TalibanTed

Well, it smells of GT85, but it works better than it did!

Afternoon all! The interior fan motor is pretty intermittent these days, makes a horrible droning sound then turns off. You can hear the relay click on and then off, so assuming the bearings had it. Replacement can be found, no problem. However, I have a cross country trip on Monday and would love to have some airflow and aircon working for it! I can't see a way to take the assembly apart, but can definitely see a fair bit of metal around it so leans more towards the bearing failure. But, as a temp fix, would I be alright to chuck a load of GT85 or similar into it and hopefully free it up for a few days? Or will that make things worse....I use it on RC car motors and bearings that are on their way out and it works for a little while, but guessing this may be a completely different motor setup knowing Volkswagen!

Pressure test had been done with no sign of a leak. The matrix is blocked, has been for a while, but not due to the silica bag. This is fully intact in both the original expansion tank and the replacement I put on. The residual casting sand and rust is the culprit for that! Strangely though I filled it up, took a load of water with us and it drove the 300miles home fine...no steam , also checked it a few times on the way back and levels hardly dropped at all. Took it out this morning and still no real loss...bit baffled by it really! The leak for this post definitely wouldn't have been the matrix, that would have been very noticeable in the cabin with the amount of coolant lost, but there's no wet carpet or anything and never has been.

My 2.0 TDI also has no heat and coolant leak with no visible leak. Currently on 152000 miles. Yesterday it dropped a full tank in a few miles though, with a fair bit of "smoke" and water from the exhaust and research is pointing me to the EGR cooler being at fault for the coolant leak. The heater matrix being blocked will be why there's no heat. The silica bags in the expansion tanks are known split, but there's also sand from the forming and rust from the coolant in the coolant channels that block the matrix. Not a quick job if done properly. My original expansion tank still has the bag intact but I have had an orange tinge to the coolant which suggests a presence of rust in the system and will need to be flushed fully for a few hours. Head gasket failure seems pretty rare on modern VAG engines, unless it's been majorly overheated. My other 1.9 Octavia had the click when starting from cold, battery was very tired. New battery and it's been fine since. In terms of being reliable, yes they are. But with everything modern there are small issues. Also things wear over time, and 'just' 161k miles is generally a worn in mileage for the engine, but a good life for the things that are bolted onto it!

Morning all, whilst on holiday 300 miles from home and everything I own, I've had a lovely steam filled 2 mile journey back to our temp accommodation. Due to travel home on Saturday morning and no garages around can fit the car in. I suspect the EGR cooler is damaged internally. Symptoms being severe coolant loss (full exp tank disappeared in a literal few miles), lots of steam and water from exhaust when engine is warm, no residue in oil and no oil in coolant. No sniff test done or possible. The car has had a small coolant leak for a while which was suspected to be related to a blocked heater matrix but it seems it's now had enough, I had noticed a bit of steam previously but mornings had been colder and thought nothing of it. If I was at home I'd start taking it apart, but being miles from home, space and tools I can't do that here. Once it's home it can be repaired but I could do with a solution to get her back...and I'd rather not start taking bits off and realise it's not possible... The car is a 2014 2.0 TDi CKFC, completely standard.

So this would do fine? It'll be done every 5-6 months... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305448673121?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=UtC3VvnORl6&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=Q3gV0PoSR1y&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

There's a minefield of options out there! From my understanding, it needs to be a 504/507 spec. The car is sitting on nearly 140k and I cover around 30k a year... I'm not usually one to say the most expensive is the best, but with getting a new clutch, flywheel and cambelt I figured I'd service it again as well as it'll be in the air anyway and it'll be due soon...but with the higher mileage, I'm not sure which to opt for!

Evening all, after hearing a grinding kind of sound with the clutch out and in neutral that goes away with the clutch pressed in, I figured it's time for replacement. After 138k and no receipts for a past replacement I'd rather get it done anyway than have it go at any point! However, there seems to be quite a few different options from all the factors and online shops for clutch, flywheels and other parts.... It's a 2014 150bhp CKFC TDi, and according to GSF these fit, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to buy different options and return whichever doesn't fit...I have a friend that's a mechanic and he's advised: Clutch kit around 250 Dual mass around 300 Slave cylinder around 90 These will be LUK parts Around 5 hours work Those rough prices would be going through the garage he works at. Are there any reliable options to search for the correct parts by VIN? I don't doubt him, but if I can save myself a load of cash buying parts myself it'll certainly be very helpful! I know there'll be a few other bits needed, but these would obviously be the main parts... Any help is very much appreciated!

