rum4mo

AC is a reg'd car dealer so should always be safe to use, just be on your toes and keep what has been written in mind, when my older daughter used to hand her previous car, a late 2009 Ibiza into her local SEAT branch of AC she always had no trouble so really it will be down to the local workshop for or if they are good and the sales people, if they are being honest. Our first contact with AC was back in 2004, and that daughter fancied getting a small Citroen - the showroom was quiet but the sales guy, an Irish sounding man, would not deal with her while we were around, and that started alarm bells ringing in my head and her's so he lost a possible sale - the phrase "dogs and new tricks" comes to mind, and seems in many cases to be true.

Oh yes I know that, but why he could not spot the part I needed seemed a bit strange. I've never ever tried to use TPS as I know that they are not meant to deal with Jo Public, so I don't want to waste their time. 90% of the time that I phone up for parts to get ordered in, I deliberately avoid giving any car details, just the part numbers, doing that leaves me responsible for any errors, and that works for me. Edit:- that was a reply to @varooom.

One other thing that you could scatter your car cash on, as you live up in Scotland, is a set of winter wheels and tyres, so that your nice Monte alloys retain some of their initial beauty, and fit either all season or dedicated winter tyres - but that might only work if you live in a "nasty winters" areas are commute through one. Doing that has always worked for me and my wife while we were still of working age, less so now as both car's tyres will get binned as they are now too old and not due to normal wear!! Quality winter tyres can last 25>30K miles if only used for 6 months/6K miles a year.

A bit annoying needing/choosing to deal with Uncle Arnie's Car Emporiums. My older daughter bought a new pre reg'd SEAT Leon Cupra from them, a bargain price without a trade in it has to be said, she bought, maybe on my suggestion, a 3 year service plan, mainly as the car was warranted by SEAT for most of that period, it turns out she was sold Uncle Arnie's version of a service plan, but so far so good, last service deferred my her for a fortnight due to Covid - crap happens, his stupid website directed her to a local workshop that was not SEAT certified, I thought that was daft during warranty, anyway she included a few things that needed warranty attention while it was in. When she collected, which was sort of still during the last lockdown/restrictions, when she asked about the warranty work she was told that they don't have any VW Group diagnostic equipment so nothing was looked at, oh well. Younger daughter and her husband bought a use SEAT Arona down South and don't know much about cars, so I thought that I'd be helpful and organise buying a new security wheel bolt cover, a very easy thing to do, okay ebay sells them, but if I was also going to request a copy of "CAR DATA", I thought that I might as well just buy a bolt cover in person and while at the SEAT dealership, ask for a copy of "CAR DATA". So, I phoned SEAT Broxburn, got through to the parts department, and told the guy what I needed and gave his the proper VW Group part number - " oh we can't use that number our system uses a different way of working" WTF? anyway after I handed over the car reg number, he said that car did not have these bolt caps - I suggested that SEAT also or later changed that plan to fit 5 covers to each wheel to a 5 legged starfish centre wheel cover conbo, he said "yes but that is grayed out" so why can't he see what I needed as the correct alternative? Anyway, I terminated the call there and then as it sounded a lot like when I went out to collect any parts that he managed to get for me, "CAR DATA" request would be double dutch! Ebay worked for a "wheel set" of covers for that car though. Another AC moan, this time issue caused by AC Liverpool, my older daughter bought a used and as it turned out ex AC lease 2001 Ibiza, it was okay, it was delivered up to Edinburgh by AC as that branch had sold it, or for some other reason, anyway it came complete with -ve camber at one side and no or +ve camber on the other side, it had been subjected t many "strict" pre sale checks - and they missed that, cost me good money to sort that out! Then, a year when I replaced the front brake pads, I could not fit new pads into one side of one calliper - reason being, AC Liverpool had replaced the discs and fitted the correct version on one side and an earlier version on the other side so the "top hat" or "height" was wrong for that brake set up, I'd always intend to avoid dealing with AC if at all possible, the exception being when buying a new car - though maybe even then you could end up with a lemon that was being passed around the dealers, when you are working with AC. AC haters used to have a website but that got closed down, it was sad or even amusing to go onto it! Edit:- AC and maybe others, do seem to like to lure you into putting down a deposit on a car that is many miles away and with no chance that you will ever eye ball it before you go to collect it - a very crafty plan - no?

An experience maybe.

I'll ignore that suggestion, or just carry on with recharging it, that would be a horrible job and I do know that it is a possibility!

This question or project has been asked many times in the past, on the surface it looks easy and cheap to do, but don't be fooled, this would be possible, but at a high price.

The plan and design of the AC compressors in all these newer cars, and back to at 2002 in the case Polo and so Fabia, Ibiza and A2, is to have a variable displacement compressor and so they are driven constantly and their capacity is varied depending on the system demand - but they have a minimum capacity of roughly 5% this is built into the design so that a small amount of refrigerant and oil is always circulating round the system - to minimise leakage across all "rubber" ie porous areas. The other reason for changing from "clutched" fixed displacement compressors to variable displacement compressors is improve efficiency/emissions so the compressor output matches system demand. My older 2011 Audi S4 get next to no running throughout the year and it also has a variable displacement AC compressor, again its AC is only used when required and it has only ever been "topped up" by me 5 years ago, though I do plan to check its cooling performance this year and add in some more R134A as it must have lost some over the latest 5 years. I've never planned to top it up back to the original running pressures, only to improve the pressures over what they are when checked. This needing topped up every year has only developed over the past 3.5 years so I think that there is a crack or damage somewhere in the system, it would be handy if it was in the condenser, though so far I've not been able to detect any leakage anywhere are the under bonnet area.

