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A walk this morning

Wow, who'd've thought they would find another way to make the CR1.6 engine go wrong?

https://www.jandeengineering.co.uk/camshaftalignment.html

Good call, and vastly more likely I reckon.

Colourful end to the day earlier..........

Whenever you use aircon, humidity in the air that passes through the evaporator (the cooling element in the heating/ventilation) condenses and the condensate water should drain out though the bottom mounted condensate drain tube. How much water depends on the humidity in the air (outside or inside if on recirc setting) Not all water manages to drain for a variety of reasons, perhaps partly blocked drain or a build up of debris or fungis/bacteria or just hanging on the evaporator fins. So when you restart the car after previously using ac, its normal for humid air to come out of the vents and mist up the screen initially. Turning on the ac will dry the air (water going elsewhere) and clear the screen. Alternatively turn the blower up to dry the evaporator out, how long it takes depends on the amount of water still in the evaporator. A good habit is to turn a/c off a few minutes before you complete your drive but leave the blower on to dry out the evaporater before you turn off the engine. This will stop bacteria, fungus and bad smells developing due to stagnant water in the evaporator when the car is stood. It also stops the initial misting you get when starting.

You learn something new every day 🙂

Decided that while a stage 1 Superb would be very quick and effective, I need to give ICE a more proper send off before confining myself to a microwave on wheels for a daily.

Oil temp by looks .

I have purchased a rea anti-roll bar, and also a pair of TT callipers, the car has recently had discs and pads all round and they feel very good, so I’m going to wait until they need replacing before upgrading.

Is it the bolt (in the wheel) or the locking key (pictured) you are after? Did you get the wheel bolt out or is that damaged too? As @Warrior193 states the key code is usually embossed on the other side. Example

Unfortunates maybe. I would like to hear the reasons some give. Faulty fuel gauge and not familiar with the vehicles sounds OK. Idiot might be a bit strong as could be muppets. Just a Silly Billy, 'not the full shilling' , 'a sandwich short of a picnic,' Risking it for a biscuit or to save a few pence a litre to get to a cheaper place might be common. PS. I was driving a mate and towing a trailer to go collect a car. Meant to stop in Aberdeen to fill up with him paying, forgot as catching up on news. 30 miles north having passed a filling station by 1 mile the car spluttered and i was out of petrol. Dangerous bit of road uphill and he went with the empty can from the boot to a couple of houses, one with a gyro copter and beach buggy outside but no luck. So thumb out and he went and got a gallon and got a lift back to me. That was about 4 years ago, the time before that i just got to the pumps & that was 35 years ago taking a friend and horsebox trailer to get a horse and once the horse was loaded and heading south on the A9 i was getting half the MPG and Blair Atholl filling station was closed and it turned out she had no money with her and in Pitlochry they took my Family Allowance book as security and let me fill the tank. EDIT.

Glen Doll 3rd March. Great the disabled toilet at the Ranger / visitor centre is open 24 hours. (Heated to stop pipes freezing as best they can, sceptic tank. Toilets only likely to be closed in summer if a draught. A Dry closet being the answer to that one.) No EV charging there yet which is a shame as some more solar panels and battery storage would be simply clever for this and the building.

More trouble and expense that it's worth.

My vRS is completely standard apart from one (in my mind very important) modification. Larger front brake disks. The first week I owned the car I had someone pull out of a turning that had a red light so hit the anchors. We stopped but it felt 'taxed' and the stopping power felt less than the car should have. So I had the Audi TT disk upgrade, and it was perfect on the few times I needed to scrub of speed quickly. Also a simple bolt on rear anti-roll bar was another early upgrade which I have appreciated on twisty roads and in Milton Keynes (lots of roundabouts). Otherwise totally standard.

It's quite different! At least if someone hits me I can say how could you not see it? 🤪

Have you tried RTFM?

In an emergency you can lock the car with the key. Remove key hole cover with key, there's a slot underneath. Before you do anything, the red light must be flashing in the fob when you press it.

There is still a Tory Government 11 years on and the seemingly are Pro-EV,s so by now at least for England they should have everything clear to understand between Land Owners, Lease holders, Council,s / planning departments, Insurers and HMRC.

In that case, I'd give yourself 12 months to familiarise yourself with the vehicle and ensure it's running right before you add the variable of a remap. That way, if something fails in the first 12 months of ownership, you'll know it wasn't caused by the remap. It'll also give you a chance to investigate the different maps, get a good baseline of your MPG, and perhaps get an initial rolling road run to see what power you've got to start with.

What a generous offer, I like your style and reasoning! I hope it finds the owner it deserves.

