Stevey Y

Hi sounds like the impact has put a flat spot in the bearing outer race, a good depth pothole will kill most bearings. Steve.

Hi not to put to finer point to this, why would anyone buy a fifteen year old car thats been mapped, I can only assume that it must have been an attractive proposition to you at the time, have you any idea how much extra power that map produced, do you know the original mapping agent as most companies that do this process properly cost a lot of money because they do things like delete the original map but back it up in case of future problems and use one of the other map paths in the ECU, I have even seen case in point one of my neighbours sons with a year old Vauxhall Corsa that his dad had bought him so he could commute back and forth to university, tops up one of his computer sciences mates had lifted a remap off the internet and installed that, junior mentioned none of this until a rather irate engineer who had diagnosed the vehicle came out and informed his dad that they can't fix the car under warranty because it had been interfered with which voided the warranty, end result was a new ECU £2000 plus fitting, there are so many John Wayne mappers out there it makes me cry, why do you think most automotive software writers are on about two hundred grand a year, anything outside that and the people are just playing at it as they don't get two years testing and a Dyno set up to fine tune what they have written. Steve.

Hi do you get the sneaking suspicion they are beginning to hedge their bets. Steve.

Hi they did three sizes of wheel on your model, if you are looking for a more comfortable ride go for 205x55x16 or a good compromise between comfort and retaining all the handling go 205x50x17, either should be good but if you get the 17inch with a 7J rim that will give you the option of going for a 215 width tyre, have a look on wheel size .com Steve.

Hi Paul thats a bit of savage luck, I have come across a few new wrong-un EGRs in my time mostly from Eurocarparts and some Valeo units known as the French revenge, I hope the new one has solved the problem. Steve.

Hi did you readapt the new EGR and sensor as this would cause the fault to re surface as the ECU only has the old adaptation values stored, when readapting is in place the ECU learns the new values as it goes along the drive cycles and absorbed those as the new operating parameters. Steve.

Hi you really need to post the codes for a near ball park diagnosis, what is the milage on the vehicle?, most of the spray down the inlet cleaners only work when the engine is nice and hot anything like very warm won't work as the EGR won't be open, steer well clear of Mr Muscle as this contains caustic and the sensors down the line will loose their coating and malfunction, sensible idea the potential for more damage, if in doubt leave it out, any chance of the garage giving you a print out of the codes they unearthed. Steve.

Hi you ought to see the testing equipment they have theres a video on youtube for the ABS renovation service the testing machinery alone looks like something out of a Star Trek film. Steve.

Hi thanks for the reply because I was looking at the generic diagrams what I saw was the later pump and believe me when you clock on the part number on google they are massive units, any way I wish you well with tomorrow and a happy outcome. Steve.

Hi Kev I wish you all the best with the filter and oil change, and I don't blame you for your shyness in forking out all that money its different for me as my car is my business and shelling out stupid sums of money are a way of life, no car no money, your vehicle is private transport so its different, as I said take your time if you did the Yank you are more than capable. Steve.

Hi if you don't recode the battery after installing the new one you will kill the new unit in record time as the BEM still thinks its the old battery and carries on charging the new unit at the same rate as the failing unit, the BEM has no way of self rationalising the fact that the battery is new and has to be told it has a new unit and then it will modify the charge rate against the charge resistance from the new battery, plenty of explanatory blogs on the net, all this coding malarkey started back in the early noughties as they were developing multi CCM modules which don't like voltage spikes. Steve.

Hi if thats the correct filter kit for your car then yes it has two filters, just take your time and photograph the filters before removing them just so you have a point of reference when reassembling. Steve.

Hi Gareth my cam belt, the original had Conti Tech stamped all over the belt INA stamped on the tensioner, my daughters A3 had all Conti Tech parts and my mates Skoda was all INA except for the pump which was Febi, all vehicles were first change of belt kit. Steve.

Hi they are to say the least rapid with their responses I have always had an update within a couple of hours of the unit hitting the deck and if the part is repairable they assign an engineer to your unit who must work at the speed of an unmarked missile you are never left wondering. Steve.

Hi as it stands if there is no fault with the unit they don't charge and all you have lost is some postage money, at least that will have ruled that potential problem out but my money is on the cluster having gone, either way its win win as you have ironed out two possible diagnosis that the garage may suggest. Steve.

Hi just had a look on ETKA and it says only one pump which is at the back of the boot just behind the rear seat, also Autodata says check the fuel pump relay first as they are prone to blowing, sorry for the confusion. Steve.

Hi ok work through the following, if you disconnect the in feed pipe for the filter then get a catch can and get an assistant to cycle the ignition to try starting if the lift pump is working the fuel should flow from the pipe, if not it could be the lift pump filter screen is blocked where its dredged up crud from the bottom of the tank, worse case scenario is the pump is knackered through being run dry, I believe your model may well have two lift pumps which are housed in the fuel tank and are accessed by removing the rear seat squab and removing the inspection panels on the metal base where the seat sits. Steve.

Hi if you go to any motor factors and give them your Reg number they should be able to supply the seals, I am pretty sure the seals are universal but the bolts may well be a main dealer job. Steve.

Hi have you replaced the fan control unit?, if you have and its still coming on you have an earthing problem. Steve.

Hi the reliability of any gearbox especially automatics is dependent on a good gearbox service history also what is the milage, yes its a bit pricey when you consider you could buy something newer for that money and in view of the eye watering repair costs of autos I would look for a manual as they are cheaper as its claimed they are not as desirable but the manual boxes are almost bullet proof and are far cheaper to source if they ever go sideways. Steve.

Hi do you mean genuine Vag parts such as Contitech,Ina,Dayco, Gates. Steve.

Hi I don't know anyone in your area but assuming you have filled it again try the old trick of sitting in car and turning ignition on to position 2 and counting to ten and turning off, repeat twelve times and then try starting, my guess is that the fuel filter has run dry and if its got no fuel back pressure the lift pump will struggle to fill the filter. Steve.

Hi did you find out why it has two sensors as the only thing I could think of was is it a V6. Steve.

Hi if you have a look through some of the old threads on this forum I vaguely remember a few posts with the same problem. Steve.

Hi you have lost me just looked on ETKA generic part finder and the the diagram only shows one unit for that year of vehicle but your pictures say otherwise so therefore it would seem you may well have to change and re adapt both. According to my Autodata fault finder excessive soot calculation is a classic sign of sensor failure. Steve. Steve.