I'll have the pad kit VW Group part number so I could try that.

My wife's 2015 was done this afternoon, person in front of me in the queue when I handed it in was also in with a Groupon voucher as was the in front of me when I collected it! It sounded like that that branch gets a lot of work from the local airport car rental companies - sorting out front wheel alignments! I really must try harder while there is enough gas in the system, to find where the leak site is, this is its 3rd annual regas!

A different/newer car, but I have noticed that any of the usual sellers of brake parts to the DIYer market, only sell pads that have wear sensors for the ATE callipers - for my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS which does not have any brake wear stuff when supplied into the UK market, it always seems a shame to need to chop off these sensor wires when in the past pad kits without wear sensors were always slightly cheaper than pad kits that did have wear sensors, which makes sense. Maybe with time, and I don't need new pads yet, versions without wear sensors will appear in the aftermarket, that 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS was fitted with Jurid branded pads at the factory.

If you are meaning the folding key with remote locking/unlocking functions - is it just the remote locking/unlocking functions that are causing trouble, or the "engine deadlock" otherwise called the immob side of things that are causing trouble?

Groupon was or had a recharge deal with ATS for under £40.

Maybe remember to check the warranty and forget that you drove over a ridge on the road.

Thanks, all good stuff every bit of extra information helps, I will replace the Exide EFB in my wife's August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI with an AGM battery with slightly higher capacity as that seems like being a smart move, but so far the factory fitted EFB has stayed alive longer than expected probably due to me making sure that it gets connected to a smart charger, CTEK when it was not used very much during the 2020 and 2021 lockdown periods, its capacity measures as being 500A CCA EN now, down from 640A CCA EN - well that was its rated value, and it measured slightly above that when newly delivered and in circuit in the car.

One easy way to begin to check the cabling is, each of the sensors have 3 wires going to them, +12V power, a 0V earth return and an output, so you should find that there are 2 pins in each plug that go to the same 2 pins on the other plugs - but not to each other and only the output pins are completely separate from all the other pins. Edit:- but as has been said already, when you get a couple, three or all four sensors claiming to be faulty, then it is usually a wiring issue. The way that VW Group's supplier has made up these cable forms, there will be joins as the common +12V DC and 0V return lines are daisy chained along the bumper.

I've never seen mention in anything about Terraclean that confirms that they also remove the inlet manifold etc and blast the inlet area of the cylinder head with crushed walnut shells to ALSO clean up the area that most needs it. So no, not worth doing it - unless they confirm in writing that they also walnut shell blast the area around the inlet valves.

If you feel that the fridge charge loss is just due to normal leakage due to the materials used or needing to be used, then maybe check out Groupon or some other source and find an ATS discount price for a recharge - if the system is still relatively leak tight. My wife's August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI seems to be relatively leak tight, or free from gross enough leaks, I've had it recharged twice, the refill keeps the system running during a normal British Summer, though the AC system starts logging "low pressure" from November onwards. Now, I have an F-Gas certificate so I probably should not morally be doing this, but to date I have not been able to locate the actual leak site, I'm hoping that it is on the inner face of the condenser and I need to remove the front of that car and find out if there are any traces of system oil mist anywhere on the condenser, if there isn't then - I'll be a bit annoyed! Edit:- we have just been away for a few days, my wife "reminded" me that there are ATS recharge deals on Groupon - before opening her side window!

Quoting the engine code might help here, just maybe though. Edit:- like 5W-30 meeting VW spec 504 would work.

Some VW Group cars have a pyrotechnic device that blows one of the main fuses, the crash sensor does that, to make the car as safe as possible following an impact - but for that to be an issue I’d expect an event to get logged somewhere. Certainly Audi B8s have that feature so I’d think lots others will have it, though it is seldom brought up in these forums.

Probably just a typo, 7522 seems to be the one.

No wind back needed on the front callipers, just press back. Now if you have rear disc brakes, then you would need to rewind the pistons.

My younger daughter and her husband who live on the edge of London, have just passed their driving test and so looking for a car, they have come across what could be a "new normal" situation for desperate used car sales people, trying to sell "good quality" cars bought 3 months ago when the market was slow in terms of very few new cars getting sold to provide stocks of reasonably priced used cars, and now the market is starting to flow again, so expected profits are reducing, such is life for people in the used car trade. Today for them will be crunch day I'd think, I just hope that they have not forced their sales person to turn round and walk away from selling that car for what they are willing to pay.

and the final fix was?

The thing is, when you close the bleed valve, there is a solid cone down below the level of the cross drilling in the bleed valve, so that solid cone plugs the open concave point on the calliper, so that works normally. What you might have, is the bore of the bleed valve is full of brake fluid, and that is weeping/creeping up the thread of the calliper<>bleed valve. If I'm being completely honest, I had never witnessed this happening until maybe 6 years ago, so now I spray brake cleaner down into the open end of the closed bleed valve and that ejects most of that fluid and then evaporates, my next plan is to do the job the way that VW Group and maybe others suggest and that is to apply compatible grease to the threads of the opened bleed valve, doing that should stop any trapped fluid creeping up and out of the threads area, AND stop micro bubbles appearing in the bleed tube. Really a lot of overkill, but seeing as you have asked. I'd prefer if there was no "wetness" around the brake valves especially as I am getting the car MOT'd soon after replacing the brake fluid. Finally, if none of that sounds relevant in your case, just replace all the brake bleed valves, tightening the new ones down to 13Nm fronts if 288mm discs, or 10Nm fronts if 256mm discs, rears are 10Nm - I tend to tighten them down "by feel". Remember once the dust cap has been refitted, which is good, there is only one route left for that trapped fluid especially if the callipers have been heated up by using the brakes.