Stevey Y

Hi Clifford why do you think most motor manufacturers use a separate washer nozzle mounted above or by the side of the wiper arm, you don't get this problem, my last Mondeo went to its new owner having never had a rear motor and with 270k on the clock, how can something that saturates itself in a mixture of corrosive screen wash and water and then lets it back into the motor gearbox to rot that out be a clever idea, thats built in obsolescence at its finest. Steve.

Hi check the voltage from the alternator should be 14-14.5v on a multimeter from the back probe, if this is ok then check the plug wring from the alternator for corrosion I have known it to be corroded under the insulation and the wire is brown and not copper coloured which causes a resistance especially on the pulse wire to the ECU, there is also a situation where the regulator in the alternator is going up the wall and sends a voltage spike which will also cause a similar problem as the BEM will signal the ECU to shut down the voltage so it won't damage other components, how old is the alternator as it can only realistically be that or the smart charge wiring, 13.5 volts is a good average and is this problem throwing a light up. Regards Steve.

Hi I seriously doubt they are original but they are well past their sell by date, thank you for publishing this as it might well wake up a few others to the benefits of regular brake checks, also if you change the brake fluid every couple of years that has a really big impact on pad/disc wear. Steve.

Hi the diagnostic charge is a total fraud, the prices for the eBay units are cheaper and probably as reliable as the design is flawed anyway having the water for the washer run through the drive spindle, the O.E. units are made by Valeo/Marelli who are well known for producing crap. Steve.

Hi what leads you to the conclusion that your alternator is not charging, the whole point of smart charging is that the alternator steps up the voltage when the battery is becoming drained to compensate for the loss of voltage, therefore it would be cheaper to buy an upgrade alternator rather than blow the electrics by feeding in power to a 60amp socket instead of out. Steve.

Hi it is the motor and if you think £300 is what Audi would charge dream on, they charged one guy on here about the same just to take the rear panel off and refit the feed for the washer pipe, I think the motor from them is about £200 and then labour at over £100 per hour plus VAT, find a more sensible garage, the part is probably £60 on eBay. Steve.

Hi my mistake if its a 3.0 diesel its a chain driven engine just assumed its a 2.0 tdi apologies. Steve.

Hi check its had the cam belt done as if not that could become a real big problem very soon othervthan that check the brake linings and disc condition. Steve.

Hi the speedo situation might well be a failing PCB in the unit or a dry soldered joint, best policy would be to enquire with ECU Testing or similar, tell them your problem and they can probably repair it. Steve.

Hi all tuning boxes work on the same principle they plug into the fuel rail and fool the car into thinking its running cold all the time therefore it runs richer this in turn allows over fuelling which washes the bores and the pistons, so in conclusion it looks like the remap is the better option as that controls the fuelling in the correct manner commensurate with throttle demand and not the boxes way of lets throw extra fuel in an see what happens. Steve.

Hi the resistor will be in the blower box on the side usually in the passenger footwell it will be bolted to the box, the one on the gearbox is the crankshaft speed sensor so that measures crank speed/position. Steve.

Hi Kev was it a manual or auto and can you give the engine code, if he had to change the clutch I can only see it being the flywheel Clutch assembly and backing plate to take the manual box if its got the ECU with it could well be just a case of pairing it to the car even with a bit of fiddling its still a worthwhile cheaper fix. I suppose it all rests on the bargaining on price, Bonnie Lad. Steve.

Hi Steve I think you will find that the instrument cluster from my understanding would be controlled by the body control module but anything to do with starting and emissions is the ECU I will ring those that know Tuesday to confirm if the block and heads are all the same it should just be a case of bolting on all your existing emissions gear, it might be a bit of a faf but I am working on the theory based on my car that the block and head are the same as each other my engine is CNHA but the DETA engine on my neighbours Q5 is virtually the same but with different ECU programming but before we get carried away we await milage etc from KEV, will look in to the other engine. Steve.

Hi its probably the oil level sensor in the sump, not expensive unless you buy it from Audi and an easy job to do. Steve.

