J.R.

The highlighted text is incorrect, is that your belief or what the mechanic said? Damper seals are operative over the full operating stroke, if the bump stop is deteriorated the road spring would usually go coilbound before the damper runs out of travel, front struts are packaged with the piston rod fully compressed and retained by a wire clip, they will have been bumped around, travelled upside down, been in the unpressurised hold of cargo aircraft at altitude and will not have leaked. I do agree that slight misting is common these days and not a cause for concern unless excessive or damping is affected, suspension that goes over a lot of speedbumps or off road will create higher peak internal pressures than a vehicle on motorways all its life, that will reduce the life, they should not mist but they all seem to now. I am off out now in 1°C temperature to change my front suspension struts (3rd attempt!) they were fine when I bought the vehicle 2 years ago with 79K miles and 4 years old, perfect damping and no misting whatsoever, they remained fine until a couple of months ago when I noticed a pitching motion when towing a large heavy trailer, on testing them they were completely shot, no damping whatsoever, they dont look oily but everything is damp & dirty in these winter conditions, I will study them closely once removed.

Of course, its called hot-wiring or shunting. Fallen out of peoples consciousness due to cars having RF chipped keys for the last 25 years but the OP still has the encoded key, he could wire up a seperate ignition/starter switch and not lose any security just a longer start procedure. I had a failed thermo-time switch on a K-Jetronic Scirocco GLi, it was a pig to start on winter mornings without enrichment, I was working long hours a long way from any VW dealer, at lunchtime armed with 2 drawing pins, a rubber (pencil eraser not condom) and a speaker cable ripped from the parcel shelf I made up a DIY manual switch for cold starts.

In all my years I have never seen a rich mixture on a petrol engine result in white smoke, black yes, never white, any modern closed loop engine running rich enough to produce visible smoke would trigger a MIL light, even running on a limited operating strategy due to a Lambda sensor failure the mixture would be close enough to stochiometric to not cause smoke. The remap may have significantly altered this. White smoke will be either condensation from a cold exhaust system on a cold dry day, less than 10°c, otherwise it will be engine coolant or brake fluid being combusted, a head gasket leak would manifest under load and not at idle, a coolant leak into the inlet manifold would manifest under high vacuum conditions ie tickover. The photograph looks like the exhaust smoke produced by any engine through a cold exhaust on a cold day, removal of the catalyst will make it worse than an unmodified car but no worse than an older non cat equipped vehicle. If the photo was taken within a few miles of start up on a dry day below 10°C I would not be concerned.

Now you mention it I recall the original XR3 had metal bumpers and plastic corner pieces, my 87 XR3i had a painted body colour plastic bumper over a metal beam, I rear ended someone and repaired it with expanded foam, aluminium angle and loads of pug.

I cant for the life of me recall how the standard fitment foglights were attached to my XR3i from the factory.

The second photograph shows two horizontal longitudinal support plates that can only be attached to the crashbar. In that instance the tubular chromed bar does give some protection to a human from an impact with the sharp edges of the lamp support brackets. Without them the bracket would shake loose from the plastic bumper if the lights were fitted and they would be useless through vibration. I would much rather be hit by a car with a plastic bumper over polystyrene than a metal bar or worse still bracketry.

Common sense has been applied to the CT test in my country. There are défaillances mineures where the vehicle does not need to be retested, these might be an advisory like abnormal tyre wear or could be something that you should replace like minor wear to a suspension joint, a blown number plate bulb, the latter ones if ignored could cause an insurance problem if they contributed to an accident but its up to the owner what they do, I have in the past had the same défaillances mineures year after year. Then there are défaillances majeures contre-visite, self explanatory, you should carry out the repairs but you are free to drive the vehicle for a further 60 days, in fact you could drive legally drive forever by having the vehicle tested and failed every 2 months. Added to that and maybe because of that there are now 128 failure points considered défaillances critiques where the vehicle has to be repaired the same day or immobilised, in many cases these are extreme examples of wear that present an immediate risk, a track rod end about to fall out, an exhaust about to drop off, less wear would be a contra-visite failure, minor wear or signs of wear could be an advisory. Our CT test certificates are valid for 2 years which is great, there is also a very sensible law that says you cannot sell a vehicle unless it has at least 18 months remaining CT = been tested within the last 6 months, it means that a buyer know what he is getting and in most cases can count on the vehicle for a further 18 months, it does not matter if it failed the test, you can buy a wreck as long as you know what you are buying thanks to the failure certificate. In practice people sell vehicles without CT all the time, "CT OK" in an advert means it has more than 18 monthe to run, so you can buy a car without one but you will not be able to register it in your name, this is a isk for the seller who remains on the hook for any traffic offences.

