Stevey Y

Hi Gents, after a year almost of lock downs and a thin amount of work in the taxi trade I had finally reached the 80k mark and having read the service history for my car I was not to worried by the cam belt situation as the service history claimed that the belt kit was changed at 40k under warranty because of a squeaky idler pulley bearing, that said I did actually phone the dealers in Manchester to see if it tallied up with the print out of the worksheet I had, the service manager was very reticent to talk at first until he realised I was not trying to bag any freebies and just wanted information to form my own service schedule, he explained their definition of belt kit which was belt, tensioner, idler pulley and they wouldn't have changed the water pump as the recommended milage interval for that was 110k. I felt I might be able to force the changing of the cam belt and water pump to about 90k, then the sudden cold snap we have had forced the issue, only a two mile drive to base but a total absence of warm air, in fact it took a further fifteen minutes of idling to get any lukewarm air, all this equated to a massive increase in fuel consumption, I had second guessed that the thermostatic pump cowling had become jammed open which was proven correct when I had the belt and pump changed today, thank god it had not jammed shut as overheating is not a favourite past time for a CNHA engine. When I was down to pick my car up I met my neighbour who had his Q5 in the work shop, back in the summer I had noticed a rather rotund mobile mechanic hanging in the engine bay of his car but did not think anything of it, it transpires the guy had changed the cam belt at Audis recommended 110k but not changed the auxiliary drive belt as he said it looked ok, the belt had eventually shredded itself and fallen off, a breakdown engineer fitted a new one but by then it was to late as the debris from the old belt had gotten behind the cam belt shroud and made the cam timing jump one hundred and eighty degrees, the thing now was devoid of compression even after new belts fitted so they had the rocker cover off to find the bent valves, I don't think I ever want to see that far into my engine, I always change my ancillary drive belts every thirty thousand and when the cam belt is replaced regardless of what they look like, I honestly believe if I buy ten belts during the time I own my car it still won't come to the eighteen hundred quid the poor sod with the Q5 is looking at and thats if none of the valve seats is cracked. There are some very wise people on this forum who recommend 80k or four year belt changes which duly noted as well as the advice on using OE parts from companies like TPS who definitely don't have the same sense of humour as the dealers, so a word to the wise DONT forget the humble ancillary drive belt which lives in a very hostile part of the engine bay and for the sake of £20 for the part could end up costing thousands. Regards Steve.

Hi Thomas I had heard of this problem after I bought my A6 but I checked on the gov mot website and you get a link for outstanding recalls on your vehicle as per your registration, there were none plus the fact Audi have been contacting even third generation owners to let them know of this if their vehicle is affected. Its to do with the electric auxiliary pump getting clogged with debris or leaks in to the electrics and the thing can self combust but I really would not be worrying as it will have done it by now or you would have had the letter, ask a few Octavia owners circa 2013 those used to do pumps on a regular basis, the debris excuse is code for we bought the pumps from a cheap supplier. Steve

Hi Gareth, I knew about the ethanol as I live near Dunton and a very drunk engineer was explaining that they had been trialing an ethanol fuelled Focus, great mpg, nil emissions only problem was fuel leaks because the ethanol had started to rot the granny out of the pipework plastic and metal and then turned its attention to the fuel pump seals, after a few months they gave up because it had started degrading valve seats and pistons, I think localised hot spots in the swirl bowls on the pistons were mentioned. I can understand the concern with older vehicles as the internal castings were never intended to cope with the combustion power of ethanol, I once met a very old flight line mechanic who was in France at the beginning of the retreat to Dunkirk, he explained they were trying to get every available Spitfire that wasn't damaged back to the U.K. The only problem was lack of fuel, the standard hundred octane wasn't available so the French gave them this stuff called Essence B which as it turned out was full of ethanol, it worked to get them home but every pilot noted that when they throttled up the engine felt like it was trying to climb out of the airframe, the old guy explained that all the aircraft that used this fuel to get back had an immediate engine rebuild, ethanol can be lethal if used in the wrong dosing but I doubt the fuel manufacturers care much for older vehicles which I would consider to be made a criminal offence

