'Lady' - Red Colour Storm in Bristol

Jimbo

Member
Hello,

I thought I would finally start a project thread after a couple of months of ownership! I'm hoping the car behaves and is a long termer :)

The car as a 1.6 FSI Misano Red Colour Storm, 4 seater. The for sale thread is on the forum here. Not a bad car, but what I didn't pick up on when checking it over was:
  • Rough idle - should have plugged in my OBDII reader and I would have seen the P1031 error. No EML on the dash though
  • Gear change isn't great and clutch is a bit short
  • The 'blower off' button was very worn - a symptom of a sticky flap (again threw an error)

She looks OK from a distance, but plenty of stubborn grime on the red, some stone chips on the front and faded blacks. Inside the seat colour looks a bit faded/muted but I think that's original, and a few holes in the cloth. After a hoover and wipe out many years of family ownership have been cleared out (the rear door pockets were not pretty). Only a couple of patches of 'gloop' that couldn't be removed. Lots of the buttons are looking worn so will try and get round those as small jobs (bought a broken stereo with a better front to swap first). I've done the car social thing with my 924 but kind-of lost interest in that side of things for the moment so probably won't be heading to events in the short while - but you never know I might come round to it again.

The first 'adventure' was the alternator packing in on a Sunday on the M62. Got to the first services on the M6 South from there and she struggled to start again and the power-steering quickly gave up. 3 hours later in the rain the RAC finally turned up with a new alternator and we were back on the road shortly after (got a £20 Amazon voucher and a cold for the wait...). This also put the airbag light on.

Second failure was me buying cheap stereo removal keys from ebay. The stereo didn't come out but I how have a rattly dash. New set on order!

Oh and the name - being red and black we joked about adding some black dots to make her look like a ladybird! Fortunately we're yet to follow through :D

Todo list:
  • Rough idle/running (P1031 - Intake Manifold Tuning Valve (N316): Setpoint Not Reached)
  • Slow to heat up - thermostat
  • Aircon regas
  • Wax after a wash
  • Stereo bluetooth upgrade
  • Cruise control fit

Done list:
  • A good clean inside
  • Swap stereo front / buttons
  • Clear airbag light
  • Replace buttons
 
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Pictures
IMG_20170709_185547.jpg
 
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Fuel log. Currently always using premium, mostly Tesco Momentum 99.

Code:
|---------------------------------------------------------|
|   Date    | Litres | Miles |  MPG  |   Notes            |
|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Jul 17    |  34.5  | 332.7 | 43.84 |                    |
| 24 Jul 17 |  30.8  | 258   | 38.08 | Car loaded         |
| 6 Aug 17  |  21.6  | 237   | 49.88 |                    |
|           |        |       |       | Think I missed one |
| 16 Oct 17 |  16.09 | 106   | 29.95 | Short runs         |
| 4 Nov 17  |  32.63 | 294   | 40.96 |                    |
| 10 Dec 17 |  23.96 | 190   | 36.05 | Cold               |
| 13 Jan 18 |  34.99 | 315.5 | 40.99 | Radiator 'fixed'   |
|---------------------------------------------------------|
 
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And she's currently in AP Autocare Bristol today for initially a diagnostic. I'm hoping the £66 will tell me more that my £15 bluetooth ODBII reader and then we'll let them crack on with some stuff from the to-do list. A new garage to me, but apparently a VAG specialist and have a few Porsches in so can't be that bad!
 
Welcome along, always nice to see a new colourstorm owner appear, best of luck with all your jobs, it'll be rewarding in the end, be nice to see those pics when you get a chance,
Cheers Jeff
 
I’ve used AP in the past and they’ve always been okay for me with VW’s and Skoda’s


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Does your engine management light illuminate when you turn on the ignition prior to starting the engine? If it does not the EML has probably been disabled by the previous owner. Looking forward to seeing progress!!

Nick
 
Looking forward to the project and if you need freebie diagnostics I am in Trowbridge with VCDS (vagcom) so can hopefully keep the costs down. Good luck
 
Does your engine management light illuminate when you turn on the ignition prior to starting the engine? If it does not the EML has probably been disabled by the previous owner. Looking forward to seeing progress!!

Nick

Hmmm, various lights come one but I haven't noticed one missing. If I've bought a car from someone who's disabled the EML then I'll be most annoyed to say the least. Will double check what lights come one later and take a pic.

I’ve used AP in the past and they’ve always been okay for me with VW’s and Skoda’s

Yeah, so £66 lighter for them to tell me the same error code and they wanted 2.5 hours labour to strip down the inlet manifold before finding out what it actually was. Asked them for a total fix costs as I wasn't going to spend hundred going down a rabbit hole. Call back and worst case £800 inc VAT to replace the manifold. They said if the manifold had previously been apart and put back together out of alignment then this could have caused the problem, or it could just be gunked up. Asked whether it could be anything else other than the flaps themselves such as a sensor and they said no, reading around the error surely if it's in the right position and just reading the wrong position then this would cause the error? Error code: http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/17439/P1031/004145, the workshop strip-down looks like it shouldn't be too hard to reach some of it:
a2-1450.png


So, will pick up the car later and pay the money (hopefully they haven't add anything on for clearing the airbag light). Maybe try a bottle of engine cleaner first, given the long list of other things that need doing either I just have to ignore it and work through the other issues, do nothing, or trade her in for something else :( Feel like I've bought a lemon.
 
