BigDog

Last weekend I changed the heater matrix on my 2003 Alhambra TDI 115. It had the misting up windows, intermittent wet dog / sweet smell. I followed the Elsawin instructions to some extent to remove the dashboard and air distributor "sub assembly", on the engine side of the bulk head the plastic shelf, wiper mechanism, cabin filter and housing, horn and sound insulation all had to come out. Note that the 2 screws holding the front of the "sub assembly" to the bulkhead are accessed from the engine side. This was a good opportunity to rid the area of leaves in various states of decay. I decide to try and NOT move the heater / aircon unit back, as I thought I could separate the moulded pipes section from the new matrix in at its bolted flange and fit the new parts. I cut through the 2 plastic pipes of the old heater matrix with a junior hacksaw and lifted it out. I had to trim about 1mm of plastic from the front lip of the matrix aperture on the heater/aircon unit to get the new heater matrix to fit. - I think others doing this job have found the same. It was necessary to trim about 5mm from the bottom of the larger bulkhead flange on the new pipes, and a little from both sides of the aperture on the heater/aircon unit where the pipes pass through it and then through the bulkhead. This allowed the pipes to be tilted in and swung in through the bulkhead and mated to the new matrix. The most difficult part was figuring out how to do the bolts up which hold the pipes to the new matrix, but there are 2 U shape cutouts in the larger flange on the bulkhead end to allow a long screwdriver to access these - it's like they always intended you to fit it this way. The screwdriver has to be pushed through the foam seal but this is not a problem - the foam is effectively self-healing. The nut on the underside needs to be held in with Bluetac or similar, and I used an electrical probe to hold the lower screw whilst I started it in the nut thread. It all went back together really nicely. A few pics are attached. Matt

Jon, I see you're in South East - I might be interested if you are fairly local to me. Where are you located - is it on eBay? Thanks, Matt

Thanks Traff, I've got a tub of that Castrol black moly grease (years old now), will give it a go and report back. Maybe I should do the NS inner one and then if it works, the OS ones too for good measure. Matt

Hello all, I've got a vibration when accelerating above 50mph. It is very related to load, meaning you get the vibration immediately you press the accelerator and the more you press it the worse it gets. It feels like a driveshaft inner NS CV joint worn out - I've experienced similar on a Honda Prelude. But, having just been under it and taken the under-tray off to check for CV joint or intermediate shaft bearing play, I can't feel any except for maybe 1mm longitudinally ( in line with the shaft, same both sides). The car has had a Motormax conversion for the OS driveshaft a few years ago now and that is still good. I wondered if it could be some sort of misfire but that would surely be related to engine speed and load so happen around town too - but it never happens around town. If it was a wheel bearing or wheel out of balance I think that wouldn't be load-related. I've experienced roll-restrictor problems and pretty sure its not that as no clonks. Car has done 189k miles now. Is there anything else to check before giving it to my friendly mechanic to try and sort without spending too much? Many thanks in advance. Matt

Thanks all, Hertfordshire Constabulary have confirmed the same reason these get stolen. Another car was done in a nearby road the same night. Lady from forensics also confirms the new cat will likely have a lower precious metal content and be less likely to get pinched. Probably this will add up to >

Got phone call tonight from the Mrs on her way home from work tonight - car making loud whistling from underneath. Fearing the worst (turbo?), I got her to nurse it the few miles home and I took it for a spin around the block - it was clear that the exhaust was blowing as soon as I started it. Looking underneath, the catalytic converter is MISSING. I thought initially - oh well, 11 year old car with 180,000 on the clock, fair enough. That thought didn't last long, upon slightly closer inspection some TOE RAG has STOLEN IT by cutting the pipes before and after with what I imagine were some sort of massive metal shears. Call me a nutter if you want, but neither end shows any sign of rusting through and falling apart like previous times I've had exhausts fall off. Both ends have been squeezed to around half the diameter, please see attached photos. So, now I need a new cat and the exhaust sections either side - basically everything from the turbo to the back box. I guess I should let the police and insurance know, and I've not costed all the the bits yet. The odd thing is that a new cat is only