Hi Gareth, they can't eradicate sulphur from fuels completely as this will cause terminal problems with the lubricity of the fuel, sulphur is not in itself a lubricant but when burnt causes a reaction between nickel and other metals present in the engine metals to form a Eutectic alloy which has a very low melting point and helps with friction, self lubricity, as far as I am aware the current sulphur levels in European fuels are at best 10ppm. Other countries in Asia have reduced their levels of sulphur to 50ppm in an effort to reduce pollution, in South Africa they tried to drastically drop the level of sulphur this caused problems especially with diesel powered vehicles causing premature wear and seizure of engines in older vehicles so they started to put mineral based two stroke oil in with the fuel to help with the loss of lubricity then developed the scar test for imported fuels to make sure the lubricity of such fuel met the criteria suitability for their country. The problem with using two stroke oil as a lubricity agent is it works fine as that but when mixed with fuel especially diesel it forms an aluminium oxide which is good as a lubricant but a total failure when it clings to the inside of the injectors and clogs the injection ports which in most modern diesels are smaller in diameter than a human hair, this allied to the fact that the AUDI injectors are piezo operated and can inject up to five times in one cylinders cycle to control emissions and balance fuel usage between the other three cylinders, therefore it wouldn't surprise me if they had put some other synthesised sulphur product in the fuel to accommodate the newer engine designs and it did not work with older engines, basically it comes down to the discussion on this thread being about the duality of human nature when it comes to money. Steve.

Hi Steve, my grandads most used saying was you are never to old or clever to learn something new, today I have, I was unaware they had started adding sulphur to the new petrol and am I missing the point, the whole Dirty Diesel campaign was started off of the back of the large amount of sulphur in the fuel and once the fuel producers had eradicated that the powers that be started on the nox emissions which the manufacturers more or less cured. Now it looks like they are going after the particle emissions post DPF this one is proving far more difficult to implement as the technology to do this costs hundreds of thousands of pounds and would wipe out most MOT stations financially. Grandads other saying was you can always tell when a politician is lying, their lips move.

Hi I have found through experience that the independent specialist are nearly as expensive as the main dealers, if I were in your place I would find a small local independent garage and get a second opinion on the bushes, then if there is an issue with them get them to price the job using mid range aftermarket parts Febi,ACP,Meyle in view of the fact that you are going to get rid in a year as long as you don't do starship milage these parts are pretty robust.

Hi is it an independent garage or a dealer, sounds a bit steep for standard bushes but if they are Polyflex bushes the kit alone is a bit pricey, but I can recommend these as used them on my Ford cabs I owned as the sway bar and lower arm bushes were notorious for tearing out but having gone to the expense of buying these bushes on the last car I never had a recurrence of these problems for the next 160k after which I sold the car to a mechanic at my local garage who has had the car for over a year and never reported a problem with these items when asked, other than that shop about.

Correct at every level, its a known fact that petrol engines produce more C02 than diesels but from the government perspective its better to jump on the Nox band wagon as there are more diesel owners to tax to death, just look at the Ford CVH engines during the late seventies early eighties how economical they were, only problem was that these lean burn wonders C02 reading were off the Richter scale, that all stopped when CARB in America got more proactive globally with CATS and injection systems that were controlled by the ECU within very tight peramiters. Fortunately Adblue has scuppered their assault and attempts to tax us into oblivion, no one seems to realise they will start on hybrids next and when the have eradicated all fossil engines just look at the potential for making electricity the most expensive commodity on the planet.

Hi, totally correct, if the car is getting extra air from a source other than the air box the engine management system will demand more fuel to stop the engine from running lean, most default strategies that the ECU has at its disposal will do this as lean burns valves and pistons, until it reaches the point where it can't call up enough fuel to deal with the air , then the lights come on. I can agree with Envy that the soot is most probably a separate problem.

