bofus

IT WORKS..!!! I bought the car last year, no heater fitted, water pipes bypassed, fuel pipe bunged and the bottom half of the bracket missing. Over the last few months I have managed to obtain everything I needed except for a working heater. The freebie heater I got doesn't even buzz let alone work. The aux water pump also failed over Xmas. After a bit of digging around, some unhelpful email with Eberspacher I found out that the Early Mk2's use the D5WZ which is a OEM variant used by VAG and MercBenz. Lots of money later I purchased a refurbed unit from 'webastopl' on Ebay. Nice helpful guy and very quick delivery of a very clean unit from Poland. This was fitted last night (and typically the very cold weather is now finished!!) I now have a (very) warm car, VAG-com talks to module 18 and the Climatronic operating parameters seem to be programmed to work around the heat from the booster. If anyone plays with VAG-com The read out fields are voltage, burner temp, water temp (in?) water temp (out?) Engine running, unit enabled, ?,? Blower, glow plug, fuel pump, ? gav

Guys Mr Tower... before you dive into the clutches of the garage.... Check the battery junction box (Black plastic box under the battery cover between the battery and the headlight), especially the thick cable from the alternator (closest to the battery) and the main fusebox feed (next one towards the front of the car) I'd hazard a guess that the alternator terminal/ crimp is burnt/damaged. The only solution is a new cable from the alternator to battery junction box and a new junction box (total is about GBP 40 from a dealer) Worse case is the cable to the main junction box, you have to cur the damaged cable off and butt splice a new 16mm2 section in. Not difficult if you have the correct (but uncommon) tools. Gav

Make sure you are running the correct viscosity oil, if the oil is too thick it will take time to get to the tappets especially when the weather is very cold. Some oil filters do have anti drain valves to prevent the upper oil galleries draining back to the sump via the pump. Once again this can cause the same symptoms. Any car left for a period of time will suffer this syndrome, it just gets worse as the oil gets thicker and the weather gets colder. This is why 90% of engine wear occurs at cold start time. Expensive race engines are spun over at 2000-3000 rpm with no ign and no fuel just to get oil pressure up quickly before starting. Gav

Thanks for the info, mine has just gone too. For info, the small vacuum takeoff powers EGR Engine shutdown valve Turbo wastegate or vane control Heater fresh/air recirc control

Try and remove any burnt/charred insulation, you should see when you find decent copper (bright shiny no dull/darker colour) If you can't salvage enough clean copper, pickle the end of the copper in a mild acidic solution (lemon juice?), tarnished copper doesn't conduct very well, causing a high resistance and therefore hot spots. Make sure you B-i-L uses good quality crimps and crimp tool, not the crap that Fraud/VW/Seat use. I can recommend Wilts if they have an outlet in your area. Gav

if it is the second cable down, you dont have any real options other than to cut as far down the heat damaged cable as is possible (normally 2-3" is enough). You then need to get a new Battery Junction box from your Ford/VW/Seat dealership (they are about 20-22GBP and come will a new battery cable and fuses). You also need about 3-4" of 16mm2 super flexible welding cable, 16mm2 butt crimp, and a 16-10 crimp eyelet. The costliest item needed is the crimp tool to crimp on the butt crimp and crimp eyelet. 6" of heatshrink will finish the job nicely. I had to do mine this year, about 3 hrs before I went to France on hols. If you are close to Gloucester I may be able to help Gav

I have a source of reconditioned pumps at a sensible price, but i need to know the actual model number as they are not sourced from Sharalaxy's. Mk1's are D3WS, late Mk2 are possibly D5Z-F but unsure of the early mk2's. Gav

Help I have a Early 2001 Mk11 Alhambra TDI which is missing the booster heater. I have worked out that it is a D5 unit (Diesel 5kW) but I am trying to confirm which variant D5WS or D5Z-F Can anyone help? It doesn't have the Timer unit for unattended heating if that makes a difference. cheers Gav

The heater would fire up but quickly reach overtemp condition and shut down. Not sure whether it would auto reset or need diagnostics to reset the fault condition if it had repeated x times. Gav PS at least you have a heater, mine just has an empty space and a piece of link pipe!!

As someone who doesn't have a booster heater on their TDI .....I can indeed confirm that the temperature does indeed struggle to rise on any day when the temp is low. What I have noticed when the temp is below 5C is the temp actually goes DOWN when the engine is idling, the level it goes down is dependent on the demands of the internal heaters (obvious really). I've had diesels for the last 10 yrs or so, never seen temps go down after reaching normal op temp. even when in very cold (-30 climes), even an old Vx diesel with a dicky stat used to eventually warm up. So it is either a very efficient engine OR the unlagged heater pipes under the floor loose as much heat as a normal radiator. Just to add some more, even towing a Caravan in hilly areas in 30C heat this year, the engine temp never went above 90C...now that is a first for any car i have owned Gav

My Alhambra doesn't have a auxillary/booster heater fitted. The water pipes are linked together with a bit of pipe and the diesel feed is bunged. I am trying to find the differences between a Mk1 and an early Mk2 heater. Pictures would be great <and I appreciate lying underneath a car at this time of year is not pleasant> Exhaust and inlet appear to be the same, but what about the electrical connector? (and also the link to the Control unit). Does the later unit have a fuel metering unit or does it just take a fuel line from the engine/tank? Lots of Questions but I am trying to keep the options open and get a working heater under the car for less than GBP100. cheers Gav