Oh I don't know - I'm quite partial 😁 Each to their own though i guess 👍

Thought this was cool in the folder of receipts! Automotive print, press release and the original double sided brochure.

Wonderful drive back, I’d forgotten how sporty the ride was, well compared to our Dacia Sandero it is 😆 Effortless cruise back from Burnley to Stoke On Trent, the M6 gods were kind to me! Got home to find the OS headlight backing sat at the bottom of the engine bay, just ordered a new one 🙄 ABS and ASR lights came on, after a Costa stop they went off again, only to come on again shortly after, so that needs investigating. I obviously had rose tinted glasses on when I viewed it initially, couple of minor (I’m being really anal here) marks here and there, and the drivers mirror needs replacing, oh and the tool kit is missing a couple of bits. But, I’m so happy, again I have to say the previous owner really did not mess about, the amount of receipts for genuine parts from TPS is staggering! First job is to remove the blue sticky protective plastic! What would normally sit in this space?

When I went to view it, the number one concern I had was the mention of corrosion in the previous MOT, it mentioned the wishbones and the rear lower spring seat, but I was very happy to see it was just the surface rust which most cars of this age will no doubt show signs of. The sills are all solid, there are some stone chips here and there and I could see some swirl marks on the roof, but it is still in amazing condition. Oddly it still has the blue plastic delivery protectors stuck on the boot carpet and along the silver vRS sill trim! That leads me on to the interior, it looks as though it has never been sat in, the rear seats for sure have never been graced, everything looks like it would had you just pulled out of the main dealers forecourt from buying it! So, my plans are to completely refresh the suspension, I have already ordered several items today in preparation, the rear axle will need to be attacked and painted and the paintwork will need some touch ups and a professional detail job to bring it right up to 'scratch', Now I said I would keep it standard and that really is my plan, and when I refresh the suspension it will look standard to all but those of you with a keen eye! I was toying with the idea of a RARB, and as it happened I just thought I'd see what was knocking about, anyway I bought a brand new Whiteline rear kit off Amazon of all places for £126! This set the ball rolling so I have now ordered Bilstein B4 shocks, Eibach 25mm Pro-Kit, new bump stops, new dust sleeves, new top mounts, new rear upper/lower spring seats, new wishbones, ball-joints, consoles bushes and genuine bolts throughout! ...and that's about it, I have no further plans other than to enjoy it, maintain it and hopefully keep it for a very, very, very long time!

I read stuff about Tesla owners wanting the pedestrian warning activated and Auto Express and others saying it was introduced for PHEV,s & BEV,s before it was legislation. I suspect as usual it was on New Type Approvals after the date and not all Vehicles manufactured from that date. As it is there are plenty BEV,s and PHEV,s that do not emit warning noises.

Just to be clear. Coasting is a state of the DSG transmission and not the motor. You are talking about the motor shutting down, right?

Seat/Cupra is now guinea pig for VAG SW doepartment. They always get new firmwares as first ones. Next is VW and Skoda is last one, with sometimes even few months of delay.

If I’m going on a longer motorway run, longer than I know the battery will last. I’ll set it to hybrid mode once I’m joining the motorway and then untick the “auto” checkbox next to the mode selection. which then holds the battery level where it is. It’ll still use the battery in traffic and under those circumstances it’ll discharge. So it’s also not actively charging the battery from the engine in this mode (which wastes fuel) if you don’t uncheck the “auto” box, it seems to discharge the battery assisting the engine but I’d prefer to save the battery for the end of the journey when I’m not on the motorway anymore.

I really liked my previous Red Kodiaq. Splashed the cash. But it had risen to over £1000 so I now have an Energy Blue model. And I like this one too. I spent my cash on “under the skin” useful extras. All manufacturers seem to have gone Silly on extra cost paint jobs. The worst of course is paying extra for Primer Grey. They’re really taking the ****s.

I assumed it was a VRS according to his profile...

Well said. I hope too.

@malk24 The coolant level sensor is notorious for generating spurious overheating/low level errors on a cold (like left overnight cold) engine. If you can see the sensor prongs in the expansion bottle (not all cars) just run a wide flat screwdriver down both prongs 2 or 3 times and that should clear the issue for a year or 2.

I use Google Maps, as I find the built-in satnav is ok to get to a town, but I frequently require to get to somewhere which i don't necessarily have an address for. It easy to say, OK Google, navigate to 'hotel name' and town, and usually this will find it for me. I also have Waze, but I tend to only use it as a backup (I also need navigation on a second car which does't have built-in. I don't know whether Waze responds to voice commands.

