Vince

I found some infomation by searching with Google... It says to take the air inlet hose off and get in the chamber with a wire brush and carb cleaner, is this right? Thanks, Vince.

Ok, looked in TIS and discovered this is on the head at the back, can you explain what is involved in cleaning it please? Vince.

Thanks for the answer, sounds much cheaper than the dealers, the only thing I need a little more on is where the throttle body is! I did search but didn't find anything. Regards, Vince.

Our 2.8 auto is low in power and spluttering like crazy. Have just read the fault codes and get 00533... 00533 - Idle Speed Regulation: Adaptation Limit (Add) Exceeded and 00668 00668 - Supply Voltage Terminal 30: Signal Outside Specifications 668 might be because I tried the battery off reset, but I could do with some help with the Speed Regulation fault. Is there some likely explaination or should I book it into a garage :-( Vince.

Hi Dave, I am interested if you still have it. Vince.

VAG to reset the service light, No. Hold down the trip counter and turn on the ignition. Hold trip button until display clears. Works on our two Mk1s. Vince.

Thanks for the tip Mike, I will take a look at that option. The rings can be replaced then can they? Vince.

Trucker, If you want to bring your car to Charvil (just to the east of Reading), I can plug Vag Com in and check your errors for you. Drop me a PM and we can exchange details if this is still causing you problems. Vince.

The resistance of water is fairly high, so it is only likely to impact sensitive electronics or high voltage. The starter motor circuit is neither of these, so if it's a basic circuit of ignition switch/starter solenoid/starter, then you are not going to stop this with water. Water might stop it firing, but not stop it cranking, so in my opinion look at battery and wiring. Vince.

Good points there! The two front tyres were replaced two weeks ago, and the MOT was just days before that, so I would hope the bearings are ok. The ring that the sensor picks up from was attached and 'seemed' ok. All are possible explanations, I suspect the noise is the ABS false firing and am contemplating a 10 minute battery disconnection, to do a reset. Vince.

Update on my woes... The wife's galaxy has just come back from the Gearbox specialist. The Gearbox module will not talk to my VAGCOM or their system, so we cannot ask it how it is, but it seems to be fine, any ideas? Should I give it 10 minutes without batttery? And I could do with advise please on the ABS, I have changed the disks, pads (both sides front) and ABS sensor on the front left where the fault was reported. I am still getting some strange noises from the front followed by ABS warning light with the same warning about front left ABS sensor. Should I reseat the ABS module? Where is it? (Near the radio head unit is it?) Vince.

Hi Mubble, High Wycombe isn't far from where we live! Two people off forum have suggested that these might be 'learning' gearboxes, does anyone know for sure? I did suggest to the mechanic that the AA asked to come out to us, that I wanted to do a 10 minute battery break, but he didn't go for that. I am not sure if the ABS is fixed, as I did not clear the error code. Thought all was ok when I drove off and the light went out, but it's been going on and off, so I have now reset the fault code and will keep an eye on it. All the nasty noises have stopped with the new disks and pads. Thanks for those who have helped. Vince.

Update on this issue... It appears to me that these are two different issues rather than one very badly broken gearbox. Since getting back home we have taken the V6 out a couple of times. The gearbox does not seem to be playing up now, but the ABS is, so I have a new ABS sensor (drilled the other one to it's demise) and new disks/pads, will fit these tonight. I did not like the look of the back of the disk on the side where the ABS was unhappy, rather than a nice flat surface caused by wear from the pads, there is a nice curved profile suggesting the the pad is unevenly wearing tangentally to the axle. So I need to work out if the gearbox is now ok. Vince.

It sounds like these usually do run quite high on the guage then. Our Vr6 often hovers between O and R on the guage, higher than I like to see, esp. when compared to our 2.3 which sits between N and O whatever you do to it. Vince.

Hi Seatkid, Thanks for the suggestions. I will take a look at these, but I will take some persuading that you are right on the gear change being the throttle sensor. The gear change isn't occuring at the wrong time, it's happening at the right time, but it's not the smooth change like you normally get. It's more like it's been thrown into gear, and there is a definate jolt of the car and thump from the gearbox/drivechain. Just like you get in a manual if you let the clutch up far too quickly. My friend suggests that auto boxes do this when they engage the next gear before disengaging the last one. Then when the previous gear does drop off there is a sudden take up by the new gear, and thus the jolt and thump. I am paraphrasing slightly, he talks of brake bands rather than engaging gears. Having said all that, all it seemed to do last night was one of the bad braking sessions, nothing obvious from the gearbox. Vince.

