Dan3222

Nice to see some hands on stuff. Once you get that leak sorted I would be flushing the water system out. It looks like it's had a water leak product in it like rad weld for example. It could have been used because of this leak but alarm bells ringing for potential head gasket like you suspect!! To find the manifold gas leak, get a bottle of slightly soapy water, a bit of washing up liquid is good. Spray solution onto the manifold when it's cold!! Start up the engine and keep adding little bits of water all over. You will see bubbles start forming where the gasses are leaking from. Hope that helps!

About 2 months, the forum has a good feel to it. Have a few too many cars tbh but my 4 circles is an A6, always wanted the 2.7 V6, it's a very sweet running engine.

Welcome to the club Dan!! Nice looking car btw!!

Also, you should never assume that an ex company car has not been thrashed or abused. If someone doesn't have to actually pay for bills for a car then they don't care how it is treated!! I used to drive company cars and while I did care for mine and they never missed a service etc I did put them through their paces from time to time!😬

Gareth's (Magnet) advice is as usual top notch. He knows his stuff. Unless your car has had issues with its gear box in the past the oil in it will be the original oil. As mentioned by Trevor also these gear boxes today are regarded as sealed for life or maintenance free. The independent gear box specialists are laughing quietly behind closed doors as this is keeping them quite busy with token boxes, worn bearings etc etc etc. You are lucky that you have the manual though as these are more robust or another way of thinking less sensitive. If u are going to keep the car for sometime then definately get the oil changed, just for peace of mind. As Gareth said source a local independent gearbox specialist if you aren't going to do the job yourself. If you do get the best oil you can buy, again for price of mind. Other advice? Get your oil changed every 10-12,000 miles, again using the best oil and obviously the correct grade. Dan

Have to say the rear twin outlets look awesome!! What horses did the remap take it to? rainsport 3's are my tyre of choice too. You will be surprised how good they are on dry tarmac too. brakes wise, you already have vented discs as standard. Do you mean you are thinking getting drilled a grooved ones? These will help keep temps down a bit for track racing plus try green/red/black stuff pads. I would also seriously consider flushing the brake system out and replacing with silicon based fluid. I am sure from memory it has a higher boiling point but also lasts much longer than standard DOT 4. If you are really serious about track days, a bit of ducting aiming air at discs will make an enormous difference too. are you still running the standard IC?

Just out of interest, is it worse when everything is cold, i.e. In first 10 mins of driving?

Piotr, have you taken the plunge yet with the headlights? i am fitting DRL's to my T5 and have been searching eBay for suitable ones and saw loads of these. Item number 222464447604 you could make ur own!!

I was going to guess Wanted, until I saw the second picture!

Gareth, I agree with you that the description so far is a little confusing. In defence of the OP It's sometimes very hard to put into words a fault on a car. Mr the Kid, am I right in thinking that the noise is not associated with engine speed, so if the engine is running but the car is not = no noise. But when the car is moving there is a noise? your description does not typically describe a bearing as this is 99% of time described as a grumble or drone while traveling at speed. Option 1, Do you have upgraded wheels and maybe even spacers? Ill fitting upgrades cause crunching clicking thumping noises. You could try take no of the front right wheel and then putting it back on or even put a spare on. If noise goes away then you know it's wheel related. option 2, as there is no juddering felt when driving this rules out inner CV joint. But does the noise get louder if you are cornering? Indicating outer CV joint! Hope that helps a little dan

Fingers crossed!

They will test for leaks first by pressurising the system and checking all pipes for a weep. This is the most common reason for aircon failing as the thin aluminium pipes can wear through at points like where they are clamped. Fingers crossed though that all it needs is a re-gas.

Not sure if this will help or not as I am relaying info from a completely different engine here. It sounds pretty much like fueling issues obviously. Symptoms sound very similar to T5 engines which have tandem fuel pumps. However, after a bit of reading and part sourcing it's clear that you engine does not have one. It has a belt driven high pressure fuel pump on the engine. I can't help but think this is failing somehow. The primary pump located in the fuel tank is obviously working because if it wasn't you would have cold start problems and hot start too. But the high pressure pump failing could well lead to cutting out. There is one second hand pump on eBay right now. From your car year too. Item number 352068683829, though it does say it's from an Allroad but I do think it's the same engine? Worth a phone call. However. You could do with having some live data readings to see if it throws up a new code when it happens again. Crank sensor intermittent faults lead to cutting out too!?! But then your car does seem to start easily with a spray of juice like brake cleaner. Modern engines can sometimes be very confusing!! I miss the good old days of a bit of hose here and gaffer tape there to patch you up to get home!!

I think your only option is to have the hole helicoiled now. I doubt you can go up a size in bolt?

Try PPTuning. They make great exhaust systems and lots of support bits like oval tailpipes etc. Great prices too.

I guess it's whether you think it's worth the money. It does seem like just about any VAG wheel will fit but really best bet is to try to get one from same year if you can. Then There is a chance that all the electric will work. Don't forget you could sell your old steering wheel very quickly. I might even be interested for my T5... potentially.

I have just had to double check, was starting to doubt myself lol. Here is a pic of a TT one fitted to a T5. There are Seat ones fitted too. Of course the badge on a VW one won't match though. They all seem to change hands for 3-400 squid though, ouch!!

In fairness I am only quoting what loads of people have done on the T5 forum, the standard ones fitted to the vans are dull to say the least. Golf ones are most commonly used but some have used Audi donors. I myself haven't done it though.

Consider looking at golf and A3 steering wheels. These are a very commonly used steering wheel of upgrading to what you want. RS6 ones are going to be few and far between and therefore pricey. All are I believe compatable to the steering column from a VAG car. They even fit Transporters!! You are very much likely going to have to get one coded in to your ECU to allow the buttons to work. Unless you get one from the same year run, 2006-2007 from another A6? Try doing a 247parts (or other online search tools) online specific search for the A6 model and then A4 -A3 and so on. See what gets offered back to you and then choose best price.

That's a good call actually. Had very similar issue with the girlfriends Colt. But I refused to pay nearly £200 for a new part. So I hot knifed it apart and soldered in a new piece and hey presto a car that starts again as it should.

Very tidy!! Kevin.

My gut says the timing belt is out by one tooth! Assuming it does have a belt and not a chain. If not it will most likely be fuel related so change the fuel filter and run a good quality injector, double dose it on first use. See if that can make a difference.

Did you try the fuel injector cleaner? It could easily be a partially blocked injector or two? I use Millers (from Halfords), every third fill. In both A6 and T5. If that doesn't help might be worth getting timing checked. belt could be out by a tooth?

That's a shame mate. But the Toledo is a nice car though, lighter too I think so should be a bit nippier 😉

Mr Q is right, not really worth the risk, why not just have the service a little early?