tim-spam

This type of combined clutch release bearing / slave cylinder is now very common and, to be fair, usually very reliable. But, yes, it is a little long-winded to replace when the time comes. When the clutch needs to be replaced, always insist that the release bearing / slave cylinder is also replaced at the same time.

Not a very good idea.

Black smoke = excessive fuel to air ratio - could be caused by turbo failure, but unlikely as ECU would reduce fuelling to suit the reduced air intake. White smoke with 'parafin' type smell = unburnt fuel. White smoke with no unusual smell = cylinder head gasket leaking water into combustion chamber. Blue smoke = burning oil.

Better still - buy your oil in France. Castrol TXT 505.01 is sold at Norauto for less than

Haynes?? They do one for the Mk 1.

The oil separator / filter in the CCV system may be getting a little sludged up - this can result in intermittant oil consumption problems. If the velocity of the blow-by gases in the CCV system becomes high due to partial blockage, the oil separation becomes less effective, and more oil is carried over into the induction system and then burnt by the engine.

Good decision.

If it's a leak, you will have a very oily engine bay indeed, especially the engine undertray, and there will be oil dripping under the car. In terms of actual engine oil consumption, this tends to be higher when driving at sustained high engine speed and / or load. Oil consumption also tends to be higher with cheaper quality oils (even if they are to 505.01) - the so called 'full synthetics' tend to be consumed at a lower rate as they stay in grade far longer than semi-synthetics or mineral oils. If you are referring to the 'round cylindrical thing' in front of the engine, and it has a black plastic cap on top, that's the oil filter, and should never leak unless it's been damaged or left very loose.

If the input shaft bearing is completely U/S, there will be considerable noise when driving, and this noise will be proportional to the engine speed. If it's just rattling at idle when in neutral, I wouldn't worry too much - there is, after all, a fair bit of torsional vibration on a diesel, and yours has covered a fair mileage. There is an outside chance that the vibration damper, which is part of the crank pulley which drives the alternator belt, is not doing its job properly - it's worth a look anyway. The other slight possiblilty is the clutch pressure plate itself - if the release mechanism has loosened over time, this may rattle, and when pressed by the cluch release bearing, the rattle would stop. To test this, try pressing the clutch lightly (but without disengaging it), and if the noise disappears, this is the most likely culprit.

Are you after the 'faster' sound, appearance, of an improvement in performance. If it's the latter, it won't work - it may sound faster, but it won't be.

That sounds like the gearbox input shaft. It could also conceivably be the clutch itself or the dual mass flywheel. It it's not causing too much of a problem, and the car drives well, I would tend to leave it to see if it gets much worse.

This sounds more like an input shaft bearing. If it was the clutch release bearing, I would expect the noise to get worse when you depress the clutch pedal. As it is, when the clutch is engaged, the input shaft is turning, but when you depress the clutch pedal, the drive to the input shaft is disengaged, and it stops turning. By the way, what sort of noise is it?

That's all very well, but the the VR6 is supposed to have traction control and / or ESP (at least on the Ghia / later versions), so winter mode or 2nd gear start should be completely irrelevant. The best thing to do is to get it fixed, assuming, of course, it has traction control and / or ESP. If it doesn't, just learn to use less pressure on the accelerator.

Any reputable oil recommended in your owner's handbook should be OK. Many owners use Castrol Magnatec and seem happy enough.

I would say you're completely on track.

I would agree that it's probably best left alone - what's the oil consumption like? If it's around 2000 miles per litre or better, you do not have a problem. The manufacturer actually states that up to 1000 miles per litre is OK.

A PD engine in reasonable condition should only smoke briefly when the accelerator is first floored - otherwise, there should be very little visible smoke, as the stage 3 emission compliant engines are much cleaner than older technology diesels.

I knew we'd agree in the end.

On earlier Mk 1 Alhambras, the tyre pressures recommended by the car manufacturer were considerably lower (from memory, around 35psi) than for the later cars on reinforced tyres. You are quite correct about the maximum rated pressure of the tyres however, which is roughly in proportion to their load rating for a given size. As for the Mk 2 Alhambra, the 215/55R16 sized tyre is specified as having to be 'rf', whereas the smaller sizes are specified as having to be 'C' tyres (ie: commercial), with a load index of 97/98. As regards the MOT, the load index is what they (should) check (but I wonder how many do - unless they sell tyres, of course!), but all I was trying to point out is that the car manufacturer (VW / Seat) recommends reinforced tyres with a minimum load index of 95 (or 'C' rated tyres for the smaller sizes), and should you be unfortunate to have an accident, the insurance company would expect the car manufacturer's requirements to be met.

This is actually not so. 'Reinforced' or 'Extra Load' refers to sidewall reinforcement, and NOT load capacity. As a side effect, RF or XL tyres have a load index usually (but not always) 4 points higher than their directly equivalent standard tyre. On the Galaxy, both conditions need to be met - LI 95+ and reinforced / extra load. However, for the 215/55x16 size, this is all fairly academic, as I have never seen a non-reinforced tyre with a load index of 95 or higher or a reinforced tyre with a load index of less than 95, but this is not true for some other sizes. There are plenty of reinforced tyres with load indexes well under 95 - for example, 185/65R14 90H XL, 185/65R15 92H RF - and standard tyres with load indexes well over 95. This would be relevant for those wishing to fit larger tyres to their Galaxy. For example, a 245/45R17 95Y would meet the load index requirement, but does not have sidewall reinforcement. So the better choice would be a 245/45R17 99Y, as this meets both the LI requirement and has the recommended sidewall reinforcement. Higher tyre pressures are recommended for RF or XL tyres - if you check the recommended pressures for standard tyres, these are much lower, and far lower in proportion to their load rating. The reason is to do with the reinforced sidewall being less flexible, and therefore generating more heat at lower pressures - the load capacity of a reinforced tyre is actually slightly lower than that of a standard tyre at the recommended pressure for a standard tyre. This is important, as I have come across some tyre dealers whose charts show much lower (and incorrect) tyre pressures for the Galaxy - these may be from earlier models with smaller tyres and have not been updated.

Ah, but this was for the pre-2000 Sharan (and very good for such) - the later ones are much better, but were never tested by NCAP.

Reinforced tyres have reinforced sidewalls and generally run at higher pressures than standard tyres. They are normally recommended for heavier vehicles such as light commercials and MPV's. 'Reinforced' or 'Extra Load' does not imply a particular load rating, but, for a given type of tyre, the reinforced version normally has a load index 4 points higher than the non-reinforced version. On my car, the recommended tyre is a reinforced tyre with a load index of at least 95 - a tyre with a load index of more than 95 alone is not recommended, and neither is a reinforced tyre with a load index of less than 95 (although I don't think these are available in the 215/55R16 size anyway).

No, it isn't.

Halfords sell Castrol Edge 5W40 to 505.01 in 1 litre and 4 litre bottles (around

If you're reasonably handy, try DIY - not that difficult, and you can be sure it's done right.