MarkyD

Is this still open. I will need some bushes for the Mk 1 Octavia 4x4 . The TT wishbone upgrade ones and maybe others. I will look out the codes in case still open. Mark

I have a 60k 2002 4x4 estate which is pretty good for the local roads. Ideally it would sit higher off the ground, have less body roll and a bit more pep. Perhaps I should have bought a Subaru Forester but worse mpg and more expensive to buy and repair and less suited to LPG conversion put me off. Although not a spirited driver even I notice the understeer and the kicking in of the standard haldex to push me into the hedge. So keeping the ride standard height. Reduce body roll with H&R 21mm front and 25mm back ARB Cast wishbone and caster adjustment bushes. Bilstein B6 dampers + standard springs. Considering using weitec lift kit to give 15mm front +25mm rear lift just to see what its like and if that's an avenue worth pursuing. Some over at TdiForum are raising VW's quite a bit and putting bigger tyres on. Not sure if that is sensible,practical (ABS etc) or legal and insurable in the UK Uprated Haldex controller 312mm disks and carriers. Stage 1 remap. LPG conversion. So I now have a clunking from front suspension and as I no longer have a place to work on the car the local garage does the work. If I get the wishbones installed now when solving the clunking and have the car aligned as a TT and at a later date change the suspension as above do I have to get it re - aligned? I think I would have to travel for proper 4 wheel alignment. Mark

Looking to do this this soon on my 4x4. Is there anything critical with aligning the the castor correcting bushes in the wishbones. They are offset and look to align with a bump in the casting. I looked at some s/h wishbones and the bump is not showing in the pictures Mark

Ok thought I would update. I got 4 of the Bridgestones. We have had a morning of 5.5 C but mostly 10 or more degrees. Quite noisy above 60mph. Didn't think it would matter too much as the roads here are mostly hot tar with granite chippings rolled into them so noisy and generally unpleasant anyway. But on a few smooth tarmac places the rumble and something more high pitched is evident. I don't think anyone would be too happy on long motorway runs unless the car had some more sound insulation. I can feel the road quite well through the tyres but the steering feels 'floaty'. Very good through standing water puddles that would on other tyres pull the car to one side. Maybe its just the depth of tread on the new tyres but pretty impressive. Started pushing it more through corners and grip is good so far (but not tested to a limit). Stopping is good ( lots of birds in country lanes at first light seem rather dozy and slow to fly away). Not able to compare with other all season tyres but if we have a mild winter I suspect I will have made a mistake. I can't see someone more performance orientated being happy running this all year round so if I was living in a location with a colder outlook I would go for a better winter performance tyre and change back to summer tyres a.s.a.p. Very subjective but I hope this helps Mark

<p>So the Vredestein Quadratic 3 are asymmetric but non directional The Goodyear vector 4 season are symmetric and I suppose are directional (although nothing on Goodyear site) and the Bridgestone A001 are described as directional by Blackcircle (Bridgestone Europe site seems to be down so can't check)

<p>So the Vredestein Quadratic 3 are asymmetric but non directional The Goodyear vector 4 season are symmetric and I suppose are directional (although nothing on Goodyear site) and the Bridgestone A001 are described as directional by Blackcircle (Bridgestone Europe site seems to be down so can't check)

Thank you to everyone who responded. I should have mentioned that most of the roads I take are surrounded by farms and agricultural fields so loads of mud on them both through cattle crossing for milking and tractors from the mainly potato growing fields not to mention the run off from fields we had due to heavy rain. Coupling this with my 4x4 having original (not lowered stiffened) suspension (in fact I wouldn't mind raising the car a little to improve clearance) I am leaning heavily towards all season Bridgestone A001 or Goodyear Vector. It seems the M+S marking on the Bridgestone tyre has no performance rating just that it has a certain percentage of open treads so maybe I am reading too much into their mud capability. I realise I was being a bit silly disregarding the more expensive tyres after filling up the car with £70 fuel. Tyre cost is comparatively cheap compared to fuel costs. Nevertheless it something that I will have to live with for a while so worth the effort to make an informed choice. Disappointed in the review/tests in magazines/internet and for example the Goodyear site using 2008 data in their video. I will be replacing all four tyres. Mark

