Looking for a Haynes substitute

[djgilson]

Hello. I'm a senior citizen, name of David. Never joined a Forum before, never owned an Audi before. More used to BMWs of late.

But now we have bought a 54 A3 2.0TDi S-Line DSG for my wife, I'm feeling lost without a Haynes Manual to consult for general maintenance and repairs. The Forum looks impressive, and I'm hoping it might be a useful substitute for the Haynes Manual? - until they bring one out for the A3, anyway!

But I would hope to contribute as well as take. The first thing I did with the A3 was fit the Audi rear parking sensors, and I now feel I could write a book (well, a short essay) on the experience. I would be happy to describe the pros and cons of the Audi sensors, and write a How To..... Guide on the installation, (including rear bumper removal).

Would this be of interest? (I don't want to clutter up the Forum with unwanted material).

[Ben]

Welcome to the forum. Have a browse, you'll see what is ok.

[Eshrules]

Hello. I'm a senior citizen, name of David. Never joined a Forum before, never owned an Audi before. More used to BMWs of late.

But now we have bought a 54 A3 2.0TDi S-Line DSG for my wife, I'm feeling lost without a Haynes Manual to consult for general maintenance and repairs. The Forum looks impressive, and I'm hoping it might be a useful substitute for the Haynes Manual? - until they bring one out for the A3, anyway!

But I would hope to contribute as well as take. The first thing I did with the A3 was fit the Audi rear parking sensors, and I now feel I could write a book (well, a short essay) on the experience. I would be happy to describe the pros and cons of the Audi sensors, and write a How To..... Guide on the installation, (including rear bumper removal).

Would this be of interest? (I don't want to clutter up the Forum with unwanted material).

welcome to the forum!

How to's/guides and Faq's are always welcome on here, it will be nice to see another member taking time out to produce these, anything felt inappropriate the mods will sort, but other than that, knock yourself out :beerchug:

[Sam]

Welcome aboard.


Would this be of interest? (I don't want to clutter up the Forum with unwanted material).

Every extra piece of information is useful. The only unwanted material on this forum is spam, and that is dealt with very quickly.

If there's no Haynes manual for the car you have then you'll be helping a lot of people out.

I look forward to your guides.

Thanks for choosing our forum to make your internet debut :)

[djgilson]

Many thanks for your words of encouragement. More interest from ordinary members would have been even better, but I'm pressing on with the How To.....Guide anyway. Should be ready to post soon.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii187/djjgilson/A3SensorsInstalled017.jpg
Meanwhile, this is just a trial to see how photobucket.com works.

[Col]

Being cheeky (but in the nicest way of course)......

Looks like your Mrs really does need them judging by the dink in the bumper !

:p

[Col]

As for a Haynes substitute, there would be two main options;

Go here for the VAG groups own manuals click the link.

https://erwin.audi.com/erwin/showHome.do;jsessionid=2EFBCC0CF0509FD67D2D67CBF5D 71F4C.ASTPVWE1

You basically select, pay and then download which modules you need.

The other option is to obtain a Bentley manual (clicky)

http://www.bentleypublishers.com/audi


The erwin route can work out very expensive and can be a right old fiddle, if you can get a Bentley manual, they are costly (about £60) and the drawback is that it would be for a LHD being as they are an American company but you would get more than enough information.

My advise is to get the Bentley.

[Ben]

I am an ordinary member - we all are.;)

If you need any help or advice with the how to or to remove that bumper then check out the how to guide i wrote here (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=13686)

feel free to ask, you seem to have the hang of photobucket

Good work:biggthump

[Col]

I am an ordinary member - we all are.;)

If you need any help or advice with the how to or to remove that bumper then check out the how to guide i wrote here (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=13686)

feel free to ask, you seem to have the hang of photobucket

Good work:biggthump

Nope, he is right.

All the replies above are from moderators except mine.

[Sam]

I'm ordinary too, I just have an extra menu on my forum.

I take your point, though I remain interested.

[djgilson]

Many thanks again to you all.

I just knew the dink wouldn't escape comment. But please believe it was done by the previous owner. That's my story anyway.

Many thanks for the info on manuals, BigCol. I agree that Erwin is much too expensive for non-professionals. Now I know what Bentley manuals are, (should have realised they are not about Bentley cars - silly me).

It turns out that Bentley for the A3 doesn't cover diesels at all. (Presumably not sold in the US, given how much gas you get for a dollar over there). But it does cover the DSG gearbox.

I have invested in a copy of the Haynes manual for the Golf Mk5, which uses the same 2.0TDi engine and DSG box as the A3. But sadly it doesn't even mention the DSG box, (only the torque-converter auto), though it does cover the 2.0TDi engine.

So it looks like Haynes for the engine and Bentley for the gearbox. Think I will hold pursuing the Bentley while I decide how relevant the Haynes is to other topics on the A3. Could be a new thread under the A3 heading, perhaps.

Thanks, golfmk5gttdi, for the link. I've admired your excellent guide, and only hope mine turns out that well.

Re "ordinary members", what I was hoping for was people saying "Gosh, yes, I really need a Guide like that". Perhaps they need persuading that they need it.

David G