richyrich

Also get your battery checked - you may have a internal short in the battery. I'd take it out and put a battery charger on it to see what happens, or take to somebody with a battery tester. Have you got the right size/sort of battery - lots of posts re batteries and this fuse melting fusebox. Richard

I had the same creaking noise when turning the steering wheel some time ago - could only hear it inside the car. I sprayed the 2 springs the the column is held by with wd40, gave them a good wipe with cloth so that no drips and problem disappeared! Try it - you never know. release and operate the steering position whilst it's still got oil on it.

Before you think of vag com do a search for air bag light and you will see loads of threads that will help you. It could be the clock spring in the air bag. there is a thread somewhere about how to replace it but it's not in the FAQ section so have a look around. Hope this helps. Richard

Methinks battery knackered-you say it's dry! charging system maybe SMART system, has detected low battery voltage and increased charge current from alternator to above it's normal rate and hey presto burnt fuse holder. How old is battery? Lifespan can vary. 5 years is ok. Is your car fitted with a silver calcium battery-check handbook.

I thought the flaps and things on this model(same as mine) are moved by little servo motors. Am i mistaken?

Tim-spam,(and others). Sorry, did not see your question at the time you asked about my engine. I was very busy dealing with my father who was dying at the time. Gone now. Not asking for sympathy. he was nearly 86 so had a long life. This was the reason I had to go along with Fraud - too busy to deal with the car. The symptoms was losing power intermittently, then coming up a slip road on to dual carriageway lost power, only managed 40. A noise like a bang then big clouds of smoke behind me. Stopped car, engine revs went right up and off the counter, stopped engine with key. Waited 5 mins and it actually started and i limped home, only the length of the street. Engine was shaking like a good un and if you removed the oil filler cap or the dipstick it was blowing oil (that smelt of diesel as well) out at you. I suspected piston rings, think crankshaft may have been damaged by problem but I'll never know. Did oil & filter change every 5k hoping to make car last, used oil specified for pd engine from VW dealer. Still, now I got a car with only 8k on the engine clock, but 90k on the car! Just like to say I think this site is great. Saw loads of probs that I'd already dealt with but I'm armed and ready for some of the others from some of the threads I've seen. Regards to all who put in what seems to be a great deal of effort and time. Richard

No - but it sounds as though it's from the rear whilst I'm driving. Had exactly the same problem with our pug 206 as well. I would recognise the sound easily now, you won't hear it whilst driving along normally, it's just when something in the road affects the suspension.

I found an easy way to check with my gal was to grab hold of the roof bar and rock the car sideways. You will soon hear a noise from the said drop links. I've had to do mine twice now and the nearside again as well. i think the one's from Fraud are better now though as this has lasted a fair amount of time. Easy to change. richyrich

Do you want the parking sensor control box fitted under the passenger seat - I have one that i'll probably never use. bought it from Fraud at a cost of over 100 quid if i remember rightly. My problem turned out to be a plug not quite on properly due to a stretched wiring loom on one of the front sensors. Make me an offer if this is what you want, I'm sure prices will vary depending on where you get it from.

The plug maybe for parking sensors - fitted into the rear bumper. If you don't have them then maybe this is what it's for. I agree with Wolfie - the large black box you are referring to is the rear fan/heater unit

GaryM,Mo4, some time ago I had exactly the same problem and added to a thread from another guy and we had a bit of discussion about types of batteries that should be fitted,charge voltages, and possible faults with batteries - do you remember? I changed my battery and the fuse box as I reckoned the fuse box was damaged because of the high current being produced by the alternator(rated at 150 amps IIRC) to make up for the drop in voltage, this in turn was caused by(I reckoned at the time) a short circuit in a part of the battery. Anyway, never had a problem since.

There are many threads about this-do some searches. My problem started off exactly the same way, was the wiring in the tailgate flexible gaitor, quite often fuse 32 would blow. Had to splice in new wiring. It could also be the wiring in the flexible loom of the drivers door. If you do some searches there is some excellent information with really good pictures as well. Good luck Richyrich

Don't know too much about this, are all your fuses okay. Sounds as though you've lost a power supply to the dash - I know with older types of dash inserts there was a voltage regulator actually fitted to the insert to keep the voltage constant, but with an ECU I would have thought the outputs are straight from that. Maybe your ECU has been damaged. If you changed the clock unit that rules out a voltage regulator theory. Do you have TIS cd? Hang on in there, there are plenty of people with loads of knowledge, just not logged in all the while. Can't you take it back to the people who changed your engine, I would have thought they'd be liable. Could be a wiring loom and plugs on/around the engine!

