J.R.

I have had oil filters spin loose on 2 occasions, both were hand tightened by myself to the usual torque. The first was an XR3i and some 6 months after the oil change, I started the engine from cold and could hear a sloshing noise when I revved it up, (makes me feel old writing that as I dont do it with modern vehicles) I got out to investigate and found the whole of my new block paved drive covered in sump oil, I ran to the then local butchers and he gave me a packet of sawdust, I now make my own and always have it to hand. Never did work out what caused it unless it was a malicious act. On my 1.8 Zetec engined Caterham there was a problem with the oil pressure relief valve (early production engine) and it would overpressure and the oil would blow past the O ring on the oil filter, I once flooded the whole starting grid at the Lydden Hill circuit, I was black flagged to the infield & the race start delayed, they use several bags of cement to soak it all up, rather embarrassing to say the least.

I suspect the reversing may have something to do with it, no suggestion as to the logic behind it, they may simply never have tested it under those circumstances. Could you possibly try the last leg in forward motion to see if it has the same problem? Does the braking system remain locked when you unlock the car after a few hours? I'm pretty sure all the action is going on in the ABS block but commanded by the controller.

When people are considering a new car, in their world its not a binary decision Octavia/Mondeo/Golf/whatever vs a VRS245.

You havn't asked your question so if people know the info you are seeking they wont be able to answer.

You have to work a bit blind but as I am a bit blind I find that quite easy! Doing the job a second time would be easier because you know what is where and what the fastener head sizes are. If you remove the U shaped intake trunk from the air filter to the snorkelling box on the bonnet slam panel it gives much more room. 10 minutes to remove the throttle valve approx, disconnect connector, slacken hose clamps, remove bolt holding disptick bracket then 3 bolts holding assembly to manifold (might have been 4)

Yes I understand re the reverse gear but the legends never show whether you have to lift or push down & I have never known an illuminated one.

Do you need reminding where the gears are when driving?

Run much slower for the first 5 minutes, say 6 minutes per km = 10km/h gradually work up to your current pace in the next 5 minutes and then run as fast as you feel comfortable & you will probably do a personal best.

But you have lost 9" in height!!!!

They are already black with brake dust! If I leave the wheels long enough I wont have to lift a finger or spend any money!!

All I did on my Yeti was to black the grille surround and bonnet badge because both were damaged, the grille was way cheaper to repair & refinish in black & the badge cost nothing to replace in black. I wasn't interested in the look but after seeing a photo of someone elses grille surround it did look better, having done mine now (the car is royal blue) it looks far better and the grille surround being the only bit of chrome did look out of place, having seen your wheels I might do the same myself, they have knocks & scrapes & the black finish wont show the brake dust!

No surprise there for me, my chocolate teapot one which looks exactly like your has yet to show a single code after 2 years. I'm not sure that the airbag system generates a generic OBD code and I know I had to find a garage with a dealer level Snap on code reader to find what the fault was (failed module) and to reset the light after it was replaced.

If you remove the ball from the windscreen mount (which I did not know could be done) and remove the constraining clip then it should go back in in like a slippery stick up a dogs rectum, with it on the bench it should be easy to refit the clip.

You certainly do not want to be double declutching to select reverse, it will make any engagement problems far worse.

Resurface the backplate, check the rotor clearances with feeler blades, while you have the sump off you would be crazy not to remove one big end cap at a time followed by the main bearing caps to inspect the bearings, just keep them clean and retorque them and they wont know that they have seen the light of day, they can be replaced in situ if required. Beyond that and what you have already done there is little that can affect the oil pressure with the noticable exception of the pressure release valve, check its operation, spring tension and the seating area.

If you have a spare 30 minutes would you mind knocking up a perpetual motion machine for me? and if that works out than maybe a time machine? When you use units like power, torque & output (being motion & acceleration) then you really should say "throttle input" because the input to the system would be energy from the fuel.

Thanks for that Langers, definitely going to be much easier to present the ball to the socket on a bench maybe with some padding under the glass.

