AMB

Likewise any grumbling sounds

Will certainly advise if and when I remember when there's no traffic about. With my memory, you may get the opportunity to try before I remember. Second your remarks about the VRS. When I had to choose my last company car I had the Octavia VRS for a couple of days. Lovely to drive but hard suspension, my wife hated it and "advised me" that I didn't like it! In the end chose a Passat Sport and was very pleased with it. Tried the BMW 320ed because it was on the company car list and very low tax, but absolutely hated it. Did you manage to get a no cost fixed price service plan on the deal? When I bought the Fabia, VW finance were offering a "free" service plan (usual cost £250) if you took out VW finance. Minimum finance to qualify was £3k, but you could settle inside a month costing you £28. £28 for one interim and one main service seems pretty good.

Forgot to say, may be an urban myth, but sounds plausible. Some forums were reporting a delay/hesitancy on take up which they attributed to a sticky brake light switch. The theory went that the brake light switch acted as an inhibit to the accelerator preventing accidental pressure on the accelerator causing unwanted movement. A sticky switch suppressed the accelerator for slightly longer than intended. Now that I've remembered may try and press the accelerator whilst holding down the brake sufficiently to work the brake light.

Going back to the original question. I drove a number of Passats with DSG a few years back before I retired. Some petrol others diesel. No noticeable delay on take up at roundabouts except when the stop/start system cut in early. The Passats were usually high mileage company pool cars/hacks. Now have a more recent Fabia with DSG (1.2Tsi). Very pleased with it. There were some well publicised issues in Australia which led to a recall. From memory, the dry clutch version was prone to overheating, the wet clutch to vapourising of the oil and contamination of the electronics unit. Also some discussion of mineral vs synthetic oil in the box. I also seem to remember a firmware upgrade to alter the gear selection logic which may have been to address a perceived lag.

I'd change it - HD clutch, forged clutch release fork and bearing. Hard won experience has taught me that you have to take the opportunity to maintain while you can.

Bulbs generally fail on high voltage, vibration or old age. My guess would be high alternator voltage - probably poor earthing.

Can only agree with the above. I worked in Sweden on and off for three years. Get your beer etc in Denmark beforehand. Ticks and mossies can be a real problem at certain times of year. I spent 10 days unable to wear shoes after being bitten in the shower. Main roads can be boring, but get off the beaten track and it is stunning. My company was paying for petrol, but I still found it unacceptably expensive. Unless it has changed a lot, don't expect shops to be open much after 5 unless in the cities and bigger towns.

I may be wrong, but think that the thermostat only controls 240v mode. Gas appears to be controlled via the gas regulator. Check by bypassing the thermostat and running on 240v.

I had a similar problem to that which Maverik has just described. Temporary cure involving bending contacts, a little mild cleaning of the contacts where it had been arcing and some Electrolube.

As per previous answers - rectangular cut-out in the carpet. '98 110 CSW

I'd suggest that, before you decide anything, that you go back, explain that you were not satisfied with either the output power after tune or the explanation. Even an asthmatic engine should do better than two thirds standard output. You've investigated, found a timing issue that they should have found, loaded a generic map and achieved a major improvement. Would they please put it back on the rolling road to confirm that there is a major improvement in power, which they should have been able to achieve. Keep it friendly, then give them some options - reduce the invoice to reflect the fact that the tune-up was not of acceptable standard and you had to perform additional work; do the job properly and reduce the invoice as a gesture of goodwill. If neither acceptable then make an offer against the £890, pay that amount with covering letter, pay someone else to check output on a rolling road and wait for the legal threats.

It would be possible, but the gain may not be worth the effort. The amount of power required to cool to a given level below ambient should be virtually identical for 230v and 12v. However, operation at lower voltage incurs more losses in the feed cabling, hence manufacturers advice for heavy duty cabling etc. Ignoring feed issues, the big difference between 230v and 12v operation is, as you imply, lack of temperature control when running from 12v - it is always flat out. Controlling via the thermostat would only take less power from the battery if you set the thermostat to a temperature above minimum. If you want to control via the thermostat, you will need to do so via a 12v relay or power FET capable of running continuously at the rated maximum current, the thermostat is unlikely to be rated at 6A.

