benson

My 2p, for what it's worth... Three words: Fuel Pump Relay This controls / has a direct influence on both fueling and on some cars spark as well. Worth a try as it's only £18.59 + VAT from Stealers and probably considerably cheaper elsewhere... Girlfriend's SEAT Ibiza (1.4 ABD engine) has been playing up with the same fire up for 2 seconds then cut out nonsense described at the beginning of this thread for the last few months and have tried changing coolant temp sensors a couple of times which improved (but didn't cure) it for a while, but changed fuel pump relay last night and it now fires up straight away and stays running. Hope that's of some use.

Jay-sus!! :shock: It's been quite a while. Enjoying a quick look around the site for old times' sake and blow me if my old car isn't the subject of an air-con install! Good to see she's still alive and kicking and that Pete has embraced the spirit of things (doubtless with some subtle encouragement from Mr Brookes!) So, slightly off topic - sorry mods - but got any more recent pictures of L264 VBY?! PM me if you like. Would like to know what's been happening with the old girl since last October... Regards, George

Looks 8) Can't wait to see her in real life at the weekend! :) Cheers, George.

Actually - just re-read earlier post from 'Ice White Socks' - "Mike" as signature I think answers my question! Derrrr! :oops: Cheers, George.

Hi, By "my dad's primary school" are you either Michael or Daniel Bower or even Debbie?! I'll be around PF all weekend - gonna be at the showground setting up and stuff, but not for the entire day. Where are you gonna be and when? PM me your mobile no. and I'll do the same. Not a race car mechanic as such - actually work on the McLaren road cars - SLR etc. Just changed job actually - vehicle package design, so deciding vehicle architecture/where stuff best fits etc. Beats farming sheep in Derbyshire anyway! :lol: Cheers, George.

You're in/around Buxton? I hail from Peak Forest originally, before I headed South for the filthy lucre. Gonna be up there on the August bank holiday weekend - helping run Hope Show on the Monday (between Hope and Castleton). If you're going, come and say hello - I'll be up at the vintage tractors/vintage engines tent helping Mum and Dad (long story!) Cheers, George. 1994 L Reg Blackberry VR6

That was me! I was on my way to Kidlington from Woking - I do this twice a week - must be mental - it's killing the car - 111k now, was 80k 20 months ago when I bought her :cry: Sorry for the delay, but I've never checked out this bit of the forum before. It's Friday, I'm watching the clock drag sloooooooowly towards 6pm :sleeping: I take a look at the posts in here and hey - there I am! :crazyeyes: Cheers for the nice comments. Porsche Design 90s going on when I finally get them all back from the refurbers (got three so far!) Quality this forum - never ceases to make me smile

Ok, will get back to you when I've tried the passenger side FC. Still would love to know how to get the alarm controlled FC to work properly - i.e. shut all the closures in one hit! On the old thread, "SoundsAlarming" seemed to know his stuff, but no idea if he's familiar with ye olde VW alarm. Also, it was Gavin (H100VW) who mentioned the locking pulse needing extending - maybe they might know what I need to do? Is there a way to alert them to this thread other than PM? Cheers, G.

I'll whip the handle out at the weekend then and take a sneeky peek. Does the interior door card need to be off to remove the door handle, or is it just a case of removing the left hand threaded screw and the door latch? I'm losing count of the number of times that's been off! Had a look on ETKA the other day - I wondered if the problem might also be the large door actuator unit? Dunno how much these cost do you? Any ideas on the closure locking pulse and how I might re-educate the ECU to close everything properly before switching off? G.

Hi chaps, Fresh from fixing my sunroof, my attention now turns to the central locking - I have the following two problems: 1) Old problem - didn't know there might be a solution... With sunroof back and both windows open, the total closure doesn't close all three completely on the alarm fob. Sunroof stops short. Is this to do with the 'locking pulse' time being too short? How can it be extended? This would be a massive help! My alarm is the original vw dealer fit thing ('Quantum'?) - fob is black, rectangular, 1.25" x 2" and has two square buttons, left one does the locking/unlocking and right one is a 'panic' button. 2) More recent problem is that the driver's side locking/window closing function has stopped working. If I lock the car with the alarm fob, central locking works as normal, plus alarm armed etc. If I use the key, I no longer have central locking - only the driver's door lock pin goes up/down, plus holding key in 'locking' position no longer activates total closure function to finish off the job when the locking pulse pulls up short. At the moment I have to lock the car twice with the fob to achieve total closure! Cack! All help greatfully received! George. Morning Kev, Unfortunately it's the whole closure function - I actually posted the problems in another thread the other day - see above. Seems that something in the driver's door is at fault. Sunroof definitely all clocked up correctly - followed the Bentley picture to line up the arms and lifters and operated the motor with it disconnected from the roof to get it in the right position before reattaching everything. All works great on the switch - just the sunroof and window closure which won't work on the key in the driver's side, plus it all stops short of full closure when alarming it with everything open. George.

