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...now everyone is here and paying attention, are any of you mechanically/electronically minded? Just two months ago I had the car serviced, and a week later something went badly wrong. Eventually a stealer fixed it at an hourly rate of £75 which with parts resulted in a bill of £3604.43 for three new timing chains and a clutch, plus two weeks off t' road (thats how they spaek in S Yorks) Anyway, I was less than pleased when two weeks ago the emissions warning light came on. This time it was an "exhaust camshaft activating solenoid" otherwise described as £150.97! Now I swear occasionally, but rather a lot when within 10 miles and 24 hours the headlamp range control defect warning light comes on. Am I overly suspicious to think that perhaps the bumper has to come off to get at an exhaust camshaft activating solenoid and that this might affect the headlamp range control, or is my car trying to transmogrify into a TVR? (my mate has one he never cleans - they do it very couple of weeks for him when its in for repairs) Any advice or wisdom anyone has to share before before I phone my rapidly-becoming-least-favourite-service-department would be greatly appreciated. Or am I just a bit unlucky?

I live in South Yorkshire and take my RS'es to Unit 20. I've had my fair share of stealers and avoid them like the plague.

I live in South Yorkshire and take my RS'es to Unit 20. I've had my fair share of stealers and avoid them like the plague.

I also live in Sheffield, I have been told that millbrook cars are supposed to be very helpful.
I have not tried them yet, but my mate swears by them and he owns a masarati.
He has had his fair share of stealer bills.

Was yours looked after by Gilders ? I dont rate them at all.

Just to give more on that.

They had my car for 10 days to replace Aux Rads, the car came back with a bonnet gap of 12mm on left and 14mm on right ( looks a right mess ).

Browsing the forum this morning for DIY guide to put it right.

Boggle73 wrote:They had my car for 10 days to replace Aux Rads, the car came back with a bonnet gap of 12mm on left and 14mm on right ( looks a right mess )..

Don't ever take it there again...

Hi there , the variable valve timing solenoids are at the rear of the engine on the near the bulkhead , where the timing chains, there are 4 , one for each cam ,i hav'nt seen exactly where they are but i would suspect that the exhaust solenoids will be on the outside towards the chassis legs next to the exhaust cams as the inlet ones are on the top just in the middle of the V of the engine near the inlet cams (hope that makes sense i have no pics of them ) , it could be that during removal/assembly maybe a connector got damaged or wire trapped or maybe the connector is loose , worth a look before you go to any expense
cheers
Roy

That's great and possibly useful if it explains why the solenoid went after the engine was removed to do the chains. It also sounds like getting at the solenoid might have disturbed the headlamp leveling gear? or is my mental map upside down. It smells fishy that nothing should go wrong (almost) for five years and then I'm back three times in eight weeks. Has anyone any pictures? or has this been covered in another discussion?

I dont think that the solenoid will have anything to do with the headlamp problem directly as the solenoids are at the rear of the engine and the engine loom will be mostly seperate from the main loom , but the bumper will probably have been off for access to radiators/AC power steering etc for engine removal , i would think the engine is dropped straight down rather than pulled out the front but i,m not sure so again you may have a connection or wiring issue due to disturbing things while dismantling and assembly, being a mechanic for 20 years plus unfortunately it can and does happen, modern cars are just a nightmare to work on and sometimes things can get missed or damaged easily , especialy things like wiring , i,m not defending the dealer but i would of course expect them to put it right FOC if it turns out it was something that happened during that job

Boggle73 wrote:
They had my car for 10 days to replace Aux Rads, the car came back with a bonnet gap of 12mm on left and 14mm on right ( looks a right mess ).

its not just Audi dealers guilty of this