HELP PLEASEEE - LOADS OF FAULTS COMING UP RANDOMLY
- Thread starter MKC
- Start date
Is it drivable?
Most cars have a "limp home" mode.
You could also disconnect the battery for a few minutes to try and force a reset of the electronics.
The last option would be to call AA/RAC, though you may have a wait. How far from home are you? Where are you?
Most cars have a "limp home" mode.
You could also disconnect the battery for a few minutes to try and force a reset of the electronics.
The last option would be to call AA/RAC, though you may have a wait. How far from home are you? Where are you?
HOME SAFE!
FAULTS:
1. stablisation control (ESC/ABS): fault! See owner's manual
2. hill hold assist: unavailable
3. headlight range control: system fault!
4. automatic start/stop system fault function unavailable
Okay so, I took my car to a garage today and got lowered on eibach sport line and added spacers this morning.
finished instal at 12-1pm
later about 2pm I took it for a drive on small roads and the motorway just to give it good thorough testing see if there would be any wobble of the steering wheel, tracking was out, anything out of the ordinary etc... (drive lasted about 40mins), everything was fine, no weird noises no faults coming up.
Later I drove the car for about 15mins, still fine nothing out ordinary. (7pm)
THEN.... 11pm - Was driving for less then half a mile and *beep* fault, *beep* fault. *beep* fault.
I was so confused at this point, at this point I was looking for a safe place to pull over, during that time all the faults went off and as I was pulling over they came back on again...
I was thinking maybe turning off the engine off and on would solve it (somehow, magically) then i got my phone out to record and posted on here.
After as I was driving home, I did notice when I turned left i could hear metal on metal. It sounded like a completely bare brake pad on a completely bare disc. This only happened when I turned the wheel to the left, right was fine.
At first I thought it was the wheels scrapping or something, but it should. it should have plenty of clearance. I've check and also I've seen other people have this set up on the forum.
Wheels;
Standard S-Line (5 parallel spoke alloys) 18 x 7.5J 51ET
Once again my set up;
Eibach sporline 45mm springs
15mm spacers on the front
20mm spacers on the back
My vehicle (just incase);
Audi A3 8V 2.0 TDI S-tronic S-Line
Again clearance should be fine.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I'll be going back to place where i got my springs fitted tomorrow, a scan will be performed, Hopefully something should come up.
for the mean time I will be researching this up.
FAULTS:
1. stablisation control (ESC/ABS): fault! See owner's manual
2. hill hold assist: unavailable
3. headlight range control: system fault!
4. automatic start/stop system fault function unavailable
Okay so, I took my car to a garage today and got lowered on eibach sport line and added spacers this morning.
finished instal at 12-1pm
later about 2pm I took it for a drive on small roads and the motorway just to give it good thorough testing see if there would be any wobble of the steering wheel, tracking was out, anything out of the ordinary etc... (drive lasted about 40mins), everything was fine, no weird noises no faults coming up.
Later I drove the car for about 15mins, still fine nothing out ordinary. (7pm)
THEN.... 11pm - Was driving for less then half a mile and *beep* fault, *beep* fault. *beep* fault.
I was so confused at this point, at this point I was looking for a safe place to pull over, during that time all the faults went off and as I was pulling over they came back on again...
I was thinking maybe turning off the engine off and on would solve it (somehow, magically) then i got my phone out to record and posted on here.
After as I was driving home, I did notice when I turned left i could hear metal on metal. It sounded like a completely bare brake pad on a completely bare disc. This only happened when I turned the wheel to the left, right was fine.
At first I thought it was the wheels scrapping or something, but it should. it should have plenty of clearance. I've check and also I've seen other people have this set up on the forum.
Wheels;
Standard S-Line (5 parallel spoke alloys) 18 x 7.5J 51ET
Once again my set up;
Eibach sporline 45mm springs
15mm spacers on the front
20mm spacers on the back
My vehicle (just incase);
Audi A3 8V 2.0 TDI S-tronic S-Line
Again clearance should be fine.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I'll be going back to place where i got my springs fitted tomorrow, a scan will be performed, Hopefully something should come up.
for the mean time I will be researching this up.