hello, I am in Pembrokeshire and I only need access to coastal regions for work and play 7am -5pm. I have no reason to use the car outside of daylight hours when the likelyhood of freezing temperatures are greater. My Octavia estate 4x4 has half worn Toyo T1r Proxes on the rear and just legal ones on the front. I ran these tyres on my Mk1 Octavia Tdi Estate 110bhp through the 2 harsher winters 2009/20010 and 2010/2011 here in Pembrokeshire.We only had snow on the ground of 4-6 inches for a period of about 10 days during the 2 worst winters. The back roads were not gritted but this did not prevent me from getting in to work and I can only recall one or two times when I could feel the car slip significantly on single track back roads devoid of traffic. Usually we only get a light flurry of snow for 1 afternoon a year. I looked at the temperature data for the local area as well as reading lots of tyre reviews. We do not get long extended periods of below zero temperatures. Despite modern recommendations to change to a winter tyre or all-season if the temperature goes below 8 degrees there are references in the reviews of summer tyres still having better (shorter) breaking distances in dry and wet even as low as 6 degrees. Only when going to freezing does it seem the winter or all season tyres have an advantage. So coupled with the remote likely-hood of snow and last winters seemingly continuous heavy rain I am considering an all weather biased towards rain or a normal (summer) tyre biased towards rain. I cant remember the last time I had occasion to go 70mph and most of my driving is 30-40mph back roads and occasional 60mph main roads. I do have a spare set of alloys. I cannot I think justify the Vredestein Quadrax 3 or the Goodyear Vector 4 season on all 4 corners for about £340 plus fitting costs. I may try the overall less well regarded by magazine reviews the Bridgestone All Weather A001 as they are the best in wet braking though fall behind the wining all season tyres in wet weather (confusing but I suppose more prone to aquaplaning etc) as I don't mind giving them a go for £280 plus fitting. Alternatively I just get either a pair for the front to accompany the Proxy part worn rears or I get a whole set of rain oriented 'summer' tyres. So to sum up my questions Anyone used all seasons on this car and are you concerned with the V rating rather than W rating? Anyone recommend a rain oriented tyre? Does this car benefit balance and handling wise if all 4 tyres are the same type bearing in mind I only usually potter about and the car is non modified so standard 150bhp? The Haldex system itself doesn't require all tyres to be the same. Mark

I put these in yesterday in preparation for a visit to a garage for some work to be done on the car. At present the sills are in very good condition. The rear ones are looking good but the fronts do not face straight down but are rather facing at an angle outwards towards the sill. They are seated correctly. This on my new 4x4. This area of the underneath also faces outwards on my 110 Elegance Tdi. Is this correct? Will this create problems for a 4 point lift as the car is going in for diagnostic/fix of rumbling grinding noise. Hopefully only a wheel bearing but we shall see. Mark

just caught the end of it yesterday but can be listened to again here ( click chapter 1) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01hjtmb#p00smn56

currently on ebay. Not able to get and view. Not too many estates compared to standard car. Is this the looks or does the standard car drive better? M

Thank you for the encouragement. I did a few measurements today after cleaning 2 and 3 piston tops. There is sign of valve contact with these also but less so. My straight edge is supposed to be accurate to 0.01% over its length 450mm so that is 0.045mm. I have seen it is important to take piston protrusion measurements in line with the wrist (gudgeon) pin. Not much meat on these piston heads in this place but laying the straight edge down this line gives between 1.0 and 1.05mm protrusion. OK for 2 hole even with max error with straight edge. Using a different part of the piston I can get a measurement of 1.1- 1.15mm at an extreme end of the straight edge at the edge of the block at piston 1 because the straight edge rocks across the 2 pistons ie No. 3 surface is higher at this place on the pistonhead. Hmmm! I have looked again at the head gasket and I think maybe the blow at 12 oclock on No. 2 and 3 are oil on the gasket from my fingers. I will wipe off and look again and maybe post new pictures. Not really sure if the block is clean enough yet. Inexperience again. Thanks for advice on injector nozzle replacement. I will just clean them for now and get new sealing washers along with my list of bolts and new oil turbo pipe. Mark Oh yes I forgot. It was using some oil but only needed topping up about every 2 months. Suprised it had an easy early life as I think it was Ex lease.

