About to embark on Skoda ownership, Superb L&K Estate

[commievid]

Any good car manufacture knows that the best engineered cars last exactly the warranty, so 3 years normally. They don't need to care about it any longer than that.

 

Anyways:

 

New coolant expansion tank arrived. £16.88 from eBay, took about a week so I suspect via China.

 

Initially, the idea was to replace it just because the current one is a little dirty rather than any genuine reason. After some reading around though, I've discovered that G13 coolant has less effective silicates than earlier antifreeze/coolant solutions, so they decided in their infinite wisdom to have something akin to a silica gel bag in the coolant tank.

 

I suppose the point is to make it last much longer between changes, see above regarding the best engineered cars.

 

All falls apart once/if the bag itself falls apart. So this vanity act is now also preventative maintenance.

 

So already started removing the existing tank, so just a few more things to disconnect:

 

Electrical connector for the level sensor was nice and easy compared to say the Haldex controller under the car.

 

I then tried a different approach with the hoses:

 

Have some silicone lubricant spray lying around, which I've occasionally used on dirty belts which have helped remove squealing. So sprayed a bit on the ends of the hoses, then used a thin screwdriver to gently pop the hoses off.

 

So there's a small one for the return at the top, then a clip in the middle holding other hoses, then the main one to presumably the radiator or somewhere else at the bottom:

 

Fitting the new one is the ol' reverse of disassembly:

 

Started to top up the coolant, then gave it a few hours before checking again:

 

Eagled eyed readers will note the previous pic didn't have the connector plugged in, so that's sorted. Then topped it up just under max, will leave it and top up as necessary. I'm hoping the system will bleed itself, as I don't really want to go to the hassle of getting tools to introduce a vacuum.

 

This is topped up with generic 5 year life coolant, which the labels suggest is G12+. I believe they're compatible.

 

I think over the next few years, I'll probably drain and refill in 2 and then again in 4 years time to increase the amount of G12+ stuff in there. Then it'll be part of the C service every 4 years.

 

The weather is positively Summer-like, so decided to dismantle the steering column area:

 

The indicators on the left just look too shabby for my liking, so will be replacing them. Hopefully with a set that is still compatible, but we'll see.

 

It then actually got quite warm in the cabin, so out again, and decided to tackle one more quick thing before lunch:

 

I say quick...

 

The speed bleeders use 11mm sockets, and so do the front, so got a couple of sockets ready, in order to try and swap them out as quick as possible:

 

So got some Plus Gas on the front right to start:

 

The plan immediately goes to pot, as the removal of the front right one a little stiff than I'd like. But it got free. The next issue was inserting the new ones in. This was mainly made difficult because of the covers I've used, which ended up just getting in the way of smoothly getting the threads on due to the way the calipers are all shaped.

 

Just a case of persevering really, then eventually nipped up hand tight:

 

The other side decided to be more of a pain to get the new one:

 

Just a case of trying to stay calm lest cross threading occurs.

 

Then the rears:

 

Amusingly, the 11mm socket didn't fit, so went to 12mm, then 13mm. The 13mm fit, but then it turns out it was just a huge amount of crud, eventually clearing up to be 11mm:

 

These were on tight. The 3/8" spanner was struggling to break them loose, and I was genuinely starting to panic. When I first got my Peugeot 205 GTI, it didn't have covers on the bleed screws, and so all of them ended up seizing to the caliper and rounding off, necessitating buying 4 new calipers. I didn't need to suffer that this time.

 

The rear right was even tighter:

 

It's just all located in such a way that dirt and crap just ends up staying there, not ideal.

 

Lucked out again and it broke away without drama:

 

So went around all the bleeder screws, sprayed huge amounts of brake cleaner around them to clean up the general area and to hopefully sort out any loose leaked brake fluid.

 

Gave it a few minutes to dry, then tightened them all up to 8Nm. A random number as the Internet suggests anything from 4Nm to 10Nm for the bleed screws.

 

So that's it for now. The brake fluid can pretty much be bled whenever now. Ironically, I could still use a pressurised brake bleeder despite the speed bleeders making one not entirely necessary.

 

Depends what mood I am in the early evening.

 

Maintenance: £2243.89 (+£16.88)

Upgrades: £1322.97

Miscellaneous: £697.20

Edited 30 April by commievid

[Gammyleg]

15 minutes ago, commievid said:

I've discovered that G13 coolant has less effective silicates than earlier antifreeze/coolant solutions

 

The G12 EVO option should allow you to run without the silica bag.

[J.R.]

19 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Well no, the car was always garaged (garage with good ventilation). There has been a lot of deterioration in the 3 months or so it was parked after I dropped it off at the dealers in early December, having driven 100 miles on wet salty roads to get there.

 

No way has that corrosion occurred over only 3 months.

 

What was the reason for leaving it at a dealer for 3 months?

[Shuggyboatsuperb]

Re. The last photo above: thats not the fluid pipe metal end to the banjo bolt is it?  Right under the new bleed nipple and rubber cap?  
It looks like its about rusted through and ready to go pop once you start pressing the brake pedal 🙈 

 

[commievid]

So there is an eagle eyed reader

 

Indeed, it does look grim:

 

Replacement stainless brake lines were always on the cards, so it's a case of whether these last long enough before my hand is forced.

 

Having said that, I've seen brake lines in just as bad a state and they've been pretty much fine. I've probably jinxed it of course!

 

So in the early evening, went to bleed the brakes:

 

Now, normally, I'll take off this strainer/filter thing and get a syringe in the reservoir to get out the existing brake fluid, before filling it up and then bleeding.

 

However, seems to be a VW group thing, but these don't seem to make it obvious how to remove them.

 

So gave up and just siphoned out as much as possible:

 

Then started filling with new DOT 4 stuff. Well, it had about 750ml as I've used some for topping up some other cars over the last few months.

 

Decided to just use the speed bleeders rather than a pressure bleeder. So got an 11mm spanner:

 

Then got my trusty brake bleeder tube:

 

It was a bit gusty, so got the brake bleed bottle surrounded:

 

Yup, it's essentially a sports cap water bottle. I've had this for ages, maybe 8 years or so now? If it ain't broke...