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Yeah its drivable, I got back fine. I may give that a go and see if it clears, but chances are i'm not going to do anything till tomorrow morning.
I reckon it might be a connector that has been disconnected. I really do hope it's a simple solution.
Thank you for you help though Raf! Really appreciate it
azibux1
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I think I had fault 2 and 4 from your list once after disconnecting the battery
But they cleared themself after a short drive (seems normal behaviour)
They also came up straight away though, so odd that yours didn't do that
But they cleared themself after a short drive (seems normal behaviour)
They also came up straight away though, so odd that yours didn't do that
Yeah I would agree that was normal behaviour. I was really hopping it would just clear during the drive back, it was a slow and steady drive, sticking way under the speed limit it took 25 mins actually (usually that route is a 15min drive).
What made me so cautious about it, is because the steering got really really heavy. I pulled over just to quickly check if i had a flat tyre or anything, but all was fine.
I'm still a little confused what could of unclipped (if it was a connector) I mean fault "3. headlight range control: system fault!" completely threw me off. Hopefully all should be fixed tomorrow at the garage!
Thank you so much for you post azibux1! I really appreciate it
azibux1
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No worries, hope you get it all sorted and it is nothing majorYeah I would agree that was normal behaviour. I was really hopping it would just clear during the drive back, it was a slow and steady drive, sticking way under the speed limit it took 25 mins actually (usually that route is a 15min drive).
What made me so cautious about it, is because the steering got really really heavy. I pulled over just to quickly check if i had a flat tyre or anything, but all was fine.
I'm still a little confused what could of unclipped (if it was a connector) I mean fault "3. headlight range control: system fault!" completely threw me off. Hopefully all should be fixed tomorrow at the garage!
Thank you so much for you post azibux1! I really appreciate it
Bad time of the year to have car issues
Keep us posted!
Hi, I've had these faults after disconnecting the battery they don't seem to be major or prevent operation of the vehicle but can be daunting when they come on all at the same time. A few questions :-
Sportback or Saloon ?
Mileage ?
Do you have mag ride ?
We're the top mounts and bearings replaced long with figment of the new springs ?
Did you have the wheel alignment done ?
Sportback or Saloon ?
Mileage ?
Do you have mag ride ?
We're the top mounts and bearings replaced long with figment of the new springs ?
Did you have the wheel alignment done ?
paradigital
Registered User
I think all of those faults appeared for me after having the car on a dyno. 15 mins of driving and then cycling the ignition cleared them all.
Thank you mate, I really hope so too! I'm due at the garage in an hour so hopefully it will be all sorted then. Then I can carry on with my christmas plans.
Yeah I will do.
Hi Rob!
3 door
43k (ish)
No mag ride
top mounts and bearings wasn't replaced, simply because I couldn't get any aftermarkets in on time. However upon inspection they did look fine (so about that squeak/clunk i was telling you about, I'm suspecting it may be other bushes but don't know which)
No, no wheel alignment done yet. installation I'd say yesterday, after install I drove maybe 17-20 miles before these faults came up.
Oh also, my car is front wheel drive. Just putting that out there incase.
Thank you for your post Rob! Greatly appreciated
The car was lowered by 30mm/25mm.
I purchased the 45mm/40mm Eibach sport line springs (E20-15-021-02-22).
My car is a S-Line but fitted with sports suspension so it makes it sit 10mm/15mm lower than stock.
Thanks Raf
When these faults came on, did the steering wheel get really heavy?
Thank you for your post paradigital
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Hi mate - any update from the garage?
I had the same springs fitted at 6k miles but then 6k miles later had to have the top mounts and bushes changed due to a clunk on the RHS. No aftermarket mounts available back then but would fit 034M/S or ECS if doing again. My car is quite sensitive to tyre wear throwing the tracking out. It's best to have tracking/alignment done a few weeks after having the springs fitted to let them settle but mine was done on the same day for convenience.
