seatkid

Have you got the rear quarter window mounted christmas trees that illuminate when you brake? And what about the illuminated taxi sign on the roof? ;)

No, thats more likely to be the infamous relay 30 problem (fuel pump relay)

Before you panic, check the engine roll restrictor bar. Its located under the gearbox, one end is fastened to the gearbox and the other end to the body chassis member. A very common fault is the bolt shears and so the bar bangs about everytime you accelerate and decelerate. You need to remove the engine undertray to get the roll restrictor. Look here and here (item 18)

As Amarok says, clean the ICV (idle control valve) - it starts sticking when gummed up leading to stalling problems typically when slowing to a halt - known problem.

And a few days ago, mine passed yet again no problems and fast pass on emissions. ;) 13yr old and 118k. Tester said that generally the only things he sees them fail on are track rod ends and occasionally broken rear springs.

I dont know about red power steering fluid, the VAG fluid I have in the garage is clear with a slight mineral oil yellow tinge. Obviously Des's car isnt a 1990 Tdi, they didnt start building them until 1996! If its a Mk1 then it has a ford gearbox that has special thin ford oil, which I believe is red. Sounds to me a failing gearbox / diff .

Maybe they used a lump hammer to get the old exhaust off and damaged the cat (causing a blockage and greatly reduced performance)

On mine its on the the plastic end housing of the alternator The top number, I think, is the Bosch part number, the other is the SEAT/VAG Part no.

;) Glad you got sorted.

Check the small rubber covers are are still on all the door switches. Check the door switches all operate correctly, ie the lights come on when the door opens. The 10 mins is the timeout that occurs if you leave a door open to stop battery drain.

Yep, I would say contamination of the pressure plate. Could be oil from the engine seal, gearbox seal (less likely I would have thought) or from the clutch slave cylinder. Why did you change the slave cylinder, that sounds the likely candidate to me. Lost any brake fluid recently? I very occassionally get some judder, but the cars now done 115k after 13 years. It usually happens after the cars been used hard in very hot weather (30 deg+). It usually disappears quickly though, on the rare occasions it persisted, I just slip the clutch for a few seconds using higher revs than normal when setting off in 1st. (I usually just pull away at idle revs :) )

The low oil pressure that set off the beeper was probably intermittent - the ECU probably latches the fault as its regarded as serious until you at least turn off the ignition. Once the bearing starts to fail due to poor lubrication (usual reason), the seal follows quickly. Once runaway starts, the high rpm and massive inlet suction would drain the sump quickly unless you somehow stall the engine.

The interior lights will switch off after about 10 minutes automatically to stop the battery being drained. If your lights are not turning off when you close all doors (after about 10 secs) then one of the door switches is faulty/pushed in or more likely the rubber cap on the switch has fallen off. This is whats preventing you locking the car - it thinks one of the doors is still open. On the Carat you should have a dash display thats shows which door is "open". The doors lock automatically after 3 or 4 minutes under certain circumstances. e.g. if you unlock the car but dont open any door. The door led problem indicates a wiring problem in the door rubber gaitor. Pull this back and check for wbroken wires and insulation. Full guides with pictures in the technical section FAQ (3 topics)

Youve not put the ends in the plastic runner correctly - they cross over from opposite ends and the spring sits IN the plastic runner. See this thread for a detailed photo

Post 98 models the unit (I think its called GEM) is located up behind the dash. Not compatible with pre 98 models.

Dont know what is meant by resetting the MAF sensor or the throttle sensor. Presumably you mean clearing the fault log. That doesnt fix the sensors. Your inital problem (slow and sluggish) sounds like classic MAF sensor symptoms. The way to fix this is to change the MAF sensor. If there is a throttle position error being thrown up constantly then you have a faulty sensor and probably explains the 2000 rpm limit. It needs replacing (about

I vaguely remember someone posting the sequence of buttons you press to reset the unit. Alternatively you could try disconnecting the battery for a minute. Make sure you have the radio code before you do that though as it will require recoding after a battery disconnect.

You should see an iced screen start thawing within 30sec - 1 min of switching on the heated screen. It switches off automatically after 4 minutes. For technical reasons the blower of the passenger compartment heater is switched off when the windscreen heating is switched on, apparently.

Yep you got it. I really think you should try a new MAF sensor. Turbos should not be adjusted! The "cut in" point as you put it is dictated by the ECU. It looks at throttle demand, revs, coolant temperature and airflow (using the MAF sensor). The ECU is mapped to ensure overfuelling (and black smoke) does not occur. This is largely down to the readings from the MAF sensor. The turbo is fully variable and the ecu controls a solenoid valve (N75) to control the vacuum operated actuator on the turbo. It gets feedback from the turbo pressure sensor and so is a closed loop control system. I really think you should try a new MAF sensor.

Perfectly normal, not adjustable - controlled electronically by ECU. They are all like that.

95% of petrol starting problems are ignition related. Sorry my initial comment that "if no sparks then could be immobiliser" was wrong! IIRC the immobiliser does actually allow a car to start but cuts it out after 2 seconds. Maybe led you down the wrong path. Glad you got it sorted out and hope its not made you too nervous about tackling some more such as rear tailgate. BTW 90% of troubles there are also rubber gaitor wiring breaks/shorts.

Resetting/reprogramming the key only affects the OE central locking. Provided you havent lost the PATS chip in the keyfob the immobiliser should be OK. You didnt open the keyfob did you? Thats when people lose the PATS chip. Did you check for sparks at the plugs? You've probably flooded the engine - hence the smell of petrol - probably best to remove the spark plugs to "dry" out. Do you have a (OE) door led? (Not sure if basic Sharan without CL/alarm has one).If so whats that doing when you try to start. Is the battery charged? i.e. not flat.

I think its quite normal to hear a hiss when accellerating hard between about 1900-2500rpm. This I think is just the turbo pumping at max volume. If you had a significant leak anywhere in the boost pipework you would invariably suffer from "limp home" episodes. I think also partly blocked EGR valves can hiss quite a bit.

Thats the relay 30 were talking about. It should click when the ignition is turned on. Usually you will also hear a 2 second whir from the in tank pump as it pressurises the fuel system, however if the fuel system already has enough pressure, the fuel pump may not prime in this case. Usually the relay fails because it has a dry joint. Some members have opened them up and resoldered the connections to make them work. I think they cost around

Check for sparks at the plugs first. If no sparks then could be immobiliser otherwise fuel pump relay.