sepulchrave

The Galaxy IS a VW vinny, all the suspension is the same on all of them. If you test the strut with no weight on the wheels the rubber top mount can drop down and will then rattle around in the tapered strut tunnel, if you then rest the car back on it's wheels the mount wedges back in the top of the tunnel with no movement which is why it has to be tested with the front wheels on turntables on a four poster. Mine failed on one side but not the other because that strut happened to drop down when the car was lifted and the other side didn't. Some MOT testers simply have no idea how all this works and assume something must be seriously wrong with the strut top, you are perfectly within your rights to sit and watch the MOT test being performed so you can see if he does it right or not.

Why don't you check the fuses, they're labeled clearly on the legend inside the fusebox lid and you can easily see if one has blown because the metal fusible link will be missing! Edit: You MUST replace your battery with a good quality new one of the correct rating or you'll have nothing but trouble, if you skimp now you're gonna really regret it.

All this is true, except that when I tried to release the pinchbolt it bloody sheared and was an utter, utter bastard to repair. I therefore recommend you remove the brake caliper carrier, brake disc, driveshaft nut, bottom ball joint (two 8mm allen bolts) and track rod end then you can remove the entire strut with hub still attached. If the allen bolt starts to round you can whack a Torx bit in there which will hold it fine. When I did all this work and replaced the top mount I found there was nothing wrong with the old one, so I took it back for re-mot and showed them the old mount together with the VOSA handbook ammendment and they passed it with no retest fee. Bet there's nothing wrong with yours either. Edit: No spring compressor required for the top mount, only the bearing.

Vinny, there's almost certainly nothing wrong with your front strut, the MOT tester is likely a total muppet since top mounts do not rust badly because they are made of rubber! The strut has to be tested with the cars full weight on the front wheels on turntables, take the car somewhere else and ask for a refund of your fee if you feel brave or notify VOSA if you get bullied or bullshitted.

Hey, if it were easy any idiot could do it! <_<

It's amazing how quickly problems can be solved once the brain and mouth give way to the hands! <_<

115 BHP is a PD engine isn't it? If so then the fault is almost certainly electrical, chafed wiring or a dodgy connection seems most likely and the symptoms will probably get gradually worse until it cuts out and won't restart. It's dangerous so get it seen to if you're stumped.

20,000rpm? Wow, thats a high revving diesel! Im inclined to think the throttle potentiometer may be at fault, but only a VAG-COM check would tell for sure. Tiny, it's a diesel, exactly which throttle are you talking about? If it's a fly-by-wire PD then I'm inclined to think that the fault is electronic and VAG-COM should be able to tell the story. If it's old tech diesel then it has to be fuel supply interuption, possibly momentary air lock caused by air bleeding into the line from a loose connection or from having almost run out of fuel recently.

Yes, it's the dreaded VR6 camchain rattle. It means that the camchain and the camchain tensioner assembly needs replacing and it isn't a small job. If neglected this problem invariably results in a completely wrecked engine. I guess yours is a fairly high mileage engine, it may be more economical to replace the entire engine with a decent secondhand unit rather than undertake the repair. Sorry.

No. The only reason to use water injection (usually water mixed with methanol in fact) is to enable you to run a higher effective compression ratio and more ignition advance because the water systems charge cooling and quench effect delays the onset of detonation, it is almost exclusively used on tuned high output forced induction engines like Mitsu Evo, Scooby etc. The premise of this particular scam is that the knock sensors found in all modern engines will allow the ECU to advance the ignition further than normal (like putting super unleaded in) thereby increasing torque slightly for a given RPM allowing you to back off the throttle fractionally more at lean cruise giving you theoretically very slightly more MPG under ideal conditions. It might work better on turbo cars. Unfortunately this system is so rudimentary I doubt it would make any difference at all. Here is a proper high performance system for you to compare and contrast: http://www.aquamist.co.uk/ If you want to make a significant contribution try WALKING every journey you make which is under a mile each way, save 11% more polar bears than ever before and live longer too! For my simple long life, planet, fuel and money saving plan simply send

This is heartwarming, happy new year to one and all. :rolleyes: "This doll is extremely dangerous. It has voodoo qualities"

Possibly a faulty unit injector or worn camlobe on that cylinder. TBH there ain't much else it can be.