 

So normally it's a quarter turn, but I think even an eighth would be sufficient, then just start pumping away at the brake pedal:

 

I think the general rule is to just make sure not to go too hard on the brake pedal, lest you risk messing up the seals on the calipers. I've done this once on the Peugeot 205 GTI which resulted in a replacement master cylinder (it was a recurring theme on that car how much I messed up those brakes).

 

Again, normally, I usually bleed them from the furthest caliper from the master cylinder going to the closest. Some do it from the ABS pump. But the workshop manual states to start with the front right, then left, then the rear right and rear left at the end.

 

So just went with that order, pumping about 40 times per corner, topping up the brake fluid as necessary (quite difficult to gauge on the reservoir, so just topped it up until it topped that yellow filter thing):

 

Some of the corners came out a little green, which is a bit worrying. I've found quite a few cars where it came out slightly green instead of a darker shade of brown, but I suppose it's better than flecks of dirt or loads of bubbles.

 

The rears were annoying:

 

The bleed screw is tucked inbetween the brake line and caliper itself, so a spanner doesn't go on without it fouling something (unless I'm missing something). So was a case of just trying to undo it enough with the tight gap. Maybe a swan neck could work or something.

 

Basically went through the calipers twice, in order to use all of that 750ml of DOT 4, hopefully making sure all the old stuff is out.

 

Once done, did the same process as installing the bleeders, brake cleaner over them, then tightened to 8Nm once dry and tucked the covers back on. I sprayed some XCP over those brake lines, just to make myself feel better.

 

One random thing left I did today:

 

Started to dry fit the left front wheel liner, fitted some of the stainless screws into the central area. Will need to tuck the front into the bumper and align some stuff, then figure out the new front mudflaps.

 

Maintenance: £2243.89

Upgrades: £1322.97

Miscellaneous: £697.20

[J.R.]

40 minutes ago, commievid said:

Replacement stainless brake lines were always on the cards, so it's a case of whether these last long enough before my hand is forced.

 

Having said that, I've seen brake lines in just as bad a state and they've been pretty much fine. I've probably jinxed it of course!

 

I would not trust that pipe even for brake bleeding, did I recall you saying the vehicle no longer has an MOT?

 

I think you should get a failure certificate to see what you are up against before spending any more on bling, I have started looking at the photos now (I didn't before as there were so many) and the vehicle looks to be Johnny Rotten, I have never seen another anywhere near that bad.

 

The previous models underwent hundreds of hours of salt spray testing with barely a hint of rust at the end.

 

Perhaps it was one they used for the salt spray testing that wasn't scrapped?

[J.R.]

What are the brake disc backplates like?

 

They are usually the first thing to self compost.

[nicknorman]

7 hours ago, J.R. said:

 

No way has that corrosion occurred over only 3 months.

 

What was the reason for leaving it at a dealer for 3 months?

I traded it in for a new one on Dec 8th. It was sold again by a different dealer, presumably having been via auction, I think early Feb (so actually more like 2 months). And the car has done 102,000 miles in Scotland, mostly in the Highlands.

Edited 30 April by nicknorman

[commievid]

So the weather forecast was for an afternoon of rain and thunder.

 

That didn't happen, only about 3 sudden downpours, then dry after work.

 

So ended up doing what became a whole bunch of random things.

 

This arrived, as mentioned in an earlier post:

 

Some replacement indicator stalks, which came to £50 from eBay.

 

Primarily because the left stalks just look worn:

 

The replacement one also comes with a "Mode" button on the cruise control stalk.

 

The part numbers look similar enough:

 

We'll find out soon enough whether it all works. The stalks appear to be 5Q0 953 502 AT versus 5Q0 953 502 AL, and 3Q0 953 521 BD versus 5Q0 953 521 GE. The latter is interesting. According to eBay the donor was a 2020 Seat Arona, so maybe that's the reason for 5Q0 versus 3Q0. Not sure why there are two part numbers as well, I don't think they can be separated.

 

Anyways, used a T15 Torx to undo the three screws keeping the new clock spring in place:

 

Then disconnected the three white plugs around the clock spring which then allows the clock spring to come free:

 

Then attach it to the replacement stalks:

 

It should be tightened to 1.5Nm, but my small torque wrench only goes to 2Nm, so just less than hand tight as a guess.

 

The thing clicks into the steering column:

 

A nice bit of simple engineering for a change. The connectors then go to the bottom of the clock spring:

 

Then reattached the steering wheel. Made sure the splines align with the mark on the wheel:

 

Then installed the retaining bolt and tightened to 30Nm:

 

The workshop manual then says angle tighten to 90 degrees, which wasn't difficult at all, then a case of connecting the air bag connectors to their respective parts (not sure about the harness adapter as it didn't really come with instructions, so just best guess, based on the black mark on one of the wires presumed to be ground, and so aligned to the brown wires:

 

The airbag then clips into place, but I've left it loose for now, because I now something will come up meaning I may have to dismantle things to check.

 

So.

 

There's technically nothing stopping the car from being powered up. So connected the negative terminal, got my key and turned on the ignition:

 

Loads of errors. Not particularly surprised.

 

With the car's ignition on, tried to get the rear washer on to see if the repair worked. Nothing.

 

The wiper didn't turn on or the washer.

 

Got the VCDS and noticed the steering wheel section had a different coding to original:

 

The original steering wheel had coding 0610, and the new one initially had 0010. Used the coding helper and selected "Bit 2 Rear wiper, installed", which changed it to 0410. For some reason, I couldn't code it to 0610, saying "Out of range" or something. So left it at 0410 for now, to see if it did what I expected:

 

 

It did. Looks like it works absolutely fine.

 

So, did some more pre flight checks and ums and ahhs. Then put my foot down and started the engine:

 

I then followed the guide for the DSG oil change, following the advacned measuring values and specifically for the DSG oil temperature. So it started at around 24 degrees.

