Stevey Y

Hi thats the injector feed pipes, [the silver pipes] the black ones are rubber fuel return pipes these are prone to leaking with age, the other part coloured green is the cat with the oxygen sensor. Steve.

Hi you wont get a code up for the pump thermostat as its not monitored thats why they just boil up when it seizes shut, no warning other than the temp gauge going in to orbit. Steve.

Hi Jon you wont be disappointed, only other thing I would suggest is as you are rebuilding the rears clean the callipers off with brake cleaner and a Scotch brite cloth then mask off the rubber boots on the carrier pins and give it spray with some Halfords calliper paint, did that with my daughters Q3 when I did her pads and discs and it makes it look like new, still look great a year on. Steve.

Hi try buying the right part using your VIN/REG NO. then it will fit swapping bonded rubber parts is a disaster in the making.

Hi from memory you should have two stats one on the block and one on the water pump which is electronically controlled, its like a shroud that fits over the impeller and covers it when cold so the engine heats up faster, trouble is the shroud gets stuck wide open and can't start to close itself when the engine tells it the water temp is beginning to drop. Steve.

Hi Jon you wont need to replace the carrier bolts as these have a coarser thread as well as having grip washers on the bolt itself, as you will find out when you undo yours which requires a fair bit of grunt and a breaker bar, as for your wife's situation that is weird as they all come with the anti squeal pads already fitted you just have to peel the plastic backing cover off, not trying to teach my grandma how to suck eggs but another common mistake is copper greasing the backs of the pads, that will make them squeal as the idea is the rubber pad on the back with heat will attach semi permanently to the piston and support faces of the calliper. Steve.

Hi Jon, having run just about every combination of discs and pads over the last million miles I can honestly say that Brembo are excellent, both discs and pads BUT the ATE discs will last longer as the carbon content is far higher, Bosch pads are very good used with the ATE/Brembo discs, most other brands Febi/Mintex/Delphi are good but tend to wear faster, if you re use the old bolts 20nm torque is about right as these are stretch bolts and ideally you would use new bolts but absent new bolts you wont want to put to much pressure on already stretched threads, most kits worth getting have new bolts and a wear sensor as if you don't replace the sensor yes the old one works but fails in a short space of time leaving you with a dash warning light, you can phone TPS but have a Defib unit handy, then do the sensible thing and go on parts in motion web site or eBay I have just bought genuine ATE front discs and a Bosch pad kit with sensor cable and new bolts for £170, its all there if you search and the rear discs and pads are always cheaper by about 40%. Steve.

Hi finest upgrade is high carbon discs that are drilled on the front and just plain high carbon discs on the rear pad wise either Brembo or ATE, the biggest bonus will be achieved by changing the brake fluid using Comma dot 4 ESP, I used drilled ATE front and plain ATE discs on the rear of my cab the fronts now need changing but they have done 70k, grooved discs just eat pads and get bits of crud stuck in the grooves which wear the discs at an accelerated rate with no real benefit in braking performance, on the other hand drilled discs cool quicker as well as dissipating water on the discs during wet weather twice as quickly. Steve.

Hi you will need a suitable diagnostics unit which has the facility to put the car in to rear lining change mode, this is used when you have the car jacked up and the rear wheels off with the car in gear so it wont roll, switch the handbrake off and engage rear lining change you will hear the motor retracting the pistons, then with the aid of a beefy screwdriver inserted between the old pads and disc gently push the calliper piston the last bit back into the calliper the pads should be moving free now so its just a case of undoing the two bolts that hold the middle of the calliper to the main carrier these are attached to the slider pins which have a rubber boot covering them and allow the calliper to self adjust to compensate for wear, once released from the slider its a case of pulling the calliper away making a note of which side the wear indicator wire sits, you will have to replace the wear indicator as well as the pads, the wear indicator has the plug end in a slot in a metal bracket which you have to twist to release it so you can separate the plug and fit the new wire, make sure you fit the new pads the way the old ones were fitted that makes sure the cut out for the new wear sensor is on the correct side, take photos as a reference, clean the runners for the pads on the carrier with a stout wire brush and then coat them with a thin smear of copper grease and then mount the pads on the carrier and gently push the calliper body over the new pads, you will have to push the slider pins in a little to allow this, you must always use new bolts to hold the calliper to the carrier but in saying that you can get away with using the old bolts provided you clean the threads and use a blob of blue thread lock, do not over tighten these bolts as they will snap, nipped up will suffice say 20nm, once its back together give the brake pedal a push then take the car out of lining change mode then engage handbrake and replace the wheels, don't think I forgot anything but claim poetic licence. Steve.

Hi visualise kilowatts, more chance of poking smoke up a cats backside with a knitting needle, sorry but these things are pre programmed to do what they want when they want, if the car is being charged and the ambient temperature drops it will automatically turn on the battery heater and that sucks energy, these cars are a hard thing to analyse as the variables are beyond most mortals comprehension, thats why I have always run diesels as the patterns are more predictable with the change of seasons, example, my old Euro 4 engine used to give more power when it was colder but less MPG, slight difference with a Euro 5 engine colder more power and only a small drop in mpg, Euro 6 less MPG during the summer as the engine is permanently trying to run cooler but has to fight the effects of warmer air on NOX production, ergo more adblue consumption, now winter more mpg less adblue consumption as the ECU loves cooler air, I really wouldn't drive yourself nuts trying to second guess, it is what it is, welcome to new technology is it not wonderful, rule one if a salesmans lips move he is probably lying. Steve.

