matth76

Thanks for your reply. Car is drivable but just drives like a tractor. gf needs car to get to work. Main question is will continuing to drive it cause any damage or make it worse?

Hi My gf has a new (53 reg) 1.2 polo (not a vr6 I know but someone on here may know what the following problem could be). Today the "exhaust emissions warning" light started flashing and the car is all juddery... at idle and at speeds up to 60. Above that it gets smoother. The exhaust vibrates a lot. The car has absolutely no oomph like it used to. Any ideas? I suspect it could be the MAF or lambda sensor/oxygen sensor...if it has either. It certainly seems to be some kind of sensor related problem. Could possibly be a vacuum leak but unlikely or something to do with the cat. Car was running fine until today. Going to ring round some local garages to see if they can put it on vag com and do a diagnostics check. They should do it for free (as its a two min job) but knowing the garages round here I doubt it...vw main dealers are even worse. Anyway if anyone knows what the problem might be or has seen this happen before this will arm my gf with some "knowledge and ammunition" when she goes to the garages to see what they say. No warranty left unfortunately. Car had done approx 45k miles. Cheers for any help. Matt

Someone also told me if she does receive an NIP to ask them for the calibration certificate for the camera. And if they can't produce it then they can't do anything. As apparently they are supposed to calibrate them once a year. Anyone heard of this?

Cheers for your help guys. I just found out from the sussex speed camera website that it was a speed camera. Oh well its done now. Just not sure if she was doing over 35 or not when the camera will have caught her. I know they have quite a long range. All of the speed camera detectors on the market will pick up mobile cameras but only after it is too late as the mobile camera range is so large. Someone told me spraying a certain hair spray partially on one of the letters or numbers on your number plate blocks the mobile camera properly reading that digit but its still visible to the naked eye. Surely this can't be true and must be against the law even if only partially sprayed on one digit? Does anyone know how long it takes for the letter to arrive in the post?

As above, can you be done for speeding by a van marked with "Camera Partnership"? My gf was driving about 35 in a 30 and in the distance we saw an orange van and a guy in front of it with a tripod and a small mobile camera looking device on it. There was also the usual camera symbol on the van, and on the side of the van it said "Camera Partnership", not "Police". My question is how do you know if they are checking tax discs or checking speed? My gf's a bit worried - they always catch the safer slower drivers! Thanks for any help. Cheers.

Yes you can fit 268's with standard manifold. I have a stainless 6 branch fitted to my golf vr6 and it made virtually no power increase whatsoever - I had a before and after rolling road session. No bhp increase at all, if anything a few more lbs/ft torque. Then I started developing a small blow less than 6 months later (and I have uprated engine mounts proper flexi joints the lot still made no difference and mine is a good quality one supposedly). Not worth the hassle in my eyes mate. Spend your money on more efficient mods - definitely go for a decat or high flow cat and get the cams, full exhaust and air filter. My 268 cams gave a good increase - about 10-15bhp. You must get a custom remap though after fitting the cams otherwise you will say goodbye to your engine. The remap is vital to get the altered fuelling spot on. I got some second hand Eurospec cams - which use the same profile as Shrick cams. I was told not to go for any other make as you will lose low down power - whereas with Eurospec and Shrick cams you lose hardly any low down power at all. I have also heard a slightly different "final drive" ratio gear cog can be fitted but was told this was very expensive and advised my local vr6 specialist not to go for it - I mean you're looking at £1k-£2k as you need to get a quaif or peloquin diff fitted at same time.

If your thermostat is stuck close (which it sounds like) then yes you will definitely be risking doing permanent damage to your engine esp your head gasket and cylinders. Get the thermostat including all its housing (this is important) replaced asap. 120 is still within safe limits but still way hotter than to be expected for a stock unmodified engine. Don't drive it until then.

Hi As there are several versions of the Michelin Pilot Sport tyre, here is a link to the one I am referring to: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... ilot+Sport However is this tyre available in 205/50/15 size? And has anyone used this particular tyre? Do you get loads of wheel spin in the wet or is it very good going round corners in the damp? And how is it in the dry? I have done a search but can't find much info about it. Thanks for any help.

Kev and Peakz, were these the BF Goodrich tyres you had: http://www.bfgoodrich.co.uk/bfguk/front ... T1&lang=EN They look similar to the F1's and Toyos with their V pattern directional thread.

