sepulchrave

Since the compressor has a shear joint to the pulley the only way to tell easily is to remove the belt and turn the pulley by hand.

Buy the car based on condition and history, not mileage. Buy one that's standard or only lightly modified. Buy one that's already had the clutch and cam belt done recently.

What Ken meant was that the temperature gauge when fitted is useless, it conveys no information other than cold, normal or hot.

I wonder if your battery is getting drained when the car is off.

You need to use a gauge to test for vacuum loss.

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/16683/P0299/000665 Pay particular attention to the very last paragraph.

I think it has positional feedback as well.

Easier just to show you the thing: https://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/products/electronic-vacuum-actuator-for-1-2-tdi-cr-engines.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwzYGGBhCTARIsAHdMTQxHLCjP8fjhftE0oR0-r4Qm2KeRESCHJ_6UGZD4lNOMDj7WKCMQtNcaApHeEALw_wcB

Boost control solenoid means an electronic actuator like those fitted to the mark 2, not a PWM vacuum bleed solenoid, obviously.

Barking up the wrong tree. No boost control solenoid on the Mark 1. Please post the DTC relating to underboost.

Dude, seriously? The idea is that when the cap spins freely it can't be undone.

Quantify expensive.

The most common location for leaks is the condenser, it's made of thin alloy and corrodes leading to splits and leaks. Compressors fail rarely.

Are you kidding? You cut the proprietary VW speaker connector off and attach the correct connectors, usually female spades using crimping pliers or by soldering.

Once the tracking is straight there really isn't anything else to be done, inner edge wear doesn't matter because it doesn't affect anything, as someone pointed out ALL models do it so don't feed the OCD trying to eliminate it.

https://www.kaydonbearings.com/typesACX.htm#:~:text=Radial and axial (thrust) loads,to the axis of rotation. The world's gone mad!

What does stage 3 even mean? It doesn't mean ANYTHING, you can't have something for nothing so if your car is basically standard you can have it remapped to increase power over standard. That's called a remap. Stage this, phase that, it's all marketing guff, don't buy it, just remap it.

If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times, mileage is a very unreliable indicator of a vehicles general condition, it's a reliable money spinner for the motor trade though. So there's that.

Letting the magic smoke out disqualifies him as an electrician, please don't use him again, he could've burned the car down

Errr, it really doesn't look that bad from here, I can see all the wear blocks are at a similar depth on both tyres and they're close to worn out all the way across.

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/314402-actual-idle-speed/ Most people adjust them to around 950 rpm as it is smoother and quieter, particularly with a tired DMF.

~950 rpm. Why, are you trying to find something wrong with the car?

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/16485/P0101/000257 Never interpret a fault code literally, logic will get you nowhere. In engineering experience is king for this very reason.

It could be low fuel rail pressure rather than vacuum related.

That's the lambda probe and it has nothing to do with the DPF.