Magnet

Hello Lewis, Personally, I wouldn’t be assuming this is a gearbox associated noise until you get more than one opinion that strongly points in that direction. Trying to read between the lines, it sounds as if gearbox is being taken as the (possible?) suspect since no other cause has yet been found. I would be casting the net of investigation further, before committing to any wallet- scaring repairs to the gearbox. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Adam, I think it would assist a sale if you gave an indication of the price you want for the car, and perhaps a couple of photos. Kind regards, Gareth.

Price Chris?

Hello Lloyd, Congratulations on your new acquisition. It sounds as if it’s too late to disagree with any statement regarding no need to ‘run the car in’. Theory is fine, but the fact is that any piece of machinery benefits from careful treatment following its build. If it were mine then this respect would be extended to the first couple of thousand miles, with gradual increases in engine revs and road speed through that period. I’m not sure of your circumstances, but it’s now not unusual for cars to be owned on lease over 3 to 4 years, so the ‘what the heck syndrome’ comes into play, based on any ill effects being unlikely to manifest themselves over that time. It sounds as if the car has been set on a Longlife service schedule, possibly based on an annular mileage being in excess of 12k. If this mileage is realistic then that’s fine, if it’s lower then service schedules can be set to annual. Although I agree with your views that not renewing the oil until the car is around 18 months old is not in its best interest, you have signed up to a maintenance schedule - which minimises the amount of servicing the dealer is obliged to do. Best for the car? - probably not, but who’s worry is that? It sounds like jump in and drive and enjoy, and not worrying about the longer term situation. Enjoy. Kind regards, Gareth.

‘Full service history’ is almost always considered to be king - a must-have requirement in the belief that if it has this then it’s a sound vehicle. if it hasn’t, then don’t even consider buying it! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, Pardon my ignorance of the layout of your particular engine, but V6 usually equates to two separate cylinder heads. So if you are removing one? - to renew the valve stem seals, what about the other?? As I’ve mentioned, renewing seals on their own may result in only a temporary improvement if the valve guides/ valve stems are worn. Couple this with the question ( already raised) - how much oil are you leaking as opposed to burning? - would still lead me to question your logic of removing a cylinder head. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, It’s unusual for head gasket failure -in itself - to cause an oil leak, unless the gasket has failed (only) around the oil feed to the head, so personally, I would not go tearing the head off without some independent actual-car inspection. The symptom of blue smoke on the overrun is typical of valve stem/ guide/ seal wear, and if you want to rectify this, then yes, the head would need to come off, and seals only, may or may not resolve that, but from your post, it appears that the car may be leaking more oil than its burning, so I would be getting back to basics and getting some on the ground assistance in tracing that first. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks Neil, There are many such companies who sell on-line and I think these are one of the ones who charge for delivery. In my experience, you won’t go far wrong by choosing which brand of aftermarket discs you are interested in buying, and doing an EBay search for the most competitive price from a reliable supplier.

Hello Emil, I’m unsure whether you don’t have insurance because you don’t have a car, so would suggest you follow Dan’s suggestion and have a chat with the Adrian Flux folks, who will be able to guide you through the basics. I’m sure you will know that if you have never had car insurance then the costs to insure any car can be expensive to start. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Duncan, Have you looked at extensive threads on air con. issues and pressure switches? Kind regards, Gareth.

I’ve lost the plot regarding 2014 and 2017, and obviously despite one of them being described as ‘rough’, it’s still on your radar for consideration!

