Roger Blassberg

The sunroof is failing to operate on an intermittent basis. It seems as though the switch is faulty - I know that there is a common fault with the tracks and drive cables but somehow I don't think it's that because when it does work it does so smoothly, evenly and quietly without scratching the paint. It was rebuilt about 3 years ago, shortly before I bought it and I keep the guides well greased. Is the switch a common fault too? Is it easy to change? I have a 94 Passat Estate (same year as the C) with a glass sunroof and it has never ever given trouble. If it does fail in the open position, how do I get at the drive mechanism to wind it closed manually? Thanks in anticipation of your help. Best wishes RB

The bottleneck in the system is not the availability of crude oil, but of refining capacity. A large proportion of the US refineries was on the Gulf Coast and has been disabled by the hurricane, so they had to go onto the world market looking for replacement stocks. Releasing strategic reserves of crude oil has no real effect, other than to appear to be doing something. But why our governments on this side of the Atlantic have allowed our supplies of refined product to be diverted into the tanks of 10mpg American SUVs is totally beyond my comprehension. It can be argued that "the market" controls this and that the product heads for the highest price, but governments do have the power to control the movement of strategic supplies if they wish. In fact, it's the good old (one way) "special relationship" in action. Guess who gets to bite the pillow yet again in that relationship......... Best wishes RB

Yes, sounds like it. Best wishes RB

Do you lose any other electrical equipment when this happens, like wipers, indicators etc. If you do, the load reduction relay is playing silly-bu@@ers and needs to be changed. It sits on the fuse board - I can't remember which position off-hand, but if it is that, I can let you know later. Best wishes RB

My exhaust leaks a little from the middle silencer, and it passed. As has been said here, so long as it isn't excessively noisy, isn't in danger of falling off and doesn't interfere with the emissions testing then there is no reason to fail it. In the extreme case, you could appeal a failure notice, but most sensible testers will listen to reason if you clearly know what is in the manual. Best wishes RB

I'm not an admirer of black cars, but yours looks very nice. And the Alfa in the background is a good one as well...........for an Italian car. Best wishes RB

Yes, make sure you don't get a Fail for "dazzling other road-users". Bix, the chances of the pressure regulator being checked is fairly low I would imagine, unless it is leaking or is completely blocking out the rear brakes. They just check the retardation of the front and back axles independently of each other, and make sure that the effort is even from side to side. Best wishes RB

Not a VR with a belt. I wonder what the metallic grating noise can be. Perhaps there is a knackered bearing somewhere. Does the intermediate shaft also drive the oil pump? There are 2 holes in the face of the tensioner; put the ends of a pair of circlip pliers, or similar, into them and use this to turn the eccentrically mounted wheel of the tensioner, and tighten the lock nut. Best wishes RB

The OE rear silencer casing seems to be stainless with mild steel endplates, the "suitcase" appears to have a galvanised outer cladding over mild steel, the interconnecting pipes are mild steel but THICK walled. The cylindrical front silencer also looks to be mild steel. All in all it weighs a lot more than I expected. A very good 2nd hand spare set, all wire brushed and clean and shiny, is sitting in my shed, ready for the inevitable. Mrs. B's sarcastic remarks concerning its presence there will eventually be dashed into silence (a triumph of hope over experience if ever there was one....) Best wishes RB

That suitcase-shaped silencer, the one that seems to be falling to bits, is actually double skinned and may well be perfectly servicable still if it isn't actually blowing, but your loss of power may be due to a collapsed catalytic converter internal matrix (which is the front-most can in the system, with a heat shield attached if it hasn't fallen off). Give that a good shake - if it sounds as though it has broken up inside, that could be your problem and you will need to decide if you are going to put in a bypass pipe or replace it. The Milltek sport cat is around £300 iirc, the VAG item is most probably a lot more. You will run a high risk of failing your emissions test at the next MOT without a cat. Eventually that silencer will fall to bits and you will need to replace it; the original item is one piece in unit with the rear box, going over the rear beam which needs to come out to fit the exhaust. Exhaust system is £300 +VAT from VAG. You may consider a stainless system at that stage - which one is up to you; it has been talked to death on this forum. As an aside, my suitcase silencer is a bit tatty as well, but not as bad as yours; at the last MOT but one, the tester said," your fuel tank looks very rusty". "What?", said I. "It can't be, it's plastic". Embarrassed silence from tester when he realised he was looking at the silencer. Result - Pass. Best wishes RB

