Railroad

I try to keep it in two cylinder mode as much as possible. Interesting that they'll achieve better MPG in Normal mode rather than ECO though. I'll give that a go. Yesterday's journey was a mix of motorways and A roads. Our Superb has Adaptive Cruise Control, and I did make a lot of use if it, driving mainly between 50 and 70mph. It's a fantastic engine. I'd recommend it over a diesel any day.

We have a 2018 Superb 1.4TSi 150BHP manual hatch. Yesterday I drove 300 miles from home to Canterbury and back, and the average MPG on the dash for that journey was 55.4.

Is that for a re-gas, or just to clean and disinfect the heater ducts? I find an aerosol can of Dettol disinfectant available from any supermarket for about £3 is every bit as good as a 'bomb' a dealer will sell you. Switch on the A/C and set the heater to cold, and on 'recirc'. Wedge a matchstick under the nozzle so that it can be left and until it's empty. You will return to a car with a freshened and disinfected A/C system.

These days it can be a while before we spot our first newly registered car because since 1998 they come out on the 1st March and 1st September. Prior to that drivers in their large numbers took delivery of their new cars on 1st August every year. You used to see many on that day.

On my Octavia 2015 model year the windows can be opened and closed by pressing and holding the Lock or Unlock button on the remote control key fob. Does anyone know if an adaptation can be made so that the windows will close with a single press of the Lock button, and if so how do you do it? I have the full version of VCDS, and would be grateful if anyone knows.

It is an offence to drive a vehicle which has been modified in such a way so that it no longer complies with the emission requirements it was originally designed to meet. Bear this in mind when removing the DPF and EGR systems.

If you reset the SRI by pressing the button in the dash it will automatically revert to fixed service intervals, and that's most likely what they did because it's quicker and easier. If you want variable service intervals, or if you want to customise your own service intervals then you must open and adapt the Instrument Controller with a suitable diagnostic tool such as VCDS. This is why in an earlier post on this thread I suggested contact someone near you with VCDS do this can be done for you.

You think it's that simple eh? A tech plugs in a piece of diagnostic equipment and is told what is wrong? Nothing could be further from the truth. Here's an example that may help you to think differently. A potato is deliberately stuffed up the exhaust of a petrol engine car and partially blocking it. The car is driven until the MIL illuminates, and at the same time the driver notices a lack of power. Along comes Mr Tech with his laptop. He sees that there are fault codes relating to the MAP sensor and/or O2 sensor or fuel trim. Where does he go from here? He is not aware that the problem was set on purpose, and the ECM cannot possibly know that either. He replaces the components because that's what his laptop told him the problem was, but the fault still exists (because we know what the fault is, don't we?) A blocked exhaust will have a serious effect on manifold vacuum which is picked up by the MAP sensor, whose purpose is to tell the ECM manifold vacuum. The ECM doesn't know there's a potato blocking the exhaust, but it does know that the MAP sensor signal is implausible. So now we can see why the old skills of older technicians are still valid and useful today. A technician with a vacuum gauge would've found the problem. Specialist and expensive diagnostic equipment is next to useless in the wrong hands, and probably why so many cars get misdiagnosed. Fault codes fall into two categories: 1. Electrical circuit faults. Open or short circuit components, sensors or wiring. 2. Mechanical faults. Those that have an effect on engine running which in turn is detected by a sensor monitoring a part of the system. The trick to accurate diagnosis is to think the way a computer sees things. It does exactly what it's programmed to do. Nothing more and nothing less. Computers cannot apply logic, reason or common sense.

It cannot be overstated quite how essential staff training is in a modern dealership with today's cars being crammed full of technology. Having said that, there isn't much point in training people who aren't capable of being trained, and so it's equally essential that good quality and conscientious staff are employed in the first place. It's perfectly obvious that most main dealers could and should be doing a lot better than they are. In most independent garages training is non-existent. Gone are the days when mechanics could bundle their way through day to day. Independents have only really offered a cheaper service to a main dealer. They have never been and never will be an equivalent alternative.

I worked in a Vauxhall dealership for 15 years, and in that time I went to the Vauxhall College in Luton for training on just four occasions. Each for two days duration. This was pathetic. Since then with other companies I've worked for I've had more training than I could ever hope to remember. Car dealerships need to do much better. They're quick enough to portray themselves as the experts. It's about time they actually were.