Hello Martin, If any vehicle is rough, then it’s had a rough life, and any amount of ‘bringing back to spec.’ will be no more than trying to mask its previous rough treatment. My advice would be to steer well clear of it - at any price. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Martin, I’m surprised that the main dealer is retailing a 7 year old vehicle. Things might be different in Ireland. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Sarah, Definitely follow Steve’s sound advice, otherwise you stand a high risk of exchanging this car for another vehicle with unknown faults which are likely to cost around the same funds to fix. If it were mine, I would be approaching your trusted local garage, listing the items you wish them to inspect, and asking for a quote to carryout the work. You have to be confident with the outcome of their inspection. It really is that simple. If you follow the route of ‘only just looking at other available vehicles’, you are highly likely to fall in love with something, and being informed that it will carry a comprehensive warranty, so there won’t be any thing to worry about! Well not until you find out what the limitations of that warranty are. Just find yourself a recommended local garage where you can actually talk to the mechanics ( very important) rather than talking to Service Receptionists. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark again, Of course, you could progress from the school of thought that the switch is possibly faulty and change that - cost?? You could invest in half an hour’s time with a trusted local auto electrician, if you don’t have the knowledge or equipment to test the switch which you are now suspecting rather than the compressor. You could change the pressure sensor since this has been a known problem area. You could go ahead and change the compressor, but it’s all supposition, until you clearly identify the problem source - via. some outside assistance, as I see it. OK, so you go ahead and change the switch, and bingo, you were right, you still have to spend to get the system emptied, flushed, pressure tested and refilled - not so cheap I guess - so why not take it to the same specialist who has to do that, and seek their advice? Of course, Steve is right regarding diagnostics, but if you don’t want to spend on that, then you certainly are down the road of spending trying-this-trying-that. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, And I was only trying to be helpful! Sorry if I failed on this occasion. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, Have you read the threads yet? If not, I would suggest you do. To answer your question - would you think it’s worth ‘investing’ in a £20 odd gamble to hopefully save yourself many hundreds of pounds? Do you know the cost of new compressors? Yes, I know you can buy some Chinese ones for c£100 if you are lucky - or unlucky as the case may be! - if they work or don’t work. You will probably not want to pay Audi prices, so there are highly restricted avenues between the two alternatives. Compressors should be long lived if they don’t leak, and I believe another potentially weak spot is the clutch assembly. Have a read and a ferret around for prices. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, Many thanks for being in touch. Probably well worth changing the pressure sensor (quite a cheap part) before going to the great expense of changing the compressor. There are quite a number of threads on the subject last year. Kind regards, Gareth.

19 inch wheels also available on the 1.4?

Hello Habib, We don’t know what size wheels (and tyres) you have now, or were fitted as original equipment when the car was new. Before making any decision on whether to move to 19inch wheels, you will need to do some maths and work out the total outside diameter of the current wheels and tyres, by knowing the wheel diameter and calculating the tyre ‘height’ from the profile figure of your tyres -say for example you now have 50 profile tyres then your tyre height will be 50% of your tyre width. If you fit 19 inch wheels then the tyre profile has to reduce to keep the total outside diameter the same as it is now with your current wheels. As has been indicated, lower profile tyres will make for a harsher ride, and if this is what you want to put up with as a trade off for potentially better cornering at speed then then you obviously have to judge what best suits your driving style. Of course, some owners consider larger wheels to be attractive (to others?) but the reality is you can’t see them when you are driving! It all depends what attracts you to larger diameter wheels Habib, and how important it is to change - and that decision has to take into account potential insurance premium implications if such wheel sizes were not an available option on your model when new. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Brian, but I’m not the one looking for parts. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Arron, I too am struggling to hear any ‘stray’ noises around the general noise, even with the volume turned up, although I do pick up a hint of an intermittent ‘tinkling’ noise. I’m sure you will appreciate that diagnosing such issues is an almost impossible risk for the forum, and, as I see it, the best way forward in this case is to get the car road tested by your trusted local garage. In addition to this unhelpful response, experience has shown that even when vehicles are road tested in the company of the owner (allowable now under Covid rules?) the noises may not be heard by the mechanic. Perhaps you can keep the forum informed as this progresses to a resolution. Many thanks and kind regards, Gareth.

If you interpret it as it is written then you could argue that the term FSH translates to all the servicing that has been carried out on the car has been recorded as a history of what has been done, and not necessarily that all the required servicing has been carried out. Not quite the same??

Hello Graham, I guessed that since you are now looking into the car’s service history, the car is a recent purchase, and since it is now 6 year old, it’s highly unlikely that it would have been sold out of a main dealership. So called ‘full service history’ becomes the be all and end all ( with emphasis on the end all) consideration for many owners or potential owners, but the extent of that servicing can be controlled by the owner at the time the service is carried out. In your case, it wouldn’t surprise me if the owner/leaser at the time, simply decided not to spend on the fluid change, since the car was soon to be returned/sold. This might be where your answer lies, so it’s now a case of getting it done as soon as possible. Kind regards, Gareth.

First suspect would be the battery Gary - even though it may start the car without issue, it could still be registering a low reading on one of the parameters on the battery condition monitor. You would need to get it checked, but not sure if Halfords checks are sophisticated enough. Kind regards, Gareth.