Shedlife! Here we go!
Discussion
Sir Fergie said:
Just wondering - what do you guys think of the ride quality of the Mk 1 Audi A4.
I'd say it depends on what you are coming from as to whether its a good ride or not.It is 'ok' in my opinion. If you are tall, the seats aren't terribly comfy as the design is of its time - nowadays seats seem to better cater for tallies. But it isn't bad.
It cruises along the motorway nicely, if a little noisy, but I'd imagine compared to a car of similar age it's probably quite good. Compared to newer cars, it is probably significantly behind the competition (progress for you).
Mercedes/Volvo will undoubtably be a better ride, but I find mine perfectly acceptable if nothing special. But for 300 notes, I can't complain really.
I've bought myself an early A4 off ebay for £281 as a stopgap for a few months as I needed something cheap to get me about for job interviews etc and that was nearly 4 years ago.
Mine came with tax and test and with 53000 on the clock and has never given me a bit of trouble but it did pick up this year an advisory on the Mot for rear pads so I may have to spend £20.
As for the ride I don't find mine to bad but mine has small alloys and A tyre with a big profile so I guess it soaks up a lot of potholes.
I also have an old Audi 80 and by comparison the A4 feels very nimble.
I've found that I will need to replace the drop links soon as I get a clunk over the bigger potholes,
I had a set fitted about 3 years ago but I only bought cheap pattern ones at around £10 each so I guess you only get what you pay for.
I don't know about yourself but I couldn't part with my A4 shed now as I've never known a car so reliable mine is now semi retired and only used from sept through till march.
This year my airbag light decided to stay on due to me leaving the battery off for six months, but give the old girl her due she fired up first time after her hibernation so I bought a £5 vag com lead off eBay and turned it off using my laptop.
I highly recommend getting a lead as it can save you a small fortune.
I bet your glad you didn't get a Mondeo as it would of been a pile of patch welds and rust by now I've yet to see an a4 with any rust, mines still completely rust free at 19 years old and the interior is still as good as new with no wear etc but its a bit dark inside as its a mixture of charcoal grey and black.
I hope your old girl carries on giving you faithful service, I think you were on a winner getting a £300 A4 and I love the colour much more than my typical Audi green mines in.
I find I get 40 mpg out of mine but I guess its because its a 1.6 but I don't have the toys such as climate etc but I find the Audi heater is like a furnace on hot and can't find better for the winter months and it's never used a drop of oil or water, but if you do top up make sure your using G11 or G12 antifreeze.
My power steering fluid was looking a bit dirty so I used a turkey baster to drain mine out last year and renewed it and again its an Audi only fluid which if the wrong fluid is used can damage your steering pump but if you buy CHF 11s its a fraction of the price and the same stuff.
I also had the temp sensor thermostat thing about 3 years ago again it was very cheap to fix I think the coolant sensor was about £8 to renew then I found it was the thermostat but again a very cheap fix.
The only gripe I have with the A4 is the front screen pillars and Its more me than the car as I'm accident prone and because there set and such an angle I still to this day keep hitting my head getting in and out on the front drivers pillar if I'm not careful also I have a habit of leaving the parking lights on.
Another thing I like about old cars is at least you get a decent spare not that horrible foam.
Good luck with the old girl.
Mine came with tax and test and with 53000 on the clock and has never given me a bit of trouble but it did pick up this year an advisory on the Mot for rear pads so I may have to spend £20.
As for the ride I don't find mine to bad but mine has small alloys and A tyre with a big profile so I guess it soaks up a lot of potholes.
I also have an old Audi 80 and by comparison the A4 feels very nimble.
I've found that I will need to replace the drop links soon as I get a clunk over the bigger potholes,
I had a set fitted about 3 years ago but I only bought cheap pattern ones at around £10 each so I guess you only get what you pay for.
I don't know about yourself but I couldn't part with my A4 shed now as I've never known a car so reliable mine is now semi retired and only used from sept through till march.
This year my airbag light decided to stay on due to me leaving the battery off for six months, but give the old girl her due she fired up first time after her hibernation so I bought a £5 vag com lead off eBay and turned it off using my laptop.
