Magnet

Hello Samanuel, Did you buy this car after? Kind regards, Gareth.

How did you sort this after Mark?

Hello Phill, Wondered if you have got any further with this yet? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Hanees, Did you get any further with this after?

Thanks Anthony. Where in Cardiff was that? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks John, Two questions still remain within the process of elimination:- Was the new battery coded to the car? Was the alternator output checked? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks John, Varta was/is the O.E. Supplier to VAG so that’s obviously great. Re. coding. The new battery needs to be coded to the car, so that the BCM recognises it and doesn’t treat charging conditions etc. exactly as it did with the old one. Well worth checking that that was done at the switch over point. Was the alternator output checked prior to changeover to ensure the alternator was increasing the charging to approx. 14.5+ volts? OK, the old battery may now be reading 13.2v in its fully charged condition, but static voltage is not that meaningful in isolation in these overall serviceability with our modern high demand vehicles. Apologies, but I’m not fully understanding your concern statement. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. What were the symptoms that led you to get the original battery replaced?

‘Day or two’ suggests it won’t be used strictly for its ‘get you home/nearest tyre retailer’ use. Personally, I wouldn’t be tempted to use any dissimilar wheels on a 4 wheel drive system any longer than I could avoid. Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome to the forum John, and thanks for joining. Sorry to hear of your issue, and as I started to read your post ‘battery’ came straight to mind, as lower temperatures has adverse effects on its performance. Then I see you have fitted a new battery, so …..?? What I would now ask John:- Was the new battery match the correct specification for the car? Was it coded to the car? Was the alternator output checked? What make is the new battery? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Neil, Can we take it you want an extra one to use as a ‘spare wheel’ for use if you have a puncture? If so, you are likely to find that it won’t fit into the spare wheel well, and you will need to look for the correct ‘Spacesaver’ spare wheel. Doing regular searches on EBay is worthwhile if you want one the same as you have ( for some unknown-to-us reason) or indeed for a spacesaver one. You could also try registering your want with on-line breaker links such as Partsfinder - there are more. Let us know how you get on Neil. Kind regards, Gareth.

I’m sure you will get it soon Deborah. What I meant was, the normal convention is to get the inspection done before you commit to buy, not after. Kind regards, Gareth.

What brand of filters go you use Stephen? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks for the update Deborah, I would have thought you might have had your independent inspection done before committing to buy, but…….. Kind regards, Gareth.

Stevey y on here, would be your man to give you best advice on this.

Hello Stephen, I can not comment on the 0w 30 vs 5w 30 debate - always used 5w 30 myself, and bought the VAG exclusive brand Quantum Longlife 3, oil for decade or so - once blended by Castrol, but it seems it’s now blended by Fuchs. If you intend to use 0w 30, then you can get Quantum on EBay from CE Automotive ( I’ve bought my 5/30 from them in the past) for a tad under £40 delivered for 5 litres - not much more than my 5w/30. It’s also worth having a look on Amazon since I found Quantum 5/30 cheaper than on EBay. Your 0w/30 maybe cheaper there too. Let us know what you think. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Michael, Welcome, and many thanks for joining. This may not help much, but I recently looked into this for a friend who was looking for a Skoda Fabia (which was eventually decided against), and I’m only now only going from memory - not wise! but…. I believe the issue can affect vehicles as early as 2009, and I think went on until the 2015 model year. I did find some informed on-line information, but I didn’t save it I’m afraid. Any particular reason for moving away from diesel? Kind regards, Gareth.

It seems I’m out of touch with current tread depths as far as new tyres are concerned. Past experience had pointed me to expect that the tread depth was normally close to 8mm on new tyres, so I was a little surprised to find that the A3’s new set of Michelin Primacy 4 are measuring out at 7mm. This equates to a 12.5% reduction on expected, and if we say I previously hoped for around 18k out of these tyres, I would now expect to only get 15.75K miles. Or look at it another way:- Since the min. legal tread depth is 1.6mm, I now have less than 1/4 inch of useable tread. The other thing I notice is that the circumferential grooves are visibly wider than they used it be, so if you couple the two together, then there must be a fair amount less rubber used per tyre - at the customer’s expense - the customer now paying a much higher price for less! Anyone else have any recent experience of other brands? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks James, Could you please fill in your profile.

Thanks Kamran, Could you let us know where Graham Goode is, and let us have contact details please? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Derek, Doing a search on here for ‘water in footwells’ , should give you a fair amount of reading, and tips of what to check. Kind regards, Gareth.

Oh dear Frank - please excuse my oversight, and I naively thought it was JSon who had ‘liked’ the thread - silly me for assuming before looking! Sorry about that, and many thanks for acknowledging the reply, and even more importantly, sharing your very valid experiences in relation to turning off the stop/start. I must admit, I alway turn off the s/s (unless I forgot) on the non-Audi, because I believe it to be engineeringly averse - but that’s just a ‘dirty’ diesel. Many thanks again Frank for your help and input with this. Let’s hope JSon does come back with some answers - now that he has viewed my response. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks for liking the response JSon, Can we take it you are going to fill in the details for us when you can -? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Dan, Rear, seal or no seal? Best way to find out with your particular model is to visit your local dealer’s Parts Dept. ( I wouldn’t do this on the phone), and enquire there. Perhaps you could let us know the outcome. If not, and silicone? I wouldn’t if it were mine. Perhaps some low adhesion, not hardening mastic-? Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome, thanks for joining, and sorry to hear of your issue. Thanks Jason ( can we take it that’s your name? - profile reads JSon). This issue sounds serious, so I wonder if you would be kind enough to colour in as much detail as possible, so that others become fully aware of how this issue is first shown, and what the ‘system’ advises you to do, and/or what the Audi dealer advised you to do do. Perhaps it might help to break it down into some questions:- What was the exact wording that came up on your display? What was the wording colour? Were there any associated messages, such as ‘Do not drive’ ; Do not use/ contact dealer etc? Did the car become immobile or went into limp-mode when the warning message was shown? Did you continue to use it between the time the warning appeared, and until it went to the dealer? I think that would be enough questions for now, and trusting you will be able to help with some answers. Many thanks and kind regards, Gareth.

Great Steve, and as you say an extra 10w won’t break the battery’s bank - less than 1 amp. The extra light splay must make night driving so much safer and far less stressful - says one who now admits I no longer like driving in the dark . That’s nothing to do with age say he, tongue in cheek! Kind regards, Gareth.