 

Then it's a case of going through the gears with the brakes on, about 3-4 seconds per selection before going back to P, then the waiting game:

 

Took about 15 minutes to get to 34 degrees.

 

Got distracted and messed around with some additional coding, in the Auto HVAC section this time:

 

For whatever reason, the heated steering wheel button on the steering wheel itself didn't seem to do anything, so after coding, tried it on the touchscreen. It seems to work, now that the weather is warm of course!

 

Also stuck a phone onto the charger to see if something happened. Looks like it did, so I think another case of more coding to get something displayed on the touch screen about it.

 

Then messed about with other measuring values before I noticed:

 

The DSG oil temperature was at 36 degrees, which is the 35-45 range required. So turned off the car, scrambled under and opened up the fill bolt:

 

Quite a bit gushed out. Then after what seemed like ages:

 

Went to a dribble. Still had a wait a bit more before it became a drip, at which point I inserted the new fill bolt with new washer and tightened to 45Nm:

 

Went to the back and pumped a bit more oil into the Haldex, about 3-4 pumps before it dribbled out again:

 

So tightened to 15Nm and sprayed brake cleaner around, before going around the general area with XCP.

 

Whilst down there, fitted the bottom of the level sensor:

 

The bolts for those was 5Nm as per the top bolts.

 

For all intents, that's it for servicing and most of the stuff down there. Will need to tighten the lower bolts but that's it.

 

Almost forgot:

 

Got the cable ties from the Bilstein dampers and attached them to get the wiring cleaned up:

 

The routing does seem to be quite close to the spring:

 

It's about 6-8mm clearance, which is probably alright, surely?

 

Repeated for the other side:

 

The route is similar:

 

This time its closer to the driveshaft. There's actually more clearance, the perspective of the photo is making it look closer than it is.

 

Stopped there for a quick bite to eat.

 

Maintenance: £2293.89 (+£50.00)

Upgrades: £1322.97

Miscellaneous: £697.20

 

Edited 1 May by commievid

[commievid]

So after said quick bite, decided to do some more random things:

 

This has been on the back burner for a while. I noticed this while perusing random things Skoda, and was genuinely interested to see if this thing fits:

 

It looks a bit daft in its location on the Superb, but I'm sure looks less so on other cars. It's genuinely something I'm impressed with, the way the cap also acts as a funnel which will make filling up much less of a messy affair. It was £9.95 on eBay. These will end up on all the VW group cars.

 

I'll need to reinstall the front wiper arms, but still noticed:

 

The right washer nozzle is still looking like it is dribbling. Any ideas would be appreciated. If TADTS then I'll leave it at that.

 

So for want of other things to do, got the replacement driveshaft bolts and attempted to tighten them up:

 

It meant resorting to stabbing a screwdriver into one of the vents on the brake disc to act as a counterhold against the brake pad carrier.

 

It worked though, and was enough to tighten to 200Nm. According the workshop manual:

The bolts with the A suffix just need tightening an extra 90 degrees, so probably could have given it a go with the screwdriver holding it.

 

I think I'll leave it once the wheels are on and its on the ground, as that'll feel a little easier in regards counterholding.

 

Speaking of wheels:

 

Couldn't see a reason why the rear wheels couldn't go on, so on they go. Used a small dab of copper grease on the wheel bolts, as they're pretty clean after the use of the tap and die. Used loads on the wheels and mating surfaces just in case.

 

As the handbrake appears to be in place, was able to tighten the bolts to 120Nm.

 

So I'll need to jack up the rear further in order to slide some ramps under, hopefully then lowering the wheels onto those ramps will then give me enough clearance to get under and do the last of the bolt tightening for the dampers. I think also the anti roll bars as well as I've forgotten those.

 

There's very little left to do at least from a mechanical perspective. I'll pretend those errors aren't there for now and do some swotting up around those.

 

Maintenance: £2293.89

Upgrades: £1332.92 (+£9.95)

Miscellaneous: £697.20

Edited 1 May by commievid

[nicknorman]

Please check the manual re. DSG oil level - it sounds like you checked the oil level with the engine stopped, but the oil level should be checked with the engine running at idle in P. It makes a big difference!

[commievid]

Manual doesn't say to turn off the engine, will do it again.

[commievid]

So went ahead and fired up the car yesterday and warmed it up:

 

Undid the fill bolt and a tiny bit did come out, but honestly, not enough for me to have worried, but at least that doubt's out of the window.

 

So went and reinstalled the wiper arms:

 

The windscreen has a few marks, which I believe are used to align the wiper arms, so just had them aligned to be parallel, got the retaining nuts down, then wiped the arms a few times, before tightening to 21Nm. The workshop manual states there's a 4mm leeway so lots of room for error and the wipe pattern looks ok.

 

The display is mentioning low wiper fluid level, so my deionised water for testing is seeing good use. Still not sure about the dribbling right nozzle though.

 

Need to find the wiper arm covers and pop those on.

 

Managed to play around with the coding for the 5F entertainment unit, to enable baseplate and wireless charger for said baseplate:

 

Which then makes this appear when a phone is on the charger, so that's sorted.

 

I'm struggling with a few issues with the Steering module, some errors about the Cruise Control. I also can't seem to find anywhere to have the heated steering wheel button on the steering wheel itself working. Can't tell at this stage if its the gateway, or the clock spring that replaces the previous one. Could even be the replacement indicator stalks.

 

Sod's law, I'll have to revert and tackle one thing at a time. I mess around with cars primarily to get away from Software Engineering, but I guess these days it's coming back.

 

So started to get the right side wheel arch liner back on, with mudflap:

 

This was the one that was previously broken, and the bottom screw was not aligned to the captive nut on the sill, so I guess the damaged mudflap implies some misalignment of the sill. Just used brute force to get it in, worry about the sill later (as you're all well aware).

 

Less drama on the other side:

 

I'm at the point where I've run out of the washers, so more than 50 are needed for all the wheel liners!

 

Will order some more.

 

Last bit:

 

Got the front undertray fitted. This is kind of dry fitted for now as I'll need to align it all with the wheel liners and what not.

