Stevey Y

Hi thats the timing belt tensioner, don't know when you last had it done but with those things they are best left alone as when it was done the pulleys would have been pinned out and the tensioner set to the diagram supplied with the kit. Steve.

Hi as you say you can't tell from the the videos visually but the the noise rings bells and from the other clue about the emissions failure I would hazard an educated guess that one of the injector seals is blowing by, its a little copper seal that goes between the injector and the seating point in the cylinder head, had it on a couple of my Fords and the sound is familiar, if you follow the clues it points that way as if you were losing cylinder pressure the emissions go up as its not combusting the charge properly, a higher density of unburnt fuel through the exhaust. Steve.

Hi well done and a brilliant photographic documentation of each step of the process, the kit used is definitely a bit of me and I think you are in danger of becoming a seriously good DIY motor mechanic plus there is the satisfaction of knowing its done right!, the alternator clutch has a grip like my missus on my credit card so you have no chance of removal, if you had to do the job again you could do it in half the time as you say its a learning curve. Steve.

Hi if you buy the expensive [£15 trim removal kit] off eBay it makes life damage free except for the panel spring clips which deform easily, upside is you can buy the clips on eBay as well. Steve.

Hi if you can possibly post some pictures of the new motor/water tube connection we might be able to work a solution. Steve.

Hi I can concur with Steve Q as the additional Ethanol added makes it less stable but allows the refiners to make more money as it is a cheap filler as per gov regulation, remember these are the people who told us that we should buy diesel vehicles as they are better for the environment and then spent the last decade trying to hang diesel owners out to dry, I agree with you stick with E5 if you can. Steve.

Hi Tony my car does the same I think its because its linked to the rain sensor on the front if I have my front wipers on auto it does it first thing in the morning if its wet and during the day when its just started to rain. A dying motor normally manifests itself when the wiper refuses to park the blade in the correct position or won't work at all. Steve.

Hi if you look to the top of the boot with it open you should see a black armoured section of cable that runs between the boot lid and the bodywork both ends will have a rubber grommet on either end of the armoured plastic, some you can get one end grommet out and pull it back to expose the wires inside, unfortunately you normally have to get both grommets ou and cut it all with a Stanley knife to fully expose the wiring which Murphys law says is broken right in the middle of the armoured covering where it flexes, I did my daughters Alfa one back last march and just put in some extra short sections in between the broken wires which I soldered in and made repair, I then replaced the split armoured piece using washing up liquid to get the grommets in again and filled the plastic ribbed bit with black silicon and pulled the split together with small tie wraps until the silicon had set, then cut the wraps which left it nice and moisture proof, I believe you can buy a rear section with a new bit of armoured pipe but they are not cheap. Steve.

Hi Gents just bringing this out in to the forum domain, I have found a wonderful little service kit on eBay, its made by a company called Alco in Europe who have been going for fifty years making high quality filters they even make their own filter mediums in house, I have used these filters for 18000 miles [two services] and had no problems whatsoever, every part fits as it should and is very well made, the kit contains Air,Oil and carbonised cabin filter as well as a new sump plug and for forty quid its a good deal which only leaves the oil and fuel filter which if you are DIY is sub a hundred quid for all your parts. Steve.

Hi if you look on the government web site it tells you the years of cars that won't run well on E10, but in saying that E10 has caused a lot of problems with later cars as well the upside is if your cars are not on the list you can take some of the guess work out of it by buying a proprietary fuel additive that will alleviate any problems you might have using E10, there have been people with later cars posting on this site that have been having problems with E10 causing sensors to play up and as extra ethanol will eventually corrode metal parts . I can see why when they change back to E5 the problems cease, European blending of fuels is different from U.K. blending which is why the fuel is delivered raw and blended at refineries such as the big site near me and it is blended to our regulation and then checked by weights and measures before its allowed to be sold Steve.

Hi never quite sure with these as 11 on they altered a lot of things to make it easier to get at them for the dealer mechanics, might be an idea to remove the fan pack as that would give you an extra few inches, some pictures would be excellent as I can see how it comes apart, I admire your persistence and am sure the problem can be solved without removing the front of the car. Steve.