Get some proper penetrating oil ideally containing graphite (e.g.Plus Gas as Seatkid says). But I would want to try and blow out any crap with compressed air (especially grit) that is sitting around the plug first. That way the crap doesn't end up inside your cyclinders when it washes down with penetrating oil. When a plug first moves, stop and tighten it a little then loosen/tighten/ loosen in little steps. There will probably be some hard carbon deposits on the first threads and these need to be gently broken up otherwise if you just carry on loosening in one go then there is a likelyhood of the plug becoming difficult to turn again and damaging the thread in the head on the way out. Be sure to use a good quality plug socket and breaker bar, and two hands so the socket stays straight. Remember the plugs make a high pressure gas-tight seal to the cylinder head. There is no chance of penetrating oil getting down into the threads until the seal lifts a little. I would be inclined to: 1) Use an air line to blow the crap away from each plug 2) Apply penetrating oil around each plug 3) "Crack" each plug (meaning get it to JUST moves) and work it in tiny little steps of a few degrees until you have loosened 1/4 turn or so. 4) Leave the penetrating oil to do its job a few hours, longer if you can. 5) Apply more penetrating oil and carry on loosening and tightening in little steps. 6) If a plug becomes harder to loosen, then stop and tighten it again, apply more oil and try loosening / tightening again in steps. If a thread is damaged then it may be possible to get it fitted with a Helicoil insert rather then a new head. Don't get your HT leads confused - number then with Tippex or similar. I used to use copper grease on spark plug threads to try and prevent this problem from recurring but I think winding the plugs in and out every 5000 miles is the best way. Matt

I ran out of time for further exploration and put a new glow plug in ( cut wires too short on the good old one DOH!) put it all back together after filling the tank. It seems to be working fine after initial smoke and I've driven it to Austria with no hitches except the door mirror glass loosening and nearly falling off... Fixed that with Superglue gel but got gaffer tape and cable ties in case it gives way... And some strange whirring noises like wheel bearings that came and went... and one limp mode. Now I'm getting off topic.

Tested the glowplug and it gets yellow-hot within 10 seconds. So it's fine? I'll heed your advice and fill her up before re-testing. Thanks again. Matt

Like I said up the page, I scanned originally with VAG-COM and got 01409 35-00 "multiple flame-out" code just the once (I can't recall the exact wording but it definately had the word multiple in there). Allegedly the right and wrong parts will arrive tomorrow. I will try the battery test, thanks, it's easy to do since I didn't refit the glowplug (I cut the wires). Will let you know results. Could these glow-plugs fail to a higher resistance rather than open circuit, which reduces the temperature below the diesel ignition point, resulting in "smoke without fire" if you get my meaning? I have seen somewhere, talk of a heater glowplug being "past its best" which implies this increased resistance. The other issue I should really tackle is the thicker red wire insulation has split at the external multi-plug on the heater half and water has started to get inside to the copper conductors, nasty green oxide is visible. The wire is still connected and has not overheated, so this is a side issue, not the cause (!). Ideally I would like to pull out the contact, solder a fresh bit of wire on and make good. Is there a way to release the connector contact without mangling, sometimes you can release these pins using a jewellers screwdriver to press a leaf spring on the contact but not having seen one apart it will be trial and error unless someone has done it already. Its the male half (heater side) I need to tackle. Matt

Thanks. Do you think the old plug is actually knackered? I had thought it probably was, because to my mind if the heater is full of diesel or condensation (like mine was)then it seemed unlikely to be a problem with not enough fuel (i.e. dodgy heater fuel pump or pick-up blockage). The car nearly always gets driven until the low fuel warning comes on and it has never done the flameout thing or much smoke before, but fuel pumps wear out and pick-ups block. I've emailed the place I've ordered the wrong plug off to see if they have the right one in stock and put most of it back together so it can be driven until the right part arrives. All the best, Matt

Thanks for the responses Chris and Xavier. The fuel gauge is at about 1/4. I did my pump brushes 13 months ago and its defo still going strong - I tend to be paranoid about listening for it after I switch off. I got all the screws out OK. The long one was the worst. Having revealed the insides the connections to the glowplug are spot-welded, covered by a bit of heatshrink tubing. I will need to crimp some ring-contacts onto the wires for the new glowplug. This was a bit of a surprise and I am slightly worried whether the new glowplug is going to fit when it arrives (Beru GH001). I removed the "manifold" which holds the glowplug and gauze after unscrewing the sensor below it. I think the gauze looks OK, there is no carbonisation on it and it is not distorted. I have taken a bunch of photos but upload doesn't seem to be working (they are all <1.3MB) Matt

