Magnet

Hello Paul, Thanks for being in touch. I would not like to claim this is the answer to your issues, but it could be that the car is overfueling/ running too rich and contaminating the plugs, rather than faulty plugs or coil packs. Does the car use any significant amount of oil? If it were mine, I think I would be considering a simply emissions test at your friendly local MOT station. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, I’m quite capable of confusing myself - without outside assistance! How many labels have you got, and where are they? - inside fuel filler flap? Or are you saying you have one label, but you’ve now found it differentiates between the XL, (which you thought you didn’t have) and the the same tyre sizes in non- XL form? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Pete, It’s probably me, but I’m still not sure of the exact nature of your issue from the description you give us. Is the gear lever notchy? If it is, can the lever be moved through the gears smoothly with the engine switched off and the clutch depressed? Are you talking about the lack of smooth acceleration between the gears? Is there any clutch judder, or does the clutch feel any different to what it used to be like? Kind regards, Gareth.

Sounds like it’s bucket and sponge, and the Hoover then Nigel! MOT expires 23rd June. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Gerry, Thanks for being in touch. Could you let the forum know what side wing, what colour, and what colour code you are looking for. We take it you are looking for a secondhand wing of the same colour as your car, which is understandable. The issue you have is that greatly reduces the chance of finding one, and in my experience, even if you do, there is a strong possibility that it will have suffered from a couple of storage scratches and surface imperfections. Possible sources, EBay, Gumtree, for breaking this model. Registering your want with online car breaker links such as Partsfinder etc. ( there are others) which alert car breakers of your want. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Nigel, Thanks for placing the advert and for leaving a phone number for any more detail. Trust you don’t mind me pointing out that you don’t mention any thing about mileage, MOT ( appreciate theses can be looked up on line but it saves anyone having to do that), service history, and of course price. Perhaps risking appearing critical when it’s meant to be constructive, but it will probably pay dividends - interest wise - to invest in a valet. Good luck with the sale. Kind regards, Garetg.

Hello Ashley, I can’t claim this is the the cause of your issue, but ‘bulb out’ warnings usually activate by monitoring resistance in the circuit, so it associates an abnormal resistance by indicating the bulb isn’t working. Now LED bulbs may ( and probably do) have a different operating current/ resistance from the normal original non LED bulbs, so it assumes it’s a ‘bulb out’ issue, and throws up that warning. Test:- fit new standard bulbs and see if it resolves your issue. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Pete, Thanks for being in touch, but you really will need to give us rather more of a description than you have. Can’t help noticing you have a strange description of the this car and it’s year! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, Many thanks for being in touch. It seems you have indeed covered most bases in trying to solve this issue, and it’s very difficult to suggest a next move. Before putting a ‘friend’ - armed with light and some sandwiches! - in the boot, I think I would be removing the vent/s again and securely taping over the aperture to see if that influences the situation. Sorry, can’t think of anything else that you haven’t tried. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

My family and I would like to wish all members and their families on here, and of course, those who administer the forum, the best Christmas we are allowed, and hope that 2021 will bring an improvement over the past year. Take care all. Kind regards, Gareth.

