Marty does have a limited number of his RF filters in stock. This plugs into the receiver and updates a Gen 1 or Gen 2 receiver to Gen 3 (Green dot) spec and is cheaper than most sellers ask for a secondhand genuine Gen 3 receiver. See www.p38webshop.co.uk. The Gen 1 and 2 receivers woke up the BeCM as soon as it received a signal, irrespective of what they signal was from so things like wireless doorbells, weather stations, kids toys, etc would wake it up. The Gen 3 only wakes the BeCM when it has received a valid P38 code and the filter does the same.

I've got a prototype of his original design on my car, and have had for about 6 years, and one of the latest versions on the other car and neither suffers from battery drain. As Marty is now in New Zealand, you're looking at a week to 10 days for one to arrive.

I've also realised why it asked for the EKA when you swapped the receiver. Passive immobilisation will be enabled, you unlocked the car but didn't start it and swapped the receiver. You then put the key in the ignition and the fob sent the unlock code but the receiver didn't detect it, so you needed the EKA.

Easy test to see if passive immobilisation is enabled. Unlock the car but don't start it. Wait a couple of minutes then put the key in the ignition. If the LED on the key flashes when you put it in the ignition, it is enabled and it is sending the code to turn the immobiliser off. If passive is disabled, it won't flash.

1.It sounds like the replacement receiver isn't working. Ordinarily you should be able to swap receivers and they will work and not need the EKA, I've taken the receiver off my car and fitted on a different one to confirm the one on the other car was faulty. One thing does come to mind though, what country market is the car from? European fobs and receivers use 433 MHz, while US and Japanese ones use 315 MHz. So if your car is a Japanese import, then that would explain why it doesn't work.

1. You shouldn't have to but clearing the RF memory may help. Simply swapping the receiver shouldn't cause it to be immobilised. However, if passive immobilisation is enabled in the BeCM (which it is by default), the immobiliser kicks in if the car is unlocked but not started within 30 seconds. What normally happens then is a coil around the ignition barrel causes the fob to transmit an unlock code which turns the immobiliser off. This coil is very brittle and known to fail so you either have to start the car within 30 seconds of unlocking it or press the unlock button on the fob to turn the immobiliser off.

2. If the car has been locked with the fob and unlocked with the key, you will have to enter the EKA. If you subsequently lock and unlock with the key, it will ask for the EKA every time you unlock. If locked with the fob and unlocked with the key and the EKA is then entered with a Nanocom, it will no longer ask for the EKA so can be locked and unlocked with the key without any problems.

Not asking for the code suggests someone has been into the BeCM and disabled the EKA setting. People seem to think that when they see a setting for EKA with the options of Enabled or Disabled, if they disable it then they will never need to enter it which is incorrect. What it does is not ask for it whether it is needed or not and should only be disabled on a car that has never had an EKA programmed from new (only for certain markets, notably the US).

I've not seen one anywhere but hadn't looked previously as I've taken quite a few apart and know how to do it. So I've just done a Google search and found a Youtube video entitled, P38 door latch repair and test from, you guessed it, Rezremaps. What that shows is how he tests the switches and motors and not how he takes it apart and changes the switches when he finds they don't work. Testing as he does is OK up to a point but usually when they start to fail they are intermittent so may appear fine until you fit them only to find the fault has come back. So not a repair at all.

This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0PEU_6J7QE shows how to take the latch apart but it is a passenger latch so only has 2 rather than 3 microswitches and rather than the fault being the standard one of a worn out keyswitch caused by using the key in the door rather than the remote, he had a problem with the CDL switch so he was able to resolder the wire (although quite how a wire encased in epoxy can break I've no idea, I suspect the heat just caused it to start to work temporarily but it is likely that it will fail again after a while).

Although Marty isn't advertising door latches at the moment (in fact, since he managed to break his own website, he isn't advertising anything at the moment) and has also returned to live in New Zealand, he's still about. Last time I spoke to him about latches (and gave him a couple of faulty ones) he said his biggest problem was getting ones to refurbish. He would sell them on exchange basis but found that many people, despite having paid a surcharge, never bothered to send him their old ones. He was working on a 3D printed carrier that would hold 3 off the shelf microswitches and supply that with a link to the correct switches needed and a how to guide on replacing them yourself in the same way as when he supplies a zebra strip for the HEVAC screen repair. Whether he is in a position to supply these or the file so anyone with a 3D printer can produce them, I've no idea but I haven't had a chat with him recently so will give him a call and find out.

