cliffcoggin

From what you have told us I really can't point the finger at any particular culprit. Look at the recent history. The gearbox has done 40000 miles and has not been overhauled. It can not possibly be in mint condition at that mileage. The DMF is now very secondhand, even if it was renewed 25000 miles ago. The clutch is new yet it appears to be slipping. It should not be warped or significantly worn under normal driving conditions, but can easily suffer those faults if maltreated by harsh driving for as little as 20000 miles. For the bearings to fail in the previous gearbox is unheard of in my experience, which suggests it had a very hard life. That in turn also suggests the whole transmission had been equally overloaded. All I can suggest is to remove the gearbox, clutch and DMF and thoroughly inspect and, if necessary, overhaul them.

Let's accept that you don't drive so harshly normally and get back to the history of repairs, which I am not completely clear about. Are you saying that there have been two new clutches recently? One that you did at the time of your gearbox failure and another that the previous owner did 25000 miles previously? Was the secondhand gearbox that you fitted reconditioned or overhauled in any way?

Certainly sounds like clutch slip. If you routinely drive "intensely with harsh clutch drops" and "keep my foot to the floor" then it isn't really surprising that the transmission is failing.

£1300 may be the value of your car but what will it cost to buy a comparable replacement vehicle? The value as a seller is always much less than the value as a buyer. The DSG and DMF have dodgy reputations from what I have read on this forum, but I have no personal experience of the problems, and I hope not to as I too have a similar transmission. Sorry I can't advise on that score.

According to my manual the fuel pump fuse is FC27 in the dashboard. There is no mention of a relay, though logically I would expect there be one. Do you realise the driver's end of the dash needs to be prised off for access?

Well done and thank you.

To the owner of this forum. I appreciate it is difficult to keep out spammers but I notice that although the latest one is enrolling under a different name each day, all his posts have the word "university" in them. Perhaps a temporary filter on that word would block his messages until he gives up.

Thanks Steve. That confirms my view of Audi incompetence when it comes to diagnoses of car faults. Glad you got it sorted.

Well if it wasn't an Audi code, where did it come from?

Thanks for both the update and the compliment David.

They are both spammers Gareth. Note that they both promote specific locksmiths which I have no doubt they own.

Thanks Gareth. I'll bare that brand in mind when I come to change pads. I've driven a variety of servo braked auto transmission cars for the last 35 years and have adjusted to most levels of servo assistance, but none has had such savage braking as the A3. Audi and independent mechanics I have spoken to say it is more or less normal for the model but agree that the level of servo assist is high.

Interesting comments about pad quality Gareth. One of my few dislikes about my A3 is the excessive amount of servo assistance which makes gentle joltless stopping impossible, so I would be interested in having some pads that give less grip. What brand were yours?

60000 miles is the usual recommendation. Yours is well overdue.

I was going to be flippant and say great minds think alike, but actually I am glad to have confirmation that I'm not talking rubbish. I haven't done car paint repairs for a awful long time and I was never very good at it, particularly as I did not have a garage to keep dust and rain off. I have however painted a few railway carriages and can now get quite a decent finish with roller and brush. We use etch primer on aluminium panels very successfully.

If it is definitely aluminium, (a magnet would reveal whether it is steel or not,) then you need to use an etch primer not an ordinary primer. After that ordinary car paint can be used.

Well if we assume the oil warning light is giving a true warning, the only other things that occur to me to cause low pressure are: [1] the oil suction pipe letting air in through a hole or loose joint, which is probably why your mechanic suggested changing it, [2] a loose or slipping drive connection to the oil pump. I don't know what sort of connection it is but years ago some cars had a tendency for the connection to wear and eventually fail.

Glad to hear the problem is solved, Sarah, and thanks for letting us know, though a little worrying that the new cable disconnected so quickly. It makes me wonder if the cable route is not right, leading to a sharp radius or a misalignment.

Stuart. I hypothesise, (meaning that I have never heard of it happening, though it is theoretically possible,) that the oil pressure relief valve may be opening too far as the engine speed rises. I believe that the pressure relief valve is within the oil filter so if my hypothesis is right the solution would be a new oil filter. This is close to speculation so I would welcome comments from others with knowledge. (Nudge, nudge, Gareth.)

Michael. I see what you mean about the length-wise movement and the possibility of movement & clunking in reverse gear, but I am not sure it is significant. I admit I have not changed my own Audi pads, but on previous cars there was always a small amount of slack, and of course as rust builds up on the steel backing that gap will reduce. Perhaps the slack is to allow for rust and/or expansion as things get hot. I really don't know.

Not sure I properly understand the question in the absence of any punctuation. Are you saying the pads are narrower, shorter, or thinner than the caliper? There must be an Audi specification somewhere that gives the dimensions, but off-hand I don't know where.

I was wondering what the outcome of the bonnet release problem was.

Sarah. Apologies for an error I made yesterday. My A3 only has the blue main beam lamp on the dash. I was thinking of my wife's Berlingo when I said there was a green dipped beam lamp. Sorry to mislead.

Mine is a 2007 model and has the main beam and dipped beam lights on the dash. I would expect yours to be the same. Do all the other warning lights illuminate when the ignition is first switched?

David. Given that the connector you mentioned is known to have corroded pins and a defective seal, that has got to be the first place to look for a fault. As far as I know the only inherent weakness in the electrical system is the instrument & warning light cluster on the dashboard. Whether that is the location of your multi pin connector I do not know.