I highly recommend getting a lead as it can save you a small fortune.
I bet your glad you didn't get a Mondeo as it would of been a pile of patch welds and rust by now I've yet to see an a4 with any rust, mines still completely rust free at 19 years old and the interior is still as good as new with no wear etc but its a bit dark inside as its a mixture of charcoal grey and black.
I hope your old girl carries on giving you faithful service, I think you were on a winner getting a £300 A4 and I love the colour much more than my typical Audi green mines in.
I find I get 40 mpg out of mine but I guess its because its a 1.6 but I don't have the toys such as climate etc but I find the Audi heater is like a furnace on hot and can't find better for the winter months and it's never used a drop of oil or water, but if you do top up make sure your using G11 or G12 antifreeze.
My power steering fluid was looking a bit dirty so I used a turkey baster to drain mine out last year and renewed it and again its an Audi only fluid which if the wrong fluid is used can damage your steering pump but if you buy CHF 11s its a fraction of the price and the same stuff.
I also had the temp sensor thermostat thing about 3 years ago again it was very cheap to fix I think the coolant sensor was about £8 to renew then I found it was the thermostat but again a very cheap fix.
The only gripe I have with the A4 is the front screen pillars and Its more me than the car as I'm accident prone and because there set and such an angle I still to this day keep hitting my head getting in and out on the front drivers pillar if I'm not careful also I have a habit of leaving the parking lights on.
Another thing I like about old cars is at least you get a decent spare not that horrible foam.
Good luck with the old girl.
Edited by Vince70 on Thursday 31st October 21:45
Vince70 said:
I don't know about yourself but I couldn't part with my A4 shed now as I've never known a car so reliable mine is now semi retired and only used from sept through till march.
I hope your old girl carries on giving you faithful service, I think you were on a winner getting a £300 A4 and I love the colour much more than my typical Audi green mines in.
Good luck with the old girl.
Thanks Vince, yeah have to agree at £300 it did seem good value. I've not used it for about 3 weeks now. I've not used the Porsche either. The Porker was stored in the garage, nice and toasty warm - and the battery was flat. Put it back on life support to keep it happy.I hope your old girl carries on giving you faithful service, I think you were on a winner getting a £300 A4 and I love the colour much more than my typical Audi green mines in.
Good luck with the old girl.
Edited by Vince70 on Thursday 31st October 21:45
Came to do the same with the Audi today, having been stood for so long out in the cold - silly me, no need. Fired up first time without hesitation. It does seem to be built very well, although I'm expecting a lot of age related stuff to come up for repair soon, ball joints etc probably.
I shall report back the progress
I look forward to the next update Paul..
You will be glad you didn't buy a MK3 Mondeo, my work colleague who has a lot of mechanical knowledge bought a 53 reg Diesel a few months ago with 90k on the clock in good nick from a friend.
Everything was fine for 2/3 months then major electrical borkage occurred.
It won't run and so far it's received a cambelt sensor and a crank sensor plus a fuel rail and fuel pressure sensor, he now has got it limping roughly, but he now has to take it to a main dealer who are either going to have to throw a set of coded injectors on it or a new pump the next bill will be around the £1000 mark without the other parts.
So in 3 months its cost him in the region of £1500 in repairs without any service items and he still can't guarantee its going to run.
He's now wishing he bought an old A4.
You will be glad you didn't buy a MK3 Mondeo, my work colleague who has a lot of mechanical knowledge bought a 53 reg Diesel a few months ago with 90k on the clock in good nick from a friend.
Everything was fine for 2/3 months then major electrical borkage occurred.
It won't run and so far it's received a cambelt sensor and a crank sensor plus a fuel rail and fuel pressure sensor, he now has got it limping roughly, but he now has to take it to a main dealer who are either going to have to throw a set of coded injectors on it or a new pump the next bill will be around the £1000 mark without the other parts.
So in 3 months its cost him in the region of £1500 in repairs without any service items and he still can't guarantee its going to run.
He's now wishing he bought an old A4.
Vince70 said:
I look forward to the next update Paul..
