daran71

thank you -!

Hi - Missed my old galaxy so much i've recently acquired another. Its a '98 1.9tdi - its a bit old and scabby but its running alright for a motor just entering it's 261st thousand mile of service!!!! As it finally seems to have warmed up a bit ive decided to tackle the non working a/c. I have found cracked pipe on the left hand side, sort of under the airbox, but there is another fat pipe from the receiver/drier that seems to go from metal to rubber but this has been snapped off and i cant see where it should go. i could guess but is there a post with photos of the system in situ that i can use as reference? Once im sure its all there i will vac it out and weigh in a charge. Any pics much appreciated!!

Hi Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed my MK1 1998 tdi has been a bit hit or miss with reverse gear. Going in 90 percent of the time but just the odd time having to try a few times to get it in. Then yesterday I was cruising along and moved to 5th gear only for the revs to scream at me. Thinking I had somehow put it in 3rd i tried again with the same outcome. Carried on to my destination about 2 minutes away and went to park to find no reverse gear either!! Did some investigation last night and removed the expansion bottle and the battery and battery tray - also shifted the fuel filter slightly and removed any plastics to get access to the linkage as suggested on other posts!! I can see the ends of the cables attached to the gearbox all are connected ok and if you move the gear stick i can see it moving the selector. So that part appears to be ok. So looking at the cables I will try and describe what I think is the fault. There are two which I will call left and right - I can see them coming out of the bulkhead from I presume the gearstick - this part is covered in what looks like a metallic heat shield - both of these then go through a black plastic bit and then the other side of the black plastic its two chrome little push rod type things that go to the selector bit on the box. The right hand side one had some of the head shield corroded - so i pulled it back to have a closer look - under near it looks like steel strands similar to the protection on steel wired armour electric cable (hopefully some of you will know what i mean) this is then pulled away from the plastic bit and you can see a thinner cable inside that looks similar to a bike brake cable? Im thinking that i shouldn't be able to see this and that the steel strands should be firmly connected to the plastic bit? Im thinking that this has effectively stretched the cable and is not allowing the selector to make 5th and reverse ? So looking through all the threads here - the only reference i can fin to changing the cable is that is "a four hour job" but cant find any descriptions or pictures?? I could buy the cable and get it fitted but im sure a 4 hour job will end up costing at least £100 in labour even in a local place and its another £100 I can ill afford!!!!!

....erm...no... I have exactly the same problem - oil light flicking on while driving - no pattern to it at all - checked the oil - done a flash and fresh oil and filter - still the same - where are the sensors as this will be my next thing to try!!??

Sorry i didnt reply earlier - just seen this post!! I havent got any pics as its a tight squeeze behind the engine but i would reach behind and feel for any loose nots near the exhaust or intake manifold - make sure its been switched off for a while as it gets hot !!! If nothing have a look for black sooty deposits where burnt fuel deposits might be escaping!!

Hi - I am away for the weekend from tomorrow but if you can hang on until Monday I will be happy to take some pics and describe exactly where all the vac hoses run!!

Just an update - problem solved!! After doing some more reading to find out what all the parts at then back of the engine are called I decided to change the exhaust and air intake manifold gaskets. After removing the intake mainfold i checked all the nuts on teh exhaust manifold and found them all to be loose. I tightened them all up and then cleaned out the intake maifold and fitted a new gasket. After re-assembling all the sundry parts that I had to remove to get to it all it is now running very nicely - quieter - just like a normal diesel engine and distinctly more power. I still have the vacuum hoses to change but the difference so far is vast!!!

A quick update - Afer much fussing about i decided to change the gaskets on the exhaust and intake manifolds. I found 2 of the allen key bolts on the intake manifold loose - then every nut on the exhaust manifold was also loose. I nipped the exhaust ones back up after removing the intake manifold and egr. I also cleaned out the manifold before refitting it with a new gasket. To get to everything I removed all the air hoses and the air filter box. Now its all done the car actually sounds like a diesel engine should - no rattle at all!! I have noticed an immediate increase in power too!! I still need to change all the vacuum hoses as they are a bit worse for wear and thats a job for tomorrow, but now I have seen them up close the task is far less daunting!! Thanks for the tips!!! I also sourced a second hand egr pipe (£20) and changed that too - I used a bit of instant gasket on the bottom studs on this though as even though the gasket looked good it was still letting some air escape!!

Hi - My old gal has been giving me a real headache over the last couple of weeks!!! Started off with a noise when accelerating - diagnosed by anyone who heard it as blowing somewhere at or near the manifold. After an initial inspection I found he egr pipe was split in half and replaced it - still not quieter!! SO got it up on ramps yesterday at a well known local exhaust company and they said it looked from what they could see leaking from the manifold. So i tried to feel for leaks and found 2 bolts loose - finger tight only on the manifold. So stripped out all sorts of plasic air pipes to get access and nipped them back up but still getting this horrible rattling noise on acceleration. It idles lovely and doesnt particularly rattle when reving in neutral but when driving it rattles as you accelerate - so im guessing the pressure is higher hence the noise. As it was still noisy i made up a spray bottle of washing up liquid and found some bubbles appear around the gasket at the bottom studs side of the egr pipe - I refitted the egr pipe using instant gasket in addition to the metal gasket and that seems to have sealed it but the noise remains? Now comes the hard bit to explain!!! So please bare with me........ if i am looking at the rocker cover - directly behind is the manifold on top of this is the egr valve - the egr pipe comes out from the right hand side and then drops down to a flange fitting with 2 studs that you put nuts on. Well this bit that it bolts to is either a part of the engine or is another part bolted to the side of the engine - its hard to see - even with a mirror!! Either way I can feel a leak here. Ideally I would like to see an exploded diagram of the whole assembley here or some good photos ? Also i went to the motor factors to get replacement gaskets for the manifold but they said intake or exhaust manifold? I thought manifold with the egr on top was the exhaust manifold but im guessing that is known as the intake manifold? Am i right? thanks for looking at another of my long winded and not very technical questions!!!

