Fab19

I misread the same thing! I just started the car, it idles fine, and the brake vacuum seems to be working so at least I can stop if I drive it!.

Thanks for the replies guys. Mine does exactly the same thing, except there are no engine management lights showing on the dashboard when it happens. I'm meant to be driving to Spain in a week or so, so this issue is bad timing. All the local VAG independent specialists are fully booked for almost a couple of weeks hence why I'm on here. Another thing I've noticed, which might be related, is that the brake pedal feels like it is gets stiff more easily. For example, when idling if you press the brake pedal up and down a few times it becomes really stiff until you rev the engine, which i think is normal. When I'm braking and almost coming to a halt, sometimes I'll release the pedal a bit and then press it again. I've noticed now that if I do this the pedal feels stiffer on the second press than it did before. Not a huge amount but enough to be noticeable. I guess this could also be related to some vacuum issue.

Thanks for the reply. Great idea regarding the hot air gun. I guess it should make the pipes more supple. Do you happen to know what pipe 6 is for? I can't seem to find an explanation on the net. Cheers

Hi all, Recently my car has been going into limp mode under high load/revs at speed. This only started after a recent service. I returned it to the service garage who said an EGR fault code was showing. They claimed to have cleaned the EGR. After this it was ok for a day or two but the same issue reoccurred. Took it to another garage who couldn't find any faults. So I inspected t myself. This is what the solenoid vacuum block looked like See image 1 Hmmm, pipe 6 is not fully pressed in place. I touched this pipe and it broke the nipple off! See image 2 So I'm guessing some garage has done this. Anyways, I need to get it fixed. I have sourced a used part from Ebay - the cap with the 6 nipples and pipes already attached. Image 3. This part seems to be for a BXE engine but mine is a BSW. Not sure if this makes a difference. So I have 2 questions. 1. Is it ok to drive the car briefly with pipe 6 detached? 2. Is it easy to detach the pipes from the cap nipples? Assuming the part I have bought is correct, the easiest thing would be to pull the pipes off the existing cap and attach them to the replacement. But they look really well attached! I wouldn't want to damage them. Any advice appreciated. Jason

Since i cleaned the battery terminals (the seemed a little oxidized with some off-white deposits present) the problem hasn't recurred. So thanks for the advice. If it does happen again, I will remove the earth connection at the wing and clean that up too. But so far, so good!

Thanks for the replies, I'll re-grease the battery terminals and if this happens again, I'll try the additional earth connection to see if it then works.

Hi all, So I have this strange issue when trying to start the engine. I insert the key, turn once to power on and all is fine. When I turn the key again to start the engine, the electrical power to the interior dies and all lights on the dash go out. The starter motor does not turn. The clock also resets so I guess it must be total power loss. When I release the key from the starting position, the dash lights return, although they can be flickery before returning to normal.. So for a minute for 2 I remove the key and try again, same thing happens. Each time varying dash lights can be on. Sometimes the fuel gauge goes crazy and moves all the way round. And once when i turned the key to the off position to remove it, a warning sign flashed on stating "Immobiliser Active". The behaviour can be seen in the video below which I just took. There are a couple of chapter markers showing the fuel gauge going wonky and the immobilizer light. This problem will happen for a minute or 2, then suddenly the car will start as normal. This has happened 3 times in the last month. So it's a very intermittent problem. Any tips on what it might be or where I should begin investigating? Cheers! Jason