@Camera Have you ever thought about engine swap with a more powerful motor?

Assuming that the cam lobes are in fact separate from the camshaft, (and shrunk onto it) I think if would take an extraordinary amount of lateral force to force them to rotate on the shaft, more likely to break the camshaft. Does anyone know if the cams are actually manufactured this way - or is the dealer referring to the variable cam timing mechanism?

Hello, I just bought my self a 2015 MK3 Skoda vrs … hoping this car will last me many years! I’m from a heavy Ford background … I’ve owned a Mondeo mk3 ST and I also still own a mk6 fiesta st im going out of my comfort zone with a Skoda . But thought I’d join here and introduce myself

God help me, but I find like that wrap! 😄

So you're complaining about your Superb's TSR performance (MQB with 2Q0 camera and MIB2), on a forum area for the Octavia IV? (MQBevo with 5WA camera and MIB3) 😕😕. Try it on your Octavia, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised Yes there are free options out there, but they don't display on the HUD or virtual cockpit. They're also not reading what's around you, they're working purely of data received from external sources.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I now realise I could have posted this in a more appropriate section. I think it’s good to listen to advise and then apply rational filters to see if the advice helps our needs. I was very much with you in that I needed convincing the qualities I was after were best found in an after market damper rather than OEM, at least without spending many ££££. I replaced the dampers in my Octavia after 40k miles. They were not defective in any way but oil moving through shims and orifices will inevitably degrade. Most drivers only seem to replace dampers when they actually fail. I’d rather spend a relatively small amount to keep the control fresh dampers give. 35k (1.5 years) later and I’m ready to replace them again. So far the rational decision is to go for the B6s as everything points towards them fitting my needs the best. In this case the suspension bushes are fine but I’d like increased LSC from the dampers to support the car better especially as it’s often loaded in the back. Interesting your view on modern cars and tyres. I think much depends on the characteristics a driver prioritises. Everything is always a compromise. Personally I feel 225/40/18 is a good compromise for sporty handling on uk roads with a +1500kg car. Especially as most modern tyres aim towards mpg rather than sporty handling and precise steering feedback. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mPyg3ilw3KU&pp=ygUbV2hpY2ggaXMgdGhlIGJlc3QgdGhyZSBzaXpl Justin

ChatGPT 3. I bought the car used, at a car dealership. Everything seemed fine, the car is very well-preserved and there were no signs of any problems with the engine head. The only thing I noticed is that it doesn't perform well at low revs, for example, if driving at 50 km/h in fourth gear, it feels like the engine has significant vibrations and makes a strange noise. Otherwise, it ran smoothly and pulled well. Three weeks have passed since the purchase and suddenly it broke down, during light city driving, the engine started running on 3 cylinders, shaking violently and barely moving. My mechanic determined that there is no compression on the third cylinder. So, I returned the car to the seller because I received a warranty on the engine from them. At their mechanic's, I saw broken valve lifters. Now they need to solve the problem and fix the breakdown. I hope they'll do it properly.

From my VW Golf invoice in October 2023, in Sydney, Australia: Replace wiper blades, front (labour): $35.27. WIP. BLADE (part): $58.00 Replace wiper blade, rear (labour): $17.64 WIPERBLADE (part): $22.00 GST (10%): $13.29 Total: $146.21 I expect the Skoda dealer to be similar. So AUD 160 is about right for replacing all 3 blades. And these are consumables so not covered by warranty. As for Australian Consumer Law, I think you could argue the case if they lasted less than a year but two years seems a fairly typical lifetime.

My new toy.... MY2020 1.5 DSG SE...... shame its not the SE L I wanted but genuine 4.5K miles was too alluring. Returning my company XC60 phev on Friday so a welcome to retirement I guess.

Correct, which is crazy IMO, it sounds like they have been coded to be on.

Just a guess, but RS has a fake sound activator on the left behind the rear bumber and all the fuzz could be caused by this.

That's well tidy. Bonus points from me for the Scottish registration. Nice to see one in good hands.

After 6.5 years, decided to change Gandalf's personality. Really pleased with how these turned out, and the fitment is spot on. Rotiform LAS-R 19x8.5 ET35 Matte Black finish.

Theres a possibility that they haven't reconnected one of the brake cables on the drum correctly. They are rather fiddly to fit.

And the official VAG solution to this design error? Slather the console bushes in grease 🙄 I've been saying this was the problem for a long time and their solution was ludicrous and in denial , thanks for posting the photographic evidence 👍

Did you guys also noticed a lot of water is being held there? On top of the bumper?