Yeah same for me - and the reason why as far, as I could see, is that when new the moulded nylon "bridge" between the slidey pads on the guides has a slight curvature in it - I imagine that the purpose of this design is to take up any play and give a little pre-tension between pad and track as the components wear - although after 10 years or so the curvature had been beaten into submission on my old bits, hence allowing play and jamming up of the roof. The new water guide plate you need also has a similar arrangement between two pads down one side. In the same way as above, the nylon type stuff moulded over the metal where it slides in the frame bridges across two of the pads in a gentle arc. This is why it's initially difficult to slide the new parts into the track. Used tons of white grease to assist and all seems fine in operation now - touch wood! As always, would upload a photo, but damn McLaren firewalls prevent me from doing so! Got two new problems now - central locking/total closure no longer working on the key in driver's side door and ignition switch on the way out. Oh, and still not got round to fitting those steering column bearings to try and fix low speed "knock" effect. On the other hand, VW-Porsche wheel adaptors have finally showed up (designed them, not off the shelf) and they fit perfectly. :-P Waiting for cap-heads and helicoil thread inserts to show up and then just need my own set of 7" Design 90s! Tyres already here - 215-40-R16 Yokos. 8) George.

In case you need a second opinion Kev, I've now done exactly as Mike said. I replaced both cables and the lhs water guide plate. The total cost was £96 from the local Colbournes VW, of which £16.50 plus VAT was for the water guide plate - it comes with the lifter arm on it - GPC were not much cheaper due to a lower German VW discount code (8 instead of 6 in the UK) and parts arrived at the Stealers next morning ready for a weekend fit. Following scratches in my roof lacquer, I initially bought just the little lifters and left it at that - but roof went bang a week later anyway Water guide plate definitely the culprit - loads of play in the track and the 'bang!' was one of the four sliding pads on it snapping off. These are coated in nylon or similar and this had worn down to allow enough play between pad and track for it to all jam up when sliding the roof back. Anyway, laid the roof frame out on the living room floor and took my time. Having carefully reassembled and applied copious amounts of white grease, Robert is my Mother's brother! 8) The only naff thing was five minutes after I removed the sunroof frame the heavens opened! Luckily had some bubblewrap of all things to cover the hole in the roof! Cheers, George.

Hi chaps, Fresh from fixing my sunroof, my attention now turns to the central locking - I have the following two problems: 1) Old problem - didn't know there might be a solution... With sunroof back and both windows open, the total closure doesn't close all three completely on the alarm fob. Sunroof stops short. Is this to do with the 'locking pulse' time being too short? How can it be extended? This would be a massive help! My alarm is the original vw dealer fit thing ('Quantum'?) - fob is black, rectangular, 1.25" x 2" and has two square buttons, left one does the locking/unlocking and right one is a 'panic' button. 2) More recent problem is that the driver's side locking/window closing function has stopped working. If I lock the car with the alarm fob, central locking works as normal, plus alarm armed etc. If I use the key, I no longer have central locking - only the driver's door lock pin goes up/down, plus holding key in 'locking' position no longer activates total closure function to finish off the job when the locking pulse pulls up short. At the moment I have to lock the car twice with the fob to achieve total closure! Cack! All help greatfully received! George.

Good old dealers - they didn't mention that. On ETKA, it mentioned both adjustable and non-adjustable columns on the same page, but my pet parts guy didn't stipulate that the bearings might be different between the two. From memory, there is a plain bush at the top and a needle roller cage affair at the bottom end. I'd attach the picture, but company IT rules block me from doing so. G.

