Magnet

Hello Ali, Thanks for being in touch. Are you searching EBay or ECP for your parts for ‘any make’ clutch kits? I would advise following earlier suggestions and talk with LUK Technical who should be able to point you to their correct part numbers. I would be armed with your VIN before phoning. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Michael, Sounds rather cheap to me too. Ask them what brand of shock absorber they will be using. Not sure about your set up, but accepting shock absorbers can knock, but generally the issue is either the bushes or even a broken spring. Worth a second opinion? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, So we have now established that if (in caps) the coolant is contaminated, then it could only have been contaminated via. an Audi dealership - I.e. you can rightfully claim that that has been outside your influence or control. So the header tank is dirty. OK, and they really want £800 ‘of somebody’s money’ to flush and refill the coolant system - really?? It might be worth you asking Audi U.K. to give you the scheduled labour time for this operation, so that you are armed with a greater knowledge of how this figure is arrived at. Have a look in your handbook for the coolant capacity, divide it by two (50/50 mix) to establish the correct quantity of coolant which will be needed to refill the system, and price this at (another) Audi dealer. You will then be able to better judge if the figures add up. My gut feeling is that this issue is due to the demise of Audi’s bag, and you might benefit from searching the forum and establishing contact with others who have been affected by this, to see how they were finally treated. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ken, Many thanks for the input. Could I ask how long ago your incident happened, since in the days when I had hair, all antifreeze was then glycol based. OAT coolant then replaced this with new vehicles, and did not mix with the earlier antifreeze. Personally, I cannot see that the coolant in Mark’s car has become contaminated unless he has indeed added coolant - of the wrong type - have you added any coolant since you bought the car Mark? Did you buy the car from an Audi dealer? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Eoghan, Thanks for being in touch. Personally, I would not put my e-mail address on an open forum, in preference to asking interested parties to simply PM you. Photos would be a bit of a must, as would the anticipated price at which the car is available. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, Thanks for coming back on this. I really think you should be boiling this down into the two problems, and first attempting to evaluate whether the coolant loss is real, or due to an air lock. I say this, since if the car is continuing to lose coolant, then this can be a far more significant problem than the heater issue. Personally, at this point in time, I would not be discussing the heater issue resolution with them, since any debate on the validity of the warranty is likely to lead to differences of opinion. If you still have a loss of coolant, which needs to be dealt with, then any prior ‘differences of opinion’ may colour your situation going forward. That’s my logic, but appreciate your may be different. If this were mine:- I would be topping up the header tank - after standing over night - to the max. line, and using the car on as many long journeys as you can, as soon as you can, to cover say 200 miles. Again leave the car to stand overnight, and recheck the coolant level. Do your homework on the potential silica gel bag issue, so that you are correctly armed with the knowledge you need when ( in caps ) you will need to talk about this issue. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, Thanks for being in touch. OK, I understand what thy are saying, and also your concerns. Simple logic going forward:- Either there is still an actual coolant leak, or the drop in coolant level is indeed due to an (now extinguished) air lock. I take it they have now topped this up to the correct level ( if not, you will need to), so you can now monitor if the coolant drops again in the air-free system. If it does drop, then you/they still have a problem, if it doesn’t, you then only have the heater situation to worry about. I would concentrate on just worrying about one thing at a time. Heater issue:- there have been reports that bags of ‘solids’ they put in the header tanks rupture and eventually block the heater core. Worth searching this out for reference. Perhaps you could keep us informed on how things go. Kind regards, Gareth.

All I would add is whatever confidence you place on ‘full service history’, personally, I would treat it as desirable (for the mind!), but once you have the vehicle, treat it as if it never existed, and renew every filter with quality ones, so you have a sound basing point from which you can confidently move forward with your own servicing plan. For what it’s worth:-with our now high mileage ( but not annually high now), I change the oil and filter every year - using Longlife 3, and the air and pollen filters every two years. Kind regards, Gareth.

Sounds good. Worth getting a variety of sizes of shrink sleeving for future use. This can be slid over the cables to be joined - before joining - kept back from the join, then when the joint is completed, it is slid back over the bare wire section, and heated with an hair dryer - at which point it shrinks onto the joint. Lldls do boxed packs from time to time. Kind regards, Gareth.

