vwcabriolet1971

Windows always seem to fail in the dropped position and when it's raining ! A temporary emegency repair may be made with piece of clear perspex / polycarbonate and a large roll of electrical insulating tape.

My daughter's Polo with the 1.4 3Cyl. TDI engine has now done over 120,000 miles without any problems . Driven with some care it's a very economical engine ( 60mpg easily available)

If the Magnatech oil container has the VW 505 spec printed on the container ( usually on the back ) then it would be OK for non PD engines . However if the engine is a PD type then the spec 505.01 should be on the container. As far as I'm aware only VW dealers have the 505.01 spec Magnatech Professional oil for sale in this grade.

If you want to continue with long life servicing you will have to use 507 spec long life oil or you could change to normal servicing and use 505.01 spec. I believe that Vauhalls ( GM) sell a long life 505.01 oil but I would assume that this would not be approved by VAG for long life use in the event of any engine problem.

Could you be booked for not displaying your tax disc or number plates when the car is parked on the road covered in snow ? Or if you had a wndscreen cover ? With our police this may be a distinct possiblity. (LOL)

A 3 cylinder in-line engine is inherently unbalanced. The Vag 3 cylinder engine has most of the unbalanced forces balanced out by the use of balancer shafts. This does not completely balance the engine but is the best comprise that can be achieved.You need to have a detailed knowledge of balancing of reciprocating parts and rotary parts to have a reasonable understanding of engine balancing. Without going in to any detail you can't completely balance, out of balance reciprocating part forces by using rotary balance mass. And vice versa you can't completely balance , out of balance rotary forces with reciprocating parts. There are books on this ( I remeber Bevin's "Theory of Machines") but with all the velocity and acceleration diagrams of mechanisms it can be heavy going. Thus a 4 cylinder engine has the reciprocating forces reasonably balanced (2 pistons / conrods going up and 2 coming down) but the piston/conrods exert an out of balance couple on the crank which causes the engine to be unbalanced . Even Porche had balancer shafts in their 944 2.9 L 4 cylinder to make it a bit smoother. A 5 cylinder is better than a 4 A 6 cylinder is perfectly balanced Likewise any multiple of 6 cylinder is perfectly balanced ( 6, 12, 24 etc) This also applies to flat engines. A 8 cylinder "V" engine is perfectly balanced (F1 engines have 2.4L V8s doing 18,000rpms !).

Most 1.9TDI engines I've known take at least 4.3 Litres . Even my daughters 1.4TDI Polo takes 4.3 Litres. My Golf 1.6TDI takes 4.3 litres. I buy my 507 spec oil from Hafords ( 5 litres) with a trade card - much cheaper than the 4 litre containers. ASDA have recently increased their price for 507 spec Castrol Edge 4L to £37 was £35).

It doesn't take much skill or knowledge to put a test meter clamp on the battery live lead ( or to remove one of the battery leads and measure the drain current directly) to determine what the battery drain current is when the engine and all ancillaries are off (alarm on) . I would take it to another dealer.

The PD diesels impose a heavy lobe pressure on the injector lobes. The PD specific oils ( specs 505.01 or 507) have special ingredients to combat this heavy shear load on the oil. Without these special ingredients there will be increased injector cam lobe wear. Any oil that meets the Vag specs ( 505.01 or 507) will be O.K. ( the oil specs should be on the container). There are a number of oil manufacturers that make oils to meet these specs - Quantum , Castrol Edge, Mobil #2 "esp", Comma etc to name but a few. Note that Quantum is made by Castrol. Note also that Halfords market these oils to these specs under their own name but obviously don't make or blend these oils themselves ( I'm fairly certain that these oils are made by Castrol to supply Halfords). It's not petty to check the oil specs on the containers - it's essential !

It's cases like these that beg the question what are the qualifications required for a police officer ? Is there any common sense criteria ? I wonder what the police manual says about the time allowed to make a gear change . Do the police time gearchanges by drivers who they think are taking too long ? How do they know when to start the timing ?

What is the spare wheel/tyre size ? Does the fuel filler cap have a label inside with the tyre sizes ?

If you really need glasses ( or contacts) to pass the the driving test sight check then you really need a spare pair . In some foreign countries it is illegal not to have a spair pair of glasses inside the car .

Quite a few Alternator failures are due to worn voltage regulator brushes which can be replaced with new regulator for about £25. Well worth an inspection of the brush lengths to see if brushes are worn.

I would double check the size of the tyres ( & wheels !) required as the spare wheel may be smaller in width and lower in profile than the tyres originally fitted by the factory . What are the tyre sizes on the car ?

