Stevey Y

Hi gents as the milage rolls up so do the problems, they had the gearbox out today to find out what the oil leak was about and it turns out the rear crank seal is giving up the ghost spraying engine oil all over the bell housing, while we were there they also noticed that the new radial shaft seal fitted to the slave cylinder was weeping gear oil all over the clutch assembly none of which is covered by the TPS warranty because the crank seal which was dry at the time wasn't replaced with the clutch, they wanted over £155.00 for the crank seal which I got from a local motor factors [Elring O.E.] for £55.00 and because my guy cancelled the TPS order they have told him they won't sell him anymore parts which considering they have already had about £650.00 out of me for the other bits new driven/ pressure plate and slave cylinder with associated seals is a bit rich, still wait till they clock on to the fact they are not getting his £20,000 a year for all their overpriced parts will soon bring the area manager down on a flying visit, but I honestly think this time the second word will be OFF as the local main dealer has already offered some very attractive prices. Steve.

Hi well done there is nothing like fighting a battle on the field of your choosing. Steve.

Hi I agree with Steve the data is useful from the point of the reduction in figures after the repair, but it was not a slight at you, sorry if you took it that way, even if you had found something like this its only a slim chance it would of been of any use to you as the variables on this subject are immense as the final analysis is driving styles, fuel and distances covered between regenerations, the other thing is static regenerations when stationary don't work very well unless its a forced regeneration as the ECU will stop the process when the minimum acceptable load is reached because of the temperature issues if it goes the whole ten rounds, if it starts a regeneration just before stopping if feasible run it round for another fifteen mins as the higher exhaust gas pressures make for a more thorough job. Steve.

Hi as long as it looks identical to the original and all the plug parts are the same the letter in the part number is for the year produced, similar won't work it has to look the same but will still need coding to the body control. Steve.

Hi it won't matter which car you get it from as long as the part number is more or less the same, eBay is a good source, but the end result is the same it will need coding to the car as they are not plug in and play as the immobiliser is built in to the dash. Steve.

Hi its probably the fan control unit on the fanpack at the front by the radiator its 1-2 silver boxes on the cowling with electrical plugs, if you bridge the plugs live and earth and the fan comes on its the control packs but the easiest way is to turn on the airconditiong and watch the fan for movement it could well be that its not getting hot enough for the fan to work, the only other component to look at is the coolant temperature sensor. Steve.

Hi yes you need a copy of the codes that he reads and preferably take a picture of the screen and post it on here, should he refuse find someone else to scan it, the codes are the key to fixing your problems and believe me anything is curable from that information thats why we have fault codes. Steve.

Hi try using a company called ECU Testing they specialise in fixing faults on dash pods and will test yours and tell you if its repairable, one of the guys on here was told his unit was beyond repair but they managed to recode a second hand donor unit he got from a breakers, I think it was a few hundred quid but the option was a new one from Audi which with the recoding was a few grand. Steve.

Hi sorry I am not quite sure of the point of this exercise is it to prove that the cooler and new valve cut the ash/soot loadings. Steve.

Hi Paddy, if you can publish the codes that have come up that would give a vast insight in to whats going on, the term DPF issues is a broad church and I agree with you not going down the delete route as it will definitely come back and savage your backside and your wallet at a later date so please, please, codes then we can very possibly aim you down the cheaper more practical route, DO NOT GO TO AUDI, unless you want to remortgage your house and sell the wife and kids to a white slave trader. Steve.

Hi with that sort of milage it should have been changed about 100k ago, there is no way of testing them other than with a crowbar underneath them to see if it moves up and down but considering the price of a new one just changing it would be better policy, the outer ring of the pulley is bonded to the inner with high shore rubber which when it deteriorates allows movement/vibration, the DMF and crank damper are there to stop harmonic resonance which occurs around 1800-2000 rpm. Steve.

Hi also known as a crankshaft pulley.

Hi no need to worry about the DPF as that will carry on regenerating as normal, your parts removed are exactly the same as mine were and if you look at my post with the pictures of the cooler after I cut it in half you will see the crystallised Adblue has invaded the coolant area around the gas tubes, I also had a small amount of crystals in the expansion tank, this is not ideal and means the gas tubes running through the cooler have been compromised and are letting the Adblue steam and crystals into the water jacket but being as the coolant is heavier this tends to push the other way causing the syrup like substance in your pictures, the main problem with this cooler is the cooling length is to short and unlike most other designs used on older engine set ups which have a lot more narrow O.D. set ups but longer cooling runs our shorter larger coolers will always promote corrosion of the cooling tubes because of the heat involved being mounted so close to the DPF core allied to the fact Adblue rots all base metals, most other manufacturers mount the coolers on the outer fringes of the engine block where the ambient temperature in the engine bay helps cooling. Steve.

