Roger Blassberg

Latest news on this. I took off the heat shield from the side of the ABS unit so that I could see the part number. By then it was getting dark so I left the shield off. Next day I had a long journey, so I drove 300 miles without the heat shield, and Lo! and Behold! the warning light is doing exactly what it should. Could it be that the extra heat on the unit has somehow dried out some moisture in the wiring or has coaxed the pump back into action?? Anyway, I have now bought a secondhand unit from ebay.de as a strategic reserve in case of a recurrence of the problem, and will keep my fingers crossed. In the meantime, we have sailed through the MOT test without so much as an advisory so we live to fight another day! Best wishes RB

Latest news on my quest to improve the idle quality and, most importantly, stop the wretched stalling from overrun. I looked at the wiring diagram 127 in the Bentley and discovered that all the engine control components and the injectors are wired through the 42 pin connector on the cylinder head, so I thoroughly cleaned that with contact cleaner and re-seated it. It made a very significant and instant difference to the smoothness of the engine and has dramatically reduced the tendency to pink under full throttle acceleration. And so far the stalling has gone away too. So perhaps there was a poor connection to one or more injectors, leading to partial fuel starvation/weak mixture and therefore pinking under load, and also just not enough fuel to maintain a good idle in that part of the mapping. The run in this morning in the cold damp air was a dream compared to previous rough running. I'll keep a report going on this. Best wishes RB

Be sure to read the "Sticky" on fitting the oil cooler (at the top of this forum index). You must get the threaded tube in the correct way round or you will wreck the engine through oil starvation. Best wishes RB

I would be a bit worried about stability with both outer wings and the slam panel off. If the inner wings buckle in or out, the feet of the beam will slip off and then you are in trouble. How about temporarily putting the slam panel back in place to brace the structure up a bit more??

The sender on the gearbox converts a mechanical rotation (a plastic gear) into an electrical impulse sent to the speedo. Maybe the gear has sheared, or the electrical connector has developed a fault, Best wishes RB

How low is your suspension? If it's very low, the cv joints will constantly be articulated which will shorten their lives. Best wishes RB

Look in the Wiki under Engine Bay / Timing Chains you'll find a good guide to removing the transmission, with photos. Best wishes RB

I have now checked the resistances as my previous post (MAF cable 1 connected in turn to each of 2,3,4 and 5) and I get infinite resistance in each case with the MAF cable disconnected from the MAF and ignition off so the ECU is not energised. Is this the correct procedure? Cable 1 is brown/yellow so I assume is an earth. Comments/suggestions gratefully received - especially from RW1 who seems to be the electronics guru. Incidentally, I am getting good/very good fuel consumption (up to 35mpg on a moderate drive of 250 miles last weekend), so I am confident that the lamda is ok Best wishes RB

A larger bore master cylinder will mean less pedal travel but you'll need to push harder to get the same braking effort (in proportion to the second power of the ratio of the diameters) - it's like having a shorter lever to raise a load. RB

Courtesy of Daves16V I have fitted another MAF which has made running generally very much smoother. But, when there is a load on the alternator there is still a tendency to engine stalling if I dip the clutch after a short period of throttle closed over-run, and it still pinks under full throttle acceleration. I know that OBD2 is the way many of you will recommend, and to be honest I am sort of resigned to this (but I'm waiting for Hasan to do his first so that I can stand around with my hands in my pockets watching how it's done!!) At this point I want to check out the MAF wiring to make sure there are no breaks or abnormal resistances. Bentley says 1.5 Ohms between pin 1 and each of 2, 3, 4, and 5 in turn. I assume that this is with the connecter to the MAF disconnected and ignition off. Also, the wiring diagram shows 4 of the 5 wires going to the ECU and one of them going somewhere else (to earth maybe??) I'll also check out the wiring to the lamda probe. I tried disconnecting the ISV. The engine idles rather faster than normal and doesn't stall. Does this indicate anything to anyone? The ISV has just been cleaned and lightly lubricated and responds to electrical connection so is assumed to be in working order. RB

RW1 - not quite that. There is a plate, right up high, fixed to the firewall,which supports the 79, 179 and (2 off) 53 relays. They had been obscured from view until I unclipped and dropped the main fuse/relay board. So, no bad workmanship, just an arrangement different to that you and I expected. Anyway, having replaced 79 and 179 no change to the problem; what do the nearby 53 relays do?? If the car is left for several hours, all works perfectly well from startup UNTIL the ignition is switched off. If it is restarted fairly soon afterwards, the on/off test sequence works on startup, but the light comes on again at about 10mph and stays on until ignition switched off. Leave it overnight and all is well again until the next time. Sounds like a lazy solenoid or sticky valve. I have now found a place in Kent (BBE Reman) 01634 687222, who can rebuild the pump/valve block for about £150 with a lifetime guarantee, turnaround in 3 days. This looks to be the way to go. I have also found a replacement (2nd hand) part, a complete servo/mastercylinder/pump/valve block on ebay.de which I may go for if the price stays reasonable. RB

