Thanks all for the comments. :-)
Just got back from the service and inspection. Told my mate to be brutal(ly honest) and tell me everything he found. Most of it not surprising. One big surprise:
1) Excessive play in the front anti roll bar bushes. That explains the knocking. The car doesn't have the later (modified) parts fitted. He's ordering a set to fit next week.
2) Minor oil leak from the back of the engine somewhere. Hard to trace, and not excessive. One to keep an eye on rather than urgently fix.
3) Centre exhaust support bracket broken. He can repair this rather than replace it.
4) The big surprise - both rear coil springs are broken just above the seat. They make no noise, car feels fine. Go figure! About £35 a side plus fitting, and "a piece of urine" to do according to him.
Brakes all good, engine "fit as a fiddle", clutch ok for now, but definitely in the later part of its life, engine management / fuelling / turbo all fine. Basically he reckons it's a bit tired here and there, but by no means past it as long as we get all the odds and ends sorted and keep on top of things. Reckons it was a good buy.
Fresh oil and filter, new air filter, new pollen filter, new spark plugs and a brake fluid change done tonight. Will start on the list above from next week, plus of course the cambelt. He wasn't too concerned at the 61k duty on the belt so far. Apparently they were rated at 120k originally, then later halved. He reckons no issues driving it around for a few more weeks til we can fit it in around the other stuff.
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Sounds as if you have a good car and a good indy mechanic DP.
I've done a few miles in an Octavia 4x4 with that engine and I like it a lot. Unobtrusive but gutsy. If it has a fault it's that it isn't quite scintillating under acceleration, although very solid and strong. Perhaps with 2wd it will have a bit more shine. The Golf body may be lighter than the Octavia's too, although the extra machinery with the 4x4 is what really makes the difference.
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He's a very old friend of the father-in-law's, and he's been a VW tech for 25 yrs with a small gap in between. Good as gold, and it's nice to be able to leave a car with someone and say "find what needs doing" without fear of being ripped off. It's also satisfying to have a VW serviced in a VW dealer workshop, by a VW tech for mates rates (£80 for that little lot tonight). No book stamp, but for that money and a car of this age and value, I'm not bothered. The management are cool with it as long as it doesn't interfere with customer work, so after 5pm is usually fine.
I know what you mean about the engine. It definitely isn't the most characterful, but it does go well. Given it a few more beans now it's on clean oil, and it does pull nicely. Noticeably quicker than the S60 was, but doesn't sound half as nice :-)
Edited by DP on 15/02/2010 at 20:06
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DP,
Item posted this morning.
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Tim,
You're a gentleman. Thank you.
Cheers
DP
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Tim,
It arrived safe and sound this afternoon. Many thanks.
Having a few problems installing it. It would appear, despite the aftermarket unit using a "proper" ISO adapter lead that someone has been messing with the wiring on the multiplug. The illumination works, but turning the unit on sees it light up briefly and go out again. I don't think it's the stereo, but the car, as there seems to be a live feed missing on the multiplug! AARRGHH
Can anyone say "can of worms"? :-(
EDIT: A few minutes with a multimeter and cross checking against wiring pinouts found online (and a helpful colour photo of the wiring colours I found on uk mkivs) tells me someone has been playing silly so-and-so's with the ISO connector on the car. The pin that should be the switched live is connected to what looks like an aftermarket antenna booster, the switched live pin is up the wrong end of the multi connector entirely, and one of the permanent lives is in completely the wrong place!
Now I just have to work out how to remove the pins from the multiplug without breaking anything, a couple of minutes and we should be up and running. A job for morning when a) it's light, and b) it's not minus a berjillion out there!
Always the simple jobs, right?
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 19/02/2010 at 22:26
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No problem, hope it is of use. Nice looking car BTW, the MK4 in my opinion is the best looking Golf yet. My first car was a F plate MK2 1.6CL, miss that dearly as you do the first car then was followed by a J Reg Jetta LX. I've noticed you are missing a wheel badge, a colleagues old MK4 with same wheels were missing them, must fall off easily. I briefly drove a 1.8T for work 20 mile round trip and few years back and boy did I give the beans, seem to remember only car that did 40 in first gear and pulled a nice couple of chrips from front tyres shifting into second in the dry!
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pulled a nice couple of chrips from front tyres shifting into second in the dry!
Yes they can lose traction easily. It's only got about 205Nm torque as well. My Mazda6 diesel has 360Nm and doesn't do this. The Golf also tramlines easily.