It sounds as though you have a distorted front brake disc, or perhaps very badly worn pads, or both. Best wishes RB

The Dremel is your friend in this instance. You can cut very fine slots indeed with the abrasive wheels. Best wishes RB

Look at VAG price list for a complete exchange head, including everything from the face of the cylinder block upwards. By the time you have had yours stripped down and rebuilt, you may consider it to be a good deal in the long run. When I did this a couple of years ago, the exchange price was about £750 +VAT, (but VAG prices go up and down like a bride's nightie). Plus labour of course, but much less labour than if it is to be refurbished. Best wishes RB

I don't follow this line of argument (but am always open to persuasion!!). How would it cause rough running? A weeping cam cover gasket is much more likely to cause oil to get onto the threads from above, and not onto the electrodes, than worn guides/seals which would cause black oily deposits on the combustion chambers and electrodes. Best wishes RB

I would think that it is just oil that got down the plug recess when you last topped it up, and has been lurking down there ever since. Best wishes RB

No, it didn't seem necessary. It is now running very smoothly; this morning is cold and damp and the performance is especially good. Incidentally, I bought the NGK plugs from http://www.sparkplugs.co.uk a terrific service. They were on my doorstep 18 hours after I ordered them on the net. 6 plugs for about £23 including delivery. Best wishes RB

Er, yes you are right !! I have just re-read the original post and had mis-understood it at first. Mmm very curious. Leptars are now installed into the vocab too Thanks. Best wishes RB

Now that makes me think further. If the car was turning right, the rear left would be compressed (effectively lowered);That might have affected the brake bias valve into allowing more braking to the rear, perhaps overbraking that wheel and causing a rear slide. Best wishes RB

you what?? Best wishes RB

I agree with jonrb that it is unexpected to oversteer so dramatically. You would expect the o/s rear wheel to wave about in the air and the n/s rear to load up, but not as much as the n/s front, and for the ABS to mitigate the tendency to lock either front or rear, with possible additional regulation of the rear braking from the valve. In general I would expect all this to lead to understeer. Do you have standard ARB set up? A softer front/harder rear may promote some oversteer. When you had the rear axle bushes done, perhaps the support brackets were not correctly oriented to give the passive steering (clutching at straws here!!). Maybe you were just unlucky enough to hit a patch of substandard surface (there's a lot of it about...), a manhole cover, a white line or suchlike. Anyway, I'm pleased to hear that you (primarily), and your car survived. Many years ago I was struck from the side in a Mk2 GTi; I did a complete 360 deg spin across the M3 at a rather greater speed than you did in your "moment", and ended up on the hard sholder, facing forwards, 6" from and parallel to the kerb, just as though I had been in control (which I hadn't). There is someone up there and He seems to be a VW driver; I feel sure that Dom/Dinkus would agree. Best wishes RB

A set of new NGK plugs and a quick clean of the ISV, and we're back to normal. Best wishes RB

Nice looking N-reg, Classic Green on standard Speedlines. On a forecourt, Hatfield Road , St.Albans yesterday at about 6pm. Best wishes RB

Aw, come on chaps.......... Best wishes RB

Probably KR8LDC (or is it FR8LDC... ? I can't read my own scribbled notes) Probably been superseded by now anyway. They seem to change with the seasons and, guess what??, they always get more expensive. Best wishes RB

Which ones? The general consensus is that NGK plugs, BKR5EKU or BKR5EKUP are the better ones. They are available mail order from http://www.sparkplugs.co.uk MMmm, yes, that's a fair bit of oil. Try 15w-40 and see if that controls things a little better. Best wishes RB