Volkswagen Transporter Kombi FAQs

Check out real-world situations relating to the Volkswagen here, particularly what our experts have to say about them.

• Why doesn't the 2008 Volkswagen Crafter have a temperature guage?

  The reason for deleting a temperature gauge is the same as for any other time a manufacturer deletes equipment; to save money. While your Crafter doesn’t have a temperature gauge per se, it will have a warning light that will illuminate if the temperature starts to rise above normal. At which point, the onus is on you to stop and find the problem, or risk blowing the engine up. The problem with these light is that the damage is sometimes already done by the time the light flickers on, while an actual gauge might have given you more warning that there was a problem.

  Car makers get away with this sort of thing these days because cooling systems are quite reliable and don’t tend to give problems. Which is absolutely no comfort to anybody who has had a catastrophic engine melt-down.

  Fitting an aftermarket temperature gauge in the old days was simple because there was no computer control of the car and its driveline. You simply found a convenient, threaded spot in the cylinder head or block and screwed a temperature gauge sender into it, mounted the gauge in the cabin where you could see it easily and job done. That doesn’t apply nowadays as to mount the sender, you’d probably need to disconnect some other intrinsic sensor that the computer relies on to make the car work properly.

  But there is a modern solution. You can now buy a virtual gauge cluster that plugs into the on-board diagnostics port on modern cars. From that data, the cluster can determine all sorts of things (including engine temperature) and display that info on a small screen you mount in the cabin. You’ll also be able to display a heap of other information, including transmission temperature, air-fuel ratio and plenty more.

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• What would be the cost of replacing a gearbox pressure plate in a 2017 VW Polo?

  Even though your car has no clutch pedal, its transmission is what’s called a DSG, or dual-clutch, which means it’s actually a conventional manual gearbox where a computer controls the clutch operation. That’s why it drives like an automatic yet still has a clutch assembly, part of which is the clutch pressure plate, or multiple plates in the VW’s case.

  Replacing this will require the transmission to be removed, so it’s not a small or simple job. Which also means it won’t be cheap, either. The problem is that digging into a DSG transmission often reveals wear in other areas, and you might find it needs more than just a clutch late at the mileage you’ve covered.

  A VW or transmission specialist should be able to do an electronic analysis of the transmission and its general health to help you make an informed decision on which way to go.

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• What tow vehicle or hybrid camper should I consider for after retirement?

  The last decade of dual-cab four-wheel-drive utes have emerged as the tow-vehicles of choice, and you see them everywhere filling roles exactly like the one you have planned. Popular models include the Ford Ranger you’ve nominated, Toyota HiLux, Mazda BT-50, VW Amarok, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara and Isuzu D-Max. But there are also cheaper alternatives including makes like the South-Korean made Ssangyong and various Chinese brands like LDV and Great Wall.

  Just make sure you know exactly how much you need to tow before making a decision as some of the cheaper models don’t have the same outright towing capacity and even if they do, some of them don’t have the engine performance to make towing as easy as it should be. For parts availability, the Toyota would be king in really remote areas, but any of the major brands are pretty well covered in Australia.

  Meantime, don’t rule out ute-based wagons such as the Ford Everest, Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuna. These offer better ride comfort when unladen thanks to more sophisticated rear suspensions and most have as much or almost as much towing capacity as their ute brethren.

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