J.R.

I'm sure its better than a standard plumbers blowlamp and I think I know the one you are speaking of, they use a hotter burning gas and have a more concentrated flame but you are deluding yourself if you think it is the same as oxy-acetylene and its clear that you have never used it. I'm not saying that you should not be doing what works for you, I was explaining what most garages do nowadays, they will only use flame heat when they have no other option and are highly unlikely to have oxy-acetylene cylinders, the fire risk is too great, even with an angle grinder there is the combustion risk from the sparks. Someday soon I am going to fork out on an induction heater with the coil attachments, not sure if they do ones that can wrap around a tie rod.

Very little on the Yeti and Octavia, 3 x 8mm h7 tolerance clearance holes in the strut tower. To have "quite a bit of "movement" for the top mounts for the Macpherson struts" would be an intentional measure like for the subframe mountings and is unlikely for the reason you mention - "if moved will mess up your alignment" Were that to be the case there would be service tools to maintain the positioning.

It was, I even had the Police tell it to me when my company Sierra XR4x4 was allegedly stolen.

Not confusing them at all, I do both and use both heat and angle grinders dependant on the situation. Compared to oxy-acetylene a blowlamp is very unsatisfactory, nowhere enough heat for anything with any mass and what heat is introduced soaks away damaging adjacent components, for a track rod end you have its own gaiter the lower swivel and the steering rack gaiter, with oxy-acetylene it can be so quick and concentrated that you can free the stuck locknut without damaging the joint if you know what you are doing. When cutting with an angle grinder you take into account the inner male thread that you want to save, you cut just short and finish with a chisel, the heat generated from it helps a lot. I've removed scores of seized track rod ends and in recent years always with the angle grinder except where it was the locknut seized and I was hoping to save the joint.

My MK2 Octavia had an electric power steering rack with the recirculating ball screw not an electro-hydraulic one, it was a 2006 PD engined one. The Yeti has the same set up but better feel although I have probably by now forgotten what real steering feedback feels like.

And mine interrupted a regen yesterday!!! I have in the past thought I was getting a greater distance between the regens but in fact was simply unaware of when they happened at higher cruising speeds, the VCDS parameters always told the true story, others use an app for their phone, perhaps you do.

As you are trying to make sure that the OP is corrected where there may have been translation errors you should yourself use the correct terminology which would be CV (constant velocity) joints not universal joints. Whilst a universal joint could cope with the limited articulation of the inner CV joint it could never be used as there is a velocity change between the input and output hence why they are used in pairs.

Cordless angle grinders have mostly taken the place of heat in this instance, its rare for garages to keep paying the rental of oxy-acetylene cylinders since MIG welding became the norme, when I left the UK I had 2 full oxy-acetylene cylinders to give away, I could not find a single garage to take them! They all said look for an old school panel beater (shrinking).

I was responding to your request And request the same of you regarding the text of mine that you have emboldened please.

Yes I understand what they do, which belies yet another of the BS claims being made: "No additional NVH transfer into the car and no more creaking mounts." How do you move the strut top mounts?

Normal for an outfit that think they have already got a punter believing that it takes 4 hours to replace 2 track rod ends.

So no relevance then. What you put that appeared wrong, now confirmed by you was asking the OP if he had checked the fluid level 3 times while changing his rear brake pads, a stupid question that has no relevance to his spongy brakes, the fluid level will have risen in the reservoir from the pad change. To the OP, inspect the pads that you removed, if they have uneven wear due to rusting of the outer and inner surface of the swept area of the disc the new pads will initially be seating on these raised areas which can cause sponginess until the new pads bed in and take the shape of the ones removed.

But you said there was only one and that he was an idiot.

Your problem could be caused by the replacement LED bulbs and its quick and easy to swap back to prove or disprove. Otherwise having seen the Maxidot video its quite possible that the rear hatch lock microswitch has a dodgy contact causing the door open visual and the interior lights to flash. I upgraded to LED cargo lights on the last 2 cars, on this one it still wasn't enough and was hampered by the solid luggage cover so I used some self adhesive 6 LED strips, I cut them into 3's and fixed them with tiny screws and spliced into the feed wires.