You will be glad you didn't buy a MK3 Mondeo, my work colleague who has a lot of mechanical knowledge bought a 53 reg Diesel a few months ago with 90k on the clock in good nick from a friend.
Everything was fine for 2/3 months then major electrical borkage occurred.
It won't run and so far it's received a cambelt sensor and a crank sensor plus a fuel rail and fuel pressure sensor, he now has got it limping roughly, but he now has to take it to a main dealer who are either going to have to throw a set of coded injectors on it or a new pump the next bill will be around the £1000 mark without the other parts.
So in 3 months its cost him in the region of £1500 in repairs without any service items and he still can't guarantee its going to run.
He's now wishing he bought an old A4.
I am pretty sure there is a common problem on these with a split hose, I will check with my brother later as his mates did it and he poured money at it only for the garage to find the hose straight away saying it is a common problem, think it was down near the front drivers wheel and tough to find unless you know.You will be glad you didn't buy a MK3 Mondeo, my work colleague who has a lot of mechanical knowledge bought a 53 reg Diesel a few months ago with 90k on the clock in good nick from a friend.
Everything was fine for 2/3 months then major electrical borkage occurred.
It won't run and so far it's received a cambelt sensor and a crank sensor plus a fuel rail and fuel pressure sensor, he now has got it limping roughly, but he now has to take it to a main dealer who are either going to have to throw a set of coded injectors on it or a new pump the next bill will be around the £1000 mark without the other parts.
So in 3 months its cost him in the region of £1500 in repairs without any service items and he still can't guarantee its going to run.
He's now wishing he bought an old A4.
Bangernomics wise, TDIs are a no-no in my opinion.
curlie467 said:
I am pretty sure there is a common problem on these with a split hose, I will check with my brother later as his mates did it and he poured money at it only for the garage to find the hose straight away saying it is a common problem, think it was down near the front drivers wheel and tough to find unless you know.
Bangernomics wise, TDIs are a no-no in my opinion.
Cheers Curlie I will ask him if he's looked for a split hose. Bangernomics wise, TDIs are a no-no in my opinion.
Just before Christmas, one of our bins (the cardboard recycling one) was damaged as it went into the bin lorry. I called the council who advised a two month turnaround for a new bin. 2 months! Blimey. This meant recycling was on hold as I didn’t fancy cardboard flying everywhere over the next few months as the biggest waste during Christmas is good ol’ boxes of packaging.
So instead, we loaded sacks and dumped them in the Audi for safe keeping. A trip to the tip was in order after Christmas and, following a clearout in the loft since the Christmas decorations were down, we ended up with a fair amount of rubbish – confirmed by the assistant at the Recycling Centre who looked in amazement as I kept returning to the car time after time to empty the load and advised “I thought my car was bad”!
.
Also headed for the electronics landfill in the sky is a now-dead microwave, which melted inside after my two-year old daughter decided to "cook an egg" (it was actually a sock).
That journey aside, the Audi has been parked for about a month but today was an extended 120 mile trip and the odometer is nudging at 170,000 miles. A quick once over with a top up of the oil, water, petrol and tyre air and we were ready to go.
The exhaust makes an annoying rattle when cold and idle, but fine when on the move. That has developed since I had the new one put on, but they did mention one of the brackets is a bit loose so I put it down to that. Job added to the to-do list.
It’s not terribly comfy on these long journeys and I do get backache after more than an hours drive but apart from the seating position the whole interior is really nice. True, it is well aged, but the plastics are nice and the beige interior lifts the mood beyond a standard black affair.
Shed Audi doing good. The council weren't bad either - exceeding their quote time immensely and delivering a new bin last week.
So instead, we loaded sacks and dumped them in the Audi for safe keeping. A trip to the tip was in order after Christmas and, following a clearout in the loft since the Christmas decorations were down, we ended up with a fair amount of rubbish – confirmed by the assistant at the Recycling Centre who looked in amazement as I kept returning to the car time after time to empty the load and advised “I thought my car was bad”!
.Also headed for the electronics landfill in the sky is a now-dead microwave, which melted inside after my two-year old daughter decided to "cook an egg" (it was actually a sock).
