Alasdair1

Mate did exactly the same on an old Bedford cf van but he used Dulux exterior nondrip gloss for metal with mini roller. Damn thing was shiny for years afterwards and looked surprisingly good. If its just the laquer it might be worth rubbing down to a matt finish and respraying with new laquer. Have the same prob on a MK1 MX5(miata) project. Paint underneath seems solid but laquer is past it. Most paint shops won't touch it as the prep work would cost probably more than the cars worth plus they seem to be making a fortune with insurance jobs. Alasdair

I went for the 2007 haynes as my sons is a late model 06 just in case there was any differenece. So far havent come accross anything that seems out of the ordinary. Bit confusing as his is a 55 plate but is actually March 2006. If the 2006 one is cheaper go for that and if anything crops up post it on here as someone will know. Alasdair

It could be the imobilser. Try another key if you have one. Had problems with an old Seat that the fob transponder had failed. Would start then stop imediately. Fine with the spare fob. It could also be the coil reader in the ignition barel thats not reckognising fob. Alasdair

The door hinges will have triple square spline if you need to take tham off. Not sure how easy it is to align them again. £500 per door seems quite a lot but I suppose by the time the dents removed and door sprayed etc. I looked into getting a few dents removed a few years ago and found the cheapest was small paint shops that don't do insurance jobs. Never did get round to it as Postman totalled the car when it was icy. There are a few mobile companies that will remove dents assuming there not too bad and are removable without painting. Think its called paintless dent removal. Alasdair

Many thanks for the link Alasdair

Thanks for the replies. Will go for a decent run next time it happens. Not sure how long it takes to regen but reckon a run at 60-70 for a while should help Alasdair

Not sure if its had the fix or not. I assume not as car runs very well and plenty power. Have had it for about a year with no probs. Keep meaning to check. Alasdair

Could be a number of things. First I would check wiring from fuel sender/tank It could be a loose/coroded connector. I managed to pull my sons wiring when I had seats down in his fabia and loosened connector although his stopped working completely. It may also be a fault in the fuel level sensor if the range drops as well. An earth fault may cause it as well If they check out ok it could be a fault in the cluster connector or the cluster/guage itself. If you arent able to check yourself perhaps an auto electrician as I reckon its a wiring/electrical fault rather than mechanical.

Hi have a Mk2 1.6tdi 12 plate and randomly when car is up to temp the revs at idle are 1100-1200 rpm. Most of the time it sits at around 800rpm. Not ideal for driving around town especially when in first gear as car wants to go faster than car in front. Just wondering if it might be trying to regen the DPF. No lights or warnings etc on dash. Noticed as well that even though temp sits at 90 the cooling fan comes on when I stop engine for about 20-30secs when the revs have been high at idle. Car usually gets a long run from time to time but mostly shorter journeys. Alasdair

Are you sure its a misfire. I assume any misfire would show up if scanned with vcds. I have a weird wobble on my 1.6tdi at certain speeds and only when I accelerate. No misfire logged and changed everything suspension related. I reckon its a drive shaft problem on mine. Weird thing is it randomly doesnt happen. Does it do it in other gears at the same revs when cruising. On mine its felt mainly through car not wheel. Alasdair

Cant see the crank sensor making any difference to compression. If theres zero compression on two of the cylinders it as said sounds like a valve problem or perhaps a catastrophic head gasket failure between the two pistons or the timing chain has jumped and you have bent/damaged valves. Try the third and see how you get on plus try it again on the other car just in case the tester is faulty. Even if you have a poor seal at the sparkplug opening I would assume the needle would move slightly. Alasdair

If you want to check them for tightness it wouldnt do any harm although how to check torque with a plus 90 not sure. I reckon a quick check with a manual ratchet just to make sure none are coming loose. Alasdair

Might be drive shaft related. Check for any play in cv joints. Also check the discs are running true. Had similar proplems with an old volvo. Used a needle guage to check discs were fitting properly. One was slightly out of alignment but managed to rotate it to get it to align properly. Looked like this Doesnt take much on axle stub to put disc off alignment. Mine was only slightly out and couldnt feel it through brake pedal. The larger disc may be causing vibration if slightly out. Alasdair

Might be HT leads? or a failing crank sensor. Might be worth getting it scanned with VCDS. It can ping up things that basic scanners miss or can't read.

Thanks Pete, Reckon I will get one as joining all the extension bars together isn't ideal. Tends to end up drooping. Alasdair

I have been using KYB for a good few years now on quite a few different cars and had no problems at all. Sachs/LUK for clutches etc. Only time I buy OE skoda is if its a part thats difficult to source or skoda only. Alasdair

The flange bolts if I remember on my sons were M8 bolts, Stage1 - 10Nm. Stage2 - 20Nm. Stage 3 - Angle tighten 90 degrees. If the bolts are M10 think VRS they are M10 bolts , Stage1 - 10Nm. Stage2 - 50Nm. Stage3 - Angle tighten 45 degrees. Not sure on the MK3. His is a late MK1. Reckon your ok with 25nm plus 90 Alasdair

If it tries wwith easy start then it could well be a fuel problem or low compression. If the fuel pump is working then next step I would take would be change fuel filter. Could also be an electrical fault at injectors? Alasdair

Not quite. Think the one you are looking at does compression and leak down tests as well. It should do the job though. It comes with both 12mm and 14mm spark plug inserts. I got mine for a very old Ford industrial engine in my forklift. I found if I removed all plugs I got a faster cranking speed and better results. All you need is an aproximate reading to see if there is good compression on all cylinders. Alasdair

Has the rubber come from inside the HT leads cap. Jut wondering if its snapped off inside because its stuck somehow to plugs and broken when you removed them. If it has then a long thin screw driver might be able to loosen them from around plugs and remove before removing plugs from engine. I got a cheap compression tester off Amazon. A cheap one will do and doesnt need to be too accurate. All you want is to make sure that the three pistons are aprox equal and arent all very low This is similar to the one I got for around £15 Alasdair

Had similar noise on my mk2 octavia. Weird almost high pitch rattle but only at certain low revs. Eventually tracked it down to the heat shield above exhaust under car that had dropped as the fixing push on securing washers were rotten. Reckon at certain revs it hit resonant frequency and rattled. Used some cable connector strips to screw onto fixings stubs to wedge it up again.

Have you tried Partsgateway, Breakerlink,etc You put in what you need and if any scrappies have it they send you an email. There are quite a few others if you googl scrap car parts. Found breaker link to be pretty good. Alasdair

Looks the same as my sons MK1 . I did clutch and no oil came out. NS was fairly straight forward but OS on his is longer. Tricky to get to flange bolts from wheel arch. I ended up using quite a few extension bars to get to them. As I was reusing drive shafts I marked their position at gearbox end with tipex just in case. I reused the flange bolts but put a bit of loctite on them again just in case. I think the bolts are supposed to be replaced but I seem to have got away with it. The hub bolt on his is a use once and throw away. Alasdair

I would start with checking there is actually a spark and also fuel getting to engine. If there is then do a compression test. It could be a fuel pump failure/blockage at filter/relay? or coil pack suppy problem. Not sure what the rubber would be at sparkplug unless its come from the socket that was used to remove plugs. Some spark plug sockets have rubber insert. Alasdair

If the ABS light is on and there is a grinding noise it might be better not to drive car any distance until checked properly. For brakes etc it doesnt have to be a VW/Skoda specialist. Any decent garage would be able to diagnose and fix. Someone on here may be able to reccomend a decent independant garage in either preferably london as its closer to you or cambridge. Alasdair