September 2008
The ABS warning light and the one next to it come on sometimes while driving. Switching off the ignition and re-starting usually solves the problem. I've just had the diagnostic test done (£35) and it shows a wheel sensor fault. I've also noticed sometimes the speedo shows a speed when stationary. I'm assuming these faults are connected? can the sensor be cleaned, adjusted or only replaced? if so how easy is it?
I still have my alarm problems too (see other posts earlier) . We have cleared all fault codes and will see when they re-appear and get it re-tested (no extra charge )
I'm still not sure if i should change the powersounder in case it is another fault?
many thanks, Mike Read more
The final task to hopefully make as rust proof as possible the underside of my vehicle :)
What are the best products or substances to apply to rust proof the centre and back box sections of an exhaust please?
These two sections are after the cat converter so don't get as hot.
I collect the sections tomorrow and they are being fitted Monday at Kwick Fit (best price I could get and beat everyone else down from a max quote of £160 (ATS) to £120 with a three year warranty.
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I poured engine oil down the downpipe of a 1953 Rover 75 I owned to stop internal rust.
(about 0.5pint of used engine oil).
I left a trail of blue smoke after 200 metres - and it lasted 3 miles and covered an area 10 metres wide and 5 high.
Not a good idea in towns... that was in darkest rural Scotland and the cows did not complain....
I can fully understand the need for wider bays and dedicated spaces and thank goodness that I am not disabled but why do are they allowed to park for free? Just wondered in the light of this blue badge rumpus. Read more
I think everything that could be said has been said. Unless there's an objection from the OP along with a good reason not to lock - its locked.
Guys, I have an AWX engine on my drive and the serpentine belt is going balistic at tickover. It is shaking the tensioner quite violently. Above tickover it all calms down. On inspection and depressing the metal centre bolt the tensioner moves down at least 3mm before the plastic pulley moves. Is this soft mounted or is the centre bearing wearing through the plastic pulley ? Regards Peter
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Thanks 659 my visitor got home safely and left the car at his local VW garage. Regards Peter
My dad's Octavia 1.6 petrol has developed a fuelling problem (multipoint injection, same motor as Golf, Audi A3, various Seats etc)
About 10 days ago it started intermittently revving up by itself at idle to 4 - 5,000rpm, gearbox in neutral, foot OFF the pedal. It would shut off on the key, and then refuse to restart straight away.
If left for 15 mins or so it will restart and behave normally for a day or so, then repeat the above.
Only does it when warmed up. Runs fine when cold.
No check engine light, and no fault codes on a Skoda dealer's diagnostics nor an independent garage's.
The independent had a look at the throttle body and said there was some muck in there, but not much. He sprayed some cleaner in and wiped some gunge out, but because he couldn't see any fault codes he could only suggest driving it for a bit and see if a code came up.
I'm thinking it's possibly: a) Idle control valve, b) throttle butterfly position sensor, c) MAF d) Lambda sensor or e) a dodgy connector on any of the above :-/
Any other suggestions / recommendations please?
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update -- coolant temp sensor replaced (£28 plus a bit of labour) and car running sweetly.
Thanks again for your help, Screwloose.
Hello,
I've got a T reg SEAT ibiza.
Basically the 'bite' point on the car is fine, but once i start to move off at low speed the car shakes heavily then stalls unless i rev the car A LOT (and constantly) until it's going at 10mph.
The car lunges a lot when i move into second gear also, and it makes that stalling, rumbling noise until i put my foot down. However it's fine once in 3rd/4th gear.
It clearly doesn't like going at low speeds with low revs. I have to put quite a lot of power into it to stop it from stalling.
I thought at first there was a major problem with the clutch, and took it to the garage a week ago and the guy told me it was working fine, so no major clutch replacement needed (phew!).
Although i am getting used to the way the car handles, i am not keen on the fact that the car stalls so easily at low speeds.
Is there anything that could be tweaked to prevent me from having to rev the car so much to stop it from stalling?
P.S. My dad won't drive the car, and he's been driving for 35 years! Read more
Hiya,
I had a misfire problem with my seat about two months ago where the engine ran fine in neutral, third and fourth gears but needed a lot of revs to pull away in first and second gears.
Now we changed the spark plugs (new bosch ones), the oil and oil filter and the engine is fine in neutral, first and second gears now, but it seems the misfire happens in third and fourth gears.
As i change into third the car starts juddering and sounds like it wants to conk out and so i have to put my foot right down on the pedal to keep it going. Once the speed gets up it sounds a bit happier but then if i don't keep my foot on the pedal it loses speed/power very quickly.
This seems to be an unusual problem, but i really would like my car to be happy in all gears with no dodgy misfiring - has anybody got an idea what could be causing the problem?
Ta!
Hannah
I have an oil leak underneath the engine i would say it leaks about half a dozen drops or something like that each night on my drive its in line with the oil sump plug or there abouts its been like it for months but i only noticed when the patch built up on my drive.I took it to my local garage who checked the vehicle over & decided to replace various gaskets as it was not coming from the sump plug nor the filter they didn'nt really know where but assumed the changing of gaskets may solve the problem me not knowing an awful lot about what goes on underneath the bonnet agreed to this.
Garage phoned next day to say the work was done & i could collect the X -trail.... great got vehicle back only to wake up next morning with the usual drops of oil on the drive, took the x-trail back to garage where once again they started searching for leak now i am getting a bit cheesed off now because i paid them to fix a problem & they did not do it but remembering they told me they did not know for sure where the leak was coming from i should not really be surprised anyway they tell me now that i have a turbo problem because they have found some oil seeping from underneath the rubber hose that comes from the turbo to the intercooler they remove rubber pipe and sure enough there is oil in there enough to cover the walls inside they tell me this should not be there and the turbo seals have probably gone.
