Stevey Y

Hi folks we seem to have a rash of later A6s and other models that have had remaps and a couple of years down the line get running problems, the later technology software for Euro 6 is far more sophisticated than Euro 4-5 ever was, the sensors it controls are very sensitive and run between very narrow thresholds to maintain minimum emission levels to satisfy European standards, if you add to the mix that they were developing the software up to ten years before Euro 6 it then begs the question how can a bloke with a van or a download off the internet best about two million Euros worth off research and god knows how many more millions in refining these systems, yeah it is easier on the old models as the software has been cracked and is available for public consumption, allied to the fact the manufacturers dont care about older software as its past technology and can be re written to suit the writers purpose, then we have the fallout from newer maps such as increased temperatures throughout the engine which causes premature Turbo wear as well as injector wear as the ECU struggles to maintain its as built peramiters, then add the coding issues to make sure the average DIY mechanic and garages are constantly buying new and more sophisticated diagnostic machines to be able to affect repairs, the coding of major engine emissions components is to maintain a seamless repair protocol, therefore most of these cheaper maps will upset that balance. A few years ago a neighbour bought his son a brand new Vauxhall Corsa so he could commute to university and back, six months in it just made it home, I read the car and could not find any running faults so we called it a day, four days later it went back to the dealer who after four hours called the dad and told him the cars ECU was knackered as it had been interfered with, finally JNR admits one of his uni friends had done a remap on the car three months before, two days later and a new ECU at £1700 plus fitting and coding, the car was back to as built and running like a dream, all that for an alleged extra twenty BHP, if you want fast, buy fast, one of the wires friends works as a software tech for an MOD manufacturer for guided missile navigation systems, I asked her if she could write a remap for modern cars and she said yes as long as she had access to the current software profile, [not available] and at least three years to get it trialed and a certificate of compliance. Steve.

Cannot see the point in using an A3 petrol throttle body as a bench mark against an A6 diesel ultra, your throttle body is on the inlet manifold at the end right next to the EGR and both are water cooled, his vehicle on the other hand has a throttle boy under the inlet manifold which has no water cooling and runs on a completely different system, ergo the chances of you having a cheap aftermarket unit fitted are non existent as all the throttle bodies for the Ultra system whatever make have been used as O.E. at some point and my one only failed at around 200k. Steve.

Hi YouTube always looks easy when you have a fully equipped garage and you dont show the sweaty bits cos they are boring for the viewer, I swear they are funded by the people who make spare clutches etc so once you have failed the kit decorates your garage for the next year, I wish you luck, I really do. Steve.

Hi you need special tools to dismantle this you may well be better served buying a recon unit, by the time you work out the cost of thin wall through sockets and have you got a sturdy vice with a good soft jaw unit and then the four hours sweating to undo the unit its the cheapest option, even my local garage who are pretty enterprising wont touch a clutch change as you normally find the shaft seal behind the clutch is knackered and requires a complete casing strip down to replace. Steve.

Hi with the ignition on the voltage should not drop much below 12.3-12.7. Steve.

Hi its probably the rear gearbox tail shaft mount quite a common problem also check the engine mounts for oil leakage. Steve.

Hi for parts have you tried Charles Trent, Poole in Dorset they do a fine range of guaranteed S/H parts. Steve.

Exhaust gas temperature sensor there are normally two one before the cat and one after, both sensors have to tally up on reading whilst running if either is knackered it wont initiate a regen because it thinks the exhaust gas is not hot enough, I have had some EGTs that have been registering - 70 which means they are screwed, generally speaking 1psi sounds wrong as a new unit will measure at least 6-7 psi maybe more according to the amount of soot/ash in the DPF, I have always considered it best practise to replace any sensors to do with a DPF replacement as they all wear as a set, it must work as most of the cars I have worked on have never again had DPF issues in the last two years, monitor the EGTs on live data and when the car is raved the temps should climb rapidly, if your engine is Euro 4 you will only have one EGT, happy days. Steve.

