3 days owned - 3 faults found

[thai-wronghorse]

So inevitability as the days pass im discovering new niggles and faults with the TDI wagon I recently purchased,  most are easily solved but there's 3 main ones that will need closer inspection and any ideas would be appreciated as im new to mk4's so still yet to brush up on the common issues.

1. Clunking from front suspension only at low speeds over bumps. Several threads point to anti-rollbar bushes?

2. ESP been over sensitive imo. Going through any kind of bend in the road with some pace it seems to irritatingly activate, so much so I ended up turning it off on my last journey out yesterday.  Surely I shouldn't need to do this everytime?

3. Low mpg - High 20's / low 30's around town,  low 40's on a 20mile A-road run. The temperature gauge doesn't move so im hoping its just a faulty temperature sender which il be changing today.

[Nino]

So inevitability as the days pass im discovering new niggles and faults with the TDI wagon I recently purchased,  most are easily solved but there's 3 main ones that will need closer inspection and any ideas would be appreciated as im new to mk4's so still yet to brush up on the common issues.

1. Clunking from front suspension only at low speeds over bumps. Several threads point to anti-rollbar bushes?

2. ESP been over sensitive imo. Going through any kind of bend in the road with some pace it seems to irritatingly activate, so much so I ended up turning it off on my last journey out yesterday.  Surely I shouldn't need to do this everytime?

3. Low mpg - High 20's / low 30's around town,  low 40's on a 20mile A-road run. The temperature gauge doesn't move so im hoping its just a faulty temperature sender which il be changing today.

Im very sure I know all these issues and wont be very expensive to fix.

1: Sounds like to me your top mounts need replacing.
2: Your top mounts could be playing a part in this also but I would get your tracking done, clean your TB and your MAF.
3: Replace your Therm and your temp sensor.

[thai-wronghorse]

Top mounts did cross my mind but im surprised if they weren't picked up on the MOT it had a couple of weeks ago.
Its a derv, they dont have a throttle body do they? I thought about cleaning the MAF though seeing as mpg was down, how would these be detrimental to the ESP system though?

[Rhyso]

No they have an EGR valve. Clean that out. Its located at the top of the engine

Dont clean your MAF. Its only a temp solution and you may end up killing it if its actually ok!!

Replace the thermostat and temp sender, put fresh coolant in and go from there

[Nino]

ESP usally kicks in when the car feels like the ammount of power going to the wheels is more than it should be. I.E the car is getting the incorrect Air/Fuel mix readings thinking its push more power than it might be, so your maf could be giving wrong readings etc.

[thai-wronghorse]

EGR will be replaced by a delete pipe and blanking kit I already have in the shed, am I right in saying it will throw a fault code up on these that will need mapping out?

A faulty MAF does sound probable then as that would obviously contribute to the lower mpg than expected as well as the ESP been overactive.

Il stick the codereader on it this afternoon and see if anything crops up.

[Nino]

I know Rhyso advised not to bother cleaning the maf and most of the time he is totally right in what hes saying but. 10% of the time it does work. My maf was giving wrong readings on my 1.8t i took it off and clean mine using electronic contact cleaner i placed the maf of some white paper and lots of black sand like grains came out and my maf worked perfectly fine and gave correct readings afterwards and has done fornthe past 2 years. Worth a go.

[viperjsy]

I had the same over small bumps I changed the drop links as well

[Rhyso]

In this instance I would fix the known problems first like the non working fuel gauge and see if MPG improves. If it does then you have potentially saved buying a new MAF

As for EGR yes it will if its a 52 plate or later and needs to be mapped out. Rude not to remap it fully then 

[thai-wronghorse]

Temp gauge you mean, but yeah il be swapping that and thermostat will certainly be next in line.

its 53 plate and a remap is definitely on the cards in he near future.