rum4mo

I've noticed that my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS 6MT does, frequently especially in colder weather, after it has warmed up, idle above "normal" idle speed. It does that even when the cabin fan is switched off - so that discounts "cabin set temperature" as being the issue, also, when it last did it, I switched back on Auto Stop/Start - and the engine stopped - so that discounts "battery state of charge", the headlights were also not on Auto and switch off. Some time I'll use VCDS to check other possible reasons for this like incorrect oil temperature.

Well, here is my answer/findings as I've been through this "is it the right version of Haldex fluid". I sent away for the G 060 175 A2 Haldex fluid for my daughter's May 2019 SEAT Cupra's front diff Haldex service, and was sent G 065 175 A2! I dug deep and discovered that the Febi offering covers both these VAG Haldex fluid part numbers, but certain marques, for a car built at that date used different fluids if you go by the parts catalogue. I put that down to a possibility that different VAG marques use a different (licensed) manufacturer for these Haldex designed items and so maybe different materials get used. The H&S statement on the G 060 175 A2 container covers some different chemicals to the container for the G 065 175 A2. So, having got that info, I requested that my seller provided me with what I had ordered and paid for - which they did. Bottom line, go with which Haldex fluid your local Skoda dealership says is correct for your car, I've found in recent years that VAG parts departments are not meant to just "hand over" part numbers, so you would probably need to offer them both p/n and let them tell you which is correct for your car.

I have a friend that has a 2019 Audi A6 and he reported that his driver's side mirror glass did "fall off" - and it sounded like his "helpful" garage fitted a new glass on - and he was surprised that the mirror heater no longer works! I explained that a new suitable mirror complete with heater tape and backing plastic frame should have been fitted to sort that out and still have a heated mirror - which he finds that he needs. Just a word of warning maybe, when I moved from having a VX Cav GSI 4X4 (it had heated mirrors connected to the timed rear window heater) to a new 2000 VW Passat 4Motion that had "winter pack", I stupidly left the heated mirror switch on - always, then read on a USA Passat forum about people having burned out the heaters on their mirrors by doing that, by this time I did notice that the heaters were now not as effective as they had been originally - and yes, both mirror heaters had burned out the resistance between the heater terminals had become quite high and was now just the charred remains on the heater tape backing strip! That cost quite a bit to buy 2 new heated mirrors, I didn't repeat that trick of leaving mirror heaters on, although, the other day I did notice that the heaters on my wife's Polo were switched on, hopefully they have survived and that was my fault!

On the subject of AGM being necessary for hybrid cars, these cars are actually micro hybrids as they also have energy recuperation "going on" - but 98% of people would probably dismiss the "micro hybrid" bit. The "760A" on the Varta site is surely the "next size up" battery to the one currently fitted, so if you want to save money, just replace like with like, ie a 640A one. Edit:- oh and EFB if that suits you - like the original. Another Edit:- I would have thought, that your original battery is 242mm "long" and so a size 027.

Is that not just the throttle body doing a bit of “self calibrating” ie checking its end stop voltages.

@whitedot , absolutely not a problem, I just spotted that posting and wondered if my wife's 2015 VW Polo might benefit from me buy one. Due to my local VW dealership being a bit "out of the way", I searched and found a couple of sellers on ebay, but the shipping from Germany made me dig deeper before committing to buy one, then I discovered that the earlier version, which is claimed to be fitted to Fabias and early VW Fox cost a lot more than the version fitted to later VW Fox version - then I checked the VW parts cat and noticed that my wife's 2015 Polo probably had a different style of angled cabin air intake complete with grill.

Seeing as the suggestion that fitting a cabin air inlet grill from a VW Fox would help keep "stuff" out of the fan, I looked into this by using an online parts cat. The part number quoted, ie 5Z0 819 044, was used on later VW Fox, but, the part number 6Y0 819 044 A was used on earlier VW Fox - and was used on these Skoda Fabia up to at least 2020 - so these Fabias should have an air intake grill. This is just info for anyone thinking that buying a cabin air inlet grill is needed.

