Geo

the 195/50 is slightly lower than the 185/55, but it's not significant. This website will tell you all you need to know: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

The same thing happened to me over the weekend with a set of wheels. I left it because you know that if you bid and then they don't want to post to the UK that you will get -ve feedback yourself.

Rear bias valve needs to be unbolted from the axle when the axle bushes are being done. However the bolts are usually seized to it has to be cut off so you'll probably need to get a new one then anyway. I think they are £40 or thereabouts but I'm not sure. I'd stick with oe rear axle bushes as these are the only ones that will give you passive rear wheel steering like VW intended the C to have. I think the poly ones have some refinement issues as well. re the idle hunting did you/he try cleaning the isv valve? It could solve the problem for you.

would have to be between firestone and toyo. Hankook aren't too good and the others are more expensive.

The black screw on filters (most Golfs/G60) are made by MHO and the cartridge type ones (VR6) are Hengst. The ones from GSF seem to be Mann etc... I'd say once your filter is made by any of those 4 companies (bosch, hengst, mann, mahle) then you're fine.

Ok well if it was my car I'd go with these: Great value at that price. On the other hand I'd stay well clear of the following: General 195/50R15 XP2000 82V £26.09 Gajah Tunggal Champiro 195/50 R15 V £36.72 Wanli S1080 195/50 R15 V £26.38 Woosung DH 50 195/50 R15 V £29.83 Absolute sh1t!

I used to work as a mechanic up until a few years ago and I never liked castrol oils at all. They don't seem to have as high a level of detergent in them as many other brands. The internals of an engine with castrol oil in it were usually filthy. However, that was with normal GTX I don't know if things have improved with their newer range of synthetic oils. I have used several oil types in my cars which I have found to be good, shell, duckhams, elf, valvoline, mobil 1 (not their 0W/40 stuff) re the oil filter, bosch aren't the only filter company to supply VW with oe filters. There are at least two more so if the filter you get is made by one of these companies then you are ok. -1. Knecht Mahle, the same company that make engine parts like pistons, and 2. Mann & Hummel. And there could be a third (Hengst) but I'm not sure if they are oe or not.

They are excellent. Although as Blown says they don't work as well if your car hasn't been polished for a while, like mine :oops: :)

I saw 4 stud solitudes on ebay.de last night. Was half tempted to buy them, see if they suited the mk2 and sell them on if they didn't!

You can use either 185/55 or 195/50 as long as you use one or the other and don't mix sizes. Most people use 195/50 because they are a more common size and therefore easier to get and generally cheaper. The 81V and 82V are speed ratings. If you buy a decent make of tyre you shouldn't have to worry about that.

Just to give some more perspective, here's the next picture in the series:

Is there a prize for the worst members picture? If so I'd say I have it in the bag....(I'm sitting in the passenger seat hold on to the 'Jesus handle' ! 8) )

Yeah they may have been overtightened. Directly after driving the car see if one of the back hubs is hotter than the other. When the bearings are gone the extra friction causes more heat to be generated.

Yes it comes off when you unscrew the nut at the base.

There's a new one on ebay for a fiver + postage.

Well obviously one revolution of the alternator won't match up to one revolution of the crankshaft but you can still work out the engine revs from the alternator. As regards the VR6 system, I've never looked so I'm sure you are right but the vast majority of cars with rev counters take the reading from the alternator.

The rev counter gets its signal from the alternator not the crank sensor.

ebay.de always have loads for sale.

They are pretty sick prices guys. I'll make sure my tank is full heading over to inters anyway!

How about 80-90 cent per litre here in Ireland. That's less than 60 pence

I didn't think the mk3 1.4 had an isv.......could be wrong though :)

In a healthy car when you turn on the ignition the fuel pump should pump for a second or so and then stop. Then when you turn to the start position the engine speed sensor should give back the signal to the coilpack and the fuel pump to operate so that the engine will start. So, you've already established that you have no spark when the engine is turning over. So now check to see if the fuel pump is operating when the engine is turning over but not starting? If it is working then the engine speed sensor isn't the problem and you could be looking at a coil pack issue. But if the fuel pump isn't pumping then you can be pretty sure that the engine speed sensor is faulty.

Hmmm... bad luck mate. Looks expensive for him alright. New wing, bonnet, headlight, grille and maybe front panel as the headlight seems to be pushed in a bit as well.

I have used the Toyos and Bridgestones in the past and found them excellent. I've heard that the Goodyear F1's are good for grip but wear out quite quickly. The most long lasting tyres I'd say would be the michelins but they don't have the same grip as the others. Wet and dry grip should be your priority over longevity, after all, it's not a mondeo you're driving!

That used to happen to the old mk1 and mk2 golf diesels, they could blow the oil filter right off the engine. Pressure relief valve problem I think.