JohnR

No. That was the first thing I did. If you jack up the wheel and check for slack by rotating the wheel there is hardly any to speak of. And in answer to the other post, I changed the drop links myself.

110K miles on the clock, drop links just changed, passed MOT ok but there is (been there for 5k miles) a metallic clunk when pulling away. It is not there if you kangaroo whilst going slowly in first (so don't think CV's or drive splines). My suspicion is lower wishbone bushes.....does anyone concur with this? Is there an easy test for this? Thanks, John

I got mine from www.ross-tech.com They are selling them for $349 plus you get stung for import tax about a month later. Others have bought cheaper leads through EBay and used the unregistered version of VAG-COM. Still gives you the fault codes but without the description. Easy enough though to find out what the codes mean. Just to clarify a point. The way most people do it is to get a lead off ebay (about

On later models, its (sometimes??) down behind a vent in the bumper, by the drivers side fog lamp. Dont think this came in till summer 2001. You can squirt it with iced water to force it as a test. John

As it was going down hill, and I was pushing it perhaps I over-rev'd? Was not looking at the clocks at the time but it did not seem overworked....was pulling like a good un! If it happens again I'll investigate as suggested. Cheers, John

My Gal was due its 100K service. The previous owner had always taken it to Fords in Taunton but the local Ford dealerships in the area where I live (Cheltenham and Gloucester) do not inspire confidence and I had heard numerous horror stories from their customers. So, keen to get the service stamp in the handbook, I shunned doing it myself and went to the local VW dealership (although vag-com'd it and checked for majors in advance). I was very impressed and they welcomed me to the VW fold with open arms! The 100K service was

Thanks. If it happens again soon I'll have to dig around for the cleaning instructions. Sounds like its possible its a carbon buildup on the variable vanes as it has done over 100,000 miles now. John

Was coming down a hill on the way home tonight. I floored it in 4th up to about 90 (momentarily) when it suddenly lost power. It maintained 70 ish for the rest of the way home, but the acceleration was not there. It felt like the turbo had dropped out. When I got home, I put vag-com on the engine module and it reported "positive pressure deviation" or something like that. I cleared down the fault code, and now it revs freely again. Anyone know what is the likely cause of this?? Thanks, John

Sometimes easier to undo the 3 screws in the centre box as well. Mine took a bit of wiggling about before it came free. The left box hooks underneath at the rear so you have to lift the front edge and pull it towards you.

Because the pump is so high up, you lose next to nothing. I just vented the system (loosen the expansion bottle cap till you hear it vent) to release the pressure, then screwed it on again. I probably lost about a cup full. Before putting the lower pipe back on, I managed to pour about a 1/2 cup of water into the pump and top pipe to get rid of some of the air and prime it. I would have used coolant 12 if I had any.

Ah....toasted tootsies! Was cold enough for the booster this morning. Was up to temp (90 degrees) in about 3 minutes flat! Just checked with Vag-com and no fault codes so jobs a good-un. Only got the air-con pump to do now. Need a bit more stomach to tackle a rebuild on that but I'm working up to it before the summer! John

OK. Job sorted. I went to GMF and they quoted

Forget it....it was easy enough. For anyone else doing it, you just remove the 3 screws and pull off the long cover under the wipers then the pump is just mounted in a couple of rubber rings. once you disconnect the plug you can slide it out. The hardest bit is disconnecting the stupid hose connectors. I binned them and put sume jubilees on that you can get a socket onto. At the mo the pump is bypassed with a piece of 22mm copper. Gazza was quite right....the pump motor only runs if you remove the impeller and flick it to start it. I took the end off the motor and can confirm that the mode of failure is wear of the brushes down to the point where the copper braid snags on the plastic, preventing contact with the commutator. Now if you could find suitable brushes, it would be easy enough to solder some new ones in and put it back together! Failing that, I'll have to look around for a replacement. John

I have been trying to get my booster heater working properly....it keeps shutting down a minute or so after firing up. The message given was "sensor - temperature too high" so I assumed a problem with a sensor. Gazza reckoned run-on pump which circulates the water. After having a look I think I agree. The mileage checks out (brushes reckoned to fail after 90K - mines done 97K), also, I don't hear this pump running at any time. Measuring blocks in Vag-com, the booster heater sensors all seem to report sensible numbers. When the unit fires up, one of them rises very rapidly until it shuts down (as you'dexpect it if poor water circulation). The pump is fairly well buried above the back of the engine. How do you get it out, and where is it in the TIS? (just spent 20 minute browsing and could not find it.... Is it called something else)? Thanks, John

I just read the thread....its possible. Mines done 97k and 4 yrs old. Whats the easiest way to see if the run-on pump is working? John

Thanks....just referred back. Yes, it was giving the same warning message then, but seemed to still work. It now shuts down after a minute as I said, and after a few days of 1 minute fire-ups gives "function locked out" until you squirt it with the vag-com again. Have pm'd Jaroth as suggested. Am thinking that I'll bypass the heater with a piece of copper pipe and do a proper strip and rebuild this time. Should have done it properly last time while the weather was warm! John

My booster heater worked fine after changing the glowplug about 3 months back, but has just started shutting down about 1 minute after firing up. Vag-com says "over temperature sensor". The dealers want

Mine did that too this morning. Worked fine after a couple of mins. Put a new glow plug in 2 months ago. Think it was just so cold you could see more water vapour. If its cleared after 5 minutes I'd leave it alone.

:lol: already with them t A friend just imported a Nissan Skyline (2.5) direct from Japan.....claimed to do 185mph! Load of bells & whistles and goes like stink. He got it really cheap too. You don't see many of them over here. Only problem is the Japanese radio....it only goes up to 89MHz soe he can only get radio 2 haha!

My changer (on an rds5000) had the opposite problem. You could load it and put it in but it would not come out again. The head unit reported error 5. Having had a load of cd's nicked from a previous car, I decided it was better to dump the head unit for a 50 quid panasonic mp3 job. That way, I can burn 7 or 8 cds to an mp3 disk and leave them in the car with no fear of them getting nicked. Also get all the track info on the display too. John

I have similar quirky control from mine (with CC). It works but seems to have a mind of its own. It changes the fan speed too! Still haven't figured out its logic!

:lol: you tell em! I went up to Bolton to a wedding last week (160 miles each way on the motorway). At a steady 70 (set on cruise) I got 41mpg on the way there with a loaded up motor. On the way back I set it at 78mph and still got 39mpg!! 20mpg/40mpg/20mpg/40mpg........Hmmmm.......with the money I'm saving in fuel I'll be able to buy a nice motorbike in 5 years! :lol:

aw...shucks! wuz nuthin! I lurnt 2 reed at skwl! :lol:

So.....what do you get going home again ;-)

Yes, WHY do they do that? They don't seem to be able to hear the motor screaming out for a rest!