Does it start okay now? If it does then the whirring noise you can hear is most probably the electric water pump, it runs on after you turn off the ignition for a number of minutes. It also starts up when you turn on the ignition to start the engine but mostly goes unnoticed because the engine is now started and drowns out the noise of the pump. Turn your ignition on then off without actually starting the engine and listen, it's situated somewhere near the top right of the engine, sometimes under the cowl where the windscreen wiper motor is. It should still time out. This is explained by many other threads on this site.

One of the front pads and one of the rear pads has a connection to it for the brake pad wear indicator system. When the pads wear it breaks a loop in the pad so opening the circuit. Some garages can't be bothered with the wiring so they a) cot the plug off on the wiring loom and crimp the wires together or :D cut the wires of the old pads and crimp them together. I should check these out 1st. Also, the glow plug light flashing at you can also mean that your brake light switch is faulty - simple to check and replace. Flashing light will stop after several breaking inputs have been received

Had mine in for 2 years + and no problems. My handbook says should be Ca Didn't have time to shop around, straight down to halfrauds - HB 010 - still there in shop for 76.99.(just looked for you) - didn't have the Ca battery HCB 010 in stock so don't know price. Note - these batteries all have lead in them so all still have the Pb label on them. I think the silver helps with the current flow/connections inside and the calcium is used to suspend the lead in - I think Checked my motor at lunchtime and even after running the engine for a while the battery voltage never went higher than 14.2 volts

This is what I like about this site - it gets me thinking and looking. My Y reg 1.9 should have a Ca battery in it. From new it had a Pb battery in it ?? and when I had a problem I replaced with a Pb battery! (been in the car now for 3 years!) The info about the Smart Charging System is correct -sorry I doubted it. The charge voltage is raised from 14.4v to 14.8 volts Many thanks - patience with a newbie!!

I don't think it matters which one you fit. It's the AVR(automatic voltage regulator) in the alternator that regulates the voltage output of the alternator and this in turn decides the current going into the battery. The AVR will maintain the voltage of the electrics to 13.8volts ish (it does this by regulating the excitation on the coil of the rotor in the alternator). If the battery voltage is low then more current will flow through the battery so charging it. Car's aren't designed for Pb or Ca, the alternator and battery are matched to the predicted use and load on them. When driving there should be no load on the battery - it's all on the alternator and the battery is being charged hopefully to full if the journey is long enough. I work with UPS systems and generators and we have all sorts of different batteries, but the rule is CHANGE them when 5 years old - even the ones on our big generators( 6 off 750 Kva)

Meant to say that the short circuit inside is caused by deposits building up inside on the bottom of the battery and shorting out some of the plates. They are probably burnt away now so everything seems ok. If I am right this will happen again. Have a look through the holes if you can and see if the plates are distorted. It just sounds so much like my problem that I wouldn't want you to have a problem again whilst miles away from home! be interesting to see your reply

The rear brake caliper pistons gradually turn and moves out as the pads wear - this is operated by the use of the handbrake lever. So if new pads or calipers have been fitted the piston will be right inside and will need more movement on the brake pedal to operate. With new pads this should take no time at all. When changing pads on the rear the best thing to do with the caliper is to clamp the brake pipe and remove to a vice so that the caliper piston may be moved back in, however, I've done mine twice now and I've found that the piston needs to be screwed all the way out first, then all the way back in. Remember that there are 2 brake circuits and both will need bleeding, always use brand new brake fluid and never use tha fluid collected in your jar of the bleed kit. Hoses can cause a problem with sponginess/overtravel of pedal but I have always found the real problem to be either the master cylinder leaking air, air trapped in a brake cylinder, or loss of air going to the master cylinder-remember on a diesel this is fed via a pump which I believe is part of the fuel pump(correct me if I am wrong).

I had similar problem a few years ago, basically you may have a short inside the battery that has now gone., and things seem okay. Mine was enough to drop the voltage enough for the alternator to push out it's maximum power(over 150 amps with mine) and it melted/damaged the fuse holder in the engine compartment. With the engine not running the battery should read anywhere between 12 - 13volts, with the engine running it should be around 13.2 volts or more so that the battery will charge. Battery life is normally 5 years but there is no guarantee, mine was only 3 years old

My same problem was caused by the sensors in the pillars behind the the 2 front seats. It's very easy to disconnect them or replace(fraud). The seat belt bolts need to be undone for this

my car model is 1996 ghia 2 litre

I used fully synthetic oil meeting correct spec -505.01 but I still had my engine blow up. When I put into Fraud they asked me what I wanted them to do - thet didn't have a clue where to start. Because of personal reasons I ended up having a new engine fitted - expensive!! I have a vag com lead - where did you get the software for it and what version do I need? Y reg 1.9 115 pd