sambulance

hi all for a few months now my car has started to lose coolant and today the car over heated when the mrs took the car on a long drive. went to rescue her and added some more coolant and drive 40 miles home with no problems. i am at a loss now as to where to start looking to repair the problem as i can find no leaks inside or out. i have no misting with the windows. the oil is clean with no coolant present but the car seems to have this problem on most long journeys now. most short journeys the car never get much above 80c, so i can understand its happening when the engine gets to full temprature. also the coolant always gushes with air when i open the header tank, but it has always done this since ive owned the car (4 years) and returned to the max line, untill now. does this point towards head gasket failure or has anyone has had these symptoms? also the car drive fine after the mrs boiled it. any advice would be great. thanks

Hi all I have always used castrol edge for my oil service. Usually I use the 5-40 turbo diesel with the engine being a tdi. Although the castrol website among others now recommend the 5-30. Does this oil do any better in the engine as it is actually cheaper than the turbo diesel type. Any thoughts? I don't know much about oil but they both meet the oil spec necessary. Thanks again for the good replies to all my questions

Thanks for the info Paul. I fear I may have damaged the bearing when installing it. As the spacer I used fits inside the bearing rear and the flange will only go so far before hitting it. So for the last push I had to use the rear of the casting to pull against. As it is tight when bolted up I will see what my mot garage say when it goes in this week. Thanks again

if you search on google there is a company that repairs these for

hi all just replaced my rear wheel bearing only to find the flange had some play after i pressed it in to the bearing.is this at all normal as it felt ok once i reattached the bolt which holds the front washer and the abs ring at the hub rear. i did the job with decent tools and the flange had no scorching or pitting before reassembly. any advice from someone who has done the job before would be great

Hi all. I need to change my rear wheel bearings and some advice on the removal and the tools used. I have changed the fronts before which was a long job removing the steering knuckle and pressing out the bearing at a friends workshop. I am now looking to buy my own bearing/hub tools. I know this can be done on the car with the cup and thrust plate tools. Has anyone had any good experience with these tools or should i stick to a slide hammer and the press. Also on the removal side am i correct in thinking the rear bearings are inside the hub unlike the fronts where the hub is pressed in to the bearing. Assuming this is correct will the inner race will remain on the stub axle and the rest of the bearing in the hub rear. Any extra tips on the tools or the removal would be great. thanks

first few checks in an overheat situation for me are to leave the car to idle and as it gets slowly up to temprature check the radiator hoses top and bottom. if they are both hot then your thermostat is ok. next is to check that the fan works. if the car is to hot then the fan should kick in at some point but this is not always noticable when driving so at idle you can have a look. the sensor could be at fault but if the temp reading increases steadily when driving its still working but a change couldn't hurt there not expensive. also when was the coolant last changed. if left to long you can get a blockage. try all the free checks first. good luck

I got the cheapest one i could from carpartd4less (about 20 quid). I fitted it at work after months of limp mode. It took 2 mins and you should be able to notice the power difference instantly. Ive had it on my car for over 3 years with no problems. Dont go to expensive its only a boost sensor. Its maf sensors you need to spend on getting a decent one

Hi. It depends on the problem with the abs i think. I have had leads fail on the front wheels before and when they were replaced the light went out on its own. I think if you have pump failure you will have to use vcds to set up the new pump but in your case if its not a lead then its worth trying to fix the diagnostic socket and checking the fault before going any further.

I have had some of your symptoms before and i to changed the driveshafts for the jr ones, cleaned the brakes, replaced the droplinks, bushes, wheel bearings and swapped the wheels around. I also thought about looking at the intermediate shaft as i had a grinding noise. Eventually i cured the problem by replacing the bearing bolts back to the old style 27mm as they seem to be longer than the new hex end ones. Bolts are quite cheap so may be worth a look. Otherwise there is a lot of information regarding the intermediate shaft if you search this forum but i think if this had failed you may have no drive at all as i believe the teeth on the shaft strip. Dont quote me thought i am no expert or mechanic, i just learn as i go. Hope this helps

Thanks for the research. Looking on google this is the same 2 button curved type key i purchased from ebay. I will try programming it using the advice in the faq when i get a chance. Cheers gregers

Hey gregers, i live in the colchester area. Thanks for the offer, another keyfob would be great. I do have a two button type that i purchased for a fiver on ebay but as i said i am unsure if this is the correct type for my car so am reluctant to get it cut and coded untill i know. Thanks

Hi all. I have searched the faq and forum to no avail. I need to get a second key for my sharan 2001 tdi auy mk2 as when i purchased the car the owner could only find one of the keys. This key is a sealed black key without a built in fob. For the replacement I would like a built in fob but without a compirison i am unsure if i need a 2 button similar shape key or a flip type 2 or 3 button key. I guess it is down to the key frequency but i need some help on this one. If it helps my car has the front and rear domes in the roof as mentioned in some of the key programming posts. cheers

Why not try carparts4less. This is just europarts without the store and they also do the deals as well.