ERM, sounds like it might involve money and effort.

Hi thats the problem with old Audis if nothing has ever been changed, the following will cause lack of regens bad MAF, bad MAP, weak DPF pressure sensor, bad EGTsensor, all of the above fail slowly and only ever throw a code when FUBAR. Steve.

Hi it might improve a little more as Audi quotes every thousand miles at least a litre is normal, not normal as the only other car I have found with this type of thirst are MINI and my niece ditched hers a while ago when she found out she was spending a minimum of £30 a month on oil, every later model Audi survives on losing about 50ml of oil between extended service intervals, also imagine what all that semi burnt oil will do for the catalyst and sensors. Steve.

Hi you have model within the years they fitted the wafer thin piston rings you can check on line to see if your engine was affected. Steve.

Hi sounds like the starter may be playing up, battery/starter being fine has anyone checked the starter voltage or the battery under load?. Steve.

Hi if you get the car scanned that will shed light on your problems chances are they are all caused by everything being disconnected when you fitted the new engine, did you get the ECU when you bought the engine as each engine will be programmed to its original as built ECU. Steve.

Hi thats the problem with trying anything ignition based, it thinks its being stolen chances are the immobiliser is fried, can't see why the dealer can't do it, when this occurs the can gateway will lock a lot of functions out, if you have VCDS you can reset at lot of this, never understood mapping out certain problems as it wont cure the root cause. Steve.

Hi nothing that a new trim and a couple of new lights wont cure but I bet the insurance will be going the whole hog new bumper, support bar, and lights a good few grand off the BMW insurance, should have got his face out of his phone, this is what happened to me last year, but faced with the rear dash cam footage it was a five nil job, including the hire cab just over £17000 all in, bet the !Removed! will do it again they are all the same BMW drivers. Steve.

Hi give it a bit of brute force, ABS plastic is very forgiving of a quick thump with the palm of your hand to locate lugs, its getting them off again thats the pain. Steve.

Hi the machine does indeed check for leaks via pressure But my A6 showed no leaks but at six weeks after it was done I was only getting cool air not cold so I dye tested the radiator and sure enough there was a tiny weep in the top right corner which was letting out very slowly so I had to replace the rad which was about £110 that cured it, if you look at the way the system is designed its a closed circuit therefore no gas should escape it only deteriorates after time and become weaker and wont do what it is supposed to because its full of contaminants, if you get it checked and there is no gas you have a leak, as for it running the pump all the time these systems activate via the relay which is why I suggested that, could be if the pressure sensor is feeling not enough gas pressure it is throwing it on to drive. Steve.

Hi just look at the new part and see where the lugs clip in, offer it up to the bumper and press in. Steve.

Hi on the plastic lugs that are sticking out at the bottom of the bumper? Steve.

Even the cheapest version of OBDEleven will allow you to do this, what price having your own decent code reader?, about £100 apparently, Steve.

Hi never been a fan of auto boxes, I have been told numerous times by my fellow cabbies that I dont know what I am missing, my manual had done over 270k and apart from a couple of oil changes was fine, if it is the Mechatronic unit and you need to replace it you will have to get exactly the same part number as you have already as they fitted about nine different types to these boxes, but there are companies that will refurb your own unit cheaply and guarantee the repair, the main cause of most failures are the raft of cheap badge engineered filters from Eastern Europe, they collapse early on in their service life and let all the cr@p into the valve blocks. Steve.

Hi if the clutch is engaged all the time it is probably a relay fault, if you have had it recharged properly you most likely have a pin hole in the condenser unit or the radiator. Steve.

Hi anything to do with master/slave cylinders the only choices are Sachs/LUK the right brake fluid is a must and the only oe equivalent is Comma ESP 4 which is a lot cheaper than Audi and wont rot the seals, no markings would suggest aftermarket as both the Sachs/LUK have there names on the castings. Steve.

Hi could be the Mechatronics unit playing up, get the car scanned. Steve.