 

So once additional washers arrive, I can sort out the rest of the front liners, then probably get the front wheels possibly.

 

Raining most of Friday though, so on comes the weekend.

 

I'll need to figure out how best to relay whatever VCDS stuff I get up to, as I feel that could be the rest of the month before MoT time.

 

Maintenance: £2293.89

Upgrades: £1332.92

Miscellaneous: £697.20

[nicknorman]

Sorry to bang on about it but pretty sure the DSG oil level is higher with engine off than with it on. So if you set the level with the engine off, it will be low. The manual says that with the engine running, every 30 secs there will be a squirt of oil out of the overflow but this is not to be taken into account. Could it be that this is what you saw coming out of the overflow, when in fact the actual level is low?

[commievid]

Could well be, I'll sort it out again sometime next week or so. Whats an extra £20 or so of more DSG oil in the grand scheme of things?

 

It was a bit rainy Friday, so just did some quick things:

 

Given the electrics were back on, made sense to sort out the seat bolts, so an M10 bolt and tightened to 40Nm:

 

Then move the seats forward to do the same for the rear.

 

So for the additional washers, I would either buy the same from eBay and wait until next week, or pay a bit more and get it quicker. It turned out to be £5.99 for 50, either via Amazon next day or from Screwfix, so was then a case of whether I'm bothering with driving to collect.

 

Chose Amazon, as it arrived on Friday and can't do anything in the rain anyway.

 

So come Saturday:

 

Got started on the remainder of the front underside and wheel arch liner screws. This is the left corner, with aforementioned badger damage. There are three screws here for the liner to the bumper.

 

The front undertray has an additional three to the liner as well:

 

Then the one on the front lower with the spoiler lip and liner:

 

Then just chased around the wheel arch to get the last remaining ones in:

 

Remembered the new brake retaining clips: 

 

Ended up tapping them in with a hammer:

 

Before going back to the ground for the right underside:

 

This is the front right side, so unless the badger threw across and this is blood, this side has traded paint with something red:

 

With that done, there's no reason to not put the wheels back on.

 

So remembered the driveshaft bolts, and so tapped out the wheel centre caps with a rubber mallet and a drift:

 

Gave the inside and the mating surfaces a good seeing with a wire brush and brake cleaner (mountains of aluminium dust and presumably rust from the driveshaft bolts).

 

But other than a light coat of copper grease on said surfaces and bolts:

 

Wheel is on.

 

So jacked up that side on the sill:

 

In order to free the axle stand and start getting that underside panel refitted proper:

 

On the right side, jacking this part up was also enough to lift the rear axle slightly free, so was able to get the plastic panel aligned and fitted:

 

It needs sliding underneath the mudflap:

 

So one of those situations where it might have been easier if the mudflaps were installed after, but the wheels being on would have made that a bit more of a faff.

 

The left side doesn't have a bung, and I'm not sure the jacking pads I have got are the correct ones for the Skoda Superb. I think I need the older ones, might have mentioned this before.

 

The underside panel then has one more screw:

 

This attaches to what appears to be a rear undertray piece aft of the engine:

 

So with that, lowered the jack:

 

Getting there. So repeated for the other side:

 

Wheel installed, and jacked up.

 

The mudflap and underside panel needed some wiggling to get the screw holes aligned on the right, as per the mudflap originally:

 

But once done, that was it:

 

The front wheels were on terra firma!

 

Of course, with the previous post about checking the DSG oil level again, I'll have to figure out some easy way to get the car raised but level to recheck it all.

 

I'll continue with a couple more posts as Saturday started to gain momentum at this point.

 

Maintenance: £2299.88 (+£5.99)

Upgrades: £1332.92

Miscellaneous: £697.20

[commievid]

So the original plan was to get the rear wheels onto ramps, but as I jacked up the rear right, I noticed the other side axle stand start to angle and be on 2 legs instead of 4. The trolley jack wasn't moving as it was lifting as much, one of many reasons I hate block driveways.

 

So lowered it and instead put it on lower profile ramps instead:

 

Repeated for the other side:

 

From there, if I needed to use the higher ramps, I could do so.

 

It did look like enough clearance to get under though, and from there, with the weight of the car on the ground, could see things like the clearance on that left rear damper wire:

 

Looked much less terrible than other angles I guess.

 

So from there, tackled the easier bolts:

 

This is anti roll bar links to the lower arm, 13mm bolt and nut.

 

Because I deliberately used standard M8 8.8 bolts, swotted on the internet, suggesting 25-28Nm is standard torque ranges, so went and applied 26Nm on these.

 

Similar bolts for the clamps, so other than needing an extension for the top:

 

Just tightened to 26Nm, alternating between the two to try and clamp the bush down evenly.

 

Unfortunately, this then happened:

 

Basically put a scratch and tiny dent into the centre of the tailgate:

 

Turns out the virtual pedal worked. As I was getting out from underneath and getting the bigger torque wrench, I guess my body was detected as a foot and the tailgate started to raise, but with my garage door open and in the vicinity, the tailgate got caught on the door, leaving this and the tailgate giving a long beep about it not opening fully.

 

I'll just dab some touch up paint for now, and assess whether I get it sorted properly. At least the virtual pedal works.

 

So lowered the tailgate, closed the garage door, and then reopened the tailgate. Don't open the garage door fully in the interim.

 

Back to the original programme:

 

The rear damper lower bolt and nut were next, 18mm for nut and bolt. These are done to 70Nm first, was able to do so with the space available.

 

Once done, got back out to get the breakers, but before that:

 

Decided to distract myself by installing the upper tailgate trim. Some of the metal spring clips were falling off, so resorted to duct tape to keep them in place before clipping it back in and fitting the two screws for the underneath of it.

 

Then, got a sharpie:

 

Similar business to the strut bolts, where I marked a place on the nut and the intended destination as it were.

 

For the right side, the spanner was able to counterhold against the lower arm itself, so got the breaker and eventually:

 

I had to resort to taking the socket off the breaker bar every now and then and re insert at 90 degrees to get the socket back onto the nut as it was tightened.

