October 2007
Having seen the Roof box and economy thread it started me thinking what are the relative merits of a roof box verses a trailer ?
I can't imagine there's much in it cost wise between a tow bar and trailer vs various roof bars, attachments and the cost of something like a Thule box.
The roofbox is obviously limited by the (usually) 75kgs roof mounting weight of most cars and the trailer can be used for runs to the tip etc...
I would imagine the trailer would be better for fuel economy trailing in the wake of the car though obviously you are then limited by speed. Read more
I have a 2003 Passat estate diesel.
Every now and then, couple of months, the warning on the dash comes up 'Brake warning stop now' or words to that effect.
It comes up lasts for a minute or so and then goes off until the next time, which could be ages.
It has done this a couple of times, once before I had the brakes renewed, which I presumed was low fluid level as the brakes were very worn, so I topped it up.
It has happened again today but I kniow it isn't the pads as they were replaced along with the discs 3 months ago and the fluid level is fine.
The only other thing I can think it could be is the anti lock brakes.
What are your thoughts please.
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Aim low, expect nothing & dont be disappointed Read more
this happened with my 02 passat it is the brake light switch or one of your bulbs have blown basically you have no brake lights the part is around £5 from vw dealer
Hi
I have a rattle from my engine/gearbox when accelerating and putting the engine under 'strain'. This only lasts for a short time but am not sure if it is a gearbox or engine rattle.
The noise only happens when the car is in gear.
Any ideas?
{Engine details added to header from a forum search of past questions. Please inform if incorrect - DD} Read more
I had the same thing happen with my T reg Focus 1600 (difficult to start / dials sweeping across the instruments on startup) I changed the battery for a new 1 & its been fine ever since.
Incidently I now have a 51 reg Mondeo 1800 Zetec with the same problems as described above (rattling noise, difficult to start sometimes) so I will be changing the battery & hopefully that will cure the starting problem......
Number 1 son has just bought a T4 van (no side windows) which has been part converted into a camper van. Should he insure it as a camper van or as a normal commercial van. He will be using it as a private vehicle no for business. Read more
There are a lot of specialists that advertise in the VW magazines. The more complete the conversion the lower the premium so it might be worth putting some effort in before insuring it if possible.
When people say a car has 'sticking tappets' - what exactly is the problem? How costly is the potential repair?
If they say that it sounds 'tappety' when cold, and clears up when warm - what is the problem? Read more
Thanks for the explanation.
So, they are a symptom of wear and tear?
I do not have a FTO with the aforesaid symptoms. It is just that I have seen these descriptives with cars for sale.
Checked the oil the other day on my W C class diesel and the oil was needing topping up so i put about half a pint in and occasionally the oil high warning light comes on the motorway. the sump can't be much overfull as i put only the half pint in so how sensitive are these pressure sensors? you get so many different answers on how to check diesel oil levels that it is confusing. some say check when cold, others when hot and yet some say run it, let it cool 10 mins then check it. Anyone sure of the best way to check levels? Read more
To the guys who offered advice thanks, I have been checking the oil level after a run when about ten minutes has passed. The warning light is intermittent and only on the motorway. Lowering the speed soon has the light out and there must only be a tiny amount of oil too much in the sump. The car has covered 125,000 miles and i have the oil changed every six months.
{Moves to thread discussing it}
They're out again.Minimal mist this morning-front and rear foglights blazing. Read more
Well its been discussed 8,000,000 times before in here (using the same exaggeration software as some contributors). Thread locked.
Interesting article in Autobild comparing the three main players in the estate market.
Road tax in Germany goes on the particle polution so diesels pay a fortune and small petrols almost nothing.
KOSTEN/GARANTIEN AUDI BMW MERCEDES
Abgasnorm Euro 4 Euro 4 Euro 4
Steuer pro Jahr 417 ? 386 ? 463 ? (road tax)
Typklassen HPF/VK/TK 17/22/28 17/24/25 20/25/24
Werkstattintervalle nach Anzeige nach Anzeige nach Anzeige
Kosten Ölwechsel/Inspektion 200/500 ? 170/600 ? 180/600 ?
Garantie/Gewährleistung Garantie Gewährleistung Garantie
Technik/km-Begrenzung 2 Jahre/ohne 2 Jahre/ohne 2 Jahre/ohne
Garantie gegen Durchrostung 12 Jahre 12 Jahre 30 Jahre
Mobilitätsgarantie unbegrenzt 5 Jahre 30 Jahre
PREISE/AUSSTATTUNG
Modell A6 2.7 TDI Avant 525d Touring E 280 CDI T
Airbags Fahrer/Beif./Seiten vo. S/S/S S/S/S S/S/S
Kopfairbags vorn/hinten S/S S/S S/S
Schiebedach ab 1130 ? 1693 ? 1250 ?
Automatikgetriebe 2200 ? 2154 ? 2249 ?
Anhängevorrichtung 960 ? 821 ? 1023 ?
Metalliclack 820 ? 923 ? 976 ?
Grundpreis 45.500 ?* 45.651 ?** 49.671 ?*
S=Serie, * inkl. Automatik und Luftfederung, ** inkl. Automatik
Read more
> Road tax in Germany goes on the particle polution so diesels pay a fortune and small petrols almost nothing.
Well that's diesel stuffed then in the medium term if that continues.
With the Japanese and Americans mostly refusing to consider diesels, and the German government taxing them out of the market, that's the three main manufacturing bases favouring petrol -- so where is the diesel push coming from? The French? (Like they have a significant share of the most profitable markets).
Hi,
Just found out from the fifth gear website that Jason Plato has been injured in a crash. Details: fifthgear.five.tv:80/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=101&id=2428
Its not on the main BBC news so can't be very serious.
Cheers
Jlo Read more
I have real respect for Jason Plato's ability. He must be one heck of a driver to put it mildly. He came back an injured man and of course he would have been in a lot of pain. He still gave the title a very good shot in the Seat under impossible circumstances.
ABS light staying on, checked the obvious fuses, one under dash the other in engine bay, tried taking the ABS ECU connector block off to see if any corroded terminals, but all ok. I was wondering about doing a continuity test with my multimeter on the individual sensors to each wheel, then realised I could probably do the same thing at the ABS unit connector block end, so I had a look today and the terminals are numbered 1 to 23, numbers 8 and 9 are larger than the other 21 terminals, and it is an ATE unit and the vehicle is late '98 turbo diesel. I obviously need to pair various terminals up and bridge them with the meter, so does anyone know which terminals go to which sensors? Read more
Worth noting that the 48 teeth ABS rings on the CV joint often rust away and fall off. The sensor has nothing to sense and the ABS light comes on.
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Disconnect the drive shaft, drop the ball joint, tap the new ring into place with a bit of Locktite and bob's your father's ...
Easier and cheaper than doing an entire drive shaft.
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Thanks for link Hugo, will investigate
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Phil