RichOctVrs

I think my disks had some kind of coating on them, they definitely weren't bare metal. A quick tip…you’ll need to remove some brake fluid from the reservoir. A cheap turkey baster does the trick. Oh… and be careful not to over tighten the disk retaining screws and snap off the heads like I did

Another vote for the Pagid parts... in fact I've just fitted front disks & pads from Euro Car Parts (same part numbers I think). Braking is much improved... old disks where badly worn.

Another vote for vwspares Got most of my bits from there (including arb bushes and drop links). Shame they don't do a forum discount :(

If I recall correctly, a faulty coolant temperature sensor can cause some of these issues, particularly the lumpy idle. If you've still got the old black sensor, you might want to change it to the latest (green) one... part No. 059 919 501A.

Give the crankcase/camshaft breather hoses an inspection too. OEM ones seem to be made of paper mache and are prone to splitting. Both the y piece and the one under the inlet manifold where split on mine and made it behave bucking bronco at low/mid revs! It was crap on fuel too... suspect it was over fuelling to compensate for the vacuum leak.

Yep, the piston should push back and make a seal. The checks that I would do are; Push the piston up then seal the vacuum pipe (one on the top of the DV), release the piston and it should stay in place, if not, it’s leaking somewhere. Try blowing into the side port (feeding back to the turbo pipe). If you feel resistance, then the piston is doing its job. If there are any leaks/hissing, you could be loosing boost.

IF you don't need the all singing & dancing VAGCOM, you could always start out with a £20 cable... http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_VAGUSB.html and a free copy of VCDS lite. http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds/download/ I paid $99 for the VCDS Lite registration, which unlocks some extra features. So far I've done the selective unlocking, anti-hijack, throttle body adaptation, cleared a few fault codes and taken some logs. Then I got told off by the Mrs for being a 'geek' and was made to go clothes shopping with her as punishment

You could always change the cams, fit bigger injectors, uprated fuel pump find a suitable turbo and add a custom remap. Or you could go the whole hog shoehorn a R32 engine in it. But the amount of time, effort and money require to bring it up to say, that of a stock VRS... you'd probably be better off swapping it outright for a more sporty model.

Jeeesus, that axel stand arrangement looks a bit precarious… you’re a braver man than I Obviously did the trick tho

This video is quite good... Gear linkage adjustment

I replaced mine this weekend with these... ARB bushes and Clamps No creaking so far and the steering seems more precise and confident. I recon it’s the plastic sleeves, which are now in the bin, that cause the squeaking. Offside one disintegrated when I removed the old bush, nearside one needed a bit more persuasion I’ll echo sparky2’s comments about needing to raise the driveshaft for better access. The only problem I had was not being able to use the torque wrench on the ARB clamp bolts due to lack of space.

I suspect that because you've had a go at it, you've invalidated the bodywork warranty. I'd expand the area a bit just till you reach none rusty metal, give it a going over with a wire brush and apply some rust stabiliser/converter asap to stop the rot… Then you could cover this with some Stonechip shield And then finish with top coat, or do stone chip on both sills in stone chip so they match... depends how fussy you are about the finish. I've found a few small spots behind my wheel arch liners and am gonna go at them with KRUST and some Stonechip shield or underbody seal.

Got mine booked in at Rainworth skoda next thursday. They've got some in stock so it should be done while I wait

I’ve been using my Octy at the weekend only for the last couple of months and was worried about the battery going flat due to the alarm/immobiliser drain, so invested in one of these... Solar-Powered 12V 1.5W Battery Trickle Charger Still early days but I’ve had no probs starting her so far.

Rob, completely off topic but... wow, that scenery is fantastic, is it really your place or did you hire a film location V jealous.

I noticed a droning noise from 30mph + when I 1st got my car. I was convinced it was down to a worn wheel bearing but it turned out to be caused ‘sawtooth’ tyre wear on the inner part of the tyre. Fitting a new set of tyres did the trick for me. It might be worth doing a quick inspection of your tyres before you go any further… costs nowt to do.

Assuming they do replace the parts under warranty but won't refund the diag cost, you can always contact skoda warranty directly to see if they’ll refund it... nothing to loose. I used another dealer for my warranty work as the supplying dealers workshop where useless... couldn't even fit new tyres without damaging the alloys. Good luck n hope you get some good news on monday

I’ve got a skoda approved used warranty with my 52 reg Octavia. So far I’ve had 2 new breather hoses, new door lock, new starter motor and coil pack and not paid a penny. I dropped off the car with them, drove away in a loan car then picked it up when it was fixed. The dealer sorted out all the stuff with the warranty claims. If the parts are covered by warranty, I’d be very surprised if they try to charge you for the diagnostic work, after all, the warranty company won’t pay out unless you’ve had the fault diagnosed by a skoda dealer or other approved repairer, so you had no choice but to take it in for them to look at. If both parts are covered by the warranty, I can’t see how they can justify charging you for the diagnostic work... I hope they haven’t taken any money off you yet. Did you take it to a Skoda dealer?

Thankfully my coilpack wiring loom is still intact, but have been thinking about adding the Audi TT heat shield as a preventative measure... cos it sounds like a freaking nightmare to sort out. Does this look like the part you bought? Coil Pack Heat Shield - Part No. 8L9121659 Also came across this on ebay… THERMAL REFLECTIVE HEAT SHIELD TAPE WRAP Pros… Probably a lot cheaper than the Audi TT heat shield. May be some left over to wrap other heat sensitive parts Cons Not as neat or easy to fit as TT heat shield Mmm, decisions, decisions.

Nice Have you had it tweaked then?... I thought the new S4 had around 330bhp as standard.

Is this the sort of thing you're looking for? Coilpack Wiring Loom Replacement Also, found a write up about replacing the coil pack Replace cracked coil pack loom

Obviously you’d have to pay for the part, but labour would be free (if it was the coil). Just tell em you've broken down, it's misfiring and the engine warning light is on. And if you’ve not got Homestart, you’d have to… ahem… ‘break down’ a ¼ mile from your house

I think it's a case of better the devil you know. Unless you're bless with amazing luck, any car you swap it for of similar age/value will also need plenty of money spending on it sooner or later. The alternative is to buy a much newer car, on which may be more reliable but you'll loose loads in depreciation, which you could have lavished on the old girl. If you still enjoy driving the car, despite these problems, keep her and treat her

just what I was thinking! I had similar symptoms recently, which a new coil pack sorted. Just a thought. have you got breakdown assistance?... if so, call them out. Nowadays they have diag kit on their laptops and will be able to read any fault codes... and will probably have spare coil packs on board to resolve or rule it out as a problem. If not, find yourself a local VAG specialist. I doubt very much that it's terminal... or an ecu problem.

It was sent by recorded delivery and was supplied with a claim form and number when I collected... so in effect, it was accepted as damaged. At best, royal mail would give me £41 in 1st class stamps... no good to me :no: I’m hoping that the supplier will agree to send out some grease or maybe even a full service kit. If not I can either grease it myself or go for a refund via the distance selling regulations. I've got some Castrol high temp red grease which should do the trick and be kind to the rubber seals. I'm guessing it just needs to be applied around the rubber seals and the cylinder bore :yes: cheers fellas