Roger Blassberg

And another thing...... I get a bit fed up with "Honest (!!)" John in the Saturday Telegraph going on and on and on about how dreadful supermarket fuel is. If he is to be believed, the path to true happiness can only be achieved by running a Honda on Shell petrol. Best wishes RB

I have been using Sainsbury's super-unleaded (97-octane) for several months, currently 83.9p per litre in this neck of the woods. No adverse effects, and actually more reliable than Optimax which seems a bit of a lottery. Or maybe I'm imagining it; it's difficult to be 100% objective unless you stick it on the rolling road every time you fill up. But. I'll definitely have a look at this 99-octane stuff and report back. Best wishes RB

Curiouser and curiouser!! Unless you have a LHD car, the reservoir is on the offside and the gearbox is on the nearside, so I don't understand this line of thought. Best wishes RB

Happy to help if needed. Just PM the message to me in English, and I'll send it back to you in German for onward transmission. mit freundlichen Gruessen RB

What was the state of your seats after the pylon incident, Dinkus? Best wishes RB

Well, having a quiet afternoon, as you can probably tell... Best wishes RB

1. Yes, you need a piston winding clamp to get the pistons back into the caliper. About £20 from Halfords. You will also need a sturdy 8mm hexagon wrench (Allen key or, better, an 8mm fitment to your socket set) to undo the caliper carrier bolts which are done up very tight. The top ones are quite inaccessible too - make sure you give them a soaking with WD40 several days before you do the job. This is that part of the job which will give you the most difficulty. 2.Replace the bolts which hold the calipers to the carriers; they are treated with a locking compound and are one-use only. 4 needed, about £1 each. Also, have 4 hex socket-headed bolts for the caliper carriers to hand (see above) because there is a good chance that you will damage them when taking them out. Again, about £1 each. All from VAG. 3. It's so much easier to change the bearings than to attempt to extract them from the old discs. They come as a kit complete with grease seal, split pin and grease cap (which will prove to be just too big and which you will throw away after 10 minutes trying to hammer it in. before reverting to the old one....) About £10 a side. The inner tracks need to be pressed or carefully drifted into the hub/disc. You might also need new ABS cages (about £10 each from VAG); they can be salvaged from the old discs if you are careful, but any distortion raises the possibility of an ABS fault signal. Make sure you clean any dirt off the ABS sensors for the same reason. The stub-axle nut is not to be done up tightly, otherwise the taper roller bearing will last about 5 minutes. OK do it up tight to settle the bearing fully into the hub, but then undo it again, then nip it up just enough to trap the thrust washer against the outer bearing; so long as the hub doesn't rock on the stub axle, that's tight enough. Put on the locking cap and insert the new split pin. Give the guiding surfaces of the carriers a good wire brushing to ensure that the pads move freely. Check that the guide pins in the carriers move freely in and out; pull them out and grease them, then replace carefully and relocate the rubber seal bellows. Get some copper grease for the metal surfaces of the pad back-plates and the guiding surfaces of the carriers. Do not overtighten the bolts ito the guide pins; hold the 15mm hex on the pin with an open-ended spanner, and do up the bolt with a 13mm socket. It has been known for the bolt head to be sheared off by heavy handedness, and then you need a new carrier because the guide pins are not available separately. That's a £40 mistake to avoid. Good luck. It's a satisfying job, especially if it improves your handbrake action. Best wishes RB

Mmmm. A bit surprised that changing the brakes caused the fluid level to drop. Normally it would rise as the pistons were wound back into the caliper to accommodate the new pads. Maybe they opened the bleed nipples on the calipers in a vain attempt to just push them in, and then the light dawned and they wound them back in the correct way. Best wishes RB

It unique in one other way. "Driver's airbag"? Shome mishtake, shurely... Best wishes RB

Yes, sorry to express myself badly, and thanks to Kev for the translation into English. I hope that, by "half empty",you mean half way down the patterned area on the dipstick; I think this represents about half a litre, which is quite a lot over 300 miles. Twice as much, i.e. "empty" is not at all good in my view unless you are using fully synthetic oil with a very low viscosity which frankly is like water and unsuitable for an engine of mature years. Obviously it is going somewhere and if it is not leaking out it must either be burnt or be getting into the water. Are your spark plugs fouled up with oily deposits? You say you have seen no smoke, but it is quite difficult to see out of the back of a C; get a friend to follow you for a few miles and get a better report than a static test which does not put the engine under load. If oil is getting into the water in such quantities it will be obvious from the look of the header tank. Best wishes RB _

If its valve guide related, and it is using that much oil, there will be clouds of smoke when you give it the go after over-running down a hill. Best wishes RB

Be careful with the 2 tight bolts that hold the carrier to the hub. I did this job on the Passat a year or so ago, tried to put it all back together and found that I had bent the one of the mounting lugs on the hub by doing it up too tight with a big bar. It needed a bit of heat and judicious hammering to straighten it all up. Moral of the story; use a torque wrench, not a length of steel water pipe.. Best wishes RB

I imagine that they would act as normal non-ABS brakes. It is a sterile argument though; if they are fitted and they don't work correctly, the car is deemed to be unroadworthy, with all that that entails. It's the same as seat belts - if they are there, they must be in full working order and must be used. Sorry if this sounds prissy and bureaucratic, it's just how it is, however illogical... Best wishes RB

........and this on a forum of people absolutely convinced that cars at least ten years old are the epitome of excellence. Back onto the subject, thanks to all, this is a necessary task for me this weekend, particularly on the Passat which is very grubby indeed. Best wishes RB

Was that, "the carpet you can afford from Cyril Lord" ? Best wishes RB

err... don't remove the bulb, get it fixed. It's an MOT failure item, which means it's unroadworthy, so if you have an accident and hurt/kill someone as a result of faulty brakes, your insurance company will walk away. You will walk into court. best wishes RB

The inner end threads need to be scrupulously clean and treated with thread-locking compound before tightening. In fact, the Russek book advises taking the rack out, but it's possible to do in situ. Have a good look at the gaiters at the same time - it's so much easier to replace them when the track-rods are out because one side has a fixed (non-removable) outer end, and they are cheap enough to do as a precautionary measure. On my 16V Passat (LHD, so a bit of an odd-ball) there was lots of head-scratching about whether the rack is a TRW or ZF item; it makes a difference. Maybe this doesn't arise with a C. Best wishes RB

Is that because they are different, or just as a precaution? Best wishes RB

I'm keen to do this upgrade. Am I correct to assume that I need calipers, caliper carriers and discs? (Actually I would buy new discs so that is slightly irrelevant.......) Is it only Mk3/4 GTi and VR6 Golfs which are suitable donors, or are some Passats useful as well ? Best wishes RB

So far as the little chain from one cam to the other is concerned, I have had a 16V Passat for 250 000km (about 155 00 miles) and haven't changed it yet. It rattles very slightly - there is no tensioner so far as I know - but it is so short that I doubt if it ever has a chance flutter or surge. I am of course open to criticism, but I don't believe that it is a problem area. By the way, Baz2004, you did change the cam belt tensioner too I hope. Best wishes RB

A top hose is the best part of £100. This was the first bit I had to buy when I got my VR - I should have seen the warning signs then. Compared to the later costs though, it was a drop in the ocean. Best wishes RB

Is it something to do with automatic transmission? Best wishes RB

White C, difficult to see the model badge clearly, registration * *** NEC, on page 12 of today's "New Civil Engineer". Article on congestion charging. Best wishes RB

er, TCM??? Best wishes RB

Somehow, I feel that I have stumbled into a surreal parallel universe....... Best wishes RB