Stevey Y

Hi I got the info from the garage I use as my system needs a recharge, we have known each other for eighteen years and I asked why he had two recharge units and three lots of different gas, he explained that over the last five years they have changed the gas type three times to comply with E.U. legislation and there is a world of changeover years with no specific start/stop dates, the plus is the new machine purges the existing gas cleans and stores it and then gives a print out of the type of gas used for the recharge so you can use the correct grade, then it pressure tests the system for possible leaks and only once the machine is happy will it recharge the system, thats where the money goes, no more charges and a week later its lost most of it from a tiny leak. Steve.

Hi Terry get them to do the reset on the Tank level first and see where it goes from there its all written in to the software and any daisy chain codings are often put in by the I.T. engineer who depending on what day he has had can make the results as average or horrific as he wants, my money is on a reset working, all this stuff is written to disable people like yourself from doing simple tasks and aim you back at the dealer, its all about making jobs for the boys and as for going to the dealer for an adblue fill up what a joke, you just need someone who knows how to do the reset and I am certain this level is set low from the factory a built in upcoming fault for the unweary. Steve.

Hi try Car geeks, car leather seat repairs York.

Hi if its reductant heater 2 thats just the one in the feed pipe to the engine the pipes a bit strong price wise but is fairly easy to replace, if its heater 1 it will need a new tank as 1 is built in to the reductant pump in the tank, half the time these things fail is because you are supposed to have the tank drained and flushed every two years to get rid of the adblue crystals the only theory I have for mine never having to have this done is the miles I do [CAB] whatever adblue I put in is not in there long enough to crystallise. Steve.

Hi get the car diagnosed with a scanner the code that comes up will give you a clue to whats failing, wild guess is its a fuelling problem possibly the lift pump in the tank. Steve.

Hi unfortunately this is the side of ownership of any car no one cares to mention in polite conversation but its a fact of life that after eleven years the diversity of logic says components will fail, thats what makes me smile when people like my neighbour bought a fifteen year old Fiesta with 36k on the clock, his opinion was that there won't be a lot wrong with that, as soon as his daughter started using it for a work commute 50 miles a day bits were failing at an alarming rate within a month, its the age thing rubber mounts, wheel bearings, shock absorbers, lower wishbones, driveshaft boots, just count yourself lucky your car is a lot better built. Steve.

Hi no as 14 plate on they use a different gas which is not available to the public just garages, if you fill it up with whatver gas you can get hold of it will eat the seals on the aircon circuit. Steve.

Hi my guess is its to do with the shocks and springs as when they are misbehaving sound/vibration transmits, sounds like it needs stripping down to find the true combination of worn parts. Steve.

Hi you use VCDS diagnostic platform, go to engine and then select basic settings scroll down the options until you reach SCR reset level reset press go let it complete its task then press done then go back to the dropdown menu on basic settings and select SCR lock press go let that finish then press done and go back to main menu and shut the program down. Steve.

Hi find a leather car seat repair specialist and they will respray the damaged area so it looks like new, loads of videos on youtube, the leather on these seats is not dyed hide its standard hide that has been painted and sealed, its about £200 Steve.

Hi you won't hear any creaking whilst moving as there is no static pressure between the tyre and the road as the wheels are turning and have less friction, it sounds like a spring is turning in the seat. Steve.

Hi you are supposed to drive the car for at least ten mins after filling the tank but that symbol is on because it has gone a bit stupid this is frequent and can be cured by doing an adblue sensor then sensor lock using VCDS. Steve

Hi what codes led him to believe it needed a new tank, the only codes I can think of would be to do with the reductant heating control other than that you can reset the level monitor with VCDS, I swear they just set lower levels at the factory so they can get a nice fat payment for doing the same I.E. £70 just to plug in. Steve.

Hi I ask a stupid question but have you driven the car a lot since you topped up as sometimes my car does this and it has to do a couple of drive cycles before the light goes out, other than that it could well involve a trip to the garage to reset the level sensor. Steve.

