RJVB

Kudos to the workshop: car was ready when I went there to check the quote since I didn't get through on the phone... Just shy of 590€ ... if only I wasn't aware this is bound to happen at least twice more to me 😞

Thanks JR, I wasn't aware this required explanation... IIRC the normal replacement interval for these belts is 180k km; I must have been at least 60k under that. My mechanic back then said that I was still at a very reasonable and respectful mileage to get them replaced... Still waiting to hear from my workshop now. Called them earlier and was told they were working on my quote but that they had already ordered the part anyway and that it was indeed they only thing needing replacement. I kinda felt like knowing the price later rather than sooner... This has probably come up: are the replacement injectors just as likely to fail as the original ones?

Oh, I know that I have at least 2 more injectors that haven't failed yet as far as I know (got the car at 100k km). I've had 2 coolant hoses fail within I think 2 years of getting the car, the EGR was going south too so I had that done too. A few years later, the waterpump sprung a leak so I had to have the distribution replaced. It's been quiet since, apart from that previous injector that probably failed soon after the waterpump. And apart from the AC that probably caught COVID in '20 because it hasn't worked since, and that I won't have replaced. Not bad already I think, for almost exactly 10y of ownership. Surprisingly I have not had to change a single shock (they're just greasy, their "natural state" according to my usual mechanic) nor a single brakepad.

The workshop owner had an interesting, no-frills way to check if it was indeed an injector (which was his immediate diagnosis when hearing the engine idle?!): unplug them one by one and see if that changed anything. It didn't for #2. Is there anything at the level of our driving habits that can hasten or trigger the failure, aside from keeping the revs in the red zone for too long which I imagine can't be good for anything? My partner still claims it's because I use the speed regulator and don't necessarily slow down when the road gets a bit bumpy. FWIW, last time it was the mechanical part which failed, and the error tended to clear itself for a while after turning off the engine. This time it comes back as soon as I fire up the engine, could that means it's the electronics (too)?

Thanks. I did notice that my tyres don't seem to have rim protection, which is fine because I had them mounted on the down-to-earth steel rims I got for what I thought would be my winter wheels. And indeed, I found my right rear wheel had actually gone up the kerb wall without me noticing it earlier this afternoon I also got the impression the 2 models aren't available in all the same sizes though I think my 195/65 R15 is. I looked at the Dutch Vredesteijn site, which I didn't find particularly clear, and then simply a few online retailers which of course show what they have in stock. Thanks. I did notice that my tyres don't seem to have rim protection, which is fine because I had them mounted on the down-to-earth steel rims I got for what I thought would be my winter wheels. And indeed, I found my right rear wheel had actually gone up the kerb wall without me noticing it earlier this afternoon I also got the impression the 2 models aren't available in all the same sizes though I think my 195/65 R15 is. I looked at the Dutch Vredesteijn site, which I didn't find particularly clear, and then simply a few online retailers which of course show what they have in stock. The only thing I find a bit of a pity is that these tyres required equilibration weights while the old Hancooks didn't...

Sorry, just a rant ... I just limped back at least 20km over hilly country roads on 3 cylinders, after I blew another injector. This time #2, a bit over 7 years and 30k km ago it was #4. At least now I could get to the workshop at walking distance from my home, and they think they should have her finished Saturday morning so well in time for the MOT-equivalent I have programmed for wednesday. But, damn, I already had to buy a new battery, another new light switch and 4 new tyres. The workshop owner joked they could also replace my engine and I almost jumped on that suggestion (with prices and emissions regulations going as they do I'd consider putting in a recent petrol engine if that were less of a bureaucratic nightmare (and/or possible, I have no idea about that).

Soooo... they're on, and looking good. Vredestein do make things complicated by having several Quattrac variants and I didn't specify very precisely which one I wanted so it was a bit of a suprise which one I'd be getting. More precisely, I wasn't expecting to get "Quattrac Pro" variant or any other one that has a word attached to its name, but I did expect to be getting the latest/current model, which *seems* to be the "Quattrac 5". Well, I asked for "Quattrac" and that's what I got; the model with the "V" profile treading. First time with that kind of profile for me, and intuitively I've always preferred the kind of profile shown in the photo above. But the test drive I made on the way home from the workshop didn't reveal anything "off". They felt a bit more comfortable and less noisy than my old Hancooks but I suppose that's what you'd expect from new vs. old rubber that's been hardening for 10 years. The treads also look *deep*, which does feel reassuring. I've been trying to figure out to what extent I ended up with an "old version", and all I could find was that the "Quattrac" model was introduced (or certified) about 1 year after the "Quattrac 5", that it's generally the more expensive of the two, and that it has a slightly lower rolling resistance (plus makes 1dB more noise). It seems odd that a manufacturer would introduce a newer family with an older looking name just 1 year after introducing another, so maybe it was just redesigned?

