Gerrycan

I would be inclined to follow procedures previously suggested by others before contemplating walnut blasting. Get a VCDS scan for possible fault codes and more targeted fault analysis. Stick an inspection camera down the intake to look at the intake valves to see how bad, or not, they really are. I'd also do a simple compression test for possible rings wear or valve seat issues.

10 year old battery is a good innings these days with stop/start tech, so yes, a new battery sounds a good idea. Best stick with AGM otherwise you will have to change the battery type coding.

I used to religiously record fills into an app and compare against the results against the 'since refuelled' display. I've posted this before but when my 1.4tsi was brand new the consumption displayed was actually pessimistic (showing about 4mpg worse than actual) but over 120,000km the display has gradually moved through precisely accurate to now being about 4mpg optimistic. I no longer use the app but I do perform a quick calculation to compare each refill (hopefully to a consistent level) for a rough assessment of display accuracy and see if there might be mechanical concerns requiring attention. Actual consumption is down from new but I have a suspicion the current tyres (Continentals) are not the best for consumption as they are quite noisy now. At our current low annual mileage it is going to be while before they are replaced.

It's helpful to others to include engine details. Your profile only says it is a 2014 Octavia Estate. I have similar year and type to yours with a 1.4tsi engine and is a manual. I get between 48 and 65 mpg on a run depending on driving environment and my demeanour. The displayed consumption can be a bit optimistic, and you should compare to manually calculated consumption when refuelling for a reality check. My past two Octavia estates (mk2 and mk3) have been among the most versatile, economical and pleasurable vehicles I have owned. I'm not enamoured with the current crop of 'electronic nannied' new options so hanging on to my current one for now.

If you haven't seen loads of diesels 'broken down' by the roadside so far in your journey through France then I would not worry about it.

The new Asic runners arrived quicker than I expected and the heel felt pretty good after a week's rest, so I went for a 5km run. The Novablasts are definitely providing better cushioning and achieved a better time than expected. Might try to up my asthma meds to see if it improves my breathing shortcomings experienced later in the run.

I procrastinated too long over replacing my inadequately cushioning running shoes and have developed some pain in my heel after a 7.5 km run, which was probably a bit too much after a heavy 20k step workday the previous day. Anyway, I have ordered some Asic Novablast which should offer far more on-road run cushioning than my present pair. I would have liked a pair of SuperBlast but they were just a bit too expensive. While I wait delivery I will assess whether it is heel bone bruising, plantar fasciitis or even a mild fracture, all of which I have experienced over the last thirty years. It pretty mild at this stage so a couple of weeks should see improvements.

I have to mention the incredible London Marathon results. The winner Sawe in 1:59:30 and Kejelcha only 11 seconds behind. The breakdown of the results is almost beyond belief Averaging a smidge over 21 kph, the 2nd 21km in 59 minutes, the last 5km a couple of seconds faster that the fastest Parkrun registered (allowing that Parkruns are 'for fun' so distance and timing accuracy can be very 'iffy'). Apparently Sawe has been drug tested once every 3 days on average over the last few months at his own request since a few African based athletes have recently been detected taking either performance enhancing drugs or masking agents.

Both of my sport watches have accuracy issues counting my steps at work due to my wrist being stabilised when pushing product around on trolleys. So, I put one in my pocket and the other on my wrist. The wrist unit counted around 18k steps and the one in the pocket 40k steps. Similar results when I reversed the watches being worn and carried in pocket. During free walking (ie not at work) they both register near identical results. I'm still unable to work out the huge disparity in pulse count between the two units during exercise. I'd have to borrow either my son's or his wife's chest monitoring units to do this, but they both take their daily gym session monitoring very seriously. I might have a chance to borrow one when they take a family holiday to Fiji, that is if they treat it as a real holiday.

