petrolbloke

Wheel fitment aside, you'll definitely need the larger discs and the right pads for the caliper/carrier. Have you tried any other pads than the DS2500s?

3.5 months is not a lot. Should be fine, just do the usual checks first. Best to take it for a drive if you can rather than just letting it idle - that will clean up the brakes and make sure everything gets properly up to temperature.

Mine seems fine on E10. It's always been noticeably better on V-Power though (even well before E10 came in). Can't say I've noticed any difference in fuel economy with 95 RON E10 compared to the old 95 RON E5.

Presumably if you clear the code it comes back? I would try taking the pipe to the throttle body off and with the help of an assistant, see if it moves properly with the throttle pedal (ignition on). I wonder if the throttle body might need calibrating with VCDS too. I've heard about that from guides for cleaning the throttle body but not had to do it myself.

Any warning lights on the dash? Can you read fault codes? Did this start after the trip out in the rain where the o2 sensor wiring got ripped out? Maybe there's still a wiring fault (further up). Did you go through any deep water that might have got into the engine? (I've been watching those Rufford Ford videos on YouTube!) My first guesses are bad coil pack(s) or bad MAF. You can try unplugging the MAF to see if it makes any difference. Probably lots of other things it could be. Low compression?!

I doubt it. In some circumstances disabling it might actually be safer - if it glitches and slams on the brakes for no good reason then you might be more likely to get rear-ended. Personally I'm not a fan of such 'safety' features - I like to be in full control (or fairly close to). I think it's important for people to be aware of what they are doing in order to avoid crashing into things rather than relying on computers to make driving decisions for them.

Welcome from a fellow mk1 owner! Mine has 'only' done 220,000 miles, between both our cars they've been to the moon and back!

Have you got some photos? Any advisories relating to the rust on the last MOT? If it's just a small area of the front bumper then it might be worth a go at a DIY or smart repair, otherwise you could look out for a second hand bumper in the same colour to replace it with. If it's a larger area or you don't want/can't find a second hand bumper then you could get it re-sprayed. You could save money on that by DIYing the removal/refitting and doing some of the prep yourself. As for the sills - they shouldn't really rust unless they've been damaged by jacking the car in the wrong place. They can be repaired/replaced but it just depends how bad they are - probably best to find a local garage that does welding to advise. @stratosg that looks like a really good DIY repair and a nice detailed post too

I'm not sure that's correct. I thought if fitted they had to work, but if not fitted then as long as the beam pattern is OK then it's fine. The MOT testing manual is available online which will give the answer. I used to have a car (Integra Type R DC2) that had Xenon lights but no washers and no self-levelling - that's how it came from the factory and was never an issue at MOT time.

Depends who you ask and how paranoid you are about it snapping. Paranoid: 60k / 4 years (whichever comes first) Normal: 80k / 5 years (whichever comes first) I go with the latter. Consider getting the water pump and aux belt replaced at the same time too. The aux belt is only about £10-15 and easily DIYable though.

Before you go investigating wiring faults, press the unlock on the fob twice. I think there is a VCDS setting where only the drivers door unlocks unless you do the double-unlock. If that doesn't work, start the engine and press the unlock button on the driver's door repeatedly while pulling on the other interior door handles - this might un-deadlock them and allow you to open them.

There was a similar thread a little while ago. Can you be a bit clearer about the state of the car (stationary & idle or moving) at each point in time? I would expect to see something like this... Start engine (from cold) - high fuel consumption Moving for 10 minutes at 40mph on a flat road - average fuel consumption decreases. Stationary and idle for 2 minutes - average fuel consumption increases. Moving for 10 minutes at 40mph on a flat road - average fuel consumption decreases It would be strange for the average fuel consumption to decrease while stationary and idle.

On my VRS the front passenger side inner pad has the wear sensor. It's built into the pads - when the pad wears down it makes/breaks a circuit (not sure which) and the light on the dash illuminates. There's no wear sensor on the discs. Sounds like you'll probably need front pads soon. Depending on how worn/pitted/scored/corroded the front discs are it might be worth changing them at the same time. Get the rear ones checked out too.