Hi guys, First off. And an absolute. I don't want to replace this car. It has a lot of sentimental value, for various reasons, so please don't suggest it. So....I have a 2006 PD105 2wd Estate, and want to make it a kind of weekend camper. It needs new sills, it's currently lowered on coilovers and has the stock 16" alloys with 205/55R16 tyres recently put back on. For the sills, is it possible to remove the outer skin and replace it with some kind of box steel? Something to give it a lot more strength as well as a full solid length to be able to use a jack on...I can put the standard metal on but i know its a weak point, especially if I get in a situation of being limited on ways to jack the car up...i don't know the legalities of replacement sills but I have had cars with sills made from various old appliances before! Suspension wise, I was thinking of just getting a set of shocks and springs for a Scout to raise it a little higher than stock, however the hubs are for a 50mm shock, would that be possible or are all of the Scouts a 55mm? I'd guess swapping hubs isnt a simple job? If there's a simpler way of a raise though it'd be handy! Tyre wise, I'd like something a bit chunkier. It currently has winter tyres on and I'm in no way ever contemplating greenlaning in it, but there'll be times where we're venturing off solid roads and for a 2wd I'd like the best chance possible so thinking of something usually found on a Landrover or similar, maybe even just getting some wheel adaptors and using Landrover wheels...this would likely then lead to arch work for clearance and was thinking of cutting out some of the metal and putting on some universal type of plastic arches to cover the tread of the tyres? What would be the best "off road" type/size of tyre to go for without any major rubbing of inner arches etc? I'd also like to remove the front bumper and have a metal cage type, but I don't know the legalities of that! Obviously a silly idea, but I've seen some overland cars in different countries with a solid metal bumper and I quote like the look of it. Lots of LandRovers etc have a solid bumper so I'm guessing it could be road legal on a car? The car itself is currently in a fairly rough looking shape, but it's relatively solid underneath. I won't get rid of it, and it will be brought back to a (fairly) decent standard again. Ideally everything it needs will involve an upgrade and I can make a Overland kind of estate to go and explore the country a bit more with my son, and will mean we can go off to various RC events too. Inside will be relatively standard with bedding, window blinds and removable internal storage and I will also have a roof box and roof rack fitted. Unusually, it's something I'm actually wanting to get on with...most of the time these days working on my car doesn't have the appeal it used to! Plus the Mk2 is, imo, nicer to drive than my MK3 CR150! Also, if anyone around the Norfolk/Suffolk area has any parts that I could make use of, please let me know!

The tank has Silikat printed on it, but there's no bag in it any more. Once they burst the contents will go straight through the cooling system. Quoted £600 to replace the matrix and flush from an indy likely using the cheapest parts, but a friend of mine has said he can do it for £250 all in with approved parts and a likely 2-3 hour flush. He also has to contribute a bit to use the garage he work at for private jobs which I don't mind. I'll have a look tomorrow at how difficult it is to get to, then decide whether to try it myself or not 🤣

The sample looks to have rust in it? If it's true, I've read in a few places that the engine block rusts from inside the waterways and that blocks the matrix along with the silica if the bag bursts. I may have a go at replacing the matrix in mine, doesn't look too bad a job, although I have a mechanic friend who's quoted me fairly cheap for it. But, it's most definitely the wrong time of year for this! I replaced my expansion tank and the old one definitely doesn't have a silica bag in it any more so I know it's burst...the replacement absolutely does though so that'll be removed too!

Sorted, turns out 2 of the connections were slightly inadequate! For the canton systems, i think the speaker terminal block is missing from the quadlock as it's controlled by the seperate underseat unit? Never had more than a basic stereo as a stock item, it was a surprise to see this one had DAB and Bluetooth to be honest!

Evening all...I've spent around 4 hours wiring in a sub to the Bolero (I think...) in my SE TDi, Installed a line out converter to get RCA outputs at the quad connector spliced into the circled wiring... Surprisingly it only took around 10 minutes to get power to the rear! The amp has power, but no sound. I've tried a different amp and speaker but nothing from any combination so my guess is a problem with the converter wiring? I did go for a Halfords Special for it so it may well be faulty, but then I could have made a simple error...all wiring was new today, switched live taken from fuse box, double checked polarity of speaker connections and all looks correct. Went a bit cheap on the converter because I'm planning on replacing the headunit soon anyway, just felt like having a little more bass beforehand as I already had the sub and amp to install already, both worked fine in my previous car...

