Sunray

Just no. I was lured in by the attractive asking price, but it's not very good quality at all. I'll mention it as I found the same link to the same supplier on this very forum, bought a kit and fitted it, then received a barrage of "Helpful" comments along the lines of: "What did you buy THAT pile of **** for?!?" etc. Turns out that it WILL handle 211bhp and 256ft/lb (R-Tech Stage 1 map), it doesn't shake or judder and is easy to use, but I'm not impressed with the rate of wear as it appears that it'll have quite a short life. You could do a lot worse than the Darkside kit, if only to avoid the torrent of abuse from "Experts".

Oh well! Thought I'd give them a try as I do all the work myself, and it only takes a few hours on a weekend to swap it. So far it seems to be fine, no issues at all, however should it fail I'll look into replacing it with something like an LUK item.

Hi all, Recently had to change the clutch on my '03 vRS and had already been searching for a decent replacement. I'm trade, and so get a reasonable discount from all the suppliers, including genuine stuff from TPS. I keep my car fairly standard, and had planned from the off to replace the clutch and flywheel with genuine standard parts as I didn't want to spoil the original driving experience. However, upon discovering the cost, I started looking further afield, including this forum and its many contributors. Long story cut short, I bought the kevlar, balanced, lightened single-mass kit from Techniclutch on eBay for £199.99, fitted it and have not looked back. Yes, it's a bit heavier, but nothing desperate (it never even put off the ex-wife from thieving my car when hers needs looking at) and it has a great, positive feel to the bite without excessive shudder when taking-up. Also, the reduced weight makes the engine feel quite a bit perkier. All in all, a very good value for money kit of parts (considering I'd charge in the region of £800 to supply and fit genuine bits) and would recommend them to anybody considering doing the same. Allegedly it'll handle anything up to 400bhp. Now, where did I put R-Tech's phone number??? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361435649734?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Was running a VW Passat Tdi SE estate, which was lowered, wheeled, remapped etc and w a mate when I got slammed in the driver's door by a Merc CLS who wasn't looking where he was going. No-one hurt, but to cut a long story short: had agreed £1200 sale to mate, got lamped in the side, Admiral insurance agreed to pay me £2320 to write it off and leave me with the car, bought my 2003 Vrs for £2300 and sold the ****ant to a different mate for £500 as a cat-C write-off! Immediately went and bought a Euro-millions ticket that very afternoon, but alas, whatever streak of luck I was on had expired... No plans to replace it yet (only had it since March) and if I'm honest, I can't think of much else that even comes close to how much I enjoy this car, and I've owned turbo'd Fiats, porsche 944, old Audi quattro turbo (thirsty but hilarious)

But if the pump continually gets bubbles through it, it'll probably start to fail and stick, hence why sometimes you can hear it and sometimes not!

Could be the fuel pick-up pipe in the tank has a split in it. Imagine drinking through a straw with a split in it; its fine when the split is submerged, but once the liquid has dropped enough you start sucking bubbles as well. This would also give the pump a hard time as it's not meant to suck air.

Also, EGR valves have been known to leak from a ruptured diaphragm inside and cause the same problems as a split pipe. This is what happened to the Passat; ended up fitting an EGR delete kit and having it remapped, highly recommended mod!

If you've got a boost-leak on a Diseasel, they should be a build-up of condensed oil-mist in the immediate vicinity of the leak. Fresh pair of gloves, then feel along as many of the pipes between the turbo/intercooler/EGR as you can, checking your hands for oil along the way.

The pipe you're looking at with the metal collar on the end is a standard VAG diesel boost-pipe connection, my old Passat had them. To disconnect, carefully lift the C-clip by inserting a hook or screwdriver under the little raised loop, then pulling carefully but quite firmly. It won't come all the way off, but once lifted the pipe should just pop out. Once removed, clean around the female side (the EGR intake) and the male side (pipe) with a bit of rag to remove any black sludge. On the pipe end, there should be a thin rubber seal; original ones are black and have a tendency to leak over time, they ideally need to be changed for the green ones from TPS as they're not expensive, very slightly fatter and make a much better seal. After you're happy with your freshly cleaned pipe/seal etc, the clip on the EGR connection needs to be returned to its original position, a squirt of oil onto the pipe-end to prevent the seal from gripping on its way, then push the pipe firmly and positively back where it belongs (you should hear a distinct "Click" as it goes home). Hope this helps!

Next thrilling installment! Mine started to misfire a bit at low revs/throttle again, this time with an oily smell. Turns out the engine breather pipe at the top of the engine where two breathers converge was split, right before it goes into the turbo inlet pipe AFTER THE MAF SENSOR! Was buggering up the fuelling a treat! Dead easy to check; its literally just under the engine top cover, on your right as you look into the engine bay. mine was all perished and rotted and split. New jobber from TPS, 10 minutes to fit, pair of new jubilee clips as the old clips have to be cut off and voila, happy-happy turbo time!

Leak after the turbo would probably cause rich-running, as the boost would escape but the extra fuel would still be injected, however a leak between MAF sensor and turbo intake would cause lean-running, because extra air would be going into the turbo without registering at the MAF. Also, check the Coolant Temp sensor is functioning properly; if the ECU cannot determine the engine temperature correctly it won't be able to fuel properly.

Sounds like your misfire is the other way around to mine, in that its fine under light-loads but starts misbehaving at higher-loading/low revs. I might be scanning with full VCDS, checking desired and actual readings from Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAF) sensor, but it sounds more like an ignition issue to me. Have you had reason to change any coil-packs at any point? I had a Leon Cupra-R ('53 plate) doing what you're describing and eventually over time it got steadily worse until it set-off the MIL light, saying "P0301- Misfire cylinder No.1" as it was the coil-pack slowly dying of death. Have you had the engine management light (MIL) come on at all, even if it was a few flashes?

Maybe a daft question, but mine doesn't have any upgrades whatsoever; you don't think your breather-pipe mod might be messing up the fuelling?

I know this topic has been done to death, but after reading through a few threads my VRS now drives even better! Kept misfiring and jerking on light throttle and gentle acceleration, but fine when pushed a little harder. The problem was also MUCH worse when cold, first thing in a morning. After taking advice from you guys, i removed and cleaned the throttle-body, replaced the gasket, then swapped the Coolant Temp. Sensor for a new genuine item. All-in-all, about a 20 minute job and 100% effective, Cheers!

Hi everyone, just a quick introduction; I'm Dave, just had my Passat written-off, managed to get sufficient funds to buy the car I really wanted: Octavia Vrs Mk1! Hoping I can be of help to other owners/enthusiasts along the way. Cheers, Dave.