J.R.

Its you and your cohort who should read what I have written and stop attributing quotes to me that I did not say. I did not say that "they were so good", neither did I say that "they are not good". When people have invested a lot of money or time in something it angers them that others may have chosen a less onerous path, live & let live, accept others views, this forum is supposed to be about helping others.

My previous Octavia had one fitted and I fitted one to the Yeti, when I realised that they draw a small standby current at all times (needed if you leave your trailer coupled & the sidelights on) I fitted a cut out switch or placed the inline fues in an accessible position to disconnect the power, I only switch the unit on when I am towing. That way it sits there inert and it is physically impossible (isolation relays) for it to disturb the vehicle wiring were it to become soaked etc. I took a lot of time to protect it and used Telecom grade glycerine filled Molex splice connectors to tap into the rear light feeds, in use it draws less than a milliamp from the respective bulb circuit.

From memory the canbus controller on the wiper motor PCB only controls the wiper motor. It would be worth you checking the cable cores under the rubber bellows of the door loop in case any have fractured, the canbus ones are a twisted pair and specific colours, beware that speaker wires are also a twisted pair but I dont think there are any in the rear hatch. All you can physically check wiring wise to the motor loom connector are the two large conductors, one should have good earth continuity, the other should be 12v when ignition switched on.

Llanigraham. I didn't say they were so good, I simply countered your completely incorrect assertion that the OP's problems were another good example of why they should be avoided. I know that you are evangelical about what you have done and want others to do the same, that you have a problem with accepting that people may have other views or experiences but does that really justify constantly awarding me with red down arrows or have I done something else specific that has upset you? I respect your opinions, we are all adults here and should behave like them.

Yet another red arrow from my admirer, took all of 30 seconds this time, that makes 20 To the OP, you have been told, now do as you are told!!!!

The bypass relay was fitted after the problem but the damage had already been done by drawing too much current. Sounds like the fitter had just spliced the trailer socket onto the existing feeds for the rear lights using Scotchlok connectors. I doubt that it will have overloaded the light switch as that simply switches a small control current to the body control module although when in sidelight mode with the ignition off it must drive the sidelights & rear lights so fingers crossed that it is that. Despite all the religious fervour against bypass relays this is actually a very good example of why they should be used, the modern solid state ones draw a lot less quiescent current (although this is their Achilles heel) and are very reliable, but only as reliable as the crappy splice connectors that many use to fit them and require intelligence in where they are located and protected from condensation or leaking rear washer pipes, most I have seen are just thrown behind the side panels.

I think your memory may be playing tricks with you regarding the constant tappet adjustments. Together with the Audi 80 that preceeded it was the start of the glory days for VW with the water cooled FWD range. The 900cc Polo engine was like a sewing machine. Your 50hp is optimistic, that would have made it a GTi! I recall they were 40hp but thoroughbred horses, they certainly went like a Ferrari compared to a 37hp Mini 850.

Very very unlikely to be the wiring when there are so many other usual suspects. I repaired mine, took me a couple of goes because each time it would be running freely it would later slow down on the vehicle under load, then it behaved for quite a while but played up again and ultimately failed while I was delivering it to the new owner, I did not mind the €30 I knocked off the price for him to buy a new one but was embarrassed and given how much time I had spent, repairing it as is my vocation was not in this instance one of my better decisions. And I didn't spend any time chasing wiring that didn't exist!

I dont think you have appreciated how the motor works, it is a canbus node, the only wiring is 12v positive and earth and a twisted pair of canbus wires, your stalk switch is an input to the body control module which interprets it and sends a coded signal via canbus to all the various modules, door controllers, rear wiper, lights etc. If you bench tested the motor you must have done so downstream of the PCB containing the micro-controller and unless you disconnected it you may well have destroyed it especially if you reverse biased the output.

If you look you will see that the platform is bolted to the corners of the roof (7 minutes 47 seconds) through load spreader plates, given that the platform & helico weigh approx half of what the vehicle does it should be no surprise that it can take the weight. Those of us of a certain age & inclination will remember when scrapyards stacked cars 3 even 4 high and the roofs never collapsed on the cars at the bottom, to suggest that no more than one moderately corpulent adult should sleep in a roof tent is frankly ridiculous. The max roof loadings (& I think it may actually be 75kg) are so that the vehicles when loaded within the manufacturers limits can meet safety standards like the elk test. To the OP, the Decathlon Arpenez Base tent is an affordable option that fits well over the rear of the Yeti.