Can any members help David out with the pressures they use with this model with these tyres? Have you checked with Continental, David? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hi Ian, Covid gun? Probably far too low a range. Worth looking on EBay to see what you can find, but my priority would definitely still be the belt associated noise - the coolant gets warm, even if not up to normal operating temp., so no great worry. If your belt is what I call serpentine, and goes around a number of comment pulleys and tensioner etc., then it’s worth doing a sketch of its routing before taking it off, so you know you’ve put it back correctly! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, Thanks for the additional information. I really think you have to break all of this down into individual issues, then plan and prioritise your actions. If you don’t, you will be trying to sort 3? problems simultaneously, and you will be at risk of disappearing up a certain orifice! Sorry to perhaps be coming over as critical, but much of your logic is based on assumption e.g. dodgy fitter, so he didn’t change the water pump and that’s what the problem is, etc. I wouldn’t be assuming anything, but I would be testing, rather than simply changing parts and getting no where. If this were mine, my priority would be:- Belt noise - since we now know this is a belt driven cam/s any noise becomes significant. My belief is ( but I’m not certain from your description) is that you believe the noise is associated with the auxiliary (in caps) belt and not the cambelt. If this is so, then things are potentially less urgently concerning. By auxiliary belt, we are talking about the visible belt which drives the alternator, air con, and power steering if fitted. If this is what you are suspecting the noise is associated with, then the simply elimination/ conformation, is to temporarily remove it to see if the noise disappears. If the noise goes then you will need to ascertain which of the driven components - or tensioner or idler- is the culprit. If the noise is still there, then sorry, this is worrying so let’s hope it’s not. Just report back on your findings, since we don’t want to confuse things even more. Moving on - car not reaching temperature. Repeating, refit the original thermostat and measure the operating temperature at the thermostat housing (when it opens) , using an indirect point-it device. Appreciate you don’t have one, but I doubt if they are that expensive, and you need it to prevent yourself going round in circles. Heater - I now gather that certain direction ducts produce warm (hot enough?) air, whereas some don’t. This suggests the matrix is reasonably serviceable, and you have issues with flap/ motors which divert the produced heating. I’m old Ian! and I find, and have found, it’s always best to tackle one problem at a time - don’t assume anything until you have test information - and fix the one problem before moving on to the next. If you don’t, you are likely to end up possibly having fixed a problem, but being unsure how, because you have been playing with two things at one time.

Hello Ian, Apologies for the delay. Water pump driven by external auxiliary drive belt - and not by a cambelt? If it’s noisy then it should be changed - urgently if it’s cambelt driven ( your description suggests it isn’t). When changing it, if not using VAG ( generally not so expensive than they used to be - particularly with discount - which I can point you to) then go for a reasonable aftermarket such as SKF etc., although I don’t have any direct experience of this brand. Thermostats? I would still get back to basics and check the operating temperature first. Apologies for being boring by repeating. Your original might be fine. If you are buying aftermarket again (and again repeating, I’m not claiming your Circoli ones are suspect) then Gates sounds better than most, but Gates make very good belts, but thermostats? I would live with the heater until you have fixed the other issues. Yes, you will get a flow through a partially blocked matrix. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paul, Thanks for being in touch. Do you have a question? If so, you will need to fill in some detail. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks David, now we are getting the full story. Thanks for repeating the question. XL are normally fitted to estates, and I guess they are classifying the Sportback as that. They have stronger and less flexible sidewalls, and will accommodate higher pressures. My suspicion is that the car’s ride quality is a bit on the harsh side, due to low profile tyres, the less flexible XL sidewall, and of course the sports suspension. Handling - if that’s your bag - should be good Although I would agree the pressures seem high, they are the recommended pressures for your vehicle fitted with the XL tyres, and logic would now point to following this recommendation unless Continental advise others - are you going to contact them? - pending any other owner’s coming up with their suggested pressures. Have you checked if these are run- flat tyres by any chance? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, We’ll try to go one step at a time:- Flushing agent that would unblock a scaled up and partially blocked heater matrix? If the heater core matches this description, then I can’t see anything will clear the blocked cores for the reasons already stated. Thermostats - I obviously cannot claim there is anything wrong with the Circoli stats you have,and it’s just a personal thing that I don’t tend to buy aftermarket parts on price alone - and these are usually sold cheaply. Genuine VAG may be expensive even with discount, but... Alternatives? Bosch, Continental, Gates - of course, you will appreciate that these will not be made in-house, but should be manufactured to a reasonable specification. Your car has thermostat issues? Would not guarantee that until you have actually measured the the running temperature, rather than depending on a low gauge reading. Water pump cause of issues? Yet to find a pump which has failed to circulate coolant without making some protesting noises to let you know it’s not happy. Noises associated with drive belts? Always worth investigating. Is the water pump driven by the cambelt assembly - if your engine has belt driven cams rather than chain driven? Hope some of this helps. Kind regards, Gareth.

