sepulchrave

They're not in the UK, Autodoc are a German company, the stuff will arrive eventually I'm sure.

You're mistaken, it's about giving best advice, I've explained it to you, you must have been a professional once so you really should understand my point.

There is a disadvantage, you can get electrolytic corrosion due to condensation forming between the warm battery and the cold clamp, grease completely eliminates this. I doubt the battery expert you spoke to could even spell electrolytic.

Try testing the fuel temperature sensor, you don't mention it but it has a noticeable effect on cold starts if it's misreading.

Best practice is to lightly grease the posts before fitting the clamps, I have no idea why you wouldn't bother since dry fitting offers no advantages whatsoever.

It is necessary to grease the posts otherwise you'll end up with lots of electrolytic corrosion and battery posts which are covered in white lead oxide powder, this leads to undersize posts which will no longer accept standard clamps and the battery will be scrap.

You certainly can get new solenoids, you just have to get the right physical fit, internally they're all much of a muchness.

Yeah, just don't try and fix anything that ain't broke. On a 230k engine that's running well, best advice is to leave well alone and just service it on schedule.

Then you REALLY don't need to worry about it at all. I meant BXW, not BKW, the 1.4 16V engine.

If this is the BKW engine then you just need to keep an eye on the belt condition and watch out for any oil contamination, it's EXTREMELY unlikely to give any trouble.

It's probably a bad connection on the battery, check they're well greased and tight.

It's not what's specified but it should be ok, FE or fuel efficient gear oil is a fairly recent innovation, it's a straight grade because a gearbox doesn't generally get hot enough to benefit from a multigrade. If you're just topping up it'll definitely be ok, if you're changing it, save yourself the trouble and just top it up instead.

Just replace the solenoid or the complete starter motor since the wiring is ok.

No. Any noughties 2wd Golf platform car that has 312's should fit but nothing with 4wd.

The ECU can't tell the difference between a wiring break and the heater element going open circuit.

I doubt it's cooked, probes get much hotter in petrol engines, more like to be sooted up, you could try cleaning it with carb cleaner.

VCDS is not a calibrated measuring instrument, neither is the ECU, also half a volt is not a big difference. If the wiring's good then your alternator voltage regulator is toast.

I'm not worried about the belt, I'm worried about what's inside the cam cover!

Arsehopper yourself, you are ChatGPT and I claim my £5.

Because it's like 'wanting' to become a traffic warden! Also, it genuinely doesn't really bother me any more.

No.

It might take you three or four hours to pressurise it but you'd get there in the end! Just visually inspect the boost pipes in case one has popped out of the joint. Ambient air temperature is measured by the the MAF and the MAP sensors, you need a new MAF for sure, but MAP sensors tend not to go wrong. CTS sensors always go wrong and are cheap to replace anyway. Don't talk yourself out of doing something if you're guessing, I'm not guessing I'm applying experience troubleshooting engine problems for forty years.

Haha, I know, it's mad isn't it, used to drive me up the wall, it's like the poor OP's question got completely buried under an avalanche of Scrabble tiles!

Yes, they come with the new ignition lock assembly.

I don't think the cam sensor itself is likely to be the root cause of your problems. You should check the condition of the cam and followers for wear since one bad oil change on a PD engine will wreck the top end.