daddyfixit

just spent over an hour sorting out more broken wires--------------not in the tailgate !!!!!!!! no, the new area that needs attention is the drivers door loom; car would lock from inside but wouldnt open again (using the switches on door handle) so i tried to access faqs on here, but pc wouldnt let me. using 12 yr old daughters xmas pressie, i logged back on here to access faqs section, the door wiring looms. 10 mins to find 3 broken wires; red,brown, black/yellow--all spliced/soldered and heatshrunk. then 45 minutes taking osf lower dashboard and various panels for access to the round amp connector, as it had fallen back into the a-pillar !!!! what a turd of a job as i do not have fingers like E.T or any disney characters !!! anyway its all back together and working, so thanks to the people who posted the faq.

lift the tailgate, top corner ---right hand side; theres a rubber boot that the wiring loom runs inside, pop it off with your fingers and inside there is a bunch of about 12 or more thin wires. 1 or more of them will be broken, its dead common, you need to solder in a new length of wire------------in fact i am going outside to check mine again as i could see any gone yesterday, and my c/l is also playing up. there are loads of threads on here if you search through the site.

when its off, clean the area spotless using an aerosol brake or carburettor cleaner (kills all oil) then get some of that 2-pack "chemical metal" plasticine stuff------its made by the same company that makes "k-seal" make sure you wear gloves as it kills skin just like superglue and turns it black !!! mix it like plasticine until it changes colour to prove the 2 parts are mixed properly then apply to the area that the leak seems to be coming from, it sets hard after about 20 minutes. costs about

mt75 oil is for ford gearboxes----usually dealer or the likes of GSF OR EUROCARPARTS would be better ???

pull back carpet in front passenger footwell--theres a plastic joiner that pops apart when least expected !! rear wiper motor spindle gets pitted with age and jams in the housing. you have to take it off,dismantle and clean the spindle with emery paper till its a loose fit again. then pack it with grease,rebuild and refit it----will take 2--3 hours to keep you out of the house and in the garage !!

aerial is in osr window glass. can you slide the radio out to make sure the aerial is connected?? if it isnt-push the plug back in if it is--------unplug it and put a length of wire @ 2 foot long into the aerial socket (will act as an aerial) if it then starts to lock onto stations, you know the problem lies with the aerial lead/window glass/plug into the back of radio.

leave him to do the tyres then.............. stick with what you know, get the correct pd oil in the car.

heater panel needs resetting; take front off it,the dials and there are 3 torx screws holding it in place. disconnect the 2 wiring multiplugs carefully put the ignition on for 2-3 seconds refit everything you took off and it now works. sounds like drivers door wiring loom is at fault for c/locking issues

1. remote key batteries 2. wiring loom in drivers door, wires damaged ? 3. aux fuse box on top of battery, terminals burnt away,underneath the red wire terminal on end of lead-----due to lead being high resistance,copper wires turn black ?? 4. due to the cold weather, perhaps battery is off to meet its maker ?? then doesnt have enough power to reach main fuse box because the aux.fuse box lead is high resisitance which reduces the flow of electricity so the relay (is it 109 ??) in the fuse box starts chattering as its not being powered up stronly enough to do its job ???

like he said, it sounds like water pump has fallen to bits ? very common on vag engines,plastic impellor falls off; and do replace the timing belt kit while the pump is off as well---my pump started leaking AFTER the genuine ford belt kit was fitted !!! its normal practice to replace everything connected to the belt nowadays anyway, so you can fit parts once and forget till next due replacement. so i replaced pump,belt kit and antifreeze 5 years ago and its getting done again in the next few weeks.

any rubber boots/gaiters that are split are now a fail item as of this years new test changes, to clear excess soot out of the car, get on motorway/dual carriageway that allows 70mph and drive it in 4th (not top gear) so that the soot will be cleared out of the exhaust system by the engine revving higher than usual. i only do 12 miles a day in my 306dturbo, so i detour to the motorway on mot test day-----and rag the conkers off it in 3rd/4th and it leaves a smoke trail like you wouldnt believe !! but it does then pass the mot smoke test.

also if you put a single filament bulb ino a double contact holder !!!

is your screenwash working, or are you having to top it up all the time ??? if so then possibly the screenwash pipe that runs along the passenger side,under the carpet (next to the inner sill) has separated----very common and it soaks all the sound deadening under the carpets. there is a plastic joiner, the pipes need super-gluing back onto it.

can you get a socket in there? i am not familiar with were it is but i wouldnt go taking the pump to bits !!