As it's been too cold to play outside I've actually had a session on the bench in the warm today. First I replaced bulbs in some dash switch lamps, replaced the feedback pots in a couple of blend motors, then I fixed the flash switch in an indicator/light switch stalk so you can flash the lights when they are on without switching to main beam and then turned my attention to a pair of door latches. Both of these had been taken off cars where the keyswitch didn't operate on a key turn to unlock resulting in the immobiliser kicking in and it not being possible to enter the EKA with the key (as it uses a combination of the CDL and keyswitches being operated in a certain sequence). Before starting I tested them both as in the first video above and both worked perfectly. I've noticed in the past that sometimes the keyswitch will work in warm weather but not in the cold and I've put that down to a combination of wear and a tiny amount of thermal expansion which takes up the wear so they will work when warm. As both of these have been laying on the bench in the house for months, they are nice and warm, so to confirm the theory, they are now outside in the cold and I'll test them again in another couple of days but I'm pretty sure they will fail then. Then I will need to decide which one of the two I fit the replacement microswitch cluster into.....

The Audi A2 uses the same engine and transmission as a VW Polo, so no LSD, just plain old front wheel drive. It's the tyres that make the difference on snow. However, the snow we get occasionally in the UK isn't real snow but wet slush so rain tyres would be almost as good as winter tyres. The problem comes when that turns to ice and you aren't going to get much grip on that unless you use studded tyres. The salt they put on the roads also has an effect. It causes the snow to melt but if there isn't enough, the melted snow then freezes on the road surface. In countries that get a lot of snow, they often don't use salt. They plough the road and then the traffic clears it.

I would think the weight transfer is greater than you suggest. I did police driver training many years ago (the normal blue light training not the full pursuit training unfortunately) and was taught to lift of the throttle as you come into a bend at speed then go back on the throttle. You don't lose any speed but the weight transfer moves the weight further forward over the front wheels to give better grip in the corner.

If going uphill, even with 50/50 weight distribution, the centre of balance will move rearwards so the rear wheels will have a better chance of getting some traction than the fronts. However, as the weight of the vehicle will be trying to push it back, there's a greater chance of it going sideways, whereas if FWD, if a wheel loses traction it will just spin.

Diff locks are over-rated and not needed and as this is primarily a P38 forum, you should be aware of what they can do. What astounded me just over a year ago when I was in Latvia, was just how good the P38 is in snow. Admittedly proper snow, none of this wet, slushy stuff we get here that unnecessarily causes the whole country to grind to a halt because nobody knows how to drive, but around a foot and a half on roads that hadn't been cleared and 2-3 inches of hard packed snow on the roads that had (all they do is run a snowplough down the road so you can see where it is and let the traffic eventually clear it down to tarmac). As mine is pre-99, it only has 2 wheel traction control on the rear (what you call pseudo LSD) but even then I had to try really hard, gearbox in Sport mode and floor the throttle, to get it to kick in. Father in Laws Audi on winter tyres went where you pointed it but could spin a wheel if I tried hard. In both cases, ABS would kick in if I hit the brakes hard but not under normal braking. But, I suspect if I had been on summer tyres, the little Audi would run rings around me.

Big gaps in tread are there to shift water to prevent aquaplaning and a lot of performance tyres have big gaps. It seems counter-intuitive that less rubber on the road will give better grip but it will under anything other than smooth, dry tarmac (when you want slicks) making them better suited to UK weather. Winter tyres have multiple tiny grooves (sipes) so you have more sharp edges to give better grip and are made of a rubber compound that remains flexible at low temperatures. Standard tyres don't really like anything below around 7 degrees C as the rubber compound loses flexibility.

So the number of driven wheels and where on the vehicle they are is less important than the bit that is between the car and the surface, the tyres. In fact, a few years ago I had a set of Goodyear Wranglers on my car and we had the standard UK winter one inch of snow and it slid around all over the place. Fitting All Season tyres then made it quieter in the dry, a lot more stable in the wet and actually went where I pointed it on snow.

Depends if the 2wd version is front or rear wheel drive. I've driven my father in laws FWD Audi A2 on winter tyres in far more snow than we are ever likely to get in the UK and it was reasonable. Not as good as my 4WD Range Rover on All Season (but 3 peaks marked) tyres though.