I think you can now discount the tappet ridway, there is no way it would cause a malfunction that bad. Can it be a faulty coil pack, have you identified the cylinder which is playing up and tried swapping with a good cylinder, have you checked your spark plugs? Spark plug colour is an excellent diagnostic tool particularly for gasket leaks and burnt/sticking valves. A compression test will reveal if you have burnt or sticking valves so stop guessing and start testing. You must be methodical with fault diagnosis and not exclude any possibilities until you've tested for them. All we can do on the forum here is make educated guesses and try and narrow things down for you but you can waste days with bad advice and red herrings so be careful not to clutch at straws.

Get the power steering hose repaired at a hydraulic engineers, it'll cost you a small fraction of a dealer replacement but you'll need to remove it first and take it to them.

Number 1 is tricky, could be so many things, possibly a small air leak after the MAF somewhere, check the induction hose for splits or loose clips. Number 2 should be available separately, suggest you buy ETKA on ebay and identify the part number from that so you can order it from VW. If you have a long list of faults perhaps you should post them all as many can be inter-related or can contribute to each other. The VR6 engine in your car is the most reliable engine fitted to the Shalaxy but it has a few vices which are widely documented on this forum. The electronics are more complex so VAG-COM is almost essential.

Guys, it's not the oil filter OK. Why isn't it the problem? Seems like the oil pump is having to refloat the journals before any significant pressure gets to the top end. Just because you don't like this answer doesn't mean it ain't so! You could try replacing all the tappets and the cam, it'll be quieter but it won't put the oil light out, but I bet replacing all the shells and the oil pump WILL put the oil light out. Unless you've owned this car from new you simply cannot say whether some muppet ran it out of oil prior to you getting it, and that's all it takes to produce the symptoms you describe. I don't know if it's possible to remove the crank with the engine in situ, but you can certainly replace the big end shells (which will be the most worn), probably replace the oil pump and also inspect the mains just by removing the sump. These parts are all pretty cheap as well and the job wouldn't take long on a four-poster or over a pit. The 'Oil retention valve' thing is a straw clutching exercise i'm afraid.

I assume yours is an automatic, if so then the linkage from the throttle to the gearbox has not been adjusted correctly when they replaced the throttle cable. Take it back and tell 'em to sort it out!

I understand Maximus, but my point remains; the tappets are pressurised by oil pressure from the oil pump, they're not quietened by lying in a bath of undrained oil! The camlobes are 'splash' lubricated, but that's not the problem you're having, your oil pressure is low and that's not a good thing.

Sounds like rubbish to me, the only thing feeding oil to the tappets is the oil pump and guess where that gets its oil from - errr the sump. Are you sure you're not getting some breather valve mixed up in this? You don't mention mileage, but at a wild guess I'd say 150k plus, your engine is clearly very worn, five seconds is much too long for oil pressure to build up. If it takes that time on tickover then you should rev it to about 1500 rpm on startup to get oil pressure more quickly.

You mean you don't know already? :lol:

Spare me the faces dude. This site is to help struggling families keep their family car on the road, not put money in your pockets. And I did help, and I didn't charge, so pay the toll and take it on the chin!

Its called profit ! I still think you was robbed .... .ebay item ROFL Fools and their money... :lol:

:lol: Yes. I thought you weren't worried. Short the plug out then!

Sounds like your clutch pressure plate is shot with broken springs/fingers, your driven plate is also likely to be shot and if you're gonna do the clutch then the flywheel will want refacing and the release bearing replacing as well. Are you sure that the motor trade is for you? With so little knowledge you're gonna get tucked up big style!

Very difficult to inspect, you need to ascertain that the driven face is true and that the whole assembly is in balance, the only way is to have it refaced (skimmed for truth) and dynamically balanced at a machine shop. Generally if they're no good then they're U/S.