No idea what that scraping noise could be it sounds like something had became disturbed during the installation of the springs.
I had the same springs fitted at 6k miles but then 6k miles later had to have the top mounts and bushes changed due to a clunk on the RHS. No aftermarket mounts available back then but would fit 034M/S or ECS if doing again. My car is quite sensitive to tyre wear throwing the tracking out. It's best to have tracking/alignment done a few weeks after having the springs fitted to let them settle but mine was done on the same day for convenience.
No idea what that scraping noise could be it sounds like something had became disturbed during the installation of the springs.
Just a quick update; Problem; wheel bearing?
So went to the garage and the mechanic took it for a drive just to see what it was like, I explained what had happened. He was more concerned about the noise. he connected it to the computer to scan for the faults.
After he told me to come back in an hour since the ramp was in use as he wanted to get up and look underneath it to find the noise then after check all the connections.
40 mins later i got a call from him and he said he just spoke to someone that has VCDs and has had a this problem before, only the problem arose after a month of changing the springs. He took my car to the guys house to run it via VCDs and when the guy looked he said its the wheel bearing. only the left one needs changing.
My car is a 2013 plate with 43k miles on it. Could it really be a wheel bearing??
He said that once the bearing is changed the faults will all go, since the ABS, hill hold are related. Although that still doesn't explain the other two?
It's a long shot, but do you think the bearing was on its way out then the 15mm spacers i put on made it fail and bring up a fault on the dash, since now the distance is increased from one side and there is the same amount of force acting on it thus increasing the moment acting on the 'beam'.
@Rob2k68 now that you have changed the mounts and it is OE part has the problem come back? Is the top mount failure due to a poor design in the stock top mount?
My thoughts are if it is a poor deign by Audi on these parts then instead of spending money on them, may as well get uprated/aftermarket parts.
I must admit yesterday when driving I did notice the sound sounded more like a bearing and that draining *wooop wooop wooop* sound. (hope that makes sense and you know what noise i mean, like a droning)
UPDATE:
So I've had a quick scan online and it seams like wheel bearings can do even on a 5k car.
The mechanic said he can get the part today! for £83 ish from euro car parts... I also know that euro car parts are doing up to 59% off today. At full price it is £151.99 so after discount it is £102.59 and i take it he gets the parts with no VAT so it checks out.
All in he said he'd do it for £100 so i guess its £17 labour.
I understand that euro car parts isn't a genuine Audi part and the part form Audi will probably be very expensive maybe like £250? So given the circumstances I just want to get it fixed and done! Taking advantage of euro's 'up to 59%' off today I think I'm just going to go for it and see.
The mechanic said he is 100% sure that it is the bearing that is giving me these codes. I said to him even the start stop and the head light range. and he said its 110% sure. So i guess if he is so sure and we have agreed on a price, then if its not that problem then surely he can't expect me to pay any more if they need to do further troubleshooting.
The reason I am a little sceptical and hesitant is because this garage is recommended by a friend, and I don't know him that well. I trust my friend.... hopefully that should be enough
Will update you guys later.
P.S I really appreciate everyones input and insight to things so far, as any information may help find the problem and in turn help anyone else reading this in the future and may have certain characteristics of this problem. Thanks guys!!
So went to the garage and the mechanic took it for a drive just to see what it was like, I explained what had happened. He was more concerned about the noise. he connected it to the computer to scan for the faults.
After he told me to come back in an hour since the ramp was in use as he wanted to get up and look underneath it to find the noise then after check all the connections.
40 mins later i got a call from him and he said he just spoke to someone that has VCDs and has had a this problem before, only the problem arose after a month of changing the springs. He took my car to the guys house to run it via VCDs and when the guy looked he said its the wheel bearing. only the left one needs changing.
My car is a 2013 plate with 43k miles on it. Could it really be a wheel bearing??