That journey aside, the Audi has been parked for about a month but today was an extended 120 mile trip and the odometer is nudging at 170,000 miles. A quick once over with a top up of the oil, water, petrol and tyre air and we were ready to go.
The exhaust makes an annoying rattle when cold and idle, but fine when on the move. That has developed since I had the new one put on, but they did mention one of the brackets is a bit loose so I put it down to that. Job added to the to-do list.
It’s not terribly comfy on these long journeys and I do get backache after more than an hours drive but apart from the seating position the whole interior is really nice. True, it is well aged, but the plastics are nice and the beige interior lifts the mood beyond a standard black affair.
Shed Audi doing good. The council weren't bad either - exceeding their quote time immensely and delivering a new bin last week.
Edited by Paul O on Tuesday 7th January 20:20
Audi Clean!
Well, after a period of prolonged illness which is now subsiding slowly but surely it's got me thinking about germs. Furthermore, perhaps that as the Audi hasn't had a clean inside or outside for about nine months, that maybe I should address that and get rid of anything that might be causing an irritation to the ol' lungs.
As my innards are not fully fixed as yet, I decided to take the car to our local hand car wash. Now, our local guys are particularly brilliant and they are real hard workers. For five Great British Pounds the exterior of the car is worked on thoroughly. Starting with a degrease spray, the car is then jet-washed with a spray that could be used to overturn tanks should it ever be necessary. Once completed, the car is then shampooed top to bottom - including wheels - before being fully rinsed.
Next comes the wheel treatment whilst another guy hand dries the car. Guy number three appears momentarily armed with a window spray gun and all the exterior glass is polished. Once the wheels are done, it’s time to tackle the door shuts, and these are all wiped down whilst back-to-black is simultaneously pasted around the tyre walls. Oh, and you get a free air freshener and once you have collected five of these, you get a free wash too. All for five quid, amazing
Being my Shed, the Audi has never had such glorious treatment. In fact, I time myself when washing the trusty A4 and try to beat the previous effort; we are comfortably into single digits on the minute hand.
But today, its having a pamper session so I handed the guys an extra fiver and they get to work on the interior too. A complete vacuum (including boot) ensues, along with cleaning of all dash plastics and polishing the inside of all the glass.
The Audi did need a good clean to be honest and the difference is remarkable. Although I normally pride myself on having a fully-fledged shed, whose job it is to only be a shed, the exterior orange paintwork hides all manner of road dirt very well ordinarily, but now clean it positively shines. The interior has come up lovely, as best a 171,000 mile workhorse can do at least. The plastics are shiny black once again and there isn't a speck of dust anywhere. It smells lovely too.
Coincidentally I've also found a more comfortable driving position after accidentally adjusting the height mechanism on the seats. We'll see how that fares on the next long distance commute, scheduled for a few weeks’ time.
That aside, nothing major to report. It has hardly been used for about a month now due to this disease that just won’t let go but trusty Audi still starts first time. A small top-up of oil was required and the standard bi-weekly top up of water before taking it out and we are good to go once again.
MOT time soon though (I don’t know when, I must check this!) and I'm expecting a few things might crop up on there. I'll keep you posted.
Well, after a period of prolonged illness which is now subsiding slowly but surely it's got me thinking about germs. Furthermore, perhaps that as the Audi hasn't had a clean inside or outside for about nine months, that maybe I should address that and get rid of anything that might be causing an irritation to the ol' lungs.
As my innards are not fully fixed as yet, I decided to take the car to our local hand car wash. Now, our local guys are particularly brilliant and they are real hard workers. For five Great British Pounds the exterior of the car is worked on thoroughly. Starting with a degrease spray, the car is then jet-washed with a spray that could be used to overturn tanks should it ever be necessary. Once completed, the car is then shampooed top to bottom - including wheels - before being fully rinsed.
