J.R.

I have had a couple of batteries fail completely without any prior slow cranking etc in the height of summer. Most manifest during winter but yes, I think the damage was done during the summer.

Can someone explain what this thing does or better still correct my interpretation of what I think/hope it does below: I have a Chinese head unit with built in shatnav but much prefer Waze on my Samsung phone, the small screen is dangerous for me though (blind in one eye), the head unit is Windows not Android but has USB connectors. I am hoping that this unit can be connected to a USB port on the head unit and allow me to view and also program the Waze phone app on the head unit touch screen. Will it do so, is the above correct?

It should absolutely work like that in theory, what happens is that the pawl sits on the very edge of the ratchet tooth, it slips but the tension on the handbrake is such that it returns so quickly that the pawl skips over the remaining ratchet teeth. Its a combination of wear, stickiness, how the user operates the handbrake, imperfect design and some bad luck thrown in for good measure, I have only experienced it with the one vehicle and that is one too many and the reason I now automatically operate the handbrake in a specific manner.

I can see how that would happen hence my asking the OP how they engaged the handbrake, his reply confirms your view.

Indeed, maybe I should clarify mine, where it came from and what exactly I do because I had to look and analyse the automatic reflex today! Its very old school advice to stop the pawl and ratchet wearing prematurely/unecessarily from when materials were not wasted in vehicle manufacture, its also a gesture that a professional chauffeur would do to prevent the clicking noise to create a better experience for the passengers in a similar vein to rolling off the brake pedal just before the vehicle comes to a complete stop. Having now observed, what I do is to depress the button, lift the lever till I feel the required tension, release the button then lift the lever slightly to allow the pawl to engage properly if it were on the edge of the ratchet tooth then release with a little downward pressure making sure its properly engaged. It was the Shogun which clearly had a problematic mechanism which showed me the benefit of adopting that procedure, doing that you could stand on the lever and it wouldnt release, not doing it and one time in 10 or 20 you could lean on it and it would release. There seems to be a similar but worse problem on these Octavia handbrakes.

Agreed that it makes no sense but mine did that after a couple of interrupted regens, it could not possibly have been regenerating from a cold start but I took it as a reminder to do a longer journey, I had done a 1000km autoroute journey and could see from VCDS that it had regenned 3 times during the journey despite practically zero soot building up, when it tried to do so every time I drove the next week (my journeys were around 10km) including from cold starts I decided enough was enough, I paid to have the emissions fix rolled back and have heard the fans running after shut down maybe twice since then, not for over a year now. I can see from VCDS that its doing an active regen every 1000kms.

Thanks Pete, my 2015 vehicle does not have it but I know some earlier VAG vehicles were made to the the higher emissions standard, also Greenline models maybe? Something else I am grateful for!

Thats exactly what can happen, how do you apply the handbrake? I had a Shogun that would do it if you leaned on the handbrake when it was applied, not all the time, it was only after my girlfriend had driven it, she applied the handbrake in the latter manner. You could get it to fail fairly repeatedly on test using the latter technique. That was a worn pawl which the latter creates but even a new fully functional handbrake can be set with the pawl barely engaged, granted you have to try hard to do it and why would anyone? But it can and will happen occasionally by chance.

On a 2013 vehicle?

What gear had you engaged before leaving the car? How steep was the slope? Petrol or diesel engine? - sorry, dont know what powers a late VRS Do you hold the release button down when pulling up the handbrake or pull it up with the pawl clicking over the ratchet? - The latter can result in the handbrake releasing.

Re the timing marks, I'm sure there must be a TDC mark on the crank pulley to align with one fixed on the block, perhaps it is hidden behind the locking tool on the photograph? Re stalling, its really because of the much taller gearing in first and second gear and that a diesel engine can not have the same effective type of idle stabilisation that a petrol engine does, with the greater low down torque we are used to letting the revs drop lower in a diesel engine than a petrol but you hit the point of no return and BANG! it feels like the engine has thrown a rod. A worn DMF makes the brutality of an engine stall even worse and it also manifests on shut down although the throttle/anti-shudder valve minimises that.