He said that once the bearing is changed the faults will all go, since the ABS, hill hold are related. Although that still doesn't explain the other two?
It's a long shot, but do you think the bearing was on its way out then the 15mm spacers i put on made it fail and bring up a fault on the dash, since now the distance is increased from one side and there is the same amount of force acting on it thus increasing the moment acting on the 'beam'.
@Rob2k68 now that you have changed the mounts and it is OE part has the problem come back? Is the top mount failure due to a poor design in the stock top mount?
My thoughts are if it is a poor deign by Audi on these parts then instead of spending money on them, may as well get uprated/aftermarket parts.
I must admit yesterday when driving I did notice the sound sounded more like a bearing and that draining *wooop wooop wooop* sound. (hope that makes sense and you know what noise i mean, like a droning)
UPDATE:
So I've had a quick scan online and it seams like wheel bearings can do even on a 5k car.
The mechanic said he can get the part today! for £83 ish from euro car parts... I also know that euro car parts are doing up to 59% off today. At full price it is £151.99 so after discount it is £102.59 and i take it he gets the parts with no VAT so it checks out.
All in he said he'd do it for £100 so i guess its £17 labour.
I understand that euro car parts isn't a genuine Audi part and the part form Audi will probably be very expensive maybe like £250? So given the circumstances I just want to get it fixed and done! Taking advantage of euro's 'up to 59%' off today I think I'm just going to go for it and see.
The mechanic said he is 100% sure that it is the bearing that is giving me these codes. I said to him even the start stop and the head light range. and he said its 110% sure. So i guess if he is so sure and we have agreed on a price, then if its not that problem then surely he can't expect me to pay any more if they need to do further troubleshooting.
The reason I am a little sceptical and hesitant is because this garage is recommended by a friend, and I don't know him that well. I trust my friend.... hopefully that should be enough
Will update you guys later.
P.S I really appreciate everyones input and insight to things so far, as any information may help find the problem and in turn help anyone else reading this in the future and may have certain characteristics of this problem. Thanks guys!!
Last edited:
Just a quick update; Problem; wheel bearing?
So went to the garage and the mechanic took it for a drive just to see what it was like, I explained what had happened. He was more concerned about the noise. he connected it to the computer to scan for the faults.
After he told me to come back in an hour since the ramp was in use as he wanted to get up and look underneath it to find the noise then after check all the connections.
40 mins later i got a call from him and he said he just spoke to someone that has VCDs and has had a this problem before, only the problem arose after a month of changing the springs. He took my car to the guys house to run it via VCDs and when the guy looked he said its the wheel bearing. only the left one needs changing.
My car is a 2013 plate with 43k miles on it. Could it really be a wheel bearing??
He said that once the bearing is changed the faults will all go, since the ABS, hill hold are related. Although that still doesn't explain the other two?
It's a long shot, but do you think the bearing was on its way out then the 15mm spacers i put on made it fail and bring up a fault on the dash, since now the distance is increased from one side and there is the same amount of force acting on it thus increasing the moment acting on the 'beam'.
@Rob2k68 now that you have changed the mounts and it is OE part has the problem come back? Is the top mount failure due to a poor design in the stock top mount?
My thoughts are if it is a poor deign by Audi on these parts then instead of spending money on them, may as well get uprated/aftermarket parts.
I must admit yesterday when driving I did notice the sound sounded more like a bearing and that draining *wooop wooop wooop* sound. (hope that makes sense and you know what noise i mean, like a droning)
UPDATE:
So I've had a quick scan online and it seams like wheel bearings can do even on a 5k car.
The mechanic said he can get the part today! for £83 ish from euro car parts... I also know that euro car parts are doing up to 59% off today. At full price it is £151.99 so after discount it is £102.59 and i take it he gets the parts with no VAT so it checks out.
All in he said he'd do it for £100 so i guess its £17 labour.
I understand that euro car parts isn't a genuine Audi part and the part form Audi will probably be very expensive maybe like £250? So given the circumstances I just want to get it fixed and done! Taking advantage of euro's 'up to 59%' off today I think I'm just going to go for it and see.