Hi worth getting a second hand unit with the same number and give that a try as these things are sealed and not very repairable. Steve.

Hi the pipes are return pipes for the injectors the bolt/nut looks like some sort of locking device for the injector and if you can get the old part out match it with the appropriate bolt/nut from any sales on eBay, stainless steel preferably it wont corrode, if its not causing problems leave it alone.

Hi the cooler weather will have a massive impact on the battery as all these batteries need to be warm to work efficiently therefore there is some kind of heating membrane around them which is powered by, yes electric, example being last year one of my fellow cabbies blew his beans on a Tesler which was fine during the summer 200 miles on a full charge, when it got blistering cold before Christmas he was only getting just over 100 miles, factor in the battery warming and the heater for the car and any demisting devices thats where your range goes. Steve.

Hi why bother with a remap when the new car will perform as well as your old car if not better, its all about how the torque curve is used on the existing map, I think you may find there is only a marginal difference in some aspects of the new cars performance especially when the newer engine has an extra 200cc which is a whole lot more to play with, go to the other end and in the early eighties Lancia did a Lancia Y10 three cylinder Turbo which at 1ltr was capable of over 105mph with a very respectable 0-60. Steve.

Hi the break will probably be in the rubber boot that runs between the door and the main body these are prone to breaking as the door is most used that side, pull the rubber boot back and inspect the wiring inside. Steve.

Hi it is almost certainly the mechanical part of the calliper that is driven by the EPB motor is sheared/seized, from my understanding and professional advice it is possible to buy the calliper minus the drive motor and providing the drive motor has not been damaged that should cure it. Steve.

Hi I agree with Steve and Gareth on both options, can you specify what has failed as if its a pipe its either repairable or substituted with a different material with a similar bore, if you look at it I wouldn't mind betting your system is exactly the same as the A4/A5/A6 I think its a safe bet as VAGs love of globalisation means one part fits a load of other models, I to am a cabbie and I know exactly where you are coming from, I feel for you I really do, no car is like someone has cut your throat financially, I have come across this none in the country for your vehicle CR@P loads of times as with my engine mounts, ended up buying FEBI units which also fitted the A4 with a CNHA engine, oh no I was told by the main stealer they wont last, 70k later says no difference. If you get in a jam just get the adblue mapped out until you can get the parts its a lot cheaper than being off the road for six months. Steve.

Hi when draining the sump its always a good idea to remove the filler cap as this can cause a negative vacuum and stop the oil from draining, you find this with the Ford DW engines that have a plastic flat sump and a big plastic drain plug Steve.

Hi at a rough guess its a bad connection or corroded wires running to the plug that powers the unit, I have to agree with Gareth that jet washes are normally the culprit as they get water in to places it wouldn't usually get in to and under high pressure at that. Steve.

Hi I have never bought a refurbished injector off eBay my first port of call is always United Diesels in the U.K, not only do they have a phone number but you always get a ton of good advice and any refurbished items always arrive in airtight packaging and look brand new you also get any deposit back in record time, most eBay ratings are based on friend and family reviews, the refurbishment of Piezo injectors like I think yours are requires a very special knowledge and equipment, Steve.

Hi I think you will find thats the return to the tank looking at the middle picture I would say the infeed is the large banjo bolt to the right of the the pump, if you can't see the fuel moving through the return pipe that would suggest the lift pump, you will always see air bubbles in the clear pipe as thats the HPFP self bleeding and if the HPFP was getting fuel the bubble would move when cranking. Steve.

Hi most of the dates for these fault codes are prehistoric so I would delete the lot I bet they wont return, my guess would be the low pressure fuel pump in the tank as this manifests itself as a high pressure pump issue as the low pressure side is not supplying enough fuel, easy to diagnose as if you get a container with about a litre of fuel and a suitable length of fuel hose and connect the hose to the intake side of the high pressure fuel pump with the container end elevated above the pump it should start if my theory is correct, before cranking give it a squirt of easy start just to get it going so the pump sucks fuel. Steve.

Hi the other route is to have an aftermarket regulator fitted, these are adjustable and are pretty much made to fit any car, I did that mod with an old Mini I had that wouldn't pass an MOT because of lack of brake pressure at the rear so just before every MOT I had to remove the guts from the regulator so it passed, lots of fun driving back in the rain with a tail happy car, finally bit the bullet and bought an aftermarket retro fit adjustable and never looked back. Steve.

Hi Jack just been on eBay and they have loads of them, what you really need is a photograph of the item or the part number on the old unit, looks like these fail fairly regularly as most of the ones I looked at covered from 1990-1999, try parts in motion on the net and see if they can match one to your car using your VIN number. Steve.

Hi it is still possible its a wrong un try fitting the old one and see what happens if its the same you could have a wiring problem at the plug on the main loom where it connects to the sensor. Steve.