Skimask

Strangely I was quoted £160 for an OBD1 MAF from ECP about 6 weeks ago. He did say there was only 1 in the company stock

Strangely I was quoted £160 for an OBD1 MAF from ECP about 6 weeks ago. He did say there was only 1 in the company stock

Strangely, I had a quote from ECP for an OBD1 MAF for £160 - he didn't say if that was incl VAT. That was about 6 weeks ago and that there was only 1 in the company stock!!! I was tempted!!!

OK folks, I replaced the fan controller - (from a 93 Passat - same part number) and decided to take the old one to bits to see what was wrong with it. Something was rattling inside! Here are the pics: In pic 1 you can see rectifier lying at the bottom of the controller and shorted across the relay - the heat embedding the rectifier into the plastic. I put the rectifiers back in place where they came from - see Pic 2. Something caused the rectifiers to desolder and drop down from the circuit board above. The bubble on the underside is where the shorted rectifier nearly melted through! Pic3 is the top of the circuit board the mountings for the rectifiers are dashed in red. There is some white residue on the circuit board - it doesn't show very well as I used the flash. I'm wondering if this is a common point of failure on the controllers. If the failure is electrical - what caused it - the close proximity to the water bottle? Someone has commented on this before. It's really out of curiosity -why are they failing!!

3corsa - when you had the housing off, did you inspect it carefully? When I removed my one there were cracks right through the casing - see circled areas.

Jonny, I have the same problem - the most common culprit is the sunroof - but in my case its not that. I have no sunroof! The only other place I can think of is the fuel cap cover or the quarter window seal. I've yet to have a go at finding the leak - I have loads of other more urgent problems with the car. I suppose one way is to remove the panel and dust the area with talcum powder - and see where the leak is coming from.

Supercharged: the flaring tool should cater for different sized pipes, as long as it grips the pipe without crimping it, and leaves a good flared end. Try making a couple of pipes, if it doesn't look right - or like the original then bin it and make another, brake pipe is pretty cheap. As for bending the pipes - I usually just use my thumbs to bend it! As long as you take your time and don't kink the pipe or flatten it - then its OK - just use common sense.

Brake pipes - its horses for courses: Copper is good - easily bent into shape and doesn't rust. Bad points - they are too soft - If a year down the line you have to replace the flexi brake pipe adjoining it - then more often than not its siezed to the nut and twists. Steel (more like a rust resistant alloy) You've more chance of removing the connection in one piece - not so prone to seizing, harder to bend into shape. If you're making them yourself then start with copper its easier to work. The male and female connectors can be obtained from any good motor factors - but take along a union with you to get the correct size\thread. You will need a quality flaring tool - there are cheap ones ~ £15 but are crap. If you get someone to make them up for you, more likely they'll ask you to bring along the old pipe and they use that as a guide to bend it into shape. Worst of all is brake fluid - the most flammable liquid in the car! Not good for your skin either, and very messy.

I replaced my Radiator for the valver a couple of months ago - £45 from ECP. Exactly the same size as the one that came off.

If its not coming from one of the hoses then its the thermostat housing. there are about 6 or 7 'O' rings and seals in there - any one of them could be leaking. Or in my case it was the housing itself that was cracked. The housing is plastic and takes a lot of heat - little surprise that it degrades after 10 years. You'll only know once you have the housing off, the leak will be obvious. On my one - the leak was visibly trickling out only when the expansion cap was removed. See the attached pic - the old and new housing.

Corrado guy - try the attached DOC file. I'm not sure if it'll help. As stated previously the general test for a MAF is to disconnect it when running see if it makes a difference. The Corrado ones seem to be more complex though. By the way - my MAF is knacked unplugging it makes no difference - I'm gonna try the electrical tests outlined in the file just to see the results

I had a similar problem trying to refill my valver without airlocking - my prefered method is to remove the heater matrix hose where it joins the cylinder head and fill it with the garden hose. Let the water run out of the head for a while - and then put the hose back on. Works for me!!

BTT

No one??

Hi Folks, I have a problem, with my ABS light - essentially there isn't one! I do have the light cover - with no internals. There isn't a wired plug to fit into the rear of the light - if it had something to plug into. Can someone please pop out their ABS light and let me know the colour of the wires going into the connector - and there positions? If I know the colour of the wires I can trace where they are\should be. I need this to get the car through its MOT - it failed on this. I know whoever disposed of the wiring in the past has done this because of ABS problems!

BCstudent - they are fitted to a 1.8 16V! They are a straight swap on the 1.8 16v - but looks as if the 1.8 fuel pipes are required for the 2.0.

Just bought 4 Injectors from e-bay - in Sealed Mercedes parts bags. Incl postage and packing £28! That's an even better saving!!! I'll fit the other 3 this weekend! I had already bought and fitted the other injector for £13 on its own!

I bought the injector from ebay, arrived 2 days later! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MERCEDES-BOSCH-IN ... dZViewItem

The injector is fitted and working a treat! Now to buy another 3!! The insert on the bottom did come off - remove the lower O-ring and applied some heat to it (careful it still holds fuel!) and it will pull off! I'll buy and fit another 3 injectors - and see if they are OK. Only then will I know if there is a power drop (or gain), or excess fuel consumption.

I'd rather buy a new seal/insert, just in case I ruin the present one taking it off! It seems to be on the injector rather tight.

They look the same, I won't get the new seals until Tuesday or so, then I'll have a better idea if they work! The Thread at the top fits the fuel pipe. But I'm not sure if it is an insert at the bottom of the injector! It is the cheap £12 injector by the way!!

This Thursdays special at Aldi's. I bought one of these little compressors a few years ago and they are very handy indeed! http://www.aldi.co.uk/

Brett - I've tried DVLA-SOM, the sales site. If you ask them if the Reg Number is available. They will tell you if its been issued. Trying to get the registration on their auction site is a different matter. I've emailed them a few times over the past 4 years trying to get my non-issued Reg number request released to auction, no luck so far!!!

Valerian, To get a valver at TDC you have to use the mark on the flywheel. Be careful because there are 2 marks, make sure you use the correct one! My Valver also seems to be a half tooth out! I've yet to set it the other way and see if it runs any better!

My mate had a car in with the same scenario as yours. In this case all that was required was the battery terminals cleaned up. The old battery was actually quite good - it was the terminals that weren't making a contact properly.