Stevey Y

Hi yes the German cars are better built but you are still altering the damping geometry if you use lowered springs and thus you will get a bone shaking ride it won't matter how good the bushes are on the rest of the suspension, also be careful to check that KYB units work with lowered springs as you won't be the first person to discover that the shocks start leaking in record time because the piston travel ratio was never designed to work with lowered springs, thats why Bilstein was recommended as they work with both types of spring standard/lowered especially the B6 as the bump stops are in the body of the shock rather than up by the top mount.

Hi retrofitting seats even if a straight swap will require wiring alterations and coding in afterwards, sit on a hot water bottle its easier and cheaper, as for the motor its probably gone as its a lousy design as the washer feed runs through the spindle for the arm and because the spindle only moves left and right the seal for the spindle out and water floods the gearbox and causes it to seize, I replaced mine a couple of years ago and took the motor apart out of curiosity it was like a rust festival in there. Steve

Hi go on eBay and try Mannol I have been using it in my cab and their 504/507 long life is about £25.00 for five litres and it has rave revues, they way I look at it if it will stand the pounding I give it with about 700-1000 miles a week with no downside it can't be bad. Steve.

Hi coilover suspension is a lot stiffer on the lowest setting so unless you want to spend a fortune on dental implants and suspension arms do as Steve suggested and go for Bilstein, B6 shocks with standard springs thats about as uprated as you need to go without murdering the ride/handling, coilovers are really for trackdays, you don't think the cars testing on the track at Wolfsburg was just for fun these cars have a really good set up which copes well with most road surfaces. Steve.

Hi the clutches are almost exclusively manufactured by LUK, Sachs is now one of their sub divisions, have a look at the LUK website where they will list your vehicle but no prices, alternatively try Car Parts in Motion they are very helpful and if you ring them they can normally flog you a clutch at a competitive price. Steve.

Yep the worlds a dangerous place, problem is one of the guys who is just up the road from me and is on this forum did not get most of the replies I sent through to him.

Hi there are a couple of posts on here with pictures but I replaced mine by getting in through the back by removing the boot trim so I could see the emergency release cable, chased the cable back to the unit which is held on by two 10mm bolts and slide the unit towards you, have a gander at youtube there are a couple of how to videos on the subject, if not Email one of the Moderators and they will point you in the right direction. Steve.

Hi yes it is, but worth the effort if it turns out thats the problem plus on the later models the heater is housed in the reductent circuit where the out flow pipe runs from the pump so you only have to replace the out flow pipe with the heater connection on it apparently its quite a common fault but you will have to test the wiring for continuity. The repair section is definitely cheaper than a whole tank, there are a couple of youtube vids on the subject and even if they are the Q5 I bet yours is not much different. Steve.

Hi the plunger mechanism is not working anymore, solenoid gone probably, loads on eBay fairly cheap and its easy to fit yourself two bolts and a wiring plug once you have removed the boot trim that side, in fact I would do that anyway to get the part number off of your old unit, check twice do once. Steve.

Hi try cleaning the connector to the heater element, unfortunately as far as I am aware you can't change the element as they don't do it as a separate part you have to buy the whole tank in which case try Nirrol in Barking they might have one. Steve.

Hi I think you will find that the first part of the number is the part number, the 079 is the size try Audi but if they are anything like VW they don't do it as a separate part and you have to buy that section of exhaust to get the clamp, my advice is ring Essex Turbos at Witham they are very helpful and if they don't have it they will know a man that does. Steve.

Hi probably corrosion in the pinned loom plug that connects with the headlight unit.

Hi its normally a fuse check the live voltage at the bulb connector, if its not that try the relays, What type of bulb do they use? Steve.

Hi another two years and they might work out what a LEAD BALLOON looks like. Steve.

Hi does the roof move back?, if so slide it back and clean the seals with white spirit on a rag, once dry give the seal that side a thin coating of Vaseline and close it, that should shut it up until you can get to the dealer. Steve.

