Magnet

Hello Adrian, The importance of only buying cars with full service history eh? My opinion on the 'gospel' importance of this has been diluted by many instances similar to yours, with ex company or lease cars, so is yours such an exception?? So the car gets taken in for a service every 19k miles or so, but between this 'day out' it never sees an oil and coolant check, tyre pressure check etc., and might get a £10 valet every six months by our jet lance friends when it gets difficult to see what colour it is! It then comes in off lease, gets detailed and placed on the forecourt and the first question to ask is 'Has it got full service history?' If it has, it must be good! Without being patronising, I must applaud your routine of always servicing a car on purchase- it's the only way to assess how it's been looked after. The condition of these filters is unacceptable, but...... at least you now know and you will have set yourself a base point for its future servicing. At 80k I'd be changing the fuel filter as well since (unless things have changed) Audi do not have a recommend routine change interval, so you can guarantee this hasn't seen a spanner in its life. Good luck with it Adrian, Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Scott, Common to have an oil leak from timing belt area on a low mileage 4 year old car? Not in my book. Crankshaft or camshaft seal problem? Impossible to tell which until the covers are removed and the area inspected. As I see it, the cambelt is likely to need changing in around a year? - on a time interval, so the problem can be addressed then. Severity of oil leak?? Oil leak assessment is now a requirement of MOT, and I guess there is going to be a fair bit of backside covering with testers in respect of listing such things. What confuses here is that as far as I am aware, testers are not allowed to remove parts for assssment, so you would assume (in caps?) that any oil leak which is visible with the undertray in place must be pretty severe, so I would be tempted to seek further independent opinion on this before doing anything. I it were mine, I would be asking a trusted local garage or Audi independent to give this a second opinion and judge the situation from there. Good luck with this. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paul, Very sorry to hear of your issue. I'm very much with you on the range of questions you raise and no doubt you will get other advice from this active forum. If it were mine:- Invest in a gearbox oil and filter change, preferably finding a gearbox specialist who can quote you, rather than an independent. If it turns out to be on the expensive side of the figures you were quoted then rethink. If you do, and it works - great. If it doesn't then why not invest in the services of We buy any car, or similar? After all, it runs! Scrap? - no. Repair -no. Good luck with it. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Kevin, Restating the obvious, but as you say, going through 4 to 5 mm of tread in under 2000 miles is not on. The unknowns here are:- Fitting part worn tyres? - hugh question here on the 'serviceability' of such tyres - their age etc. etc. The amount of remaining tread may have little to do with it. Your driving style? - may not have anything to do with it if driving quietly around the country lanes of W. Wales. Using this 2.8 litre enthusiastically on such roads could, just could, and this in conjunction with using unknown-history part worns might have some influence. Interesting issue Kevin. Perhaps you can fill in a little more detail. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Neil, Probably barking up wrong trees, but I believe the wipers won't work if the bonnet is open. Yes, I know it will be said it was closed when you tried them! - but does the (possibly faulty) "bonnet closed" switch/sensor know that? As I said, probably totally wrong, but might be worth giving the bonnet a good slam when shutting. A more plausible cause? Others more knowledgeable on this model than I am will no doubt confirm/refute that the wipers are controlled by a body control unit/module (BCU/M) and this may be faulty. Someone? - Does replacing the wiper motor dictate reprogramming so the BCU recognises the replacement unit? Just some food for thought. As with many of these things, it is often more economical ( say in comparison with buying a replacement motor) to invest in the services of an auto electrician for a couple of hours. Good luck in getting it sorted. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Kevin, Just a personal view:- Buying on price, on the basis it will do for now, then replacing it with a "proper" one later, - does not seem to make economic sense. Kind regards, Gareth.

Never heard of them in c60 years of mechanicing! Probably made about as far east of the Thames estuary as you could go. Possibly serviceable , but would i take it for granted it is? No . kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Kevin, Do you know the history of when this pump was last changed? My experience is that simply buying at best price is not the way to go these days _ seldom works out economically in the long run. I favour buying best quality at the best price for all critical applications, and there usually are main dealers who will sell at discount if ask nicely! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, Sorry if this is going to seem unhelpfull, but please do not work on EPB if you are not exactly sure what you have to do, and are experienced in doing it. There is a potential of doing yourself some serious harm. As an aside, what make discs and pads are you considering using on your car? Kind regards, Gareth.

To repeat :- There are two basic things you need to do. Check the actual running temperature against the guage indicated temperature. If you think your garage has used an aftermarket thermostat - or any other parts - rather than (yes a dearer!) main dealer one then it is possible that this new one is not without fault. Replica aftermarket reliability? Can be poor. Please do not assume new means 'that eliminates that as a source of the problem'. Kind regards, Gareth.

WHello Kenaimed, Sorry to hear of your problem. Can I clear one thing with you and hopefully with other members on here who may be able to agree/disagree. For your model year, Econ light on means Air Con switched off, so you will not get any cold air unless the light is off. I must say, I am having difficulties trying to link the fact whether the light is on or not from a point of overheating. I wouldn't have thought there would be any connection, but... Overheating? Have you actually confirmed ( by measurements) that the temperature is actually high when the gauge indicates it is? This will eliminate a false gauge signal issue. Thermostat? What make did you use? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mike, Could be the off side drive shaft, but since this car is still under warranty then you should arrange to get it assessed at an Audi dealer as soon as possible. Unusual for arrive shaft to go at that age, so it has to be thoroughly inspected. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paul, If you think or know its running lean then its taking too much air in, and it might be worth spraying some WD40 or similar over the inlet manifold joins and anywhere else where air might get in. Tell tale will be smoke from the exhaust. If its not taking in air:- Another possibility might be a suspect coolant temperature sensor, which senses the running temperature and signals the ECU to control the correct fuel/air mixture. as you probably know, the resistance on these varies with temperature and if they go faulty, usually default to a set resistance. You can obtain figures for the correct resistance values at different temperatures, so it would be possible to test it, but otherwise you just replace it, but i wouldn't use an aftermarket one. Sorry but I cannot really suggest much more. kind regards. Gareth.

