J.R.

My thoughts exactly! The problem is that the code which comes immediately without the wheel turning is one for the TPMS control module no comms I think. For a start I dont think there is a seperate TPMS module as its not on my installation list and I cannot interrogate it, I think its within the ABS or body control module and the fault is that it does not see all 4 sensors during the pre start check. Swopping the sensors around would still bring that fault but without knowing from which wheel.

I thought of that but having already removed and refitted the good one after finding that they were handed I could not face removing the wheel again But you make a good point, they were very difficult to remove last week and I put them back in with copaslip so better to try and learn with the rear one that I know slips out than risk breaking the front. I'll give it a go, I'm curious to see if the test technique works and I reckon you are too! The magnetic ring (now I know its name) might still be dodgy on the bad side so if the test shows the sensor is gone I will probably still swop the (good) front to the rear to ensure the magnetic ring is functioning. I might even remove the hub to declag it. If I were still in the UK I would have bought 2 sensors and 2 rings before even touching it, not only do I have to add very expensive delivery from Ebay UK suppliers on each item (no grouping) but then I have to pay frais de Douane on top, pretty much doubles the price, even sensors from Germany want €25 delivery

Whilst they are handed it would appear that both front and rear sensors are the same so tomorrow I will try to coax the front one out of its rusted burrow to swap front to rear.

I clipped a kerb with a rear wheel a couple of months ago, a minute later the dashboard lit up like fault code city & then gradually all the lights (ABS, ESP, 4WD, TPMS, Steering assist etc) went out, this started happening more and more often. The common fault in VCDS was always an intermittent signal from the left rear speed sensor, all the other lights & codes I believe were systems that needed the speed input to function. Recently the dash would light up after driving 50 metres and now a TPMS light flashes as soon as the ignition comes on and when the fault code is erased it comes back immediately, I believe the sensor now is open circuit and the TPMS does a self check of all of them on start up before the vehicle even moves. Enough background, I want to know if its the sensor or the reluctor ring in the bearing assembly that is the problem, I removed both rears with the intention of swapping them to see if the fault moved but they are handed. I checked the output using measuring blocks on VCDS and there is nothing coming from the left rear wheel sensor. So I checked the wiring to the connector and it was getting a solid 12.3v even when the cable was taut and flexed, I then measured the resistance across the 2 pins on the sensor and got a very high resistance, 0.3 on the 20 meg Ohm range. I connected the sensor to the lead but removed from the wheel hub, with measuring blocks monitoring its output I waved a magnet to and fro beside it, no output, then I tried a piece of steel, same result. So do you think it is the sensor or the reluctor ring or is there another way of testing to decide which? If the bearings are not handed I dont mind buying one & keeping it as a spare but the sensors are handed and I dont want to waste money if it is not that. Many thanks in advance.

Nobody mentioned any risks or danger. If you get sunburned during this heatwave then look up and wave at my own personal hole in the ozone layer 😆

Snap!!!! I think mine is a rear wheel sensor or perhaps the reluctor ring in the wheel bearing, VCDS says its the NSR but you might as well flipp a coin than believe that pile of Merde! I am going to swap the sensors side to side and see if the fault moves, if it does then it will be the sensor and not the reluctor ring, if it remains NSR then its the reluctor. In either case I still wont have any confidence on what side the fault is really on! I'm off to tinker right now!

The proper way is to evacuate and then refill with a measured weight of refrigerant gas plus PAG oil. I dont have the kit to do that so have to judge the correct quantity by watching both the high and low side pressures with my manifold set whilst introducing the refrigerant. That has to be done in conjunction with the tables for the gas which give pressures relative to ambient temperature but also relative humidity. I may look at the low side when initial filling but when the system is running its the interaction of the pressure drop in the low side and the rise in pressure in the high side relative to the charts that will tell me when to stop filling. I am very aware that mine is a very rough and ready approach and I wont be getting anywhere near the correct fill for the system to work correctly and efficiently but my way is 1000 times more accurate than simply measuring the low side pressure on a cheapo guage without any reference to the R134a charts.

Butane gas? I know a lot of the Chinese sellers were passing that off as R123A replacement but I doubt that it will mix with R134a £428 for 12kg! - Kinell!!!!!

Do you have your old starter to compare it to? With the starter off of the car the pinion should move freely in one direction without any resistance or jerkiness, in the other direction it should lock to the shaft and turn the armature without any slippage. You have nothing to lose by trying some WD40 if you can get to the end of the pinion, it should go between the pinion and the shaft.

