Javaman

I have a 3-month old L & K Octy 11 estate 2.0 TDI which has developed an electrical fault. This may have been present from new and I've only now latched onto it but I could do with some advice. The first time it did something strange was about a month ago; I had just arrived at my destination and switched off the engine. I had placed it in "park" and my foot was still on the footbrake and the headlights were on. I heard a high frequency clicking sound coming out of the dashboard. It sounded like a relay clicking in and out but the dashboard lights started to flicker at exactly the same frequency - the headlights were apparently unaffected. I turned off the lights and removed the key and it stopped. A short somewhere???? I've heard this sound once or twice since but additionally, the car has taken to randomly unlocking the doors whilst I'm driving along. I have the trip computer set to lock all doors when driving. Sure enough there's a reassuring clunk as I pull away and the door lock light next to the cigarette lighter turns amber. Then, completely at random, there's another clunk, the door lock light goes out and the doors are all unlocked. They only lock again once the car is stationary and I pull away once again. This might not occur for two or three days, with everything working correctly and then again, might happen two or three times on a single twenty mile journey. So - do I book it in at this stage or wait and see if it gets worse?? I know how difficult intermittent faults can be to trace. That said, I don't want to get stranded anywhere and I am also nervous about having all the trim pulled out of the dash and getting my new car back with poorly fitting fascia, scratches and scuffs etc etc etc, particularly if the problem isn't solved. Ideas anyone??

I thought QG0 was variable and QG1 fixed??

I agree with everything that's been said. The DSG saps fuel and the 2.0tdi isn't a patch on the 130 1.9 on fuel either . Add the two together, throw in an estate for a bit of extra lard and you're burning serious quantities of extra fuel. It's not bad though when all said and done but I did kind of convince myself that it would be better than it is with economical driving. The energy sapping nature of the DSG can be better understood when you consider it holds 6 litres of oil for starters:eek: When lifting off at 60mph in top, the decelaration in the 1.9 manual was barely noticeable and it would just roll for ever. Do the same with the DSG and the brakes are almost redundant as you find yourself peeling your eyeballs off the windscreen!!

I also stick mine into neutral when stationary for anything other than a few seconds - might not do any good but it certainly won't do any harm and can only prevent wear. When all said and done, a disengaged clutch will still drag and wear. I'm generally happy with mine - up changes can be very smooth, down changes less so, particularly if the throttle is feathered. 4th to 3rd is particularly jerky. I also find that up-changes in the lower gears are smoother in manual than allowing it to do it's own thing. I agree about the slipping in 2nd thing - I drive mine in tiptronic a lot of the time on the open road and only stick it in auto in town. Have knocked it into neutral a few times when changing in up manually in auto mode . . . duh!!!

Changing the oil is a PIA. Don't forget that the long-life oil is a fully synthetic oil of better quality than the stuff recommended for 10K service intervals. My 1.9 needed it's first variable service at just under 20K so I just set the service interval indicator to fixed and changed the oil myself every 15K but used long-life oil. Seemed like a good compromise to me. It meant I wasn't spending my life changing the stuff, the car was getting it's lub changed more often than it otherwise would (but only just) and I wasn't paying through the nose for the privilige. Do bear in mind that a bucket of long-life oil is damned expensive and whilst it does not harm to change the oil more often than necessary, I genuinely believe all you're doing is wearing out the thread on your sump plug more quickly - nothing more and nothing less fellas!!

I've just traded in my 1.9 130 hatch for a 2.0tdi estate with DSG - driven in the same manner, I would get 60mpg from the 1.9 ans I struggle to get 42-43 mpg from the 2.0 over the same regular journey. The two cars a chalk and cheese and a country mile apart in the economy stakes. I would also say that the 1.9 manual felt every bit as powerful and torquey as the 2.00. As for running in - no experience with this but I would be inclined to get the break-in done without towing - surely this has to be the way to go. The whole point of the break-in is to avoid excessive revs and excessive loads. If you tow a van, you're subjecting the engine to highl loads for sure. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted with my new car and 42mpg is good by any standards other than . . . my previous steed which blew it away no problem at all. Some folks will give me a load of ****e about how much more economical it will be when it's run it - O.K - add about 2mpg to the above but I bet it won't be any more than that!!!

My TPM went bong tonight on the way home from work. . . . .the first time it's gone off since I had the car new erhh . . .1500 miles ago. I kicked all four tyres and concluded that none of them looked flat and carefully drove home the remaining 7-8 miles. I put the car in the garage and checked the pressures 2.4 bar in both rears and 2.3 bar in both fronts. An hour later and they had settled to the correct level of 2.2 rear and 2.1 front:( So, I had a false warning - I've reset the thing and will see what happens. Do folks get false warnings with this system?? Have I got a fault somewhere???

