tim-spam

Does anyone know which way the variable vane turbos work? Is maximum boost achieved with vacuum applied to the diaphragm, or without? Put another way, would loss of vacuum cause low boost or over-boost? Thanks. Tim

I have one, and the protection is definitely in the lead.

I think my Alhambra TDI (115) may be suffering from MAF problems. The symptoms are as follows: When accelerating from around 1500 rpm, the turbo cuts in and the car accelerates pretty well until around 2000 rpm when it feels as if I have lifted the accelerator. In the lower gears, this is not so noticeable as the car accelerates through this fairly easily, but in 4th, 5th and 6th it is much more noticeable. If I release the accelerator pedal and then slowly re-apply it, the car accelerates fairly well so long as the pedal is moving, but when it reaches the floor acceleration tails right off again. This behaviour is worse in warm weather - for example, this morning, it wasn't too bad - although it seems to be getting steadily worse from being just noticeable on a hot day a few weeks ago to now being noticeable all the time and pretty poor on a hot day. I tried unplugging the MAF and the performance was much worse, so it obviously hasn't failed completely, and there is no evidence of any resetting when the ignition is switch off. What do others think? Many thanks for a great forum. Tim

Is it possible to convert the standard H7 dipped beams for use in Europe without using the stick-on rubbish? I can guess the answer......., but some years ago, I had a VW Beetle with Cibie headlight units, and all you had to do was remove the bulbs, rotate slightly and re-insert and they dipped perfectly to the right.

You need to remove the whole scuttle extension, as if you are changing the pollen filter - it's only held by 3 M6 bolts and is easy to remove. Removing just the rubber seal (I've never tried - does it come off?) will not give enough clearance.

Now my warranty's expired (nearly), I am doing all of my own servicing. Up until I serviced it (at 60,000 miles), the oil consumption was around 1/2 litre per 1500 - 2000 miles. Since I serviced it using Castrol TXT 505.01 (fully synthetic, bought in France), the oil level has not fallen at all in 1200 miles. It says in the handbook that using a fully synthetic oil reduces oil consumption, and this appears to be true, although I would have thought that the VAG PD oil used during the warranty period at

Even the VR6 can only muster 270 Nm (I think at around 3000rpm).

I presume that competence rules out most main agents.

I was simply adding my advice to this thread that the correct tool should be used to prevent damage to the filter cap - you will have noticed that my car has the same engine as Jonathan's (who started this topic). Incidentally, I have heard that the 36mm central 'nut' can be used on the latest engines - try asking Sykes Pickavant or Snap-on for their advise. Using a strap or chain would be more than a little risky.

And the 110 bhp engine (pre-facelift) does not require a new cambelt until 60,000 miles. Tim

Halfords sell the 76mm 14 flute filter socket (3/8" drive) for around

You really are selling the car because you found the tail light bulb difficult to replace????!!!!

If the undertray is made from GRP, a repair with fibreglass should be very effective. Perhaps if you bonded in some large flat washers at the attachment points it would make a stronger job. As regards the price, it does seem a bit steep, but it is a very bulky item to ship and store, so I guess that may have something to do with it. Tim

I have a manual Alhambra TDI (115 PS), and it's absolutely brilliant. I must say that I have never heard of anyone not buying a certain car ever again because he found changing a bulb difficult (which actually isn't), so don't be put off. The worst thing about these cars is the dealers, who are generally crap, but as you're a mechanic by trade, that's the worst feature gone. All the best with your purchase! Tim

I agree with the comments on the manual and dealers - both were very unhelpful (no surprise there!) and should have been better. But in general, these cars are fairly easy to work on (for a modern car that is), and much better than most. It's just that I have not come across having to remove 2 screws to change a bulb and being overcharged for tyres as a reason to sell a car before. As regards things likely to go wrong, you would be very unlucky to experience all of the problems mentioned by Andrew T. For example, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the scuttle drain design - it's just that the roof / windscreen has a much larger surface area than on smaller cars (allowing more water and contamination to flow into the scuttle area) and poor maintenance could result in the flooding problem. The scuttle area must be cleaned every time the pollen filter is changed, but I bet the dealers don't bother - hence the problem. By the way, later cars do not have an ECU under the seat. As regards the spare wheel carrier (as fitted also to Transits and some VW vans), it can be operated without removing all luggage, and if it is operated properly, should not fail - however, when the average 'professional' spanner monkey 'guns' it up ....... Anyway, all cars have some weaknesses (even the Japanese), and these cars are no exception, but there are many that cover very high mileages without serious problems.

