rum4mo

There should be 4 roughly triangular indentations on the sills denoting where to use the factory jack - which is used at the 4 strong points on the sills.

Depending on what sort of workshop you have locally, I've heard that some one handy with fabricating things, could very easily make, maybe out of very large washers, a couple of metal "stops" and weld them onto exactly the correct points on that now faulty ARB to sort of bring it up to the spec of the later versions - that is, if you know that the plastic stops have split and are the reason why that ARB is being allowed to "walk" from side to side. Maybe even fitting the "D" mounting bushes intended for the later versions without plastic stops, would mean that the ARB is gripped tightly enough to stop it moving from side to side - but VW Group did change from plastic to welded steel stops so I'd be copying what they did.

Back in maybe New Year 2006, I needed to replace a front spring on my wife's 2002 Polo, and I prepared by fabricating a couple of wooden blocks with slots - and an M14 maybe cap head bolt fitted into a hole drill and countersunk into these bolts - to provide some means of these blocks staying in place on top of the axle stands. That took very little effort and worked very well, just remember that there are only 4 "strong points" provided on the sills.

Thread revival, sorry but I didn't want to open a new thread on CTEK! I bought a CTEK MXS 5.0 Test and Charge back in 2014 or 2015, and connected it up to my severely under used 2011 Audi S4, and trusted it, maybe checking the voltage while it was at various stages in the program "now and again". All was good I think, until maybe 9 months ago, I went into the garage to use my wife's car, a 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI, and I noticed that this charger, still connected to my car, was indicating a fault condition. I power cycled it and thought no more about it. A few weeks later I checked the charging voltage and it was 12.6V! I power cycled it again and checked the charging voltage at each or most of the program stages, it was always 12.6V. I tried lots of combinations of button pressing while power cycling to try to prompt it back into correct program charging voltage values - and failed, so I fitted my CTEK charger/support unit to it to get and keep that battery fully charged. I found another new MSX 5.0 charger on line and bought it and fitted it to this car and it worked okay. Eventually by power cycling while holding down the mode button, the first MSX 5.0 Test and Charge reverted back to working as designed, and due to lockdown, started using this first one on my wife's Polo. Prompted by people commenting on having a plug in 12V DVM I bought one and immediately got differing results when driving both cars, then discovered that the first CTEK MSX 5.0 is back to defaulting to a constant and safe 12.6V - which is a lot safer than it either flattening the battery or overcharging it I suppose, power cycling that one sorted it out again, then I checked the newer one connected to under used other car, it is charging at 12.7V, I power cycled it and it started charging okay, although when at its 14.7V section of charging program, it charges at 13.6V. So my advice is to trusting CTEK charger users is, check the charging voltage maybe once a week to make sure that they are working as intended, I can't see me getting any redress from CTEK as I think I bought that second one from probably a not approved CTEK seller - and the first one is well out of its 5 years warranty.

I'm surprised that there is no "metal on metal" noises as that ARB is being allowed to walk across and you can see where it has been contacting the aluminium console.

I got the size of the front pipes wrong on my 2000 VW Passat 4Motion, I can't say how/why, so needed to buy in a second pair, though I did end up using one of first wrong size on my daughter's old late 2009 Ibiza - or at least used the clamps as on both cars it was only the clamps that had failed due to corrosion. I still think that in your case a trip to an exhaust place will be the way to sort this out, I don't mind being wrong though. From your pictures I got the impression that the last time that exhaust was worked on, your mechanic only released one of these clamps on that joining sleeve, which to me seems like being a strange thing to do, but maybe prompted by the condition of the next section of exhaust - ie he thought getting that other clamp loose would render that section unusable. Again I hope that I'm wrong.

DVM is just a voltmeter, but one with a digital display instead of an moving needle(coil) analogue display. I've been down that path, ie buying what should be quality rechargeable AA and AAA batteries, but gave up on that idea except for a pepper grinder that was a bit greedy on batteries - "luckily" that device seems to have reached the end of its life, so my stock of AAA rechargeables can be binned. My old MIL was a sucker for buying cheap alkaline batteries only to be repeatedly disappointed, we have Costco membership so I tend to buy Duracell when the price is right or online if necessary, the unit price ends up very low. I deliberately avoided a much more expensive head torch with built in rechargaable cells as I would always be an infrequent user of that head torch, it would suit a frequent user though, which they are aimed at. I really really have a lot of infrequent use or emergency use battery powered devices, and I just keep on top of making sure that their batteries are still within date if not used - that works for me. I liked the principal of using rechargeables but the reality over a few years changed my mind.

@froggy8, how did it all go in the end, job done?

Head torches, yes can be very handy, I had a cheapish one with a strip of LEDs, that was okay for up in the attics and away from the single light sources, but within the last year I pushed the boat out and spent about £30 on one from Screwfix, it uses I think, 3 AA or AAA batteries and I prefer that as it gives has a single COB and its output on high output is very impressive. Being a single use battery one, if I end up using it on high output for a long time, I can just grab a new set of batteries - so instant return to full power. For things I only use now and again, I don't like internal re-chargeable batteries as they lose capacity when abused, ie not kept recharged. I also have a set of these 1/4+3/8+1/2 square drive adaptors for when I feel lazy! As you get older your eyes need lots more light, the only issue I have with LED head torches is, when you are working on a car in a garage for a long time, it is not always obvious that it is the batteries that are running down and not my eyes getting tired! A quick check with a DVM lets you know though! Ring, I think sell LED inspection lights that have built in batteries and have fast chargers and maybe have a name like "break" as they can be fully recharged within a normal teabreak.

