weasley

Dunno - found the picture from an old discussion on here. Car is/was in Australia

Aah, I had missed the India context. Yes, I have experienced the night-time traffic of Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and a few other places - the use of lights does seem to vary between none at all to everything switched on to maximum! A pair of driving lights may well be a good solution.... something like this:

I always thought the pre-FL halogen lights were pretty good - I upgraded to some Osram Nightbreakers which made them even better. Check the aim is right too.

What towbar is it? Can you simply remove it?

I was just adding extra info with the backwards/dye/tracer thing, for interest. On the “00” thing, I have seen more than one person get confused between 508 00/509 00 and 508 88/509 99, hence why making the point. It is an unlikely mix up to make though since the latter spec is aimed at poor fuel quality countries.

Someone at the back wasn’t paying attention! Yes, you’re right that new VW engines get “longlife 4”, a low viscosity fuel economy oil based on ACEA C5 but the spec is 508 00/509 00. Unlike before, the new oil is not backwards compatible - the new oil can not go in older engines. To protect against this the 0W-20 oil is dyed blue (the blue dye mixed with pale amber oil actually makes it look green) to prevent misapplication and it also contains a tracer element, so that it can be determined after the fact if an engine had the correct oil in it. Both these factors are built in to the VW spec so are mandatory for any oil claiming 508 00/509 00.

Not necessarily. As I said, an oil could sail over the bar but get no extra credit for it. This is where the oil companies attempt to show how their oils are differentiated from others and hence worth the extra. Unlikely to be identical - even if a big name made the oil for another seller, they would likely not give away their ‘good stuff’ but would make something that just sneaks over the bar and is appropriately priced.

Quite! Another way to achieve an approved oil is to buy an off-the-shelf option from one of the major additive suppliers (there are only four globally). They will have done all the hard work and spent the significant amount needed on testing (multi-millions) and will sell it to a marketer who just needs to blend it in the right base oils and register it with VW. Or an oil blender may make it for other brands, hence why you can get Halfords or Amazon oil, since neither of them develop or manufacture oils.

“Fully synthetic” means that all of the base oil in the oil is from a nominally synthetic source. This can be either synthesised from smaller molecules (eg PAO and esters) or refined and then hydrocracked from mineral oil. The result is a base oil mix with high resistance to degradation and good high and low temperature viscosity properties. Any other synthetic term generally means the oil has a blend of some synthetic base oil and some mineral. However the important thing is the performance, not the ingredients. If an oil manufacturer can achieve high performance using good additives in a partially-synthetic oil then well done them. Bear in mind that the specification is like a high jump; all you need to do is clear the bar - you get no extra credit for sailing way over the top. That said, the VW specs are a pretty high bar to clear. Finally, the ‘ash’ created when oils burn comes from the additives, not the base oils. The additives contain elements such as calcium, magnesium and zinc, which form solid oxides when burnt. These ashes collect in the DPF along with the soot that they are designed to collect (soot is from partially burnt fuel). The regen process can get rid of the soot, since it is mostly carbon, but it can not get rid of the metal oxides as they don’t burn, hence they accumulate over time and eventually permanently block the DPF. The VW 507 00 spec has an engine test that specifically tests for DPF blocking and many engine oil specs include a ‘sulphated ash’ test limit; typically 0.8% max for DPF-ready oils.

I do. The VW 507 00 specification is a document published by VW and regularly updated. It includes all expectations of an oil that are required to be met in order to be approved. This includes a long list of physical and chemical laboratory tests (eg viscosity at various temperatures and shear rates, element levels, ash, pour point, volatility etc) as well as a list of engine tests that must be run and passed, looked at wear, piston deposits, sludge, DPF blocking, fuel economy etc. To hold a formal approval you must carry out all the tests at accredited test facilities, achieve results that meet VW’s limits, declare your formulation precisely and commit not to alter it beyond the limited variance that is allowed and then send all this data to VW with a fee, they will inspect and verify it, and if all ist in ordnung you get a letter of approval for that formulation under that brand name for a defined period of time. Only then can you formally claim to have a VW approval. Over time the approvals expire; they can be reapproved, which usually means a limited bit of validation work unless VW have updated the specification in the mean time, meaning you have to meet the new requirements which can mean the need to completely reformulate and start from scratch. Such changes are signalled well in advance though, giving time to get products ready for the latest spec version. Also worth mentioning that to achieve VW 507 00 you must have ACEA C3 and you have to also have VW 504 00 (for petrol engines), hence you will (or should) always see an oil with VW 504 00/507 00, which is collectively and colloquially known as “VW longlife 3”. Finally, be careful with the spec numbers. The full specs are 504 00 and 507 00, not just 504 and 507. In this case it is not a problem as there are no other 504 or 507 specs, but there are some VW specs that have the same first number and different suffices, making a huge difference. For example there’s 505 00 and 505 01 and more recently there is 509 00 and 509 99, which are vastly different specs.

Yes - the ODI algorithm takes lots of factors into account and should adjust accordingly.

The 507 00 specification does not demand that the oil must be synthetic, although to meet the performance requirements it is technically required, but then again there are different types of synthetic and not all synthetic oils meet VW 507 00. In other words, being “synthetic” means little but VW 507 00 approval shows it is suitable for long drain use.

