Solent muppet

Well hi folks, I'm back. Woe, woe and thrice woe. Could be a long post here so put kettle on. As previously reported, my beloved (?) Allroad has been suffering from a severe reduction of boost. After much perusal here, head scratching and two scans, the second being done with an Audi compatible unit, the consensus of opinion is that the variable geometry vanes in the turbo housing are stuck solid and presumably in the maximum boost position as the engine starts immediately and idles smoothly without any kind of misfire or camchain rattle whatsoever.......but just a GENTLE tap of the throttle and the waste gate immediately dumps boost. Literally just revving to 15-1600 rpm and you can quite clearly hear the waste gate in operation. The electronic gizmo that operates the vanes works smoothly when disconnected but the lever(?) it attaches to does not move at all. As previously mentioned, I tend to drive in a moderate fashion and rarely boot the throttle ie rather like a chauffeur with a VIP in the back. Belatedly I realise now that I should have driven rather more aggressively more often but here we are..... If anyone wants to look up the mot history and age, this can be done by perusing yankeepapafiftysixromeodeltayankee (here's hoping that'll confuse the bots). So...do I attempt to refurbish or replace the turbo at what cost? or do I offer up the vehicle to someone here (preferably) who can do this and if so, what could I expect in terms of remuneration. The car is quite capable of driving itself on to a trailer. The work I have done or had done is a battery and alternator 3 years ago, rear suspension air bags replaced, crankshaft vibration damper replaced 2 years ago and front ride height sensors this year. It has had a yearly or 10k miles oil service religiously. My local garage ( trusted!) has quoted me about £1500 ish to supply and fit a new turbo with 12 month guarantee. So what should I do? Answers very much appreciated.

Hi all, update time cos it's good manners etc. Right then, as advised by the (much esteemed I must say) members here present, I bit the bullet and got a scanner. Nothing fancy, I just asked Google which scanner for an a 2007 Allroad and up came the iCarsoft VAWS V2.0 @£129 including vat and delivery from the folks who suppliedthe ride height sensors. Not, I know, the one recommended here but Iit seems to cover a few makes and did indeed show some fault codes including a turbo overboost message.....but also a shedload of others I remembered from when me bruv hooked up his vcds following some battery and alternator issues I may have referred to in previous posts. Now I'm the first to confess that when it comes to modern car electronic systems I am deffo not the sharpest knife in the draw ( but I practice and teach anaesthetic stuff so good there), so I went and did summat that most might consider a little bit silly and erased all the fault codes...... yes, I CAN hear you all slapping your foreheads from here! But......just taken the old biddy for a test drive. No warning lights, no limp mode and she is behaving herself even after a deep breath and a boot of the gas. Even the fuel gauge is working again, plus I can finally reset the service indicator too. So maybe it was all just a petulant sulk over.....gawd knows what. So for less than the price of an hour's labour at Audi, she seems to be in love with me again until next time........ and I get to keep the scanner! I'll keep you posted.....especially after the next long drive involving a real kickdown.....cheers all for making me do what I should have done a long time ago....I'm a silly boy I know. Ta everyone.

Right, been online looking at their website.......is it just a one off price or is there a subscription model behind the scenes? I'm not going to need updates etc as the Allroad will probably be history ( to me at any rate!) by say a year from now. Interestingly, when I went to use her this morning no lights, car behaving as normal......until I'd covered about 4 miles and the temp gauge was showing about 68-70 C when the light came on and a sort of limp mode came into play. When I got to the M3 at Camberley she was quite happy to accelerate (slowishly) to 65 - 70mph and hold that comfortably.....but coming back if anyone knows the Blackwater Valley/ Hogsback junction.....well she JUST made it up that hill at about 45mph and 2500rpm....oh dear. Get on the level bit and 60 on cruise control no problem. So it's the local garage WHEN they can fit her in or £125+vat for the nearest Audi dealer....or an OBDEleven scanner. The credit card's gonna take a hit but which model should I get? TIA.

Yes, I'm gonna have to get a scanner.......re the strip, I expect (@ 66 years old) they might do it if I promise NOT to strip🤣. What I DON'T want to do is buy an Audi vw specific scanner as we're probably going to be getting one newish car to replace the audi and it's faithful shadow the 2001 rover 25 so I'd like something to scan whatever THAT car might be as well, so recommendations on that would be handy.....just to say at the moment after the medical emergency our setby funds are pretty empty and must be built back up before I start blowing cash on an all singing and dancing bit of kit more suited to a professional so yes budget end of recommendations would be nice. Ta everso.

Not sure where the O2 sensor is but I'll give it a go....my local trustworthy garage are up to their eyeballs in work so I'm unlikely to attract their attention with a full strip, let alone a "come hither " tbh.🤣. I did see a mention of a loose or broken tube related to the turbo boost sensor......any thoughts on this would be welcome.

I've only just managed to get back to earning salary again due to a very unexpected medical emergency, so we have to build up our fallback fund which got expended during said emergency ( which was ongoing during my last series of posts incidentally) but as soon as funds allow I'll be looking to purchase a 'plug and play' multi-make obd scanner ....

........and just as I hinted at on my post of may 21st, here I am back again with yet ANOTHER query regarding my now 19 year old 2.7 Allroad. Sigh. OK so I'm heading back from our rental place on Hayling Island and get the chance to pass a large article on a VERY short bit of uphill dual carriageway so remembering turbo lag I drop 2 gears via the paddle and boot the throttle to sail past.....which she did, no problem. Half a mile later going up the long hill the glowplug light starts flashing. I'm in 6th doing about 56 or so and she normally romps up this hill in 6th no worries.....but 2 seconds after the light starts flashing she goes into 5th. Check I'm not accidentally in sport mode and paddle up to 6th again.....2 seconds later the car goes back into 5th and for the last 8 miles home she will not stay in 6th unless I'm on the flat and doing at least 55. The slightest touch of the gas pedal and she changes down a gear as if there's not enough power to stay at the gear selected.....but if I boot the gas she zooms away but with not quite ALL of the power I normally expect. So is she in limp mode? or is it something more serious .......I did a bit of online searching and most likely culprit it seems is the dpf......which according to the code sticker in the boot she DOESN'T have. This is bourne out by the impressive smoke screen laid down on full chat!! So I present the esteemed members of this august forum with this conundrum for your perusal as the owners handbook invites me to spend huge amounts of money at my nearest dealer (as usual and also as usual, not gonna happen!). Many thanks in advance for your opinions.

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!).