I think at least in Europe, "JCB" is just the default manufacturer, ie Skoda did not recode with the actual battery that the car was to be fitted with, VW also don't seem to always change the manufacturer in the BMS settings - and yes 11111111111 is also just the default for serial number. I'm not sure what the Yuasa code is, but their vendor should be able to tell you, though again I'm not sure if it is critical, could be wrong there though.

Maybe some coding has changed with the battery being disconnected, it should not have, but I've read about people finding the odd change in things after a battery has been disconnected. A bit of sniffing around with VCDS would prove if stop/start is still coded in.

I have been caught out once by the inflated ebay prices, but in all fairness to myself, the item or kit that I bought, I did not know that in my case VW ever supplied them, so I dived in when I saw what I was looking for on ebay, so it cost a bit more, but at least I found that that kit existed and bought and fitted it.

The only issue I'd think with fitting a pair of split collars would be, if they have such a large OD, does make them in danger of contacting anything nearby, like the steering rod bellows, if not then why worry about them being overkill as long as they perform the task as well or better than the original crappy plastic "held on with paint" stops. Edit:- the original ones would be bearing up against the side lugs of the mounting rubbers - and so would that type. Just make sure that the ARB is centred well enough.

The only time I've had that was when the VW dealership accidentally left unplugged, the BMS lead at the -VE battery post. Is that cable still okay and plugged in?

Any chance that you could expand on that topic, is this aftermarket stuff?

So obviously I was wrong about which side of the mounting clamps the original stops were located. Adding alternative clamps, I think that maybe Whiteline, who I think is/was an Australia based company that provided alternative ARBs and rear ARBs did market split clamps to sort out the original versions of these ARBs. Early on in these car's history, some people were fitting and welding large thick washers. In my case, my wife's 2002 Polo's ARB plastic stops or at least the RHS one broke free during that car's 5th winter from new, my wife drove home from school and said there was a knocking at the front - that was the ARB "walking" across and hitting the car's body. Fixing that without replacing the ARB must be the best plan as the cross member needs dropping a bit to get that ARB swopped - and that, if not carried out well can lead to suspension misalignment and so uneven front tyre wear - even, in my case, if the work was carried out at a proper VW workshop, very annoying, and followed a few months later by the RHS front spring breaking in the middle - that was down to corrosion not road surface quality. I had not been expecting to be spending that much time and money on a German branded (built in Spain) car while it was under 6 years and 35K miles old, a wallet robbing little toad of a car which was just a Skoda with some VW bits.

The later versions of these ARBs had a welded stop/washer, and from memory they are located on the "inner" side of the mounting brackets, so you should be able to spot them if they exist. Grabbing the ARB and trying to pull/push it side to side will let you know if the plastic sleeves have broken loose or have escaped, though if they had escaped then smaller mounting bushes would have be fitted. I would imagine that if the original plastic sleeves are still in place, you should also be able to make them out in the same positions as the later steel ones, I've forgotten as it was too long ago, maybe 14 years ago!

Like he said, leave the spring compressors in Screwfix - for another job, maybe the same at the other end?

SEAT have the way of thinking/tightness of wallet, so no temperature gauge, possibly to stop some people worrying(?), VW and Audi like to provide them okay maybe a more expensive car, but I'd go with having a temperature gauge, last car I had without one was an old 1972 Escort van, but a trip to the scrappy for a GL or GLX dashpod sorted that out quickly as the sensor and wiring were already in place, so just plug and play!

Where I live and how/when we use our cars, I usually factor in replacing all the bleed nipples at the 7 or 9 year fluid change, no doubt when you think about it, the hex "size" drops as the years and corrosion do their thing. Luckily, when I changed the fluid on my daughter's 2009 Ibiza for the last time back in 2018, I did replace the front bleed valves, luckily I had a couple of new ones. Changing the fluid every 2 years after the first change at year 3 does minimise the risk of this happening - a bit!

Maybe just me, but I can't hear any creaking noises, have you tried replaying that video to make sure that the noise can be heard.

One other possible consideration if changing that filter is, after 13 years will the push-on sealing connectors still be willing and able to seal on that new filter, I considered that possible disaster when preparing to change the filter in my wife's old 2002 Polo, and bought in a couple of repair kits from VW, so almost 10 years later that collection of bits is still "resting" in the airing cupboard, that might not be an issue for many/most people, but my wife would get a bit annoyed if I had to get her to use my car to get to work until I had sorted things out - well not quite true, it would be me that was a bit concerned about her enjoying my car! (click goes my pot count!)

The way I see it, for that hole to appear/happen, something more than a joining sleeve has failed, as said already, the pipe inside these joining sleeves should have almost butted up and these sleeves are extremely strong, it is only the 2 clamps that rust through. So, again, as said earlier, it looks very much like the next section of exhaust has failed, I'm surprised that your mobile spanner swinger left your car in that state, advise your friends to avoid him and take that car to an exhaust place because that job looks like to be well out of the scope of a new joining sleeve and a tube/tub of Gungun.

While I agree with the fact that it should not need replacing unless it is causing an issue with running, I managed to get that screw out on my wife's old 2002 Polo as I did plan to replace that filter and its associated pressure regulator, I cleaned out the maybe Torx recess and applied plenty proper release fluid especially into/onto the open end of that threaded hole - after a few attempts and application of more proper release fluid (and that does not mean normal WD40), I got that screw out, cleaned things up and either refitted it with plenty grease on it and over the exposed upper end, or fitted a new screw again wit plenty grease. Replacing a screw that used a captive nut, with a smaller size screw and nut is really going to make things a lot worse for the next poor sod that goes to replace that filter, if I remember correctly, both sides of that plastic clip are part of the fuel tank. I've always planned to never plant any traps for future owner/fixers. I wonder what future MOT testers would think about if you used a couple of heavy tie wraps, that could work if everything else failed.

Ta, you probably meant to list that engine as 1.2TSI with an Auto gearbox.