You see the line or lines of studs on the road in the photos? Even back then they were making provision for the blind.

Spot on! The OP might as well be using an arcade game steering wheel for all the feedback there is, the previous generation hydraulic ones were excellent considering the limitations.

Exactly those! "Our precision-engineered, push-in Bolt Collars centralise the subframes by cutting out the huge hole tolerances, so perfectly centring the bolt locations every time you refit.The result? With correct alignment, you’ll keep precise steering, sharper handling" Now those you could have called subframe centralising kits. The bit about correct alignment is of course total nonsense hence my earlier comments.

Good description, my English is no longer good enough to have found the right words, I trust that you will use the phrase in future instead of "subframe centralising tools"

I think between us we have established without any doubt that the tool is not for centralising the subframe but for putting it back in the same position, VAG would have used normal H7 tolerances on the sleeves had they intended it to be centralised instead of the huge amount of slack available. The motorsport centralising sets are a very expensive Chocolate Teapot.

Thanks Pete, that makes a lot more sense and was the conclusion I had drawn from reading the details of the workshop instructions, whilst it did not say that given my experience (fools rush in!) I thought it had to be intended for that reason, knowing that you have had them in your hand and drew the same conclusion is reassuring. My car drove OK before I dropped the subframe to change the clutch, it was diabolical after and intriguing that I could not get enough adjustment for correct alignment, however my laser setting showed me that it was the rear that I should really have been working on, getting that straight & then aligning the front to it, I'm sure the front bolts would then have fallen quite centrally in the holes. I reckon someone has dropped the rear subframe in the past and refitted it by eye without using the re-alignment tools which is probably a better term for them. From the text: "The original position of the subframe relative to the body can be retained with the aid of........"

What relevance does that have?

It would be more effective if it had one jet outboard of each wheel. A good idea though!

Is there such a thing as a subframe alignment tool? I know a couple of the Motorsport providers sell them but they are a complete con and I would be really really surprised if the manufacturer or main dealer has such an animal. Why? - Well you have to ask yourself why are there such great clearances around the subframe locating bolts that an alleged special tool is needed to centralise each one which if you know anything about tolerancing you would know is an impossibility. The reason is so the front axle can be aligned with and set parallel to the rear axle, the "Thrust Angle" that is quoted on 4 wheel alignment print-outs. It is done in the factory without centralising tools and should be done whenever the front subframe is dropped. I sprayed a marker paint over my fixing bolts and washers so as to replace it in the same position, it did not go to plan and the vehicle had a severe steering pull afterwards and needed torque applied to the steering wheel to drive straight with the wheel being off centre. I did my own 4 wheel alignment using laser spirit levels on a rim mounted fixture and marking a target card at the B post, moving the subframe to its maximum I could not quite get the spot on alignment I wanted even straining it with a ratchet strap to the rear axle before tightening the bolts. The rear axle was slightly misaligned, what I should have been doing was aligning both of them to the thrust angle of the bodywork but as only the front had been removed thats what I was adjusting, I could not release some of the rear subframe fixing bolts working from the ground, I just could not apply the force required on my longest breaker bar, i needed to be under a ramp working at shoulder height. So I had to accept the best that I could do with adjusting only the front subframe, the car drove perfectly afterwards, tracks in a straight line with hands off the wheel and the steering wheel central, it is surely within the manufacturers tolerance, I have now done 55K miles on that set of tyres which were not new when I bought the car so no excessive tyre wear. lhlied. If you did not mark the location of the subframe then you should resort to string lines and tape measure etc to try and get the best alignment that you can, yes the 4 wheel alignement places should adjust the subframe but my experience is that most do not or even understand the need to do so, they will often tell you that you need to buy the centralising spacer stupidities which says everything about their knowledge and competence.

£1000 for a half price exhaust 😯 I must live in a different world.

I dont understand what your questions are, I can guess the first but not the second.