Hi if you take the top plastic cover off above the radiator which from memory is two plastic plunge clips that should give you a better view of it all, mark where each pulley touches the belt with tippex and do a drawing of each pulley and the way the belt travels either behind or over that particular pulley, good kit Dayco and INA are used as o.e., I wouldn't get involved with changing the alternator freewheel clutch in situ as they can be an absolute cow when the alternator is out of the car and on a bench these clutches normally fail way after the alternator and as most replacement alternators have a new clutch fitted its probably a fruitless and consuming exercise, only other tip is make sure you have the belt running true when you pull the tension pin out to release the spring tensioner as you will need Neanderthal strength to pull it back again if you get it wrong and remember to turn the engine over by hand a few turns to settle the ribs on the belt into their grooves, I have seen the new belts try and ride off of the crank pulley. Steve.

Hi I don't know which diagnostic platform you are using but it may well be the new motors need re adaption/relearning, this enables the new part to relearn its operating values it would appear that anything on these cars that has a butterfly in it needs this process, my neighbour fitted a new throttle valve to his old VW Polo which then idled like a bag of bolts until we did a reset on the body and after that it runs like a sewing machine. Steve.

Hi Fords Quickclear windscreen was a revelation and they guard the patent for it aggressively thats why no other car manufacturer uses them unless they have been granted a licence to do so by Ford at great expense. The main freezing point is the run of pipe that passes through the bonnet this is some sort of clear plastic garbage covered with amour flex wiring loom protector rather than the silicone and rubber mix Ford use which can't freeze, I am going to convert mine in the summer, the only upside is the washer jets are easy to remove but if you break one they are fortunes new. Steve.

Hi if you get the car scanned it may give you an idea whats misbehaving. Steve.

Hi sorry but why did you recalibrate the sensor was it replaced? Steve.

Hi without scanning this is just an educated guess, it could well be the throttle body is clogged and the internal butterfly is having a problem finding its operational parameters, but as I said scanning is the only real solution. Steve.

Hi yes possibly a tear in an overdue filter, you always get particle in gear oil especially when its as burnt up as that is, the gearbox service is worth a try. Steve.

Hi Gareth thats about the long and the short of it, you don't have to hold the start button down I did mine without pushing the clutch pedal down the first two times and engaging the clutch to start third time just pushing the start button once allow the glow plug light to go out and away we go this works 90 percent of the time when the plugs are getting tired or in my case just freezing ambient air coming in, its a bit like boiling a kettle it takes less time to reheat the more you do it and the heat is more intense, had a result today got two new SKF o.e. bearings from carparts in motion for £150.00 no hub flanges in them but all new bolts, my man reckons the flanges can be used out of the old units, we will see....... Steve.

Hi Chaps, update the temp has gone up to 11+ degrees and I obviously now ave instant start and washers, the downside is the strange noises from the front are not the pack ice I am rolling over but the front wheel bearings rumbling, over a 140k and the potholes have finally done for them, mind you it looks like a fairly simple job to change them provided you buy the hub flange version which is already pressed in, Boo Hoo more expense on top of Christmas. Steve.

Hi Gareth it appears Dave thought it would sell as sight unseen. Steve.

Agreed especially as the mirrors are around £500 without the cap

Hi you could try posting some pictures with info such as milage etc and a ball park price, otherwise the current offering would be how long is a piece of string. Steve.

Hi I wouldn't bother, you won't stop them from doing this to anyone, its their prime directive to skin any unsuspecting soul, why do you think their workshops are like palaces, I would concur with slagging them online as they deserve as much bad publicity as possible thats why I use one garage out of the five in my area, two are manned by idiots and have no real specialist equipment and the other two have all the kit and wallet hooks, find a good independent with a greasy workshop and people queuing to get an appointment, the revues the palaces get are based on brainwashing of customers that they have had a super job done at a far cheaper price than Audi would charge and lets face it there are very few that want to pay Audis psychotic prices. Steve.

Hi I can better that this morning was minus eight so I had to cycle the glow plugs three times to get it to start, the best bit was no screen washers for the first two hours as some lame brain !Removed! engineer thought its a good shout to use an armoured plastic transfer pipe to the jets mounted on the bonnet and despite running neat screen wash the bar steward still freezes up, none of my Fords ever did this as the feed pipes were between the inner surface of the bonnet and the insulation, the award for genius goes to my old Alfa 147 where the washer bottle top area was wrapped around the expansion tank so it was always warm and never froze up in the ten years I owned it, I am gradually beginning to see through the myth of Audi build quality how did they miss this one when testing. Steve.