cliffcoggin

In my opinion the valve stems are undoubtedly bent, in which case the pistons and conrods may well be damaged also. Take the head off and inspect the pistons crowns closely. If there is any sign of contact between valves and crowns you will then need to remove the sump and pull the pistons out to inspect the rods.

Darryl's point about a dual mass flywheel is not one that had occurred to me. I agree that if you have a DMF it would be worth changing; if it isn't just clean the old one.

Who can say? The company seems to have a good reputation and accepts returns, however £23 is remarkably cheap for a piece of complex machining.

I think you mean wary, though weary would be very apt. Loosen the bolts in stages and in the correct sequence i.e. the reverse of what you do when fitting the head.

Your choice of course Lance, but if the flywheel is only contaminated with fluid it is 30 second job to clean it. If it is worn that would be a different matter, though wear seems unlikely at 64000 miles unless you have been driving a slipping clutch for a long time.

I can understand renewing the clutch, release bearing, and cylinder, but I don't understand why they want to renew the flywheel. It's only a lump of flat steel which is easily cleaned of any hydraulic fluid.

I would expect 20 miles of motorway driving without full coolant flow to get it boiling, yet you say the coolant was only warm and there was no excessive pressure. That, together with the odd temperature reading, suggests to me there is still an airlock, probably in the heater matrix. A3s are prone to them and can be difficult to get rid of after opening the cooling system. I know of no certain way to eliminate the air as I have never needed to do mine, but I suspect that moderate vacuum would expand the air enough for it to bubble up to the reservoir.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285098951418?fits=Car+Make%3AAudi|Model%3AA3&hash=item426138c2fa:g:LM8AAOSwP8djtoa0 I have never done it, but for seven quid it might be worth trying.

It is most likely a CV joint. You can test it by putting it in a gear with the engine off, then crawling under the car and clamping the drive shaft with self-locking grips (e.g. Mole grips). Rock the shaft to and fro to detect any play, which you will hear and see if the joint is worn.

I put up with the fault for the whole time I had the car, which would have been perhaps five years. My wife refused to drive the car because of it, whereas I tolerated the problem by adapting my driving. At the time it was too good a car in other respects to get rid of, yet not worth spending a lot of money to repair. Nevertheless it was a constant irritation and I am glad I no longer have to concern myself with clutches and gearboxes. Eventually it was the imminent need of gearbox repair and the price of diesel that prompted me to sell it.

Ah, I missed the fact it is automatic, which does not have the dual mass flywheel. My own automatic A3 suffered what I describe as clutch snatching when starting from rest. Audi would not even admit the problem existed, claiming the take off to be normal when they tested it, and could only suggest a new gearbox, an expense I was not prepared to even consider. My own internet research indicated the fault lies in the Mechatronic unit which controls the gear changing and which would have to be overhauled or renewed at great expense, so I tolerated the fault until I got rid of the car some years later. The general suspicion is that it is a design or manufacturing fault by Audi in early DSGs, hence their reluctance admit the problem's existence. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your options are limited. The best I can suggest is you consult a gearbox specialist who might know how to deal with the Mechatronic and only charge a small fortune, rather than the large fortune that Audi will want.

A little searching would have revealed this topic from just yesterday.

The judder certainly sounds like the DMF problem, though it could also be a defective clutch. I don't know your engine, so are you sure it has a timing chain not a belt?

Fair enough, but let's start with the basics before moving on to the electronics and other ancillaries. That means a more complete description of the symptoms than you have revealed until now. You said the engine "doesn’t feel strong on cranking". If by that you mean it cranks too quickly and does not sound as if the starter is working hard, then I suspect you have little or no compression. Is that correct?

How many times do we need to repeat "Forget about ECU, warning lights and diagnostics until you have established whether the engine is sound."

Neal. Gareth's theory is a good one, in which case repair could cost much more than £400 if the pistons and rods are damaged. Your mention of plastic stuffed into the oil filler pipe sounds like somebody tried to stop excess crankcase pressure blowing oil out, which is exactly what one would expect from a blown engine. Forget about ECU, warning lights and diagnostics until you have established whether the engine is sound.

Are you really telling us there is zero compression on every cylinder? That would be more than a head gasket leak. Even worn rings and bores would give a little compression. If the valve timing is completely wrong I would still expect a little compression on one cylinder or some valves hitting the head. Are you sure there any pistons at all in the engine? Take the spark plugs out and use a long thin wire to feel the different heights of the pistons. Remove the wire and spin the engine. You should hear and feel the air being blown in and out of the holes.

Whether you use the door or not, the wiring in the passenger door is the same age as that in the driver's door, and prone to the same embrittlement as a result of age. As a zero cost check I suggest it is worth having a look.

Maris. It's a common problem with the driver's door lock and is usually caused by a damaged wire in the rubber bellows that connects the door to the pillar. Before buying another lock it would be worth checking the wires to the passenger door first.

I bet it will.

As far as I know the security code can only be found in the handbook that came with the car. Maybe Audi or some sort of specialist can help find a lost code. Perhaps another forum will chip in to advise on that point.

The instrument cluster interacts with the rest of the car's electronics so it's likely to be the cause of some lights staying on. There is no certainty to that, but I suggest the first step is to get the instrument panel fixed. Don't expect logic from damaged electronics; consequent faults will often be random. Similarly a defective battery can generate random and apparently unrelated faults such as loss of air-con, de-tuned radio, loss of cruise control and so on, even though the battery can start the engine perfectly well.

Thomas. Such failure of the instrument cluster is a common fault on A3s. Look online to find companies which will repair it for about £280.

Virginia. A wet air filter suggests water may have been sucked into the engine, so it is very possible it has been damaged and will need to be replaced. It is equally possible parts of the electrical system have been soaked and no longer work as they should. Water and electricity do not mix. Your first course of action should be to get the car diagnosed on a decent tester to get an idea of what is wrong, and hence how much it will cost to put right. A new engine would cost a few thousand pounds and would probably be unjustified on a 12 year old car. A secondhand engine would be more viable if you are keen to keep the car. Wet electronics may be cheap or expensive depending on precisely what has to be replaced. Whatever the problems are, get a diagnosis before deciding what to do.