Next comes the wheel treatment whilst another guy hand dries the car. Guy number three appears momentarily armed with a window spray gun and all the exterior glass is polished. Once the wheels are done, it’s time to tackle the door shuts, and these are all wiped down whilst back-to-black is simultaneously pasted around the tyre walls. Oh, and you get a free air freshener and once you have collected five of these, you get a free wash too. All for five quid, amazing
Being my Shed, the Audi has never had such glorious treatment. In fact, I time myself when washing the trusty A4 and try to beat the previous effort; we are comfortably into single digits on the minute hand.
But today, its having a pamper session so I handed the guys an extra fiver and they get to work on the interior too. A complete vacuum (including boot) ensues, along with cleaning of all dash plastics and polishing the inside of all the glass.
The Audi did need a good clean to be honest and the difference is remarkable. Although I normally pride myself on having a fully-fledged shed, whose job it is to only be a shed, the exterior orange paintwork hides all manner of road dirt very well ordinarily, but now clean it positively shines. The interior has come up lovely, as best a 171,000 mile workhorse can do at least. The plastics are shiny black once again and there isn't a speck of dust anywhere. It smells lovely too.
Coincidentally I've also found a more comfortable driving position after accidentally adjusting the height mechanism on the seats. We'll see how that fares on the next long distance commute, scheduled for a few weeks’ time.
That aside, nothing major to report. It has hardly been used for about a month now due to this disease that just won’t let go but trusty Audi still starts first time. A small top-up of oil was required and the standard bi-weekly top up of water before taking it out and we are good to go once again.
MOT time soon though (I don’t know when, I must check this!) and I'm expecting a few things might crop up on there. I'll keep you posted.
Edited by Paul O on Monday 7th April 20:36
Unfortunately, this month there are a few problems to report. The first being that I discovered a puncture over the course of the weekend on the front tyre. I pumped this up but then wanted to take it to the garage for the electronic pressure gauge to get it to accurate pressure levels.
I turned the key but the car wouldn't start!
Instead I was greeted with a whirring sound and nothing else. A quick call to my brother in law and he said it would likely be the battery or the starter motor. It turned out not to be the former so he came over and performed a type of bump-start which fix the problem. He said that the motor had probably ceased and the bump start forces the problematic component loose.
Great stuff! So Audi now starting happily again and still looking good from its clean a few weeks ago. But the tyre is flat again.
The next day I decided to head out to the local ATS for a puncture repair but the Audi won't start again! This time it is the battery – perhaps caused in (large) part due to letting my two year old daughter 'play' inside the car whilst I was pumping the tyre up that morning (lights on everywhere, wipers, radio etc). I also discovered that night that the interior lights were permanently on, so that wouldn't have helped matters either.
Battery conditioner plugged in a few hours later all is well again. Except that with one last check on the tyres I noticed they are getting pretty close to legal limit. And THAT then reminded me - finally – that I must check the MOT. The MOT sheet told me that I was well overdue - it ran out a month ago. Doh!!
So my Shedlife A4 will be booked in for its MOT tomorrow (and won't be used until then), whilst I also check for some tyres. I've been told of a part-worn shop that offers tyres at half the price of brand new ones. So the question now is, part-worn’s for £25 each, or brand new cheapo's for £51 each.
The 911 will be pulled from its slumber to take up daily duties whilst I get it all sorted over the next few weeks.
I'll let you know what happens next...!
I turned the key but the car wouldn't start!
Instead I was greeted with a whirring sound and nothing else. A quick call to my brother in law and he said it would likely be the battery or the starter motor. It turned out not to be the former so he came over and performed a type of bump-start which fix the problem. He said that the motor had probably ceased and the bump start forces the problematic component loose.Great stuff! So Audi now starting happily again and still looking good from its clean a few weeks ago. But the tyre is flat again.
The next day I decided to head out to the local ATS for a puncture repair but the Audi won't start again! This time it is the battery – perhaps caused in (large) part due to letting my two year old daughter 'play' inside the car whilst I was pumping the tyre up that morning (lights on everywhere, wipers, radio etc). I also discovered that night that the interior lights were permanently on, so that wouldn't have helped matters either.
Battery conditioner plugged in a few hours later all is well again. Except that with one last check on the tyres I noticed they are getting pretty close to legal limit. And THAT then reminded me - finally – that I must check the MOT. The MOT sheet told me that I was well overdue - it ran out a month ago. Doh!!