I think/hope that when you go into an ECP branch to hand these parts back, and give them your reg or even VIN, they will find the correct parts for that car. But yes, as said already, you really do need to do your homework before ordering online from ECP, also, it might also be smart to check the Halfords prices, as they can be cheaper than ECP - and it is ECP that supply parts to them on demand. In an ideal world, I find that it is always "time well spent" finding out which versions of all service parts your car needs soon after buying it, one easy way to do that is to ask your main dealer for a print out of "CAR DATA" for every VW Group car you end up with, doing that gives you access to ALL the options (PR codes) for your car. Using that info along with manufacturer's parts catalogues online removes almost 100% of errors, plus checking the kit number on the boxes BEFORE walking away from the ECP counter removes the last small %age of error - I find that last bit a bit hard to do when I've stood waiting for ages while some "non car" person(s) have been trying to get the correct parts - and a few knowledgeable "car" people (maybe) are in a queue behind me! The 60 days return thing can be annoying when you try to prepare early for some car work, it used to be 365 days.

Maybe remove the pollen filter and check that the (switch off) fan motor is "free enough" to rotate - if it has become "a bit stiff/tight" to rotate that could indicate a motor bush/bearing issue - and that might just be what caused the previous load to expire - just a thought, nothing more.

I refreshed the suspension on my wife's 2015 VW Polo a year or so ago, unfortunately, while under warranty, the supplying main dealer replaced the top mounting on one side, the strut piston nut on that side was really difficult to remove as it's thread was damaged from that workshop's efforts to sort out the warranty problem (noises from suspension), the one on the other side and all others that I have been first to remove after initial factory/supplier assembly have all been easy to get off. The only reason that I wanted to take the old front struts apart was to retrieve the plastic "basket" that acts as a retainer for the strut protective boot as you can't buy them new, and I wasn't going to buy VW Group struts which probably would have come with them already fitted.

Don't need to worry about the welded encapsulated nuts on these cars, they have the later way of fixing the top mountings, just weight of the car and a top plate thing. Which is probably why most of these cars that have that set up make lots of croaking/groaning noises especially in colder weather! I tend to use "drive through" or "Vortex" sockets to get the strut piston nuts off and back on tight enough "not too move" before using a normal socket to torque them up. For some maybe perverse reason/logic, I've left it until I had done hopefully my last job of that sort, for a while, that can be made easier if using these open sided sockets, before finally buying a set!

To make the above process sound even easier, you only need to clip open the mounting clamps for the 2 pipes so that they can be moved out of the way. So getting that top cover off is really easy - oh and a couple of spring clips need easing off.

Also, the mechanical coolant pump is driven by its own small belt at the other end of a camshaft, that belt as it is not subject to any other loads should probably last the life of the coolant pump who’s life limiting factor is probably the plastic housing it lives in.

Just for your information, as this cam belt is not recommended to need “frequent” replacement, VW Group do not list a “cambelt kit”, only individual parts. Our local VAG Indie also replaced the belt tensioner while replacing the belt - probably as doing that makes good sense, along with changing the aux belt.

Doing this job on a 2002 VW Polo 1.4 back in 2006 or early 2007 was my introduction to working on VW Group cars, it was a horrible wake up call, made worse by me needing to start that job on the 2nd of January. I had by that time "plenty" tools, but still needed to buy quite a few to make that job possible/easier. A hub carrier expander bit or strut/hub splitter, to make removing the struts from the hub carrier, same as Laser Tools 3396. 32mm Bihex slim walled socket, to remove the RHS drive shaft nut. M14 multi spline or XZN bit, to remove the strut/hub clamping point bolt. Starting on the LHS first will let you learn about this job before you need to remove the drive shaft from the hub on the RHS so that you can drop the hub down low enough to get the strut out of the hub carrier - the LHS does not have this issue. Though maybe like me, it is the RHS spring that has broken, so the tendency is to sort the already broken side first! I'm assuming here that you already have a good set of spanners, sockets and torque wrenches, and other useful workshop lifting and supporting devices. Edit:- there is also a list of parts that you need to buy other than just a pair of suitable springs.