Last week I came home very late from work to find my wife had gone to bed, but ominously the car manual was left open where it references 'low coolant warning'. A small puddle of coolant under the pump confirmed that the pump replaced in early 2020 had failed again. Luckily the warning happened close to home and there was no overheating. Quoted A$2000 from the dealers and A$1700 by an VW independent specialist (halve those prices for UK pound conversion). The independent said they could do it straight away once they had confirmed the problem and sourced the parts required which usually have to be sourced from the eastern states with a couple of days delay especially with current Hormuz situation created diesel shortages. The leak was slow enough for me to drop it in on Tuesday morning on the way to work (cycled the rest) and fixed by Wednesday arvo (cycled from home to pick up) for less than A$1500 (inc our 10% goods and services tax), so well pleased. Although we have been lucky to avoid any engine damage with the failed pumps it is concerning how unreliable this part is when I consider the remote parts of Australia, we have travelled to in this car. I'm talking dirt roads and no mobile phone cover and the few other cars we meet are usually heavy duty 4WD. Might have to look at some satellite options next time we venture further afield whenever fuel is again more abundant and hopefully cheaper.

I'm no expert but thought that SCR dosing (Urea based?) was injected into the exhaust gases to reduce NOx and so would have no effect on the buildup of intake carbon deposits. I think my 12yo and 120km 1.4tsi (direct injection) is experiencing a similar issue. Car drives perfectly well but consumption at highway speeds has worsened noticeable since it was new. Not unexpected since 90% of the time the vehicle is driven short distances in an urban environment. I love the old diesels to drive but would not consider a diesel, new or old, unless I was doing a lot of long distance driving, preferably pulling a caravan .

Spoke to someone recently who describes himself as 'semi-retired from running' as he only (lol) currently does about 120km a week! He is tossing up whether to increase his training to try to get to the next Olympics! He works for a living, married and his wife is expecting their first. Puts a different perspective on the attitudes of some very entitled and overpaid professional athletes.

The run was completed in somewhat hot, humid and therefore uncomfortable conditions which forced a few stops, but it did reveal a few things. a) I am hopeless at putting a watch on a 'wrong' wrist ie using my left hand to put it on my right wrist. b) My dominant right wrist is unexpectantly smaller than my left. c) The distance measurement was pretty close at 0.02km (20 metre) variation overall, but the new unit was far faster reporting distance travelled and more consistent on reporting current speed. d) The new unit reveals that the old unit was probably not accurate reporting heart rate during the run, and the new Garmin much more in line with what I would expect at my age. The average heart rate for the run varied by a considerable 20 bpm. More independent checking required, I think. e) Both units reporting of my vO2 max for the run were identical. One funny thing though is that I had set up a Garmin Connect account about 10 years ago with a cheap unit I found on the beach (I tried contacting Garmin to find the owner to no effect) and did not bother to put in my birth date but accepted the default which now thinks I'm a 36 year old. On the basis of a couple of runs the Garmin says I have a biological age of 32. Be interesting to how that stat changes when Garmin respond to my request (can't do it online myself apparently) to double my real age on the system.

I am now the 'proud' owner of two working GPS sports smart watches. After I bought a new Garmin unit as replacement for my malfunctioning Fitbit, I chanced on a web site with suggestions on how to factory reset the 'dead' Fitbit with a complex sequence of activations on the one external button.....and it worked. I will adopt the new one as it has several features I like but it will be interesting to compare how the two units report the same run. Yes, I will be the idiot runner wearing two units tomorrow morning.

The internet was right, the Fitbit Versa 3 is not a reliable unit having irrevocably failed the other day after about 2.5 years. I cosseted it more than previous units, like avoiding swimming with it, although it was worn every day, but still disappointed. A few days to my birthday so will probably go for a Garmin unit and accept contributions from the family toward its purchase. Don't need an elite unit but would like GPS, running and activity stats, and 'advanced' heart rate functions, as well as the ability to answer phone calls on my mobile (which has been a surprisingly useful feature). Not sure which specific unit yet but probably priced in the two to three hundred pound price range. Garmins can be quite large and clunky though which do not suit my skinny wrists.