dr_mat

Yes third has a syncromesh.. You'd be double-declutching for your whole life otherwise! All the cogs have syncro, apart from reverse. And even reverse has syncro on the new boxes now. It's a big job stripping down the gearbox, and it's vital that you put all the bits back in the right order, so either get a book and follow it religiously or pay someone who knows what they're doing to do it!

They may well be "not too bad" in terms of MPG losses, but there are losses. Much more so if you sit in traffic (cos the clutch is dragging 100% of the time). Useless statistic time: US: 90% auto 10% "stick shift" UK: 90% manual 10% auto Italy: >99% manual despite some of the worst traffic in the world in the cities, Italians just will NOT give up the ability to change gear manually.

You need to get the replacement hose ... It's destroyed so badly that you can't even see what shape it is??

Most bodyshops will hammer it out.

Remove the plastic cable guide at the rear of the engine and you should *see* the break in the hose. Certainly if you get the car up to temp and it starts pissing water out it'll be bleeding obvious. It usually splits in the top of the hose. It's about £45 from the dealers. Then the *next* thing you check is your gearbox-side engine mount. This hose usually splits because of a combination of age, temperature cycling, and excessive engine movement due to weak engine mount. And the gearbox one is usually the first to let go, as it's oil-filled rather than solid.

Sounds more like a "nervous" contact..

It's the infamous top hose that goes to the heater matrix that goes first, down by the joint to the head. And it's in exactly the place you mention, too...

Yeah, it's coming from the rocker gasket. Been happening since the last set of tappets went in. Not losing enough to worry about though.

Ah, I was thinking of the other end of the engine, sorry. I mean the air-box end (or lack-of-air-box end in my case right now).. :) And yes, I am pleased with my clutch. Very lovely... One less thing that needs replacing!

BTW I believe Scottish law is a bit different to UK law on this (as with many things).

You mean like mine leaks and drips oil down the side of the engine since they were done? My clutch is ok though. Was extra critical this morning and any hiccups definitely seem to be down to the engine hiccuping very slightly. Does your .sig have substantial non-infringing uses, Kev? ;)

Might have a word when the car's in for the next service re: clutch. As for the tappets what the hell do you have to do to KEEP them quiet then? Bloody variable things. You'd hardly think a simple thing like that could be so hard to get right! At this point I'm wondering if they did the right thing moving from rockers to hydraulic tappets in the first place ... :) And as for your copyright-infringing .sig Kev ... ;)

Not as good prices as Costco, if you happen to know a member or have a card yourself ...

I'm beginning to wonder if my clutch isn't worth swapping now.. I don't get much judder, but it does judder from time to time, usually at very low revs. I put that down to the engine moving and oscillating on the mounts... But then, given that the garage are going to have to replace my track rods under warranty, and have already done the tappets, I feel like a stool pigeon for asking for more stuff under warranty!!

Maybe, but other than the basic settings thing, the rest of the stuff will adapt automatically over time.

Backups? Nah, just copy it to another disk somewhere else ..

Clear indications of lack of prescribed maintenance of the charger are: - big hole in the top of the charger accompanied by poor engine performance!

Can you feel play in the column? If you drop the panel out from above the pedals (five screws iirc) you should be able to grab hold of the top UJ and then feel if there's any play between that and the steering wheel.

Not actually wishing to put a dampener on your current jubilation, but many people have reported in the past that the ECU reset provides respite from the stalling problem for a while. Wait a little while till it's re-adapted and see how it goes. Given that you've replaced all the important components I'm sure it will be fine, but preparing for the worst will take the edge off the pain if it does in fact go wrong again.. If you see what I mean! :)

Yeah, I checked my damper thingy out and it's definitely not leaking air, it just sounds noisy. But it's not as noisy as the K+N 57i, so hey who cares.. :) I wonder if a new MAF would help clear up the pinking I've had since fitting the Schrick sometimes too, but it's a bit of a pricey "buy-it-and-see" ...

There is an adjuster bolt on the pinion housing on some racks. But I don't think it's useful for anything other than holding the pinion tighter against the rack. Worn/missing teeth can't be fixed.. Why do you want to do it?

Plus I believe there's a two year warranty on engine internals from VW..

Me too, no idle problems to report other than a very slight misfire every so often. Damn, any idea how much that part is? No doubt VW only sell it with the whole damn assembly ... Now I think about it though, despite it making whooshing noise (which is reduced when you hold the thing), I don't know that it's actually *leaking* as such. Maybe it's just making a noise indicating that air is flowing through it? How is all that tubing connected to the ISV? What route does the air take through it all?

You sell it so well!! :)

Do what john? Damper? Is it broken? Eh? Mine has made a whooshing noise since I got the car three years ago and it's never made any difference to the running (as far as I can tell!). Anyone else with an opinion? (cos clearly I can't see straight enough to express one)