If your turbo fails you will most likely get a lot of smoke as the oil the turbo spins on will flow in to the exhaust system. It can be a pain but if you can get to the turbo and disconnect the plastic pipe side and feel for the spindle, give a wiggle. If the spindle is tight with little play your turbo is most likely o.k. I'm not an expert but your problem is most likely a sensor failure or an air leak in the charge air system. You should give the air system a quick check for loose pipes. Good luck

Hi, I had the turbo limp mode problem. It turned out to be the map sensor which is £20-£40 and very easy to change. If you say you have changed the maf and the turbo actuator is moving this would be the next port of call in the turbo system. Also if you can, check the actuator is being controlled by the boost solenoid correctly as it may move freely by hand but a knackered n75 valve wont let the turbo spool up. To do this get a friend to rev to engine. Find the turbo actuator and watch to see if it moves with the engine revs. If not this could also need changing and again it is a cheap and easy fix. Hopefully your turbo is easy to find as mine is at the lower rear of the engine and i had the mrs rev the engine whilst i lay underneath the car on jack stands which can be a bit scary. Good luck

If you have an air grinder try cutting the holding cups instead of the nuts. This way you can remove the complete struts and finish the job off the car. The cups are about a tenner from the dealer. Use a small cutting disc ( be careful of the strut tower) make a cut in the cup while the car is on the ground. This way the holding cups sit away from the strut tower. Use a socket to turn the nut which will turn the cup and make another cut. Follow on round and with enough cuts made use a set of grips to bend the slits up. Destroy the cup enough to fit through the tower and hay-presto the shock should fall. Good luck

Hi, if you can check the battery with a multimeter. You should get around 12.4-12.6 volts. This will confirm the battery is holding charge. I assume the alternator is new, otherwise another simple test to check its producing power when the engine is running is to turn on all the electrics and retest will the multimeter. You want to see at least 0.5v extra than with engine off. If these tests check out might be worth giving the battery a quick charge and also check the alternator lead and ecu connector are clean and tight. I did all these test when changing my alternator pulley to confirm good operation. Also is the belt tight. A slack belt could be good giving you the warning light for a short time untill the belt spools all the pulleys up to speed. Good luck

hi steve i had a similar problem with my passat, the tensioner pulley spring arm had come of its plastic sleeve and over the lower bolt. The alternater pulley failed and caused the problem, but on reassembly i noticed everything was out of line and so also replaced the tensioner with an extra washer the keep it straight and to stop the arm coming of its sleeve again. Everything has been fine ever since. Good luck and maybe keep a spair belt on board just incase

Sorry. I meant to say i will check the o/s

Thanks for the advice paul. The odd thing is though, the faulty side is showing more thread. The o/s which i have not removed is showing less thread but the suspension sits higher, hence my worn strut idea. I am sure it is the driveshaft grinding, I just dont understand why after three changes. The only problem i can see with the car is the suspension sag as i have checked over everything else many times. I will start looking at the half shaft and n/s tomorrow if i doesnt snow. Thanks again. Keep the ideas coming

Hi all. Well my problem is still not resolved but i'm looking for a few some help with a few ideas i have. I noticed the other day that my car seems to sag on the side i replaced the strut mount, also i have more thread showing on the strut top than on the otherside obove the holding cup. I was thinking maybe my strut is knackered and is putting more pressure on my driveshaft when turning. I have had the strut off twice now and everything looks good but i replaced the bush again anyway with the same outcome. This brings me to my secong thought. when reassembling the strut is there a torque rating for the spring retaining nut as i always wind it right down be for releasing the spring compressors. could this mean the spring is to tight and causing the strut to sag more than the drivers side and making the driveshaft grind. Thanks in advance for any advice

Its definately not loose wheel nuts but thanks for the suggestions. I will try swapping wheel nuts from another wheel as i have tried everything else other than fitting a new wheel hub.

Hi, new here and looking for help as i'm starting to go mad with my grinding issue. When cornering to the right or when any weight is on the left side suspension i get a rotational grinding sound. I know the obvious problem would be the wheel bearing but it has be replaced along with the following. n/s suspension mount and bearing, new wishbones, new balljoints, new droplinks, new antiroll bar bushes. Also i have changed two n/s driveshafts (complete) after my mechanic noticed a split inner cv boot when changing clutch and flywheel. I have even stripped the brakes that side to check for uneven pad wear but all looks good. Have moved balljoint and rotor guards inward to avoid surface contact. Nothing major on last mot, tyres are slightly worn and slightly off track but I cant see this being the root of the problem as the sound can be quite aggressive at times. The only thing that seems to stop the sound is hard acceleration which i guess shifts the suspension. Even my local garage first changed another droplink (£50 wasted). Then when returned to the garage they insisted it was my driveshaft. I then swapped the driveshafts over from side to side and still no joy. My last call was the gearbox mount which looks ok and has not collapsed. now i am out of ideas and i know the garage will just want to change all my new parts to fix the problem. Any help on this one will be grately recieved