Yes indeed, just seen the advert inserted in the middle of this thread, can't understand why the owners of the cars affected do it most of the people I carry that went for the free VAG retro fit reprogramming now moan about what a dog the car has become performance wise and I have even had many telling me the vehicle concerned does less to the gallon and they were going to sell it. Have we really become that stupid that if something isn't broken we will try and fix it even if it costs more money in the long run, still I suppose you could use the money you get back minus the leeches third to fund the extra diesel when is all you had to do was wait until you got a newer model of the same with even more power and less road tax, try running Fords as a cab as I did and enjoy the Jackanory quoted mpg as well as the stratospheric VED hikes every year, I ended up getting an Audi as at the time it was cheaper than the equivalent Mondeo Vignale I went all the way to Oxford to see and had 20k less on the clock, won't be going back to any other make any time soon.BTW Sorry about the prose transgression. Stevey

Hi Gents, anyone else noticed the sudden surge in the number of parasitic claims companies dealing with the potential fleecing of VAG for over indulgent compensation, it sort of hit me in the face the other night when I had some misinformed !Removed! in the cab bellowing at me about how much I can claim through the emissions compensation scheme because I drive an Audi, I didn't bother to inform him that it was only for cars built 08-15 that would have been a shade to much education for the self appointed expert on Compo, his exact words were, you could get Fowsands of pands out of them, if the journey had been longer and the client more sober I would have put my theory forward. How many of these owners of the targeted years of vehicles suddenly found via market depreciation that they could actually afford an Audi and went and bought one, then they drove round for the next few years marvelling at the reliability, economy and handling of their purchase then all of a sudden they develop a Thunberg type conscience at the mere mention of money, after they get paid out will they scrap these filthy polluting vehicles, probably not, lets face it folks its not like PPI where they were releiving you of thousands for something that definitely was not going to work, no, what people got was something that was usable and gave good service and in the final analysis if they were handing out prison sentences for dodgy motor manufacturers practises most car brands CEOs would be doing life, the bare facts of the matter are most everything you buy in life within its history will have some sort of rule bending attached to its production to enhance its appeal in the market place as well as lowering production costs, this saint like reaction from the motoring public is sadly endemic of the vile claims culture that is permeating society, Stevey.

Finally got round to changing my rear wiper motor, what a mission that turned out to be, not so much changing the actual motor but getting the plastic trim back on I expect most people on this forum have come across the sprung metal clips that hold the main part of it to the tailgate it would appear that these deform rather easily when the trim is removed and require the worlds supply of manipulating with bull nosed pliers to correct the shape for refitting. Found it easier to sit in the boot and pull the tailgate down until almost shut then slide the top part of the trim into position then push the clipped part into place, I lost a couple of the spring fixings and was wondering how much Audi were likely to rob me for another set, deep joy I found them on eBay three quid for ten plenty of spare clips but I suspect the clips are of a one use design.

Hi Thomas, glad you got it sorted and the heartwarming news of the DIY service makes me glad at least the thieving scrotes at the garages won't be relieving you of a ton of cash any time soon, I knew you were more than capable by the way you describe the problems you had a bit of savvy goes a long way. I am off to tackle the dreaded rear wiper motor which keeps stopping when it rains because some moron designed it so the water washer system comes through the middle of the wiper spindle and when the seals get older it runs back into the control box and rots it out, I definitely aint taking it apart and cleaning it up only to get the same problem this winter, just going to get a new one as if you work out how long the original unit has lasted it will be another four years until the new one expires. Regards Steve.

Well now heres a thing, after going through the drama of re educating the the headlight level I noticed today that when we pulled in against a wall at our local supermarket it was almost dark because of the storm clouds and trees overhanging that part of the car park, whilst waiting for my missus to go and pick up her order boredom is a terrible thing, I started looking at the light beam alignment against the wall, the nearside light which I adjusted is now in a position where it would be good for shooting roosting pigeons at night and it would appear the start up self levelling sweep is now working, I thought maybe the heat this week had baked it back to life but remembered I had been rooting about under the n/s front plastic scuttle cover there is a box in a plastic shroud under the vent intake which I could just about reach the connector to give it a wiggle no more than that, I haven't driven in the dark since so I wouldn't have noticed any change, my guess is I have found the light reach module and it has a cruddy connection because some Div has stuck it in a place where it can get damp, therefore on my next day off I will have it out and clean the connector.

