tim-spam

I guess yours may be a Mk 1, as the lower dashboard trim on the Mk 2 needs to be unscrewed to remove it. However, now that I've done it once, should I need to do it again, I may try to do it with the lower dash panel in place, although access looks very tight, so this may not be possible.

I didn't think children were allowed to drive.

Having had the brake lights not work once or twice in the last few months, I bought a replacement switch at my local VW agent. The parts man warned me that it is difficult to fit without breaking it, and that their fitters regularly broke them! Also, VW would refuse a refund for a broken switch. Anyway, over the weekend, when towing the trailer, the glowplug warning light started to flash, and the brake lights stopped working - so, replacement time had arrived. I removed the RH lower dashboard trim and started to remove the old switch, but this proved difficult, as it was virtually impossible to turn it in the necessary direction to get the locating tags to line up with the cutouts in the metal bracket - so I pulled hard enough to break off one of the tags (the pointed one). The problem then became obvious - one of the tags is shorter and squared off, and the other is longer with a pointed end. When these are aligned with the appropriate cutouts in the metal bracket, a foul condition between the steering column and the electrical socket part of the switch prevents the switch from being engaged (a LHD car may be OK, and I guess that if the pedal bracket was unbolted and moved over, it would also be OK). The simpler solution is to file the pointed tag to match the shorter one so that the switch can be inserted 180 deg the other way. It is then very simple to turn the switch to its correct position. By the way, with the trim removed, this really is a simple job, with no access problems at all.

At the risk that people will think I'm talking to myself again, I picked up the lead from my local VW agent and fitted it. CD player illumination now works perfectly, and guess what - the illumination is red, despite the fact that it is a VW unit. I recently saw a CD player on ebay advertised as being from a Seat Alhambra, and the red illumination was mentioned as being quite rare - the unit sold for approaching

By twisting the wiper arms so that there is no juddering either up or down - there is a special tool for this, but some rag (to protect the paint on the arms) and a pair of pliers does the job. Before I bought mine, I test drove at least 7, most in the rain, and the wipers were always spot on. The rear wiper you have is clearly not the genuine article. My local VW agent sells the genuine blade for just over a fiver, and this works perfectly. As I said before, crap dealer service is your biggest problem. Take the flywheel / clutch / gearbox problem as an example. If they had correctly diagnosed your problem (not exactly rocket science), got the parts, fitted them correctly and returned the car to you in perfect working order, you would probably have put the initial fault down to 'one of those things that can happen to any machine from time to time', and ended up a reasonably happy owner. As it is, it sounds to me like a catalogue of one incompetent cock-up after another.

Thanks.

Front wipers need adjustment, wrong rear wiper blade fitted - simple. Most of the rest sounds to me like totally crap service and repair work by a crap service department.

All that's normally involved is a spring-loaded disc at the bottom of the thermostat, which seats against the radiator bypass inlet when the thermostat opens. My wife's Mercedes 190D has such an arrangement, and I would guess (although I don't actually know for sure, as I haven't seen it) the VR6 engine would be a very likely candidate due to its compact design, and the need to maximize the heat dissipation capacity in the smallest possible space.

With no thermostat in place, the engine will run cooler, and take longer to warm up, as there will be coolant running through the radiator. That is, until the engine is loaded to the point where maximum cooling capacity is needed - eg: in hot ambient temperatures, pulling hard at low speeds, etc. - then the cooling capacity will be reduced due to the coolant flowing through the bypass. Thermostats which block the bypass when fully open are becoming much more common as engines produce more heat due to ever more stringent emission regulations.

Apparently, I need a CD player illumination harness. I saw one on ebay for

However, speaking as an experienced automotive design engineer, JB was quite right. Yes, you may benefit from a 'cooler' thermostat in southern Spain, and you may benefit from a 'hotter' thermostat in Finland, but the effect is very small on modern engines, as the proportion of heat dissipated from parts other than the cooling system is very small indeed. In addition, modern engines are installed such that induction air is taken from outside of the engine bay, so that underbonnet temperatures have a much smaller effect on engine performance and emissions. Leaving the thermostat out altogether will increase the engine running temperature, as, when the thermostat opens all the way, it blocks off the radiator bypass - without the thermostat, some coolant will always bypass the radiator.

