Alasdair1

I agree with scaling. Perhaps been topped up with concentrate and tap water instead of distilled. Had same problem on my MK2 so bought another tank. Wasn't expensive but when it arrived the problem stopped so never got round to fitting it. Might be worth a coolant flush if the scaling is bad. Alasdair

Oh well can't be that then. Is the cat still fitted. Just wondering if its restricting the flow/blocked. Try running it on supreme diesel for a couple of tankfulls if your not already if VCDS doesnt find anything. Might be worth a bottle of injector cleaner as well. Long shot but It could be a bad pattern from an injector. Alasdair

Thats not a bad price especially as disposal is around a £5-00. My local garage used to fit new tyres and balance them for me if I bought lunch for the staff but he retired so stuck with the tyre services. Might try some of the part worn sellers to see wwhat price they will give for fitting. Have one locally thats cash only which I got 4 part worn for an old fabia for £100 fitted and balanced to get through an MOT. Alasdair

Just wondering if its a problem with DPF if fitted. Have heard of cars juddering when trying to do regen? It may be a bad engine mount as well but I would have thought it would be present at lower gears unless its speed/torque related. Hope VCDS helps. Alasdair

If your getting them mail order(no fitting) make sure your local tyre services will fit them or you know someone who will. All of mine now fit new tyres they supply themselves or charge a fortune. Mate found out after ordering from Oponeo.

Better than getting stuck in the sunroof. Alasdair

I assume you mean opening the bonnet lever rather than the one in the car. Just put it in neutral and push it back a bit. Get the builders to help if there still there. Alasdair

Glad you got it sorted. Just don't lock it again until you know what went wrong. Alasdair

Try spraying wd40 or similar into drivers door key hole. It may be seized due to lack of use. You could also try and pull window down a little bit. Put on rubber gloves to get a grip of the glass and see if you can hit the unlock button inside the car with a stiff bit of wire or similar. Alasdair

Meant to add that I have had two cars fitted with Michelin when I bought them and both had tyres that went out of shape with plenty of tread and within 5 years from date stamp. Not bulging but almost twisted. Tyre service who are very good said that they get a lot of Michelin tyres like that especially after a few years. Said for an expensive tyre they seem to get them more than others. Alasdair

Budget or cheap tyres are fine for an MOT if your selling the car on. Best option I reckon is to go by personal reccomendation and not by the labels. I find that cheap budget tyres seem to go almost hard and lose there grip after a year. Tried a good few when money was tight or needed them for an MOT. They preformed ok when new but soon lost there grip etc. Personally I would avoid Autogrip,Comforser and Tomket to name a few. I generally go for mid range as I don't drive like I used to anymore and don't have the need for anything better. Alasdair

If your looking for an all season son has GT radial on his MK1 and there excellent. Good grip in wet/snow etc. Think they were around £70-00 fitted. I run GT radial summer on my octavia and have had no problems. Avoid budget comforser I fitted two on the front and first roundabout in the wet went straight on. Wasn't a one of either and I wasn't pushing it at all. Next day went back and got them swapped for GT radial. Kept the comforser as spares. They were good in dry but awful in wet. Tyre service also said that the wet grip rating on some tyre manufacturers tyres is down to the manufacturer and not independantly tested. Alasdair

Maybe VCDS will ping something up. Just wondering if its a failing cam sensor or similar. Alasdair

Not sure but will have another look at gear selector lever mechanism. Gears engage but selecor seems vague and Cast steel arm is slighly rubbing on top of box and seems loose on spindle. You may be correct with all neutrals or perhaps it seized up inside/selected the wrong gear and broke something. Seems fine when manually changing but the play is pretty bad. Got a lot on in the next few days but hope to get a look at it this weekend. Son in law is free then so will hopefully get to the bottom of it. Noticed the gearbox has an internal slave so will check it out as well as the release bearing. Alasdair