The mechanic said he is 100% sure that it is the bearing that is giving me these codes. I said to him even the start stop and the head light range. and he said its 110% sure. So i guess if he is so sure and we have agreed on a price, then if its not that problem then surely he can't expect me to pay any more if they need to do further troubleshooting.
The reason I am a little sceptical and hesitant is because this garage is recommended by a friend, and I don't know him that well. I trust my friend.... hopefully that should be enough
Will update you guys later.
P.S I really appreciate everyones input and insight to things so far, as any information may help find the problem and in turn help anyone else reading this in the future and may have certain characteristics of this problem. Thanks guys!!
Yeah sounds completely viable - the spacers have put extra load on the wheel bearings and highlighted that one was on its way out.
My top mounts are OEM and have been ok since replacing then but totally agree would be preferable to fit upgraded items rather than replace with poor design or a part known to be problematic. I'll be fitting polyeurathane bushes to my lower control arms in the New Year to get rid of the annoying squeak I have.
So everything was looking promising today until 3pm when I was struggling to get in contact with the mechanic, in the end i drove down and he told me that everywhere closes at 4 and euro wouldn't delivery the part after 3. 
So it looks like I'll be getting up early on boxing day back down to the garage and sort it then, fingers crossed it will be fixed by the end of the day and I can carry on with my boxing day plans.
The mechanic was checking the parts and it turns out the part that he told me about was a budget part and he didn't feel comfortable putting that on my car. I do believe this is the part; SNR Wheel Bearing Kit (Front) Product Code: 628440060
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/A...ecb849ca4137ad7842c22457e8f75b991df924&000370
Has anyone used this part before or heard of this brand? He spoke of another part from euro car parts saying it is better quality and it will be there Monday first thing. Although I'm not sure which brand he was referring to as when I type in my reg on euro only the one part comes up.
I'm still very skeptical that all four of these faults is a result of the near side bearing. How can it all link up like that? Especially start/stop and headlight range control, but the mechanic seams to be 110% sure it is and by changing the worn wheel bearing it will also fix the faults that appear on the dash. We shall see
edit: Mechanic also said a round trip of 100 miles should be safe if I've not fixed it by then, but just don't give it the beans.... I'll be taking taking that advice with a pinch of salt!
How many miles has your car done since instilling the OEM top mounts? When changing the springs over I asked to have a look at the top mounts and they seamed perfectly fine and the mechanic seamed to think the same as well. Aftermarket top mounts are on my 'to buy list' but before I make the purchase for them I would like to find the cause of the squeaking/clunking part and replace it! Be sure to post on here when you do as I'm sure you will
On a side note, I'm actually on the hunt for new break pads, thinking of EBC yellow stuff, I believe you have some fitted right Rob? How are they?
So it looks like I'll be getting up early on boxing day back down to the garage and sort it then, fingers crossed it will be fixed by the end of the day and I can carry on with my boxing day plans.The mechanic was checking the parts and it turns out the part that he told me about was a budget part and he didn't feel comfortable putting that on my car. I do believe this is the part; SNR Wheel Bearing Kit (Front) Product Code: 628440060
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/A...ecb849ca4137ad7842c22457e8f75b991df924&000370
Has anyone used this part before or heard of this brand? He spoke of another part from euro car parts saying it is better quality and it will be there Monday first thing. Although I'm not sure which brand he was referring to as when I type in my reg on euro only the one part comes up.
I'm still very skeptical that all four of these faults is a result of the near side bearing. How can it all link up like that? Especially start/stop and headlight range control, but the mechanic seams to be 110% sure it is and by changing the worn wheel bearing it will also fix the faults that appear on the dash. We shall see
edit: Mechanic also said a round trip of 100 miles should be safe if I've not fixed it by then, but just don't give it the beans.... I'll be taking taking that advice with a pinch of salt!
