beezera10

Thanks Nigel, excellent advice, will check out everything you've said!

Cheers Are you in agreement about the necessity to get the battery coded?

Thanks mate. There are a couple of members near me. I've messaged one but he's not posted in a year or so. May well try the other guy. TBH, didn't know the Citigo had energy recuperation. I'm guessing that the battery will be ok for a short period of time prior to coding - need it back on the road asap. Appreciate your help!

Cheers! It is EFB and the replacement is 60Ah with the same CCA of 640, identical to the original apart from going from 59Ah to 60Ah. There is a lot of conflicting advice on the coding. Some say that the vehicle's computer will adapt to the new battery without coding. Also, the handbook doesn't specify recoding at all if the battery capacity and specs are the same. All the suppliers I've looked at (including Tayna) never mention it, although you would have thought they might if there's a risk to the battery. Just wondering if it's only on increasing the specs from standard that recoding may become more important? I never use the stop-start, and this seems to be the main reason for coding so that charge can be kept optimal and managed more closely. If so, I'm guessing that it may not be as important to do the coding if the battery isn't under this extra load?? What would I need if I did decide to do VCDS myself, and how much would it cost?

Cheers Aubrey, I've done that. Was looking for a better brand at a keener price. I don't suppose you know, offhand, whether the original battery is AGM or EFB - will be checking anyway. Thanks again.

Cheers Aubrey, and thanks for your quick reply. We acquired the car at 3 years old with 12k on the clock, and I doubt the battery was changed in that time. We've had the car almost 7 years so, if I'm right, the battery is coming up to 9-10 years old. It hasn't turned over as quickly just recently, that has been noticeable. Thanks for the coding advice! I haven't investigated the Ah rating just yet, and I think the original is EFB rather than AGM (again not sure just yet). I know the car isn't very heavy on power, so I'm guessing EFB. This is the item I have in mind. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254879881479?epid=2288064656&itmmeta=01HS4GGH0YP21079NAW9F4869Z&hash=item3b58065907:g:ZUIAAOSw6W9knqh-&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0HFEMV5wamrwgbzE1xlWMjSqjYc--64abuIJmFcUz2vh29A%2FYKs%2FpiI%2BxppOw%2BUN6K50feYrZiCyT5nQGlpfIKhJ51wlqKhgLqIKdV%2Fg5odxZARY1Es03gTJ%2FcOkpfCK9idmnw63KCocPJpRhqH3wrXcQ8g9Cml9l1WIYXKkSl9wEZrM15W4opogTnvK2GbrjvuGpVMiizMYlkqV2A%2BiYKEG4VSrK0nFm04XGrN25NUWNqaq%2FUOj7encNQSOh5N4oSw6d2%2Fmdw%2BGWuFLIAaNQFk%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9CQwpDJYw Thanks again! Maybe not this battery as the terminal shape doesn't look right??

My son's Citigo suddenly failed to start a couple of days after a 120m run. Dash lights still came on and windows work, but no power to turn the motor over. Used jump leads to check that it was not the starter motor or something else, started immediately. On getting home, would not start again but windows worked (slowly). The main questions/observations are as follows: 1. At no time did the battery light appear on the dash and there was no yellow colour on the battery 'window'. 2. Am I correct in thinking that a new battery really has to be recoded to the car, as per Aubrey's post a few years ago. 3. I'd like to avoid dealers or garages so, is it easy to download the software and obtain the hardware to do this myself. There are a couple of VCDS guys near me in Wakefield, one in Wakefield itself and the other in Pontefract. Would be happy to contact them if they can help. Cheers all!

Found the issue! When I jacked the car up on the offside and turned the wheel, the drive shaft didn't move. Stripped it all down again and discovered the cv joint had slipped down the shaft splines because of a dodgy circlip/snap ring (I thought it was a bit tight on the shaft when the originals were looser. Also, the n/s which had a looser snap ring seems fine). So, when I turned a corner, it pulled the joint even further down the shaft to the very edge of the splines and has slipped round lunching the splines on both the shaft and the joint in the process. I've now ordered complete shafts for both sides - n/s will be a spare just in case. When I said 'hammering' the cv joints back on, what I meant was a swift blow from a rubber mallet to seat the joint on the shaft snap ring.

Any ideas of what could have been disturbed? The procedure for replacement of the boots was normal, and all went well.

Help guys!! Changed the cv boots today and went to go for a test drive - just got round the corner and suddenly there was no drive at all, just a bit of a graunching noise on the r/h/s. Looked at my work and it seems fine - might I have disturbed something when hammering the cv joints back on? It had a new clutch recently and has been driving fine up 'til now. Any tips, fixes, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Ok folks, car is back up and running. Got the new steering lock assembly at 2.30pm and all back together before dark. Did have the yellow steering wheel warning light come on, but disappeared after a few hundred yards. Just a quick question: I managed to put the steering wheel back on just off central, and the car pulls to the left which I'd not really noticed before (not driven it for a while, but wife does). Is it conceivable that the work I've done on replacing the lock and the steering wheel being off centre has anything to do with the pulling to the left - or is it simply a case of straightening the steering wheel and having the alignment checked (+ tyres/pressures, etc). It's not bad and there's no steering wheel shake, it only happens when you let go of the wheel (briefly) Cheers all.

