StevesTruck

If you're going to run it til it dies, throw some "Steel Seal" in. It's expensive, but it works well. We've had some in one of the vans for months.

We've got cupra bushes on dad's 1.9 SDI, no cause for complaint at all with them. I've got polybushes on my VRS, and if I didn't need them for the adjustment they have, I'd have taken them off the day I fitted them.

Could be a brake disc, likewise, it could also be a tyre or a driveshaft. It might be worth swapping the back and front wheel round, one side at a time to see if it lessens the issue.

Check the MAF wiring for damage (it's pretty exposed) and make sure the sensor is getting power. Which engine does the car have?

True enough but I'd keep it topped up to hedge my bets as the contents of the tank move about as the car does. As I say, the only way to know you're totally safe would be drain and refill, but I wouldn't part with 50l of diesel that easily at todays prices Although if he did, I'd be happy to give it a home!

Just occurred to me that I think these engines have an egr cooler.

I haven't compression tested it, but it's failed a sniffer test (Hydrocarbon gasses in the coolant system). It pressurises the header tank and forces the coolant down over my 40 mile run to work. If you don't let the gasses out at the end, it starts loosing the coolant (guessing it pushes it back through the leak when the engine's off). Yeah, keep on running it's an option, but the heater goes cold as you drive it. K-seal and the like, I think it had some put in before I bought it, and I've got a new rad and heater matrix on it, so I don't really want to be dumping sealant into those. I'm happy to spend what needs spending on it, so I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest option. I'm not adverse to going out and buying another cheapy (no point having a decent car living where I do and doing the mileage I do), my rule there is spend a grand and then put another grand aside to sort out any problems. The question there is would I be in a better situation than I would be if I fixed it? That and I'm having trouble finding anything diesel and auto in the budget that looks like a decent prospect.

Still not working for me, so I'll throw a stab in the dark - Have a look under the back of the car and see if your exhaust heat shield has come loose.

So, a year and a bit and 40k after buying a cheap Octy with a bit of a coolant problem, I've tried all the other possible reasons for the fault and I'm getting back to blaming the head gasket. It's a 1.9TDI 105. I'm not particularly attached to it, but it does its job well, and is good on fuel. I need a diesel because of my mileage and could do with an auto because of a shoulder problem. I'm fairly sure there's nothing else seriously wrong with the car, except at 200k, it's probably getting on for wanting a clutch pack doing. Do I: - Sell/scrap it for a few hundred and buy another banger for a grand or two? - Get the head gasket done? Anyone able to give a clue as to costs on this? Do they normally go back together OK? - Get a scrapyard engine put in? - Get the engine refurbed and a new clutch pack fitted while it's out (Seems to be about £1500-£1800)

I'd say drain the fuel filter out into a jar and have a look what's in there for signs of the diesel floating on water or any weird colours from the car wash detergent (they'll probably sit in or on the diesel rather than mixing with it). From there on in, it depends how cautious you want to be. Full blown worried, would be drain and refill the tank with fresh diesel. Not mildly concerned would be just carry on and see what happens. I'd probably just keep the tank topped up as much as possible for a few thousand miles. If you did North Wales to Essex since you filled up, I'd be inclined to say that anything really, really bad that was going to happen would probably have already happened, but then I'm a bit of a fatalist.

Pop the diesel filter open and see what it's like in there. The lift pump slowly died on mine and when it finally went, it would run until the filter emptied, then if I refilled the filter, it ran fine for a few minutes until it ran low in there again.

My guess, and it is only an unqualified guess would be that they leave an electrical load on as a matter of course so cars with Stop-Start assist don't turn themselves off while they're in the air. You need the engine running to look for leaks in the exhaust system. The other reason they want the car running throughout is to make sure it's warmed up for the emissions test.

The cigarette lighter normally runs all the time on VAG cars. The normal way of wiring the camera in is to use an "add a fuse" in a spare switched circuit. A dashcam can drain the battery down surprisingly quickly.

The 1.6 is the AEE, the more common version is AEA, found in rusty MK4 polos, which is single point injection (the AEE is multipoint). The basic engine is the same though, all the injection system is on the inlet manifold. Careful if you're buying one out of a golf, some have the same 1.6 as the polo, others have a taller block. A few people have fitted the 1.4 16v polo engine.