(NB: I have only had time to read about half of the 28 pages of this thread! Many thanks to all who have posted their experience and pics. Apologies if the questions have already been answered.) Looks like I need to replace the glowplug. I've got the 01409 35-00 multiple flameout code and LOTS of grey smoke. I also have a fairly loud gurgling coming from the heater, easily heard inside the car, and a clear liquid dribbling from the heater exhaust for a few minutes after heater start. I've got a glowplug on order and have dropped the unit down off the car - it's a D5WZ. There was quite a bit of this liquid that landed on me during dropping the heater onto the ground. Question: what is this liquid? I don't think its coolant (not pink enough) and its not diesel (not smelly enough). I am guessing it is condensation from not really getting hot enough. Anyone agree / disagree? Anyone had the gurgling? It sounds like the blower has the liquid in it. I have to drive the car to Austria in 6 days, so paying express delivery for the glowplug. Not tried taking the screws out yet, that will be later after it stops hosing it down and hailing intermittently. Thanks in advance, Matt

You may need to change a fuse but beyond that nothing else should have been damaged. I assume you've read the FAQ. All the best, Matt

From my experience it takes less time to make some to fit by filing down easily available slightly larger ones, compared to spending ages online in a possibly fruitless attempt to find ones that are just right. Check the FAQ for how to do it. Mines been running fine now for 6m after doing the job. Matt

Glad its fixed. Not sure why the sensors were reversed - misprint I guess. Yes the wiring digrams should be there - look for the lightning flash symbol. Often you have to put the full model details into the vehicle selection window, i.e. choose an exact model after clicking the MORE button and maybe select the gearbox code to get a fuller selection of diagrams. You need to expand the hierarchy like a windows folder structure. Wiring diagrams are spread-out through many files - they are piece-meal. They are quite logical once you get your head round them. Sometimes the wires are not drawn but you get a jump-to x-coordinate number in a box. This used where the wires straddle several pages. The x-coordinate number corresponds to the numbers along the bottom of the page. The wire colour abbreviations are for the colours in german. Matt

My 2003 is the same.

Matmcn, any joy with the new sensor?

You can get copies of ElsaWin (VW Audi Seat Skoda group workshop software) on DVD from EBay. Disclaimer: This is just a statement of fact - I am not endorsing any of the alternatives for content or legitimacy.

I reckon the speedo gets its signal from a sensor G22 (on the gearbox) but 00281 is detecting no signal from the gearbox road speed sensor G68 (also on the gearbox). i.e. 2 different sensors so the fact your speedo is working doesn't mean the 00281 fault code is wrong. Does the fault code come back after you clear it? See the attached 6 files from ElsaWin all for '99 Sharan 2.8L auto syncro (4WD). The G68 sensor should read 800 to 900 ohms (for some reason in the test table pdf the Ohm sign has come out as a curly w (lower case greek Omega rather than upper case)). Seatkid what do you reckon? Good luck. Matt Sharan 2.8 4wd gb elecs.pdf Sharan 2.8 4wd gb fault table.pdf test table.pdf Sharan 99 dash panel insert.pdf wiring - auto gb.pdf wiring - 4WD auto.pdf

DOH! Forgot to add diagram and double DOH! I see you have a photo you mentioned already... sorry. You have to press the More Options button (below right of the text window when writing a post) to reveal the attachment controls. AUYANU cooling.pdf

Here's the parts diagram including AUY from ETKA. I'm not sure it's much use for you though. The thermostat is at the other end of the engine on the front basically in the side in the side of the water pump (which is driven off the cambelt). Can you post a photo? Good luck, Matt

I am no expert but diesels need good compression to fire at all in my experience. If you had only one cylinder with low compression then you would hear it during cranking as the starter would have a much easier time turning the engine with that cylinder on its compression stroke, so it would get briefly faster, and also it would probably have major misfire symptoms. Seems unlikely you would have 2 things causing a smokescreen. My guess is the original cause is still there. But also, I wonder how far you've driven it. Maybe the cat has a load of oil still in it just needs to burn off, briefly disconnecting the exhaust upstream of the cat would also tell one way or the other. The turbo definately needs a continuous oil feed, even a brief interruption could write it off. If you end up taking the turbo off there must be a way to pressure test it on the bench from the oil feed, but I've not done it. Maybe someone else has? Matt

Due to the differential, if the offside is free to rotate, this perfectly normal. Get someone else to turn the nearside wheel whilst you watch the output stub on the offside. I think you will see it rotating in the opposite direction. If you have the usual stub shaft spline issue you will spot it. I fitted a Motormax one about 10 months ago after my MOT man spotted the wear, and it has been fine. All the best, Matt

Sounds like a leak or restriction on the vacuum side of the servo, maybe in the pipe work from the intake manifold? Matt