Phew!!!- had me worried there for a moment!! Still, I wouldn't be surprised if she's been parked up on an airfield somewhere for a while but not for 5 years hopefully!

duh . . I'm such a dope. I need to change that!! I p/exd the 130 for my L & K . . . I sure hope it wasn't made in 2004 - I've only just registered it as brand new having bought it from Rainworth:eek: I won't charge headlong into buying this kit but I'm sure there will be plenty of stuff on here to read through, learn and then make an informed choice. Thanks anyway. One problem I have been having is driving up a small ramp into my garage in a smooth and controlled way. At least I've sussed this - turn the ESP off. Makes life soooo much easier. The problem was that each time I applied the brake in order to stop and check I wasn't about to rip off the mirrors, the wretched discs were grabbing and not releasing immediately - made for a series of staccato lurches into the garage instead of a smooth operation with me feathering the brakes - turn the ESP off and the Hill Hold function is cancelled - life suddenly becomes so much easier!!!

Can anyone help me with the following - that section of the VIN that is 1Z3, 1Z4 OR 1Z5 - what does this relate to and what is the difference between the above three For the record. My car VIN includes 1Z4 and is a 2.0pd L & K Octy estate. And a totally unrelated question -VAG-COM or VCDS - I'm thinking that I might invest. Ross-tech feature a cheaper version called the MICRO-CAN which is for cars based on the mk5 Golf platform. I believe that includes my car but that said, having had a look at the U.K distributor sites they only seem to list the KEY series of USB HEX-CAN (I think I have remembered this correctly). Only the latter is any good for my car and appears to be the fullblow bells and whistles pro jobby. So - would the Micro-Can be good enough?? Indeed is it available in this country as no-one seems to have it on their site or should I resist the temptation to be tight and just splash out on the full monty. As far as the latter goes - I will only ever be using it on my 2.0pd until such time as I trade it in which won't be for at least 4-5 years, in which case would the more expensive interface be out of date anyway??? Any advice appreciated

I've been looking on e-bay at workshop manuals. Only thing is, you need to buy an OBD2 cable (I think that's what it's called from memory). Now, I've asked a few other questions and this turns out to be a "freeware" version of VAGCOM by Ross-tech. So, here goes. Would this be enough to enable me to carry out simple diagnostics on the car such as gear oil changes on a DSG for monitoring oil temp etc and where the hell do I buy the cable and how much? What limits would be imposed by having a freeware version of the software:confused:

Just press the trip computer button on the end of the windscreen wiper stalk for 2 seconds and then using it as a rocker switch, scroll down to Setup and select it using the trip computer reset button on the underside of the wiper stalk. Select the Conv menu and you have the option of All, none or driver only. Select none and the job's a goodun. The water will no longer leak in through open windows - it will come in through the bulkhead instead!!! LOL

Well, I just p-exd my 1.9 Octy Elegance hatch 130 for a PD 140 with DSG. I don't know if it's the same basic engine bored out or a completely different animal. What I can say is that the 1.9 was a whole world apart on the economy stakes. The performance would be about the same but I could easily achieve 60mpg on a run in the 1.9 with a light throttle. Stick a gallon in my current car and I would have to push it the last 15miles or more!!! There have been a few comments on here about porous heads and blown turbos on the pd140 - I don't know if these comments apply in equal measure to the 1.9- if not, I wouldn't even think about it - get a 1.9!! If these issues are not model specific, with the exception of economy where the 1.9 excels, I would just but the best car for the money whichever engine it happens to have!

Thanks for that. I will keep the floor and probably have it installed most of the time. I just wanted to know from the off, how to remove it if necessary. I'd better ring the dealers to double check on removing the sidewalls - I wouldn't want to turn the things the wrong way and risk any damage:( These manuals on e-bay are less than a tenner so it might be worth a punt. Will question a few "sellers" to see if I get any sensible replies and then bite the bullet.

Thanks for that - I half suspected the rear cargo net hoops as I can see that there is some connection between those and the sidewalls. I tried turning them anticlockwise by hand but didn't want to force them incase something broke - that said, I used quite a lot of force and they didn't budge. I don't think I will need any extra floor covering as the felt up the sides of the boot space extends down and under the side walls and protrudes into and over the boot floor by a few inches and then the "felt" covered hardboard spare-wheel cover lies on top of that. When the sidewalls are out, it will just look that same as my old Octy boot. The rearmost loops holding down the sidewalls are too big for the cargo nets to attach to properly, I would guess that small diameter units are fitted into cars without the raised floor so that the nets attach. Not that it matters cos I probably won't use them. Loads of manuals on e-bay. I get the impression that some of it is pirated main dealer stuff. Will sit tight and see what others have to say before I go for it. Thanks for your advice - much appreciated