I also use fuchs oil. Found the engine much quiter when using fuchs compared to when I used shell
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Quality spares providers?
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If you check the spec on the bottle you can find out how good the oil really is. Often the big brands aren't actually that good.
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Thanks for that, all helps to set my mind at ease. Been running both the Fiats on it for over 2 years now and they seem to like it. Don't need any excessive topping up and the cams/valve gear looked nice and clean when I had the rocker covers off to lock the cams up during timing belt changes on both within the last 18 months. Of course they are relatively "agricultural" with their little FIRE engines so probably don't stress the oil out like the Ibiza's little turbo charged engine. The Jazz has been running on Tradetec for the last 3 changes and seems Ok. it's tappets will need checking/adjusting at the next service so it will be interesting to see what the inside of the cam cover/valve gear looks like. My youngest boy's Astra estate is on the Tradetec too but it's getting old - 2007 - and is high mileage due to it being his everyday work car. I only tend to get to see it when something goes wrong. Goodness knows what he tops it up with?
Just in case anyone finds this interesting - and please do say if I'm just boring you all - I thought I'd do another wee bit about "Twinkle" my Ibiza. You may remember that, at coming up for 4 years old, she's now due her first service outside warranty so this is where I can start getting to know her. I've assembled oil,air and cabin filters. At only just over 18,000 miles she doesn't need plugs yet. I've been thinking about this and think I'll do them at 5 years when I'll also do a fuel filter and get AVW to do a cam belt. I've now spent a good couple of hours with her up on stands just crawling around, taking the wheels off and checking brakes, looking for leaks and generally getting to know her and I'm beginning to feel much more at ease with her. A lot of it is typically SEAT stuff I'm already familiar with but the engine is a bit different.
In the end I ordered the oil from Powerenhancer because they were doing a 5 litre container for approx £7.00 less than Opie. Both companies I trust and buy from so it was purely a price thing. I only placed the order last night so not expecting it to arrive for a couple of days but hopefully before the bad weather arrives this weekend.
There is one outstanding issue I was feeling very unsure about though and that concerned my VCDS interface. I bought my VCDS when it was called VAG-COM back in the late '90's and I know the latest interfaces are different to mine so was concerned things might have moved on to far for it to properly communicate with the new car. I downloaded the latest update for the software and was about to plug into the car when I thought "woah" what if it doesn't like this? what if it corrupts something? I've previously used the VCDS on my 1999 Cordoba 1.9 tdi (VE engine) and my boy's old Mk1 Fabia 1.9 tdi (PD engine) - not exactly "modern" cars. My default when I run into diagnostic things I'm unsure about is either to consult with the lads at AVW or to email Grant at Gendan who has been outstandingly helpful and obviously has a deep personal interest in all this sort of stuff. As I wasn't going out past AVW in the next few days I decided to contact Grant. He very quickly emailed me back that I couldn't cause any problems by simply connecting the interface. He then suggested that I do the USB connection test procedure and see what connection features show up. HEX-USB+CAN should work but HEX-USB (which would be pretty old but mine is old enough it might be) wouldn't work. It was with the greatest relief that it came up with HEX-USB+CAN Yippee! So "Test, Save" and I'm good to go. I then scanned the engine and ABS controllers just to see what happened and they connected just fine (and came up with no stored codes) which was nice to see. I think I've understood that this older interface is likely to work on stuff up to around 2017 after that you'll need one of the newer ones - you can browse them on the Gendan/Ilexa/Ross tech websites if you want.
I realize I've gone on a bit about Gendan here but I know it's useful to know of helpful people who are not going to rip you off and I've found them to be very supportive. I've recently been trying to understand fuel trims on Magneti Marelli ECU's in our Fiats (I'm very keen on little Fiats) They seem to only show a long term figure - don't even call it a "fuel trim" either. and Grant and I have had quite an exchange about it much to the advantage of us both I think. The fellow who runs Ilexa down in Truro (Derek, if I remember) where I bought my copy of VAG-COM is also very knowledgeable and helpful but less accessible as he's so busy. I think he's a much smaller set up? When I bought my new Win 10 laptop I was having trouble trying to get VCDS to load on it. I contacted Derek and he sent me, completely free of charge, a disc with the latest version - So Win 10 compatible - which I just loaded and it ran straight off. What great service. So two great companies to know off.
Well, I think that'll do for now. I'll have a wee think about whether to bore you further with aspects of how the service actually goes. - But maybe that would be too simple and boring for you guys? What do you think?
In the end I ordered the oil from Powerenhancer because they were doing a 5 litre container for approx £7.00 less than Opie. Both companies I trust and buy from so it was purely a price thing. I only placed the order last night so not expecting it to arrive for a couple of days but hopefully before the bad weather arrives this weekend.
There is one outstanding issue I was feeling very unsure about though and that concerned my VCDS interface. I bought my VCDS when it was called VAG-COM back in the late '90's and I know the latest interfaces are different to mine so was concerned things might have moved on to far for it to properly communicate with the new car. I downloaded the latest update for the software and was about to plug into the car when I thought "woah" what if it doesn't like this? what if it corrupts something? I've previously used the VCDS on my 1999 Cordoba 1.9 tdi (VE engine) and my boy's old Mk1 Fabia 1.9 tdi (PD engine) - not exactly "modern" cars. My default when I run into diagnostic things I'm unsure about is either to consult with the lads at AVW or to email Grant at Gendan who has been outstandingly helpful and obviously has a deep personal interest in all this sort of stuff. As I wasn't going out past AVW in the next few days I decided to contact Grant. He very quickly emailed me back that I couldn't cause any problems by simply connecting the interface. He then suggested that I do the USB connection test procedure and see what connection features show up. HEX-USB+CAN should work but HEX-USB (which would be pretty old but mine is old enough it might be) wouldn't work. It was with the greatest relief that it came up with HEX-USB+CAN Yippee! So "Test, Save" and I'm good to go. I then scanned the engine and ABS controllers just to see what happened and they connected just fine (and came up with no stored codes) which was nice to see. I think I've understood that this older interface is likely to work on stuff up to around 2017 after that you'll need one of the newer ones - you can browse them on the Gendan/Ilexa/Ross tech websites if you want.
I realize I've gone on a bit about Gendan here but I know it's useful to know of helpful people who are not going to rip you off and I've found them to be very supportive. I've recently been trying to understand fuel trims on Magneti Marelli ECU's in our Fiats (I'm very keen on little Fiats) They seem to only show a long term figure - don't even call it a "fuel trim" either. and Grant and I have had quite an exchange about it much to the advantage of us both I think. The fellow who runs Ilexa down in Truro (Derek, if I remember) where I bought my copy of VAG-COM is also very knowledgeable and helpful but less accessible as he's so busy. I think he's a much smaller set up? When I bought my new Win 10 laptop I was having trouble trying to get VCDS to load on it. I contacted Derek and he sent me, completely free of charge, a disc with the latest version - So Win 10 compatible - which I just loaded and it ran straight off. What great service. So two great companies to know off.
Well, I think that'll do for now. I'll have a wee think about whether to bore you further with aspects of how the service actually goes. - But maybe that would be too simple and boring for you guys? What do you think?
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