Thanks for your replies guys. Have you got a link to the tyre thread you are referring to Kev? Which is the definitive choice according to that thread? Have you tried the BF Goodrich g-force profilers? How fast did you find they wore?

Thanks guys. Can anyone else give a review of the BF Goodrich G-Force Profilers ...here's a link to the ones I'm on about: http://www.bfgoodrich.co.uk/bfguk/front ... T1&lang=EN

Hi Going to need to replace a couple of tyres soon and thinking about a change in tyre. I have done a search and found a few reviews about the Toyo Proxes TR-1 but the reviews seem to focus mainly on the older T1-S, which are mainly mediocre reviews. However has anyone tried the later T1-R's and can let me know how they compare to the likes of Goodyear F1's etc? Do they last longer.. is the grip very good etc? I used to have the F1's but they only lasted 5 mins and the grip was great at the start but very poor in damp and wet conditions when they were only two thirds worn. Plus the F1's are no longer made in 205/50/15 size. Need something that will last a bit longer than the F1's and have very good grip in the wet or dry. I also want a tyre that has a V/directional pattern ideally. I have heard bad things about the Michelin Pilot Sports where people encounter lots of wheelspin. Another option is the BF Goodrich G-force Profiler (which is made by Michelin - not sure why it is called BF Goodrich though). But virtually no reports about this tyre when I do a search. Cheers for any help and information. Thanks.

Hi Found this on another forum. It's a petition agains the proposed introduction of "pay as you go" taxing to make us stop using our cars as much. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/ (If you sign the petition you should get an email confirmation where you have to click a link to confirm your signing - you may have to copy and paste the whole link into the address bar as just clicking the link didn't work for me.) Whether or not it makes a difference I have signed this. Until they sort out public transport (to make it cheaper and far far more efficient) I will still be using my car. Try sending the petition link to any other car forums you know of. Cheers Matt

lol could be Dr mat. Phirm did a great job Sat. Thoroughly cleaned my throttle body out and calibrated many other sensors, including lamda. Car now pulls and feels far stronger. Car has at least another 5 bhp just for doing that. Tim said it felt much stronger too. I also used Stealth's injector cleaner a while ago straight after the rr session and it made a bit of a difference after a full tank of using that. Very happy with me car now! Must have at least 195-200bhp now Not quite 207bhp but what the hell - drives and pulls like a dream now.

Ok had car checked over, no oil leaks, no problem with clutch at all, no oil being burnt in exhaust fumes and car drives very smoothly. However there is the occasional "oil burning smell" as though a very small amount is hitting something hot like the manifold. Any idea where a potential leak could be? Whereever it is it is only very very small as the smell only very occasionally happens. Thanks for any help.

Any ideas guys? Thanks for any help.

Thanks for your replies guys. Could the burning smell be a slight hose leak leaking some liquid onto something hot in the engine bay causing the smoke and smell? You can't see any smoke normally - only saw it for the first time in bright sunlight. And the smoke only appears for a few seconds. Strange that it only happens occasionally in reverse gear. Doesn't always happen when reversing - maybe one time out of four when reversing. I did get the strange smell once, as already said, when I accelerated hard a couple of weeks back. Not sure if it could be linked to the power drop though. And the power graph is still smooth. By the way the rr sessions were on the same dyno. Thanks for any help guys. Cheers

Thanks for your reply. Could a prematurely worn or faulty clutch cause this strange burning smell and also cause a drop in 15-17bhp? My car still runs very smoothly and the power curve is very smooth too.

Not sure what sort of burning - smelled more like friction or overheating burning but not really sure. Defintely not tyres and I'm not sure what electrical burning would smell like but it wasn't a burning smell associated with plastic. Only happens when in reverse gear which is odd - occasionally when hard accelerating. Could it be the clutch - even when a few months old (with about 10k miles on it)? The first time I smelled the smell was when I was reversing back up a hill and had to do a lot of clutch control and took a couple of minutes, however there was another car nearby being revved (this was all in a garage) so assumed it was a smell coming from the other car. Then recently I noticed the smell again when in reverse gear so now know it was from me. Is there a way I can tell if it is the clutch that is causing this burning smell? Surely a new (standard vag) clutch should last 100k miles or so?? The clutch still has loads of bite on it - its certainly not slipping or anything. Thanks for any help. Cheers

