J.R.

The torsion value displayed in VCDS being "spot on" is actually a great big red flag that the valve timing is significantly out. If it is outside of the VCDS parameters which are only a couple of degrees + & - then it will display a default zero torsion angle, whilst it is possible to time it "spot on" and get a genuine zero torsion value it takes the patience of a saint and a feather touch moving a shaft against a huge valve spring loading. To check whether you have a genuine or false zero displayed value rev the engine while watching the parameter in measuring blocks it should go slightly negative (might be positive I can never recall) when revved as the belt stretches. My money is on incorrect cam timing being responsable from what you have written.

The donuts will do what you are asking of them, if they dont want to go in then release the lower shock absorber mounting and lower the spring pan as you would to change the springs, no spring compressor needed. I used to have a trade account with Grayston Engineering, the helper springs were only about £30 but that was back in 2005/6 and they were very simple to fit, they stayed on the vehicle for 14 years and were scrapped with it, I simply didn't have the time to remove them and now I fit uprated springs having learned all the part numbers from this forum and Carlston in particular.

I cant remember, nor how many there were! 🤣 My go to excuse for my senility! I have never seen flow through the expansion reservoir in the way that you used to see flow through a radiator header tank, at best its just a little rippling on the surface, however I remove the smaller upper hose and run the engine to remove coolant when I want to top up the antifreeze concentration (I for got to add it a couple of years ago) and under those circumstances (a leak path) there is a slow but steady flow

Yes that is what I use its the factory lifting point and there are some VAG rubber adaptors, Audi TT ones I think that will clip in there for use on a 2 post garage lift. Please tell me that you are fitting the Grayston helper springs and not those rubbish rubber doughnut things, if you were planning to fit them then dont even bother jacking up the vehicle.

I did not mention the temperature readings because they were an anomoly that I don't have an answer for and may even be a red herring, the statement I made was correct and should be read as it was written, I was not aware that I was under an obligation to have an answer for all the symptoms that you percieve. The expansion bottle is exactly that, for expansion, it does not form part of the water circulation circuit, I made no mention of it as it was irrelevant to your problem of the temperature warning light coming on immediately on first start up of a cold engine. A less adversarial posting style and not calling people "buddy" or "pal" will be more appealing to those who have the knowledge to help you.

Unless we have met and I am unaware of who you are then I am not your buddy.

Clean the probes of the sensor, check the plug is connected properly, check and clean if necessary the contacts. The temp warning light coming on from a cold start with the guage showing normal readings can only be a coolant level warning.

Usually the later revisions are backward compatible unless its something like a steering wheel controller where some have more functionality than others. If the component is physical changed and no longer interchangeable with earlier vehicles, say a generation 4 controller from generation 3 then usually the part number will change. The above is general info.

Having gone from Octavia estates to a Yeti I am really conscious of the relative lack of usable carrying capacity. I found the Octavia cavernous but I rarely had passengers, what I can tell you is the one time I took 2 adults and a child together with their cases to the airport they were not swallowed with ease as I had expected, we had to retract the roller cover and pack them with a lot of thought to get them in without anyone having their smaller bags on their laps. My having a variofloor space full of my junk meant I could not drop the floor which would have helped, given how you plan to use the vehicle I would opt for the Superb, they are not much bigger but the extra space is where you want it.

Do you mean 25mm lower than what you already consider too low (& too hard as a consequence) or 25mm lower than standard?

Had you ever tried to use the key manually before this incident? How long have you owned the car? It's always a wise precaution to try these things before the worst happens, also trying all the keys supplied with the vehicle, do they all unlock the door and start the car. Sometimes an ignition barrel may have been changed but not the door lock(s), keys may have been lost & a new key blank cut but without copying or coding of the immobiliser chip. If the door cannot be opened you are going to have to release the bonnet by accessing the cable or the catch from underneath or through the grille, google may help, there will probably be videos.

But how can you tell a nice from a nasty one?

