cliffcoggin

Were you told which pipe had blocked?

When I wanted some clips for a Citroen I found them on Ebay after searching for panel clips or trim clips or something similar. All sorts of clips are available there so close examination of pictures and dimensions was necessary but it paid off.

Very ingenious.

Thanks for letting us know of success. Was it a standard camshaft that you had fitted, or a high performance part?

A car audio specialist is probably your best source of help.

Yes it's sad but true that Audi standards in all stages of making and selling cars have dropped over the last two decades in its efforts to enlarge market share. Audi is still trading on its prestigious reputation from that time, but that can not last as more and more defects come to light.

If you really are not mechanically minded do not attempt this project yourself. Pay a professional to do it for you to avoid wasting money on the wrong parts or making the car the car dangerous. And remember to tell your insurer that you have modified the car. Insurance companies love the huge premiums they can extract from the owners of modified cars.

It read to me that you were not prepared to pay the bill, but I am glad that's not the case because that would be fraud. If you really want to be smart with money why take an eleven year old car to Audi? That does not make sense. Go to an independant VAG specialist or in this case a gearbox specialist as suggested by Chris, but never an Audi dealer.

So you chose the main dealer for its convenient location and its provision of such things as the "health check", yet you are not prepared to pay the bill? Or have I misunderstood something here?

Welcome to the real world.

Knowing that the local specialist charges less per hour than a main dealer, why did you still choose to go to the dealer?

Damian. The oil consumption is very high, but I would have thought a litre per 1500 km is cheaper than an engine rebuild if it only has to last for five months. A compression test should reveal any fault with the rings and valves if you wanted certainty. My money is on the themostat. The temperature should remain rock solid at 90 once the engine has warmed up. If the ECU senses a lower temperature it may be over fuelling thus causing at least some of the smoke and the poor performance. I suggest you renew the thermostat before attempting any major work on the engine.

To answer that specific question, there is a small possibility that the timing belt has jumped a tooth on its sprocket and the engine has stopped in time to avoid damaging any valves, so the garage is hoping that a new belt plus retiming the engine will solve the problem. In reality there is a much bigger chance that either several teeth have been jumped or the belt has broken causing valves to hit the piston crowns. As for the other comments on belt life, I too believe it was a grave mistake for Audi to change its recommendations. VAG is not alone in making this sort of mistake. Look at the problems caused by Ford and others who have changed from dry belts to wet belts in an effort to eliminate an expensive crankshaft seal.

It's a sign of the times Gareth. Everybody who wants your money believes that pretending to be your best mate and using your forename will deceive you into accepting worthless junk in return. It doesn't work with me. When such people ask me my first name I reply "Mister".

Thanks for letting us know.

I sypathise with your circumstances Damian, which is all the more reason I'd not like to see you waste time and money on a pointless repair. I say that because I am not convinced yet that you need to change the rings and valves. Summarising the information you have told us: 1/ The engine smokes, but you have not mentioned the colour of the smoke or whether the oil needs frequent topping up. 2/ The engine temperature appears normal yet running the cabin heater solves the smoke problem. 3/ There was a big loss of coolant, but you have not told us where it came out from. Is that correct? Unless I have missed something, I suspect you either have a coolant leak into the engine from the EGR valve, or a blocked radiator. Are there any other symptoms you can add to the list to give us a more complete picture of the problem? Do you have access to a compression tester?

It won't cost anything to look, however if the wiring is damaged you need to be competant with soldering iron or proprietary connectors and heat shrink tubing. Twisted connections and sticky insulating tape will not solve the problem.

Not so. While your dealer may have come to an arrangement with Audi UK to be compensated by them, that is a private arrangement between those two parties that can not be influenced or demanded by you. Your only legal enforceable recourse is directly with the seller, a provision of the 1979 Sale of Goods Act and its successor legislation.

That's unfortunate and I too sympathise, however while it not the dealer's fault, under UK law it is the dealer's responsibility as the vendor to provide either a fix or a refund. The dealer evidently can not provide a fix so the customer must decide whether to go for a refund or accept a defective car.

So have I fifty years ago when I was young, stupid, and penniless, so I know just how dirty, uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous it is to work underneath a car at the kerbside. So why do you not want to remove the entire engine? Bravado? Perversity? You are in Brisbane, not some remote part of the outback without access to modern tools and equipment.

There is a good chance that the wiring within the corrugated rubber tube or bellows between boot lid and frame is damaged. It's a common fault and often affects doors & windows as well.

Even if it was possible, why would you choose to? Surely the difficulty of working on a major engine rebuild while it is still in the car justifies the cost of hiring an engine crane. Even if one had full workshop facilities including a car lift nobody would do that sort of work without removing the engine.

Given that Audi do not know how to fix it, when they can fix it, or even if they can fix it, I would not hesitate in taking it back for a refund. Audi is not the quality brand it was several years ago, having sold some models recently with expensive defects as a result of poor design and inadequate testing. Consequently one can not rely on an Audi promise to fix it at some some unknown time in the future.

Very possibly. A dying battery can cause many unrelated electrical faults. If you have any doubts about the battery or it is more than five years old it would be well to get it tested on professional equipment.

I doubt you get any concensus on the forum because the right choice will depend on your driving style, your budget, the sort of road conditions you drive on, the loads you carry, your preference for fuel economy versus grip, and so on. If you are satisfied with whatever brand of tyres you have at the moment I suggest you get the same again.