Ask a Shiter

[DVee8]

The FiL would like to know how much antifreeze is requied for his 2.0 TDi Seat Leon 06 plate.He is planning to drain the system and refilling.

Can any of you knowledgeable lot help out? Please..

[twosmoke300]

Assuming its a 1p leon with a BKD engine then total cooling capacity is 8 litres so 4 litres of coolant from bone dry .

[Sigmund Fraud]

The miserable VAG van (SEAT Inca) is sticking in third gear, only going down the gears and can be wrestled out of third at idle. Sometimes.

I lubed the rods which improved the gear change but it still sticks in third - it's got to be something internal, right?

 

I fear you're right. If it was a linkage problem, 1st and 5th would also be affected. It's probably an internal fault, potentially something to do with the selector forks.

 

I'm developing a deep hatred of the 085 boxes, they really are the Achilles' heel of any car they're fitted to !

[somewhatfoolish]

Saw an "all electric" London bus earlier with smoke/steam coming out of a side exit exhaust(?) near the front - WTF is that all about?!

Assuming it isn't a mislabeled infernal destruction engine having an ZOMGHGF! moment then it might be some newfangled powercell thing(some of which operate at very high temperatures. Another possibility could be a sterling engine of some kind, but then the 'all electric' bit would be a fat lie.

 

While I'm posting, what's the gig with pineapples and VAG products? I are confused.

[Bobthebeard]

Today the (so far) totally reliable Saab has bonged up some faults on the SID during a drive home from Wales. Never done it before..... But three times today in a 80 mile trip.

BONG...

TCS, ABS and brake warning lights came on. Then went off. Three times randomly. Everything still working as normal. On one occasion the speedometer very briefly dropped to zero. Normal service resumed quickly.

Should I be worried?

[Guest]

Today the (so far) totally reliable Saab has bonged up some faults on the SID during a drive home from Wales. Never done it before..... But three times today in a 80 mile trip.

BONG...

TCS, ABS and brake warning lights came on. Then went off. Three times randomly. Everything still working as normal. On one occasion the speedometer very briefly dropped to zero. Normal service resumed quickly.

Should I be worried?

May well be the other side front ABS ring- the Nearside IIRC. There is a new one in the boot.

[Bobthebeard]

May well be the other side front ABS ring- the Nearside IIRC. There is a new one in the boot.

Thanks Barry.

Although the one in the boot has already been fitted a couple of months ago to cure the ABS kicking in at low speed. It cured it. No issues with that since.

[bunglebus]

 

While I'm posting, what's the gig with pineapples and VAG products? I are confused.

 

I've always assumed it was a dig at roofracks filled with unnecessary tat on the roofs of old Golfs etc, in the hope of attaining "scene points". 

[Guest]

Thanks Barry.

Although the one in the boot has already been fitted a couple of months ago to cure the ABS kicking in at low speed. It cured it. No issues since.

Ah, may be the ABS sensor then- the speedo etc get their data from the abs sensors. Can you plug it in to see which one ?

[Bobthebeard]

Sadly not, although my local friendly garage probably can. Will take it round on Monday.

Have covered over 10K miles so far, and we love the car. It will get what it needs. Had two oil and filter changes using Saab fully synthetic oil and GM filters since I got it. Four new tyres and is properly pampered!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I've always assumed it was a dig at roofracks filled with unnecessary tat on the roofs of old Golfs etc, in the hope of attaining "scene points".

 

Yes, that's about the size of it. I think the pineapple bit comes from a plastic pineapple shaped ice bucket on the roof of a particular eBay tat VW , along with the obligatory old suitcase, child's bike , red cart etc

[Lacquer Peel]

I fear you're right. If it was a linkage problem, 1st and 5th would also be affected. It's probably an internal fault, potentially something to do with the selector forks.

 

I'm developing a deep hatred of the 085 boxes, they really are the Achilles' heel of any car they're fitted to !

 

Today it wouldn't select any gear except reverse, 4th and 5th. Slipping the clutch to get moving from standstill in 4th is a delight*. Now it's back to being functional if I avoid 3rd gear. Shite.

[twosmoke300]

I've had the 13mm nut come loose on vag gearboxes.The one in the middle of the selector arm and the arm wears and causes weird gear shift problems

[Lacquer Peel]

Where is that 13mm nut? 

[twosmoke300]

If it's the same type of box as I'm thinking of it's on top of the gear change turret on top of the box . Prob under the airbox / battery .

[Sigmund Fraud]

If it's the same type of box as I'm thinking of it's on top of the gear change turret on top of the box . Prob under the airbox / battery .

 

Sadly this is the later box, fitted after the 9N. Mr.Peel has the older type, in which gearchange is at the back.

[3VOM]

Either the exhaust is still leaking or its running weak for some other reason. MAF? Might it be worth taping over a smallish segment of the air filter?

Found (and hopefully fixed) a leak on an exhaust joint. Now just need a retest ASAP.

[3VOM]

Grump number 2

Yup. My friend had the same issues on her 1.2 16v Mk2 Clio. 

 

The first time it wouldn't go I found the chafed wiring to the ECU. Split the big bundle of cable and taped up the worn bits, and pulled the big plugs to the ECU and dried them off.

