SuperbTWM

What is your engine code?

Its basically just a giant motor and flywheel repurposed from a mid 90's 'dash-for-gas' powerstation. This was a 2+1 unit station so I assume they have converted or will convert both Gas Turbines to be a compensator. If a system event occurs that results in a dip in frequency, the fact that this is syncronised to the grid will stop the frequency from dipping for fractions of a second and may prevent circuit breakers from tripping open, allow automatic transformer tap changing to occur, grid switching or maybe even chance for those thermal units who are in frequency response mode at the time, to load up. This probably differs from a Rotary UPS by the fact that it doesn't really feed back power in the event of a total loss of power, its just there for the 'inirtia' lost by the closure of our coal powered fleet

Yea its intereting times for sure, lots of technology invovled now around using generating and storing electricity at home Whats amusing to me, having worked in the power industry all my life is that 10 years ago when we were paying 12p a unit running 60 year old coal technology pushing 25% efficiency, plus carbon tax on top of that. Now we have mainly renewables with a big dependancy on Gas for our flexible generation which can be over 60% efficient, ok Gas prices have gone up dramatically but from what I can see the only reason why electricity prices are so high is because the Government has rushed into a net zero target, closed all our generation and now margins are very tight. These margins have been so tight for the past 5/6 or so years they introduced the capacity market to secure supply where generators bid their lowest price they can make money. The problem with that is, the final capacity secured at the most expensive price then applies to all the generation, making it very lucrative to those that can generate power relatively inexpensively. If we went back to a more competative energy market and electricity was a lot cheaper, there would then be very little drive for people to make use of solar panels and battery storage solutions, in fact, these systems wouldn't be able to pay for themselves because the savings just wouldn't be there. This drive for being net zero set by our Government in the quest to look good is one of the main reasons why old people and low income households are struggling to keep their houses warm

Yes this should be part of your yearly service routine if you want your car to last 10-15 years without rotting

Was this the NOX sensor after the SCR? I replaced mine last year as it started bringng the EML on. I found it hard to find the correct part amongst the aftermarket sensors so ended up not wanting to risk it and bought OEM for piece of mind that it was just going to work.

What mileage was on the engine and what was the service schedule like? was it on fixed or variable? What oil was used? To me it seems unlikely that it was a low oil pressure issue from the pump as these engines have redundancy. When in low oil pressure mode it has a low pressure switch and in high pressure mode there is another switch. A discrepancy in these pressure switches can result in limp mode. It would be good to check the condition of the wet belt and oil pick up though. I hope you are planning on taking the bearings out of each rod so we can see which one has failed and how the others look.

the thing with solar is that if everyone is creating their own power there becomes even more grid unpredictability and the more people that get them the more unsustainable it becomes as nobody is buying any electricity which will make the price of electricity go up even more. We will reach a point where the grid wont want anybody exporting any electricity and the only option will be to give it away for free or use it yourself/store it. Also on the subject of stability. Deeside CCGT has recently been converted into a Syncronous compensator. This basically uses electricity to spin its large rotor for no other purpose than to have a large rotating mass connected to the grid. With the energy market being what it is today I see us having CCGTs for the next 15-20 years still in one form or another. Let’s not forget Drax who our Government are paying handsomely to cut down forests, ship thousands of miles for us to burn releasing more co2 back into our atmosphere than a Gas or Coal plant would have done. Same with the interconnectors, we are importing energy from Europe where France and Germany are still burning coal just so we can look ‘green’. It’s an absolute joke

To be fair, looks like a reputable and professional seller

Did you buy your stat and CTS from a reputable source? I've had no luck with thermostats in the past and given the hassle of changing them I won't fit on unless I get it from the dealer although I sometimes don't follow my own advice and regret it. Same with sensors and electronic parts, I payed a bit more for a Febi glow plug controller recently rather than a generic one and it came in a Febi box but with all the markings scrubbed off which made me a bit suspect. It works but I felt a little bit scammed.

SSE have built the largest on-shore and off-shore wind farms in England and yet they still have plans in place for more gas and potentially Hydrogen powered generators so the future can't be that bright for energy storage. I watched the first 20 seconds of that video where apparently the UK has only 1 Nuclear powerstation that took 16 years to build?? what a tool.

