Warrior193

Hello, has the battery become discharged to too low level due to the wiring fault?

Hello, welcome to the forum. You say there is noticeable smoke when up to temperature - does this look like oil burning ? (blue smoke) What mileage and how much oil lost in, say, 1000 miles?

To OP, recommend that you check the expansion tank anyway, it could save you some grief in the future. Very simple and low cost DIY.

Hello KAH, if you are still looking, keep an eye out for the 110PS version - if you are open to manual transmission, this one has the 6-speed.

Was there a lot of dark-coloured debris produced during these cooling system flushes? If so, check the expansion tank - is it marked on the side 'Mit Silikat, and is the coolant in it discoloured? VW originally fitted a small bag of silicate granules into these tanks, these bags are prone to fail and allow the contents to migrate (and block) small water passages, EG. matrix cores. Do a search on the forum under 'Tea Bag, Silikat' etc. There is a possibility that your silicate bag has failed - if this is the case, the expansion tank should be replaced with one without the 'tea bag' before flushing the system again, you may get lucky.

How do you manage to read tyre pressures with those damaged stems?

In extreme conditions, letting some air out of the tyres can help gain traction - but care needs to be taken that pressures aren't allowed to go too low, then you need to be able to restore correct pressures afterwards.

Hello Shauna, welcome to the forum. I assume by your saying 'it would only reverse DOWN the hill' that you had lost traction going up - is that correct? Good quality Winter / 3-Peaks / M&S tyres would probably have given you a better chance of getting you up it.

My first thought - how far was this metal bar projecting from the van, and was it marked / flagged in any way? In UK, it's an offence to have projecting load without some visible marker. Don't completely rely on rear sensors, they may not always be able to detect certain projections such as the one you encountered, especially if it's narrow.

I believe that an updated expansion tank is available, with modified sensor probes. And without Silicat

With fuel pump unpowered (ignition off) of course.

Hi Toot, I remember them (used em too) Dunlop SP44s were a lot better.

Would I be correct in supposing you could use either 1s or 0s (zero) in the 10-digit battery serial number?

That does sound like a failing CV joint, although I've usually heard it as more of a click (clunk with more wear) each revolution. Are you sure there is no part of a tyre touching part of the suspension? I suggest making a close inspection the RH CV joints. Do you have a trusted garage?

That could suggest just one of the balls has flat-spotted - or one track is damaged. Is this noise audible on both locks, worse on one lock than the other, or just on one? From my Mk1-2 Mini days, louder noise on one lock indicated wear damage to the joint on the inside of the turn IIRC.

Rhythmic clunk at full lock sounds like badly worn CV joint to me.

Actual road temperature is an important factor - the compound on winter tyres (Alpine, 3-peaks/M&S) is markedly softer than normal - or even all-season (cross-climate) tyres and definitely give better grip in cold conditions. There are very good, independent tyre tests that consistently support this.

Not a VRS and a different engine series, but my MY16 is a keeper. There, that's probably put a curse on it now 😅

Wow, under the Lemon Law our neighbours over the pond have, that one would surely qualify!

That could possibly suggest a slightly weak battery. Strongly suggest a decent charge cycle, then a good battery load test.

With a good battery, charged to approx. 75/80% of full charge, stop-start should become available immediately. NB. not all new batteries will arrive fully charged.

Hello David, at the age of your vehicle, I doubt that any warranty provider will be able to supply a reasonably priced policy that will be able to cover your concerns. Given the likely exclusions in any policy T&Cs, I feel you may be better to save any premiums you would pay against the day you need it for repairs.

The keyfob transmitter will transmit the lock/unlock signal at a fixed signal strength, if too far away from the receiver unit, it (the receiver) will simply not operate. Longer operation time of the transmitter keypress is likely to shorten fob battery life.

Hello Bigster, I assume that when you say 'battery has 8 months' you mean it is only 8 months old - is that correct? If you didn't do this before the test, I suggest that you give your battery a full charge, on a good charger at the correct rate - not a 'boost' or trickle charger, then retest after removing the surface charge (headlights on for around a minute) The parasitic drain you report from your radio is possibly skewing your test result.

Has the battery condition been tested?