Turned out to be a massive coincidence. I changed the air flow meter, and the lift pump died a day later

So, none starter at the minute, so I couldn't get a proper read, but I did a little live data while I was cracking it over... No fault codes from the engine, but like I say, none-starter. MAF showed data, seemed to move about a bit as the engine had a splutter. Throttle pedal sensor's working fine. Throttle position sensor is saying 100% all the time, even which the throttle body cycles as I prime the ignition and then turn it back off. Is that TPS figure normal? Is there a lonk between AFM and TPS?

So, it wasn't that simple.... Drove it to Nottingham yesterday. When I went to come back, the engine light was back on. Drove back fine apart from one little sort of flat, misfirey moment between 5th and 6th. Rough to start this morning. Then as I was going up hill a few minutes from the house, it misfired then cut out, wouldn't restart, or would restart briefly while the pedal was down. Pulled the AFM plug, no different. Pulled the fuse out (none blown), no different. Managed to get it started and drive it briefly, but as soon as you come off the pedal, it cuts out. Starting to work round things that I could roadside with the very basics. Throttle stepper is actuating fine and looks clean. Smokes when it's cranking but not starting, so I'll say it's getting fuel. Just waiting for recovery to drop it off, then I'll try and get some fault codes and live data at least.

So, the AFM wasn't getting power, so I bodged a temp feed to it. The car ran rough for a few seconds then settled down. Checked the fuses, blew my tiny mind on the left to right mirror because the diagram's for a left hand drive. Got set right by Nige - big thanks for that. Stuck a fuse in 29 (didn't have one). Drove down the lane, the fault light went off and stayed off for my ten minute drive home. I haven't had chance to scan it again, but I've got a couple of hundred miles to do tomorrow, so we'll see what catches fire between now and me getting home.

I'm going with boost leak.

Thanks for that - BXE rings a bell, it's not BJB (just because I know it's different to our old Caddy). So (after fuses) in the first instance, I'm looking for a straight 12v down pin 2? I'm just wondering if it's 3,4 or 5 that's not going through, if that coincides with the glowplug fault at a multiplug or if they go straight back the ECU?

Thanks @WinoIt's a 2008, can't think what the engine code is off hand, will check in daylight and come back to you. I'll bleep-check all the fuses in the morning just to be sure, but I think I did that when I bought it.