That looks to be it! Thank you! 👍🏽👍🏽

Hi guys, I'm going to be getting my '06 Octavia PD105 BXE back on the road in the coming weeks, but the tank to block coolant hose appears to have melted! I can't seem to find the same hose anywhere though...it looks like the one in the pic, although the pic is for a MK3 Oct/Mk6 golf and goes to another pipe rather than to the engine... The hose goes from the bottom of the expansion tank to the front of the engine behind the vacuum reservoir (I think that's what the black plastic ball thing is anyway!) Any clues, or part numbers?? TIA!

I replaced my driver's regulator a few years ago. Got a new.thord party replacement for £25 off eBay, refitted with self tappers as I couldn't get a rivet gun that worked at the time! Worked perfectly until I parked it up a year ago, and still worked perfectly when I saw it again for the first time since a couple of weeks ago!

I had thought of a piggyback as i used one in my old octy for an amp that worked well, but didn't know if there was some form of relay to allow a bigger draw to be available. My inverters limited to 150w via the lighter adaptor and i'm not sure i'd want to chance more than that through the fusebox tbh...

I had a 12" running 1krms in my MK2 Estate behind the seats firing to the rear. Full width, around 14" high and 12" deep iirc. I could still fit 4 of the larger Aldi bags in the back (Just!), or a Tesco food crate, or a number of RC trucks... Before that I had a lower power 12" which was on a shallower box, I think that one was 10" deep, still full width and around 14 high. Also had a 2x12" sealed box that was massive....had to wedge it in between the strut towers, that fired upwards and took up a lot more floorspace! Didn't sound any better either! Both the single boxes were tuned to low 30s. Sounded pretty decent, made everything shake, broke a window regulator...just no where near enough to crack a windscreen 😂 Which reminds me....I'm going to have to go check on my Mk2 at some point...poor things been stood for months!

I could use the rear socket but it's permanently on so I'd have to remember to turn it off which I know I wouldn't do! I also don't have a factory arm rest, but I'd want them for front use and the closer to the devices the better really...I'd also thought of securing the inverter into the glovebox and using a switched output on the fusebox to power it but with the glovebox being connected to the heating system it may get a bit too toasty in the winter!

Hi guys, I have a little 300w Inverter i've bought so i can charge my laptop while at work. I have a 2.0 TDi SE. I can use the cigarette lighter, and it works fine from it, although i do have 2 devices plugged into a 2 way adaptor, phone and satnav, so it's not always possible to use the socket for the inverter. My car didn't come with a center armrest so have fitted some cheap thing that does the job well enough but it does mean there is no space for an extra socket there. My issue would be wiring the inverter into the car, fixing it somewhere, likely in the side of the boot, and having the ability to have it switch on when the ignition is on rather than permanently on and draining the battery over a few days at weekends or on holiday etc. I'd be happy with a switch in the car somewhere to isolate it, but i don't think there's anything small enough to fit any of the spare points on the dash anywhere? My other thought is to install some extra USB points, maybe in the center where the fan controls are, which could be used for the phone and then hide the lighter adaptor wiring under the plastics and pop out next to the socket. Has anyone installed a USB port into a spare button blank on a Mk3? There's a row of 5 switches and the outer 2 are blanks with the dual zone temp displays either side. I have the Aux/USB socket above the ashtray but it doesn't put out enough to charge wile using the navigation so it just has a flash drive plugged in for music. It's a strange spec....Dual Zone climate, no center armrest, no builtin navigation, no MFSW, 150bhp 6sp Tdi in Modra Race Blue...

Though as much. I'm positive my old Mégane had most of the wiring etc in place ready for the relevant switches and sensors to be installed, only good thing about it though!

Back in 2013/2014, When building the cars, were there any upgrades that were generally installed (as it may have been easier) that just need a some part installating to utilize or was each car built to the exact specification? Wouldn't mind Auto Lights if everything is in place and just needed a new switch! And anything else that'd just need something some doing!

Hi guys, I've just bought a 2014 SE TDi, and one thing I'll heavily miss from my MK2 is the center armrest! I've seen the Armster ones being recommend a lot but they not in stock. Are there any other alternatives? I have the little tray at the back so ideally something that can use that rather than the big side plates...