cliffcoggin

The prime candidate to my mind is a dying battery. The recent cold weather is revealing the weaknesses of all batteries. If it is the original five year old battery I would not hesitate to change it; if it is more recent I suggest you get it professionally tested before buying a new one. Make sure you get any new battery coded to the car.

Pardon me if I snigger, but glad the solution was so simple in the end.

Ryan. The only reason for a clutch to overheat is slippage, caused either by poor driver control or severe wear. If you can eliminate those factors then there must be a fault in either the master and/or slave cylinder. How many miles has the clutch done? Does the driver ride the clutch at junctions etc? Is the clutch "bite point" about half way up the pedal travel when it is working? Does the engine speed increase without a corresponding increase in road speed? Answers to those questions will us identify where the problem lies.

I would not expect the chain to need replacing for several years yet, though I do not know if or when a scheduled change should be done. Are there any symptoms, such as excessive noise, which lead you to ask the question?

That's a damn good price Chris. Your mechanic deserves a recommendation if you would care to provide a name and work address for him.

That's all very well David, but it does not tell us anything new. I must point out that the report specifically states "The service we provide is essentially an emergency breakdown assistance service and is not equivalent to the service carried out by mechanics working in a fully equipped garage or workshop."

Josh. I see you are in the USA, unlike most of the members here, so the software in your car may differ from those us in Europe. Is it possible there is some state or national requirement for the cruise control to be disabled by the manufaturer?

Gareth. I have merged your two identical topics.

The car is only a year old. Is it not under guarantee still?

Thanks for the information David. It's a shame it is wasted on Jethro110 who has not been back to the forum since the day he posed his question 14 months ago.

Your latest readings only reinforce my opinion that the battery needs to be renewed. However that is only an opinion, not a proven fact, so either you wait for confirmation by a proper test or you buy a new battery now. The choice is yours.

Your new tyres will be smaller than the originals, so yes they will alter the speedometer readings.

Any cheap multi meter (less than £10 from Ebay,) will be adequate for testing voltage and continuity on a car, but don't be tempted to use it for serious electrical work at higher voltages despite what the vendor may claim. However you will need to learn how and where to use it to avoid injury to yourself or damage to the car. That's beyond the scope of what we can do in a forum like this, so you may be better off employing somebody who knows his way around a car.

Well if your local friendly garage will not come to you, find another that will. I suggest an independant VAG garage rather than an Audi dealer. There are also various mobile mechanics who claim to fix anything, but I don't know how good they actually are, hence my suggestion of a specialist.

Thank you for that moment of amusement. The reality is that they plugged the car into a computer and computer said no. End of investigation. Take the car to an auto electrician or an independant VAG specialist for testing. If a new battery is needed ensure he codes it to the car.

A new relay will be money wasted if the current one is fine. It will be cheaper to do some testing before throwing money at the problem. After all it may be the switch that is faulty.

The first step should be to get it plugged into a diagnostic machine and let us know the results.

If you are still on the original battery there is a fair chance that it is dying and needs to be renewed. I suggest you get it professionally tested because a simple voltmeter reading is not sufficient to tell you its state of health.

I rather doubt that winter tyres are worthwhile in Wiltshire at any time of year, unlike spartacus 68's part of the world.

That was lucky. Is the release mechanism now easy to operate or will you face the same problem again?

Mirror heaters are usually on the same circuit as the rear window heater. Have you done any testing with the meter as advised four months ago? We would appreciate an update on your progress with this problem.

Thank you Stephen, and the same to you.

I don't like the direction this topic is taking, and as there is little useful to be added to it I am locking the topic.

To my mind that is a good reason to return to them for the new battery, even if it means paying over the odds for it. Good reliable garages are hard to find.

I very much doubt that power is draining from your battery, but why not check for yourself with the multimeter shown in your photo? That's what it is for. More probable is that your battery is clapped out, and needs to be renewed. After all it is five years old, the same age at which the original battery was renewed. (The simple voltage test after a run that you showed is meaningless.) Make sure you buy a decent quality battery, and get it coded to the car.