Me too, I've now replaced top mounts, bearings and lower ball joints together with a camber and tracking refresh. Still got the same odd rattly feeling over bumps in a turn - feels like either play in the trackrod joints, rack or maybe the column bearings or universal joint. The cheapest place to start was column bearings, so I've ordered a pair (Stealers - £2.06 each from memory) and will post an update once fitted (how on earth this is done I'm yet to fully investigate!) G.

Gents - Where would be a good place to go for 4-wheel alignment for my newly lowered VR6 in Surrey? (once I've had me balls seen to!). It's only down 25mm on the H&R springs (kit# 29872) My local Colbournes (Woking) says their pukka VW approved 4-wheel kit is "rubbish" because they don't have a proper ramp! G.

Sounds painful... with a jemmy bar?!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: G.

Ok I'm there!!! Cheers for all the explanations everybody - dunno why I was thinking you were talking about the trackrod joints when you actually meant the big-ass lower ball joint. Yeah - my pet mechanic stuck his jemmy bar in all the joints a while ago and pronounced all to be A.O.K. yet it's a bit sloppy in the bends. I'll stick that job on the list next time I get a month with less than £200-worth of other problems to sort! Suppose I need to do the ball joints before I shell out on a 4-wheel alignment though - damn-it! When I say it wrenches the wheel, I mean a combination of bump steer - which the 4-wheel alignment will undoubtedly help - combined with it feeling like there's a Focus RS diff in there!! G.

:lol: :lol: Am I being a gimmer?! I guess from that we're talking outboard then Dr-Mat?! Never looked how the inboard trackrod-to-rack joint looks on my car, but I'm used to looking at race car racks which traditionally have a ball/socket arrangement that could be called a ball joint amongst other things. I just wanted to clarify you're all talking about the trackrod end / outer ball joint / thingumywhatsit attaching the trackrod to the upright/hub carrier etc! :wink: Good old terminology - always catches me out. Anyway - d'ya have the answer to my question! Is it the o/b trackrod joints giving my wrists a hard time through the twisty stuff? G.

Kev, Hi - first log-in this week and another topic close to my heart! Lowered my C with a mate at the weekend using Koni TAs and H&R springs and took the opportunity to fit new TMs and strut top bearings. Corners like it's on rails now and as a bonus seems to have got rid of the slight clonking noises I had around bumpy corners, but the steering wheel still seems to want to wrench out of my hands - is that the infamous BJs? Are you talking inboard or outboard joints here? Inboards means rack off doesn't it? Cheers, G.

Cheers Domi, be good to find out how you get on - mine cut out again on a blast back from Pitch Hill (mountain biking) last night. Ragged the nuts off it the rest of the way home :twisted: like that helps! :wink: Maybe that's just what it's crying out for - doesn't like the agonising 7 miles in 40 minutes daily commute through log-jammed Weybridge and Byfleet! G.

Hi, Just looked at this thread and on my work laptop I had to do the following to get it to show the two other tabs: In Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options, click on tab, , and in the "Exceptions" box enter the IP address that the Bentley CD quotes when you click on the tabs - 127.0.0.1 This totally cured the problem, so in case anyone has a similar problem in the future this may help. May only apply to people using their work computers like me which default to a proxy server unless otherwise specified in the above settings. Not a tech head, so sorry if I appear to be talking rubbish, or if you've all found another way around the issue! G.

I've been running on Optimax since last Summer too. Damn It! Kev - what's Vince's take on this stalling malarkey anyway? Is he a VR6 man? G.

Ok, bottle of Red-Ex coming my engine's way this evening! Unless any of you know of product which really does the trick? Will keep you posted. Might take a few treatments to make any noticeable difference. G.

Dr Mat, Yeah - bad ECU data is most likely - as a result of 10 years of wear and tear, but I really can't nail down what it is! Surely it must be something that we can replace? I've had 2 or 3 really scary roundabout moments of zero steering thanks to the cutting out. Any ideas on my last little question though - regarding the fuel regulator thingy on the end of the rail? Kev - just read your post while I was writing this reply. I know you've replaced a horde of sensors and actuators but this is really trying to throw a bit of new light on it from the fuelling side. Just seems to be an avenue that hasn't been fully explored yet and there are so many of us trying to rid this problem from our joblists! G.