How many miles has your car done since instilling the OEM top mounts? When changing the springs over I asked to have a look at the top mounts and they seamed perfectly fine and the mechanic seamed to think the same as well. Aftermarket top mounts are on my 'to buy list' but before I make the purchase for them I would like to find the cause of the squeaking/clunking part and replace it! Be sure to post on here when you do as I'm sure you will
On a side note, I'm actually on the hunt for new break pads, thinking of EBC yellow stuff, I believe you have some fitted right Rob? How are they?
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So everything was looking promising today until 3pm when I was struggling to get in contact with the mechanic, in the end i drove down and he told me that everywhere closes at 4 and euro wouldn't delivery the part after 3.
The mechanic was checking the parts and it turns out the part that he told me about was a budget part and he didn't feel comfortable putting that on my car. I do believe this is the part; SNR Wheel Bearing Kit (Front) Product Code: 628440060
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/A...ecb849ca4137ad7842c22457e8f75b991df924&000370
Has anyone used this part before or heard of this brand? He spoke of another part from euro car parts saying it is better quality and it will be there Monday first thing. Although I'm not sure which brand he was referring to as when I type in my reg on euro only the one part comes up.
I'm still very skeptical that all four of these faults is a result of the near side bearing. How can it all link up like that? Especially start/stop and headlight range control, but the mechanic seams to be 110% sure it is and by changing the worn wheel bearing it will also fix the faults that appear on the dash. We shall see
How many miles has your car done since instilling the OEM top mounts? When changing the springs over I asked to have a look at the top mounts and they seamed perfectly fine and the mechanic seamed to think the same as well. Aftermarket top mounts are on my 'to buy list' but before I make the purchase for them I would like to find the cause of the squeaking/clunking part and replace it! Be sure to post on here when you do as I'm sure you will
On a side note, I'm actually on the hunt for new break pads, thinking of EBC yellow stuff, I believe you have some fitted right Rob? How are they?
Hello mate, so the saga continues but the main thing is to relax tomorrow and have a great day
I'm also curious about the fault codes and how these can relate to a wheel bearing but who knows the complex electrical workings of our cars - I certainly don't. Two things are sounding alarm bells to me the first that the mechanic does not have VCDS or similar for diagnostics and secondly that he's not trying to sting you for bearings on both sides saying that the other one will likely fail soon after - generally that's my experience.
Yeah I have Yellowstuff all round and I'm very pleased with them, less dust than the original pads and awesome cold performance some serious stopping power indeed but I also have upgraded discs and stainless steel hoses too which help with the overall modulation and power also change the fluid for high performance dot4.
Hello mate, so the saga continues but the main thing is to relax tomorrow and have a great day
I'm also curious about the fault codes and how these can relate to a wheel bearing but who knows the complex electrical workings of our cars - I certainly don't. Two things are sounding alarm bells to me the first that the mechanic does not have VCDS or similar for diagnostics and secondly that he's not trying to sting you for bearings on both sides saying that the other one will likely fail soon after - generally that's my experience.
Yeah I have Yellowstuff all round and I'm very pleased with them, less dust than the original pads and awesome cold performance some serious stopping power indeed but I also have upgraded discs and stainless steel hoses too which help with the overall modulation and power also change the fluid for high performance dot4.
Yes it does, I want to get this all done so I can concentrate on revising for my exams in Jan
for now this is just constantly in the back of my mind! haha - Thank you Rob I will definitely try, I hope you do too! 
Yeah I am extremely curious as well. He has snap on diagnostic computer box thing. When he was using it I was like oh is that VCDS? and he's like oh no. He did tell me he wanted to take my car to his mates house to use the VCDS to find the problem, he told me to stay at the garage since it is at the guys house not at his work (his friend is a mechanic too).
So then I come home eject the SD card from my dash cam and view it on my laptop.... surprise surprise.... He drove to the garage next-door and asked for advice. I didn't see him get out and speak to no one but the footage stopped which means he pulled the key (I turned off my magic pro since there was a stage where I left my car for a while and the came would record nothing but moving leaves). 6 minutes later the footage begins and he is driving out and he goes up the road (opposite from the garage) does a U turn and comes back down and back into the garage.