Mechanic has removed gearbox but left RHD shaft including transfer box to rear is still in place. I have the LHD flange but the RHD if there is one is still I assume part of the transfer/bevel system. The splines for the RHD are fairly deep into gearbox as the bevel drive is in front and shaft goes deeper. Had a quick look today and tried the following. With Gbox in gear Turning LHD flange and RHD splines turn in opposite direction. No movement at input shaft Turning RHD splines with a dowel and LHD turns in opposite direction. No movement from input shaft. The above are easy to turn but you and can hear a rattly sound. Hold LHD flange and tried to turn turned RHD one either direction. Solid Neither moved with no movement at input shaft. If I rotate input shaft the LHD flange plus RHD rotate. Bevel drive rotates constantly when turning input shaft. Hope the above makes sense and many thanks for the input. Noticed today gear selector doesnt seem to spring up properly when selecting gears ansd feels loose. Will be back once I have time. Thanks again Alasdair

Had loss of coolant on an old toyota and couldn't work it out. Not much at all but tank level would drop very slowly over a week or two. Couldn't find any noticeable leaks so I tied a plastic juice bottle onto end of expansion tank hose and after a day or two it had some coolant in it. Car wasn't over heating either. New cap and it was sorted. Alasdair

Maybe a failed expansion tank cap. It doesnt take much water/coolant to make a lot of steam so you may not be noticing it drop. Not sure where the expansion tank vent hose goes. It could be near exhaust etc. Mark the tank level when cold and check after a day or two when cold. Doubt its the washer fluid as its low down near front.

If you have the original then as long as the filter is clean it should rule out the airfilter. It may be that the sensor or thermostat has failed. Its not unheard of for aftermarket parts not to last very long. As said check connectors and wiring etc. Alasdair

Its not a misfire under load is it? My old octavia 1.9tdi used to run great but used to misfire underload causing a judder. Would only do it if I accelerated hard above 3000rpm. I used a couple of doses of injector cleaner and it seemed to cure it. It could also be a tyre thats got mishapen which in my case caused a weird wobble through the seat and also a bit through the wheel. Might be worth swapping front to rear to see if it makes any difference. The tyre was more speed related rather than revs but so noticeable at low speeds.

Not sure I would have said temp sensor/thermostat as well but as you changed them?? It might be worth checking wiring to temp sensor in case its damaged or perhaps the connnector. Try it without the airfilter in case its blocked. Alasdair

Sorry meant drivers RH side. Been a long few days. Will try the above as the drivers side shaft is still on vehicle as is the transfer box. Alasdair

Many thanks. Will be speaking to him in the next couple of days. I will either refit gearbox or remove rear drive unit and connect on bench. Its difficult to get to internal spline on passenger side of gearbox due to it being deep into box. Clutch plate/disc seem good with disc only worn 25% and no play in DMF. Will ask him exactly what the scenario was when it failed. Alasdair

Many thanks for the replies. The gearbox is out and reckon will take to a specialist to see if they can help. Something doesnt feel right. Feels slightly rattly and uneven when turning. Bevel drive for prop/haldex turns when input shaft is turned and has complete resistance when trying to stop it turning so should be driving constantly which as said would explain power to rear but front drive is the problem. As said maybe time to take to a specialist to get it checked out. Alasdair

Just had another look at gearbox on bench and it looks like it may be a gearbox fault after all. If I turn input shaft the bevel drive gear turns and theres good resistance if I try to stop it by hand. The other side where the passenger side shaft fits does turn but has no resisistance at all. I am not sure if I am correct but it looks as though the power is managing to get to the drivers side drive shaft and bevel drive unit which supplies the rear prop but nothing to the passenger side which would perhaps explain lack of front wheel drive but power to rear. I assume something has gone bang or stripped inside box or diff. Alasdair

I think your correct. I assumed the unit that was left on van that supplies power to rear and also drivers side wheel was diff but I think its the bevel drive unit and as you said the diff is in the gearbox itself Still to get van in shed. Alasdair