Don't laugh if this sounds cheap (or do, outside of my earshot 😄) The nipple supposed to hold the overhead spectacle compartment closed has broken off ... again, and I'm trying to glue it back ... again, this time with a makeshift brace that will hopefully help to make it a little bit more robust. Or rather, I had already put that brace in place about a week back, but it turns out the supposedly very strong glue I used then didn't care to cling on to the plastic so nipple and brace came off together. I have already disarmed the springs so there's only the pull of gravity on the nipple. I'd replace the entire thing if it wasn't as expensive as I think it must be and not as likely to develop the same problem because IMHO this is a design error. Does anyone have tips for a lasting DIY repair? I've been thinking of finding a bolt with a head of the right size but that's going to be tricky with the kind of hardware stores I have in my action radios... Magnets? Velcro straps? While we're at it: do the slits behind the compartment serve any purpose?

Crit-Air, of course. Well, having one or not is up to you to decide of course but it's bound to become compulsory to have one sooner rather than later. Basically it already is if you want to go places. I tweaked mine so it clings to the glass electrostatically, partly because I thought I'd keep it in the glovebox most of the time. Turns out I can't be bothered in practice, of course, so in the end I've only benefitted from that tweak when I had to have my windscreen replaced.

???

I think that also stands to reason. If the MOT is accepted as a CT it will have the same validity here. These tests aren't any different because of a longer or shorter interval after all - the interval just represents how fast the country thinks the car can evolve in ways that mean the old test results are no longer representative of its current state. Had you been stopped you would have been asked to show your carte grise, which would have shown your car was `en règle`. BTW, you can stick that vignette in the upper right corner of the windscreen. The lower right already has the insurance vignette and the big eco thing (can't remember the name right now 🤷‍♂️) which already creates enough of a blind angle in an annoying location.

OK, that's good to know. I was simply not certain if it would be the case, as this is the feature that my "CT guy" referred to when I first asked him what he knew about the VW cheat. He was not aware in fact that there was an additional trick being pulled; the rev limiter is quite obvious and makes it impossible to do the full test. If memory serves me well that test involved testing at different revs back at that time, corresponding to typical engine regimes in different typical driving situations. So they just skipped the impossible parts. The CT has been "improved" since but apparently not as far as this is concerned. JR, if you imported your car before brexit it would stand to reason that your MOT was accepted as a CT as these tests are supposed to be equivalent across member states. My test centre is just far enough from my home that it's easy to present the car at the fixed hour with the engine at working temperature.

To be honest, I have no idea. I suppose that if ever they update their emissions measuring set-up so it knows how to bypass the cheatfeat that I'll be toast because my car will probably not meet the norms it was homologated for. That would always be a fail on the test, and require repairs and a re-test. In this case the repair would presumably be having the recall done. AFAIK there were 2 cheating tricks. One the ECU programming trick that allowed it to discover when being tested, and select a cleaner mapping not normally used on the road. The other being the rev limiter when the car is stationary. In itself that's not really a cheat, IMHO, just a sensible thing to do - but it also makes it impossible to run the full emissions tests. The test centres are aware of that, and of the fact they cannot do anything against that. I suppose they'd also know if the recall removed that particular limiter, but then they should have noticed my car still has it. Is it 7 years ago already that I "should" have had this done (assuming France and the UK had the recall at the same time)??!

In the months after the first recalls to make the dieselgate engines compliant there were quite a few reports from unhappy owners of the 1.6TDI engine (and probably others as well) who found themselves with a car that had lost a noticeable amount of HP and also fuel economy. I wonder if and how that situation has evolved? Back in the day those reports were enough for me to ignore the invitations to have the recall applied, something I have yet to regret (I'll be having my 3rd RWT inspection without the recall fitted this fall, and I'll be worrying again that they'll notice this time ).

Thanks! They do look good and glad to hear you're happy about them. A priori I'm not getting the Pro version. By coincidence the set I ordered arrived at my local garage today. I was planning to go pay for and get a look at them but the village is currently cut in 2 because of maintenance on the railroad running through so they suggested I wire to save me a very annoying and slow 5km detour. Is that rim protection going to be of much use on traditional steel rims?

Tyres ordered through my usual garage, about 85.50€ a piece, mounted and calibrated. That's what I'd have paid ordering through the 1001pneus site above too (or more) so it's a win win. Plus they'll store the tyres until autumn.

Oops, yep. But maybe I was thinking she exploited a "feature" of those low tyres, or how she exploited me to have it "repaired" (= put on the spare tyre). Thanks for the link to the article. The tyre size used therein is very different from what I'll be going for though, and I'm not certain if the results translate directly.

The profile looks very different but you'd probably expect that from a Quatrac "Pro" I hadn't thought of the higher weight, makes sense. Making less noise maybe not so much, in a silent vehicle (at least at urban speeds, i.e. when it's not unimportant to be heard be pedestrians and cyclists). My partner has very similar low profile Dunlop summer tyres, on a more-or-less entry-level 2018 Fabia... Less than 5000km into ownership she'd already exploted one by taking 1 too many sidewalks and/or potholes.... Her father once did the same to his 2 front tyres coming out of a parking garage - (he only drives Michelin).