I suspect he didn't use VCDS since if he did, I would of seen the cam start recoding since the ignition needs to be engaged right? and ignition On = blackue beings recoding. At first I was thinking why would he lie about his friends place? (BTW this is the reason why i returned home so I could check the footage first to see what his friend said about the car, maybe i could of overheard some conversations, since i thought he may of just keep the engine running throughout that time... I know its a little sneaky but he I just had to check my baby was in good hands and stories matched up).
As I kept thinking upon why he would do such a thing, would be the fact that if i had found out that the garage next to his knew a lot more about audis and worked on so many more, then he would loose me as a customer you know "why would I go to him when the garage next door knows about this and can fix my problem".
So I think he did it for the sake of business. Since I got my springs fitted yesterday from this garage and he was recommended by a friend and my friend was with me the entire time. He wanted £80 (mates rate/doing a friend a favour) for the spring install and himself and other one of his staff worked on my car and they completed the install in 1 hour 30mins i was so pleased and happy i gave him £100 and said the extra £20 is of you! since you looked after me. As my thoughts were that intact he didn't have to do any discount for me he could of charged me full wack.
I really hope I don't get screwed over here! *praying*
edit: what do you mean by "secondly that he's not trying to sting you for bearings on both sides saying that the other one will likely fail soon after - generally that's my experience." Do you mean he is trying to get more money out of my via labour on a second visit back for the other side of bearings? I did actually ask him, do I need to change both? As I have always been influence to change things in pairs and good practice. He said, no just change them as they go, cos they will go at different times. I'm a little confused as to what you meant about 'not trying to sting for bearings'
OOOO very nice Rob i'll have to look into that when all this is over haha very good stuff!
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Euro Car Parts is closed until the 27th I'm afraid 
I've been there every day for the last 4 days, girlfriend just bought a Corsa.. say no more!
I've been there every day for the last 4 days, girlfriend just bought a Corsa.. say no more!I'm going out on a limb here, going to give him the benefit of the doubt (I know it looks fishy) he seams very decent and very genuine. My friend has known him for a while and he said he has never let him down. I trust my friend, so i guess in turn I trust the mechanic.
It's a gamble i suppose, we shall see 
Euro Car Parts is closed until the 27th I'm afraid
oh mannnn
thats so depressing to know.... I guess my boxing day plans are completely out of the window then 
What year is your girlfriends corsa btw?
Yes it does, I want to get this all done so I can concentrate on revising for my exams in Jan
Yeah I am extremely curious as well. He has snap on diagnostic computer box thing. When he was using it I was like oh is that VCDS? and he's like oh no. He did tell me he wanted to take my car to his mates house to use the VCDS to find the problem, he told me to stay at the garage since it is at the guys house not at his work (his friend is a mechanic too).
So then I come home eject the SD card from my dash cam and view it on my laptop.... surprise surprise.... He drove to the garage next-door and asked for advice. I didn't see him get out and speak to no one but the footage stopped which means he pulled the key (I turned off my magic pro since there was a stage where I left my car for a while and the came would record nothing but moving leaves). 6 minutes later the footage begins and he is driving out and he goes up the road (opposite from the garage) does a U turn and comes back down and back into the garage.
I suspect he didn't use VCDS since if he did, I would of seen the cam start recoding since the ignition needs to be engaged right? and ignition On = blackue beings recoding. At first I was thinking why would he lie about his friends place? (BTW this is the reason why i returned home so I could check the footage first to see what his friend said about the car, maybe i could of overheard some conversations, since i thought he may of just keep the engine running throughout that time... I know its a little sneaky but he I just had to check my baby was in good hands and stories matched up).
As I kept thinking upon why he would do such a thing, would be the fact that if i had found out that the garage next to his knew a lot more about audis and worked on so many more, then he would loose me as a customer you know "why would I go to him when the garage next door knows about this and can fix my problem".
