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Went with your suggestion of Yara Ad Blue Steve. PSA for anyone following, Halfords have 3 x pouch’s for £19.98 at the moment. Got the dash message to add ‘at least’ 6 litres within 1500 miles yesterday so I’m already 2 down. I have done about 1000 miles in a couple of weeks so I’ll be interested to see how much I’m using.

Hello Steven, Have a look at Quantum - Longlife variant - as was/is recommended by VAG. I’ve been using it for years. Have a look on EBay for best prices from reliable sellers. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hi Al great result having got the bit between your teeth you have succeeded a lesson for us all, just shows you the disciplines of your electrical knowledge can be applied to mechanical issues and save you money doing it yourself, well done. Steve.

Hi it should be a lot less please report back your findings, I have found it to be excellent and am doing about 900 miles a week as a taxi so therefore I felt in a small way qualified to give my opinion on what I thought best, I never recommend a product unless I have really tried it and we are talking months and many miles, I wish you luck. Steve.

Thanks All, it was quite an undertaking considering I'm An electronics engineer - the polar opposite of a mechanic! Ultimately, it started as an oil leak fix and gradually spiralled to almost a full rebuild! All in though, I've learned a lot and very pleased with the results, thanks again for the advice here and there people! Al

Yep 5w 30.is correct

I definitely think the clutch and durl mass flywheel need examination

Totally agree, I've been to the venue before and the amenities are limited

I take it you’re asking if you should order some paint in to do the repairs yourself. As with everything it’s your call and a lot depends on how perfect you want the paint work. If the work is carried out professionally you can rest assured a rust bubble or two won’t suddenly appear under the repairs in six months time, plus the work will come with a warranty. In my experience it’s very difficult to get a good professional finish on chip repairs carried out by an amateur. I also have a 1997 dark blue Cabriolet and where paint work repairs are concerned I’d prefer to use a specialist.

Final Update! So, I've completed all the work (Finally!) and the car is back together and running! No Oil leak! 😄 In the end, I did: Replacement Cylinder Head (Stripped, cleaned, cleaned and soaked Rocker arms & lifters) Head Gasket (+Plenty of other gaskets & Seals!) Camshaft Oil seal Piston Rings (& Cylinder Hone) Big end bearings (& Big end cap bolts) Intake manifold & EGR teardown & Clean Balance Shaft Mod for 100mm Keyway Oil pump check/clean/soak Timing belt (Including water pump, Tensioner, all pulleys, idlers, studs & bolts) Aux Belt ------ Note: When refitting the balance shaft assembly, you're supposed to use a locking tool that's around £40, which I couldn't justify for minutes use, so I took some measurements and made a locking tool from Acrylic on my Laser cutter, Happy to share pics of this if anyone's interested.. Could even sell them for a small amount if anyone needs one! ----- Thanks for following along, MOT up next! 😮 Al