Stevey Y

Hi at about that age it could be a driveshaft seal but most likely the sump seal is weeping or even a crank seal the list of options is endless, from what I can see its not drastic clean it all up with some brake cleaner and have a look a couple of days later. Steve.

Hi I know an easy way of getting around your problem as I own VCDS and have come across this problem before but subject to your attitude I think I would rather put my wedding tackle in a bacon slicer than tell you plus I am not to far from you, engage brain before mouth ring any bells.

Hi so we seem to have skipped from the All in Plan which you have paid for covering it with no empirical undertaking in writing that it does that, to oh well if it goes its PROBABLY covered under the plan, have you actually asked them what it covers and can I have that in writing, you are dealing with a dealers here and again on this forum are a multitude of posts for various models where the owner in good faith has taken out a warranty the cars gone wrong and then they inform them the the warranty wont cover that, prime example is the post on here about Alternator Failure due to Mild Hybrid System, some of these vehicles are still within the manufacturers warranty and they still want the owner to pay for the repair if you are stressed about your problem think about how stressed they must be over a three grand plus bill for an alternator, you on the other hand have the option of getting yours done at an outside garage for a fraction of the cost and have the peace of mind of knowing that the item will never again trouble you doing your ownership, you seem to be fixated on the quoted milage for the change but as you say is your choice, oldest saying , short term financial gain, possible long term financial pain, I think as a forum we cannot be accused of trying to coerce members to spend money unnecessarily, ask Cliffcoggin, I for my part wish you luck as I feel I can no longer add anything of further value to your cause. Steve.

Hi I would say the MAF is probably the root cause but its well documented that despite the belief that Audi parts last forever they actually don't, I found with a lot of them that when they reach a certain age/milage you end up replacing the MAP,MAF,DPF pressure sensor, they all communicate with each other and it only takes one to be on the way out and it throws it all out, personally my instinct would be to change the O2 sensor and the MAF and go from there its not the EGR sticking as that throws a whole host of codes that are related to that item, if you wok it out logically its a mixture problem yes but if the oxygen sensor is not getting the correct airflow strategy it will signal rich by default as commanded by the ECU therefore try the MAF first and then the O2. Steve.

Hi they must be top flight garages [NOT] my guy would be laughing his socks off, I wish I could catalogue the amount of things cam belt related that I have witnessed in the last twenty odd years of using my garage, I am always down there off and on and the latest was a customer with a three year old Citroen that was told at the last service he had better get the belt done SOON. Nah he thought its only done 20k and there it was in full gory glory having a cylinder head rebuild around £1800 without the new belt kit, Citroens small engines are notorious for banging out belts because they are wet belts, to sum up I have run well over a million miles between five taxis and never had a belt fail and I attribute this to changing the belt when he has suggested, so my Passat which has a 120k change interval gets its new belt every 80k because as a cab it gets far more action than the average family car, again what's cheaper a belt or a rebuild thats if you haven't jammed a valve through a piston which means SCRAP at the end of the day you have drawn from a rather large pool of experience and at the end of it the choice is still yours, the essence of this forum is to save members money and stress. Steve.

Hi can't see what the problem is, if its five years or near get it changed, had a few posters on here that have had incredibly low milage cars that have thrown a belt because they thought the milage should count, you must of paid well for a car with that milage so why dither about another say £500 for a cam belt change which will rubber stamp engine life for another five years, in the final analysis what's your car worth with a blown engine?. Steve.

Hi get the car scanned by an independent garage I have a feeling they are yanking your chain as an alternator change wont affect the sensors and disconnecting the battery normally resets the sensors which is what you do when a new Nox sensor is fitted. Steve.

Hi these units are notoriously difficult to rebuild DIY would suggest either eBay or try and find a company locally that refurbs either your unit or does them on an exchange basis which is popular in the UK most companies over here also do export, worth a try. Steve.

Hi I am pleased you have found someone to take the the job on but as I said the price is pretty steep if you compare it with a cam belt change at around £500, what is the market value of the car ?. Steve.

Hi I would say so, big problem being the cost of replacement its horrendous and not many garages will entertain it as its an engine out job, best thing you can do is go on YouTube to see what's involved, I personally wouldn't want it as a job. Steve.

Hi go on YouTube and have a look at Vag Technic they have a lot of videos on RS4s especially the later engines, I am of a mind that after watching these a M3 Touring could well look like a wonderful option. Steve.

Hi Steve another good practice is buy a load of cheap plastic food storage containers and some sharpie permanent markers in different colours you can then label the boxes for any small electrical sensors and damp affected bits, for what its worth I would strip the bottom end first to asses the state of the crank before going any further and hopefully it will come to a light regrind and new shells and perhaps new pistons and rings. Steve.

Hi they are cornering lights and only work when the lights and ignition are on and you turn the wheel if either side has no operation the bulbs have gone. Steve

Hi the new LED is just a case of solder the new unit in, if you are lucky some are plug in depending who made the light, therefore no coding required, as for disabling them you can only drive around for so long before you are noticed and as for having them come on when the headlights are on they automatically dim anyway, its law as from 2009 any vehicle fitted with DRLs the units must work, you could always go the other route and fit a retrofit kit which you would need a auto electrician for but other than that its either a refurb or another unit. Steve.