Sounds familiar to mine, after a bit a looking around...someone has removed the Aux heater booster. The rear internal heater is still there but the underfloor booster has been removed and the heater pipes linked together!!! Gav

Not sure, but I was reading an article on the VeeDub diesel prior to the PD family, use a 'needle lift' sensor in one of the injectors to accurately set and control the timing. If the sensor fails it falls back onto basic timing. Have a look at this

Westie where are you? you may have a vag-com owner closeby who may pop around and do a code read for you, to be honest, if you lived within 5-10 miles of gloucester, then for the cost of fuel and a few tinnies/bottle of wine - 30 mins on site would complete a code read, change a CPS, clear any codes, drink tea and kick tyres....... Gav

If you are not loosing fluid, then my money would be on the master cylinder seals. Logic would say that the slave cylinder seals would leak fluid out of the cylinder into the bell housing causing fluid loss. Fluid bypassing the master cylinder seals would just go back into the reservoir OR possibly down the clutch pedal. G

Charlie Top bloke....it works!!! Next Q? Why does that live in the Central locking alarm module not the trailer module? Another Q Does anyone know how to make the horn bleep when locking/unlocking? cheers from a happy Gav

cheers Charlie, just got back from work and I have to fly out to middle east tomorrow!! I try that when i get back next week. ta muchly gav

I have a generic VAG-COM lead and an early version of the freeware s/w. The module 59 or 69 both come back as not found. Is this the right module or is it in another place? If I could find the correct module I will then pay Rosstech for the s/w as currently I have no faith that the interface is 100% compatible. cheers Gav

Bad form to reply to oneself.. Now all sorted, a quick check on TIS and a confirmation of some photos on here I have got it all back together. Even after 10 mins of running, the terminal is stone cold, but the alternator lugs are slightly warm at each end...another job another day!!!! Thanks to all for their help and advice. One Question? What is the connector at the other end of the main feed cable, where does it terminate and does it suffer from the same problems? Gav

New fuse box fitted after buying all the stock at the local Ford dealer (2 off) none of the VAG garages had any in stock. Ford dealer (whom i know the parts guy quite well) says they sell about 15-20 a year and it seems to be increasing each year I have cut back about 4" of cable that was charred, a 16mm2 butt crimp from the local electrical factors, loads of heatshrink and a new terminal (slightly filed to fit) seems to fit. BUT i have lost the piece of paper that told me the order of the red/white, red/black and red wires into the junction box....feck!!! Gav

Looking at some other pics it appears to the feed to the main fuse box (called the junction box on TIS) as apposed to the alternator loom. The alternator loom is fine, but the 16mm2 cable to the junction box is toast. At this late stage Ive gotta hope that a local stealer has one in group stock AND that will cure the problem. Does anyone know what causes the crimp to get hot? is it a bad connection to start with OR is it close to overload OR does it age? Going on my normal 16th / 17th edition knowledge, 16mm2 is only good for about 95 Amps, I may grab a current meter and measure what is actually going down that cable!! More later, when I ring around the local stealers to see what they can do :-) May have to use one of the other vehicles in the fleet, Frontera diesel, Vectra Petrol, Vectra Diesel or Westfield....sod the caravan, back to France in the Westfield....shame the kids wont fit either :-)

Just doing some last minute checks before going to France on Tuesday, finishing trailer socket wiring, oil change and fluids check. Just about to take a 12v feed from the battery, when I noticed the small junction fusebox was absolutely red hot, lifting the lid, the 110 Amps fuse although not blown was nearly melted and the cable that feeds the main fusebox very charred. Doing a search this appears to be a common problem.....:-( I need to get this sorted by Tuesday am at the latest. Ford, Seat or VW which dealers are likely to keep stock or are there alternative ideas to overcome the fault. I was planning on swapping the fusebox and re-terminating the cable... Gav

i saw an 1800 mk3 apart tonight - defo cam chain not belt

I've checked TIS and done the search :wub: how do you remove the intercooler and hopefully not disturb the rad and evaporator? Can it be done? cheers all Gav

And Hello from me as well... Got the Alhambra yesterday, SE 115 TDi. I have been driving Vauxhalls for the last 12 years (Cavaliers *2, Vectras*4 and a Frontera). The last VW was a Golf GTI in the late 80's/early 90's (it was the most unreliable car I've had bar a pug Mi16), even further back I've had a very early XR3 and before that a 2.3 Cortina about a year after I passed my test! So, why did I buy a sharalaxy? Space, towing a caravan, this forum for its info and the availability of things like VAG-COM. It drives fine and everything works that needs to. Jobs to do (i did get it for a good price!) in order. 1. Fit towbar/electrics 2. Replace intercooler, it seems to be leaking a bit of oil from the nearside lower corner when it has been for a blast, I can't think of any other reason for an oil leak in this area. 3. Top up aircon, it works okay and cools the car but the display flashes at switch on for about 10-20 seconds. 4. Find a booster heater unit - some previous 'muppet' removed it and looped the coolant pipes and bunged the diesel feed. Time to read the FAQ's and get some posts in :):-)