Thanks George - thats a much better description than mine!! That gives me all the ammunition I need to get a replacement now!! Thanks again!!

Hi - I have the car mentioned in the title and its had a few problems lately with oil leaks - loss of power - anti roll link bars but i am stradily plodding through them to keep the old "gal" on the road!! 140,000 on the clock now, the last 40,000 put on by me in the last 3 years so im not complaining!! Anyway, took a 300 mile round trip Sunday and on the way home it started to sound like a noisy lawnmower or a tank!! I got it up on ramps today and found a couple of minor holes in the exhaust that can be repaired for now but i also found another pipe completely split in two. My trouble is im not sure what it would be called so i will describe where it is and what it looks like and see if anyone can name this part!! Ok behind the rocker cover sits the turbo - it has the plasyic air hose coming off it which goes down to the intercooler under the radiator - just behind this pipe is a metal pipe between the manifold and the turbo held on by 2 allen key bolts at the turbo and 2 nuts over studs at the manifold. It is covered with a steel mesh and the middle section of it sort of layered? Its about 10 inches in length and has a slight angle and a slight brass tint to it?? Its and airpipe of some sort? I did get one from a local breakers yard today but the pipe the bloke took off in front of me looked similar but he removed it from the left hand side whereas on my car it comes from the right of the turbo - tried to fit it but the angle was wrong for fitting it to mine!! I am going to try and ring eound the local yards tomorrow but I would like to know what its called for 2 reasons - 1. to stop me having to go through this big description again and 2. because if they think i dont know what its called the pound signs will light up and they will try and charge me a fortune!! Also as a last resort i can always go to the dealers!!! Thanks for your help!! Also does anyone know of anywhere where i can buy the braided hose that is used for the vacuum hoses off the roll?? And if so what size diameter should I be asking for??

Thanks very much for the photos - will be having a bash at this over the weekend!!

Hope this works, this is a AHU e Thanks - thats a help - I was hoping someone had a photo too - sort of put it in real terms rather than a diagram!!!

Sorry to jump in and hijack someones tread but i am having very similar problems with my 98 MK1 tdi - I have changed the MAF and T-Map but it hasnt solved the issues! Has anyone a photo of these vac hoses in situ so I can see exactly what parts I need to change!!! Thanks

The other option is to get a big block of wood and wedge it behind the ball joint end end and get someone to apply plenty of pressure while you undo the nut!! It is an option if you cant find or get to the flat!!

If you are only getting 12.6v at this point on the alternator I would suspect that could be at fault - an alternator should be pushing out around 14v!!

If both ports are available then they should both be used - this will allow the fitter to test operating pressures on both the high side and the low side of the system. The system should be filled with nitrogen first to about 300psi to check for leaks - then once this is removed and no leaks are found the system can be vac pumped to ensure than no moisture is in the refrigerant system. The system can then be charged with gaseous refrigerant on the low side - weighed in with scales to the recommended levels. In the absence of a low side port - the high side can be used by dumping the required liquid refrigerant in - basically turning the bottle upside down!!! Putting too much refrigerant in the system, although pointless, should not damage anything as the system will contain a high pressure switch to shut things down if the high side pressure exceeds set parameters. So long as this is working nothing will be damaged.!! All compressors contain oil and this oil is circulated through the system with the refrigerant. It is important to run your a/c regularly to help avoid leaks - this oil keeps the rubber seals lubricated and stops them going brittle and causing leaks. If they dry out for long periods of time the will fail. Home/office a/c systems do not suffer this as the joints are brazed - not so in a car where many of the joints are rubber seals!! Even in the winter you will find that the a/c can clear your misty screen quicker than your heaters!!! So there is a reason to use it all year round!! Another myth is that it kills fuel consumption!! Perhaps at low speeds it may use a bit more than if you just open your windows but anything over 40mph then it is more efficient to use the a/c rather than opening the windows which causes drag (and affects the mpg)!!

A quick update - went to my local breakers today and picked up a used MAF sensor - 2 mins to disconnect it - I just undone the squeeze clip and took the sensor and the top if the air filter box with it (took the air filter too as that looked brand new) - stuck it on the car straight away and so far so good - definitely seems to be giving me a bit more poke - the test will be to see if it loses power up an incline!!

Thought it might help me to rule out other possibilites before buying a new MAF sensor? Local parts place quoted me

Hi all I want to get hold of a VAG-COM lead for my old Gal - want to check MAF meter readings before i buy a new one!! Ive been reading all the various power loss threads and it seems the most likely fault. In fact if I disconnect the plug on the MAF I get pretty much the same performance as when its connected so I believe it is probably knackered!! I also read the connector plugs in underneath the ashtray on a MK1 - Ive pooped the asjtray out and I cant see anything? Do I need to pull out the surrounding console to get to it?? Also has anyone got a lead near Cardiff/Newport - save me buying one??? Thanks for looking?

Hi - What sort of ball park are we in ??? and what part of the country are you?? Thanks

Hi - In the end I couldnt be bothered to hunt through breakers yeards anymore to get the same answer everytime - so I paid someone to supply and fit one for me - cheapest I could find was

Ive seen that one - the only trouble is that its pick up only in Sheffield!! Cost me a fortune i fuel to get it!! lol On a side not the side bars on that one look like they have a lip too - the same as the one i picked up - from what ive looked at on mine that wont fit because of the chassis being in the way - maybe im missing something here??