Service @ Stealth

MikeMarsUK

MikeMarsUK

A2OC Donor
Just had my car serviced at Stealth Racing in Southam (Major service, including cambelt etc). As always, extremely happy with the service from Vince (I met Robin there too :)).

The rear/offside drum brake had apparently been sticking which suprised me - the brake pad surface had snapped in half due to the heat.
 
Last edited:
Hi Mike,

I'm considering having my cambelt changed at the next service. Although it was only done 35k miles ago, the car was owned by someone else and the work was done by an unknown independent garage, so for my own peace of mind I think I'll have it done early.
Do you mind me asking what you paid for the major service plus the belt changes, etc?

Cheers,

Tom
 
The quote for the cambelt was 375, and the quote for the longlife service was 237. There were also various other things I wanted to be done at the same time which bumped up the final costs somewhat (aux belt, MOT, shocks, brake pad, gearbox oil change).
 
I'm now curious to see if my MPG will change - as well as the sticking brake pad, I finally swapped over from my SE 185/50R16 w/Pirelli P6000s onto 175/65R15s with LRR tyres (Michelin Energy E3As). That's slightly taller than standard (175/60R15) - an increase of 2.6% on the tyre circumference, so it'll be gearing me slightly higher.


The only downside is that now I have to keep adding the 2.6% whenever I look at the trip meter or odo. Does anyone know how to set up the adaption via a ScanGauge so that the miles are calculated correctly based on my new tyre size? (Or indeed if it is possible to make that change without vagcom?)
 
Last edited:
MikeMarsUK said:
I'm now curious to see if my MPG will change...
Click to expand...

You surprise me, Mike! :p

I have to add 4% to my trip reading due to gearing-up the car by means of tyres. I'm afraid I don't know about the adaption, though. I'd be interested to know if the instrument cluster's calibration can be alternated with VCDS....??

Tom
 
timmus said:
... I'd be interested to know if the instrument cluster's calibration can be alternated with VCDS....??
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it can be done with VCDS/Vagcom, I've seen instructions on the tdiclub forum for how to do it on a Jetta (the standard wheel sizes are different of course so the instructions would need to be modified suitably). But I only have a scangauge, which is a bit more limited.
 
timmus said:
MikeMarsUK said:
I'm now curious to see if my MPG will change...
Click to expand...
You surprise me, Mike! :p
...
Click to expand...

Just to make life frustrating, I stopped at a Shell to refuel this morning & they insisted on filling it themselves!!! (so no brim&vent, & hence no idea of actual fuel used). I'll have to get the figure after the next full tank.

Coincidentally my fuel filler flap release button decided to stop playing, so I'll have to sort it out next. Fortunately I knew from the forum that there was an emergency release...
 
Last edited:
MikeMarsUK said:
Just to make life frustrating, I stopped at a Shell to refuel this morning & they insisted on filling it themselves!!!...
Click to expand...

Wow I though I saw the end of serviced filling stations a long time ago. My dad went to a filling station in France a few years ago where they insisted on filling his car up. They put diesel in his petrol car ! Not a happy with them at all!

Cheers

David
 
MikeMarsUK said:
Coincidentally my fuel filler flap release button decided to stop playing, so I'll have to sort it out next. Fortunately I knew from the forum that there was an emergency release...
Click to expand...

Do the interior lights turn on when you open your driver's door? i.e. could it be the door's microswitch? The release button and the solenoid could be ok, but the car won't let you open the tank if it think's the door's closed.

Tom
 
timmus said:
Do the interior lights turn on when you open your driver's door? i.e. could it be the door's microswitch? The release button and the solenoid could be ok, but the car won't let you open the tank if it think's the door's closed.

Tom
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely sure. I'm seeing the following:

* Light turns on & off as expected when the driver's door is opened & shut
* The 'safe' beep after locking only happens if the door is shut

However - if I unlock the car, open the drivers door, and then wait, the car automatically relocks after a minute. I was under the impression that the relock would not happen if I had opened the door.

Other observations:
* The switch is no longer illuminated
* There is no noise if the button is pressed
* The solenoid itself feels firm (Vince once came across one where the solenoid had worked loose)
* The interior electronics seem OK (the fuse is shared with loads of internal stuff, and they all seem OK, so the fuse can't be blown).


That's why I'm thinking that the switch itself might be the culprit. But I can't rule out the other alternatives (door microswitch, solenoid).
 
Last edited:
Hmm, that's a curious one. I can see why you think the switch might be knackered. Does the interior sensor button light up when you open the driver's door?

Tom
 
Yes, the one just above the fuel release. The fact that this button also doesn't light up suggests the problem isn't with the switch itself.
Do the rear interior lights come on when you open the driver's door? - I have observed that a failing CCU often starts with the rear interior lights not responding to open front doors.
Do you get the 'door open' symbol on the instrument cluster?

Tom
 
Hi Tom,

Hmm, interesting results from that.

* The instrument cluster does not show the drivers door being opened, but detects the passenger door opening.
* The 'your headlights are on' warning has stopped working.
* Mechanically, the interior sensor button is visibly broken (stuck in the 'pushed in' position). I've never had cause to use this button so never really looked at it before.
* Mechanically, the fuel filler release button looks OK (clicks in & out properly when pushed). But I don't hear any noise from the solenoid when doing that.

On the other hand...

* The beep when locking the car still reacts correctly to whether or not the car door is open / closed.
* The front interior lights still react correctly.

(I still need to look at the rear interior lights)
 
This is curious and I don't have a solid explanation. There's clearly conflicting evidence, some of which suggests the microswitch is fine and some suggests it's knackered. The microswitch is connected to the driver's door control module which then outputs the microswitch position onto CAN bus for use by the CCU and the instrument cluster.
I have observed similar behaviour once before and the solution to the problem in this case was to replace the driver's door lock, though I don't have a satisfactory answer as to why that should be when some functions (like the interior lights) are still responding correctly.
I have a spare driver's door control module which you could borrow to rule out a fault there.

Let me know about the rear interior lights, though test this using both front doors.

Cheers,

Tom
 
Where is the driver's door microswitch physically located? (It might be useful to try some electronic contact cleaner fluid on it).
 
The microswitch is integrated into the driver's door lock and is bought as a complete assembly. I think the microswitch is reasonably well hidden inside the assembly and is pressed by a metal pivot. You can try squirting copious amount of switch cleaner into the lock from the door catch, but I doubt you'll have much success. If it fixes the problem, it won't last long, though may help diagnose the problem.

Tom
 
timmus said:
...
Let me know about the rear interior lights, though test this using both front doors.
...
Click to expand...

The interior lights (both front & back) have stopped being triggered by the drivers door (although they were working as expected earlier).


If it wasn't for the 'locking beep' which does recognise when the door was open or closed, I'd assume it was the microswitch. But as you say, it's all a bit confused.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top