redjoe100

Thanks Steve, that's helpful

Hi everyone Just had to swallow handing back my 2010 A3 S line 1.8 TFSI 8P variant. I'd had it 3 weeks and discovered its suffering from a well known engine problem and was drinking oil (about 0,5L over 60 miles!) Luckily the garage I bought it from has given me a full refund....you win some, you lose some but I was gutted to see it go. I'm now looking at a 2013 A3 S Line 1.8 TFSI 8V with semi auto S tronic gearbox. Not wanting to repeat my experience, is there anything you think I should be aware of before I take another look at this car? I'd hate to buy something again to then find out there are serious known issues. Any help you can provide would be great. Many thanks

Thanks Cliff... By shifting if from where it is now l, won't that send it down the bottom of the boot or is there somekind of limiter on there?

After checking the fuse panel I found no fuse for the rear wiper! For my variant of A3 it's a 15A in position 41. That's sorted it. However the rear wiper returns to the 11 o'clock position when it rests or stops....is there a way to set this position? Thanks

Manage to get the bottom of it after alot of faffing around... My inner/boot tail light LED wasn't working because it's live feed is taken from the live feed on the outer tail light. The outer tail LED driver board had previous water ingress causing that LED to partially illuminate but not enough to notice it was at fault (at first). The LED driver board was also not outputting enough juice to supply the inner LED. I took the lights out and because I couldn't find a wiring diagram I buzzed out and took the voltages across the contacts, that gave me enough to know that outer LED feeds inner LED so I buzzed out those link wires (marked in blue in the picture)....all good apart from lack of volts on the passenger side. Anyway, replaced the entire outer cluster on the passenger side which now kicks out the correct voltage to the inner and happy days! If anyone is interested I've attached my scribblings for my variant of A3. It shows the cable colours, connector pins and continuity between ground and live with lamps inserted. (with cluster and bulb housing removed from car)...hope it helps someone out. Thanks for all the suggestions

Sure enough a new ignition coil sorted this instantly. For good measure I had all 4 and a new set of plugs replaced. The error on the dash also disappeared. That's one ticked off. Thanks all 👍

Thanks cliff, I did run a small piece of scouring pad over the pins, that's what for the outer light LEDs working (albeit dimly). I'll have another go before I apply some spray. Does anyone know if the inner LED is fed from the outer LED cable? The seem to illuminate at the same time on the driver side .....if that's the case it could be the wire that links them. Thanks again

Thanks Gareth, some spray on order. Will have another attempt soon and post back. Cheers

Thanks Gareth I've removed some of the inner trim and panels to access the harness, carefully removed the wrap but as far as I can tell there is no damage. Any idea what to try next? Thanks again Update: found no cable damage after digging into the boot lid and where the loom enters the roof void (checked the rubber hinge boot too). I then focused my attention to the same side but outer/main light....cleaned that and it's connections up. Now the dash warning has gone and the outer light led strip illumates partially. So some progress. Still no inner LED surround but the fog and reverse lights do work. That means 3 of the 4 wires are fine and have power but the 4th (for the LED) is faulty. Any idea where that's powered from or which one of the wires it is? Thanks

Thanks Gareth I've removed some of the inner trim and panels to access the harness, carefully removed the wrap but as far as I can tell there is no damage. Any idea what to try next? Thanks again

Hi all, I've got a real head scratch going on with my inner/boot hatch tail light. The reverse bulb works but the led surround strip does not. I removed the passenger side and plugged it into the working driver side....the led did not work so I assumed it was the led and bought a new cluster 🙂 The new cluster arrived but did not work in the passenger side or the working driver side so I assumed I bought another broken led cluster 🙃 To double check I put some voltage across the pins in the connector and the LEDs work in both the original and new passenger clusters!🙂 This leads me to believe its somewhere further down the chain and that the passenger and driver side connector pinouts are different presumably because the clusters are mirror images of eachother and the power strip runs have to be different? Does anyone have any experience here or perhaps a pinout or wiring diagram so i can confirm this? The information panel on the dash does alert me to the faulty light but im guessing it doesn't know the difference between a blown bulb and a fault elsewhere in the cable? Any help appreciated! Thanks

Garrage took it in and pulled the codes off it, ignition coil failed so I had those and all the sparks replaced. They've agreed to pick up the cost. Thanks for the advice people.

I was worried that would be the best thing to do. I bought it from an independent garage that offer a 3K miles warranty on engine and gearbox so im guessing that should be covered. Plus I've barely driven it! Thanks Cliff

Hi there, this evening my Emission control light started flashing then went out and was replaced by the EPC light constantly on. At he same time when both idling and around 2000rpm the ride feels very juddery 🤔 The hand book says drive slowly to a qualified barrage for both lights. Any idea what it could be or if I can try anything? Not a great feeling having had the car lass than a week and only 150 miles. Any help would be great Thanks

Thanks Steve, another one to feedback once I've explored.