J.R.

Is this a DSG gearbox you are speaking of?

Yes and no, if you leave fuel in too long you get varnish forming in the guaze filter, if you run it dry the diaphragms stiffen up which the ethanol does anyway. Repair kits dont always work, I have one which still will not prime, its venting to the venturi from the pressure feed to the needle valve chamber, the only remaining possibility is the welch plug over the progression gallery but this has never been disturbed for over 20 years and doesn't usually have a sealant, everything else gets gummed up but that seemingly is now leaking. New carbs are incredibly shonky, never run properly and need constant adjustment.

Imiht be wrong, I use an oil suction pump now so dont get so frequently intimate with the undertray as on previous vehicles, I chnaged the clutch 18 months ago and would have noticed if it were fibrous construction. I'm sure its strong enough to return to form after bumping something but offers no real protection to the sump etc, brake lines are well out of the way, the diesel heat exchanger is very exposed. I use the term as I have never really understood its function or the need for it, I cant see why you would cool a compression ignition fuel or heat waxy fuel after the engine has started, perhaps it heats it on the return, in any case its very exposed even to a jack slipping.

Another vehicle.

Mine is plastic but certainly could not be described as structural or even fibre reinforced, its polyethylene with a plasic covered foam chocolate bar type matrix on top for acoustics and to catch oil, bolts, washers and 10mm Snap On combination spanners. Mine is the Outdoor model but nothing on it is tougher or rugged than the other models, they just wanted it to look that way, - they failed! +1 for tywraps, bodging material of choice for most everything.

When I read that I thought that there were at least 2 on here, until I read the last bit!!!

Thanks for that, he looks very similar but without the beard probably wouldnt be, they both sound so similar and have similar presenting styles AKA they dont make me stop the video after 2 seconds of HI GUYS! or have me scrolling through 30 minutes to watch 30 seconds of relevance.

Yes I reretted my comments about leaving it when reading about the mesh screen and bearing failures. Modern ICE's are just far too complicated now, Lol-Lols evengelism about EV's is beginning to sway me. I've spent most of this year trying to coax 2 stroke garden mechinery back into life, then carb rebuilds or replacement to get them all tip-top before they were needed yet they have all let me down the first time I tried to use them. My 1996 4 stroke disc cutter whilst a little temperemental, it is Italian after all still does what I ask of it even after several years of absence, still on the original spark plug. My 1960's wacker plate with a 1950's Villiers stationary engine always starts, it may rip the tendons out of your hands with kickback but it always starts even after being loaned for 5 years to serial abusers. Of course none of these are subject to emissions control. It was the simplicity of the diesel engine combined with the smoothness and economy that took me from petrol to diesel 18 years ago, the ASV (I think) engine in my MK1 Octavia was at the pinnacle of simplicity, reliability and efficiency, its gone rapidly downhill since, who could believe that the simple compression ignition engine would become so complicated and unreliable?

A bit of puddin, sand down and stonechip then paint body colour. Cosmetically I would be more concerned about the more visible damage to the rear wheel arch.

Is he the guy that was on an American resto program on Sky with the vain egotistical Richard something?

I agree, if it were mine I would be saying other than the oil suction blockages from the debris in the sump the engine seems to be running fine without it. Do the oil jets for the piston skirts spray or splash oil in that direction? I speculate it something to do with keeping oil temperatures down, the rear exhaust side of the engine block being heated by the turbo, it cant be to prevent windage losses if the other balance shaft is exposed unless oil is not present there, perhaps it due to where the oil drains down from the cylinder head. Part of me says the part is an afterthought, not designed in from the beginning, probably after they noticed oil heating or windage issues on the test bed. I would stick the pieces back together and use it in the bathroom!!!

I have had it once only, about 15 seconds after lihtly clipping a kerb with the right rear wheel when taking a corner too close not allowing for the different trajectory of the rear axle to the front. Warnings went away when I recycled the ignition and have not come back, I checked the sensor connector visibly when I refitted the summer tyres, if I have problems in the future I will know what connector to suspect but a VCDS scan would confirm.

