Ga73

Hi, bought a used tuning box from ebay for my (non pd) Alhambra Tdi which came with no instructions and a long black wire as well as the multi plugs that go between the fuel pump. Its pretty obvious where the multi plug goes but where does the long single black wire go to?? is it to the MAF sensor ? and if so which wire ??? Its just a long single black wire with a spade connector on the end (although previous owner could have fitted another wire onto this to save cutting into it!). Have emailed the previous owner on ebay many times with no reply so hoping someone here has a tuning box fitted and can advise me. Cheers Gary

Thanks for the replies, I will get a code reader but unfortunately only a pc and no laptop so a little complicated, one for the future i guess. Just a thought dont know if this could be a cause, at the bottom of the radiator (offside side) theres a pipe which has a small tear in it, when i ran my finger over it it looked more like gearbox oil than engine oil...the fault only develops in 5th gear...what im thinking is the gearbox oil is slowly leaking (very slowly!!) and has now come to the point its too low causing the car to go into a sort of emergency mode...although i could be talking rubbish does anyone think this is possible?? By the way the gearbox is manual and not automatic. I will be replacing the pipe and checking the oil next weekend as work commitments stop me from doing it sooner, and a final thing, would removing the battery leads reset any fault codes or would they still be stored? Thanks for all your help Gary

Hi, Well back from my hols in yorkshire and the 120 mile drive was a nightmare! the car (alhambra 99 year tdi) was fine for a few minutes then had no acceleration (as if no turbo) and wouldnt go past 60 mph...also no power when going up hills..... Turn the engine off..start it again and hey presto turbo back on for a few minutes then same symptoms again.... does anyone have any idea whats happened.... we did get home eventually but took a long time getting there an back at approx 55 miles an hour !! Many thanks Gary

Hi all, I know there was a similar thread recently but going away on Saturday and need this sorted if i can before then!! My servo assist on the brakes only seems to work okay at high speed/high engine revs, if im doing low speed/low revs the brakes do work but with no servo assistance and stopping is hit and miss (hopefully more miss!!) Ive noticed a "pfffff" noise that seems to be coming from near the brake pedal occasionally, can anyone give me an idea if there is a pipe or anything that could work loose from inside near the footwell ? Dont have any spare cash to put it in a garage so its just me <_< If anyone can help advice wise it would be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED !! Thanks Gary

Hi, When i bought the Alhambra Tdi upon acceleration there was alot of smoke and hesitation so I blocked the EGR valve pipe with a screw and now along with regular doses of millers in the diesel its running much better (averages around 38mpg on the trip computer on A roads...is this pretty good/average/bad??). But I cant help but wonder if it wasnt needed (apart from emissions requirement) then surely it wouldnt be fitted, Ive read it also cools the combustion process, so long term is it better to remove the EGR give it a thorough clean and refit or does it really not make a difference to reliability/mpg. cheers Gary

Wow I was just going to post as my Alhambra TDI has just started doing exactly the same thing and I can also confirm its a little scary when it happens!! Ive no problems having a look round the engine but can someone give me some ideas where the vaccum leaks likely to be, im going on holiday with 3 kids to yorkshire next week and dont fancy having limited braking on some of those hills ! thanks Gary

It is under the radio - but only if you have the top spec 2007 radio fitted. The base 2006 radio has no external amplifier. Hi Seatkid, Thanks for getting back to me, no idea what radio was fitted as it was removed before I bought the car, my model is the 110 SE model so maybe it did have the top spec radio fitted although no sign of an amplifier although in that case also no sign of speaker wires either !! there is the 'active amplifier' style connection that looks like it would fit the cable shown in the link below but if theres no amp then im kinda stuck in the middle http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ISO-Ford-OEM-active-...%3A1%7C294%3A50 Any ideas ??? Thanks Gary

Hi, Ive bought a lead to fit my stereo and it bypasses the factory fitted amplifier on my 1999 year alhambra , had a look in the hayes manual (albeit for a Galaxy) and it says its under the head unit...if it is on an alhambra i cant find it ! ! the wires seem to run from the head unit location going to towards the speedo unit but hard to see much else behind there... Someone must have bypassed this amp before so can anyone give me a clue where it is please!! Thanks Gary

Hi, Not an answer but just restarting the thread as ive got an airlock in my coolant too (the bottom pipe on the rad is always cold) and i just cant seem to purge it. Is there an easy way to bleed the coolant system as if there is i havent found it yet....massaged the bottom and top radiator pipes but seems to no avail...ive got about 3 litres in the system but the haynes manual says approx 9 litres so theres a lot of air in there somewhere!! Any advice as always welcomed. Thanks Gary