Hi Mike, Man on Fire, two tips for the fuel filter when changing either get one of those old fashioned Cafe plastic sauce dispensers £1.00 from your local cheap shop and fill it with diesel from that, or the clean way is sit in the car don't try and start it just cycle the ignition on/off for about 10 seconds fifteen times and the lift pump will fill the filter, the oil filter housing is easier if you buy a filter cap removal tool which fits on top of the cap and depending which model you buy will have a nut welded to the metal remover or if you want to be really flash buy the one with the 3/8 drive port for an extension bar. Steve.

Hi try running it for a while and see if the fault returns, my guess would be a glitch in the software somewhere this always happens with new cars and if they get enough of this problem they will churn out an update in record time to cure it. Steve.

Hi its Trade Parts Services and the reason they won't give you part numbers is in case you go elsewhere and buy discs etc. from a cheaper source, basically any motor parts seller can get the right discs from your VIN or REG as most of them have access to ETKA the VAG parts system just like the one I have. Its got nothing to do with comeback on a dealer. Steve.

Thats the right attitude as if you badger the man at home its likely to get the wrong response.

Hi you need to get the car scanned for fault codes that will give you a more definitive idea of whats going on it could be anything between a failing battery to a bad glow plug or a defective EGR/DPF sensor get it scanned and post the codes then we can try and help you. Steve.

Hi Mike on normal cars that don't do the miles once a year is good, I get my filters from eBay sub £15 so changing them is no drama, I normally pay about £70 for the whole lot oil, air,fuel,pollen and the oil itself all Bosch filters and Mannol long life oil which if anyone says is useless I would disagree, I have used their Quantum spec oil for over a year and if anything will kill a product it would be a cab. Steve.

Hi try Cats4u in London or for that matter try some of the cleaning specialists, what is the problem with your existing units because if they have started rattling where the monolith is breaking up they are not salvageable the stupid light comes on when they drop five percent in efficiency which still leaves ninety-five percent of it working my neighbours Focus does this once a year and we sling a bottle of Catalan in the tank, job done. Steve.

Hi Mike, there is so much good quality stuff out there at a fraction of the price those thieving gits want for it, this is what I find most annoying when people waffle on about genuine parts, the only thing genuine about it is the box, someone else made the part inside it, even my genuine clutch master cylinder I bought from Audi because it was the only place I could get an LUK cylinder has now appeared on eBay for about £80 instead of the £170 I paid chalk that one to experience, they have obviously come out of copyright. While we are here please see the value of changing your air filter regularly, both Bosch units except one is new and the one on the left has done 8k and three months, please note the discolouration on the inside of the old filter which is the ingress of really fine particles of dust/soot from other vehicles. Steve.

Hi if its the metering solenoid or the pressure solenoid both are pretty easy to change about fifteen mins if you take your time, just don't over tighten the new one and obviously only change the one thats wet, whilst in there check the connector pipes to the injectors in case its one of them weeping. Steve.

Hi if you know sweet FA about cars these places get rave reviews, I have one near me that I used for my first cab until he charged me £18 for a piece of water pipe about a foot long on the bypass side of the coolant tank, he said it was special pipe that was expensive, it went again six months later so I bought three metres of pipe with eight jubilee clips for £8 from the local motor factors and again replaced it myself, funny part is the motor factors non special pipe never ever went again, thats why I use another garage which the first guy used to call the Barn as thats what it looks like, their breathtaking honesty and efficiency has been the benchmark of me using them for the last eighteen years, meanwhile the car repair palace has now got the owner insisting that his four mechanics take their gloves they use home to wash them every week as the gloves are the rubber palmed type with cotton backs and are expensive, the guy I use has boxes of them in the office which the mechanics use as they wish, the majority of these places are still trying to recover monies lost during the lockdown. Steve.

BTW they are called a lower control arm.

Hi I think the guy is trying to invent some very profitable work and as suggested I would definitely be seeking a second opinion as its the inner bush that normally goes and from the last picture yours looks MINT, it also looks like someone has sprayed release agent on to the ball joint rubbers so they appear to be leaking, also there are a myriad of poly bush kits available a lot cheaper to cure the problem you don't actually have. Steve.