Now i bought this vehicle 6 months and i new it had a reconditioned turbo fitted and i have in my possesion the 12 month warranty for this part which the dealer gave me so i take the vehicle to the turbo people and explain what has been done and what is happening and what i have been told ( please bear in mind i dont know a lot about vehicles ive only ever driven them like most of us ) ok they remove the hose from the turbo to intercooler & agree that oil is getting inside and it should not be but when they check the breather pipe from engine to cooler pipe they notice oil inside the breather pipe & the cooler pipe that goes down to the turbo & this is where the oil is getting in they tell me there is probably a fault with the breather system inside the engine and i need to get that checked there is no problem with turbo.
Now from having a few spots of oil on my drive and nearly £200 bill from previous garage who did not fix my problem i am getting a little bit worried now ,i asked a local mechanic for his advice and he said i should really take it to an authorised Nissan dealer & they would be able to find out the real cause but when i called the local Nissan they qouted me £110 an hour for diagnostic check & in this case it may well run into hours.
Now i simply cannot afford that but niether can i afford to keep paying tin pot garages money just to tell me what the problem is not !
I am getting a little desperate now as where to turn if i have to go to Nissan then i will, i have been told many things, i could do with some advice , the vehicle runs fine allways has no smoke out the back or anything some people have even said that this oil is not a problem because its not unusual to have a little coming through the breather but surely it should not be there and is this the oil that is leaking down on my drive ,the oil level is ok .can anyone please help
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Check its not leaking out of the intercooler on the top of the engine. Very common fault, the seams leak and the oil that naturally passes through the intake system can drip down the front of the engine. New intercooler I am afraid from Mr Nissault....
Andrew
I need some advice (no flaming please!).
We have decided to replace my wife's car and would like something quick but reasonably economical. Preferably to buy used (up to 1 year old, 10000 miles) costing no more than £14k.
The Skoda Octavia VRS 2.0T FSI would seem to fit the bill. I dont know much about these cars though, so would welcome opinions from those that have owned or driven one.
I understand that this car is basically a Golf GTI, but with more room. Is that correct? Does anyone know what the top gear ratio is (in mph per 1000 rpm).
What does FSI stand for? Is it basically a standard petrol injection system that any garage could work on or would it require specialist repairer? Are they reliable?
Any other thoughts?
I have also considered a Focus ST, but they look a lot more expensive to run. Opinions? Read more
>>You must be rolling in it.
Unfortunately I'm not, so I didn't buy.
The £2k is enough to be the main dealer premium on VAG cars at that price point compared to private sale. The problem was, if the private seller couldn't get interest at £12.5-£13k from both an AutoTrader and eBay ad, chances are I would have similar difficulty selling further down the line.
The one who suffered most was the bloke selling. He started needing to visit central London daily so traded in the Octavia for a diesel MINI because of the proposed CC exemption, which of course never materialised.
I've got a 2002 307 SW HDi110 with 85k miles.
Last week and during heavy rain the engine management light (an orange coloured engine block?) flicked on twice but without any audible signal and without any message on the dashboard, it didn't reappear and I put it down to the rain. This weekend I was out on a sunny day and the same warning light came on with an audible beep and the error message "unblock diesel filter" appeared on the dashboard. We were heading home after a day out and had been cruising at 40 - 50 mph on open country roads. The car drives ok with no loss of power or rev limit. The light is now off again.
The car was bought from pug dealer as an approved used car in November 2007 and the service history is almost complete (the car was a demonstrator then sold and serviced by the dealer then sold to me). From memory the 48K service was done at 52K and a 74K Type C service was done before when I bought it in November 2007. If relevant the car does some long journeys but is mainly used to ferry the family about locally in town, the dashboard computer shows 34mpg average (better than my old volvo which did 22mpg) and average speed of 14mph!
Its booked into the dealer tomorrow as we've a family wedding to travel to this weekend but I'm not sure if the "peugeot gold" warranty covers this type of fault and want to equip myself with a bit of knowledge (if I can) before they plug it into the computer for fault code analysis.
Any help gratefully received.
Thank you in advance, Ben Read more
Ben
Six mins constantly above 50 was the original parameter to commence re-gen. As the ECU is capable of software updates and the times have since been "adjusted" to try and make the ridiculous system work - who knows what the deal is now....
It takes around 20 mins for a full regen cycle. The cap only affects the additive ECU and it knows if you did, or didn't, add fuel at the same time - and the exact amount in litres - as the tank sender is CAN networked.
My wife has a keyless entry Micra.
When you turn it on the "KEY" light goes green if the fob is in the car and off when the engine starts.
It's now taken to flashing for a while after the car has started. I'm guessing the battery in the fob needs replacement. Any thoughts?
If so, do both fobs need to be done at the same time and is it something only the dealer can do?
Thanks. Read more
Thanks. Not 100% convinced but will watch and see what happens.


Oh boy ! the hub for a sensor. What sort of cost and how easy is it to DIY ? Guess it's worth taking a look at it first to see if there are any loose connections etc. It's intermittent so may be a chance.
have to go back monday to have the diagnostic confirm the fault after clearing the old codes.
Still struggling on the power sounder though. If it's not bleeping (prior to going off)does that indicate another fault not the sounder ?
cheers, mike