Well I suppose if you don't drink, smoke or run a high maintenance woman why not, I find Stuarts honesty refreshing as most people would just blush and keep quite about it all as it didn't quite work and its embarrassing. Case in point a guy I know had bought a brand new Vauxhall Corsa for his beloved son to drive back and forth from university, Jnr was definitley not impressed by 70mph on the motorway and got one of his mates to help him find a remap specialist who apparently did a first class job until it started running like a bag of nails, he mentioned this to dad who had paid for the car, dad considers that the next weekend Jnr is home he will book the car in on the Saturday morning at the dealer he bought it from, this will do Jnr a favour as when he crawls out of his pit the car will be fixed, good old dad. This all went horribly wrong the second they fired up the diagnostics live data, as this was a warranty claim the dealer went into hyperdrive trying to find out what was wrong, dad was rudely awoken by the service engineer and manager telling him his six month old car was no longer under warranty as someone had been fiddling with the ECU and he owed them for the diagnostic and inspection, furthermore if he wanted it back to normal this would involve a new ECU and about two grand to put it right, that was when he rang me to ask for a second opinion, I spoke to the engineer at some length who explained that they get this all the time with youngsters cars to the point where Vauxhall had a special program to trace the original mapping and any map track ghosts left by a plug in the OBD port remap like Blufin. The guy paid for the repair and told me Jnr when questioned had said he didn't think it would matter and thats why he had not mentioned the remap, most cars that have had remap if you admit its been altered the main dealers and some specialist won't entertain woking on engine problems because of the diversity of mapping profiles used by these expert remappers who would claim to know more than the people who make the cars.

Hi Thomas I did send this twice but please receive the following, 4H0941285G Leveling sensor LEFT 4H0941286G Leveling sensor RIGHT Try this Blueprint number for your filter ADV182343. Steve.

Hi Thomas the part numbers were sent to your inbox last night will resend

Hi Thomas going to be out of the loop for a bit as I am off to work but I hope the part numbers got to you ok and will do some cross matching on the filter applications tonight. Regards Steve.

Hi there is no way of testing the workings of the control box without some pretty sophisticated kit, just had a word with the guy up the road he said sometimes they disconnect the sensor at the bottom arm end and tie the arm at approx level with a bit of gaffer tape then drive it if the fault does not appear thats your kiddie, the part no is on the unit if no joy message me with your vin and I will look for the part no on my new toy, there are loads of them on eBay and the prices are not spiteful new or second hand and according to those who know they are plug in and play, no coding.

Looking at it again it looks as though the allroad has a levelling sensor on all four corners having picked the guy up the roads brain he works for a independent garage and reckons it could be the sensor as you said, apparently they are not very robust and operate internally on a windings system that if stressed can fail I.E. if the wishbone is hanging down while changing the discs, rarely it can be crud in the connector but it might be the internal pick up inside the box has gone beyond a limit it was never designed to go and is now playing up which concurs with the error appearing when driven and the sensor is moving. That was the thing that baffled me with my light problem the car has no sensor on the front and no signs one was ever present I am looking at the possibility that the levelling sensors are built into the headlamp but have yet to find the triggering device, all good fun.

Hi Thomas these all sound like can communication errors and as a rule of thumb you shouldn't replace parts purely on U codes as these just mean one sensor has lost communication at some point with the other with the exception of the humidity sensor these are located under the cowling behind the mirror, thats the one that controls the demisting and are universally known to fail, I finally got round to changing mine at the beginning of the lock down as it was causing all sorts of erroneous codes relating to the aircon not working because the other components couldn't talk to the humidity sensor, changed it cleared the codes and bingo. With regard to the other lights I strongly suspect the battery one of my customers has a 2017 S-Line this started to throw up random lights for steering etc so he booked it in with the dealer, before he could get it there the dash was lit up like Trafalgar Square at Christmas and the car won't start turns out its the battery, even though the car has only covered 40k because he never went far in it the battery had been terminated, if your battery is new the next port of call would be getting the alternator charge rate checked as all the above codes can be generated by fluctuations in voltage, can communication relies on a steady consistent voltage. I don't claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination but the one thing you can be sure of is any thing can operated is bad news, at least with the Ford I had most can based sensors become crammed with redundant information so is all I did was a value relearn on the as factory option on Forscan and this cured 95% of the silly codes, not found out how to do this with VCDS yet.