Hi there is only one place for the item in the photo and thats in the bin, I run my A6 as a cab and service it every 9k about 4-5 times a year and the main summer services produce something similar to your filter, replace yearly with a service and you will be amazed by the results, better mpg and a more responsive engine, for what they cost its a no brainer. the new engines rely on good airflow. Steve.

Hi yes most definitely. Steve.

Hi just had a look at my daughters Q3 its a late 2013 but I am pretty sure its the same engine and the thermostat housing is at the front of the engine below/behind the throttle body, its doable as long as you have a decent 1/4 drive socket set and the special hose removal pliers both items cheap on eBay, you will have to remove the throttle body and turbo hose to get at it then its just a case of two bolts and the clips for the hoses to remove it its one of the sealed unit type so you can't take it apart, new unit required plenty about that are quite cheap. Steve.

Hi the airbag systems are a bit twitchy on most cars, glad you were able to sort it. Steve.

Hi you probably moved the seats when cleaning and this has thrown up an airbag code, the only way to cure this is get it plugged in and find out which seat is causing the problem if the fault is current you will have to remove the connector for that seat and clean it with electrical cleaner, but only do that after the car has been standing a good few hours. If its not a current fault just get the light put out, as the software on these VAG cars tends to hang on to codes even when the self test says its now clear. Steve.

Hi the left hand is definitely the ballast unit if it was doing it before the way to test the right hand beam is to sit in the car and see if the right gets brighter if you put it on main beam, if not the shutter system in the unit is stuck/defective, these headlights work on the following system, low beam is when the little electrically operated shutter is in the up position, main beam command drops the shutter so you get the full light from the bulb/reflector, the flickering is because the ballast unit that feeds the bulb is on its way out, HID bulbs require a steady high voltage this causes the element to electrically heat the salt crystals in the element these develop luminosity and give you the bright light via the reflector with none of the heat involved in a Halogen gas driven bulb. My neighbour spent over £300 on genuine Volvo HID bulbs before he asked the question and I got him another ballast unit £60 and he went and bought another Volvo bulb, problem solved, a bad ballast will eventually terminate your new bulb, the ballast unit is either behind the bulb cover, underneath the light unit or mounted on the side of the light unit its a large square thing encased in alloy.

Hi sounds like a dodgy ballast unit on the left light. Steve.

Sorry that was meant to be 200,000k

Hi Gareth, at that milage the shocks are probably at the end of there service life if you take into account the tyre wear in the video, the shocks are oil over gas and don't have to leak to be knackered which is why springs break as they are doing most of the work and the damper unit is just following the spring about like a bored husband in a dress shop, I have always changed the shocks and springs on my cabs at around 120k and noticed a spectacular improvement in handling and tyre wear, example being my last MK4 Mondeo estate after switching to heavy duty shocks [Bilstein] and Kilen springs the ride was as sharp as a razor and stayed that way until I sold the car another 2000k later, I would also like to point out badly worn dampers increase your stopping distance by twenty feet from any given speed as the tyre is trying to grip with no gradual compression from the damper and spring, saw this at a trade show I attended and it made pretty grim viewing as you can have the best discs and pads available but if the rest is knackered the end result is the same, longer to stop. Steve.

Hi Abdul, it looks like quite a shopping list you have developed there, I think changing the shock absorbers is a good shout as you will get your money back in record time with the extra milage out of the tyres as for the arms you can get poly bush kits but in all fairness they are three times the cost of the better quality arms, changing both ball joints makes a great deal of sense and as for the two grinning idiots on the video I think I would grin as well if I had just made my company that amount of money pro forma the shielding is a five minute job and a couple of self tapping screws, the tyres I pay what they want for one tyre for two good mid range tyres and believe me I know all about tyres as I run my A6 Avant as a cab, it might be worth buying all the arms and bushes upper/ lower as a kit off eBay at around £250.00 you can replace the lot. Steve.