 

For the other side, was not able to get the swing on the breaker for whatever reason, so jacked it up higher and onto the other ramps.

 

Same deal, but the counterholding was now against the tyre, so not sure if that was ok:

 

Seemed to counterhold it sufficiently though:

 

So marked up everything and well, that was that I think.

 

For those that asked, this is the left brake cover:

 

This is the right brake cover:

 

Probably par for the course I feel. I don't think many people take off the rear brake discs to give them a clean or rust treatment, more so if a computer is needed to disengage the parking brake, so I usually expect them to be missing circa 10-12 years of age.

 

Anyways:

 

Nothing stopping the rears being jacked up, ramps removed, and the rear wheels on the ground.

 

So it took a couple of months, but the car is on terra firma.

 

Maintenance: £2299.88

Upgrades: £1332.92

Miscellaneous: £697.20

[commievid]

Really only this left:

 

The driveshaft bolts. You can just about see I did the old sharpie to mark it, on the right of the bolt, with the aim of getting the bolt pointing downwards.

 

This was fine up to 45 degrees:

 

But after that point the 1/2" breaker bar was starting to bend uncomfortably, so got out the 3/4" breaker and the trolley jack levers to act as extensions:

 

It's uncomfortable:

 

It could well be one or two degrees shy, but honestly, I felt something or more likely, a limb was going to be in danger if I explored further.

 

So before I got too excited:

 

Had to clear out the driveway and sweep it all up:

 

This won't entirely be the car, but given the amount of mud and crud under there, there was quite a bit to clean up.

 

It was at this point that I went back into the house to get the cars that I noticed:

 

Not the beers, but the aero covers for the lower arms!

 

Maintenance: £2299.88

Upgrades: £1332.92

Miscellaneous: £697.20

[commievid]

So fired up the car, and got the low profile ramps in place, and reversed up them:

 

Was able to get enough clearance to get these fitted. A dry fit showed the lower spring rubber bit with its little nub sticking out acts as a useful reference point for alignment.

 

Then it's a case of fitting the pop rivets for the underside, which is simple enough, then the not-so-simple case of the upper ones.

 

The uppers are a tiny faff more due to the wheels being on. One of those chicken or egg situations, as the suspension bolts couldn't be tightened with these on. Probably could have removed the wheels I guess, but the faff was more due to aligning the pop rivet on the top by feel rather than sight.

 

It'll eventually go in though, so once done, pushed the rivets in to tighten:

 

Two on the bottom, and:

 

Just about see one of them on the top, they are either side of the springs.

 

So that's them sorted:

 

So after that, fired up the car and gave it a cheeky drive up and down the driveway and a tiny bit beyond:

 

Then parked it away from the driveway for the first time in ages to allow the driveway to be cleaned proper.

 

In doing so, almost all of the warning lights on the dashboard disappeared, which was a relief. Car seems to be ok, but could only get it 20mph along the confines of the close.

 

One niggly thing I noticed when putting the lower trim back on:

 

Part of the trim was popping out, and was becoming a case of popping out the other side when being pushed in. Not sure if the clips need replacing, or the trim.

 

I plonked in a replacement all weather mat for the boot:

 

This is similar to one I have for the GR86 which has been rugged enough thus far. This was £46.54 from eBay, which I didn't think was too bad.

 

Then it was other random bits:

 

Snipped the three nubs on the underside of that phone rubber mat and slipped it in place. Then the climate control panel trim:

 

There's only the upper steering column trim remaining, but I'm leaving that open for now.

 

VCDS is showing errors around the Cruise Control switch:

Address 16: Steering wheel (J524)       Labels:| 5Q0-953-549.clb
   Part No SW: 5Q0 953 521 ET    HW: 5Q0 953 569 B
   Component: Lenks.Modul   100 0265  
   Revision: FF035035    Serial number: 20220218501004
   Coding: 6410
   Shop #: WSC 66564 385 16448
   ASAM Dataset: EV_SMLSVALEOMQBLRH 001007
   ROD: EV_SMLSVALEOMQBLRH.rod
   VCID: 8842742792B158FA9F3-80DC

4 Faults Found:
229127 - Cruise Control Switch 
          B1154 11 [00001001] - Short to Ground
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 3
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Reset counter: 4
                    Mileage: 164940 km
                    Date: 2024.05.02
                    Time: 13:36:41

                    Ubat 30 Voltage: 12.40 V
                    Ignition State: On
                    Terminal 15: 11.60 V
                    A/D #1: 0.00 %
                    A/D #2: 0.00 %
                    A/D #3: 0.00 %

229143 - Cruise Control Switch 
          B1154 11 [00001001] - Short to Ground
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 3
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Reset counter: 4
                    Mileage: 164940 km
                    Date: 2024.05.02
                    Time: 13:36:41

                    Ubat 30 Voltage: 12.40 V
                    Ignition State: On
                    Terminal 15: 11.60 V
                    A/D #1: 0.00 %
                    A/D #2: 0.00 %
                    A/D #3: 0.00 %

229145 - Cruise Control Switch 
          B1154 12 [00001001] - Short to Plus
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 2
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Reset counter: 4
                    Mileage: 164940 km
                    Date: 2024.05.02
                    Time: 13:36:41

                    Ubat 30 Voltage: 12.50 V
                    Ignition State: On
                    Terminal 15: 11.70 V

229160 - Cruise Control Switch 
          B1154 29 [00001001] - Signal Implausible
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 3
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Reset counter: 4
                    Mileage: 164940 km
                    Date: 2024.05.02
                    Time: 13:36:41

                    Ubat 30 Voltage: 12.40 V
                    Ignition State: On
                    Terminal 15: 11.60 V
                    A/D #1: 0.00 %
                    A/D #2: 0.00 %
                    A/D #3: 0.00 %

 

Which is currently the main mystery.

