swquin

Thanks, I will try some switch cleaner and if that does not work check out the indicator relay. Looking further on this forum the bypass relay may be an issue too. Perhaps I should buy a new car :-).

I have had an odd fault in my 220, 000 mile Mk1 Superb. The indicators stop working, sometimes OK sometimes not. Oddly the hazards are always OK. I suppose one suspect would be the relay or the flasher unit. Anyone had flasher problems?

I thought I would relate my experience in changing this component in the hope it helps others. I have a 1.9 litre 04 model with 220K miles on the clock. I found that when taking a right hand bend under power I heard a knocking sound which stopped the instant that the clutch was depressed. I had an experienced pal sit with me and we both thought the left side would need replacing. Wrong, I should have inspected both carefully and would have found a split in the RH gaiter. So I ended up replacing the left on one weekend and then the one I had removed onto the right the next weekend. To do so I needed to buy some grease and clips (Ebay £4.50). So Inspect first! I got the FAG CV kit which was about £35 delivered. Plus £2.50 for the 18mm hex drive which I did not have. Get some disposable gloves! 1. Take the road wheel off & press out the centre plastic cap from the inside. 2. Put the road wheel back on and loosen the axle bolt. I used an 18mm hex to 1/2" drive with a 2 ft breaker bar but it was not that tight that a socket set would not do it. 3. Remove the road wheel and put an axle stand underneath. 4. Remove the axle bolt. 5. Use an 18 mm socket to loosen the ball joint nut. Undo it a few turns. 6. Break the joint using a ball joint breaker. One side was easy the other not. Had to use a blow torch and hammer. Use something to protect the rubber gasket from the flame. Remove the nut. 7. Using an 18 mm ring spanner remove the other ball joint on the bottom. This taper goes the other way so you cannot get a breaker on it. The technique is to put a hammer on one side and hit the other. You may have to apply heat. On the right I ended up taking the whole bush out rather than breaking the taper but it went back on OK. I did not try this but you could possibly remove it from the other end of that strut which may be easier. 8. Cut the larger diameter clip with a hacksaw. Do it carefully so the boot can be re-used if required. Then pull the boot off the joint. This gives a bit more room to move the ball joint taper. 9. Pull the ball joint away. You will need to move the steering wheel and possibly lever up the hub. Your assistant will help here. 10. Push the shaft in with a screwdriver so the drive shaft is lying loose on the suspension. 11. Cut off the smaller clip. 12. Take a mallet and knock the CV joint off the driveshaft. 13. Push the boot back, clean up the shaft and remove the circlip. This is not easy for one person, I used circlip pliers. 14. Remove the boot (kits come with a new boot). Fit the new one. 15. Re-fit the circlip and washer. I fitted the old one as the shape of the new one prevented using pliers (god knows why!). 16. Add half the grease to the new joint. 17. Fit the new CV joint by driving it onto the shaft with a mallet. 18. Fit the joint into the axle by reversing what you did to get it out. 19. Fit the axle bolt. 20. Add the remaining grease into the boot and pull the boot onto the joint. 21. Refit the ball joint, tighten nuts and torque where you can. 22. Add the boot clips and crimp (I used some nail pliers). 23. Remove the axle stand and re-fit the road wheel. 24. Torque up the axle bolt. 25. Re-fit the centre plastic wheel plug. 26. Torque up road wheel nuts. Note there is no need to remove the speed sensor (from other posts). The FAG kit came with a lot of extra bits, clips plastic rings etc which were not required. Photograph as you go so you know what was fitted. I did not bother replacing the clip located at the end of the shaft as it was not worn. If you screw up and cannot continue a good fallback is to use tie wraps instead of the steel clips for the boots. I am far from an expert in doing this and it is not that difficult but a helper is advised. Good luck!

Thanks to Techle for that tip. I have just removed the alternator from my MK1 and no need for a hacksaw. To remove the fan first do not remove the drive belt. The fan bolt is reached from the rear of the fan. The belt needs to be in place in order to loosen the bolt as the fan has a viscous coupling. Once loosened remove the belt and the fan can be removed out of the way.

I hope this might help someone but I had the annoying "bonnet is open" audible alarm on my 04 Superb over Christmas. As I had a long journey ahead I wanted to silence this. I found the best way was to disconnect the switch and insert a bent length of wire into the connector. This has the effect of turning on the alarm permanently but no audible warning. Other alarms like low on fuel appear above the now permanent alarm on the dashboard. Oddly this also fixed the nearside read door not unlocking (I fixed the dreaded leaking into the foot well years ago). The other issue I experienced was that the fuel filler tube now leaks. I filled up halfway through my long journey and the wife paid. I noticed some dripping and a mug full of diesel was deposited on the forecourt. I have probably been depositing this amount on the local roads without noticing. May be worth a check if you have the same vintage. Now I put £50 in and no leakage.

If this is any help, I changed the thermostat on my 04 Superb TDI 130BHP Comfort this Christmas. It was easy and I am sure anyone could replace it. The symptom was to see the temperature gauge drop from its previously vertical position. There was not much heat coming from the heater and I have a feeling that the MPG was dropping off a bit too. I bought a replacement for about £11. I did not drain the cooling fluid first as I could not see the tap. You need a few litres to top it back up. To replace it remove the dipstick and the plastic engine cover. The thermostat is mounted on the right side of the engine at the end of a flexible pipe. Remove the two bolts, pull the housing away and remove the O ring. Pull out the thermostat and replace. There is plenty of room although viewing is a little difficult. Good luck!