The cheap Amazon one yes, the OP's one must be fixed to the crash bar, its the only structure forward of the chassis rails. Either would make a mess of a pedestrian but setting that aside I could write the vehicle off with a swing from a hammer or a rubber deadblow mallet, thats why I definitely would not have anything attached directly to the crashbar after having seen the devastation caused by what appears to be a tiny tap on my Yeti.

The wiring connections photographed whilst very hard to see after all the corrosion are not shoddy workmanship and are typical of most modern manufacturers, they are insulated but the looms nowadays are not fully insulation wrapped in favour of the lighter spiral fabric wrap which allows smaller condutors (causing brittleness problems), burning will not propogate and overheating can be easily seen. The problem is a consequence of water ingress that has not been addressed.

I suspect that the flanges on the side of the OP's bar are for bolting on the major part for use off road.

Forget the snake oil, like most of them its a non solution to a problem that does not exist for you. You will be fine, open the drain tap on the diesel filter housing and you will see any water come out first, the inverted filter bowl is designed to collect water. Replace the filter of course, if the bowl does not have a drain then siphon out the contents. Cycle the ignition to prime the injection system before starting.

Incorrect advice, a worn CV joint is only revealed when the driveshafts are turning and on full lock. I agree but we dont know someones financial situation and the cost & availability of parts in the unspecified country. In my first 12 years of motoring the breakers yards were my first port of call for everything, main dealer prices were silly, just getting served at a motor factors was a challenge in itself, a CV joint was absolutely beyond my means it would be a second hand one & if the vehicle had newish brake pads they would replace my scabby old ones. Things got better, much better but fast forward to 2010 & I was in France in severe financial hardship living on €348 per month (I have the ledger on the coffee table as a reminder) the availability & cost of parts was worse than the UK was in the 70's, I hung out again at the same breakers yard pulling apart an ex Police Octavia for the front struts, springs, track rod with inner joint (I had hit a kerb), I only needed the latter the suspension was an upgrade just as I used to. The big difference was myself and a few immigrants were the only ones there picking over the wrecks I was delighted to encounter the 88 year old owner of the yard still driving the front loader moving wrecks around, we remenisced that in the 70's and 80's the yard was full of punters all day long 6 days a week, now they only allow people access on a Saturday and there are a handfull of punters. It's important to remember that in many countries the situation is little different for many people. To the OP, knowing you have had a driveshaft changed that noise sounds to me like the retaining bolt has come loose, possibly a caliper about to fall off, it sounds terminal and should be investigated ASAP.

It was interesting to read the comments I had made on that thread and forgotten about, what really made me laugh was the advert for the supposed EU approved (no way in hell!!) bull bar called a "Pedestrian Protection Guard" 🤣 I suppose it might guard your non approved auxiliary lights from damage inflicted by the soft body tissues of any pedestrian not quick enough to get out of the way.

That is not actually correct for a 12v system, for sure any water in an electronic module will stop it functioning and more often than not kill it either through reverse biasing a semi-conductor or corrosion, the water alone will not cause a short circuit blowing a fuse. The survival advice advice for anyone in a vehicle that has ended up in a canal lake etc and sunk is not so valid with modern electronics (explained later) but was to turn on the headlamps and interior lights so you can see and be seen, they will (back then) work normally and leave the ignition on, after letting the interior floor equalising the pressure open the door to exit, if it is obstructed (vehicle upside down etc) then open the window, electric windows will (back then) still function. Of course now with electronic door control modules, body control modules, lighting modules its unlikely that any of these things would respond to switch commands. When I have recommissioned vehicles after flooding it has been rare to encounter blown fuses from short circuits. Salt water is another story especially with battery operated torches etc, that creates instant electrolysis.

I dread to think of the consequences of that bar contacting a human in any other circumstances than them walking into it negligently, all the years of legislation, car design, crash tests etc for nothing, and as for the bolts 🥴 As it will be bolted to the crash beam and knowing how an minor impact to that transferred through the plastic bumper and the polystyrene impact pad behind it will trigger the dashboard, steering wheeel and knee airbags and seatbelt pyrotechnics, an impact so minor that it only left minor scratches on the painted bumper (my own vehicle) its only a matter of time before a concerned individual decides to give it a dose of towball poisoning and that will be the vehicle written off as mine was. I say this as someone who had a front bull bar in 1986 on a 1984 original Shogun, it was on the car when I bought it but I liked it and retained it, I would not fit one now, that vehicle had really thick non yeilding old school solid steel bumpers, it was the last of the dinosaurs, dangerous even in stock form, the bullbar itself was safer than the one pictured with the exposed bolt threads and end flanges.