If only the one seal is present and you take your time and wait after the initial unscrewing then the oil should drain back to the oilpan, if it has the second seal stuck there then it probably will be messy but better than a wrecked engine. It sounds like I know what I am talking about but have actually only just learned of the anti drain back seal from the Mann video linked to. I have a question for the forum, now I know of this drainback system is it present on all of the inverted VAG oil filters? I am thinking specifically of my Yeti which has the cartridge filter inside the round plastic screw on housing, should I be pausing during its removal? Oil doesnt gush out or overflow but there is a hell of a lot contained within the filter pleats which usually makes a mess of the floor and my rubbish container, if waiting 5 minutes after the initial unscrewing would minimise that I would definitely do it but dont want to waste time for nothing.

My best way is to ignore it. No idea whether it should be included under the paint warranty other than feeling that you are setting yourself up for no end of grief and negative feelings.

Ask yourself how wheel alignment could actually be "set" to one side or the other on a steered axle and you will have answered your question.

My bikes never once saw the inside of my parents car or anybody elses. Times change, it certainly would not have been a factor they considered in choosing a vehicle. Wwhen I was a baby up to toddler age my parents had a pre-war Morris 8 Tourer, my sisters who would have been 7 and 10 years old then rode in the backseat and I was placed outside on the dicky seat in the slipstream of the exhaust and oil fumes, it's what made me a petrol-head!

Rear wheels will toe in as will the front, thrust angle should be zero, there is never a stagger or offset to one side on any road vehicle, that is the domain of oval track racers.

Evaporative purge canister flooded through overfilling of the fuel tank filler neck.

If you want to pull the old one apart to see what has happened on the inside I can let you into the secret of how to disassemble the clipped together assembly that is designed to never come apart. Mine had a huge amount of magnetic sludge like debris sticking to the toroid magnet on the end of the piston, I have no idea where it came from, the seals were intact, I initially thought the magnet was there like an engine oil magnetic drain plug, to catch metallic debris but of course there should never be any, the magnet is to operate a reed switch for the clutch position sensor. Which begs the question where did all the magnetic Schmoo in mine come from and does your cylinder have it also? When you get fed up trying to release the sprung lugs joining the two sections I will let you into the secret!

It will self bleed now. Been there & got the T shirt re fitting master cylinders, with the clutch pedal and the outlet pipe removed (easier said than done) not forgetting the inlet pipe and switch connector the master cylinder can be removed with a twist of 1/4 turn.

Disc cut them flush both sides and also through the split in the collar, the heat alone may loosen the 2 remaining slugs or you may need to heat again but each slug will only have half the resistance of the whole bolt, will heat up easier and should drift out a lot easier. An essential is to have the strut anchored when you start giving the drift the good news with the hammer, either with the strut back in place and eveything else bolted up or in a really big vice on a very heavy bench, otherwise all the impact energy is lost in moving the strut. An air chisel with a point bit cut off to make a drift might also shift the slugs.

I have a set of steelies with legal but lethal ditchfinder winter tyres (old and no grip even in cold conditions) and they are in La Somme so not a million miles from the Belgian border dependant on where you are. You can have them for free if it helps you, I bought another set cheap down here that had good tyres, another waste of money really because since November when I put them on till they came off a couple of weeks ago there were probably only 2 days where the temperature and conditions would have warranted them. They actually have genuine Skoda wheeltrims which look quite good, with them no insurance assessor could complain, I actually prefer the look of the black rims to the alloys so found some cheap black embellishers.

Was the noise in the video the tyre rubbing? If I was going to suggest so you could fit some washers on each wheel stud to space it out but of course they are wheel bolts, otherwise have someone in the back with a watering can and no spout to open the door and pour water on the tyre when it starts to smoke, drive very very slowly of course, not something I should really be suggesting but it got me home a mile having overloaded my trailer with ballast and bent the suspension units causing the wheels to camber into the woodwork.

Nice find, I will be measuring up tomorrow as I could make use of that.

My MK1 and MK2 Octavias had roof rails that needed clamp on roof bars, my Yeti which may be similar to your MK3 Octavia has 4 pairs of Rivnuts on the inside face, unseen unless you are very tall or use a stool, thes give a much stronger fixing and mean you can custom fabricate your roof rack if you have the skills and equipment, also in an outpost like Port Stanley I am guessing there will be people with decades of experience of make-do and field repairs. During the first week of the confinement I made my own bolt on roofbars from timber and metal stud wall sections that I had spare.