Apologies for the thread hijack - how do you rate Ramair versus the likes of K&N or ITG?

Afraid I'm unqualified to give an opinion. I'm an accountant! I have a good knowledge of my own companies products and general reasoning for certain practices, but little else. Plus, we exited the car panel filter market a couple of years ago!

The air filter I've just ordered from TPS has bead of silicone right the way down the middle. Usually the filter flexes and gives a bit but this one is solid in construction so your's looks normal. Mines for a vrs tdi not sure if they're the same as the petrol.

Well I took it out to find it had lines of I assume glue down the length of the filter, holding it rigid.

I can only assume this to be to make it easier to keep in place , but I would assume keeping the paper very tightly packed would make it restrictive?

I have a replacement on order now I know it's correct dimensions.

That's normal.  Mann, Bosch, etc all have the line (or 2)  of goop to hold the pleats straight.

Looks like a to do list is created.

I use the shell nitro one think it's 98 Ron?

Tesco and bp do a 99 - but dubious of supermarkets selling fuel and don't like bp.

Some one had superglued the air filter - is this a trade secret or not very wise?

 

 

Shell's super would be fine. I never had any issues with Tesco's Momentum 99RON stuff. It really didn't like Tesco 95RON though.

Your brake can drag and not cause any smell but the heat will be obvious compared to the front, which should be hotter as 80% of braking is done at the front.

 

Where the rear pads changed recently ? Common mistake is to wind the piston back all the way or to move the handbrake lever.

To reset the caliper wind the piston all the way in, with a wind back tool or G-clamp and pipe pliers, then wind it out ½ a turn.

Reassemble everything then put on the handbrake cable, you may need to loosen the cable adjusting nut.

But do not move the handbrake lever with out it on the disc with pads

I have a proper piston wind back tool it makes the job a lot easier. But the piston should be quite easy to move back. If it isn't the caliper is seizing. It'll either need stripped and new seals fitted or replaced.

Would a build up similar to the front wheels, The sort of brake dust you get also be a sign of this seized on brake problem ? Have never noticed on the rear wheels of cars before...

The brakes(if changed) go back to the service I have documented, so will have been like this well almost a year now :-/

It could be but i find just stripping them and cleaning the pins and winding the piston in and out usually frees them off. I'm also getting a lot of dust on the rear wheels so weather permitting I'll take them to bits at the weekend.

Would a build up similar to the front wheels, The sort of brake dust you get also be a sign of this seized on brake problem ? Have never noticed on the rear wheels of cars before...

The brakes(if changed) go back to the service I have documented, so will have been like this well almost a year now :-/

The rear brakes come on first in light braking.  I find my rears get dustier / dirtier than the fronts.

The rear brakes come on first in light braking. I find my rears get dustier / dirtier than the fronts.

Ah this explains it. I thought my rear calipers were binding on. A quick touch of the discs the other day showed the rears as warm as the fronts. Something else learned!!

I was having a little visual of the wheels whilst parked up today. Which brake pads should be "on" (if any) when the hand brake is on?

Would I be able to visually check that the brakes were stuck on, or is it purely excessive heat that will pinpoint this problem?

I am not entirely sure what I was looking for; just something that would seem odd or differences on the same axles...

The hand brake works the rear brakes. On a level piece of ground with the hand brake off in neutral gear with wheels straight it should be easy to push the car. If not check which wheels are not turning easily by jacking the car up, could be front or back.

I thought rear more likely, but wasn't sure.

So am I correct in thinking, that with the car sat on the drive with no handbrake on, then the front pads should not be touching the discs at all? Or is there some contact to an extent at all times?

There is very slight contact but with no pressure on the pads. When you stop with the brakes the pads will still touch after releasing the pedal , they will move away as soon as the disc starts to move, 

 

The seals in the caliper cylinder are arranged to try to pull the piston back into the caliper when there is no pressure in the cylinder. If the dust seals round the piston are damaged and let moisture /dust into the  piston it affects the piston wall (rust/corrosion) and stops the pull back effect of the piston seals. That is how the pistons get seized and cause problems. Then pads can stick in the pad carrier

Would it be the pad in its entirety making contact with the disc? Mine appear to come to like a sloping towards the centre of the disc with all the contact there.

Think a brake service is in order because I don't have a clue what I'm looking at and whether it's normal or not.

Would it be the pad in its entirety making contact with the disc? Mine appear to come to like a sloping towards the centre of the disc with all the contact there.

Think a brake service is in order because I don't have a clue what I'm looking at and whether it's normal or not.

The front pads sometimes have a chamfer on the leading & trailing edges.

 

I agree, if you are in the dark it's best to let a professional look at it and give you an estimate of what is wrong & how much to fix.

Good morning.

Does anybody know anywhere decent for a vcds scan in the Hertfordshire area, or reasonable distance from? Most places I've looked are £80-100(some even plus vat) - is this about right? Or excessive as my first thought?

Regards

Finally managed to get on the vcds - not for 85 quid plus vat I may add.

That aside its been pinpointed to the code that means it's something to do with a swirl flap or runners or the map sensor (g31?)

I have decided to look at the map sensor to get the correct part number and I am assuming is correct at 038906051D? However on inspection it seems the wire or harness bit is busted... Would it be best to still replace the whole sensor plus would the wiring require soldering or is there a simpler way to do this? So in essence the map sensor is not being seen by the car therefore the car is not boosting correctly is what I make sense of from what the mechanic said...