I have listened to the video, it sounds exactly like the screech of a failed sprag clutch, I have only encountered it once and mine would fail to engage on start up, it would make that screeching noise but not turn the engine unless I tried repeatedly. Its going back over 25 years so maybe it started with the squalking when the key was released.

I am assuming that your Felicia has a pre-engaged starter, I would expect it for a 1997 vehicle, if it is it will have the solenoid assembly on the side of the starter body and a pinion with a shroud around it, the one way clutch is inside the pinion, its a needle roller bearing which can only turn in one direction, otherwise known as a roller ramp clutch, it means when the engine fires the starter motor shaft will not be driven by the engine even if you dont release the key quick enough, it will freewheel, you wont hear any gnashing just the whirr of the starter which you may not even hear behind the engine noise. The older type of starter has a bendix pinion with a big spring on the end of it and usually a seperate solenoid, that has a reverse internal helix which is thrown out of mesh when the engine fires, its known as an inertia starter because the inertia of the starter spinning from rest engages the pinion. You either have a sticky contact in the new ignition/starter switch which should only cause a whirring noise when the engine fires, if not then its a faulty sprag clutch if you have a pre-engaged starter or a sticking bendix on an inertia starter. Sorry for the misunderstanding but they were your words! I just did a test with my 2015 vehicle and it does indeed remove the power from the starter motor after the engine has fired even if I dont release the key and it also inhibits me from using the starter while the engine is running. I dont believe my 1998 VAG vehicle did that, the functionality has probably been brought in for stop-start systems.

When you say full at 25psi do you mean that it would not take any more gas or that what the instructions say? If the latter then they are dangerously incorrect, you may have over or underfilled your system. Be aware that as the refrigerant is used the pressure drops and you cannot judge how many more top ups you have remaining by the pressure which varies massively dependant on ambient temperature, weight of refrigerant is the key and your vehicle should be filled from a vacuum with a very specific weight somewhere around 525 grammes.

It's not annoying or a problem for the other 1.2 billion drivers on the planet, they release the key when the engine fires like they were taught or like they very quickly worked out that they should do.

You should release the key as soon as the engine fires, you should never engage the starter motor when the engine is running, both of these should be obvious to most people. Nonetheless the starter motor has a one way sprag clutch which declutches when the engine fires so that the starter motor is not destroyed by being turned at 20 times the engine RPM, the starter will still be turning though until you release the key. I believe so, I have never been aware of such an interlock but then I have never been aware of someone who would willingly engage their starter motor knowing that the engine is running. You may have broken the one way sprag clutch in the pinion with your antics.

Open the front window a little bit, if just you driving then crack open the passenger side for less wind noise.

"Supposedly being the word", as a very respected 14th century mathematician once said. Probably!

My Kubota micro tractor has just clocked up 3500 hours since 1980.

Original source please as it sounds like a made up quote. "A London writer"................................

3 new Giga battery factorys are currently being constructed in Les Hauts de France and others are on the cards, lots of Chinese investment and involvement and also French government subsidies and investment. They are claiming that it will be the Silicone Valley of Europe for EV battery production, - we will see. It was very recently that I said on this forum that the Japanese were deliberately taking their time and playing the long game.

I was going to suggest the throttle valve being crudded up. Yes that is very different and may not suffer the same fate, does it even have a throttle butterfly in there and is one of the pipe stubs for the EGR gases? You could try looking inside with an USB endoscope.

I believed it after 10 years, after 20 years, and after 30 years, after around 40 years the realisation dawned on me that I was a knobhead who knew nothing but thought he knew everything.

Slacken the retaining nuts, lift the arms to break the taper joint then reposition and tighten.

I knew exactly what they are and like a Plod the myriad other mods that a person who would fit them will have likely done. That said when do you ever see a Plod on patrol anymore? They are too busy on Twitter.

When they required lubrication they were fitted with grease nipples, VAG have gone back over 100 years. When they start making the same economies with rubber components that they already have with brake discs, disc backplates, crossmembers & suspension components then they will self destruct at the first contact with any oil, grease or hydrocarbon. In the days of Morris Minors mechanics had enough nouse to know that if they were told to slather grease onto a rubber component to tell the person where tthey could stick their request.

Slathering grease over suspension components is a complete bodge and its shamefull that VAG resort to this rather than respect their warranty obligations. The creaking sound is the result of a seized bearing causing the spring to wind up, the beraing either then moves with a jolt or the spring dislodges on its seat which will lead to failure. I replaced both my top mounts when I replaced the struts as on removing one I was showered with bearing balls, after a couple of months the creaking noise returned, I put up with it for a long time and only recently fitted yet another new top mount bearing, the old one seemed in perfect order but the noise has gone.