 

There were others which cleared up without issue, possibly remains from being turned on without things being reattached, but one that was fixable:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 5F: Information Electr. (J794)       Labels:* None
   Part No SW: 565 035 020 E    HW: 565 035 020 
   Component: MU-H-ND-EU    H50 1440  
   Serial number: A676A0GB009068 Dataset Number: 3V0CV1t____ 0062
   Coding: 038402010000000011111202008808202F0103E601208100BE
   Shop #: WSC 12345 102 209715
   ASAM Dataset: EV_MUHig4CGen2HBAS 001001
   ROD: EV_MUHig4CGen2HBAS_AU37.rod
   VCID: 8F705F3BF7DF0FC25E9-80DA

   Display and control head 1 for information electronics: 
   Subsystem 1 - Part No SW: 3V0 919 606 D    HW: 3V0 919 606 D
   Component: ABT_High-2  H53 9130 
   Serial number: SKZ6ZHY0654353      

   Data carrier: 
   Subsystem 2 - Part No SW: V03 959 820 ML    HW: -----------
   Component: ECE 2024  --- 0350 
   Serial number: --------------------

   Compact disc data bank: 
   Subsystem 3 - Part No SW: V03 959 800 GG    HW: -----------
   Component: Gracenote2  --- 1021 
   Serial number: --------------------

1 Fault Found:
1555 - Check Software Version Management 
          B201A 00 [00001001] - -
          [Check software version management]
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 6
                    Fault Frequency: 1
                    Reset counter: 4
                    Mileage: 164940 km
                    Date: 2024.05.02
                    Time: 10:23:36

                    Voltage terminal 30: 12.5 V
                    Status_Software_Version_Management-module_name: MDVB-DTV/MPEG-OS

 

This "Check Software Version Management" presumably came as a result of the update of the head unit software.

 

Some swotting of the internet turned up this: https://forums.ross-tech.com/index.php?threads/20023/#post-176309

 

Which cites to use an adaptation and an XOR calculation!

So opened up said adaptation:

 

Which returned "45 92" as the pair of hexidecimals. Then went to an XOR calculator https://xor.pw/ and plonked this in with the additional "C9 D2" value:

Revealing "8C 40" as the "answer". So put that value into the "new value" text box in the dialog. Then cleared the DTCs and checked:

 

Little victories I suppose.

 

Attempts to sort out the heated steering wheel button led me to:

 

But unfortunately, couldn't get any of the values under "Bit 6-7" to work:

 

So that's it.

 

So other than the continuous ominous warnings about rust and DSG oil levels, the current obstacles bugging me are:

• Heated steering wheel button on the steering wheel itself not working. Works via the touch screen.
• Cruise control errors and lever not apparently working
• Databus errors in the VCDS scans

The car hasn't and can't really be driven in anger for now, so can't dismiss that the cruise control needs some speed before coming into play.

 

However I also can't shake the feeling that the facelift steering wheel and the swapped heated compatible clocksprings might be at odds with another.

 

Absolute worse case scenario is that the original steering wheel is put back in place, as that would/should be compatible with the clock spring.

 

The Kufatec loom instructions to mention something about ACC and swapping out pin 8 to pin 11. Whether that's related, not sure at this stage.

 

Swotting on the Internet suggests adapations in the CAN gateway, but I can't seem to find options. Comparing the CAN gateway from before:

Address 19: CAN Gateway (J533)       Labels:| 5Q0-907-530-V1.clb
   Part No SW: 5Q0 907 530 AJ    HW: 5Q0 907 530 M
   Component: GW MQB High   212 2246  
   Revision: --------    Serial number: 20011610802757 Dataset Number: 3V0067t____ 0015
   Coding: 030100347F085900EB00025A9C0F00010001070000000000000000000000
   Shop #: WSC 131071 1023 2097151
   GVL: 01D43C0008000600C0DC90000002CC0000000000000000000000000000000000
   ASAM Dataset: EV_GatewConti 013020
   ROD: EV_GatewConti_013.rod
   VCID: F9A401E3D95B3172E8D-80AC

   Generator: 

   Multifunction steering wheel control module: 
   Subsystem 2 - Part No SW: 3V0 919 719 B    HW: 3V0 919 719 B
   Component: E221__MFL-PR6  H02 0150 
   Serial number: 000000000B1148130116

   Battery Monitoring Control Module: 
   Subsystem 3 - Part No SW: 5Q0 915 181 G    HW: 5Q0 915 181 G
   Component: J367-BDMHella  H04 8050 
   Serial number: 6483728903      

 

To after:

Address 19: CAN Gateway (J533)       Labels:| 5Q0-907-530-V1.clb
   Part No SW: 5Q0 907 530 AJ    HW: 5Q0 907 530 M
   Component: GW MQB High   212 2246  
   Revision: --------    Serial number: 20011610802757 Dataset Number: 3V0067t____ 0015
   Coding: 030100347F085900EB00025A9C0F00010001070000000000000000000000
   Shop #: WSC 131071 1023 2097151
   GVL: 01D43C0008000600C0DC90000002CC0000000000000000000000000000000000
   ASAM Dataset: EV_GatewConti 013020
   ROD: EV_GatewConti_013.rod
   VCID: F9A401E3D95B317290D-80AC

   Generator: 

   Multifunction steering wheel control module: 

   Battery Monitoring Control Module: 
   Subsystem 3 - Part No SW: 5Q0 915 181 G    HW: 5Q0 915 181 G
   Component: J367-BDMHella  H04 8050 
   Serial number: 6483728903          

No fault code found.

 

Show that the "Multifunction steering wheel control module" isn't there any more, possibly one of the differences between the pre and post facelift steering wheels?

 

Any advice welcome!

 

Maintenance: £2299.88

Upgrades: £1379.46 (+£46.54)

Miscellaneous: £697.20

[nicknorman]

Been there and very nearly done that with the “virtual pedal” several times. One time in the garage with a lot of junk behind the car, I sidled past it must have had a foot slightly underneath, boot opened and knocked me over onto the pile of stuff. Still, that was better than putting a dent in it. And very nearly put a dent in it on my new one when I had just disconnected a glider trailer. It is also very easy to accidentally press the boot open button if you have the fob in your pocket. I use a small leather key fob holder to reduce the instances of that happening.

