AJB1

The Warning light has just come on for the Airbags has just come on. VCDS reports faults for G179 Air bag sensor driver's side. There's also another fault in one of the CANBUSes. I believe on this car said sensor is in the driver's door. and looking up the details of the CANBUS fault, that can also be in wiring loom to the door. So it's quite like we're gonna need that bit of loom replacing. Any comments? Anyone recommend a good Auto electrician in Herts or N. London?

I have a 2009 2.0 170 and mine had to be replaced a couple of weeks ago @ 78,000 miles. If it is failing you might here it as the engine starts and you will almost certainly hear it when you switch the engine off, especially if you are outside the car or have the window open. The sound is some metallic "clanks" as the engine comes to a stop and, once heard, is distinctive. If it making the noise then you need it replaced. Some types (I don't know about this one) can fail leaving you with no way of starting the engine and no drive even if you can. Apart from that, if it has worn to the point where it is making noises then it is no longer doing its job, it will be allowing torsional vibrations from the engine through to the gearbox and they will be doing harm there - increase wear of the clutch gears, synchro and differential. The purpose of the DMF is because the diesel engine can produce very sharps "peaks" in torque - which appear as torsional vibrations - if you analysed the rotational force from the engine it would have regular sharp "grabs" in it. When it is working correctly your gear changes will be smoother as will pulling away. Most of the wear is done when pulling away from standstill so it is how much of that you do (and your driving style) which determines the life. I have been told that failing at around 75,000 miles is very typical for a Superb 170 that has had "fairly normal usage". A faulty clutch that does not engage cleanly will increase the wear on the DMF, a faulty DMF will increase clutch wear considerably. A clutch which is slipping can overheat the DMF and that rapidly cause failure. Because of the above, because you actually have to remove the clutch to replace the DPF and the labour of dismantling and reassembly is a large chuck of the cost of replacing a clutch, and because a clutch which has done 75k is almost certain to be significantly worn - you would be mad to have the DPF replaced and then refit the old clutch - replace it at the same time. The cost of my new DPF at a Skoda Dealer was around £1300. I have a Warranty with Warranty Direct who do cover DPF failure, unless the DPF failure was caused by a clutch failure. Warranty Direct covered all the labour and 70% of the price of the DPF parts, less a £50 excess. This meant they paid about £800 of the £1300 bill. Note I get a new clutch out of that. Not too bad overall. A.

I got a pair of branded Osram for £50 (including VAT) each about a year ago.

There are various different standards for how metadata (track info) is encoded in MP3 files. Some of the common recent ones are "ID3v1", "ID3v2", "APEv1" and "APEv2" (the newest). Our current Columbus (2011 version software) seems to support "ID3v1", "ID3v2". This replaced the one which came with the car as new (2008) and which died. That was even fussier still Issues in the area Tag support are with many devices. My Internet Radio (Roberts Stream 83i) won't even play or list MP3 which are tagged in formats it does not understand. I suspect the details of the formats supported vary between software versions of Columbus. The good news is if you find out (probably by trial and error) which formats your Columbus supports there are loads of tools let you manage and convert the metadata formats. I use both the tools built into Dolphin and Nautilus as well as the excellent "Easytag" if I need to do a lot - but I use Linux, not Windows. But you should be able to find similar utilities for Windows or Macs by searching Google.

Have any other people here had problems with the Clutch master Cylinder? (I have seen reports of related on other forums and I think I have seen odd reports here) We're on our 4th cylinder in as many years. Car is a December 2008 2.0 TDI 170PS Elegance. In each case the problem has been a failure for the pedal to "return" properly, shortly followed by total failure (pedal to floor) if left. Thanks A.

Dealer bleed system and pronounced the Hydraulics OK. But they decided it still felt funny so they replaced the Pedal, Bracket at links. All covered under warranty. Took them two days. Got the car back 5pm last night. 2pm today, driving towards a junction, foot on clutch to change down. Pedal to floor, no clutch, pedal doesn't come back. Skoda Assist reckon that the Master Cylinder they tested and pronounced ok on Thursday is totally FUBAR. <sigh> We're going on a busy weekend this weekend, 600 mile trip around the West Country. Dealer has found me a Courtesy Car. but it's a bloody Petrol Fabia Estate. <sigh> Not really very impressed. Not really very impressed at all. Especially as I said over and over again I thought it was the Clutch Master Cylinder again.

Can you tell me more about this Bulletin on replacing the seals on the bleed tube? It's not air each time - the actual master Cylinder has failed. Apparently the larger-engined Golfs suffer from the same problem?

Our 2.0 170PS TDI is about to have its 3rd Clutch master Cylinder fitted in as many years. Problem is it "sticks down". Any suggestions why? Is this known problem? A.

Another Engineer here.

The link I gave above (http://www.vwcruise.com/Audi-VW-Sat-Nav-Repair-service.html) Will replace your motherboard for £300. It might also be useful for their opinion of MB failures, it might strengthen your case.

There was a recent thread on Columbus failures here. I posted a link there on a place which offers to repair faulty Columbus units. Warranty Direct will include cover for OEM Sat Navs - but you have to ask them. To cost was very reasonable.

For those without Warranty and who can't get help from Skoda - try this lot for a more economic alternative: http://www.vwcruise.com/Audi-VW-Sat-Nav-Repair-service.html

No. It isn't covered by an extended warranty, but Skoda will tell you it is. I took out a Skoda Extended Warranty. My Columbus failed 4 days after the main warranty ended. I was "not happy". Skoda replaced it FOC in the end. ----------------------------- For the future (and for anyone else) - Warranty Direct will sell you a warranty which covers the Sat Nav. you NEED to phone them though, don't just do it online. You can also get the airbags, seatbelts etc covered in the same way if you do. Finally - if you search the web there are companies out there who will repair all the standard faults on the Columbus - and for very much less than £2k. I don't have time to search now, but if you can't find them, let me know and I will find time to look again.

Hmmm. I'm wondering if what happened here is that the Skoda Dealer ****ed-up the "Calibration" which is necessary after replacing the pressure sensor. That would have pretty much the exact symptoms as described. If so, you need a different Skoda Dealer.

Is there any need to check adjustment or alignment afterwards ?