No I did not find the damage to the gasket so unless the chemical sniff test gave a false reading ( although as suggested I tested the gasses from the exhaust pipe and got a similar colour change to verify) then I am assuming the head is cracked. I haven't checked warping of the head as I intended to get an exchange unit from http://vwenginerecon.co.uk/ for ease and convenience. Lifter faces look like radial wear marks ( think they are designed to rotate to even out wear?) Cam lobes I think the head has been off at some time to repair the damage. It is strange that they couldn't find the flywheel mark considering how easy to set tdc with head off so maybe more than 1 incidents of stupidity. I have used the car from 140k to 160k miles and it functioned OK except it never seemed to have anywhere near reported economy despite doing EGR delete and intake manifold clean and timing with VAGCOM. It had a pretty decent service record but no mention of new gasket/head valves etc. Piston 1 and 4 show most impact from the small valve (exhaust?), there is a bit on 3 and none showing on 2. Is this the original honing marks on the cylinder wall? I am deciding wether to press on and spend the money on the head considering the car will probably need a new clutch (DMF or conversion kit) before winter and a cat or replacement pipe. Might as well overhaul the injectors as they are out. Where will it end. Still I got the turbo open and the vane mechanism cleaned (after 2 moderately successful previous oven cleaner treatments). Be a lot more fun if I had a garage. Rain stops play today. Hard to keep everything clean in the open. Thanks so far Mark

ASV Engine. A response at TdiForum suggested piston and valve contact. I took the head off to cure the Drinking of water and exhaust gases in coolant. I found that whoever did the timing last did not line up with the mark on the flywheel. There was a 2 hole gasket ( piston projection 1.01-1.10mm) and I measured actual piston projection at 1.05mm. Thanks Mark

Slide hammer with adapter for example http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003AMU42E/ref=oss_product

Good idea. I did this and the solution turned green. Probable head gasket it is then. Know of a good place to get a replacement head? Looking at Elsawin it states It is not permissible to rework the cylinder head of diesel engines. So is it OK to have one of these heads skimmed if the distortion is above the Max permissible 0.1mm or damaged due to head gasket? Thanks Mark

Hello, After searching for the reason for the disappearing cooling fluid (2002 1.9tdi ASV) I got a Bergen CO2 tester. Here are the results after a run to get the engine up to temperature and fast idled. I poured some un-reacted chemical in the bottom half of the tester to compare the colours. From internet research diesel cars make the test chemical go green rather than yellow in the case of a petrol engine in the presence of C02. So I guess I have found the most likely cause of the coolant loss. Anyone care to comment? As I need a car for work I will be after another VAG estate ( Yeti's still to expensive for me) until I have time to sort the car myself or a good independent within 80 miles Pembrokeshire. Mark

Thanks everyone. I must admit I had a sleepless night knowing I had to use it for work in the morning. So the stitching is normal. Is the crack only surface deep then and present on new belts? Yes I would be interested to see pictures if anyone has the time to post them. Given the time I should be able to do it myself with tensioner and water pump. Happy to buy any tools that make the job easier but nice to know it can be done with minimum. I have good write- ups from TdiClub Forum and manuals on the PC. Using Linux so will have to get Windows up and running again to load them on. Incidentally I rung up a few places to get it done. www.audivwbridgend.co.uk £320 everything including water pump. Bit far away so tried Sinclair VW Neyland £399 Mark

Panic it is then! It was changed before I owned the car.I re-checked the service record and it was 2 years 4 months ago and approx 35k ago.Invoice says In Tune Doncaster. I was hoping to get the tools together and do it myself but I don't think I am going to wait for a window where no work and good weather coincide. Any good independents near West Wales? Mark

Whilst doing the timing on my 2002 ASV Tdi I notice this on the belt. It has done 26k in the 3 years since the belt was changed. The 'stitching' is like flexible thread. What do you think? Reason to panic or normal? Thanks Mark

Brilliant thanks! So its Ok to put a spanner on the yellow painted nut and turn the pump? Its not going to undo or anything? Incidentally I have quite a few parts on the car which have blobs of yellow paint. Presumably these parts were replaced at some time? Mark

I just purchased VCDS and when following the procedure for checking timing I can only find one reference for an ASV engine in the pull down menu in Tdi Timing Checker. It says 1.9l R4 Tdi AGR/AHF/ALH/ASV Golf/Jetta post 03/1999. Is this the one I should choose for my car (2002 1.9 tdi 110bhp ASV engine)? If so it looks like my timing is very retarded ie not even above the red line on the graph. Mark

Can you also confirm part number 038 129 713 K is also correct? Still looking for a reasonably priced clean one. M This link suggest it is http://www.volkswaparts.co.uk/ALHIntakeManifold.htm

Can someone confirm if part number 038129713J is correct for ASV engine 2002 110bhp 1.9tdi Thank you mark

Brilliant thanks! Any good independents near Pembrokeshire, West Wales? Wouldn't mind having a go myself but a bit wary of not having the car for work. Mark