 

If you need any scans from VCDS on my FL 2023 L&K with heated steering wheel, just ask. It does have predictive ACC so the setting for that will be different and I suppose the modules may be later versions.

[commievid]

So after a bit of swotting, I'm coming up with the possibility of needing to upgrade the CAN Gateway.

 

I may also need to upgrade the BCM, to pave the way for the Virtual Cockpit.

 

I imagine that both of those require a fair chunk of Component Protection sorting out in addition to other things beyond simple coding.

 

BCM for example sounds like the keys would need to be assigned to it. This also seems to be the case for the Virtual Cockpit as well.

 

So would mean needing to do things twice if I do it in stages. I guess spread over a period of time it's not a bother, but still feels a bit silly to me. It is what it is I suppose.

 

Current options are:

1. Source a BCM, looks like circa 5Q0 937 084 CG or above (DC? DD?). The existing one is 5Q0 937 084 AN according to VCDS
2. Source a CAN gateway. Existing one is 5Q0 907 530 M (5Q0 907 530 AJ software?) and other posts on the forums cite ones starting 3Q0 such as 3Q0 907 530 C, based on this post: https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/491347-how-to-retrofit-virtual-cockpit/?do=findComment&comment=5820532
3. Get both sorted in regards Component Protection and keys and coding, etc. from someone who has the required online access.
4. Do the Virtual Cockpit in the future, with the steps in 3 done again but just for the Virtual Cockpit, everything else hopefully already in place.

OR

 

Do it all in one go, Virtual Cockpit included, so the someone can handle all three things in one wallop.

 

OR

 

Call it off for now, put the original steering wheel back in, stuff should be ok as before (re-code to remove the heated steering wheel heating from the touchscreen menu).

 

This is all mainly for the cruise control/ACC to be sorted, but I suppose if the Virtual Cockpit is on the cards, I'll have to pony up eventually.

 

I've ordered some more DSG oil, I'll re add about 2-3 litres and warm it through again. Hopefully I can raise and level out the car with the wheels on, as I don't want to get it all up on axle stands again.

 

MoT is booked for 20 May, and insurance will kick in then. It was £460 based on 3 years no claims (from a previous Company Car) which was better than earlier quotes of circa £550 and better than the £900 quote for said previous Company Car (Tesla Model 3, up from £450 the year before!).

 

Maintenance: £2299.88

Upgrades: £1379.46

Miscellaneous: £697.20

[commievid]

Ordered these over the Bank Holiday and have arrived unnecessarily quickly:

 

Both the BCM and CAN gateway.

 

I think there are newer CAN gateways, with 5xx version numbers, but this was £15. The BCM was £20, which I think is a little beyond the CG revision that was probably sufficient.

 

But at £35 for both, even if these aren't compatible or don't work or whatever, probably not too damaging.

 

I guess the damage will come from the actual software side of things, as it looks like I'll need to find someone to sort out transferring of codes and whatever from the current modules to these (in as compatible a manner as possible) with the additional key fob handling and Component Protection removal/sorting out.

 

So I guess these will end up sitting around for a month or two really, whilst I swot up and try to plan how to do this.

 

I guess wherever/however this is done, something will need reading from the existing modules, then the modules are swapped, then the transfer/update/fixing of said modules after.

 

If anyone is nearby Rugby or the Midlands let me know!

 

Maintenance: £2299.88

Upgrades: £1414.46 (+£35.00)

Miscellaneous: £697.20

 

[commievid]

Couple more litres of DSG oil arrived, so cracked on with getting that topped back into the gearbox. This was more of the same stuff as last time, £17.35 for 2 litres.

 

So two litres in:

 

Then once warmed to 35 degrees, a bit more came out.

 

The excess was drained into one of those containers with a pan area at the top as seen in the pic, and decanting the contents of that back into the DSG bottles left about 1.6l.

 

So factoring in some remaining in the pump, and perhaps the oil container still having residue and all sorts of other factors, I'd guess about 500ml to 750ml could have been added.

 

So yeah, not sure if all this was a little overkill, but certainly better to not need to worry about it I suppose. Hey, if it blew up, chance to source a 7 speed?

 

Right side nozzle still dribbled when the bonnet was raised:

 

Anyways.

 

If I'm bored, I might put the old steering wheel back in, maybe leave the Kufatec loom in place for now, to confirm whether any of the error codes come back up and whether the cruise control stalk comes back. Not sure what that would confirm for me, other than something else beyond the facelift steering wheel is missing, pointing again to maybe the CAN gateway.

 

Enquired about the CAN and BCM and one of the physically nearest guys in Coventry by the looks of it suggests that he couldn't sort out the BCM due to the keys and that it wouldn't work if he tried to connect to the servers because of mismatched part numbers.

 

Not sure that's true to be honest, so I'll keep asking around. I imagine I'll be DMing a few people on these forums over the next few weeks, hopefully once the car has the MoT, there's nothing stopping the car from travelling to get whatever coding needs to be done.

 

Maintenance: £2317.23 (+£17.35)

Upgrades: £1414.46

Miscellaneous: £697.20

Edited 10 May by commievid

[commievid]

Very sunny weekend, but nothing particular planned. I'm one of those that don't mind the Eurovision so just happily sat and watched that in the evening, and otherwise catching up on telly for a weekend.

 

Whilst cleaning up the garage, decided to see if some Tar Remover I bought a few months back can help with the sills:

 

It had an orange hint to it, so I suspect it isn't really much different to Goo Gone, i.e. some petroleum based solution. As you can see, after a minute or so, it was certainly doing something to the tar spots, so got some shop cloths and started wiping away.

 

Some of the bits were awkward and needed a few applications and wipes. Once clear, got some panel degreaser and cleaned the general areas:

 

Pretty much repeated it for the other remaining areas. Still not sure how this is even possible, is there loads of tar in the air up there? I'll need to do the same for the engine bay area as there's bits there as well.