The lever is the dipping lever and nothing to do with the ball & socket joint, you just have to make it have it withiut breaking the glass, if it were really stubborn I would machine some plywood to spread the load across the outside lip & the full area of the glass itself. If you lubricate it then it will fall off again easier, spit will work as when it dries it wont reduce the friction. Editted, looking at an enlarged view there is a spring clip you can remove to ease the socket back over the ball but you will have trouble getting it back on, perhaps it can be pushed backwards?

Other oven cleaners are available, my weapon of choice is Lidl's own brand, since I moved away from traditional ovens to something better & easier to clean the oven cleaner has been promoted to workshop duties. Dry beach sand is preferable to smelly builders sand

Are you 100% sure that it was the Haldex oil that you drained? Where exactly was the drain plug located? Did you remove the pump to clean the filter? How much fluid did the refill take? Are you 100% sure that it was the Haldex oil that you drained? Where exactly was the drain plug located? Did you remove the pump to clean the filter? How much fluid did the refill take?

The 096 battery will fit and for me even on a petrol engine the extra reserve capacity is worth the money the day you leave your lights on or something. Yes I did find the answer regarding the plastic battery box, I bought one very cheap on Al-Express it was the same as the Octavia and had the same VAG part numbers and it did fit and makes the engine bay look finished, I posted some photos on another thread.

Give it a Mr Muscle enema & it will be good for another 100K miles, lubricate and work the actuator to free it and the vanes off at the same time.

There is also the relative lack of soundproofing in the Yeti to take into account, in the Octavia the rear seat squabs sit flat & tight to the floor above the fuel tank and provide a very effective sound barrier, with the roller blind deployed the rear compartment is virtually sealed off from the cabin. On the Yeti the Varioflex seating (or whatever the name is) sits up above the floor & there is only a thinly carpetted rigid plastic panel underneath. I know when my diff was dry of oil and at an elevated temp on the motorway journey I could play a tune in exactly the same way as the OP, after the flushing and fresh oil its still there but barely perceptible & only because I am attuned to it, it only does it in gear above 60mph and is for the time being at least quieter on the over-run or coasting in neutral. The optimist in me is now questioning if what remains is tyre noise as it changes frequency when I drive over the French equivalent of rumblestrips which are simply a solid line composed of 5 or 6 individual smaller stripes, it makes the tyres sing and its like my transmission noise changes key, I'm hoping that it will either go away or get worse when I change to winter tyres either os which will tell me that its tyre & not transmission noise and I have had a very lucky escape.

Just read again that teh nosie was present before the Haldex service, maybe the damage was done the time before?

Yes, had and still have exactly your problem. I will bet a pound to a piece of **** that whoever did the Haldex fluid change made the frequent but never admitted mistake of draining your diff oil by mistake, its position at the bottom of the casing directly under the Haldx filler is what throws people. They will then have removed the pump unit losing some fluid in doing so which they will have just thought was residual, on refilling they will have found that they put less in than the specified quantity or may even have overfilled. They will have left you with a dry axle and possibly an overfilled Haldex coupling, if you get under and look at what drain plugs look to have been removed & where there are oil stains you can be fairly sure. I drove about 300 miles and it was only the last 100 at high speed on the motorway carrying a very heavy load (overloaded) that I stsrted to hear the noise that you have, I drained out the tiny bit of diff oil remaining which was black & carbonised, flushed it through with paraffin, ran it on axle stands with 50/50 diff oil & paraffin which came out black, refilled with diff oil, drove for a week & drained & refilled again, I am left with a slight noise but only because I know what I am looking for and am waiting for the day that the diff gives up for good, I am amazed that it lasted as long as it did and came out relatively unscathed but damage will have been done. Dont go thinking that it cant be the case on yours after 6 months have elapsed, the rear diffs are incredibly robust and do very little work, there are multiple reports of this happening to people after a garage has serviced the Haldex coupling, one persons diff broke through the casing 6 months afterwards and they had not heard any noise beforehand, perhaps they did not have mechanical sympathy but when the casing broke no oil leaked out. Chack yours ASAP!