You should be able to visually inspect the belt easy enough and also set it at TDC to check the timing marks without needing to use the locking plate, reserve it for when you actually change the belt. If the cam timing looks correct, and with 1.5° torsion angle I dont think its a tooth out you might want to try a tiny movement of the adjustable pulley, someone earlier confirmed which way to tweak it, you will feel the result immediately whether its an improvement or worse. Re the slow warm up, yes thats a real feature of the PD engine due to its thermal efficiency, I found that once the stat had opened it would remain at the correct operating temperature even if I reverted to economic driving, I found the best way was to wait for a decent hill after say 4 miles and accelerate up it, it only needs to be a few hundred yards for the stat to start to open, once there is some flow it regulates far better. You could also open up the bleed hole in the stat or drill one if it does not have one.

Just remember the magic words: "My name is Alexei Yuri Gagarin Siege of Stalingrad Glorious Five Year Plan Sputnik Tractor Moscow Dynamo Back Four Balowski. Me Dad was a bit of a Communist, know what I mean?" 😁

I saw several very well restored R16's at the local monthly car show 2 weeks ago, seeing you write they were first made in 1965 I was sure it was a mistake, Google proved me wrong, they were more modern than most stuff in the 70's so must have really been something else in 1965.

You can push and pull to make the best fit you can of the jacket when using an 096 battery but it will look like Alexis Sale wearing his 😁 it will however give it some thermal protection if you think it is needed. For me it was more an aesthetic thing, with or without the jacket the underbonnet view looked rubbish compared to the MK2 Octavia with its plastic battery box. So I did some looking and measuring and decided that the battery tray was the same as the Octavia and an OE battery casing and cover should fit, I bought one dirt cheap from Ali-Express but it was a genuine VAG part made for their local market, it fits perfectly and looks the part, the engine bay looks finished now. It was a bit of a squeeze to fit the sides and thread the cables through because there is less space around it than on the Octavia. I thoroughly recommend it.

I have no idea, it was 4 years ago in a country which I have not lived in for 20 years.

Thanks for that, too small on my screen for my eyes!

No, any measurement has to come from another datum, the camshaft position sensor values are referenced to the crankshaft position sensor. An analogy would be trying to tell the time using a watch (analogue) that has no face and is perfectly round with no winder, no way of knowing where the 12.00 datum is. The watch would keep perfect time but be useless.

Good to see the Septic Tanks are getting something right, their SUV's in general seem to be very lacking in pedestrian protection the Tesla Cybertruck particularly. I find that I am having to dip my rear view mirror on most night-time journeys do to the glare of the headlights of a vehicle following me, I get some relief when they do their usual tailgating though as the lights are then masked. The other night the car behind was illuminating the overhead road signs in front of me and the reflection from them was dazzling me. I'm pretty sure all these drivers are relying on auto- headlights and would not even know what the dipping function is or how to operate it when flashed by oncoming traffic.

Follow the wiring loom or any other penetrations through the bulkhead and find one that has space in the grommet for an additional cable, you may even find blanking grommets which can be used, en bref use your eyes!

Neither do I, your car seems to start quickly and correctly. I don't think anyone here can answer that without more info from you, like why do you believe you have a problem.

Not sure about that, isn't the crankshaft timing belt pulley and crank sensor trigger wheel keyed to the crankshaft? I believe that aside from a loose or failing crankshaft sensor the engine management will recieve extremely accurate crankshaft position data, ditto for the cam position sensor. The issue I believe they are referring to is when you lock the crankshaft at TDC it may be slightly out due to the clearance required for the locking pin, it will not be 1-2 degrees, that is complete nonsense even with an H7 clearance at that radius we are talking less than 0.2° angular error, say 0.5° if the crank has been moved and pinched the locking pin.

Thats because you are believing the kidology telling you the tank is close to empty with zero miles remaining, you in fact have another 7 litres of reserve capacity for the day you really need it. That said it wont affect your observations about reduced range as you are consistently filling up with the same amount of fuel.

I think you are right Pete, on another thread I thought it was something small like 2° from memory on my BKD engine, 1.5° does ring a bell, but then on mine if it went beyond the 1.5° it would show a false zero, perhaps they have rewritten the code for it to remain stuck at 1.5°? I can see the logic in that. Given how the engine is running, your partner stalling it etc you should go with your instinct and check the cam belt timing first, I bet you find its a 50/50 situation whether to move it one tooth or leave it where it is.

Surely adding a bottle of additive troubles is going to give you even more troubles?