stevenb

Alas the car is now fixed and totally spot on. I'm collecting it in the morning. The oil dribble was from an old oil filter gasket that had dropped down in the engine bay. This must have been done by the previous garage when it was serviced as I did my 1st oil change a month back. Oh well. It was the wrong colour to be gearbox oil too....which was the give away....plus the gearbox level was checked and was spot on. The inner steering rack part has been replaced along with both nearside and offside parts and 4 wheel alignment. £335 later and it's sorted. Thank goodness I spotted it when I did. Looking forward to happy trouble free motoring from now on.

Hi mate. I popped down to the garage today and saw the car in the air. I was shown the part that was wrong and which needed replacing. Anyhow. The car being in the air I had a look underneath. I seem to have a leak from somewhere. It's not the engine. I wonder if the gearbox has a knackered gasket somewhere between the engine and the gearbox or driveshaft as it appears to be leaking from the nearside drive shaft although I can't be sure. The garage said they'd check the gearbox oil level for me. So this'll now cost me potentially a shed load more money.

Had a call from the garage. The steering rack will not require replacing as it happens. The nearside inner track rod ends are worn. I will be getting both sides done though as the steering coloumn is off the car and it makes sense to have both sides even. The car also needs 4 wheel alignment now. However the garage were kind enough to tell me this. The bad news is that I won't get my car back until Monday pm. The better news is that the total bill comes to £335 and not £400. I opted to get both sides done...otherwise it would have been cheaper. The bearings are fine. I checked them and I've had two different garages check them too...so that's some concolation. I think what caused it was a blow to the nearside front wheel. I was told the car had hit a bollard and I was ok with that as there was only minor bodywork scuffs to the front bumper.....not that bad really.....but I reckon the wheel had hit a kerb....possibly not from the wheels that are on the car.......but anyway....at least it's getting sorted...slightly cheaper.

I know I'm replying to myself but I'm real miffed. It turns out that the steering column has a worn ball and knuckle joint on the Nearside. It means a new steering rack. £220+VAT for the rack. Labour on top.....£400 all in. There goes my insurance money plus the money to get my bike suspension sorted. I need to get it done. I'm a bit angry as I feel that the previous owner caused this problem.....but I know there is nowt I can do about it 6000 miles later. Next time I buy private I'm paying out £100 for the RAC inspection. Oh well...I suppose if i don't get it done now the whole lot will go kaput.

After taking my car to have tracking done and checking for play in the NSF wheel, I was told there was no point in him carrying out tracking work as my car has excessive play on the nearside front steering rack setup thingy. Damn it. I bet I know what caused this.....but I can't prove it. Anyone know any good independent specialists in and around Beds and Bucks? And I've just blown a load of money on a new suspension fork for my mountian bike.......gulp. cheers all Steve

Nice one. No matter what car I've ever had I've always been apprehensive when it's MOT time. I've only ever had 1 failure and that was a rear caliper on an MR2 mk1 and I got it fixed and re-tested within 2 hours.

I've done many jobs. Guillotine Operator. Driving various warehouse trucks. Statistical admin Incident Planner for ICT company. Customer Services agent. Police Officer....yep....for real. Now I work in Property Management. Have been approached by a financial company for 2 possible jobs...for which I have an interview this Friday. Will see what's on offer.....other than the company Merc.

All, I have a whirring sound coming from the front of the car that increases in loudness with the speed of the car. It's exactly the same sound I had on my Celica GT4 when my rear diff needed changing but I know it's not this with the Arosa. My car has done nearly 76k so maybe it's the wheel bearing..... Do these cars have any known gearbox problems.....I ask as the noise is the sort of noise a gearbox/diff would make.....but who knows with sounds.... Any help appreciated. regards Steve

Is your car running bad due to the mapping or something else? Kinda put's me off mapping all when all these claimed figures don't live up to their real life figures.

Perhaps the bat had just got back from a KitKat advert audition.... ...I'll get my coat....

lol....lovely car....shame his description doesn't do the car justice.

They look very nice. Go for them.

Have you fitted a cold air feed pipe to get the air sucked up to the filter better? Cheers for the pic. Steve

Cool. I had a BMC carbon air intake on my old Honda Prelude 2.2 VTEC. The induction kit sounds good too. Have you had any idling problems or hesitancy on pick-up when accelerating? Can you also advise part number of the Pipercross filter and where they can be bought from. Thanks loads. Steve

Hi all, I was just wondering which air filters have been the most effective for peoples Arosa 1.4 TDi's. I have a 2002 TDI S and would be interested in upgrading the air filter. I have done a quick search but only found 'Green' offering a panel filter for my car. Would this panel filter make any noticeable difference? I think a custom exhaust would be a better option if I choose to upgrade over the stock one as I'd like to use the same OE tailpipe exit. Thoughts and opinions welcome. regards Steve