I suppose the oil may have been improved, or Ford may just be taking advantage of the fact that the distinction between mineral / semi-synthetic / synthetic / fully sythetic oils has become somewhat blurred in recent times. The problem is that where there were once 2 distinct types of oil (ie: mineral and synthetic), this has become more of a continuum. Some very highly refined mineral oils can now apparently be referred to as 'synthetic', and in terms of most of their lubricating properties this is probably OK. Where these tend to fall short of 'true' synthetics the most is in their pour points, but in most climates, this is of little consequence. Most synthetic oils are now a blend of these very highly refined mineral base oils, PAO's and esters (in ascending order of cost). For example, this is exactly what the latest Mobil 1 tri-synthetic oil is. So, basically, the cheapest oils will be mineral oils, as the the price rises (and small amounts of sythetic base oils are added) they start to be called semi-synthetics, and at some vaguely defined point at which the base oils are of sufficiently high quality, they start to be called synthetics. Insofar as price relates to cost, this is a reasonably good indication as to the quality of the oil. But, the most important thing for PD engines is to use an oil to VW 505.01.

Where do you get the LED bulbs from, and how much do they cost?

If you had left the car to stand for a few minutes, you would have found the level to be above the bottom mark on the dipstick - otherwise, 1 litre would not have overfilled it. So, it seems as though the level switch, or its wiring, is the problem. You should still drain the sump though.

Are we talking about oil level or oil pressure? If it's the oil pressure warning light, the chances are that the engine's had its day, but, unless the actual oil pump is u/s, I would have expected the oil pressure to have recovered enough to extinguish the warning lamp with a cold engine. In addition, if the oil pressure is that low, I doubt whether you would have been able to drive the car for very long before engine seizure. If it's the oil level warning light, check the oil level using the dipstick. If that measures OK (or too high!), it would suggest that the oil level switch (or its wiring) is suspect - to change the switch will involve dropping the undertray (not difficult, despite what some say) and draining the oil - you should probably do this anyway, as you have overfilled and have used more than 1/2 litre of non-pd oil. I always carry 1 litre of pd oil next to the jack - I have never needed to use it so far, but it's a good idea just in case. By the way, the difference between absolute minimum and maximum on the dipstick is around 1 litre, and the oil level would have to be below the minimum for the warning lamp to show.

Master cylinder is easy to replace, as not a lot has to be taken off to access it so

Depending upon what the brake fault is, this could be connected with the loss of power - perhaps there is a vacuum leak somewhere affecting both the boost control and braking performance. As regards the warranty, you have pointed out the faults within the warranty period, and that is sufficient - your dealer is now legally obliged to fix the faults, however long that takes.

Select top gear, find several strong friends to push it to the top of a steepish hill, get up to some sort of speed and then 'pop' the clutch and, bingo, it should start. A friend of mine did this many years ago with a Beetle he managed to run up the M1 with no oil until it siezed - puzzling really as he had a can of oil in the boot. Anyway, after filling with oil, the car did start and got everyone home, but this was obviously not a long term fix. Seriously though, you're right to fix the problem, as a car with a siezed engine is worth peanuts. It is important to find the cause of the siezure - it may just need a crank regrind and new bearings, although I would always replace the oil pump as well. If the bores have siezed and there is other damage, I would be tempted to go down the secondhand or recon engine route.

Yes, but I could (and would) argue that, with the trailer connected, the normal flash rate tells me that the trailer indicators are working. The only weakness I can see with the system fitted to my car is that there is no warning if one forgets to plug the trailer electrics in. Offset against this however, is that should the trailer electrics be a little less than good, the doubling of the flashing rate would give more encouragement to sort them out.

Although the 2.3 is well down on torque compared with the diesel. I would have thought it would still make a very good towcar - you'll just have to rev it a bit more.

Well, I fitted it last night, and plugged the lead from the CD player into the appropriate socket in the back of the radio cassette unit and it seems to work really well. However, there is no back-illumination around the buttons - is this normal? Or, is there another wire that needs to be connected for this to work? Although, if the back-illumination is blue, it may be better to leave it not working. The 'disc in' warning light is red, which looks quite good with the red illumination on the Seat.

After a little more research, it appears that the requirements state that you need an audible or visible warning of failure of the trailer turn signals, so I guess that the system on my car is acceptable.

The TIS makes no mention of clamping the hose and using the bleed nipple to bleed of the brake fluid when retracting the pistons, although it is good practice.

Replace it. Cheap and easy to do.

I've just acquired a VW single dash-mounted CD player to fit below the Scala unit in my car. The CD player has a single wire coming out of the back with a multi-pin connector at the end. Is it just a case of plugging this into the back of the Scala unit, or are there any other wires to connect? I,ve noticed two other multi-pin sockets in the back of the CD player, one with around 9 pins and the other with 2, but I guess that these may be for connecting other things such as boot mounted CD changers, etc. Also (although it doen't really concern me too much), is there any way of changing the VW blue illumination to the Seat red - I know that some aftermarket systems have this facility.