seatkid

some more tales of woe from my Seat Alhambra - this year I only did 7,000 miles, I drive real slow and gentle, the car is religiously garaged and until now (but never again) serviced by main <_< dealers <_< . This is my 2nd Alhambra (from new) and is not a patch on the 1st. After failing its MOT with a worn n/s track rod end :huh: , its now making a "somethings loose" noise, looks like an o/s anti roll link ball joint worn as this is the only thing I can find. :angry: (does that sound about right?) Is this normal/common for only 50k miles? It is an easy DIY job? And anyone found the cheapest supplier? over the last 2 years the car has also developed an urge to drift left all the time (dealer we can't find any problem sir :unsure: ) - no abnormal tyre wear - i've come to the conclusion the camber setting has moved. (BTW it drives more or less straight on the continent where the road cambers right) - any comments? Oh and also is it normal for rear pads to wear out before front ones? :blink:

Full lock problem is a design fault and not related to the wet belt syndrome To quote Ford TSB 058/200 Subject: Power steering V-belt slips when wet Summary Note: If the steering wheel is held on full lock for longer than 30 seconds, depending on the system, a temporary failure of the power assistance may occur when the steering wheel is turned back. Make sure that this is not the cause of this concern before carrying out the procedure in this bulletin. Should a customer express concern about the power steering V-belt slipping when driving on wet road surfaces, the cause may be water spray on the accessory drive belt and pulley. The water spray passes through the towing eye opening or through a gap between the engine undershield and the side member. To resolve the concern, the towing eye protective cover and the engine undershield should be checked for correct seating and new ones installed as necessary. If the towing eye protective cover is missing or not attached, immediately inform the customer of the importance of this component. Also, the drive belt should be checked for correct tension and wear according to TSB 27/1996. If the auxiliary drive belt is worn, install a new one according to Operation Number 31 413 0 (Workshop Manual/TIS-CD).

Forgive me for being cynnical but after reading your tale I am inclined to think the dealer did "break" your a/c at the service. Maybe they messed up the a/c programming during the diagnostic. Ford's remark about ruining the compressor when pumping empty is bu******, a low gas pressure switch is fitted anyway to prevent this. And whats the chance of the problem showing up exactly while its in for servicing? Probably its incompetence or maybe as an ex ford dealer once told me "warranty work is really lucrative"

Ahh...Misting problems - possibly the tip of a very nasty iceberg, certainly a bag of worms.. On vehicles without climate control: The recirc control controls a vacuum pipe which goes via an electric cutoff valve before it operates the flap (by vacuum). Check by starting engine, turn on blower on medium to high. When you turn recirc on or off you will hear quite a load thump from the passenger side and a distinct change in tone of the air when it draws in from the passenger footwell. On vehicles with climate control: Don't think there is a fuse/relay for the electrically operated actuator flap - you can check if the actuator flap is working like this. Turn ignition on but dont start engine. Turn on blower on lowish setting. When you turn on or turn off recirc you will hear a mild thump on the passenger side when the flap moves. At higher blower settings the tone of the air will change as it draws air from the passenger footwell. Default position for recirc flap is outside air as it would be dangerous otherwise (lack of oxygen to occupants) and both systems turn recirc off after 20 mins automatically to stop people passing out. Those with no air conditioning must get used to a life of misting up on rainy days. Why does it mist up? This is due to the poor design of the ventilation system. The problem is the pollen filter is located in a stupid place - in a place right where water from the windsceen drains - this results in a wet filter or at best a filter drawing air in over water. To make matters worse the drain valves in the a/c system can get blocked allowing the system to become filled with water. There are numerous Ford TSBs on this and other related a/c problems, so rule no.1 - if your car is in warranty get it in now and insist it is fixed, otherwise.... check a/c drain valves and discard if necessary - for cars built prior to 04.99 - fit a revised pollen filter frame (which has a plastic water deflector) - this has to be glued to the pollen filter - also fit an additional foam filter fit a revised blower resistor (which boosts the fan speeds) Now the really nasty bit - if your a/c is packing in or has packed up, not only do your misting problems begin..your love affair with your Shalaxy will probably end... Note 1: the a/c switches off automatically below 5 deg C outside temp to prevent icing up of the evaporator. So at this time of the year the a/c is basically useless. (They could have designed it so the heater came before the evaporator but???) To check aircon is working, with somebody listening under the bonnet and the engine running, (provided it is above 5 deg C ambient), when you turn on the aircon (from econ to auto on the climate control) you should hear the a/c compressor clutch clack loudly and the engine revs will probably dip momentarily. If the output of the a/c is weak and/or the a/c is noisy or making uncharacteristicly strange noises - despite what the dealer might tell you, the refrigerant is low and should be topped up. If it isnt working at all, prepare yourself for a long and expensive process before you get it working again properly (i.e.without any leaks). Note that if any part is changed in the a/c system, the dryer *must* be changed and the a/c lubricant replenished. Seat dealers certainly don't seem to know this simple fact. Sad Fact: There are a number of Ford TSBs regarding faulty/poor quality/failing evaporators (thats the bit in the dash that could be under water..and costs an arm and a leg to replace)

I think you'll find the Shalaxy service indicator just counts out the 10,000 miles (or more likely 15,000 km) from the last reset, just to remind the driver. The problem is the majority of dealers never bother to reset the indicator if it hasn't been triggered before the service takes place and so it comes on at peculiar times (in my case it always seems to come on when on holiday 2 weeks after a major service!) Fortunately its easy to reset by anyone, but I can see it can frighten some people. Unfortunately though , all the Seat and VW dealers I've come across are a complete waste of time and money. I'm sure my car(s) would be a lot healthier if they had never been anywhere near them, and they have a knack of completely misdiagnosing faults.

Its a design compromise, because of electrical constraints, the rear heater blower motor is disabled if the rear heated window is turned on - I think they use a common supply bus. The rear heater is conventional water heat exchanger, which may be fitted with a booster heater which heats the water by burning fuel.

All TDis should have an undertray fitted, the towing eye cover should also be fitted to prevent water getting onto the power steering belt. Check also the belt is tensioned correctly - change it if it damaged or high mileage. see Ford TSB 058/2000 for further info

re: ticking noises from auxilliary heater see Ford Technical service bulletin no. 97/1996 -Ticking noises from the PATS module in low ambient temperatures only affect diesel models - comes from the diagnostic link between heater and diagnostic computer - fix involves cutting and insulating a cable - shouldnt affect Ford vehicles built after 16.05.1996 although my 98 Seat suffers from it - guess Seat and Ford dont talk to each other. If you keep your car in a warm garage, it can take 30 minutes or more before the booster heater cuts in and only then if the ambient temperature is consisently low (< 4 deg) and/or your coolant temperature is low. So you may not hear the ticking/turbine noise on a short run.

It took me ages to track down this peculiar and annoying sizzing / tv whistle type noise - it comes from the wing mirrors! (on my Seat alhambra - note Fords have different design mirror) - specifically the small gap between the fixed bit on the door and the swinging bit on the mirror. It is wind induced noise! My way to fix this design flaw - put some foam tape in the gap.