You are very welcome Ian, Circoli thermostats? Um! I must admit that I’m not a great fan of ECP if only for the reason that they seem to trade mainly by attracting customers by offering attractive ‘limited-period’ discounts on so called retail prices. You will often find that competitors sell the same items cheaper - without discount - than they do after you have applied the codes! Also their subsidiaries can often sell items cheaper than ECP do. Still.... If not fitting a genuine VAG (often at discount) then I would only fit a well know brand such as Bosch or Continental - yes I know they don’t make them, but... Circoli are very competitively priced, but I don’t buy on price - I go on best quality at best price. I’m not claiming this is the cause of your heater problem, but flushing through with flushing agents is fine, and will certainly remove sludge etc. but seldom do they break down scale which actually blocks individual cores. The logic of my argument lies with the fact that the flushing agent will pass through a line of least resistance, by- passing blocked cores. I’ve seen too many old radiator cores still blocked after such treatment, to believe otherwise. I still think you have to break this down into the two separate problems you have, and I would be sorting the coolant temperature issue first and getting that needle sitting happily at the normal point. Hope some of this helps, Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Eduard, Simple things first:- get you local tyre fitters to remove wheels, thoroughly inspect the tyres, and check balancing. (Don’t tell me you’ve had that done and not said!) If no problems found, put front wheels to back and vice versa. Let’s eliminate this possibility before getting into more detail, and anticipated expense. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks indeed Gavin. Great and much appreciated. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Eduard, Manual or automatic? Could you confirm the car behaves perfectly well from cold? When you say it then shakes, can you feel this shake through the brake pedal and/or the clutch pedal ( if manual)? Reversing and issues:- does the problem arise on normal speed reversing, or are we talking fast reversing? Is there any vibration with the car when cruising at 65 to 70 mph? Kind regards, Gareth.

OK David, The XL will be embossed on the sidewall - if they are XL. You will need to look. 35psi and 32 rear would sound to be alright, and yes the car would appear to be alright, because the pressures are uniform across the axle m and have a variance back to front. Correct pressures though? Repeating:- If it were mine, I would be checking Continental’s website, or if the information there is not conclusive, it’s a question of making a good old fashioned phone call. Perhaps you could feed back to the forum for the benefit of others. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, Pending other owner’s reply. I too would think that those pressures would seem to be on the high side. Is the car a Quattro and/or, are the tyres Xl ( extra load)? I always follow the label on the car, but say 38psi front and 35 rear may be a reasonable starting point if non Quattro and not XL. Can we assume you have matching tyre makes across the same axle? If so, I would recommend you check with the manufacturer’s website/technical dept. for their recommendations. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andy, Welcome to the forum, all the more important at a time of trouble. I think the first thing is a bit of reassurance that most of us have been there at some time - it’s called experience and character building! Anyway, where from here? You will no doubt have the new sensor which should (hopefully) confirm that what is left there is a straightforward straight cylindrical shape which simply fits in the hole in the hub carrier. If so, two ways out:- simply tap the remaining bit further in with a close fitting drift until it falls out the other side - potential problem is that it extends too close to the driveshaft that you have insufficient clearance for it to be tapped out that way -so perhaps option 2 is a better bet:- measure the dia. of the shaft of the new sensor and choose a good drill bit which is approx. 2mm underside and carefully drill out the remains, taking care to only drill enough depth to come near to the bottom of the remains. It just a matter of then carefully tapping out/cleaning any remaining debris. Seems like you should be lucky enough to be able to get a drill in line with the remains. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, Thanks for the additional information - the story unfolds. Poor heating preceded the below- normal coolant reading, so unlikely to be connected to any significant degree. Why your gauge reads low - see earlier post. ‘Continually have air in system’. Logic suggests that since you have a closed pressurised system and no significant leaks, then air is unlikely to be drawn into this pressurised system. Despite bleeding, it suggests that you have remaining air in the system, rather than continually introduced air. It suggests you have some constriction somewhere and air is still being trapped. Heater issue? Either partially blocked core, or more likely some issue with the operation of the heating selection controls. Kind regards, Gareth.