I have an A3 Black Edition, Quattro, 180 Tdi registered 1/9/2017. Mileage 22K, bought as a demonstator.
I recently had all tyres and brakes renewed at my local garage ( not a main dealer ) and when I collected the car the main man told me there was a small leak on the gearbox.
I booked in for further investigation and when I went to collect the car he gave me some very bad news. The core plugs or shaft end covers had rusted where there were stone chips and were leaking slightly, he'd been in touch with his Audi parts supplier who had told him these parts were part of the gearbox casing and not available to replace seperately. In other words it was a new gearbox job !!! These covers are visible looking into the front nearside wheel arch with the wheel on full lock. They measure 85mm and have a small dome around 35mm in the middle. I've found non-Audi ones at 85mm but they're just flat across their width.
Removing the existing ones will destroy them so if I haven't got genuine parts for replacement and the others won't fit I'm really stuffed.
My main man ( who's an ex-Audi mechanic in whom I have complete confidence ) suggested taking the car to my dealer and trying for a good will repair. However the car is 7-8 months out of warranty now and should I be turned down I then have a marked car on the Audi system which would affect trade in value.
There's no way I'm spending £10k pounds on a new gearbox so it looks like a new car before long. I find it hard to believe that I'm in this situation when the parts to sort the problem would only be £100 tops for the pair.
I've just joined this forum for this post as I know there is a lot of knowledge in places like this and there's always a chance someone might be able to help.
Cheers, Alan
I recently had all tyres and brakes renewed at my local garage ( not a main dealer ) and when I collected the car the main man told me there was a small leak on the gearbox.
I booked in for further investigation and when I went to collect the car he gave me some very bad news. The core plugs or shaft end covers had rusted where there were stone chips and were leaking slightly, he'd been in touch with his Audi parts supplier who had told him these parts were part of the gearbox casing and not available to replace seperately. In other words it was a new gearbox job !!! These covers are visible looking into the front nearside wheel arch with the wheel on full lock. They measure 85mm and have a small dome around 35mm in the middle. I've found non-Audi ones at 85mm but they're just flat across their width.
Removing the existing ones will destroy them so if I haven't got genuine parts for replacement and the others won't fit I'm really stuffed.
My main man ( who's an ex-Audi mechanic in whom I have complete confidence ) suggested taking the car to my dealer and trying for a good will repair. However the car is 7-8 months out of warranty now and should I be turned down I then have a marked car on the Audi system which would affect trade in value.
There's no way I'm spending £10k pounds on a new gearbox so it looks like a new car before long. I find it hard to believe that I'm in this situation when the parts to sort the problem would only be £100 tops for the pair.
I've just joined this forum for this post as I know there is a lot of knowledge in places like this and there's always a chance someone might be able to help.
Cheers, Alan