I'm having a nervous breakdown here for you Ruben, just on the thought of what you are going to be worrying about next and Audi are going to extract out of your wallet.

I hear of sigh of relief from the wallet direction! But a groan from the salesman's wife who might not get her new dress now.

It was a joke Ruben! The Welsh and the Irish laugh to themselves- the Engish are on a learning curve ( am I allowed to say that!?) cambelt - never in 40k or 4 years. clutch . Current A3 on 146k on original clutch. Kind regards, Gareth.

Cheques for significant money saving advice can be made payable to ' Gareth@.........'

WHello Rubén, I thought it might be per month, but I then I thought surely not. Thats £2112 over 4 years for 2 Longlife services. I'm on gas and air here just on the thought of it! Still, on the bright side, if you change it again in 6 months you will have only paid them £260 ish for nothing - might be mire economical! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Rubén, Just noticed your last October date on the original post, and dint realise Rockindic had given it the kiss of life. Apologies for my well out of date advice. So it's gone or going! Well done you - I don't buy a new pair if shoes every six months! Service plan on A5 -£44 and pricey? Not sure how often you are paying the £44. 19k service intervals too long? That interval was what I was referring to as a Longlife schedule. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andy, Would I be correct in thinking your 20 inch wheels are a non standard fitment? If so, has this had something to do with them breaking /messing up the existing ABS sensor? If so, then you are genuinely in difficulties If not, then is there any problem about taking the part numbers off the existing part (or its opposite counterpart) and simply ordering one of these, or if that isn't possible, ring up your Audi dealer and have the VIN number to hand. If you are buying off the internet and using the guide tables on the listings then you could find - as many have- that they can be significanty inaccurate. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Rubén, The full devil will be in the detail and may include them changing chargeable items e.g.tyres etc. which you can obtain much cheaper elsewhere. Chances are, they will put this on a Longlife schedule so I it were me, I would be enquiring about the cost of such servicing over a 40k running period. My experience is that Longlife intervals can be as much as 18k so you might only need 2 services - and one brake fluid change after 2 years. As Rockindoc points out, if you are going to do 10k miles an hour then things are different , and you would want to employ air hostesses and be serving duty free! Enjoy the car. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Being rather cynical, such packages are usually a route to the salesman's commission. No doubt you've been offered the much cheaper elsewhere GAP insurance , alloy wheel cover, tyre cover, super polish finish etc. etc.

Hello Paul, I really don't think I am going to be able to give you a specific answer to this, but at best, a pointer and a question so perhaps someone with direct experience of this engine, will be able to help. Apologies if this is the bleeding (pardon the pun!) obvious, but I assume you have the heater on the maximum temp. setting, you have the engine running and up to temperature , and you are squeezing the input and outlet pipes to the heater, which should both be equally hot. (Of course respecting all the safety requirements). If there is air in the heater then you should feel it passing through the pipes. Finally find the engine coolant bleed point/s and bleed off any air - again with caution. Where these are on this engine?? Final question:- had you drained the coolant before this problem arose? If not, I wonder if this is some sort of heater control fault. Kind regards, Gareth.

Isn't this Adrian Flux, Piotr, or I have I got this confused? Kind regards, Gareth.

I've had a definite leaning towards advising all potential buyers to study the V5 and to take as much notice of it as they should of service history. Some would say to the point of boredom! My belief is that say a history of 2 short-period ownerships for example would lead to suspicion that the car has been troublesome, and has been quickly offloaded. The V5 would provide that evidence via.the registered keeper and the previous keeper. Not any longer, since the latest version only shows the registered keeper and simply the number of previous owners - but no details of that previous keeper or how long they had had it. So if your potential purchase has been 'conveniently' registered to the selling dealer/seller to hide the fact that its previous owner was say a school of motoring, or a day hire company then you now just wouldn't have a clue! The DVLA has previously provided a service to registered owners whereby they could request details of previous ownership, and this was great for classic car owners who wanted to trace the history of ownership. Now discontinued - probably under some data protection cop out. No doubt though, set youself up as a car parking company, pay DVLA a small charge and up comes the current keeper details! Kind regards, Gareth.

Well now Scott, you are indeed having a good rant day, and we are tending to move off the mark with a number of assumptions, including owners of such expensive cars should (nay, are duty bound as a condition of ownership) to lavish care on them. Interesting assumption, but sticky wicket ground by suggesting 'I deserve to have one but you don't'. Just to add to your rant, I knew of one R8 that you needed to wipe your feet after coming out of! Mammy bought it? Well maybe. Uneducated? Maybe, but I did know someone who literally had a PhD in nuclear physics, and I would not have wanted to buy his barrow, leave alone his car! Thank the Lord ( am I allowed to say that?) we are all different, and whatever personal standards we have, it's not worth inflicting them on others, so if a set of Autogrips float their boat..... I might have missed something, but I'm not sure where the main dealer fitting assumption came into this. It might be worth keeping away from wealthy Mercedes Benz and BMW owners who don't have a clue about cars - bad for the blood pressure. I have confessed to not suffering from high blood pressure, but I am a carrier! Remember, grumpiness is contagious, and today is a day of your life which you will never have again (whether Mammy pays or not!) so it could just be worth a nice hour's drive in the nice car, and relax and watch the mad world go by. No more ranting for me today. Enjoy. Kind regards, Gareth.