cliffcoggin

Victoria. Have the replies been helpful? Have you come to a decision about the car?

Agreed, but that is the way of things now. Glands or replaceable O-rings are more expensive to manufacture, and it is price rather than quality that is the prime concern of most motorists.

If you are prepared to buy secondhand and have it repainted I suggest you look at online car breakers.

That won't solve the leak that caused the problem in the first place. It's your money to burn as you wish, but Steve is right, the best solution is to buy a new one.

Your mechanic sounds like a good man to know. Solving that problem without error codes means he used his brain rather than a computer.

It has a great deal of relevance. The type of air conditioning and heating that is installed depends on the climate in which the car is sold. Cars sold in tropical countries have different aircon systems than those sold in arctic countries. That is one of the reasons we ask for location in your signature and profile. I ask that you amend your location to something more sensible than B.

It depends what country you are in, which you have not told us.

Whether the oil is evaporating or burning or leaking is all a bit academic until Brian tells us what his real consumption is. Until that happens I shall add nothing more to the discussion. Well Brian, are you going to answer the question?

It's not impossible the head is cracked but it is very unlikely if it has never over heated. I suggest you get the cheaper and more probable problems worked on first, before taking the head off. That means the thermostat and EGR cooler need to come off for examination and testing. (Test the thermostat by putting into boiling water.) If both are OK refit them and refill with coolant, ensuring you eliminate all air locks. Air locks can be very difficult to get rid of. I used to apply vacuum to expand any air to the reservoir, but I appreciate that few people have the ability to do so.

It certainly sounds as if it is not firing on all cylinders. The usual culprit would be the injectors, but the absence of an error code puzzles me. How many miles has the car done? Does it drink an excessive amount of oil? Is the exhaust smokey?

Agreed. Get the battery professionally tested for an indication of its health. A simple multi meter voltage test under little load will not reveal internal faults.

Unless I missed something we have not established what engine we are discussing. If it is a diesel the loss could be happening via the EGR cooler.

I reckon it would be worth notifying the dealer about that message even if nothing needs to be done at the moment. It would ensure it is recorded by Audi in the vehicle history so that the company can not claim in the future to not knowing about it. I shall mark your message earlier today as the solution, and hope we don't have cause to reverse that decision. Correction: I don't seem to be able to mark it as solution. I guess you need to do that yourself.

The head doesn't crack without good cause such as being incorrectly fitted (which would have showed up soon after fitting), or the engine has seriously overheated which you said has not happened.

I am confused. 75 ml of oil every what? Month? Year? 1000 miles?

I'll light a candle for you.

Robert. I believe the car will warn you when Adblue needs to be topped up. Do look through this forum's history for knowledge of the potential Adblue problems you may face in the future, and how to resolve them. You may get the impression there that Adblue is a disaster waiting to happen, and indeed it can be if left to its own devices, but with the right care it can be a trouble-free system.

There are dozens of possible causes from a weak battery to the CPU, so there's no point in speculating here. Do let us know the outcome.

Meggie. You should get the car scanned for faults as a first step. Please also amend the date of your car, unless you are a visitor from the future.

If air suspension is the most important factor look at these: https://www.drivinggeeks.com/cars-trucks-suvs-with-air-suspension/ https://dev.buyacar.co.uk/jargon-busters/cars-with-air-suspension/ https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/guides/most-comfortable-cars-uk/

Yes.

The profile is important to ensure the correct lift from the cam. The smoothness is important to avoid wear of the pump. Both can be achieved with diamond tools. I have done exactly that in a non-automotive application.

Adblue can certainly be problematic, however it's the same on other makes of cars, so why limit yourself to a recent Audi diesel? Of course you could buy an old diesel but then you would be no better off than your current leaky car with all its expensive repairs. Petrol cars do not use adblue, neither do electric cars. Naturally each type has its own inherent faults and problems that you will need to balance against their advantages, but there is no such thing as a perfect car that suits all owners.

Chris. There is a technique known as micro-welding that uses a laser to deposit tiny spots of metal without heating the bulk of the metal and affecting its hardness. As the name implies it is used for small scale repairs in instruments and and clocks etc. but it may be worth investigating if it is available for repair of your cam. The profile would have to be restored by hand using diamond files and stones which is quite feasible for a single cam.

I have read elsewhere in this forum of squirrels eating car wiring. I have no idea of a solution except to put the car in the garage and do the woodworking outside.