The problem is that the margins on the grid are so tight because we rely on that much wind that when its not windy all the efficient gas stations and old Nuclear are at full capacity and we have to start calling for small open cycle gas generation and diesel engines. Some days our old CCGT can make millions of pounds for the same generation as they made the previous day for 50K. The flip side of that is when we have sold power and have an unexpected excess of wind, power generators still get paid to generate nothing. There is also a balance between renewables and having inirtia on the grid for stability and frequency response. Something we never had to worry about when we had 20 or 30 odd 500MW Coal powered units on the bars. All of the above, and all the other investment into carbon capture and other means of cleaning up fossil fuels means £££££££ for the consumer

Oil tends to ‘wick’ and travel across the dirt on the engine. Does it smell like petrol under the bonnet? I would think if it was leaking enough for you to smell it inside you are looking for a drip, any small seepage like that you wouldn’t smell, it would also have a tendency to clean the area are you sure it’s not an exhaust smell or is it raw fuel? Could be a leak in the evaporative emissions system, these are often piped into the intake so look for damaged hoses etc.

Can I ask how you have come to the conculsion it was oil starvation? Considering how many of these engines there are out on the road, personally, I think if there was a design flaw it would be common knowledge

Looks like engine oil to me, looks like the car is breathing a good amount of oil from the breather system and/or from the turbo seals. There is probably a very small air leak causing that oil to seep out over time around the throtle body. I don't think this is the cause of your fuel smell.

Nevermind loosing the 4hr cheap slot, what about when they introduce the horrendously expensive slots at peak times!!!!! We should thankful we still have a lot of flexible Gas Generation (including the most efficient CCGT in the world)

It is something I considered when I got a fault with the solenoid. I tend to overthink things though and for fear of causing other issues from operating the oil system other than intended and the lack of evidence to suggest that its a problem I made the repair. You have to take the aux. belt off, unbolt the AC compressor and its right behind. It literally looks exactly the same as in that video. I can't remember whether you can get to the connector without taking the compressor off but to remove the whole thing you have to.

Yes that engine does have 2 oil pressures it can run at based on temperature, load and engine RPM. Yes you can unplug that solenoid to make the car run in 'high' pressure mode all the time. If you choose to do this you will be over the moon to find out that it is not located inside the sump and is relatively easy to get to at the front of the engine. I can confirm there will be no dash warnings, only a stored code in ECU.

Sounds like the blower motor is poorly or impellor obstructed to me.

Generally differences in temperature could be a blocked heater matrix or air con low on refridgerant, one of the many blend doors or motors that drive them, a dodgy temperature sensor or one that has maybe fallen out of the ductwork. First I would stop using the AC and see if the temperature split continues then you can rule that out straight away. There will be a reset procedure you can carry out for the flaps by pressing a combination of buttons, you should be able to use google to find out what you need to press for the year of car and model of climatronic you have. When you say there is a continuous increase in temperature, does this continue if, for example, you are too hot at 21, if you turn it down to 18, do you still end up at the same temperature as you did at 21? I only ask because the temperature settings are relative to each other rather than an actual temperature, you need to set the temperature you are comfortable with rather than thinking you need to be at 'X'

There is a rubber bung on the top of the bell housing you can remove - is what I can picture in my mind.

There are a lot of mature or disabled drivers out there that are forced to drive around in huge cars they are not fully comfortable in driving due to accessability requirements, wheelchairs, scooters etc.. do you not think this might of been the use case for designing these systems?

Yes, didn't even think of that, mainly because I've only ever used that mark on the 1.8T engine as there isn't a locking tool for the crank on that engine so that really is a 'mark and prey' kind of timing job. Trying to get to this on a longitudinal engine must be pretty much impossible though? unless the inspection hole is somewhere else and they have moved the mark relative to the hole. I'm still a firm believer in using the correct tools for the job though, do it by the book, use the locking tools provided and you can't go far wrong. Looks like you have made good progress @Breezy_Pete I always find bleeding the coolant system the worst, I was adding coolant to mine for weeks afterwards on this newer engine. Next timing job I do I'm going to buy one of those vacuum fillers that uses compressed air and the Venturi principle, I'm sure you will of seen them before, you can get them for less than £30. (I am a bit of a sucker for new tools though but if it saves even a small amount of hassle I'm sold)

I would say you need the newer set, mine is the Euro 6 and it has a different style of crank locking tool. The kit comes with a tool to counter-hold the HPFP pulley but not the cam pulley which is strange as to do the job as per VW you need to loosen both. That said, many 'How-to videos' on youtube never include that step, in fact I have yet to see one that loosens the cam or HPFP pulleys I would put a kit on it @Breezy_Pete, they might not have changed the water pump. If you were feeling frugal you could just buy a belt and a waterpump if the tensioner has been recently replaced

I think you have hit the nail on the head.

Nobody would be bothered either way, it's just the norm now to be dazzled by the car in front while making myself feel better by dazzling the car behind 😁