We have a problem with our 2.8 v6 4x4 auto, would like to know what you guys think... First of all the car passes the MOT, only advice was some play in track rod ends, then we go off on holiday driving up and down the 25% hills of the North Devon coastline. The first fault we noticed after 5 days of this treatment was abrupt gear change, going up from 1st to 2nd was quite agressive. The sort of jolt you get from a manual if you let the clutch up very quickly. Then we noticed that sometimes there was a grinding noise and vibration on the brake pedal during braking. The last fault is that the ABS light came on. The mechanic that the AA sent out jacked up each of the wheels, could not find anything wrong with bearings or brakes (maybe some sign of worn disks scratching at the rim), but the garage that did the MOT is reliable in my eyes, so I don't suspect worn brakes after one week of the MOT. The AA mechanic suspected the ABS warning might have been because of the jolt during gear changes, but wasn't sure why a transmission problem might be felt on the brake pedal. The AA took the car back home for us. Today we tried the car again. Gear changes all seemed ok, and there was only one rumble from the brakes. A friend who usually knows his stuff suspects grit in the oil blocking the valve chamber (don't know exactly what that means, other than an oil change) but does this explain all the symptoms? The car is booked in with a transmission specialist, but what do you guys think? Got the following from VagCom... VAG-COM Version: Release 409.1-S Control Module Part Number: 021 906 256 AE Component and/or Version: MOTRONIC M3.8.1 AT V01 Software Coding: 00001 Work Shop Code: WSC 00000 1 Fault Found: 01165 - Throttle Body Control Module (J338) 20-10 - Malfunction in Basic Setting - Intermittent VAG-COM Version: Release 409.1-S Control Module Part Number: 1J0 907 379 H Component and/or Version: ABS/EDS 20 IE CAN 0001 Software Coding: 12812 Work Shop Code: WSC 00020 1 Fault Found: 00283 - Front Left ABS Wheel Speed Sensor (G47) 35-10 - - - Intermittent Could not get a reply from the auto gearbox. Vince.

There are two 'parts' to the key (if you don't have remote locking, if so this makes three). One is the physical key which is just like any other key, the second is the chip that the engine management system talks to when you try to start the car. You should be able to get a blank key (with chip inside) get the key cut and then using your existing keys introduce the chip to the system (see below). Search on the forum for key programming. (Involves keys and the ignition lock). Depending on the age of the vehicle, you either need two black keys or the red one to program the car to accept the chipped key. If you don't have two black (or one red) key then you have to go to Fords. With remote locking you also have to introduce the key to this system which is done via the driver's door lock and a few masonic handshakes as documented also on this forum. I have tried to give you an introduction and pointers to the search facility, also check the FAQ. Vince.

You are all mad or your monitors are dodgy. It definately RED but I can't see any of these flowers they keep going on about! :16: Vince. Of to Great Dorset Steam Fair - don't break anything while I am away!

Thanks for that, in that case the sunroof console is on it's way out! Vince.

Faulty alternator wiring can give the same results as a faulty alternator under the above tests. To differentiate, put the meter on the alternator connection directly if you can. Vince.

Hello MrT, I haven't started tracing this one yet, just noticed that during journeys the screen doesn't work. The light comes on on the switch, so suspect relay, power to screen or earth. Thanks for the info, the one thing I would like is to have a relay ready to put in, so I was wondering if anyone knows which one it is, so I can order one. Do you suspect fords might have an idea? Vince.

I don't know, depends on the motor, what impact would capacitor starting have on this? (AC isn't really my subject). Seems to be my tagline, but if you want to come to Reading, I have 300W true sine wave inverter and 1000W pseudo sine wave inverter - one of them should do it! Vince.

Sounds like your piston is wound right out hard. You may need to take the caliper off and put it in a vice to get enough torque on the piston. If you are anywhere near Reading I have a range of windback tools and air tools, if grunt is required! Vince.

We are into minature steam locomotives. We have one built and one work in progress. The work in progress model is going to be on display in the model tent, so we get the week at the show for exhibiting. A great uncle got me interested in minature steam, and the wife loves shoveling coal too! How many boys don't want to drive a steam train? Vince. :D