Richard, yes heating elements usually fail open circuit. I have known of occasional insulation failures which would decrease the impedance and thereby increase the power into the element. However, that is patently not happening here. There is one other possibility which comes to mind. It can be difficult to make electrical connection to the resistance wires used in heating elements, ceramic resistors etc. Manufacturers use acid fluxes, welding and mechanical/crimp techniques. It's vaguely possible that the connection between copper flex and heating wire has gone either high impedance or intermittent. That was a common failure mechanism on ceramic coated wire wound resistors. Whatever the reason, if you are not getting of the order of 780 Ohms or less with a cold element as measured directly on the connecting flex of the element, it needs replacing. Disconnect and measure, if in doubt wiggle the wires whilst measuring.

If you measured directly at the element wires and got open circuit, the element is knackered. The thermostat should only click once during it's total travel - it should switch on/off (ie click) at the setting equivalent to the temperature inside the coolbox. Setting 1 is presumably the warmest. I'm puzzled as to why you should get a change in resistance when measured at the thermostat terminals when you have open circuit at the 240v element. The element should be the only thing connected. You should be able to just bridge the stat - ideally with a meter on ac current. Check the stat by measuring impedance between the terminals (with no other connections to the fridge!). Should be near enough zero over most of the setting and open circuit at the warmest setting. Have been half looking at an absorption box. What are you asking for yours Fridge?

If measured directly on the element and on clean metal then likely to be the element itself. Not that expensive if you shop around (£30-£40). Leisure Shop Direct has some exploded diagrams with part numbers here Still worthwhile checking the thermostat before you spend money.

I'm with Simonr on this. If working well with gas and 12v the refrigeration part is OK then it's either connections/connector, the element, the thermostat, or thermal coupling. With both 240 and 12v disconnected from the power and no gas, put a meter across live and neutral of the 240v cable. Alter the thermostat. Does the thermostat switch the 240v at any point (note: may not if cool box is near ambient or at minimum temperature). When there is a reading what is it? When running, 75W at 240v equates to 0.3125A or 768 Ohms. However, resistance increase with temperature, so meter reading more likely to be nearer 700 Ohms (wet fingered guess, so don't rely on it). If much higher than 768 Ohms it is probably a connector/connection/cable issue. Start tracking through. If all seems OK then take apart, clean and apply thermal compound.

I would say that the cable is a little light and the manufacturer agrees, but I think that they are being over conservative! In this case the cable is specified as 1mm2 CSA. Copper has a resistivity of 0.0172 Ohm∙mm²/m. For a total (feed and return) run of 10m, that equates to 0.172 Ohm. Add 0.1 Ohm at least for connector. Simplistically, 75W equates to a nominal 6.25A or a nominal voltage drop of 1.14V, which would drop the power to the fridge by ~20% with consequent reduction in cooling effect. Not quite that bad because reduced volts also means reduced current. Assuming linear load characteristics , voltage drop would actually be nearer 1V, but still 18% reduction in cooling power. Go to 2mm2 and you’re down to just over .5v drop and 9% loss of cooling power. The manufacturers manual recommends >4mm2 which is too big for a cigar lighter connector. Incidentally it also confirms the interpretation of butane/propane pressures. Manual available here.

That is my interpretation of the information. It gives max operating pressure as 30mbar and separate operating pressures for propane and butane. If I remember correctly butane has a higher energy density and burns cleaner than propane. Because of the difference in energy density, you need more propane to get the same heat, which translates to higher operating pressure for propane in the same equipment. However, propane is preferred to butane in low temperature conditions - butane will only operate down to 0 deg C at best, whereas propane may be able to operate down to -40C. The "at best" and "may be" caveats are because the cylinders cool down as the gas is used and the ambient would then need to be higher in order to maintain minimum operating temperatures inside the cylinder. There were some well publicised camping fire incidents a fair few years ago, when butane cylinders cooled down overnight, the cooled gas then liquified in the feed hose and sprayed out as a flaming liquid under pressure from self lighting camping stoves. Hence move to propane for all weather camping and improved safety advice on use of butane.

