwards. Thanks again.

Thanks Steve, just been looking at a couple of videos on those. Have to say, all I want is to read codes to identify problems and reset them when the work is done and reset the service indicator. Not worried about accessing special features - well maybe set the one touch indicator function from 3 flashes to 5! - but just want the codes and reset functions so as I can identify problems and sort them. Handily, my local garage just up the road has the VCDS bits and when I pointed out the current 5cm! of ground clearance he said he'd pop down and scan for fault codes.....they've been MoTing and looking after anything I can't do on our cars for 20+ years now so a good relationship there . I'll keep you updated as and when, as I will certainly be asking about parts and general advice ......

Cheers for the suggestion... is this a complete unit or do I need other peripherals to go with it....looking on Google I see a cable and wondering what I connect to the USB.....

I've sort of decided to look into a diagnostic reader for this and possibly other cars of this vintage on the basis that we had intended to hang on to the Allroad for another 2-3 years before trading on to a hybrid of some description as our main transport with something I can use for work as a backup. If anyone has a suggestion for an all round scanner that isn't going to break the bank I would look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks.

Well cheers mate.....I've been umming and ahing about getting a diagnostic tool for this but have no idea which one to get. Bearing in mind the age of the car and its value I'm wondering if it'll be worth buying one. Which model would you suggest and how much might it be.....I'll sit down before you reply.....🤑

Ayoop, it's that bloke again. As per the title, my Allroad has decided that I didn't have enough street cred and has helpfully decided I would look SO much cooler driving a (very much!) lowered car. I had noticed that in the past couple of mornings, she looked a tiny tad lower on the o/s/r but came up just fine after the (mandatory in my view, with 223000 miles)1 minute warmup prior to moving off. She was fine yesterday but today I pulled off the drive and as I hit the second speed bump in the village at about 15mph she felt suddenly quite hard at the front. So I took things easily until the third speedbumpwhen I realised the suspension was now rock solid. Turned round and parked up. Wow, the front is lower than a 1970s Citroën CX with knackered spheres, but the back end is just slightly down.....so at this age am I looking at a) new front struts, b) a new pump or c) wow how lucky is me, it's just an air supply line popped out. Your thoughts would be most welcome at this juncture, thanks in advance. Ps, she had been sitting for a little over 3 months till the end of April with a non functioning wiper mechanism and a detached bonnet release cable (shudder!) but that's now sorted (shudder again!).

Update time. On Monday afternoon/evening I crawled the car up to my local (trusted) garage and asked them to pop it on the ramp so's l could check underneath. Sure enough, offside rear airbag not only badly out of shape but not even located on it's top spline mount. Replacement has arrived a.dyself and bro will have a go at it Thu, plus he has the software to set it up afterwards. Will let you all know how it goes....I might add that I'm saving up to buy the nearside replacement just in case.

Woe, woe and thrice woe. Just got back in the car, started the engine and about 10 seconds later a sound like an old tyre blowing and the rear end dropped lower than a snake's belly. Initially I thought just the offside but the nearside dropped as well. I don't think it's one airbag, seems more likely to be a hose broke or come loose. Opinions welcome. The car is 13 years old.