So my Shedlife A4 will be booked in for its MOT tomorrow (and won't be used until then), whilst I also check for some tyres. I've been told of a part-worn shop that offers tyres at half the price of brand new ones. So the question now is, part-worn’s for £25 each, or brand new cheapo's for £51 each.
The 911 will be pulled from its slumber to take up daily duties whilst I get it all sorted over the next few weeks.
I'll let you know what happens next...!
Edited by Paul O on Monday 21st April 20:02
Edited by Paul O on Thursday 24th April 16:19
A step closer to roadworthiness.
The MOT was duly booked in, with it's appointment scheduled for Monday 28th April and it's decision time on the tyres. I opted for news tyres rather than part-worns as I could get these quickly, guaranteed, and wouldn’t have to travel very far. Without an MOT and with a puncture I wanted it as local as possible.
Looking online for prices and Black Circles could supply and fit the tyres for £55 per corner. Kwik Fit could also do something similar but these had to be ordered. The only ones they had in stock at the local shop were Michelin’s – too posh for the Audi Shed and wouldn’t have been far off the price of the car by the time we’d done.
A final call, before hitting the button on Black Circles, was to my local MotoSave – handily just down the road from me. To my surprise they were actually cheaper than anyone else at £50.01 per tyre – and they had them in stock!
I checked the rear tyres and they were looking pretty close to wear too and the shop confirmed they were at 3mm. So whilst a bit of life left in them, I thought it was worth my time to just get them all done now and not have to worry.
Tyre pumped up again, only to find the battery was once again flat (playing in the cars again. Doh!) I put the thing on charge for a few hours then drove it down to Motosave.
I’ve now got a set of 4 budget tyres complete with oodles of tread from those rubber specialists Lanvigator!
Cost: £200.02.
MOT Monday, lets hope this doesn’t become a spiralling account of pounds, shilling and pence.
The MOT was duly booked in, with it's appointment scheduled for Monday 28th April and it's decision time on the tyres. I opted for news tyres rather than part-worns as I could get these quickly, guaranteed, and wouldn’t have to travel very far. Without an MOT and with a puncture I wanted it as local as possible.
Looking online for prices and Black Circles could supply and fit the tyres for £55 per corner. Kwik Fit could also do something similar but these had to be ordered. The only ones they had in stock at the local shop were Michelin’s – too posh for the Audi Shed and wouldn’t have been far off the price of the car by the time we’d done.
A final call, before hitting the button on Black Circles, was to my local MotoSave – handily just down the road from me. To my surprise they were actually cheaper than anyone else at £50.01 per tyre – and they had them in stock!
I checked the rear tyres and they were looking pretty close to wear too and the shop confirmed they were at 3mm. So whilst a bit of life left in them, I thought it was worth my time to just get them all done now and not have to worry.
Tyre pumped up again, only to find the battery was once again flat (playing in the cars again. Doh!) I put the thing on charge for a few hours then drove it down to Motosave.
I’ve now got a set of 4 budget tyres complete with oodles of tread from those rubber specialists Lanvigator!
Cost: £200.02.
MOT Monday, lets hope this doesn’t become a spiralling account of pounds, shilling and pence.
Edited by Paul O on Thursday 24th April 16:20
Edited by Paul O on Thursday 24th April 16:24
Hi Paul I hope you get better soon.
I've found that when taking the battery out on the A4 it's best to take out the lower passenger plastic windscreen surround (takes about a minute) as the battery can catch on it when removing, also at the same time the pollen filter is accessible once it's removed.
When I let my battery go flat and reinstalled it fully charged 4 months later it caused the airbag light to stay on for about a minute each time I started the old girl up ( I think it's some kind of electrical error warning) but a code reset with a £5 VAG com lead sorted it out in no time, so you may end up with the airbag light on.
I've found that when taking the battery out on the A4 it's best to take out the lower passenger plastic windscreen surround (takes about a minute) as the battery can catch on it when removing, also at the same time the pollen filter is accessible once it's removed.
