I have tried to buy fix-a-flat in the UK and having spoken to Shell they do not sell it in the UK.
Is the installation of this gel something a nice garage will undertake for you?
My local dealership charged me to "diagnose" the fault and for one compressor and one air suspension, they wanted £1.5k and then wouldnt guarantee that it would solve my problem. Given my beauty has covered nearly 150k miles, I want to keep it alive but not for more than its worth.
Can anyone recommend another substitute to fix-a-flat. I notice Halfords has similar stuff but they seem more aimed at bicycles and motorbikes and come compressed.

Thank you all so far for at least a glimmer of hope that I can keep my lovely allroad alive ...

 

Hi,
My experience with the fix-a-flat was that it only lasted a couple of months at the most. The pressure in the system is too high. We were able to keep our car going because in level 3 the leak was sealed and it kept from sagging.
I recommend going the Arnott air springs.

 

I suggest using any product similar to Fix A Flat. I happened to have a large container of Slime in my BMW so I used some of that on my allroad front struts. This was about 3 months ago and they are holding up fine. I think how long this works is a matter of how worn your individual struts are and how hard you use the car. I don't expect this to be a permanent solution but it has given me time to wait it out until the suspension replacement kits are closer to perfection. I had no inclination to replace my struts with new ones and have issues with them. ANY product designed to fix a flat tire should work. Only problem with something designed for bikes is there may not be enough product. Check around, you should be able to find some of this stuff.. or don't you guys have cars running around with 4 run flats and no spare, but a bottle of some type of goop and an air compressor?

This is a very quick and simple fix. Just pay attention to basic safety and make sure you bleed off the air before you put yourself at any risk. On my car, I had to take it out on the road to get things moved around enough to get a good seal. They work like new and the new compressor I bought is still sitting unused.

Whatever you do, enjoy. I don't know how many of you run your cars really hard. This car was purchased for my wife so I have only driven it every few months to insure everything seems in good order. We have 62k on it and have had a few problems, but nothing like what I read about. I DO know if I had chipped it, that would have required several other upgrades to cope with the additional boost. Most guys here seem to just chip it and then complain when all the other stuff fails from the increased boost. If this is typical... how can I be surprised at the failures? On the other hand, I TOTALLY agree that these are complex cars with tons of bits to go wrong. But, if that is your main issue, buy an LS series Lexus. That is what my wife drives when her beloved Audi goes poop.

One last comment: CHECK your front cv joint boots! I didn't. Even briefly driving these with the suspension bottom out can cause them to stretch beyond their limits and tear. Replacing the torn boots quickly will save you from having to replace the entire cv joints. Very expensive.

Good luck

JR

 

Hi everybody,
Please help, I'm getting desperate.
Does anyone know how Arnott's compressor fits in when replacing the OEM compressor (original)?
I'm from Europe and I want to order from USA, and I need to know if the compressor from Arnott comes with all the needed parts.
Does anyone experienced the compressor from Arnott. Any good?
An Audi dealer in Europe offered me the compressor for 1700 USD. Too expensive !
Is there any other equivalent compressor on the marcket? Other vendors?
Please let me know for any other cheaper option I have to get a new compressor.
Many thanks.
Nick

 

Hi
I've read on other forums you can get a mercedes air compressor.

http://www.audi-forums.com/audi-allr...ompressor.html

"I decided to buy a replacement compressor for my allroad from Mercedes.
It came from the S Class and was identical to the Audi pump at 1/3 the price.
I know this has been done before but I thought it was worth mentioning again.
All I had to do was swap an air line (about 30 seconds) and cut the MB power plug and solder the Audi one (this took about 10 min including heat shrink over wires)
The brackets and air line fittings were identical and the compressor is working great."

good Luck

 

I converted my car to the coil over conversion kit and have these available for sale. I haven't done research on them to know what the going prices for them are. So make me a good offer and send me some reference links.

 

hi, can you tell me the location of this valve box. Suspect its behind the dash board. Cheers

 

I've owned my car for about 1 year and am growing weary of the suspension issues. Does the conversion to standard coils have any affect on other systems on the car, i.e. AWD system, etc. I'm contemplating a full switch to conventional - how has it worked for you so far?

thanks.

 

The coil conversion is great so that it eliminates the issues of maintenance/repairs/replacement but one thing it takes away from is the way the car handles on uneven and rougher terrain.

In a straight line, on smooth fwy it doensn't matter. I couldn't tell the difference TBH. But when I hit a patch of construction section on the freeway recently, where the road was uneven with cracks and bumps, the car felt unusually springy & bouncy. Not firm and planted. This has to do with rebound compression -- where the shock is extending after it has been compressed. It's too bad these shocks can't be tuned, because it would just be a matter of turning up the rebound compression.

So if you want to rid yourself of the repairs then this is the way to go but knowing you'll be making a trade-off in how the car feels. If the car is just for getting the kids off to school, I'd say go with the CCK, but if you like to keep the car as designed -- then the trade-off is it's expensive. I shuttle my kids to school in the AM but enjoy driving the car the way it felt when I first bought it. So i'm going expensive route. Compared to my mtn bikes, this is pretty cheap actually. I think it's only a hassle if you let it have an affect on you. It's expensive but I guess, just roll with it.

 

I purchased a new allroad 4.2L in 2004. Initially I had some major issues with the car and will not go into all of the details here. In short I found out that the issues were not withb the car but with the crappy Audi dealer that was servicing the allroad and charging me for some of the repairs and services. I eventually took the car to another dealer that kept the car for two weeks, diagnosed all of the problems and repaired them. They then applied all of the Audi service bulletin updates to the car that the previous dealer had neglected to perform and contacted Audi of North America on my behalf concerning this whole situation. Audi NA reimbursed me for all of my expenditures that should have been covered under warranty. I have had absolutely no major issues with my car since. My car now has 98,000 miles and counting. I too have replaced the air springs and shocks with the complete Arnott sports system with no complaints. I have upgraded my interior with RS6 Recarro seats. Had the ECU chipped and the govenor removed. Added a Miltek catback exhaust and am now in the process of installing the complete Audi RS6 Brembo calipers. I wanted to make sure that I used as many Audi OEM parts as possible in the upgrade. None of this has been cheap or quick and I have done all of the work myself which saved a ton in labor cost.

The allroad is a unique vehicle and as such comes with unique challenges and cost. I have found that the vast majority of people that own these types of vehicle never took the time to understand just what they were purchasing and try to cut coners on maintenance. You cannot have a unique vehicle such as the allroad for Honda or Toyota money. Even Ferraris and Bentleys break down and require costly services.

The allroad is actually my wifes car and she and I have absolutely no intention of selling it.

If you are still reading, I should also tell you the I live and work in Europe and this US Spec allroad has been drive like few allroads ever will. It has registered an indicated 165 MPH on the German Autobahn. The larger brakes are not a want, but a necessity.

After nearly 7 years our allroad still draws attention and gets complements.