you mean from the body to the tailgate..... anything electrical that fails/goes faulty at the rear of the car is normally down to tailgate loom inside the rubber gaiter. i found out when i pressed the brakes, the rear fog warning lamp came up on the dashboard ! rear wiper not working----broken wires rear tailgate lock would not open------had to put key in to open it !------broken wires reverse lights not working (bleeper fitted on mine didnt work)----broken wires in fact i brought home about 16 x 3m lengths of wire and intended to rewire the tailgate over xmas holidays, but due to man-flu it didnt get done.

as soon as you tell them its the one underbonnet---right next to the battery, they will be on it !

its just done that to me as well ?? but great to see it back on-line, gives me someone to talk to rather than the missus...........

i found it cheaper at fords, vw would not give a warranty on it as they say its not a vw car its going on !!!! mine melted the lid slightly and was wafting a burning plastic smell in the car when you started up, even using lights or wipers would start the smell. i renewed the fuse box, but also had a new terminal put on the end that was iffy.......i just pop the lid every time i lift the bonnet to do the levels to make sure its still ok.

similar to tailgate loom that pops out nice surprises ? lights/wiper/washer/central locking operate as/when they feel like ???? i have 16 x 2m lengths of flexible wire to replace the whole tailgate loom over the xmas holidays, as there is no more room left in the tailgate gaiter for shrink wrap tubing !!

no, you cant mix the 2 types. just read a monthly sales flyer from eurocarparts that describes the two different types mix to create an acid that starts chomping away at metal ???? i would rather drain/refill/flush a few times before putting in the pink long-life stuff again

easy; you need to remove the knobs,front panel etc. remove the heater contorl assembly carefully and remove the 2 wiring multi plugs altogether switch ignition on and then turn it off reconnect multi-plugs,refit control unit and its facia.dials etc you should find it now works

the top mount is shaped (tapered) so that if you jack the car up and shake the roadwheel it feels like the suspension strut (shock absorber) is rattling about loose !! but when you lower the car to the floor, the mount goes up into a shaped "hole" that it fits into and then stops the top of the strut from moving about. they can be changed at the same time as shock absorbers, as you undo the centre securing nut to remove the strut when you are taking them off. seems a lot of garages try to tell owners they need new mounts when in fact, there is nothing wrong !!! when they are worn they may give off knocking/creaking noises (but so do many other parts) so if new noises appear be sure to get them checked out to see whats worn out instead of replacing a load of parts at once ???

camber isnt adjustable; there are lots of posts on here about tracking, and inner/outer edge wear is common. wheel alignment has to be spot on or galaxies seem to eat tyres !!!!! get 4 wheel aligning done so the steering wheel is straight after adjustment as well.

is it just the temperature that wont adjust ??? or when you try to divert the air up/down/vents-does it do nothing ??? if so read the posts about re-setting the heater controls ? quite a common fault, done mine at least half a dozen times.

Be very careful giving that advice out mate as its simply not true, the airbag system is still very much active even with the lamp on so don't go prodding about thinking its safe and deactivated because it could hurt :rolleyes: I *think* you mean "if the clock-spring unit has gone O/C then it won't be able to fire that bag" which is a much safer line to give although even then I've seen CS units that have been diagnosed as faulty by their controllers that could still have carried enough current to fire the igniter. Also since the cause is yet to be identified that's a risky statement in itself. I'm not having a pop (boom-boom) at you btw - it's just the SRS system is more then capable of killing someone if they arn't expecting it. (There was a story recently about a German guy who's airbag went off whilst he thought it was disabled and the force put the screwdriver he was holding through his neck killing him instantly eek!) There are some exceptions where the system would be disabled entirely (Internal memory fault, input voltage outside range, more then one crash sensor faulty etc) but a zero or high resistance to the drivers igniter won't disable it - in the event of a crash it will still go through the motions and attempt to ignite that bag regardless, along with any others the system thinks are required (or are fitted) an entertaining true story; once upon a time there was a brand new renault kangoo (postman pat van). it comes off the delivery transporter to be put away till sold, "airbag light is on" says the delivery guy who dropped it off at the dealership. so the van gets sold; and is brought in for pdi and number plates, a warranty job card raised for the airbag warning light is also to be done by the mechanic. he does the pdi,fits number plates to a van that has never seen the road or had the owners bum on its seats. he then gets the renault diagnostic kit to find the airbag warning light fault, he plugs it into the comms.port and sits with both feet on the workshop floor, ready to do what master technicians do best.......... once he has been picked up off the floor by the people working alongside him, it becomes apparent that the ecu is faulty and has fired the airbags/pre-tensioners as soon as it was connected up and he switched the machine on----------it hit him on his left-hand side and threw him out the van onto the floor !! i dont trust them when the battery is off either !! farting little capacitors (smaller than netto peanuts !!)are used as backup to the car battery and are able to fire the system in case of battery destruction in the event of a crash, i never sit in front of one, instead work from the side.