When I let my battery go flat and reinstalled it fully charged 4 months later it caused the airbag light to stay on for about a minute each time I started the old girl up ( I think it's some kind of electrical error warning) but a code reset with a £5 VAG com lead sorted it out in no time, so you may end up with the airbag light on.
Problems!
The starter motor had been playing up on the Audi, and after the second time of failure, my brother in law (a mechanic by trade) collected the car to fix the starter motor with my father in law.
My Father in law asked for the MOT test sheet as well and whilst he had the car, he went through everything on there and fixed for me. Most kind! So, the upper and lower suspension arms were fixed too and whilst he had the wheels off checked the brakes. The front ones had about 3 miles left on them before disaster – there was almost nothing left on the brake pads and the front disks were heavily used. So new ones ordered and fitted too.
The starter motor was reconditioned and put back on, all good!
Fixed!
So great news, I picked the car back up yesterday and all was well.
Comparing the prices too, shows just how much DIY can save you….
Quotes from a local garage;
Front disks and Pads supply + fit(£150). Paul O price £32.50 (ebay)
Upper and lower arms supply + fit (£240). Paul O price £54.00 (parts only from local shop)
Total saving: £304
Bargain!!!
Very Not fixed.
Well, it is a bargain until;
Whilst travelling on the motorway at 70mph, the whole car simply shut down. The electrics went off, I lost power. There was nothing at all would work. I coasted to a stop, right next to the SOS box as it happens and put a call in via the Highways Agency to my breakdown provider AutoAid. Both teams were very efficient. I had a call back from AutoAid within 5 minutes confirming they had received the instruction and a truck would be with me within an hour. The Highways Agency called me back 5 minutes after that to check that AutoAid had called me. 5 minutes later and the recovery garage were on the phone to say someone would be with me by 7.15pm (45 minutes away). They arrived just 5 minutes outside of this time, so couldn’t complain really.
It was a lovely evening, so I just sat at the side of the hard shoulder and watched the world go by. It did perhaps highlight that the danger of hard shoulder running though. I believe that only a small percentage of people who stop on the hard shoulder actually need to be there but in this case I was definately one of them. And without any electrics (no brake lights, hazard lights) I had no way to warn anyone. Had this been 10 miles up the road where the hard shoulder would have probably been a live running lane the outcome could have been much worse.
When recovery arrived, he promptly put the car onto the trailer and towed the Audi to the next Services. From here he had a closer look at the problem. Believing it to be battery related, he tested it with a meter which showed the battery had 0.00 Volts in it. One very dead battery. However, the fact there was no warning of this and that it just died suggested a short somewhere.
Trying to revive the battery with a remote power pack let loose large sparks and the odd small fire. That also shorted out the power pack and that was the end of that! He towed the car back to my in-laws house and suggested that we remove the battery and try and charge it to see if there is any life left in it at all. He also noted that the connection points on the battery were still warm – even one hour after I had broken down. He found this unusual and thought something was shorting the battery – possibly the starter motor.
The starter motor, oh dear. My bro-in-law is going to have a look today at his handywork. I don’t know – you can’t get the staff.
The starter motor had been playing up on the Audi, and after the second time of failure, my brother in law (a mechanic by trade) collected the car to fix the starter motor with my father in law.
My Father in law asked for the MOT test sheet as well and whilst he had the car, he went through everything on there and fixed for me. Most kind! So, the upper and lower suspension arms were fixed too and whilst he had the wheels off checked the brakes. The front ones had about 3 miles left on them before disaster – there was almost nothing left on the brake pads and the front disks were heavily used. So new ones ordered and fitted too.
The starter motor was reconditioned and put back on, all good!
Fixed!
So great news, I picked the car back up yesterday and all was well.
Comparing the prices too, shows just how much DIY can save you….
Quotes from a local garage;
Front disks and Pads supply + fit(£150). Paul O price £32.50 (ebay)
Upper and lower arms supply + fit (£240). Paul O price £54.00 (parts only from local shop)
Total saving: £304
Bargain!!!
Very Not fixed.