So I think he did it for the sake of business. Since I got my springs fitted yesterday from this garage and he was recommended by a friend and my friend was with me the entire time. He wanted £80 (mates rate/doing a friend a favour) for the spring install and himself and other one of his staff worked on my car and they completed the install in 1 hour 30mins i was so pleased and happy i gave him £100 and said the extra £20 is of you! since you looked after me. As my thoughts were that intact he didn't have to do any discount for me he could of charged me full wack.
I really hope I don't get screwed over here! *praying*
edit: what do you mean by "secondly that he's not trying to sting you for bearings on both sides saying that the other one will likely fail soon after - generally that's my experience." Do you mean he is trying to get more money out of my via labour on a second visit back for the other side of bearings? I did actually ask him, do I need to change both? As I have always been influence to change things in pairs and good practice. He said, no just change them as they go, cos they will go at different times. I'm a little confused as to what you meant about 'not trying to sting for bearings'
OOOO very nice Rob i'll have to look into that when all this is over haha very good stuff!
Reply to blue txt: no need to worry just my sense of humour unusual for a garage not to try it on LoL
1 1/2 hours do fit springs is good going !!
oh mannnn
What year is your girlfriends corsa btw?
Yeah sorry for the bad news, I thought it be best to give the heads up.
It's an 07, my comment was probably a little harsh. There was little on the market for £3k in decent condition, so we went for one in outstanding visual condition but needs some mechanical attention. It's a 1.3CDTi, quite surprised it's a decent car actually. Has auto lights, auto wipers and an auto dimming mirror (even the S3 doesn't have that, which I hate).
We have a noisy auxiliary belt, hopefully it is no more than a belt and tensioner required.
The heaters are getting warm ish, but not hot.. so I'm doing a full coolant flush on Boxing Day to try and clean the heater matrix out a bit... the windows are misting up too, no leaks.. had a pollen filter a couple of days ago so I'm hoping the heater matrix refresh will help.
In addition to that we can smell diesel fumes in the car, hopefully it's nothing too major. She wrote her Polo off a couple of weeks ago, so it's a bad time for her to have a large expense... I feel to guilty, I'm paying for all haha.
I'm not convinced that the potential wheel bearing issue is the root cause of all that's going on here. A wheel bearing causing start/stop issues? That's bullsh*t at its finest imho.
Your on a slippery slope with a back street mechanic who's pitching in the dark (to help a mate out) and your going to have a laundry list of parts that will start to need replacing by said mechanic until the problems are gone.
An obvious question from me - if this all started after the lowering, why is the original garage/mechanic not fixing it?
Secondly, if the current mechanic doesn't have the tools to diagnose the problems, he shouldnt be working on the car.
The quickest fix here is to take a step back, return to stock (did you keep the old strut & springs?) and see how many of the problems disappear.
I'm guessing your on a budget (and there's nothing wrong with that) but just be aware that every one of the issues you have listed is a potential MOT failure, so not fixing, or having some mechanic bumble his way through diagnosis and bodge, is not really the best option. Try and at least find a recommended Audi Independant garage that know what they are doing.
Good luck!
Your on a slippery slope with a back street mechanic who's pitching in the dark (to help a mate out) and your going to have a laundry list of parts that will start to need replacing by said mechanic until the problems are gone.
An obvious question from me - if this all started after the lowering, why is the original garage/mechanic not fixing it?
Secondly, if the current mechanic doesn't have the tools to diagnose the problems, he shouldnt be working on the car.
The quickest fix here is to take a step back, return to stock (did you keep the old strut & springs?) and see how many of the problems disappear.
I'm guessing your on a budget (and there's nothing wrong with that) but just be aware that every one of the issues you have listed is a potential MOT failure, so not fixing, or having some mechanic bumble his way through diagnosis and bodge, is not really the best option. Try and at least find a recommended Audi Independant garage that know what they are doing.
Good luck!