Found the relays at last - they were hidden behind the main fuse/relay board. I changed the no. 79 and no. 179, but STILL have the problem. I think it must be the pump/valve block because I have now changed just about everything else. Someone has suggested that there may be an interference between the wiring to the pump and the engine speed sensor/ignition wiring - a current being induced from one to the other due to their being in close proximity to each other, causing a fault to show up. Anyone heard of this before? Thanks for continued interest. RB

Thanks for the warning; "if it seems too good to be true............"(you know the rest). I have a 2nd hand one ecoming from Dave (see above). I'll give that a go before jumping onto the OBD2 bandwagon. This intermittenet stalling and surging business is ruining the whole thing for me; quite apart from the danger of arriving at a touch-and-go roundabout situation only to find that the engine has died in the meantime. Best wishes RB

Dave, I have sent a pm in response to yours, but can't be sure if you have received it. Please let me know - your offer is good, I'll arrange payment by your choice of method. Best wishes Roger

I did it with a trolley jack to support the passenger side of the car, another one to support the gearbox and an adjustable engine support beam. Not easy, but do-able. Best wishes RB

Thanks; would you drop me a pm with your asking price please? Best wishes RB

I am thinking of getting a new 6 pin MAF in the hope of curing the poor idle/stalling problem which I thought I had cured, but haven't!! There is an outfit in Lincolnshire called World Car Parts which supplies an after market equivalent to the Bosch 0280 213 021/VAG 021 906 461 MAF for about £70 delivered. Has anyone bought/used one of these? Are they any good? They offer a 1 year warranty. Best wishes RB

Engine speed sensor will always show a fault if the engine is not running. Best wishes RB

Max Powder Ltd · Unit 8, Kents Avenue, Hemel Hempstead , HP3 9XH. Tel: 01442 501393 ... Best wishes RB

What is happening in the ABS system when it goes through the "ignition on, light on/off" check? Is it just a check of electrical continuity? And what about that other thing that hapeens at about 10mph after first starting up - a sort of shudder through the car? Best wishes RB

If the bolt head is recessed and inaccessible, drill a decent sized HSS drill bit 10-15 millimetres into the head and disconnect it from the drill chuck to leave it projecting. Then you can use this as a heat conductor into the bolt without risking getting heat where you don't want it. Best wishes RB

Thanks for all your effort. They are too big to miss seeing aren't they? As said, this is a LHD car built in March 1994 and I've had it since new. The main fusebox was replaced a while ago, but obviously those relays and fuses for the ABS must be somewhere. Fingers crossed that this has cured the problem, but my curiosity is now aroused and I want to find those relays. I have tried locating them by listening out for the click as they go through the initial ignition-on check, but so far unsuccessfully. Best wishes RB

I took out the headlight switch and had a good peer around that area and coiuldn't find those wretched relays. However, I once again disconnected the multi-pin connector on the ABS unit and gave the pins and socket a good clean with WD40 as suggested. I also noticed, (for the first time it must be added,) another 2 connectors. One is further down behing the multi-pin and has two fairly thick red/stripe wires - I assume to be the main power supply to the unit, and also a two wire connector to the pedal position sensor on the servo unit. I disconnected and cleaned both of these then re-assembled. A good drive around, including all the usual manoeuvres which have in the past brought the fault light on, has so far NOT brought the light on. Best wishes RB

Thanks Can't find the ABS relays !! Sounds daft, took off the fusebox cover, and also the undertray into which that fits and exposed all electrical wiring around the fuse box. (LHD remember.) Only the relay positions 1-12 apparent. So took off undertray on passenger side, not there. Corrado Bentley manual (wiring diagram 84)shows abs relays in positions 13 (relay 78) and 14 (relay 79) and fuses in 19, 20 but of course this is a Passat B4. Are relays 78 and 79 the ones i'm looking for, irrespective of their position on the board? Will clean connectors as directed but have done so once with contact cleaner; but a bit suspicious of the valve fault, sounds hydraulic rather than electrical and may be beyond easy repair. Again many thanks for your support. Mrs B has just come in and reported that no unusual warning lights are showing at the moment so it is VERY frustrating. RB

Fault codes (at last !!)are; 00276-035 ABS outlet valve rear left -N136 01276-016 ABS Hydraulic pump-V64-signal outside tolerance. I have found a second hand pump/valve block/mastercylinder/servo on ebay.de from a B4 VR6, just in case the worst happens. Does anyone know if all VR6 setups included traction control (LHD remember)? But obviously I want to make sure that it is not an in-car electrical fault first. Your continued help is appreciated. RB