I have bought many a car that has been moved on cheap and which ran sort of OK but just lacked a tiny bit of sparkle, hard even to say it was underperforming. They all had had recent cam belt or timing chain changes and were all one tooth out, having tried the belt in both positions they usually looked closer to the correct timing mark when it was one tooth out so I could see how the error was made, I always go back to first principles as a backup check, when the valves are rocking on cylinder 4 with the cam lobes equally spaced either side of the valves then the engine should be at TDC firing stroke on number 1 cylinder

I did my 4x4 transmission working from a pit, it was a bit too heavy and cumbersome to have done on my back using axle stands, doable when I was younger and more stupid but you would need more height than standard axles stands would give. I would have no hesitation doing a 2wd VAG transmission on the drive, there are some very good youtube videos of a guy who does mobile clutches doing them on his back on customers driveways, he doesn't even use an engine support bar but he knows exactly what he is doing, what to support and where. I bought an engine support frame and having used it would consider it essential, it wil also serve as a support for ratchet straps to take the strain of lowering the gearbox if you have someone to help you who can be above to manipulate them, the gearbox is rather unbalanced and really needs a transmission jack attached with chains, not possible on a driveway and you will see the guy initially lower the gearbox on the trolley jack before rolling it onto his chest and down to the ground, you dont want to be doing that with the 68kg weight of a 4x4 6 speed transmission. Because of the weight, that there wasn't really room for two of us in the pit (one should always be above in case of emergency) and the danger of the transmission falling 1.5m (we didn't have a transmission jack) or simply me trying to pass out a 68kg weight above my head or lower it to the bottom of a confined pit we chose to put a platform across the pit, jack the vehicle up so as to lower the transmission onto the platform and slide it out, so effectively it was removed in the same way as on a driveway using the same trolley jack and axle stands, I did have the advantage of standing upright though rather than lying on my back. Both of us were over 60, at 30 I would have done it unaided.

I am but I wouldn't so not "anyone" in the inclusive sense. Someone familiar with the workings of an air con system both mechanically and electronically may tell you, leave the AC on 100% of the time

Pete ex Wino is correct, I also read it in the self study program. VCDS also shows it in the compressor loading measuring block, granted its only a calculated and not a measured value but it shows some loading when the AC is switched off, it will also show full loading when AC is switched on to maximum but the shear plate is broken and the compressor is not even turning!!!

What possible relevance can " timely engine oil & filter changes with good quality oil" be to a percieved misfire at idle speed?

Oh well I will just have to live in ignorance of what the salient moment was then. If it really was a "moment" then why not share what it was rather than making someone spend 7.5 minutes of the precious little time left for them on this planet? There sure wasn't anything salient I could see at on or around the 2 minute mark.

Can you explain what the salient moment was, I ran out of patience and the music was annoying the hell out of me.

Are not only the front pads monitored? I dont recall ever changing rear pads with wear indicators, doesn't mean they dont exist though. For cost saving only one side of the fronts carries a wear indicator on many vehicles these days.

I have nothing to add.

Cam timing, possibly quite a way out. Go back to old school, turn the engine to TDC with number 1 cylinder on the firing stroke, both cams should be facing away from the valve buckets (I'm assuming its an OHC) and an equally angle to the other, then check the cam lobes on number 4 cylinder both valves should be partially open and moving the crankshaft backwards and forwards until the valves just close should be more or less an equal amount of degrees in both directions. I am not advocating this method to time the cams but for checking, in the absence of timing marks it will suffice and at worst would be one tooth out, I have had many an engine where component tolerances and perhaps a head skim has meant that the timing marks were imprecise, mark is misaligned between 2 tooth pitches, I have always found the correct one by going old school. I have also bought cars that just seemed a little flat, if I was told or could see the cam belt had been changed I would do the old school check and it would usually reveal incorrect cam timing. It comes from the even older school method of correctly aligning the helical rotor shaft drive of a mechanical distributor on a pushrod engine - "rocking on 1 = firing on 4"

Hard to see but has he cut through the wheel rotation sensor cable and twisted and taped the wires together?

Agreed with the diagnosis that if it is present in all gears and not just the intermediate gears then it rules out the layshaft bearings and first motion shaft but what makes you believe that the noise is coming from the gearbox and not the differential?

4 players got in the vehicle and 5 got out, the driver must have identified as a male ice hockey player during the journey! Was the Volvo 343 a common platform vehicle? It's decidedly unVolvolike!