 

It is forecast to rain this afternoon, ending a nice sunny few days, so before that:

 

Went and revisited the replacement door seals that have been sitting in the house for ages. The pic above shows the part numbers. I believe the general rule is that odd numbers are left and vice versa, so this ending 366 C should be the right hand side. I'm not sure it even matters though, one could easily flip it over?

 

Kudos to @ChrisCh via:

for perfectly outlining the required steps. He's noted that the upper B pillar trim also needs removing, which the workshop manual doesn't mention, suggesting the A pillar area is sufficient.

 

So went to have a look:

 

Got a trim removal tool to loosen out the "Airbag" labelled cover, which eventually pops out, no rhyme or reason really. This is easier to do with the front seat moved all the way back I felt. This reveals the T25 torx screw behind:

 

I suggest something magnetic when taking this out, as I've had past incidents with dropped bolts and washers into the abyss in the past!

 

There are two trim clips along the bottom of this trim piece:

 

So a gentle pry and a not-so-gentle pull:

 

Freeing it from the bottom then separates the seat belt height bit. This is pretty much the usual for cars, where the trim bit connects to the actual seat belt anchor behind, so needs to be aligned when refitting. Anyways, the trim piece itself is loosely fitted along the top, so just pulling it straight down:

 

Frees the piece and in this case, just move the trim piece away, no need to disconnect the seat belt anchor, etc.

 

Next is the A pillar:

 

So pried from the top, and eventually, with again, not-so-gentle pulling, the two clips keeping it in place come away:

 

The chassis appears to be slotted, so presumably, the trim is located, before being pushed downwards and then presumably into the slot to secure it.

 

With the piece removed, the part number for the left side trim is visible:

 

Thus confirming the odd number part being the left side.

 

I took a note of the location of the seal's joining point:

 

The workshop manual mentions this needs aligning to a hinge, although the pic above suggests its to the door check strap, so I'll roughly align it there when installing the new one.

 

It's then a case of just pulling the trim away:

 

Then lobbing it onto the floor. Bits of dirt was escaping between the grooves of the seal:

 

So out with the vacuum and a damp cloth to clean up the general area around the seal before fitting the new one. Whilst it was drying (not really that long with this lovely weather), went and repeated on the other side:

 

I got about halfway through removal as you can see before realising:

 

The dashboard side trim was still in place on the right side. The left side was removed ages back during the wiring of the wireless charger and heated steering wheel, so that was already removed.

 

So simply prying with the trim tool:

 

There's about 4 or so clips keeping it place, so nice and simple.

 

Then once removed, went back to the other side:

 

To fit the new seal. I started with the joining line bit, put that roughly along the door check strap location, and went clockwise, pushing the seal along the car frame as far it goes along the way. The workshop manual says to start at the top rear corner, but then also mentions that alignment, which felt a little impractical.

 

I luckily didn't have much drama from this, as long as its fit without deliberate loose parts, it's a nice slightly snug fit. Then it's a case of tucking the trims and seals appropriately, where bits of the trim sit over and under parts of it.

 

Whilst repeating for the other side:

 

Noticed specks of red and somehow managed to cut my finger. This car is now taking pounds of flesh.

 

So plastered up and mess wiped away, installed the other side:

 

Bits on this side were more of a hassle for some reason, trim not wanting to move around, etc.

 

Once all in, just a case of reversal for getting the trim bits back on:

 

So for the B pillars, push them up into the grooves in the top of the car, then align the seat belt height adjuster, then push the two bottom clips into place. Screw the bolt back in (magnetic screwdriver lest it decides to be annoying and fly for freedom), then that cover back on. Workshop manual suggests 2.5Nm but I just did it to hand tight.

 

The A pillars next:

 

Left side felt straightforward, slot it roughly at the bottom, then align the bottom clip in that groove before pushing the trim downwards and into the car metal as much as possible. Then I guess just tap it into place with the back of my fist until it clicked.

 

The other side was more awkward for some reason, and still doesn't feel like it's in place. This could be the sun beating down on my back on that side of the car though possibly.

 

Then its clipping back the dashboard sides:

 

That's it really. Another go through checking the seal is all aligned and neat with the trims, and that was that.

 

Probably could have a preponed the MoT to earlier than the 20th to be honest, I think it'll be much easier with the car being road legal before exploring the CAN/BCM stuff in case I need to travel. In the grand scheme of things, it's only another week, so hardly the end of the world really.

 

What I really need to do is carry on cleaning up the garage after all of this, and to really prep for a big bunch of jobs on the poor Honda Insight, which is seriously in need of some TLC.

 

I technically need to prep the old suspension for disposal, but I think I'll do that in the distant future when I really have nothing else to do.

 

Technically, the rear dampers seem to be ok, they slowly go back to position, but at least they do. They're just so rusty that I don't see how anyone would want it.

 

One front damper is shot, not retracting at all; and its relative rust correlates, especially compared to the other, which does retract and has only slight rust. I guess to be honest, suspension should be done in pairs, so unless someone is in a bind and wants a spare front DCC damper, then I'll be disposing that as well. @nicknorman can probably suggest when that damper was replaced, else I peruse the old invoices.

 

That's probably me for the week, unless I find something random to post about. Fingers crossed for the 20 May.

 

Maintenance: £2317.23

Upgrades: £1414.46

Miscellaneous: £697.20

Edited 12 May by commievid

[nicknorman]

I can see from the MOT history that the front shocker was replaced in Feb 2022 at 75,800 miles, ie it has done less than 30,000 miles. They cost around £500 each so I would have thought it had some second hand value. I was a bit surprised that the garage didn't suggest replacing both, but on the other hand I had not noticed a significant problem with the handling etc even though the duff one had zero fluid or damping - and most of my driving is on twisty Scottish roads where I don't tend to hang about. The antiroll bar seemed to transfer sufficient damping from the other side. So a slight mismatch between a worn and new one isn't going to be detectable especially with the DCC system individually modifying the damping on each shocker "on the fly".

Edited 12 May by nicknorman