Another precaution if operating at high temperatures for extended periods is reduced oil change interval. The two main concerns are increased oxidation (the rate of chemical reactions increases as a power of the temperature difference) and reduced viscosity - this factor is doubly important as the engine will be working harder, so the reduced viscosity has to support a higher load. Towing would be considered a severe operation and would usually mean reduced oil change intervals should be applied - changing the oil more frequently would help overcome the oxidation issue. Other effects of high operating conditions and/or towing would be increased oil consumption (partly from possibly higher blow-by, but also due to increased volatility) and increased oil contamination from the additional fuelling used under higher load (could be more soot - especially if diesel - or increased fuel dilution). Keeping the oil level topped up to 'max' will always help any engine, by having the maximum amount of oil available to absorb the heat and load, and every little top-up adds a fresh shot of additives to bolster the oil.

Exactly my thoughts - the ‘tone’ of the noise doesn’t change with revs, it seems to be linked to engine load and speed, perhaps a resonance somewhere. Maybe a loose or worn engine or transmission mount?

I used the strap largely to avoid mucky fingers. The XC60 that replaced the Yeti, and now the XC40 that replaced that both have power tailgates. One way these really help us is on the school run - we have to drive to a drop-off zone, at which point the kids exit the car and go the to boot for their stuff. They can open the boot but my son is too small to reach the close button, so if it's only him being dropped we can close the boot from inside the car.

I think it's as much about technique as strength. Being pretty much horizontal when open means you have to pull it down and towards the car (which is away from you) - I always used the pull strap and it did need a decent tug but was not especially difficult; my wife managed, even my 8yo daughter was able to close it. We did replace the struts and after replacement it was more effort but still doable. If it's very difficult perhaps a strut is damaged or the hinges need some grease?

Just to clarify my post, the “LL” is important because there is a “M” version of Castrol EDGE 5W-30 which holds no VW approvals, so it is important to get the whole product brand name right.

Another suggestion: Castrol EDGE 5W-30 LL (the “LL” is important).

I had a set of Goodyear Vector 4Seasons on when the OEM tyres wore out. I loved them - 40k miles over 2.5 years, wet and dry, snow and mud. I replaced them with the 2nd gen version which were also good up until I sold the car. No real down-sides in the dry - perhaps a little more lateral movement in hard cornering but nothing alarming. Awesome in the wet and cold - which let’s face it is a lot of the time. Cut through standing water like a knife. They performed well in the only snow we had, getting me up a rural hill road easily when ‘normal’ cars were stuck at the bottom.

This is a common one. There is a reset procedure that should fix this. From memory you roll the window all the way down, then roll it up and keep the switch held up for 5-10s after the window has closed.

There are a couple of alternatives offered by Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterproof-Luggage-Oxford-waterproof-Carrier/dp/B081F4MP89/ref=pd_sbs_263_3/262-0703509-0304047?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B081F4MP89&pd_rd_r=b734da38-2c8b-4c6c-ab17-1bf1ee061135&pd_rd_w=vpdGU&pd_rd_wg=fOKhD&pf_rd_p=2773aa8e-42c5-4dbe-bda8-5cdf226aa078&pf_rd_r=M3BEJ6TJ9YAJ8F0CTRXA&psc=1&refRID=M3BEJ6TJ9YAJ8F0CTRXA https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tow-Carrier-Vault-Cargo-weather-resistant/dp/B01N9MIVLS/ref=pd_sbs_263_2/262-0703509-0304047?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01N9MIVLS&pd_rd_r=13fd65e3-9649-466a-beea-963c9af9a7c2&pd_rd_w=zjMpa&pd_rd_wg=ATVU9&pf_rd_p=2773aa8e-42c5-4dbe-bda8-5cdf226aa078&pf_rd_r=JXY0XZJH7TGSN2X2BFKC&psc=1&refRID=JXY0XZJH7TGSN2X2BFKC

Check the battery terminals are tight?

The towing stuff is worth confirming - it can either be a universal towing relay, or it could be a properly-fitted wiring harness and module that hasn't been coded. Flat battery - fair enough, if a car is not driving a lot and is being shunted around a lot, and the battery is old, this can happen. I'm interested how you determined that the four wheel drive system wasn't engaging? PS: I'm just up the road from Didcot myself.

No issues with putting it here. “I went to look at this car and I didn’t buy it because ........”. Don’t get into who said what in response to your observations, just state why you decided to walk away.

Euro 6 is tougher but required the deployment of additional emissions control systems (SCR). In a way this can actually help with engine tuning, because if you can deal with NOx in the exhaust through the use of a catalyst and AdBlue then you can tune the engine to run hotter and with better thermal efficiency. The problem they had with Euro 5 was trying to control NOx in-cylinder, which is tricky when NOx and CO2/fuel economy sit on opposite ends of a see-saw. There’s no way the defeat device was a last minute cheat - it takes a while to develop and hide a system like that. I don’t doubt they tried to conform through good engineering and I also don’t doubt that the limits being mandated were difficult to achieve in the timescale given.