Car is a Mk2 Octavia 1.9TDI 105ps DSG Since I've had it (about a year), I've had the following fault and an engine light on the dash. 000258 - Mass Air Flow Sensor (G70) P0102 - 000 - Signal too Low Live data reads 0 at any engine speed. I originally assumed it was a faulty sensor, so I changed it for a Chinese one, which I think knocked the light off for a few hours (long enough for an MOT test), then it came back on, so I assumed the sensor wasn't great. Today, I live-data'd the MAF on a scrap Ibiza I've got in the yard, and it seemed to be working (went up and down as the engine speed did). The part number was the same except the suffix (-B on the Octavia, none on the Ibiza), so I decided to give it a try and throw it on. I cleared the codes on the Octavia, and the light came back on shortly after, with the same code, and reading of 0, regardless of engine speed. Here's the engine codes it's giving. The overboost is a new one, but I do remember nailing it with the trailer on a couple of weeks ago, so maybe that caused it. The glowplug one's been there forever. From what I understand, there's a known issue on these cars with the glowplug wiring loom? Car runs fine, a little rough when cold on a cold morning, but to be expected from an old diesel with no working glowplugs. Drives fine, gets 60mpg. Just puts the light on because of the MAF. 6 Faults Found: 000258 - Mass Air Flow Sensor (G70) P0102 - 000 - Signal too Low Freeze Frame: Fault Status: 01110000 Fault Priority: 0 Fault Frequency: 1 Reset counter: 255 Mileage: 296523 km Time Indication: 0 Date: 2000.00.00 Time: 19:06:50 Freeze Frame: RPM: 798 /min Speed: 0.0 km/h Load: 0.0 % Duty Cycle: 64.7 % Bin. Bits: 00101000 Mass Air / Rev.: 240.0 mg/str Mass Air / Rev.: 0.0 mg/str 005658 - Glowplug for Cylinder 1 (Q10) P161A - 000 - Open Circuit Freeze Frame: Fault Status: 01110000 Fault Priority: 0 Fault Frequency: 1 Reset counter: 255 Mileage: 297394 km Time Indication: 0 Date: 2000.00.00 Time: 08:55:50 Freeze Frame: RPM: 903 /min Speed: 0.0 km/h Load: 0.0 % Voltage: 14.21 V Bin. Bits: 00101000 Temperature: 14.4°C Bin. Bits: 10110000 005659 - Glowplug for Cylinder 2 (Q11) P161B - 000 - Open Circuit Freeze Frame: Fault Status: 01110000 Fault Priority: 0 Fault Frequency: 1 Reset counter: 255 Mileage: 297394 km Time Indication: 0 Date: 2000.00.00 Time: 08:55:50 Freeze Frame: RPM: 903 /min Speed: 0.0 km/h Load: 0.0 % Voltage: 14.21 V Bin. Bits: 00101000 Temperature: 14.4°C Bin. Bits: 10110000 005660 - Glowplug for Cylinder 3 (Q12) P161C - 000 - Open Circuit Freeze Frame: Fault Status: 01110000 Fault Priority: 0 Fault Frequency: 1 Reset counter: 255 Mileage: 297394 km Time Indication: 0 Date: 2000.00.00 Time: 08:55:50 Freeze Frame: RPM: 903 /min Speed: 0.0 km/h Load: 0.0 % Voltage: 14.21 V Bin. Bits: 00101000 Temperature: 14.4°C Bin. Bits: 10110000 005661 - Glowplug for Cylinder 4 (Q13) P161D - 000 - Open Circuit Freeze Frame: Fault Status: 01110000 Fault Priority: 0 Fault Frequency: 1 Reset counter: 255 Mileage: 297394 km Time Indication: 0 Date: 2000.00.00 Time: 08:55:50 Freeze Frame: RPM: 903 /min Speed: 0.0 km/h Load: 0.0 % Voltage: 14.21 V Bin. Bits: 00101000 Temperature: 14.4°C Bin. Bits: 10110000 000564 - Boost Pressure Regulation P0234 - 000 - Limit Exceeded (Overboost Condition) - Intermittent Freeze Frame: Fault Status: 00110000 Fault Priority: 0 Fault Frequency: 1 Reset counter: 255 Mileage: 304814 km Time Indication: 0 Date: 2000.00.00 Time: 12:13:33 Freeze Frame: RPM: 3045 /min Speed: 88.0 km/h Load: 83.1 % Voltage: 14.52 V Bin. Bits: 10101000 Absolute Pres.: 2029.8 mbar Absolute Pres.: 2346.0 mbar Readiness: 1 1 0 0 1

It's a bit of a rough way of doing it but.... Make sure the fluid it topped up. Get an assitant to pump the clutch about 10 times as harshly as you like. On the last stroke, hold the clutch down. Get a jam jar with some brake fluid in and a bit of hose that's long enough to be immersed on the brake fluid at the end. Put the hose from the bleed nipple on the slave into the fluid in the jar. Open the bleed nipple. Get your helper to pump it about 10 more times, hold it down on the last. Close the bleed nipple, top up the fluid. There's no reason it should work better than pressure or vac bleeding it, but I've had it work a few times on cars that wouldn't bleed up right using the proper tools.

SDI camshafts don't normally wear like PD ones do, so I wouldn't be in a rush to change that. Yes, always worth soaking new lifters. Normally I prime an oil system by turning the engine over, but not starting it. On an SDI, I'd unplug the stop solenoid to allow this to happen, but I can see why people might disagree with me on this.

It's possible. Either that or some sort of contractor's vehicle that had chevrons on? Quite often, they'll apply an oversized sheet, then trim it down, so what you're saying would make a lot of sense. Alternatively, someone might have been a bit rough taking a rear windscreen out to replace it. Just from one of the jobs I used to do, 6 months ownership would make me think it was either a hire (not necessarily a bad thing, it could have been one person's company car the whole time), or a demonstrator or pre-reg'd car.