High resistance? - Unlikely, open circuit = failed, low resistance = overheated windings and insulation failure, both plausible results of a blocked filter. I'm not even sure that there is a fault code for pump failure, you can log the current drawn, high resistance would show a low current, its usually high because of a blocked filter or possibly winding insulation meltdown, zero if the pump has failed Much more likely the mechanic does not really know how to use a multi-meter or understand ohms law & basic electrical theory. He knows how to charge though!

I second all that the others have said, they cannot see inside the brake lines to know there is corrosion and any corrosion on the discs is unrelated. My advice is to forget what they said, they can just deny it, say you misunderstood etc, the only important thing is what is written on the MOT failure certificate? Armed with that information we can decide what is the best course of action regarding recourse against Halfrauds, in the meantime have the cap replaced and the fluid tested for moisture content, any garage will have a tester, I bet its perfect! A missing reservoir cap is legitimate grounds for an MOT test failure.

Trickle charge is definitely the best idea but setting the stop/start and battery management aside (it might only charge it 80%) 20 minutes at idle on these vehicles which have as a minimum a 90 ampere alternator is actually enough to replace the energy lost in starting and that lost on standby for the period in question of 2 weeks. I should add as long as there are no other significant electrical loads, no headlights, heater fan, heated rear window etc. Driving it for 20 minutes wont put much more charge in the battery, the charging voltage is not much higher although it would cover the current draw from headlights, rear screen heater etc . It's not very good for the engine though and if it were mine I would drive it for 20 minutes instead, that really is a minimum, longer would be much better for the vehicle, 20 minutes idling or pottering locally is likely to put a lot of condensate into the silencer boxes. The big unknown for me is that it is a stop/start vehicle so would the BCM limit the charging at idle to 80%?

He is indeed!

Perhaps I have misunderstood, surely you are not suggesting to not repair a broken wire in the loom and instead replace the ABS sensor?

There are purpose made pullers for the VAG (and others) splined wipers, like a tiny pressed steel G clamp, they are very cheap on Ali Express. The fronts can usually be removed by undoing the nut a few turns and judiciously moving the arm back & forth, the rears as you have found can corrode solid. Before I had my removal tool I used a pair of hardwood wedges, carpenters call them folding wedges (they dont fold!) and I had to cut a slot in them both, you could do it with a single wedge but a pair makes a solid parallel packer against the window, you then have to release the nut a few turns, take you heart into your mouth and hit the end of the shaft with a small hammer and pray that you dont break the rear screen glass 😲 It is very tough though and if you have properly fitted the wedges so that the face sits flat to the glass and not a point contact you will be OK. Safest way is to wait for the puller tool to arrive, if you use an angle grinder protect the glass and paintwork from the sparks. If all you have left is that knarly boss of aluminium then I would split it with a hacksaw cutting close to the splined shaft.

On a 16 year old vehicle? How else should I take "they tell her there's something wrong with the gearbox that neds (sic) sorting," other than as it was written? Absolutely right because the questions from you that I ignore are when you have chosen not to take what I have written at face value and replied with dumb questions like "so I suppose you are saying that............?" or "does this mean that you believe.................?" I post information or advice in response to members requests, sometimes that may be contradictory to what others trot out, those who on the one hand say that they rarely if ever actually work on their vehicles and that they know little about mechanics yet are quick to respond to detailed questions on complex issues with an authorative air yet can only be repeating what they have read somewhere.

In practice the clutch when disengaged does spin the input shaft unless a gear is selected, there is always drag, you can feel it if you push a car in neutral with someone inside steering, then do the same with a gear selected and the clutch disengaged, there is a considerable extra resistance so much so that one person alone can no longer get the car moving by pushing. Those of us old enough who drove wrecks will know that when even a few of you push started someone the car should never be in gear until you had got it up to your max pushing speed & then you would shout to the driver to engage 2nd or 3rd & release the clutch. That said it does no harm to disengage the clutch while cranking the engine, the resistance of the friction plate spinning between the flywheel & pressure plate may be less than the drag of the gear oil. On my car you have to disengage the clutch to crank the engine even after 2 years it is still contrary to my nature.

I bought several, - long story, the first was from TPS and if I had paid full retail would have been around £120, the others were pattern parts but identical including the VAG part number and were €18 each delivered. I know we dont have the same vehicle but often the stuff is the same across all platforms, fitting became very easy after learning the first time.

How do you think that a scan tool would refute "something" wrong with the gearbox on a 16 year old vehicle? There may have seemed to be nothing wrong with the gearbox function if you drove it but as it is not a testable item the "something" will probably have been an oil leak or an observation of a failing mounting, both of which could cause a lot of expense if not corrected. Advisories on MOT tests should be investigated and actioned if they are going to cause problems and not dismissed, many will not of course but are there to cover them should something occur.