Well, it is a bargain until;
Whilst travelling on the motorway at 70mph, the whole car simply shut down. The electrics went off, I lost power. There was nothing at all would work. I coasted to a stop, right next to the SOS box as it happens and put a call in via the Highways Agency to my breakdown provider AutoAid. Both teams were very efficient. I had a call back from AutoAid within 5 minutes confirming they had received the instruction and a truck would be with me within an hour. The Highways Agency called me back 5 minutes after that to check that AutoAid had called me. 5 minutes later and the recovery garage were on the phone to say someone would be with me by 7.15pm (45 minutes away). They arrived just 5 minutes outside of this time, so couldn’t complain really.
It was a lovely evening, so I just sat at the side of the hard shoulder and watched the world go by. It did perhaps highlight that the danger of hard shoulder running though. I believe that only a small percentage of people who stop on the hard shoulder actually need to be there but in this case I was definately one of them. And without any electrics (no brake lights, hazard lights) I had no way to warn anyone. Had this been 10 miles up the road where the hard shoulder would have probably been a live running lane the outcome could have been much worse.
When recovery arrived, he promptly put the car onto the trailer and towed the Audi to the next Services. From here he had a closer look at the problem. Believing it to be battery related, he tested it with a meter which showed the battery had 0.00 Volts in it. One very dead battery. However, the fact there was no warning of this and that it just died suggested a short somewhere.
Trying to revive the battery with a remote power pack let loose large sparks and the odd small fire. That also shorted out the power pack and that was the end of that! He towed the car back to my in-laws house and suggested that we remove the battery and try and charge it to see if there is any life left in it at all. He also noted that the connection points on the battery were still warm – even one hour after I had broken down. He found this unusual and thought something was shorting the battery – possibly the starter motor.
The starter motor, oh dear. My bro-in-law is going to have a look today at his handywork. I don’t know – you can’t get the staff.
Edited by Paul O on Thursday 22 May 12:01
Sorry to hear about the breakdown but at least it can be patched up and put back on the road again quite cheaply as secondhand parts are so cheap for an old A4 and are in abundance..
You can get a secondhand one delivered to your door for less than a few pints these days if it can't be fixed.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A4-B5-PASSAT-B5-94-...
I've got to do the rear brakes on my old A4 Paul before the next mot and I might as well put some new disks on the back while I'm at it, can I ask where you bought yours from..
I've already got the pads so it's only a set of rear disks I'm after.
You can get a secondhand one delivered to your door for less than a few pints these days if it can't be fixed.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A4-B5-PASSAT-B5-94-...
I've got to do the rear brakes on my old A4 Paul before the next mot and I might as well put some new disks on the back while I'm at it, can I ask where you bought yours from..
I've already got the pads so it's only a set of rear disks I'm after.
Paul O said:
Problems!... whilst he had the wheels off checked the brakes. The front ones had about 3 miles left on them before disaster there was almost nothing left on the brake pads and the front disks were heavily used. ...
In some respects, this feels like the elephant in the room where 'Shedding' is concerned.While I totally appreciate the financial benefits of running a car on a shoestring budget (not dissimilar to my current situation), it does worry me that so many PHers seem enthused by stripping back maintenance to its absolute barest (i.e. "I'll replace it if it falls off").
The thought of you plodding along at ~70mph behind me on the motorway and suddenly having no brakes when something happens, worries the hell out of me...
Dave200 said:
The thought of you plodding along at ~70mph behind me on the motorway and suddenly having no brakes when something happens, worries the hell out of me...
It wouldn't happen - I've got new brakes. On a serious note, they were heavily worn (accept a little artisctic licence in the previous commentary
) but I was aware of this. Tyres and brakes are not something I care to risk and when I had the exhaust fitted the garage told me the disks were due - as did the MOT a few weeks later, so it was on the to-do list for this month regardless.All was well at the last MOT in 2013 so it's not like I have simply ignored the advice. I'm more concerned about me ploughing into your boot to be honest - those metal objects don't look like bouncy castles from behind.
However, in the interests of shedding, things like minor radiator leaks and using oil, dents and scrapes, they won't be fixed. Caus' its a shed. That is what I consider the essence of shedding.
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