For heavens sake - yes there is a black bar and you do have to remove it (2 philips screws - hardly rocket science). Took me 2 minutes! I remember my first car (a VW Beetle) and you had to remove one screw and the headlight unit to change a headlight bulb and 2 screws to remove the rear lense to change a tail / brake light bulb. On an old Mini, it was 3 scews (yes 3!!!) to remove the old Lucas sealed beam unit. I really don't know how people managed!

Tried it today, and seems to have fixed itself!

The basic items to be done / checked are all listed in the service record that comes with the car. In terms of how to do the various things, I use the Ford Galaxy TIS CD and a workshop manual for the VW Golf IV. This forum is also a very good source of info. - eg: Seatkid's pollen filter changing instructions. I hope this helps. Tim

Hi there, I was wondering whether anyone has experience a problem with their door mirror motors. Yesterday, I folded the mirrors in when parking to avoid them being knocked, and everything sounded normal. But, when folding them out again, the nearside mirror motor was very noisy. I tried the mirrors again today several times, and the result is the same - fine folding in, but the nearside motor very noisy folding out again. Perhaps something has come loose, allowing the motor to move. The positioning of the mirror is fine, and everything else works - it's just the noise when folding the mirror out. Any ideas? Thanks, Tim

Well, I completed my first major 20,000 mile inspection service at the weekend with no problems. The only thing I need to buy now is a lead and copy of VAGCOM so that I can download and fix any errors - for now though, the car appears to be running absolutely fine. The lubrication part of the service was a doddle - how can the dealers justify over

As the warranty is about to expire, I will be doing all my own servicing from now on, as, each time my car visits a dealer, at least one thing is done incorrectly. So far, the full dealer service history has resulted in unnecessary aircon parts replacements (before which the system worked, after which it didn't, although after a further visit it did, and happily still does), creased sill, various pipes left unclipped, only 4 out of 6 fasteners on the undertray, both battery cover fasteners missing, etc, etc. A few months ago, I pointed out that the fuel filter was fouling a couple of coolant hoses. Instead of just adjusting the fuel filter a little, they replaced the coolant hoses, but this time they were correctly routed well away form the fuel filter (so far, so good). However, I did not check their work thoroughly enough this time, because on my way home last night, the car suddenly lost power, emitting loads of black smoke and sounding as if the exhaust was blowing. I pulled off the road, and opened the bonnet with the engine still running. What had happened was that the dealer had not correctly re-fitted the charge air hose, and had left the fuel filter bracket detached from the car body. The fuel filter had been resting on the charge air hose, which had blown off - hence the total lack of turbo boost, the induction noise and the black smoke. So, out came the toolbox, and all was correctly fitted back together in about 10 minutes and I was on my way again. As I said before, I will not be paying the extortionate

My Alhambra had exactly the same problem, except that it passed its MOT and it was me that noticed. It turned out to be a leaky servo pipe, which was replaced under warranty. Incidently, the engine shut-down was also rough, like earlier diesels. Apparently, there is a throttle butterfly in the intake tract which is vacuum operated for 3 seconds after turning off the key. The idea of this is to give a smoother shut-down, which is apparently good for cambelt life. Anyway, once the servo pipe was replaced, the engine shut-down was also much smoother (more like a petrol engine). Tim

Quote: "Take the tray off yourself before you take the car in?" Then at least you'll know that all 6 fasteners are used - when I remove mine, there were only 4. There is no way that the other 2 would have fallen off by themselves, so you can draw your own conclusions about the standards of service at a main agent! By the way, the handbook recommends dealer servicing as the best way of ensuring that the car remains as designed???!!! Does this mean that the car is designed with the wrong oil, missing fasteners, crushed sills, aircon not working, pollen filter incorrectly seated, scuttle drains blocked, oil overfilled, hose clips missing....... My conclusion is that the ONLY way of guaranteeing a reasonable standard of servicing is to do it myself. Tim

"Dealer used Helix 2 Diesel oil" Does this oil meet the VW 505.01 standard? The oil used in a 115 PD diesel engine MUST meet this standard. Tim

Almost certainly clutch drag (incomplete disengagement). This could be caused by oil, distortion of the clutch components or flywheel (have you overheated the clutch recently?), damaged release mechanism or a clutch hydraulic problem. Tim