Cheers. I guess that applies if you're just changing the barrel not the switch?

Hi All This may have been covered elsewhere, but here's the issue. As is common with VAG ignitions, mine has developed the 'key won't turn' issue. I've researched the problem online and have now stripped the whole of the steering column to get to the steering lock/ignition assembly, and have separated the ignition switch and barrel from the steering lock. It's the lock that's failed completely, and a new one is on the way. Now the questions: If I put the existing ignition switch and barrel into the new lock assembly, will the car be ok with this. If I did replace the barrel and switch as well (meaning new keys), can I reprogramme to the car's computer myself or is this a specialist job. It should be something that can be done by the owner, but I guess people stealing cars and replacing ignitions is an issue. Having said that, I suppose you wouldn't be able to use a new key manually on the doors/boot without replacing the barrels on those too. This job was a b*****d to do first time (thank you internet). I did break a bit of plastic but was able to superglue back together (not a critical part). Thanks in advance for any help.

Drilled new hole and attached plastic string with big knot at fuel cap end and loop on the other - works perfectly.

Late in on this topic but wondered if there's any interest out there. DMF is clacking and rattling - sometimes nothing for a while and really loud at others. Decided to go for the conversion to SMF. Car is Octy 1.9PD Ambiente 2008 BXE. Quoted £576 for full Sachs kit, fitted and including VAT - does this sound reasonable? Car has done 138k on original.

Use Mannol or Pemco myself - running it for 70,000m in the Octy PD, no issues at all (10k fixed service). Used to be around £55 for 20l, now about £80.

That's the ticket!

I did the same job on a Mk1 and you are right, it was a lot easier!! For the spreader, I found an old wheel nut and ground two sides flat on the thread. I then opened the knuckle a little with a cold chisel, inserted the spreader and, hey presto.

My biggest issue was trying to get the new strut in and the old one out of the knuckle. Had to take the whole knuckle off with the strut and hammer it with a nylon mallet. To get the new one to seat properly, I had to raise the car under the tie rod and use the weight of the car, a homemade spreader, and lots of tapping and bashing with the mallet before it settled in with a satisfying clunk. I did lose the little locating tab on the strut in the process, but lined it up correctly anyway. Took a total of 3 days to do both sides at my pace (slow and thorough) then had to get the alignment done whicha was way out.

It's not a bad idea to do the bearings at the same time as springs and struts as the whole lot has to come apart again to change the bearings if they go. I didn't as I'm very tight and nothing seemed to be wrong with the bearings and it passes the MoT every year. By the way, to go off topic for a second, what is the whining noise I get when I turn the engine off. Sounds as if it could be a servo having a bit of a hissy fit. Is this a sign of imminent failure of something. Everything works ok at present.

Nope, tracking was fine before. If it hadn't, at least one of the front tyres would have been knackered in a very short space of time, and it wouldn't have driven as well as it did. Since I've had the tracking done, it goes round corners like its on rails - didn't do that after the work. I saw the laser measurements with my own eyes, and they were way out. In fact, the guys took around an hour to adjust because they couldn't free off the tie rod locking nuts. Doubt they'd have been too happy if the tracking had been ok. Respect to your comments, but the general consensus from what I've read is to get the tracking checked and adjusted if necessary.

Nope, tracking was miles out. Steering wasn't great but driveable, and I was with them when they checked it. I wouldn't agree that the job would not put the tracking out as even a major wallop up a kerb can put it out. Because of the difficulties in getting the old strut out and the new one in, I had to get the whole hub carrier out and reassemble the lot from scratch. It all went back fine in the end and has had an MoT since. The place I take it to is decent as they'll do a free recheck and readjust after a few months to allow for a 'settling' period. Heh, see what you're saying though.

I did wonder if the bearings bolt to the chassis in a particular way. When I did mine, there were two arrows on the top of the bearing?? Having said that, I would imagine that they would only bolt on one way if it was that critical. I also had the tabs on the struts break off when fitting (loosely welded on). Didn't seem to make any difference though as the stabiliser bar wouldn't fit if it was in the wrong position. Whole job was a bit of a faff - did it over three days at leisurely pace. Had to get the tracking redone as it was miles out.

Drill a small hole to the side of where the original strap is secured to the filler cap. Get a piece of string and thread it through the hole, tying a couple of knots at the end and pull through until jammed. At the other end, form a small loop and push it over the tab that the other end of the strap attaches to (near the flap hinge). Took 15 mins and works as well as anything.