Hi try Retrofit Labs they do both. Steve.

Hi Steve they achieved the extra capacity by using the same pistons but slightly shorter con rods [old Ford trick] the old Kent 1300/1600 used the same piston with different sized rods but the block was the same in every respect, might be well worth giving Kevs engine a go as it will save you a bundle as well as the fact it comes with the ECU, if he says its mint I would definitely agree as it beyond doubting his experience and judgement. Steve.

Hi cheap upgrade is Phillips diamond vision halogen bulbs available on eBay they give about about 80% more light for not a lot of money if they are projector lenses it might be the chrome has burnt off of the reflector bowls but with out seeing the light unit I am just guessing. Steve.

Hi if you can post a picture of the headlight and confirm xenon/halogen bulbs you have options to improve both. Steve.

Hi I probably didn't read the first post comprehensively, I know how sensitive the electronics are on these cars I have had the same message on my car a few times but it clears itself after a few drive cycles, sort of thinking it might just be a coincidental fault and there is not a day goes by that I regret getting VCDS as I scan the car every month and find loads of one hit codes that when deleted don't ever appear again, I am of the conviction that some of these faults are written in by the software writers to appear at certain milages to make work for the dealers, might be worth consulting an auto electrician with the codes you already have from the IDOS system at Audi, I don't think its anything to do with the replaced fuse, are you sure all the fuses you removed were pushed home properly?. Steve.

Hi Steve I am sorry to hear of your problems, in my humble opinion the obvious route would be a standard rebuild as performance rebuild would be a bit much in view of the milage, too much stress on an old lady, better to rebuild the original engine as standard and the rest of the money on restoration of the chassis, my friend who owns the garage I use bought a MK3 Escort Cosworth as a basket case, basically a rolling shell with all the trim inside it and no engine, £8,000 he is now driving himself mad building an engine that will run about 400bhp the parts costs are horrendous thats without his time and expertise, I can see it with this car as they are rare but what you must consider is will the car you own ever be classed as rare and will it warrant vast expense in view of the imminent arrival, therefore to get the best of both worlds rebuild the engine and see how it goes as the other route is you appearing on CAR SOS in ten years or so. Steve.

Hi I strongly suspect that its the reader coil that has had a meltdown when you connected the charger, did you connect it to the battery directly or the jump posts under the bonnet as direct battery connection of a charger is a big NO,NO on these vehicles. Steve.

Hi Steve, it was just a shame I trashed the balljoint rubber boots as they were spot on for 150, 000 miles but I now know that when these degrade that I can get away with poly bushes on the inner, just found out Audi do a repair kit, yep the inner bush although at £95 inc vat you might just as well pay the extra £20 and have a whole new arm, Audi price £220 per arm depressing their sense of humour. Steve.

Hi Gents, I started to suffer some weird handling on the front of my A6 so I ran the car down to the garage I use so I could borrow a ramp, soon saw the trouble it was the Banana arm bushes as named in the trade, A.K.A. front rear lower control arm, anyway managed to get a deal on Lemforder replacements they must be o.e. as someone had ground most of the VAG numbers off of the castings, I assumed that the whole arm and balljoint must be knackered so I butchered the balljoint boots with a forked joint splitter only to find the balljoints themselves were perfectly serviceable even after 150, 000 + miles, on reflection I could have got away with fitting power flex bushes on the inners, hey ho time is money, but I thought I would publish this as they reckon these are a weak point on Audis, so if some monkey MOT tester tells you they are gone make sure they look like this before you launch your wallet at them. Steve

Hi Tony I run my car as a cab so have a look at the pictures of my filters at 9k every changed every three months. Steve.

Hi sounds like you are on the right track with the injectors but before you throw money at them have a leak back test done as that should tell you definitively, did a Skoda recently that was loosing 30ml of fuel in 40 seconds thats where the fuel pressure was going, you have replaced everything that normally causes your symptoms, normal leak back should be about 3ml a minute. Steve.