EVs need special tyres now? Good point on the speed index. As to width & height: I notice very little difference in how my car behaves, apart from taking speed bumps. I drive at the speed limit anyway.

https://www.1001pneus.fr/vredestein-quatrac-195-65-r15-91-h-27811444-pn So no shipping, and you have a choice of getting fitting included (on top of the shown price) or not. That would undoubtedly require having it done immediately, and somewhere else. I indeed have 2 sets of rims - just good old steel ones for the winter tyres but they do just fine, I actually kind of like their look, and most shops here charge less for installing new tyres on them. I'll have to ask my garage how much they can get them for. When I got my summer Hancooks they actually asked about the same as allopneus.fr, and they have an upcharge for fitting tyres you supply yourself.

Time flies.. I knew they were starting to be a bit old and have in fact not swapped back my summer wheels since winter 2022. Didn't realise it was going on 10y though! There's surprisingly little wear (I didn't make any long highway trips in the heat of summer) but my garage warned me that they had probably turned hard enough to lose efficiency on wet surfaces, let alone snow. This is making me wonder if I'm not simply going to put a set of all-season tyres on, and see if and how I can get rid of my summer tyres on the stock alloy rims. Which are probably 205/55/R16 or something of the sort; I prefer the comfort and more economical driving of the 195/65/R15 tyres I picked for winter, plus a narrower width is (supposedly but understandably) better in wet/snowy conditions. Not that we get many of those, but I'm too likely to find myself in places where winter tyres are now required by law part of the year. Has anyone ever noticed if winter tyres are less expensive in their off-season, idem for all-season ones? Or is it more likely that there'll be promos in autumn, as my garage suggested? I'm inclined to be a bit chauvinist this time and not get Hancooks but a set of Vredestein Quatracs. Anyone got experience with them? Cheapest I've seen them to date is just under 65€ a piece, which is about what I paid for my Hancook winter tyres 10y ago. Lastly: any reason to take 91V over 91H, or rather the opposite?

So... piece of cake or almost, with a little help from a YT'er to see where the safety latch is. Stupid they didn't think of a version you don't have to fish out! On those videos the cars all have a heat-protective sleeve around them; mine didn't. Should it have, or is that only for more high-performance cars? Apart from that, I almost blew my careful preparation on the electrics side of things with a brain fart; put the battery in the wrong way 🙄 . I'd say who does that but I should have realised that I'm capable of such momentary bouts of dementia. Good thing the terminals aren't the same size (which I didn't know)! I used a Bosch C7 charger for the backup ("support") power, and the OBD power cable from Amazon linked above. Good quality that one. A sealed connector but I checked all pins and mine had no shorts between any pins, just earth on pins 4,5 and 12V on the last pin (16). 10A fuses in the aux. plug connector and in the lead coming from the charger (so good thing I didn't turn on the ignition; I measured almost 13A draw with just the rear lights on). I also discovered a designer brain fart: the central computer sits on the same fuses as the main lighting. I don't know if that computer actually has 2 parallel fuses to protect it, but it seems to me you could rather easily get a short in the light bulbs or their connectors ... Not reassuring if that happens while driving and it disconnects the main computer! Needless to say, I didn't disconnect my front lights by pulling the fuses after all. No need; I wasn't planning to turn on the car while under backup power anyway - no need. I did pull the connectors off the front optic blocks just to be certain. One last question: In one of the tutorial vids the new battery is coded via VCSD. What's the point of that? I suppose the one I put in is close enough to the battery it replaces that there shouldn't be any need for me to have this done? (couldn't get the earth connector any lower on the terminal, sorry )

Wow, garage called me yesterday to inform me the ordered the switch - 90€ official VW price! And a 2-week waiting time. The difference with the sums I've seen here (and confirmed online) is crazy... but I didn't want to bruise the good relationship I have with them by having them cancel their order 😞 Does anyone know if it's safe to disconnect the switch and then turn on the car - and if that would prevent the lights from going on? I'm going to change my battery using backup power so I don't want to have the almost 200W (I guess) draw of low-beams, parking and rear lights. Or should I just pull the fuses?

No more free copies of the manual online?! The old iOS app I had which worked great has also been nuked remotely, I have one "MySkoda" that just wheels and crashes, one called "OneApp" that is supposed to work with multiple cars but doesn't give me a way to add a 2nd (it's set to the wife's car RN) and one I immediately uninstalled because it asked unceremoniously to create a login. I thought I'd found a nicely old-fashioned brand in Skoda ... I'm reviewing that opinion in rapid tempo!

I agree, nothing compared to the see of empty space in old American cars but I find the access to the battery pretty spacey on the 1.6TDI Octy. I haven't yet tried to get it out of course.