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This is what I think is the lock control module counting the connectors in the plug I can see 26. Difficult to see if any have more that wire leading to them at this stage. There are 3 unused blank spaces so that would make 29 in total. I’m going to give it a blast with electrical contact cleaner and I’ll report back

I’ll have a count up of the wires tomorrow, fingers crossed 29. Hopefully we have the unit connected to the window motor and then I can proceed with a bit of a clean out. Pete, your knowledge about this kind of things is phenomenal - amazing stuff!! It was you I hoped would read my (long) post yesterday.

Thank you for your detailed information. When you refer to the door control unit, are you referring to the large multi wired electrical connection that plugs into the window motor. This connection seems critical as with it unplugged all the electrics including the door lock are dead. As this is plugged in I can hear a slight click (relay) activating under the dashboard.

Hi there, thank you for researching this for us. No, we don’t have self folding mirrors.

Yes, thanks for the reminder. Before I discovered the fault is with the lock motor not returning fully I had a play with having the cable tight and loose. I know if the cable is too tight the mechanism of the latch does not return to the home position and so it will not actuate the next time the handle is pulled.

Sorry it was a bit of a long story!! I checked the wiring loom in the door jam and there were no breaks there. All of the connections within the door seem fine but it may be worth giving everything a spray with electrical contact cleaner. My son has found a 2nd hand genuine VW lock from what looks like a reliable breaker advertised as fully working. Its worth having another try at £25 and I can have a spray at the same time. there are no problems with any of the other 3 locks which hopefully removes faulty relays. After that I’m struggling a bit.

Keeping my fingers crossed, my old Fabia BBZ is cooperating and so instead, I’ve a question about our Mk 4 GTi 1.8T that I bought brand new in 1998. This forum has some real experts and so I could really do with some technical assistance as it concerns the dreaded VAG door locks. About five years ago, the VW OE door locks started to play up and after having a heart attack at the VW price, I bought a set of EBay specials at about £22.00 each. They fitted fine but very time consuming to get the job done. My son bought the car off me a couple of years ago and everything carried on being OK. Then the replacement locks started playing up and so I replaced them again for him being a helpful Dad. I did all four as I figured if two were playing up the rest will follow. Fast forward to about a month ago. the drivers door will lock and audibly unlock but it would take repeated button presses and pulling on the handle to eventually release and open the door. I know about the micro switches playing up so I bought another EBay special and after fitting it it was no better. I bought another lock from a different seller and much the same problem. So, with my son’s assistance, I stripped it down again today to ascertain what is happening as I held the lock outside the door with all the electrics connected and operated it using the remote, simulating closing the door with a screwdriver to operate the latch mechanism. It locks fine and you can see the lock actuator moving round to prevent the latch mechanism from unlocking, exactly as expected. However, on unlocking, the lock does not rotate clockwise enough to allow the latch lever mechanism to operate fully. If I pull the lock round manually maybe another 0.5cm both the inner and outer door handles operate as expected and the latch opens as expected. I suppose repeated pressing on the remote must nudge it around enough for the latches to operate. So is there anything else on the car that would determine how much the lock motor rotates? Or is it just a coincidence that three EBay locks are all faulty in the same way? I would hope that a brand new WV door lock would sort this out but I’m a bit concerned that three non originals have displayed the same fault and I would not my son to pay nearly £200 for no benefit. Sorry that this has been a long post but I needed to give you all the information. Thank you for your assistance.

I cut my “curtains” off a couple of years ago with a Dremel and everything is fine with the silencer. Maybe does not look pretty from underneath but no issues from behind.

My 1.4 BBZ powered estate cost me £250. It had 100k mikes on the clock and for the money was good value and as I can do lots of jobs it has not cost too much overall since. The major expense was having a clutch fitted and on mine the rear main oil seal needed changing as I had an oil leak. I highly recommend Midland VW in Cannock. A perfect job and the clutch feels great. From memory as essential jobs , I have had a refurbished steering rack, refurbished alternator, new discs and pads all round. Anything else has just been to get absolutely everything working so could have been ignored. So I have spent more than the car cost me on the clutch alone but I have travelled over 12,000 miles since I had it and as I have to go to some of the less desirable parts of Birmingham for work, I am confident it will still be there when I go back to it!! I think it has been a bargain overall and next week we will use it to go on holiday to the Lake District. Every confidence it will cope. So get the clutch fixed and as I said, try Midland VW then enjoy driving it.

Ok, thank you very much for your thoughts so far.

