SuperbTWM

Its not the supplementary electric heater running is it? That is the only thing I have ever noticed insrease the idle apart from a regen or the air con on a very hot day. If you go on the convenience consumer menu its pretty obvious as the 'air conditioning' (read-HVAC) bar is right across as it draws up to 80 Amps

The air con will not function at -2, somewhere at around 4 C IIRC it will not activate.

Do you notice the same smell outside the car as well? It sounds to me like as well as a possible exhaust leak, the car cant be running right as modern diesels are very clean. I don't smell mine at all, in fact I have to have the tailpipe in my face to be able to smell anything and I think I am quite sensitive to the old sickly diesel fume smell.

Your gut was sort of right, many VAG models started with electro-mechanical steering racks as far back as 2004, some models had electro-hydraulic as well, as in the Fabia/polo

It doesn't, the video is utter rubbish. The oil sensor on some cars is also the oil temperature sensor. It communicates the level and temperature data using a square waveform, it is not something you can test with a hairdryer and a multimeter This is how it actually works, don't listen to that American cabbage

Check for obvious boost leaks or have it smoke tested

Just because no enrichment is needed for it to stay running, surely doesn't necessarily mean that for a given fuel input the power output is the same on a cold engine vs. hot Every diesel i've owned has deffinetly been less responsive to get down the round in the first 5 minutes in freezing temperatures rather than in summer so it makes sense (to me at least) that to drive it the same you are giving it more throttle and fuel. I mean you can physically hear the difference of a TDI in the cold before she's warmed up. I assume most of the difference is the winter fuel though, on a 38 mile commute i'm down 5-10 mpg. As for mpg comparisons, you might as well pluck figures from the air as everybody drives differently. Even my very consistent commute can give 65mpg one day and 50 the next just because the wind has changed or its raining.

Why do you think it is not working?

I doubt you will see anything, the handfull of VAG cars ive worked on over over the past 20 years have all had magnetic reluctor rings encorporated into the bearings and use a sensor located in the steering knuckle/bearing carrier assembley

I have the Erwin manual for your engine code if you want to see

You will be able to drive normally but you might struggle to stay warm and have a clear windscreen without the fan working, at least I assume it won't work with that disconnected.

It was a shame they got rid of the older style slave cylinder, sure was an wasy job to change one of those in comparison.

That is the resistor for the blower motor, it should slot/clip back in, looks like it has melted the casing slightly which may give you a bit of a problem though It gets hot so don't touch it if you have been using the car, its also a bit of a fire risk dangling about so get it sorted ASAP

Also, just for clarity, if the engine is still running and its a manual it can be driven away regardless of the key. A DSG however may not release the gearbox from park without the key present, maybe a DSG owner could confirm?

It would be interesting to know the mileage and service history. seems a rare failure to have these days. If it was me I would be throwing a new set of bearings on it at least, you have little to lose.

It is an easy mistake to make if the engine has stopped due to start/stop, but it will not restart automatically if you open the drivers door regardless of the key. If you are getting out and leaving the car with the engine actually running you need to get hearing aids fast!

Unless i'm missing something, and forgive me if I am, but using a pressure bleeder on a concentric slave cylinder, or indeed any slave cylinder to some extent, is not actually doing anything but renewing the fluid down the pipe to the bleed nipple. (i'm not saying this is a bad or pointless idea btw, you might as well get as much fresh fluid in there as you can) But to truely bleed a cylinder that is full of fluid, it needs to be stroked multiple times to get the old fluid out as it is essentially a blind hole with no actual flow through it (unless the piston is moving). The only way to really change it effectively is to remove it, try and drain it, and then refit it and bleed up again, otherwise you are just pushing the old fluid backwards and forwards with no real way of getting fresh fluid down the neck and to the cylinder and nobody is taking a gearbox off to change the fluid is a slave cylinder.

As long as you get something common rail rather than the rough patch where they started fitting DPF's to the PD engines you will be fine with the DPF. If this takes you out of your budget then stick with the old pre-DPF stuff although finding a good one must be getting quite hard now. IIRC they starting bringng the DPF in around 2007 so if you do go older just check for sure that it doesn't have a DPF

A regen every 100 miles is not very frequent considering its daily use. If you must keep the car, as a minimum, make sure to drive it until regen completion every time it tries to do one, probably on your way home, this lessens the damaged caused by constant active regeneration and will allow the car to reach operating temperature. I would use premium fuel regardless with your usage, the difference is a drop in the ocean.

I think you might need a new or second hand mechanism as the switch is probably integrated like the doors. It is probably worth doing some checks with a multimeter if you can though to rule out a broken wire or short out the corresponding wires in the connector to make sure the boot lights go on and off reliably before you commit.

Measure the battery voltage while somebody else tries to start the car. That will tell you if it’s the battery or whether you have a bad connection elsewhere.

I like it, it’s my new favourite! If you don’t already, get a couple of Hockey Pucks with the slits cut in, a lot nicer for jacking off the sills. They do have a tendency to stay on the car though, made that mistake and lost it somewhere down the road 😂

I recently wanted a second jack to accompany my 3T Machine Mart jack. It has been faultless, sturdy and highly reccommend them I went with the Halfords 3T low profile as the trade discount made it a competitive price. It has the quick lift with an added foot pedal and also has slightly softer wheels which makes dragging it out the the garage very quiet. Overall a very nice jack.

The workshop manuals only specify removal of necessary components, it might be a struggle but somebody used to working on cars would have it out a lot faster by feel than taking half the car apart. Have a go, you might surprise yourself Good luck!

The manual suggests access from underneath, removal of undertray is the only thing necessary for removal of the engine speed sensor. You will need a long 4mm ball ended Hex by the look of it as well.