Pads look normal. Shouldn't really be any need to bed discs/pads in on most normal road cars. What make discs/pads were fitted? How bad is the judder? Is it at any speed (within reason!) or only certain speeds? My understanding is that brake judder is more likely to be caused by pad deposits or something like worn suspension bushes than warped discs.

Have a look on YouTube, there is probably a video on there that shows what you need.

Might be worth seeing how it runs with the MAF unplugged and checking the state of the plugs (and that they are the correct or suitable plugs).

I replaced mine with one from Western Power Steering and it's been fine so far. I think there are videos on YouTube for the fitting, but from memory roughly as follows: Jack up the front and put axle stands under the chassis at the front. Undo dogbone mount from gearbox. Remove front wheels and undo track rod ends from the hubs. Undo fluid lines from the rack and drain remaining fluid. Loosen bolts holding rack to subframe Undo bolt on the joint between rack & column inside the car (I found this a bit tricky to get off - had to get something in there to help lever it off) Undo subframe bolts. You'll probably need a good impact wrench and/or breaker bar to undo them. They're not supposed to be reused so consider ordering new ones. Lower subframe and replace the rack. Worth inspecting the front ARB bushes at the same time as it's easier to replace them while the subframe is lowered and they aren't expensive.

Try bleeding the master cylinder.

That's what I would expect. The engine uses fuel when idle and while stationary you're getting 0 miles/km to the litre/gallon/whatever unit of fuel. As soon as the car is moving you're getting more than 0 miles per gallon. The average fuel consumption (which is probably what you're seeing on the dash) increases when you're at idle/stationary.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/312231384562 I haven't tried this one, but it says it's compatible. I believe someone posted an alternative (maybe cheaper/better) on another thread but you'll have to search. What are the symptoms that led you to the fuel pump?

According to https://workshop-manuals.com/audi/a3_mk1/power_transmission/5-speed_manual_gearbox_02j/technical_data/gearbox_identification/code_letters_allocation_transmission_ratios_capacities/ An 02J EHA box has a 3.647 final drive - a ratio of 62:17 (62 teeth and 17 teeth). The overall ratio in top gear (5th) is 3.056 which is calculated by the final drive (3.647) multiplied by the gear ratio of 5th (0.838). Pretty sure the diff is the 62 toothed part of that equation. You say the speedo is reading 20km/h lower than before, but at what GPS speed is that? Do you know the exact ratios in the box you removed and the box you fitted?

Are you sure? I thought the diff would normally have more teeth and therefore for one revolution of the diff there would be >1 revolution of the output shaft. I haven't seen the inside of one of these gearboxes though. Sounds like fixing it is not straightforward. Another approach might be to try and convert the signal to the ECU - maybe there is some off the shelf product out there that can do that.

Yeah I think most people either fit a used rack (<£50) or fit a refurbed rack (£100-200). I fitted a used rack the first time mine went. Lasted ~100k miles plus whatever it had done in the car it came out of. When that one failed I fitted a refurbed rack. Be interested to hear how you get on with the DIY repair to it!

Great, but does any of that assist the OP? There are pros/cons to both, I don't think you can really say one system is better than the other. Anyway, this is not the place to discuss it. MOT failure doesn't necessarily mean the vehicle is unroadworthy or dangerous to drive. UK is lax on legislation - I don't think so. There's always grey areas, that's what the justice system is there to sort out. non-enforcement - political matter, not getting into that! I don't find the info on Government websites confusing in this area. Get repaired there or trailer it away - Depends on the fault. If your tyres are down to the cords and your brakes are down to the metal backing plates, yes definitely get it fixed before driving it away. If your screen wash is empty, your rear fog light doesn't work and none of your rear seatbelts latch then it's not necessarily unsafe to drive it.

The braking system is sealed (when it has the cap on), so would not cause rust on the rear discs. Missing cap sounds dodgy - if you haven't removed it then it was either Halfords themselves or somewhere that had worked on it previously. Were you aware it was missing before it went in? How long has it been missing for? Have the brakes previously been bled as part of a service? As above, I would get a new cap then get the brakes bled, then take it for another MOT. (all somewhere other than Halfords!)