Hi, Started using millers in the fuel of my Alhambra 110 tdi and the difference is noticable already so thanks to whoever recommended it on here as the car seems to be picking up much better already ! Being a nosey sort i decided to take off the intercooler elbow pipe near the top of the engine by the EGR and noticed the inside was covered in dirty oil (not caked in it but a good coating). When i bought the car the pipe that goes from the front of the airbox (to the front grille?) was and is missing as i havent found a scrappy with one yet so i guess that will make a difference to the power as its taking in warm under bonnet engine air instead of cold air (right??) So is it worth me cleaning out the intercooler, read a few threads on other sites as cant find reference here that says undo the top pipe and pour paraffin down the pipe and leave for 15-20 minutes...drain then do the same with washing up detergent and boiling water then flush a few times and run the engine without reving for a while to evaporate the water...seems easy enough. And finally do you think once the air box pipe is on and intercooler clean it will make much difference to acceleration etc. Thanks Gary

Hi all, Now the Alhambras up and running, id like to make sure its running its best. I know the EGR valve isnt working as on acceleration theres smoke from the exhaust although ive blocked the pipe with a screw and its now stopped the smoke from the exhaust (used to have a Toyota Estima that also had a blocked EGR valve and the trick worked on that too). It does seem the cars down on power and hesitates (also cant hear the turbo spinning!!) by the way its a T Reg Alhambra Tdi 110. So id like to take off the egr and turbo and give them a good overhauling, well as much as a diy'er can, although i cant find any links or info on how best to remove/overhaul. can anyone give me some info, and whats best to clean them with etc. Thanks Gary

Just to say a big thanks to Mirez, Roy and Gregers for pointing me in the right direction and getting my car back on the road, it turned out to be a siezed a/c compressor pulley, after fitting a compressor from a golf it now starts first time and with no (touch wood!) problems. Thanks again all !! Gary

Thanks, youve all been great help. its V E R Y M U C H A P P R E C I A T E D ! Sounds like a job even i can do !! :lol: Gary

Hi, Further to my last post trying to solve my cars problem im suspecting (thanks to all the help from the forum) that its the air con compressor pump thats seized causing the car to not start (without the fan belt it starts first time, with it its no go!!) Im off work tomorrow so will go to my local scrappy to see if i can get an off the shelf pump but how do i remove the one on the car, i dont have a manual etc so to get access do i need to remove the alternator first? is it just bolts or ??? Or even better, once its off is there a way to "unsieze" the compressor and free the pulley up?? Oh and finally the pipes leading into the compressor are broken (like that when i bought the car) if i put a new compressor on will it just start to seize again without the pipe work/gas ?? Sorry for all the questions but eager to get this boat on the road! thanks Gary

remove the fan belt and spin the pulleys , the only one that wont move is the one on the crank, the rest should be free, if you having the smoke come from the alternator pulley it sounds like you need a new alternator, not just replacing the bearings. Hi, Thanks for your help, ive removed the fan belt, looking down at the engine, the alternator spins freely, the pully directly beneath doesnt (the car has air con, is this for the compressor?) and neither does the one into the block which is the crank pulley, right ? Anyone know if its possible to free the pulley beneath the alternator pulley, if you know what i mean !! Ive got the day off tomorrow and a mate coming round so any help asap would be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED !! Gary

The belt is indeed automatic ternsioning but tensioners are very crude devices, simply a large spring and pulley. When they fail you either get no tension as the spring snaps or a lack of tension as the spring weakens over time. Its therefore highly unlikely to be excess tension on the belt - far more likely worn bearings in the alternator causing it to seize or stick. Thanks for that, being more eager than mechanic (although a friend of mine is a decent mechanic) is it a diy job to replace the bearings in the alternator if need be ? Cheers Gary

Hi all, My car is a 1999 Seat Alhambra 1.9tdi (110 bhp version). Had a problem which i thought was an electrical problem and replaced the starter but cutting a long story very short it wasnt the starter motor it seems the problem is the fan belt has too much tension which stops the engine turning over and causing the alternator to smoke....if you remove the fan belt it starts first time all the time but of course this doesnt really help. Does anyone know how to slacken the tension off the fan belt, ive undone the bolts holding the tensioning bar (2 hex bolts) but it seems to be automatic tensioning so is there no way to adjust this?? Only had the Albhamra for a week and already needs repairing :P

Hi All, Ive now had my Seat Alhambra 110 Tdi for a week and have noticed that when pulling away from the lights in first i need to rev the engine to pull her away otherwise it stalls, I cant judge how effective it is in other gears as ive exchanged it for a 320i BMW which was full of power. It also says in the fuel computer im getting on average 28-29 mpg which is very disapointing.. Can anyone give me some pointers on what to check, clean etc etc to try and get her performing like I was expecting (high 30's mpg and no hesitating.) Many thanks Gary

Hi, This is my first post so please be patient !! :lol: Ive bought a 1999 year Seat Alhambra SE TDI which i was told is the 110 bhp version (my insurance cert also states its 110bhp version after I entered the reg in to insure it) but when I bought the car the owner said the previous owner had fitted a replacement engine from a seat toledo 1.9 tdi which he had bought from ebay and gave me the receipt. What is it that differs from the 90bhp to the 110bhp version (apart from the power difference)? i assume if the engine was fitted it was either the whole engine or just the block, is the difference in the electronics or the turbo or is it the engine itself....??? it would be nice to know which version ive got ! Cheers Gary