Ivor_E_Tower

Did they change the mass air flow sensor (MAF?) and if so, how much was the new one?? The MAF seems to be a particular source of all sorts of grief on the VW 1.9 litre diesel engine! ..oh, and glad you got your problem sorted. Now you can enjoy the full pleasures of diesel motoring.

Noisy motor for auxilliary heater? Noisy electric coolant pump? Where is it coming from - under bonnet, or under floor in middle of car?

A bit of a puzzle, then. I have same problem of full rh lock when reversing from my drive. As far as I'm aware, Gal wears its tyres out fairly evenly. How many miles had the fronts done?

Changing gearbox oil should not have any effect on selecting reverse. Does the linkage need adjusting? Do you get "grating" noises when selecting reverse, or is it simply a problem with moving the gear lever?

No - they vary - over the years there seem to be random changes as to which wiper blade rests on top. Current production has the passenger's wiper on top for RHD cars whereas my 2000MY has driver's side on top. But this has not always been the case. Also I notice that the current wiper blades are different- a sort of flat top (aero spoiler built-in???)

Going round too many roundabouts, or "crabbing"? Did you have a full geometry check - front, back and front-to-rear alignment? ...or was the "offending" tyre afflicted by a slow puncture so it was underinflated much of the time?

Looking at the new VW Golf, it seems that VW are now going for two ugly circles in their rear light clusters :-((

Best seller does not mean that the car is any good - distorted by fleet sales. For example, Peugeot 206 is reputed to be the top selling car bought with "private purchase" money (not that this means it's any good either!).

Dave - don't have experience of the 130 but: torque figures are identical, and at identical rpm. 130 is obviously more powerful and uses slightly less fuel according to the official figures. Some vibration issues have been reported with the 130 engine - I think SA Intruder knows about these. 130 is a different engine to 115, not just an ECU upgrade. It uses different injectors and the "top end" (head etc) parts are different.

Torque convertor problem? Have you checked your transmission oil level when hot and when cold?

Surely inlet manifold un-gumming should not be a routine job for most of us? In practice, how often is it really necessary to do it, and under what driving conditions will it occur (eg only short stop-start journeys of under 2 miles??)

This was the link posted on this forum: http://www.autoscoop.topcities.com/autofor...opic.php?t=2588 Hope you like it! Ivor

....by opening the doors for them and using my fingers as door protectors. I have tried the plastic strip thingys you could get a few years back, and they caused far more problems than they solved! Scratched the paint themselves and trapped dirt between them and the doors, it was a continual pain so just got rid of them in the end. Things are not helped by the current trend for the so-called rubbing strips on rear doors to finish short of the edge of the door, so even against a tall vertical wall, the first part of the door to make contact is painted. This could be one reason that some of us would like sliding rear doors (!)

Don't know - I didn't go to Frankfurt, just saw some pictures on the web. Some links were pasted elsewhere on this site. ISTR there was talk of chrome door-handle pulls and possibly a chrome "embellisher" around the rear number plate.

...drier should be replaced every 3 to 4 years... This is interesting; I have previously read something to this effect but when I have asked at garage or A/C specialists they say that it's not necessary. What exactly is the drier, and does it not "recover" in normal use so that it does not need replacing?

err, I thought this was a forum not a chat room too....

Thanks for the feed-back. The chromed-up one has been spotted at the Frankfurt motor show so it's good to find out the UK sale date is December. There are at least 2 of us likely to head for the Parts Department to get a chrome grille for our existing models!

Which blades do you have fitted? Original ones, flat-type with integral spoiler or the "perforated" ones? (...or aftermarket replacements)? No squeaks from mine - original Ford MY2000 ones, or Bosch replacements

Maybe it has something to do with the water/coolant temperature rather than the ambient temp?

That looks a pretty good price - do you know if it was reduced as they were doing the service anyway, or is it the same price irrespective of whether or not they are doing any other work on the car? What I'd like to see is the cars designed like the BTCC touring cars - complete front part of car including bumper, grille, lights etc comes off as one assembly giving instant access to all major items, then engine/gearbox also separates from bodywork in just a few minutes after undoing a handfull of bolts.

Barney's idea is actually quite old and unfortunately european law does not allow this type of warning at present. I think that some american vehicles offer this system, but only on cars registered in USA.

Another possibility is a leak from the base of the front screen, if the bonding wasn't done correctly - for instance if you've had a new screen fitted. This could be tested by pouring a bucket or two of water over the base of the screen.

Quite bizarely, my aux heater cut in this afternoon (ambient air temp on display was 12 deg C) on way to garden centre. Didn't cut in for return journey. Very odd...

Looks like some of my earlier replies regarding Leyland/Rover got censored..... I wonder how much vehicle reliability is affected by the owner/driver performing basic checks eg of oil level? I know of far too many company car drivers who never open the bonnet, so if their oil level falls too far, they blow the engine. You should see some of the statistics from some of the big fleet leasing companies. It's got so bad that some of them (most of them?) now include specific clauses in their leasing deals that if failure occurs because of driver failing to perform such checks, then the person/company running the car is liable for full cost of repairs.

I have posted a separate thread on this topic: "Block exemption". Ivor.