Hi Thomas, did you get the part number, spent a good part of yesterday day watching my friend download a copy of the latest ETKA which recognises the British sold VIN numbers, that gave up all the parts I already had the numbers for they all matched, happy days. Steve.

Hi Thomas my sieve like brain forgot to mention that the filters of which there are many are a bit of a sand trap, I originally got the part number for mine off of the ETKA parts program that my mate downloaded, it turned out to be the wrong one as it appears all the bodies are the same size BUT the connectors magically change sizes the infeed pipes are the same fitment but the exit pipe from the filter can vary by up to three different sizes, I even tried asking my local Audi dealer for the part number that came up with my VIN they said that they could not part with that info unless I bought one, I am afraid that the only way to make a positive ID was to get under the car take the filter cover and mounting bracket off pull the foam protector back and read the part number off the unit, once I had that on my phone that was the end of that, I later found out if you have a mate with a garage business they can make a parts enquires to TPS the oe parts supplier and they will give them the correct number as they only deal with the trade.

Hi Thomas, well done it will seem daunting at first but once performed successfully as I am sure yours will be it engenders a certain confidence in the car as it won't be as frightening anymore, with regard to the youtube stuff its great and puts you in the right ball park to the point where you can make your own subtle changes to the process to make life easier and with a fairly comprehensive tool kit any thing is doable. On a completely different subject when I did the first post of my headlight problem I had also asked the question to a local Audi specialist whom I was assured was expensive but honest and knowledgable, he told me they would have to plug it in to find the cause, I did explain that I had already used my VCDS and come up empty code wise, he then went on to explain that they had the latest dealer level software and VCDS and Vagcom were not very good and not approved, they he announced used a software called IDOS which when I researched it was a financial accounts software, if you know nothing about software or cars you are a sitting duck for these thieving gits and at £68 an hour plus vat I don't think you will honestly see where the extra money went, try watching Frank Massy on Autoinform on youtube the top chap on diagnostics.

Hi Thomas, go for it, the extraction unit is a first class idea I bought one years ago and never looked back, when I first bought one it was a vacuum extractor they work quite well but eventually I bought an electric pump which connects to the battery this was much better than the vacuum unit from the perspective that you can do other things like change the filter while the oil is being hoovered out and you don't have to keep pumping the extractor to keep the pressure up, if you drain the waste oil into an old oil container you can see exactly how much you have extracted via the level sight on the side of the container. The torque wrench is not a major must but if you have a low level wrench I think the prescribed tension is about 25-27 NM or in lbs ft not a lot. I once as an experiment took the sump plug out after I had used the extractor unit just to find out if it left much in there bit of an exercise in futility really, belly pan off undo sump plug for about less than a teaspoon full to drip out, but at least I knew it worked. If you do the service yourself at least you can do all the little touches like sticking the hoover in the air box to collect all the small debris inside, wipe the thread on the oil filter housing with a rag with a drop of silicone spray this helps with removal next time as the unit is made of thermoplastic and can get a bit grippy with the female alloy thread, the only inescapable bit of laying down is the fuel filter I think its the same on most late A6s and is under the floor on the drivers side the cover is easy enough to remove but the hose clips on the filter are a bit of a bar steward if you are trying to remove with pliers, I bought the proper removal pliers VAG ones for about twelve quid and believe me they make the clip job a dream, found it best policy to move clips back then drop the support bracket this gives enough clearance to twist the pipes off, when reassembling leave the out cover on the filter and pour fuel into the filter the other end you can angle the filter down enough to connect it to the infeed pipe raise the filter up to level remove cap and connect outfeed pipe you will experience a little loss of fuel from the filter, finally before starting run the ignition cycle without cranking for about five seconds four or five times this helps it prime the infeed and filter this avoids excessive cranking when starting, once started run for five mins check for leaks and replace weather cover. Last but not least you will have saved a tidy sum in labour and the deep satisfaction of knowing its been done properly.