J.R.

That was timely, I ran VCDS today, and guess what! Intermittent bulb failure warning left rear tail light, logged 4 times. I tried testing it using output tests but they had so many meaningless names for the bulbs nothing resembling rear tail lights aside from perhaps "Parking lights" & then I realised I was being stupid & should use a MK1 Eyeball (soon to be upgraded to MK2 👍) and the bumlb was shining bright. Next time that I get a "bong!" I will pull the cluster, its been out before & I recall the loom is too short to get the unit out enough to remove the connector without a fight. While I think of it, an unrelated VCDS observation, I restarted the computer today and it prompted me to download the latest version which I did, then it asks for the dongle to be plugged in and the "test" routine run from the "Options" menu, it will not do this without it being plugged into the (or perhaps any) vehicle as it needs power to the Can line, it does not tell you this until you try without. So you lug the computer out to the car, connect it all up & run the routine & only then does it tell you that you still need the internet connection, but by then I am out of range of my ADSL router, luckily here I dont have one and have a smartphone for a wi-fi hotspot so could take that to the car but back at the hôtel I have to park close to the building and use the guest wi-fi signal. If I lived in a flat then I would be left with a non functioning VCDS after accepting the latest upgrade which is usually my experience with any software mise à jour, how do others get on in this regard? It strikes me as being badly thought out for a system that relys on a computer & not a smartphone & normally works at the vehicle without any need for an internet connection.

Not if you are intending joining the broken ends together with the joint, it will fracture again in very short order. If you put a new section of flexible cable in with 2 joints, up and downstream of the door loop then those new joints will not be subject to the flexing loads which fractured the original cables. By far the best solution is to buy a Delpho kit which gives you the connector assembly with wire tails on each part to be joined into the existing loom.

Concentric internal slave cylinder then. However the drip does look like gearbox oil and there is normally always a drip or two there but if you are sure that is where the clutch fluid is then its probably the slave cylinder that has failed but do get someone to check the two O rings where the flexible pipe connects to the bleed block and where it in turn connects to the slave cylinder, there is another internall that could be inspected by removing the starter motor, that commonly fails through vibration but I'm not sure if it can be replaced from through the starter motor aperture, it would need a gynaecologists hands if it is possible.

You do not know that from 200 miles away without knowing what gearbox the vehicle has. However drips from the bellhousing drain do point to failure of a concentric slave cylinder but it could also be the O ring seal on the bleed block which is external Lorrigirl, do you have a 5 or 6 speed gearbox?

Yup, that will cause it for sure, the figures make it look like it's the rear misaligned but I reckon its the front, I think they have to set one axle as the datum and choose the front but that is the one where the crossmember gets moved around. I do mine with laser spirit levels clamped to the wheelrims and check each axle against the doors at the B post, the rear was skewed by a tiny amount but the front way out after I had removed & refitted the front crossmember for a clutch change, I thought I had got it back exactly right but the car pulled hard to the right and I had to have the steering wheel about 10° off centre where it had always been.

Left hand threaded?

Do you know 100% that the rattling noise was indeed failure of the DMF flywheel each time? Were the suspect units inspected and deemed to have failed? In what way had they failed and how was it visible/measured? I know that the latest generation of DMF's appear to be failed or faulty (by the measures of the past) as soon as you get them out of the box, I thought my new one was until I did some Googling and understood that the design had changed. I understand that the noise goes away for a while after replacing the flywheel and I don't have a sugegstion as to what else it would be but am asking the question in case you or the mechanics have jumped to the wrong conclusion. One possibility might be incorrect flywheel bolts and/or locating dowel(s) missing, I cant recall if my flywheel was dowelled but if the bolts used are not the correct fitted bolts movement will soon appear which will make a hell of a racket, it can sound like a broken crankshaft, I just can't see that a new DMF could fail so quickly unless they are made of cheese.

How very convenient for them. Yeah right! Retrospectively maybe. They are probably under orders to never tick the box or record it on the service book unless a customer specifically asks in writing for a corrosion inspection to be carried out with the service.

I reckon it was the mid 90's that I went to the motor show not having been for many years before, what surprised me was that the underbonnet of every vehicle looked exactly the same as any other, that is you could no longer see any components just a sea of wall to wall (well wing to wing actually) plastic covers. Prior to that you could ogle a performance engine, the exhaust headers, inlet tract etc, Italians in particular made the latter into works of art. Now an engine bay looks crap without the covers, I even spent my hard earned on an OE plastic battery box for the Yeti when the battery insulating sleeve looked like Alexis Sales jacket after a battery upgrade. I thought mine looked fussy enough and its taken me a couple of years to work out what all the clutter is but it's nothing compared to that monstrosity in the photograph. Cover up I say, put it away love, nobody wants to have to look at it! 🤣

I very much doubt that anybody would tool up to provide pattern part door assemblies, door skins perhaps but even then I am probably talking rubbish based on experience from a previous century. Door assemblies might be available on a parallel market but they will have come from the same press tooling and if the vehicle is still in production from the same factory. It does sound like (pun unintended) that the sound deadening pad has been omitted, good on you for noticing!

It isn't, it won't and you can't! There is an idle stabilisation system and you actually have to put the engine under considerable load (via the clutch on a manual) to stall it. If you have a faltering idle the answer is not to raise the idle speed (which you cannot) but to find the cause.