How did you join the wires after Stephen? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Martin, We’ve established the car is still under warranty, but unfortunately I cannot see anyone on here will be able to answer your question without access to the terms and conditions of the actual warranty. Have you had a good look at the warranty? If so, and you are still unsure, then I would suggest you contact the seller and see what they say. If you are still dissatisfied, then you would do well to contact your local CAB office, armed with a copy of the warranty, and pay them a visit for advice. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Martin You don’t tell us how long the warranty period was with this car you bought 6 months ago. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Stephen, We take it this damaged plug actually plugs into a counterpart, as opposed to just being open ended - for some other unused component. If as we would believe, it’s part of a ‘plug into something else’ then you might find it will be part of the loom, and not a separate part ( although the same type of connector may have been used elsewhere on the car). Just two wires associated with this plug? If so, why not simply join the two wires to their counterpart? I would certainly not use crimp type connectors, but solder the connections and run a length of shrink sleeving to cover and properly insulate the joins. Kind regards, Gareth.

Any feedback for us yet Liam?

Hello Dale from the homeland, There are healthy varying opinions on here about the full efficiency of aftermarket brake pads. My experience - for what it’s worth is that aftermarket pads ( Apec as I recall) just didn’t instil anything like the confidence that the Audi boxed ones did , but I do appreciate that is just my experience. Of course, Delphi have been about since I had hair ( Vauxhall associated if I remember correctly) but sorry Dale, I cannot offer any experience. I sense (understandably) that you are concerned about the desire of this customer to spend as little as possible on parts, but…. Why not suggest to the customer that he supplies the brake pads of his choice - for you to fit? He can then search EBay and find the cheapest he can find. As you rightly point out, saving pennies on brakes is not a good starting point - and certainly not a good stopping point!! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Adam, Thanks for being in touch. I think you will need to give us far more information for anyone to be able to comment - i.e. wheel and tyre sizes on both vehicles. It’s also worth considering that your car is still under warranty, so it’s critical that any modifications fall within Audi’s original equipment specification. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Gordon, Many thanks. In knowledge that fact that the rev. counter jumps about at the time of the loss of performance, now almost certainly points to a misfire, rather than a gearbox ‘hesitation’. Cause:- plug/s, leads, connections, coil or coil packs (if that arrangement then - but doubt it). Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Liam, The need to change the oil and filter a year on from when it was last changed, depends on what oil was used last year, and how many miles you have covered since. Apologies Davy, but as far as I’m aware, the two servicing options are:- Longlife, or annual - depending on the mileage covered. Just let us know what mileage you have added, and we can advise further, but I’m very much with Steve, when he recommends changing all filters:- oil, air, pollen and fuel - if diesel, ( use Mann or Bosch if not using VAG - which are likely to be by these anyway!) so you have a base point to correctly move forward from, in terms of your servicing plan. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Gordon When you say the oil was done a week go, were you referring to the engine oil or the - gearbox oil - as Steve was recommending? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Michael, Sounds good, but for 4 litres not 5, so 2 x 4 litres of this is going to be a little short of your 8.2 litres. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Michael, what was the cause? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paul, As I’ve said before, and I think as Steve has confirmed- Halfords battery testing may not be totally adequate in terms of assessing all of the parameters which assesses the total efficiency of the battery. I have certainly confirmed that with a just-out-of-warranty non-Audi. You could find that genuine VAG diagnostics may pick up some issue with the battery in some respect - say for example cold cranking current below par. I appreciate VAG diagnostics can be expensive, (independent?) but I would be asking, are you prepared to pay to replace any number of components before firmly establishing that these issues aren’t battery associated? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Gregg, Apologies, but would I fit a secondhand brake pipe instead of getting a new one professionally made up -?? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Nikolay, It could be me, but I don’t get too hung up about what manufacturers claim in terms of grading the various categories - I tend to accept this information in the same light that I treat claimed manufacturer’s mpg claims. I appreciate everybody’s driving style is different, and for me, I don’t go driving around bends at speeds to the limit of grip, particularly in wet conditions where the grip can obviously be far less. I have a fairly simple requirement of most mileage from a set of reputable brand tyres, and I have found that Michelin provide me with the greatest mileage/£. As for Goodyear - a family member had a new car with these fitted, and his experience was that they didn’t last as long as would have been anticipated- now replaced by a set of Michelin. Not sure if any of this helps, and let’s hope you have other posts with varying recommendations. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Gregg, Any reputable garage should be able to make and fit brake pipes to the correct pattern. Kind regards, Gareth.