Hi what you have that is worn won't cause uneven tyre wear as the ball joint is obviously still ok and the tie rod is still within tolerance, the only thing that will cause premature even wear is the shock absorbers as lack of damping control tends to give a harsh ride as a lot of the axial pressures normally taken by the shock unit will be transferred to the tyre, I always found this with the cabs I have run, rapid wear is a sign of weak units so when changed the tyre life was increased dramatically and when I mention wear this was over a period of months not days, if it happens over a couple of days you would have a major component failure in which case you could move the wheel assembly at all sorts of angles even when not jacked up, if you go for it and change everything that is required you will see where the money went on your first drive, the steering will be sharper with less cabin noise and cornering will be much more precise. Steve.

Hi its the tie rod joints moving as the steering lock has no movement due to the fact years ago Fords and everyone else made the columns and locking tabs with a massive amount of movement this led to car thieves being able to rock the wheel from side to side and using sufficient force broke the locking tab, looking at the shocks they are eleven years old so age/milage would have done for them. Steve.

Hi its the Duel Mass Flywheel its a classic sign of failure, the reason it changes when the pedal is pressed is because the release bearing has disengaged the pressure plate and driven plate therefore the DMF has nothing to fight against and the inner part of the flywheel which moves when the clutch is engaged will be back at its protocol position ready to move when the clutch is engaged. Steve.

Hi Roy yes thats back in the old days before they got fancy with the Ultra technology, really glad you got the brakes sorted and the glow plug is pretty simple to fix. Steve.

Hi if the putty gets into the DPF even a small amount it will go into super heat and blow a hole in the DPF core. Steve.

Hi most likely a seized idler pulley or alternator clutch pulley. Steve.

Hi don't go anywhere near Halfords the Monkeys at London Zoo have more savvy than them, there is a branch next to our local Asda and I was waiting for the fare as I was ten mins early, the Halfords Tech was just in the process of telling this Octavia owner he can't change the headlight bulb as its a sealed for life bulb and he would need a new unit, after he went away to check the price of a new unit I got out of the car and asked the owner if I could have a go he said yes, as he put it what have I got to loose, two mins later I presented him with the old bulb, they are a very tight straight push fit design, I stuck around to watch the rather angry owner present the Tech with the old bulb and then left them to it, I did advise the owner to tell him he had removed the bulb then they couldn't try the old Scallops about an un trained person doing it. Steve.

Hi took some cleaning but the second hand unit seems to be doing its job, if you fish about on eBay there are some quite nice examples on eBay for not too much money if you get one stick a torch down the valve end and at least three of the holes if you look from the other end should be virtually clear, thats a good one, next step is get a cheap mixing bowl that will accommodate the whole valve, block the valve end up and treat it to a couple of bottles of carbon clean poured through the holes at the top you can block the valve end with a rolled up rubber glove, leave it to soak for an hour then pull the glove out and drain, next step spray a can of Mr Muscle down the holes and leave for about four hours using the remainder of the can every hour, then wash it out with hot water I did mine under the tap in the kitchen sink until the water ran clear, the Mrs wasn't impressed but I was especially when I could see torch light through 97% of the holes, last thing I got the garage to do was bung one water pipe up and pressure test it with an airline to make sure it wasn't leaking air from the water jacket, all good, as for the contaminated flywheel thats easy, saturate it in brake cleaner then hit it with a steam cleaner. Steve.

Hi the tie rod comes as a sealed unit but it would probably be wise to change the Ball/End assembly where it joins the hub, with regard to the spring pans you will have to change the shocks or eventually the old pan will collapse and the spring launches down the shock and the spring end will machine the wheel and tyre to death, I know as I have experienced this disaster personally. Steve.

Hi Cliff, try Googling in track rod and I guarantee it will come up with the ball joint assembly, tie rods or rack ends is the term used over the last thirty years I have been working on any car, I only know one American, my brother in law.

Hi your tie rods are definitely knackered thats because the ball on the inner end sits in a nylon cup which when worn will allow metal to metal contact, these units screw into the end of the rack and are cheap to buy and replace and no you should not be able to rotate the spring even when jacked up, looking at the pictures the sprig pan on the shock looks well corroded and will eventually collapse, the term tie rod is the correct one which is frequently confused with the track rod end which is the threaded bit that goes into the ball joint so you can adjust the toe in/out on the wheels. Steve.