Hmmm, various lights come one but I haven't noticed one missing. If I've bought a car from someone who's disabled the EML then I'll be most annoyed to say the least. Will double check what lights come one later and take a pic.



Yeah, so £66 lighter for them to tell me the same error code and they wanted 2.5 hours labour to strip down the inlet manifold before finding out what it actually was. Asked them for a total fix costs as I wasn't going to spend hundred going down a rabbit hole. Call back and worst case £800 inc VAT to replace the manifold. They said if the manifold had previously been apart and put back together out of alignment then this could have caused the problem, or it could just be gunked up. Asked whether it could be anything else other than the flaps themselves such as a sensor and they said no, reading around the error surely if it's in the right position and just reading the wrong position then this would cause the error? Error code: http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/17439/P1031/004145, the workshop strip-down looks like it shouldn't be too hard to reach some of it:
a2-1450.png


So, will pick up the car later and pay the money (hopefully they haven't add anything on for clearing the airbag light). Maybe try a bottle of engine cleaner first, given the long list of other things that need doing either I just have to ignore it and work through the other issues, do nothing, or trade her in for something else :( Feel like I've bought a lemon.

If you need a hand or want to chat things through on WhatsApp I would be happy to help as I have similar issues.
 
Thanks everyone. Had a day not thinking about it and doing diy instead :) Will get a picture up of my startup dash lights tomorrow and dig through the history a bit more to see if someone has been under the bonnet and put things together indirectly (which was one explanation for the issue other was just being gummed up).
 
So picture taken:
dash.jpg
Hmmm, so I've got "EPC" but no
1464677.6868.jpg
:( Looks like it should be under the airbag light from a google. Guess that explains why no warning light! Can you disable it in software or has someone just whipped out the bulb?

Saw lots of lights go on and off and a big "OK" and assumed that meant it was OK...

Think the PO only had basic work done so may well have been there for a while, or he saw me coming. He apparently took it to local specialists but you think someone would have read the codes at some point!

Very torn atm, was expecting to spend a reasonable amount on tyres, brakes and thermostat in the short term, then get the clutch, gear change looked at in the mid term, but adding another £800 on top of that straight away is too much. And should I bother spending the other money when I know the car isn't right. Just taking that money I would have spent in the next 6 months together with part-ex I'm looking at a reasonable deposit for a new car. Nothing happening straight away but my insurance is up for renewal in a few weeks and it's £100 more than I was expecting.
 
Hang in there, it sounds like it's worth fixing and it will all feel worth it when done :)

I have checked mine and the engine management light definitely lights up on startup. As far as I'm aware they're not actually bulbs but LED's so shouldn't blow. Is anything covering it behind the clocks face?
 
Well the decision was to not make a decision at this time. In the end it's just a wobbly idle and needing a few more revs setting off. Buyer beware I know, but I do feel a bit conned. Just going to live with it for a while and try and not spend too much in the mean time. Insurance is due in a week which has gone up significantly for no reason.

Does anyone know if the Engine Management Light can be disabled without just putting some tape behind the dash? Will take a good look at it when home in daylight.

I am going to try and do some motivational things on the weekend (wash her again and try and apply some wax, have another go at removing the stereo). Have got no long journeys planned until Christmas so will look at getting the tyres and brakes.
 
There has been some examples of owners destroying the LED light (no bulbs are used) to hide the error.

Steve B
 
Had a couple of hours at the weekend to do some of jobs. Had a good look at the dashboard and nothing visible regarding the engine management light (keep wanting to type EML light till I realise it's like ATM machine and go longhand...). Don't think I'll be taking the instrument cluster apart anytime soon so will just have to keep plugging in my OBD reader to check codes every so often.

Stereo wise, with 4 correct keys and a lot of force I got it out finally! Wowsers it needed quite a tug! My replacement stereo on closer inspection (a) was actually different despite being the same model by name (different coloured metal and different profile front panel) and (b) the buttons were mostly in no better condition. I did take off all the old buttons and give them a quick wash, and ended up changing the row of 6 buttons and the dials. Once I remembered the main reason I bought a replacement (row on the display missing) I swapped the front electrics round which thankfully were compatible. Sadly I scratched one button and the replacement has different retaining feet at the back despite being physically the same at the front. Why the changed the backs of buttons across any models I don't know, let alone for ones with the same name! But pretty happy with the result.

IMG_20171011_185648.jpg

Next up, I purchased an A4 climate control unit so will have a go at swapping all the buttons over. I tried to remove the current unit from the car at the weekend with both the stereo and ash tray out but it wasn't shifting so I'll follow the guides to do it in situ.
 
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Very interested in the climate buttons, I didn't realise they are compatible. Keep us posted pls.
 
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