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Hello
Lost engine power and electrics driving home at the weekend. Luckily there was a lay-by close by and managed to coast safely.

Very thorough RAC mechanic traced the problem to a connection and fuse under the header tank. Took a while, had to take out the lower dashboard in both footwells in order to trace the power. Common fault apparently as the drainage holes just below the header tank get blocked and the connections above rust away.

I reckon the best way to avoid this is to periodically remove the header tank, clear the area of debris and liberally squirt some WD-40 in there.

This has probably come up in a previous thread but it's something to look out for.

Coolant header tank?

Yeh, there's a pair of really heavy amperage fuses behind it.

Yep, I've endured this issue. Audi stealer diagnosed a failed earth strap, quoted £1300+ to fix. I decided to say 'fcuk you' and I had a new alternator put in by my local indy at a fraction of the cost. The issue remained so I called in a very good auto sparky, he traced the problem to the fuse (250A?) under the scuttle. Sorted and still at a fraction of the cost of the stealer... without replacing the earth strap.

Dealt with the same thing, good for everyone to take a look in there.