You have to be careful in replacing these type of screws with the correct type . Some screws that screw into plastic inserts are specially designed for the task. These have special threads that have "thin" male crests to the outside of the thread and have wide female gaps in the inside of the threads. Thus the corresponding thread in the mating plastic part has wide stronger "teeth" than the normal type of thread. ( i.e the threads have a narrow flank angle ). If in doubt buy from the dealer- it could save you from having a stripped thread in the mating soft plastic insert. One of my "pet hates" is that some dealers persist on using self tapping screws that are designed for sheet metal for fixing number plates to plastic bumpers with the consequence that they are very easily stripped.

It only takes one bad puncture late at night ( bank holiday !) to put this matter into perspective . Even if it's possible for your break down service ( if you have one !) to tow / recover you to a garage, you'll probably be paying top price for your new tyre . The difference between a O.E. full tyre price and a competitive "shop around" price would most likely pay most of the cost of the spare wheel.

All std.diesels are supplied with air filters which can pass much more air (oxygen) than is needed by the engine . If the filter air capacity was not enough then there would be unburnt fuel which would give a very smoky exhaust . Unburnt fuel/smoky exhaust would lead to an instant MOT failure and the emission levels and fuel consumption would be much higher. Some diesels have been tuned to supply significantly more fuel than the standard engine to increase power, but if the remapping has been done correcly then the turbocharger/air cooler control /capacity should have been increased to match the desired increased fuelling. A lot of remap engines use the std air filter without any problems such is the extra air capacity of the std. filter. Any "performance" filter should not intake the air directly under the bonnet as the warmer air will be less dense than the std air filter which has ducting to take the air from the cooler outside ambient air. Oiled filters should not be used as the oil will coat the MAF sensor wire and cause problems with the MAF sensor output.

VAG have used various oil filter cap designs over the years from 30mm, 32mm 36mm, fluted etc. Can you not measure the cap or is it missing ?

What's wrong with using a piece of 4" X 2" about 9" long under the jack and using a chock under one wheel ? I've always used this method for DIY wheel removal without any problems . My drive is on a slope also. I always carry two pieces of 4" X 2" in the boot for roadside wheel changes ( Punctures) . Having two pieces of wood helps if vehicle is on muddy/soft ground. This also reduces the height that the jack needs extending which significantly reduces the likelyhood of the jack from tilting.

If the brake hydraulic fuid has absorbed a significant amount of water moisture it can lead to a condition called brake fluid "vapour lock". What happens is that if the brakes are used hard or long enough to heat the brake fluid sufficent for the fluid to boil then the water moisture will boil and change to steam which will then expand and apply pressure to the brake system .This expansion may not apply sufficient pressure to apply the brakes hard but can apply sufficient pressure to cause the pads to drag against the brake discs. This will cause more heat to be generated raising more steam which will cause greater brake pressure and if the fluid can't cool quick enough the brakes can eventually lock solid. This situation is probably more likely to happen on long down hills or with a heavy laden vehicle. Most new VAG model manuals now specify the brake fluid is to be changed after the first 3 years and then at 2 yearly intervals.

You've used a higher quality oil ( and slight more expensive) than you really needed to - no problem . I would continue to use it.

The big problem with DMFs is that the plate that is part of the flywheel (which takes the drive from the clutch plate) is much lower in mass ( weight) than the conventional solid flywheel. This means that this plate heats up much more quickly than the much larger solid flywheel mass. Some of these DMF plates are cast iron and have been known to crack and break into pieces. This happended to my wifes 1.9 TDI POLO. There is much less to go wrong with the solid flywheel.

Fully agree that anything ( tints, furry dice, etc) that limit driver's ( any age) visability , especially at night , should be banned . By hanging back 100M or so the police did not help. They should have been a lot closer with all their lights , siren ,etc on to make themselves more visible/noticable to make sure that he saw them & understood that the police wanted him to stop. It should be an offence for any one to manufacture, supply or fit these dark tints to motor vehicles. Most motorists manage to do without tints whatsoever for the whole of their driving careers. Why are they so important to other drivers ?

The big mistake the police made was leaving a large gap in front of the police car when they had their warning lights flashing.. This made their intentions unclear . Sometimes I'm amazed that the police authorise video footage on TV which shows very amateur policing. This is another occasion. I've often wondered what the qualification requirements are for police recruits . Me-thinks they should be reviewed/updated.

Someone suggested using oven cleaner to clear the carbon deposits ( when turbo is dismantled ) - seems a good idea to me.