Were you monitoring something else to know when the SOC was raised above what it was before the engine start? Terminal 30 voltage? Or do you know from experience that when it drops to 400 watts that it is a maintenance charge? Editted, you said you were monitoring the voltage, 400 watts = 33 amps, more than a maintenance charge, you can tell that I dont work with these units often! Interesting to see that it was charging at 75 amps on a battery at 60% SOC, there is a lot of headroom with a 180 amp alternator.

It will do that all day long, day in day out if the oil temperature remains at that level and it will because the vehicle would have to be on the flat and not overloaded/towing etc to get to that speed. Engines are tested on the dyno and on banked test tracks in exactly that manner with normal oil change intervals.

£99 EGR emulator/simulator from the Eastern European Ebay seller.

Go into Output tests or whatever the term is and command the EGR whilst watching the measuring blocks for specified and actual value,( it may do the latter for you) to see if your theory is correct. The ECU does not measure the EGR flow, instead it looks for a decrease in mass air flow corresponding to the calculated EGR flow so other suspects could be the MAF sensor or the throttle valve or that the vehicle has previously had an EGR delete which is now causing problems.

I didn't need to nor want to, I had fitted the bulbs and adjusted the beam height in the same way as I have always done since forever, pattern marked on garage door with vehicle 18" away then drive back a couple of car lengths on a plane surface and readjust. I went out and tested and the dipped beam was very good but I had the feeling was too high because it illuminated a long way up the road, it was when I put it on main beam that I got the rally car shock! The light spread was clearly very different proving your thoughts on the subject, I had to drop them a long way bit by bit to be sure of not dazzling other drivers, the cast of the main beam and dipped beam was significantly reduced but the vision of the road I had was still far improved over the (to my eye) very dangerous stock projector set up.

Thanks for that, I have bookmarked it, its only a question of time! Does anyone have any part numbers for them? I might get some in advance.

The standard projector headlights of that period were appalling, I did an HID conversion, it was much better but would dazzle if the beam was set to the standard MOT/CT test requirement, I had to lower them considerably and be very conscious of using the levelling control when loaded or towing, with them lowered significantly the illumination for me as the driver was nowhere near as good but still light years better than using the H7 halogen bulbs, the main beam performance went from being like a rally car to better than acceptable. When I got the Yeti I was not expecting much of the standard halogen headlights but they are absolutely superb, I have sight problems and find night driving a challenge but feel no need to upgrade these from standard, they are not projector lamps, those are clearly the problem on Skoda vehicles, why were they even fitted if they were that crap? Was it a fashion thing, not being able to see the bulbs? About as much use as the rubber band tyres that shred if expected to drive over anything but a marble car showroom floor.

Further to the above if the vehicle is used very infrequently then the self discharge will be more significant than the starting discharge and the engine will need to be run a little longer but we are only talking a few minutes maximum.

Mine are a bit contrary to the battery charging obsessive fetishist evangelists, I dont think any vehicle with a minimum of a 90 amp alternator probably a lot more will have any problem recharging the small extra capacity of an 096 battery, once fully charged it is not going to need any more recharging after a start than an 027 battery, the starter motor will not have drawn any more current, the difference in the overnight self discharge will be de minimis. And on that subject the starter motor will be a 1.7kw geared starter lets say 2 kw, these engines start in less than a second of cranking but lets say 3 seconds, that equates to 166 amps at peak, at lot less having got the engine rotating, this equals 0.14 AH. Throw in the glowplug preheating say 5 seconds and the heating while cranking 3 seconds, post start heating will be covered by the alternator, lets say 40 amps for 8 seconds = 0.09 AH So a total starting discharge of 0.23 AH which we will round up to 0.25 AH Lets say you drive off using heated rear screen, heated seats and anything else you can think of, lets say that half of the alternators output is used to cope with the running load, it wont be anywhere near that but I am being very conservative with all these figures, lets say that there is only 45 amps remaining output from the alternator. You would need to run the engine above tickover speed to get the full alternator output ie driving but recharging will have commenced as soon as the engine starts even at tickover but I will also ignore that, you need to replace 0.25 AH from the spare alternator capacity of 45 amps = 45 AH. You would need to be driving for 20 seconds to recharge the battery from a normal cold start. Lets say that you crank the engine for 2 minutes which is a very long time but maybe you have air in the fuel system, even using the above very exaggerated current figures you would only need to drive 13 minutes. I'm afraid the "your battery will discharge on short journeys" has been an old wives tale since the introduction of alternators as standard fitment some 50 years ago over the preceedin dynamos that did not give enough output to cover a full electrical load with the then new heated rear screens and which did not charge at idle speed. I would appreciate it if someone else can cast an eye over my figures and tell me if I have made a mistake 👍

Yes, I went from the 027 to the 096. Leads - OK Tray length - OK Clamp position - OK Insulating jacket - Alexis Sale 😆 Just for Varoom!

Yes, I am at a loss to explain how I was not warned by the buzzer, I think it may have been because I left the keys in the ignition (switched off but not removed) during the afternoon before finally removing them and locking the vehicle. I can't miss my buzzer. Another possibility is that I switched them on for some reason after removing the key or switched from headlights (which would have been off) to sidelights. Another of lifes mysterys.

Cake and eat it................................. I should be refunded for all the years of motor insurance that I didn't make a claim on. Ed should look on the very positive side and be thankfull that he did not pay up front.

What oil vapour is present between the EGR and the intake tract?

Their ridiculous comment quoted above does not do them any justice in which case. Do you consider it to be plausible? If so what am I missing?