Hi Firstly my car runs really smoothly when driving along - (although it has lost 15bhp mysteriously on the dyno but the power graph, although with 15bhp less, was still incredibly smooth - which added to the mystery). I have also noticed on the odd occastion when in reverse gear that I notice a burning smell - its not strong but definitely noticable and soon disappears within a few seconds. I also noticed the burning smell when I accelerated hard the other day (when the car was fully warmed up). The oil temp was at normal operating temp and so was the coolant. In the sunlight I could also see faint smoke coming from the front internal fan air vents and around the bonnet - but soon disappeared within a few seconds. What could cause this? My clutch is relatively new - only fitted early this year so that should be ok - could it simply be gearbox oil? and could it cause a drop in power on a dyno? Like I said it still runs incredibly smooth (both when driving and on the power graph). Thanks for any help on this. Matt

Thanks Mat. Vince said the Maf was probably ok and not causing this. Although without actually changing it and testing it he wasn't sure what could be causing this. Does sound like a big increase you gained after changing your maf. Was your car still running smoothly before you replaced the maf? How much are reconditioned mafs and where could I get one?

Could I have a vacuum leak somewhere? Would this cause a 15-17bhp drop in power? Spoke to Stealth and they say they don't think the slight blow would cause such a drop as 15bhp...maybe 2 or 3 bhp at most. I know what you mean about a custom map... however Vince tried several different maps however no amount of changing would make any difference to the power. The power was still really smooth... just 15bhp less ... real mystery. Vince also said my fuel was not running lean at all... adding to the mystery!

Yes both the full service and rr was at Stealth. Vince did a great job...he did suggest the 6 branch and the all the possible causes you mentioned dr_mat...and exactly as you suggest, basically didnt have time to test them, otherwise would have done. Only had Sat morning unfortunately. I wasn't sure if anyone had had this same thing happen to them and could possibly narrow down the component most likely to cause this. He did say he wanted to try putting back on the original 6 branch and see how it was after this... I may do this in the near future as I was thinking of doing this anyway as the noise from the blow was getting a bit annoying. Cheers for the replies.

Hi Just had a rolling road session with Stealth. My car is now making 190bhp instead of its original 207bhp. Nothing at all has been altered on the engine since the last rr session. The only thing to have happened since my last rolling road session is that my car overheated back in May/June when the thermostat went. However my car's oil temp at the time only hit 118 and since then no water has been lost (meaning my head gasket is fine) and the car still drives very smoothly. I wasn't aware anything was actually wrong until I had the rolling road session yesterday. Vince at Stealth is puzzled as to what could cause it. The power curve it now has at 190bhp is very smooth, exactly like my previous rr session power curve but now with 15bhp less. Because the power curve is smooth he says all cylinders should be ok... if one wasn't ok the power curve would be irregular and choppy. He thinks it could be partially blocked injectors causing the power drop. Or the alternative is that there could have been some very very slight friction damage when my car overheated... although the oil temp only hit 118 so it seems unlikely, even more unlikely because Vince said the car drives very smoothly. When my car was on the rr yesterday there was a high activity of knock sensor activity (keeping pinking in check) which was puzzling. However the knock sensors did their job and there wasn't any pinking at all. No oil was being burnt either at all. Vince tried chaning the custom remap (stealth's own rechip) on my ecu a couple of times to adjust the settings but my power refused to budge from 190bhp. Very strange. Anyway I am currently trying out some of Stealth's recommended injector cleaner to see if that makes me get my power back although I'm not hopeful about this. I suspect there must be some thing else not quite right. Stealth were extremely helpful, they had my car for 4 hours in total (gave it a full service followed by rr session) and for 2 hours were checking out what the power loss problem was basically for free...great guys. My current mods are Stealth's rechip, full s/s exhaust and high flow cat, s/s 6 branch (with a very very slight blow - but was assured this would not cause any power loss), BMC induction kit and 268 cams. Any ideas as to what could cause my power loss? Anyone else had this happen to them? Thanks for any help or comments.

Hi My Goodyear F1's still have tread on them (haven't reached the minimum thread indicators yet) but they are going to need changing in a couple of months. However twice I have slightly skidded in them (just going round a tight roundabout at low speed!) which I never used to with my old Continentals. The F1's are very good in the dry though. Ideally I want something that is safe in the wet though more than anything. I've heard of Rainsports... are these good and who makes them? Any other very good makes for the wet? Thanks for any help or info. Cheers Matt