Go ahead, you have permission to screen Why are so many threads created that resemble a cryptic crossword puzzle?

I have a short one for charging the phone, not sure where it came from but it will no longer work for data transfer & sometimes will not charge either, like most its cables are now fractured. The OCD in me doesn't want to see a snake or roll of cable on the countertop, all the ones in the shops are 1m or 2m long and no way am I paying 3 times the price for something with 1/4 or 1/8 of the cable so the hunt continues.

Find a piece of plastic tube that is a tight fit on the stub of the dipstick shaft remaining on the pull handle, then push this down the dipstick hole to grip the end of the remainder and hopefully extract it. Otherwise remove the dipstick tube if its stuck tight.

My days of worrying what car styling looks like are well behind me but I had to remove & repair my chrome grille as it had a break in it from the accident, new chrome ones were too expensive and the black Monté Carlo ones silly money so after the repair I painted mine black as well & then a protective coat of 2K lacquer. It does indeed look 100 times better and it makes you wonder why they made them chrome in the first place, it looks so out of place with the black and silver elsewhere.

Essential work journeys?

Many of them are 15 years behind the times.

The problem that you have usually points to the hold down springs & retainers not being fitted, I am talking about the two shiny silver round things shown in the stock photo at 3 and 9 'O' clock. It can also happen if one of them jumps loose on fitting the drum.

I would be very surprised if your vehicle has a clutch on the A/C pulley. To answer your question you will need to get the OEM part number of your compressor, its written on a foil label together with the manufacturer 'Sanden etc) on the underside, easily read by removing the undertray or using a mirror. With that number I suspect you will find that you dont have a clutch, otherwise look for any wiring connectors to the pump, if the cable goes to the back of the pulley then you are correct, if it goes to the rear of the pump then you have a clutchless pump, I believe all the MK2's had them fitted but could be wrong.

I bought a pair of those last year, came with loads of end fittings, only needed one to hold up the bonnet on the Octavia so put the other one on my neighbours car as a surprise while doing a repair, only cost £7 back then but like today the price fluctuates as people spread the W.O.M. and they start selling in numbers, then the cycle starts again. highly recommended, why pay more? Has anyone fitted bonnet struts to a Yeti yet?

Yes and yes.

He did not look like he was new to the circuit, superb lines through corners where you cannot see whether they are going to tighten up or what other corners they link to. So I would say that he has had at least a days practice given the size of the circuit, but yes that is still relatively unfamiliar. He carried an incredible amount of speed through the fast sections without it even looking like it was on the limit. My pal was a trucky for an F3000 team around 1984 to the best of my recollection, he could tell you a story of their hotshot driver cramming the drunken mechanics & truckies into their Hertz Golf hire car and taking them round the Ring in the early hours of the morning & knowing before they did that he had overcooked it for the next bend, turning backwards and saying nonchalantly were going to scrub some speed off on the barrier before the back end did just that. After changing their underwear they spent the rest of the night in the garage with portapowers etc trying to get all 4 wheels pointing in somewhere like the right direction before returning the hire car

Sounds awfull! Remove the auxiliary drive belt & see if the noise goes away, if it does then look at the one way clutch on the alternator pulley and also the A/C pump pulley shear plate. If the noise remains & is something internal then you will find out fairly quickly, its possibly a misaligned cambelt cover, was the belt replaced recently?

Mesmerising!

I bet you that its cheaper direct from VAG via T.P.S. Every small part that I have seen on Ebay, Superskoda etc has been. Most of the Ebay sellers are relying on the fact that its too much of an anger inducing experience visiting a dealership to try and find someone to come to the parts counter that can even find an item on their computer let alone give you a price & even worse on the phone. TPS cannot be beaten, its like the best person at the best parts counter of the best dealer a couple of decades ago multiplied across all their operatives & they much prefer the phone, they are not really geared up to walk ins.

Wishfull thinking, just looked & I might be able to get a 20mm insulation sheet in there but with several cut outs, nothing thicker than that; will see if its worth doing after the blankets test