Hello all, Hi Don.

The plot thickens ...

I am very much back where I started: intermittent fault. One moment ok, next moment swearwords.

But an interesting detail.

The middle armrest was damaged, so I decided to clean that up.

Took the armrest off, went for home but my remote control does not work anymore.

Stop laughing you guys.

 

She's just enjoying your time and attention and, in her own way, letting you know you should keep it up.

 

There are some moments when a man stops asking questions:

Yesterday, after taking her for a spin, she would not close her doors using my (new) remote, so I closed her with the key.

This morning, of course, the remote did not work, so I opened the doors with the key, trying to be fast enough to avoid the alarm and make the neighbours hate me even more.

No problem, driver door opened with the key (the other doors not), I got in without alarm and closed the drivers door when in.

Only funny mention when I switched the contacy on: airbags light on.

Started in P, no engine orange light, no gearbox messages.

Go to R.

Engine light on, geabox fault on, airbag light on, low coolant message on too.

Engine off.

Open my door to get some coolant, door alarm goes off !

Close door, open door again, but 3 passenger doors stay shut.

Out of the car, window open, I click the remote and the 3 other doors open too.

Shut passenger door, and remote works properly again.

Fill coolant, get in and start. every thing ok, take her for a short spin. Drive 400 meters and gearbox fault message, stays in 4th.

Stop, start ok, drives ok. Back home.

Home, I hear a strange sound from my Motorola car telephone. (?)

Start engine, gearbox fault.

Stop engine, switch phone off, start again, everything ok.

She REALLY must be enjoying my attention huh ?

Rudolf.

 

I think I would ask Sean, or some other Brit-based tech, where the best guys are in the UK: then take the Chunnel and get it fixed!

 

Takeo, if you have a voltmeter can you probe both battery terminals while the engine is idling with *no electrical loads*, record that voltage then simply put the negative lead from the meter to the bolt where the negative battery cable meets the body and record that and post the results here?

This next question is obviously easier to tell when it’s dark but, when you start the engine, is the shift indicator lighting up red? When you’re in park, the P should be red. When you shift to R, N & D, they should also light up red as you move the gearshift down the J gate.

 

Hello all, hello DON !

Finally got the dammned thing MOT approved and ALL ailments are gone, thanks to a bit of thinking and a smart garage guy.
So what did we do ?

* New rotary switch
* New anti-knock sensor
* New coil and new spark plugs
* Adjusted shift cable
* Cats cleaned out + 4 new lambda things (114 Euro for the 4, brand new Denso but unbranded box).

She runs better than before now, drinks less fuel, is faster too.

So far, I feel like a happy camper now. Hope it holds up.

Takeo.