An intake vacuum leak sounds most likely. Do some fuel trim checks with VCDS. A silly little thing perhaps, but make sure that the dipstick is properly seated otherwise you will have a vacuum leak.

Firstly, a flashing MIL indicates a live engine misfire, and secondly engine misfires under load are usually due to a high tension (HT) ignition fault, such as an ignition coil or spark plug/s.

Rather than owning a car, have you considered lease hiring one? You'll have fixed monthly costs, no maintenance to worry about, and some even come with tax and insurance included so the only thing you have to pay for is fuel. In my opinion it's the best way to run a new car, and considering how much cars depreciate by in the first three years it could even work out cheaper than owning one.

With the technology on cars now better than ever before, and systems such as Front Assist, Lane Assist, Park Assist, ABS, ESP and many more, the need for technicians to be properly and regularly factory trained has never been more important, as is the need for the correct diagnostic equipment which is kept updated, along with software updates for the vehicle's controllers which come from the manufacturer. Main dealerships have a duty to ensure their staff are up to speed. Independent garages will not have the same access that the dealers will, and so will obviously lag behind. Personally I think there will very soon come a day when independent garages start disappearing, with only those who heavily invest and specialise will be able to survive. As the customer we have to ask ourselves the question. Can we really afford to take a modern car to someone who has anything less than a full understanding of the systems on which they're going to undertake work?

More accurately it's an offence to drive a vehicle which has been modified so that it no longer complies with the emission requirements it was originally designed to meet. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-for-mot-to-test-for-diesel-particulate-filter

Not only is a missing DPF an MOT failure, it's also an offence to modify a vehicle in such a way so that it no longer complies with the emission requirements it was originally designed to meet.

Don't blame VW or any other car manufacturer. What we're trying to achieve is to get what is basically a 19th century technology engine to comply with the latest emission requirements. Until cars have a new and revolutionary clean power unit this isn't going to go away. Diesels are good for high mileage drivers, but those who don't really are better off with a petrol at the moment. The DPF lamp comes on to warn the driver that a regeneration is required, and usually because a passive regeneration hasn't been possible because of short journeys. As the car gets older and the DPF gets blocked with ash this is likely to happen more and more, unless you start using the car more suitably to extend the life of it.

Contact someone on this forum with VCDS who can reset the relevant values on the instrument module to realign your service schedule. This is usually fairly easy to do. Check the VCDS owners map on this site to find someone near you.

Injector leak off is fuel that is supplied to the injector but is not injected and returned to the fuel tank. The small pipes on the top of the injectors carry unused fuel to the return. The most likely cause of one injector having excessive leak off is a partially blocked nozzle. You say that the garage suspect a faulty injector, but are you sure that's right? Is the engine misfiring, even for a short while? A loss of compression or a sticky valve or valve lifter could also be the cause.

Assuming of course that excessive leak off is the cause, which it may not be. There are a number of possible faults that could occur with fuel injectors, excessive leak off being just one.

You would be better off taking your car to a good diesel fuel injection specialist. Assuming of course your car is a diesel because you haven't said. Diesel Common Rail fuel injectors are set up very precisely because of the multiple phases of injection. Each injector once set up is given a code. This must be programmed into the ECM so that it knows how to operate each injector correctly. Diesel specialists will be equipped to diagnose, test and repair injectors. Most garages are not.

On my Octavia 2015 model year the windows can be opened and closed by pressing and holding the Lock or Unlock button on the remote control key fob. Does anyone know if an alteration can be made so that the windows will close with a single press of the Lock button, and if so how do you do it? I have the full version of VCDS, and would be grateful if anyone knows.

I know this is an old thread, but I had exactly the same problem on my parent's Fabia. A broken 40A fusible link. I've carefully soldered it as a temporary measure, and I'll get a new one tomorrow. It looks like the link has cracked due to fatigue rather than blown due a short circuit, so I'm not concerned about it being temporarily soldered.

Take the switch assembly apart and clean the contacts. I've done this many times and it works every time. If you're not confident about doing it then replace the switch assembly.

Does anyone know how to do this? For example when using VS Scope Meter to show common rail fuel pressure the needle goes and stays off the scale because the pressure reading is so high. If there a way of changing the scale so it can read correctly?