pond

I haven't got an answer that is specific to Arosa but sometimes a small amount of corrosion on any of the C/L circuit connectors can cause that kind of fault generally. My first Arosa would randomly lock itself despite no key in ignition/doors shut so had to always remember to never leave the keys on the seat/in the boot area temporarily as only had one key.

Excellent thread Ian, even 7 years later.

pedalbox replaced at 54K miles and the only addition to new pedalbox was one extra run of weld about 10 mm long. Gearbox totally fine but will check for silt next time i change oil.

Great posts Sausage - thanks for pics

one worn track rod end will produce that symptom

A big THANK YOU to @Bigfoot as your documented photo guide was invaluable to me - without the aid of any manual I was even struggling to understand how the st. column was removable without removing the pedal bolt!! Everyone else said removing shear bolts was the hardest but some of the rest of it is just as tricky. Just to add to Bigfoot's excellent write up :- I would mark U/J and shaft on steering column joint with Tippex as it can be mounted 180 degrees out - mine was easy only because I left steering lock on and didn't move front wheels during work. I took pictures of the way the st. column loom looks before unclipping plastic surround and removing all the plugs (lot of patience needed as not all unclip using common method). reason for photos being that horn connector position quite fussy and ditto it's yellow connector with foam around it - needs to be just right for steering column shroud to fit snugly. As Bigfoot said, there are a total of 7 fixings, only 3 a bit fiddly on re-assembly. On pedalbox refitting:- I don't know how the hell you fitted yours completely assembled with all 3 pedals! I didn't fit nuts loose to servo only because I needed it to go into engine compartment as far as possible to help fitting pedalbox. If servo pushrod could be restrained/pushed forward somehow then job would be much easier. After a few failed dummy-runs at assembly I found the only way was to attach clutch pedal (easy) and brake pedal seperately after locating pedalbox on bulkhead first.. Once the pedalbox is finally roughly in position so it can be attached to bulkhead I then offered up the brake pedal which was already assembled with new white clip (mind the steel 'bowler hat' hasn't dislodged itself) and return spring with tang nestled in 'void' in white clip (as said already). First you need to identify hole in pedalbox to locate the other return spring tang and wiggle until it's in. Then you can carefully rotate/position brake pedal complete with spacers/steel sleeves and spring until it fits in pedalbox but also aligned ready to receive pivot bolt. I used a miner's torch attachment on head for this - no way I could have done it without. With whole assembly swivelled clockwise around servo rod, you can get enough clearance away from fusebox to now fit long pedal pivot bolt. This is where I went for a cup of Tea as, apart from brakelight switch saga, all the hard challenges are finally beaten! You can now loosely fit the clutch pedal with it's steel sleeve and fat penny-washer and nut. Next, make sure clutch cable outer sleeve (and cable fed through of course) is properly located in part-rubber fixing you have already fitted to pedalbox (mine popped off twice during all the 'wrestling') and then reattach throttle potentiometer* connector as you won't be able to do it after pedalbox is fully bolted down. Next I put nuts loosely on the 3 servo studs protruding through pedalbox before carefully aligning servo pushrod with brake pedal clip (I greased mine just to be sure) and then carefully depressing pedal to feel and hear a reassuring 'click' when it locates on pushrod ball. The rest of the reassembly is straightforward apart from fitting brakelight switch to pedalbox as it's easy to break it, if you hadn't already done so when you removed it (covered elsewhere on here). I used high grade caphead bolts and thick penny washers to replace my shear bolts. *I am sure if throttle potentiometer was fitted by a VAG Technician then this would need setting up after fixing but I think most of us on here are happy to take a chance that it will perform ok (mine did). I scribed along side of switch body before I removed it from old pedalbox and I could see that switch was not quite 'fully rotated' within it's available adjustment so I just crudely tried to replicate this when fitting to new pedalbox.

all finished now, thanks again to all the helpful posters I left the fuse box and the main one-piece dash panel in place but this did make it hard to locate new pedalbox without damaging anything. I found this the most difficult part after removing the shear bolts of course. The brake light switch is a separate case of it's own of course as many already know. I cant believe the stupidity shown here in converting something that was once the simplest item to fit on a car to something so complicated. I hope there is a thread on this Forum to explain this in full but meanwhile - if you can't remove the switch without force then get advice on here. Basically, you need to depress the plunger while swivelling to remove but there are at least two designs now and not sure how this might differ.

Alex and Martin said most of it Skezza in page 6 and 8 of this thread I think? Just about to start drilling as big drift and sledgehammer wouldn't shift shear bolts. Used to do them on Fiat/Lancia all the time but those were easy/i was much younger

Hardly ever posted on here but just want to say a big Thank You to Alex @alex1916v and Martin @Phatbwoy (+ Sir smudge) on here for giving me the confidence to get on with it - have some health/memory issues so to see someone took the trouble to describe the work that's needed is invaluable to me

now sold - decent man that Tommo as well.

this thread is the closest I can find to a fault that has just developed on my Arosa - my central locking will actuate randomly, locking doors and boot but without the key inserted in the ignition! 'going mad' is right as I thought I was. Would have been amusing to anyone watching me as I had to retrieve car keys twice from inside (locked) house before I realised what was happening.

Update :- just found out that adjustment under the bonnet is not the answer sadly - it's either finding out if I can adjust the relative clutch pedal position or else the clutch is genuinely worn and not far away from needing replacement. Thanks all.

Thanks for the replies but i'm not that computer literate and it seems some of these programmes you need to convert files are a little too invasive - Winrar being one of them. I was hoping there was someone on here who had experienced the same. I've researched on other Forums and it seems that a high bite point is quite common and doesn't relate to a worn out clutch necessarily. I just need to determine whether I can adjust the pedal position from inside the car as people speak of a self-adjusting pedal mechanism otherwise I will try adjusting the cable under the bonnet.

Thanks James - possibly as I feared then, have you changed a clutch cable yourself - i.e. - do you know the factory-ish setting for the nut plus locknut under the bonnet?

Hi Just put a 1 litre Arosa on the road as a runabout and hoped someone could help me with a model specific question here, already read about pedal boxes breaking etc. My clutch bite point is higher than normal at the moment and my first thoughts are clutch needing replacement soon but thought I would ask as it's cable actuated and there's a small chance I could adjust it to improve it maybe? The threaded rod at the end of the cable under the bonnet shows about 5 mm before the first nut. Should the spring between the lever and the plastic sleeve be almost totally compressed as standard? I've been looking for a manual but no luck yet - someone said a Mk 3 Lupo Haynes would cover most of it? Did Haynes ever do one for the Arosa? Sorry to include a barrage of questions in my first post. Regards Chris