If you can use Excel there are a numer of free spreadsheets on the net. Many supplied by manufacturers. The problem that you have is that the solution must be a compromise between acceptable voltage drop, and cable size, with all the negative impacts of over specifying the cable - cost, weight, minimum bend radius etc. To decide what is an acceptable voltage drop requires sufficient knowledge (or experimentation) beforehand. As mentioned above, many circuits can have significant peak surge currents on switch on. Too high a cable impedance and they may lock out. Likewise the type of fuse used ie a straight fuse, slow blow or ceramic. I used to design switched mode and other high power power supplies. Fuse specification could be a nightmare because performance was so variable. You could potentially run a 10A fuse at 20A for quite some time.

Agree with previous posts, but would add that rating of the cable is only one aspect - as noted in your post, cable size should also take account of length of run and hence potential volts drop - viz standard headlamp situation on Defenders.

You have my sympathy. I have a parallel pair of scars on my left thumb caused when I sneezed whilst sawing through a sheet of metal which I was steadying with my left hand. I sneezed twice in quick succession - hence two parallel scars. I didn't get much sympathy from hospital staff either.

I have also found Turners to be extremely helpful.

Spot on. If you don't have a specific need, how else are you going to compare?

I'm afraid that you've experienced standard practice. Ask for a copy of the relevant pages of their specialist guide book (including interpolation factors and condition guides). Challenge the validity of the guide book if not a general industry guide. Phone up the publishers of the guide and ask questions about regional variations and modifications. State that financial ombudsman guidelines require that any offer of compensation must be based on forecourt prices - ie what you would have to pay to a specialist garage. They'll probably claim that their guide is a confidential trade guide and therefore not releasable. If they do, refuse to accept anything based on it - they should be prepared to provide any details in support of their offer in the same way as you are required to jump through hoops for your claim. Likewise insist on a copy of the engineers report, then go through it and challenge errors, omissions etc. If they won't budge sufficiently on their offer, challenge them to find an equivalent vehicle and purchase on your behalf in respect of that part of your claim. If assessed as in equivalent condition by a specialist assessor then you'd accept it. They'll probably respond that it is not their business and it would take too much time - your response, they're expecting you to spend that time and not compensating for it. Keep telling them that their offer is unacceptable. Quote the company mission statement, advertising etc back at them. Reply by return, if only an acknowledgement of receipt and advice that you will respond in detail later. Every time that you write, your file gets back to the top of the pile. Don't give in. At the moment you are probably dealing with a junior claims assessor. At some point they will either start repeating themselves, contradicting themselves or pass it to a more senior assessor. That is your chance to force a deal. If it is not escalated internally, escalate it yourself - start copying to customer service and complaint depts etc. Name and shame the company on forums such as this, keep the thread up to date. At some point someone will inject some sense into the negotiation and realise how much this claim is costing them in admin and potentially lost business. Can you tell that I've been there before? Fortunately on behalf of my daughter, but for a 13 year old car. The publishers of Glass's guide were very helpful in giving some idea of regional variations etc.

I'd agree with the recommendation for Fluke if a longer term buy that will get used a lot. Fluke was the standard at work, though we used to buy cheaper ones for trials when they were likely to get lost/trashed. We also used to use a lot of cling film to temporarily weatherproof instruments. I have a couple of Fluke meters and an AVO at home and expect them to outlast me. I would recommend that, whatever you decide, you consider one with a "lock" function. The ability to take a reading whilst lying on your back and then look at it later can be invaluable. Screwfix used to do a suitable cheap meter <£10 that did everything we'd ever need on site.