Hi, this is an Audi A3 question but there is a lot of excellent knowledge on this forum. With no lights on the brake lights work properly. When the side or headlights are turned on the high level brake light operates normally but the brake lights located in the rear clusters stay on all the time until the lights are switched off. So in other words, the brake lights work at the same time as the rear lights. Any ideas of what to check?

I recently had to buy another insert for my Elegance gear knob. The price was not as steep as the VRS part but the quality was much better than the original where the chrome just peeled away. As an idea, is there another non VRS model with the 6 speed gearbox and the same gear knob shape. It will not have VRS on but it will be cheaper.

Yes, there is no reason to suspect that the current is behaving any differently in either the bulb or the LEDs. However, I have basic LED Halfords W5W sidelights in my headlights and when the lights are switched off the illumination disappears not just very dim.

Thank you for your reply. Does your LED eventually go out as e I would have thought that any residual power will be used up eventually?

Hi everyone, My Fabia estate boot has a disappointing light and so I bought a W5W one sided LED so it can be positioned with the illuminated side pointing into the boot space. All went well with the installation and it was nice and bright with the boot opened. However, on shutting the boot or activating the latch with a screwdriver, the LED dimmed lots but did not quite go out. I replaced the standard W5W filament bulb into the holder and no problem, it’s either on or totally off. So what is going on? The boot latch is only a year old and there never seems to be a drain on the battery even if I don’t drive the car for a couple of weeks.

The overnight reading is not false, I can see where the oil is lying. Wiping the stick after turning off the engine then checking the next morning gives the same result. Other folks in this thread have noticed the same feature.

The level can be 2cm above max when first withdrawn prior to wiping after the car stands overnight. However, if the dipstick is wiped and replaced for let’s say 10 seconds, the level is at the normal maximum. This is all before starting the engine.

I’d be interested to know why this happens. Has anyone taken the engine to pieces and can explain why the oil level appears to go higher after the car has been left standing?

Phew, I’m not alone!

Lots of good information thank you. I’m very mindful about overfilling as I don’t want trouble with the crank oil seals. Still unsure the reasoning why the level goes up overnight though, just out of academic interest really. I recently changed the oil pick up pipe on my Mk 4 GTi 1.8T and you could see exactly the location of the dipstick in the sump. I’m amazed that some people never appear to check the oil level. just a couple of months ago, my new neighbour came to see me as her Peugeot engine was making a nasty noise and there was an oil light on the dash. On checking the oil level, nothing was showing on the dipstick. The car was taken away for about 6 weeks but I have not found out the total bill yet. The alternative is that some uneducated folks think they need to fill it up like filling the petrol tank!

Thanks Pete, I’ll have to change the habit of a lifetime!

Hi, many years ago, my Dad told me to check my oil level when the engine is cold. No problems doing that with over 45 years of motoring. On every other car I’ve owned, if I pull the dipstick from when the car is left overnight, the level is much the same after initially pulling it out and having a quick look and then when I wipe it and put it back in and out again for a proper check. However, on my 1.4 16v BBZ, if I pull the dipstick out after it has been left overnight, the level has crept maybe 2.0cm above the max mark viewing it as it is initially pulled out. However after wiping off the oil then dipping again, the level is where I would expect it to be. In all cases, the engine has not been started between initially pulling out the dipstick and then a wipe and re-dip. I have never had the sump off to see where the dipstick sits so what is happening here for the level to apparently rise after cooling down overnight?

I have fixed the gear knob. A bit of Googling revealed a replacement insert for a VRS with the same locating lugs as my insert but at a cost of £43. I changed the last digit of the part number from 2 to 1 and I found an image of an updated part classed as a repair kit that could fit my car at approx 9 euros. Part number - 6Y0798001 On Monday I called my local Skoda dealer and they confirmed the part number I had researched was correct. Apparently a well known problem where the flaking chrome cuts fingers. I collected the part for £10.26 then fitted within a minute, perfect fit, job done!

T Thank you very much, that info is most helpful. Cheers!

Externally it looked like rubber/ plastic but as I used the clamp it became obvious there was reinforcement inside. My car is from 1998 and later cars had the traditional flexi hose as found on the front callipers compared to the set up on my car. This pipe does not flex in the true sense but the rubber/plastic coated pipe linked the hard metal brake pipe to the calliper. It was my mistake but no warning in my Haynes or the installation videos I gleaned tips from prior to doing the job. In fact some of the videos I watched used an identical tool to mine in exactly the same place. Learning is often a negative experience which was certainly the case here.