Fair enough comment, but I was not going to continue using that "iffy" new CR2025 so was using checking its out of circuit voltage as a "starter for 10" check, checking the open circuit voltage of an "in use" used battery does quickly let you know if a still working battery is good to re-use/re-fit as I had idea how long the second key's battery had been in use and checking its present out of circuit voltage allowed me to bin it also and fit another new CR2025 to that second key. I do know that a battery's internal resistance will limit its ability to supply current to its load by the way.

Many years ago, the first time that I needed to use a new "good" set of jump leads to help a neighbour out - I failed, same outcome as you had! Crimps on the leads were very substandard, I replaced/reinforced the crimps on the crock clips with heavy duty cable clamps - and over the next 30+years have never had the need to use these leads! With modern cars I'd only ever now use a jump pack, which also has many uses as a portable 12V DC power source.

My daughter ended up with a "not working" non KESSY key when she replaced the Panasonic CR2025 with another Panasonic CR2025, last month, in her 2019 SEAT Leon Cupra, she had had the "low battery" warning for a week or so, so just replaced the battery, to get out of that issue, she refitted the previous battery and the key worked okay. I swopped the battery for the new one that she had previously fitted to this key and found that the duration of the flash of the key's LED was shorter than with the older battery, I removed>fitted>pressed a button a few times and at least one time, the LED "flash" looked okay, the out of circuit voltage for the old battery was 2.99V and the new but not working every time battery out of circuit voltage was 3.31V. Having lost trust of this new Panasonic CR2025 battery, I grabbed another Panasonic CR2025 which was from her same "multi buy" of Panasonic CR2025 batteries, and it worked okay, so a few days later I replaced the Panasonic CR2025 in her other key with the last of that "multi buy" card of Panasonic CR2025 batteries - seeing as I had checked that 2nd key's battery out of circuit voltage which was 3.00V, and it worked okay as well. So in her case, it would appear to just have been a faulty Panasonic CR2025 which got disposed of along with the previous 2 keys Panasonic CR2025 (used) batteries - just one of these things, or she was just unlucky, so I do now know that it can happen even when buying Panasonic key batteries.

You now need to check for moisture on and/or under the rear carpets, and also the lowest areas of the boot floor.

Yes, I've spotted torque wrenches being used after the rattle guns - not on our cars though, I'm stupid enough to just take in wheels from our cars, and do the removing/fitting myself - and yes, customer sensibly made to sign the sales receipt that includes "check wheel fastener torque after xxxmiles. Wheel alignment that typically nowadays includes using a proper wheel alignment bench - and so measuring all 4 wheels alignment, £25 sounds a lot too low a figure. What I still have not managed to work out is why the castor measurement is either nonsense when carried out by a tyre place that has not worked out that a manual intervention is required when running that part of the alignment test, or the castor results fields are blanked out, or in this case empty or not filled in. If there exists the built in facility to measure castor, then why not use it - alternatively, if it is just a quick tracking check/adjust that is being done - why bother including the 4 wheel aspect of this test - okay no extra input is required from the operator and the equipment automatically churns out the results. It does sound a lot like laziness to me, while still charging the customer for the privilege of their car being tested on a proper 4 wheel alignment bench.

@Alasdair1 removing wheel arch liners and the underbody plastic panels is something that everyone should be doing every few years, out of curiosity I removed the from wheel arch liners on my wife's 2015 VW Polo after its cam belt had been replaced, and yes, I should have done what I've suggested here - a long time ago. All dirt removed and Waxoyl applied - a few years too late! So far I have not removed the long plastic underbody panels on that 2015 Polo, but I should, I did that job on the previous 2002 Polo and there was quite a bit of dirt under them and again Waxoyl'd these areas.