 

That got it running for about 3 months, til it did the same thing again, This time the fuse box behind the passenger headlight was soaked. Pulled all the fuses, dried everything off, contact cleaner in all the fuse sockets (sockets?) and cleaned up rusty legs on the fuses. Put it all back together and it fired up first turn of the key.

 

That got it running for another 6 months, til it got rear ended by Richard Head who was pissing about on his phone insetad of looking where he was going. Contact cleaner didn't help it that time.

The non starting Clio. Had a look at the loom under the bonnet. Yes, there are a couple of worn wires that have been taped over but they do not seem to have broken. Checked the ECU connections under the passenger side dash. Pulled out, cleaned, put back. Now I have no alarm light on the dash. Pull all connectors out, put back. Alarm light back. Still doesn't start in exactly the same way as before. Fucksticks.

[Lacquer Peel]

Sadly this is the later box, fitted after the 9N. Mr.Peel has the older type, in which gearchange is at the back.

 

Yeah it looks identical to a Mk1 Jetta setup (gear linkage vid on youtube).

 

According to The Internet if the gear selector fork is gone the gear shifter will easily go into its position but this isn't the case with mine and it will select. Sometimes.

[catsinthewelder]

Seat runners in the jaaaag have star/torx type fasteners I've seen before BUT the front ones have kind of the same thing in reverse - and I have never seen these - so for the front ones, I'm guessing the tool to tighten/untighten is a sort of star socket "female" rather than a bit "male".  Anyone know the right words to say/type to get one of these?

 

A lot of the time you can get away with using normal single hex sockets on these.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Yeah it looks identical to a Mk1 Jetta setup (gear linkage vid on youtube).

 

According to The Internet if the gear selector fork is gone the gear shifter will easily go into its position but this isn't the case with mine and it will select. Sometimes.

 

Time to drop the gear oil and see what you find in it ? I bet there will be bits of metal floating around...

 

Did I mention how much I hate 085s ?

[3VOM]

Grump number 2

The non starting Clio. Had a look at the loom under the bonnet. Yes, there are a couple of worn wires that have been taped over but they do not seem to have broken. Checked the ECU connections under the passenger side dash. Pulled out, cleaned, put back. Now I have no alarm light on the dash. Pull all connectors out, put back. Alarm light back. Still doesn't start in exactly the same way as before. Fucksticks.

Is the next thing to pull out the ECU and "dry it out"?

[cort1977]

I get them if I remember and they're cheap like 30c on rockauto but have done many changes reusing the old one and never had an issue. One of those 'good practice but not essential' things I think.

 

Please ignore my advice in future. Changed the oil yesterday, reused the old washer and yes, I now have a slight drip from the sump plug. Change the washer, turns out it's cheap insurance...

[Bfg]

^ you do make me laugh 

 

I had a drip from the underside of the rocker covers and so decided to change the gaskets while I have the inner wings off  (it's a 4-cyl boxer engine)..  The new ones were rubber and are bonded onto the inside of the cover, but the old one ..phew I had to chip them off with a wood chisel, then scrap and rigorously wire wool the surface ..they were that hard.  So, I guess previous owners had been frugal* ..perhaps from new ? (41 years ago).    

 

Let's see how the 'frugal figures' work out ..Say at an average of one drip (or drop) per mile. 

 

Drop : Used commonly in medicine and cooking. A drop is a unit of volume defined as the volume of a liquid in one drop. It has been used since the 19^th century and is considered one of the most roughly specified units of volume. Undoubtedly, the volume of a drop depends on the method or device used for producing drops.  1 drop = 0.0000171322 (US) Gallons  = 0.0000142655 (Imp) Gallons

 

Therefore, one drip (or drop), per pair of rocker-covers, per mile, over 30,000 miles  = 0.0000142655 x 2 x 30,000 = 0.856 (Imp) Gallons ..or 1.03 (US) gallons.

 

And the cost of engine oil ..versus the cost of oil sump washer &/or gaskets..

 

.

.

Sorry., my tea break is over ..I'm heading back to the workshop

[somewhatfoolish]

You also need an algorithm for how much rust is prevented by the oil leak!

[Bfg]

^ Rules., Rules., more blinking rules..  Are you one of them there supporters of the nanny state ?

[oldcars]

I have won a load of bits for the 75 on ebay. Buyer won't send but will pack them up for collection. Been on parcels2go.com and prices are good. As the stuff is being send to me and not by me, i take it i can still arrange and pay with my address but collect from his? Never done anything like this before.

[DodgeRover]

He will need to be able to print the label to stick to the parcel then wait in all day for the courier to maybe turn up.

Check they will be ok with that, I had it a few times where they've collected at 7pm which is obviously no go for a work address.

[oldcars]

He will need to be able to print the label to stick to the parcel then wait in all day for the courier to maybe turn up.

Check they will be ok with that, I had it a few times where they've collected at 7pm which is obviously no go for a work address.

Good point. I have said i will chuck him a few extra quid for his bother.

[clayts450]

Fuel filter apparently welded on (it's a union, so two spanner job, absolutely no give whatsoever) - found a handy tip about using a brake pipe spanner but no dice. 

 

Aside from going on a very quick high-carb diet as clearly I'm too feeble to match the strength of the gorilla who fitted the original at Longbridge, what 'magic spray' do people here usually go to - PlusGas ?