Hi there is not a test for adblue in current MOT legislation nor any gas test for NOX. consult Darkside Developments for your best options. Steve.

Hi the DRL is a single cob led on a circuit board that shines down a refractive tube, you can replace the led but its a long and complex process, better to get a second hand unit or aftermarket, there is a place that will refurbish your unit its called Skippys headlight service from memory its about a weeks turnaround. Steve.

Hi my A6 never had a warning about the silicone bag but they are definitely in there mine only presented itself when I hit the tank with a jet wash then what remained flew out in bits, I also used a jetwash when I flushed the heater matrix it deffo gets the bits out and is wonderful when flushing the block, its a pain but the silica gets in the thermostat and jams it open. Steve.

Hi I wouldn't worry about the aircon that just needs filling, flushing the heater core will probably cure the problem but you will also need to flush the block and radiator, most likely the silica bag has burst and the silicate is blocking the heater matrix, if you do research on this site there is plenty of posts and solutions, if in doubt contact Magnet and he will point you in the right direction. Steve.

Hi there is probably a few deletion services near you, try getting the level sensor reset but if that wont work have it deleted its an awful system that thrives on low milage cars thats why Audi recommend having it drained and flushed every two years regardless of milage. Steve.

Hi Steve if you look at these videos all the major problem seem to be camshaft orientated and very expensive, also the parts are nearly always on back order, the guy also makes an interesting point that the new parts are a different number which leads him to believe that they are a revised version [uprated], they obviously know they have a problem but rather than admit it its easier to sell pairs of camshafts at £2000 a pop, they also pointed out that some of the cam sprocket timings were out from the factory, they can't have moved as they are held on with at least three bolts, I think this is a conscious effort to build such crap fossil fuelled engines everyone will want overpriced electric cars and we all know about them, BYD which stands for Burn Your Dreams along with Tesla that have a habit of spontaneously combusting, we definitely had the better years with cars, you might get a job in a few years counselling Audi owners who have bankrupted themselves trying to keep these things running. Steve.

Hi take it back where you bought it and get them to scan the car for fault codes. Steve.

Hi this is one of those not easy to diagnose without the following information, do you have any codes, how old is the battery?, explanation is it could be a low voltage fault if the battery is weak as the electric steering uses a fair amount of amps, it could be a corroded connector on the steering rack, not much to go on with no codes but working it back to your message on the dash it could well be battery related. Steve.

Hi folks, recently had a massive trawl through YouTube and found one of the worst horror stories I have ever come across, the company is called Vag Technic and they have done multiple videos on the V6 petrol engines fitted to the later RS4s and the Q7, it would appear that Q7s suffer with timing chain and cam gear failure due to the fact that the electronically controlled oil pressure on idle is so low it starves the gears of oil and causes premature wear and gear failure, the car concerned had 80k on the clock and was booked in to have the chains replaced as preventative maintenance quoted at £3000 and once inside the engine they discovered the cam gears were worn as well therefore they had to fit new cams only available from Audi at £4000 for both banks plus gaskets and seals, total £12,000 plus a remap for the oil pressure system which should make it last longer and the reason for the low oil pressure, yeah you got it, to cut down on the emissions as there is less friction caused by the oil pressure when idling, we then come to the RS4 of which they had two in both with the same problem, one had 60,000 on it and the other 26,000, the lower milage car had a scrap engine in the end and the higher milage they fixed, both had suffered cam follower failure except the lower milage engine had flipped a follower which jammed itself into the opposite side which held the valve open whilst beating the piston to death, hence the catastrophic failure, Audi apparently send vehicles like this to their company because no one wants to spend £25,000 up on a replacement engine which apparently will do the same thing again at some point soon, all third generation V6s fitted to VAG cars are suspect and depending on which model have built in failure points, therefore the lower milage car was apparently worth around £39,000 and as the guy doing the commentary said why would you buy something thats going to cost telephone numbers to repair sooner rather than later, if you are in the market for this type of engine I would seriously suggest this site as part of your in depth research. Steve.

Hi two major things to check are the EGT sensors all reading nearly the same, then the ash level in the DPF as if its way to high the ECU wont allow boost at lower speeds and only partially at higher speeds. Steve.

Hi your bulbs are probably on their way out, age related wear inevitable, I always used the 6000k bulbs from a company called valley lighting on eBay they normally lasted about three years on my car and on a cab on nights thats pretty good going, LEDs are a waste of time and money as I have seen them used on the A4s some other cabbies have, fail quickly and keep throwing lighting faults, converting to LED headlamps your looking at £800 a side second hand or £2000 a side from Audi and then you have to get a different lighting control module and have the whole lot coded in, therefore at around £140 the pair the valley units are good value, try them you wont be disappointed. Steve.