I'd suggest VCDS, it seems that you can sell it on if you leave car fixing or VW Group car owning, yes it does cost a bit but with use that pain will get diluted. Too complicated - I don't think so, with time you could get more involved with it or just use it to interpret stored faults. I'd love to say that I've spent time creating controller maps and so have made myself and my cars "bombproof" - but sadly, after only owning VCDS for maybe 25 years, life or laziness has got in the way. If you think that you are sticking with VW Group cars, then maybe try buying a used VCDS HEX-V2, but make sure that know how many "VINs" remain with it and how much buying some new "VINs" is. How VCDS now works is, if you buy it new, you used to get unlimited "VINs" which meant that you could perform re-coding on unlimited number of cars without needing to pay any more. The later/latest business model offers maybe "3 VINs" or "10 VINs" for the home user and DIYer, and "unlimited VINs" for the workshop user. When I upgraded my previous version to VCDS HEX-2 - "forced" on me when my older daughter bought a 2019 car, I had to move onto this newer "business model" which meant losing my "unlimited" older version, I chose "10 VINs" - they soon get used up if you are too generous or not careful, first one I used was on a friends Audi A6 as I offered to re-code his new battery which his friendly garage had failed to do, I absorbed that one as I was using that as a "dry run" for doing the same on my cars, the only other one that "threw away" was resetting the service lights on my mate's VW T-ROC - which he sold on a year later, that was me being stupid as I have Carista as I was an early adopter of that tool, my account is not limited in any way, so I typically use Carista for other people's service resets! By the way, I'm not suggesting that you buy Carista, I only bought it and a couple of dongles to have in the car for "away from home issues".thatt

I'm sure that the "insert" on the drop links are Torx which tends to end up looking like hex allen - so that increases the chances of chewing the hole up. I've only ever had trouble getting one set off, that was from a 2002 Polo that was only 5 years old. (taking the TRE nuts off that car was tricky, using a hex allen bit in that ended up swelling/expanding the upper section of the ball pin - and that just added to the pain - again I'm sure that I should have used a Torx bit) So, bought new Febi ones when working on an 8 year old SEAT Ibiza, but they came off easily and were in good condition. Next car was my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI, at 9 years old, and for some reason I bought genuine VW Group ones - that hurt, and they are still waiting to get used along with the other Febi pair.

I don't think that there is anything to worry about, just noises from tappets getting oil pressure up to them and there will be extra petrol injectors noises at cold start.

I think that there is still some nervousness in owners, and some workshops minds over the "quite longer than long" mileage/years that is currently given for this job, probably based on previous mileages/years offered by many other manufacturers - and then dropped back quite a bit when experiences proved that some mileages/years quoted did not tie in with real world workshops and owners personal experience. Having said that, I waited until 10 years and 55,000 miles had passed before I handed my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI in for this job, okay it "only" cost £650ish at VW Group proper Indie as that car does not have ACT and so the labour time is a lot shorter. So, to the OP, I'd suggest leaving that job for now, my mate "through West" has a late 2019 VW T-ROC 1.5TSI 150PS and he has asked me about when should he get this task done, a very tricky question to answer maybe, he will have done a lot more miles than my wife's 2015 Polo, giving a friend this sort of advice, ie "I'd leave it for now", and then "bang" is not what I'd hope to happen. At the end of the day, if you, the buyer and owner, plans to keep this car for another say 8 years/50,000miles, then why not just get it done at around the 10 years mark so that you can hopefully stop worrying about it and also make some use out of spending that sort of money. Edit:- oh, and the "money taker" at that local VW Group proper Indie said to me as I was heading back out after collecting the Polo, "that will be you for another 5 years" - I turned round and muttered something and gave him a funny look!