StevesTruck

That will normally be linked to the offside front wheel abs sensor, but without the codes, we're just guessing

From memory, it's a coding job on a pre-face lift, bigger job on a facelft.

Did they read the existing fault codes, or just clear them?

The O2 sensor on a 1.2 throwing a fault can be a bit of a bad sign, the rough path of failure is: Timing chain tensioner fails to take up tension quickly when the engine starts. Timing chain skips. Generally does the exhaust valves a bit of damage so they don't seal Shows an ECU fault from the emissions, or gradually kills the O2 sensor. I'm wondering if the chain's skipped a bit the other way making it run lean.

The only real killers of these cars is rust and the timing chain skipping on the 1.2's. If it's ok for these, and you like it, might as well keep it in my opinion. It's that old gamble really, if you bought another £1200 car, there's no saying it's not going to need the same amount of work in the first year. I have a rough rule for buying cheap cars, whatever you spend on the car, put the same aside for anything it needs in the first year, if you don't spend that, you've won. If the garage has got a poor attitude towards your car and doesn't want to work on it, time to find another garage.

From memory, the cat's on the downpipe on these engines, so I'm guessing that's a bit chunk of the bill.

I have used this site a few times and found them to be really helpful and not expensive - onlineradiocodes.co.uk

Sounds that way, I'd imagine the other end is one of the rear quarters, behind the side panels in the boot. Most likely the nearside.

Looks aftermarket, so possibly an amplifier or something. Careful reconnecting it in case the other end is sat against metal somewhere.

How does the EGR look inside? They love to get sooted up

There'll be a fuse somewhere, it'll just be shared with other things. I tend to just continuity test them all one at a time in situ

Check your fuses. The fuse will normally pop before the motor does. Also bear in mind that just because the top of the tank's thawed, the bottom might not be.

Probably worth giving it a scan if youve got the means to. If not, have a look at the wiring under the seats to make sure theyre plugged in properly and the wiring isnt snagged or damaged. Dont unplug the seats with the ignition on.

Try some silicon spray, or cheap furniture polish, on the rod, open and close the boot a few times, spray again until it won't take any more. Probably won't work, but it's cheap and easy for the odd time it does.

Sounds like an immobiliser/clocks fault. The snap on not talking to it might be a sign it's immobilised..... but, just for a quick check, take the breather out of the top of the fuel filter and have a look to see if there's fuel in the filter housing, just in case it's a faulty lift pump. You can get test rings that go around the key and flash when the key is being read, they're a bit cheap and nasty and far from perfect, but they can give you a clue as to whether the immobiliser isn't reading the key eBay UKCar Key ECU Test Coil Auto ECU Induction Signal Detection...Vehicle Testing Tools Car Key ECU ECU Test Coil Automotive ECU Induction Signal Detection Card Auto Diagnostic Tool. It applies to all cars tested with the use of [security] chip induction coil. Photo

If you like it, why not keep it? I wouldn't listen to anyone who tells you you aren't going to be able to buy diesel, it's what most commercial and large goods vehicles run on and there's no sign of that changing any time soon.

Leave the power on for about half an hour and it should go back to the entry screen. The procedure for entering the code is a bit odd, I can't remember what it is but it's in the owner's manual. I've used these for a few codes in the past and never had a problem https://www.onlineradiocodes.co.uk/

What engine's in it? Have you eliminated it being a leak anywhere, EGR cooler or head gasket failure?

Probably a random bit of rubber hose. Not the best idea because oil will break it up over time.... but it was a £300 van

They are just a pushfit, but they can be a bit of a game to get out in one peice without them breaking up from age and possibly dumping debris down the hole. The one on my caddy broke and I didn't trust the rest of the tube to come out, so I sleeved a bit of pipe onto it, pushed the broken bit back in and stuck a pair of jubilee clips on. Not an amazing solution, but it kept it going forwards.

I'd suspect it's a control unit issue. Best to eliminate the cheap and easy first though. As you've got VCDS - Jack the wheels up one at a time, give them a spin by hand and watch the live data from the wheel sensors, you should get a nice square wave that varies frequency with the wheel speed.

I've nothing against Ubuntu, if you're planning on getting into the more tech stuff like running servers, it's probably a better choice out of the box. Mint seems to be a more straightforward desktop OS, but it's all down to personal taste. It's all based on Debian, so either way there's no difference in what you can make it do, just how you get there.

I went over to Linux Mint after Windows 7, it just works, unlike all the bloat and pop-ups of Windows.

That's not horribly out, and there's plenty of cars out there with worse. If you want it right, there might be enough adjustment between the ball joint and the wishbone to make up for that. If there isn't, and nothing else is worn, you're potentially looking at a new hub carrier, which would probably be overkill for such a small variance. If it were my car, I'd give it a good look over for worn bushes or maybe the wheel bearing, and if I didn't find anything, just leave it be.

There is, number 3505. I'm guessing it's out of print, so you'll have to find a used one.