Just put the space in for you.....

You do seem to be reading it right, There's a splice somewhere between the top switches and the HEVAC so your theory that the wire to the HEVAC has come adrift and is grounded on something would seem to be correct.

It sucks through a hole in the inner wing from above the wheelarch lining.

It's on the entry side so what is sucked in from outside. There's a breather but that goes into the throttle body way after the air filter.

Have you been following a diesel overfuelling on veg oil? My filter doesn't look that bad after 10,000 miles!

It could be either but best to do both while in there. To change an oil pressure switch I found it easier to take the serpentine belt tensioner and it's mounting bracket off (on a GEMS anyway) so I could get in there from the front.

So it's all your fault then?

Thanks, it makes sense that an Antipodean would be the first as Christmas arrived there first. Merry Christmas to all and hopefully all your problems will be little ones.....

After a bit of water......

As Phil says, ignition lock has been pulled out so it can be started with a pair of pliers. EKA entered with the Nanocom (it comes complete with all the handbooks including the service book and the all important security card) and, after syncing the BeCM and ECU, it fired up on a squirt or two of brake cleaner as the fuel tank was completely empty. Bunged half a gallon of petrol in it (that was all we had) and it fired up on that. Engine sounds very nice with no nasty noises, overheating or oil leaks. After letting the EAS compressor run for a few minutes with a door open, the EAS appears to be working perfectly and it shot straight up to the High setting. Seemed a bit reluctant to lower but it probably just needs a bit of use, it has been standing for over 5 years after all. Transfer case would select high and low ratios too, so nothing to worry about there either. Central locking works from the sill locking button on the drivers door so no reason to think it won't work from a key (once you've got one!). Even the drivers heated seat works.....

I'd say it doesn't need the BeCM and ECU changing (there's no need to swap both as the Nanocom can sync a replacement BeCM to an existing ECU), but CRNW can make a key blade to fit the existing locks. OK you wouldn't have a remote but it is a cheap option to be able to lock, unlock and start it. They could also supply a remote but at a greater cost.

The minimum needed is a key, a battery, a lambda sensor (idle sounded like it may have been running on 7 but the Nanocom reported an error on one lambda sensor so I suspect that was the cause), a pair of wiper blades, the rear brake pipe replacing (although probably wise to do the other side too) and a pair of rear tyres and that should be enough to get it through an MoT. For finishing it off, it needs a good clean, a headlining kit from Martrim, a zebra strip in the HEVAC (no idea if there are any problems there as more segments don't work than do). One of the blend motors didn't seem to want to do anything but what would you expect on a car that has been standing that long? They may well start to work with a bit of use too.

It is a very good basis for a really nice car with a relatively minor bit of work. We both decided if we had a nice, warm, workshop or it was mid summer, in a week we could get it almost perfect, but as neither of us has a nice, warm, workshop (and it isn't the middle of summer), it would be good to see it go to someone who does have who can return it to its former glory and get some use out of it.

No, it's got a lightstone interior and I hate lightstone interiors......

I'm going over at the weekend to see if we can get it started. Might even chuck a bucket or two of water over it too.....

There's a couple of places near me where there's a lot of RF and I normally just hold the fob next to the rear window where the receiver lives and it works. By cutting the aerial wire, it makes the receiver 'deaf' so it is less susceptible to lots of other RF but it needs a stronger signal from the fob for it to be able to pick up the signal. Moving it closer is usually enough to make it work.

Odd that entering the EKA with the Nanocom didn't work but I've no idea what has been done to the ECU to make it free run. Ordinarily, when you unlock the car, it turns off the immobiliser and the BeCM sends a code to the ECU to enable it. If you lock with the fob and unlock with the key, it lets you into the car but doesn't turn the immobiliser off hence the need to enter the EKA either by turning the key in the lock or with the Nanocom. That tells the BeCM you are the owner and aren't trying to steal the car so it sends the code to the ECU.

If you need to go and park in the same place in future, make sure it isn't telling you the ignition key is in and lock with the key. Then you can unlock with the key and it will all work.

A few pics to help with the decision.....

I've not seen it in the flesh yet, and I'm told the interior has a bit of mildew (but so did the red one I bought a while ago and that cleaned up nicely) but at least it isn't a Classic or Discovery so shouldn't be rotten.