Live-streaming my MOT this morning...

O

OldSchool

A2OC Donor
Guy says they will try and reset the air bag light

I’m sat in waiting room for 10 minutes and woman comes in with dipstick and says there is no oil in engine, can they add some to do the tests? Yes please do.

Hang on, I had oil changed here previously... did they forget to put the plug on bottom of oil pan back on? What’s going on here? Engine doesn’t smoke or any of those things... car drives fine...

Dipstick fail? Mechanic fail? Is my engine burning oil without typical symptoms ?
 
I'd guess the end has broken off the dipstick so it's too short to reach the oil now. Common issue.

DON'T let them overfill it!
 
Proghound said:
I'd guess the end has broken off the dipstick so it's too short to reach the oil now. Common issue.

DON'T let them overfill it!
Click to expand...

I was thinking this... but she brought the dipstick in to waiting room and it had the end tip that is plastic on it so it is whole?
 
Just spoke to another mechanic that came into reception and he said he noticed the tip was broken off so it must have some oil and that the woman would have just added a litre first and then Checked level
 
On the flat end where it breaks, there is a sort of hatched bit which is the permissible max-min range. If you still have any of that left, at least you can fill it to max. If not, chances are it's overfilled. If there is now oil as far up as or above the start of the rounded bit where it attaches to the flexible wire shaft, I'd have them suck some out through the dipstick hole with a vacuum pump. Keep checking the level every so often, then stop pumping as soon as the oil doesn't get onto what's left of the end anymore. A new dipstick from Audi is not expensive.
 
Ok,

I need

1. Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint £5 or so

2. Shock absorber offside front - serious fluid leak £80 maybe

3. Registration plate lamp bulb ( I can sort this)

4. Parking brake needs adjustment £££???

5. Air bag light - find issue and fix/replace etc £?£

—————-

Advisories:

Coil spring corroded offside rear - keep eye on it

Brake disc worn but not seriously weakened front

Front bumper damaged ( replacing this )

Rear exhaust heat shield getting loose
 
Glad you managed to get the bumper fit(-ish) for the MOT. Sorry to see that it wasn't the only thing though.

There's nothing in that result that in itself should put the car at end-of-life. That said, the offside front strut is the harder of the two to work on because the brake servo (and, on early diesels, the Webasto pre-heater) is in the way. You should also replace shock absorbers in pairs. ARB drop links are a common failure, again I'd fit a new pair, and if you use anything less than decent branded heavy duty ones (e.g. Meyle HD) be prepared to do them again in 1-2 years. Other than that, an auto-electrican should easily trace the airbag fault if it's a connection, and the handbrake is commonly a bit fickle but should just be labour. How much have you been quoted?

Just a note on the number plate lamps, you may well have to silicone in the lenses back in after changing the bulbs - the screws rust and break off leaving the end in the holder. Although the parts from Audi are not expensive, replacing the holders is a lot more of a faff than you'd want to imagine, so consider fitting LED bulbs.
 
Oh yes - I just had the tailgate apart to replace the number plate lenses with new units......

Not difficult but a little time consuming and you have to take a leap of faith that you are not going to break plastic fixings as you lever everything apart.

Great design Audi!
 
Also - for info - if you needed one or the other handbrake cables to solve your handbrake issue - I found Crewe Audi efficient and reasonably cheap for an OE part. Hopefully it will just be adjustment or new shoes required (which cost peanuts).
 
Would second the comment above about Meyle HD drop links - £25 / pair off eBay.

Others are available for a lot less - but 'you gets what you pays for...……….'
 
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