I admit I only had mine for about 6 months before it was stolen in 2000. It was never seen again and would be difficult to put a new identity on it properly. How many black 5 doors with sunroof, aircon, cruise control, CD autochanger in boot and blue chequered seats were ever made? The default colour for seats was red/black and it had a sunroof and no aircon. And cruise control.... ;-)
It also needed a new gearbox on delivery and turbo parts. VW quality control was not so good in 1999. All fault put right though.
Edited by rtj70 on 20/02/2010 at 13:58
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How many black 5 doors with sunroof, aircon, cruise control, CD
autochanger in boot and blue chequered seats were ever made?
I ticked quite a few of those boxes when I ordered mine back in 2000 - Black... 5 door... Sunroof... Aircon (actually the ac became standard in 2000)... Cruise. However I had a single slot CD with Black/grey seats with the winter pack (comprising completely useless headlight squirters and heated seats)
The default colour for seats was red/black
There wasn't a "default" seat colour imposed - there was always a free choice of Black/grey, Black/red or Black/blue - however most went for Black/Grey on a Black car.
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Well, wiring re-jig completed (ISO connector is now wired as VW intended) and units installed. Radio works a treat, but the CD player doesn't unfortunately. It lights up, but won't load discs. Lots of whirring and whining, and the disc stays put. If you manually push the disc in to a point, the "CD IN" light comes on, but it still sits there whirring and clicking to itself. I got a bit enthusiastic with it, and now it's swallowed a disc lol. Going to have to dismantle it to retrieve it. To be fair, I would have had a look anyway. Sounds like something mechanical has gone kaput rather than an electrical fault. I'm sure it's fixable / bodgable.
Radio 4 is the staple diet on the commute, and I can get that nicely, so not the end of the world for now. :-)
More fiddling to come. Will keep you posted.
rtj70 - haven't noticed any tramlining to be honest. Can't also say I find traction an issue.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 20/02/2010 at 19:48
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Do you carry a fire extinguisher DP? Just a random thought of course......
;-)
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Humph,
I still can't believe how lucky I got that nothing blew up when I connected a standard stereo to an unbeknown to me, non-standard wired connector on the car. That could have been expensive. And rather toasty.
I recall the smell of burning electrical insulation on car wiring takes days to clear from one's nostrils!
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My brother fitted the VAG double din full screen Navigation unit for his Mk4. IIRC it took quite a bit of mucking about with wiring looms, wheel sensors and various modules, but well worth while in the end.
This was about 4 years ago and the bits were going for around the £200 mark on ebay (from Germany I think).
I'll ask him what he did with his old Gamma & CD...
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...CD player doesn't work...
DP,
iPod - said as a recent convert to MP3 players.
With your skills, I'm sure you could wire one in semi-permanently, and you'd never use the CD player again.
Lots of Radio 4 podcasts available for the programmes you miss.
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DP - how did you get on with repairing the cd player? Did you manage to fix it?
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Hi Tim,
No joy unfortunately. One of the gears on the loading mechanism was badly worn and slipping. I rang around but couldn't find spares, and one of the printer engineers at work had a trawl through his spares box but couldn't find anything to suit. To be honest, the mechanism was unbelievably complex, and I wouldn't have fancied my chances dismantling it and getting it back together without breaking something else. I kept the facia panel, wiring loom and a couple of the motors for potential use as spares in future, and skipped it. The radio/cassette head unit is installed in the car and working well though.
BTW, I got a letter from the bank the other day saying the payment had been returned due to 'incorrect details'. I don't want you to be out of pocket. Can you reconfirm the details by e-mail and I will re-send it.
I've seen that double DIN head unit and it looks fantastic. It would be nice to have.
Car is going well, but it did pop a rear caliper seal a couple of weeks ago which was doubly annoying as I'd only had a full fluid change a few days before that. My tech friend was away on holiday, so I fitted a replacement (guaranteed used) unit myself. And promptly found out what a complete swine it is to wind a VW rear caliper piston back in without the correct tool! Improvised with a two legged hub puller, a pair of molegrips, and a DIY "adaptor plate" made out of two large stainless steel washers and a couple of self tapping screws. Don't ask, but it worked! Language wasn't pretty though! :-)
Cheers
DP
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OK DP thanks, could you email me your email addres again please
timorridge at ovi dot com
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Hi Tim,
you have mail.
Cheers
DP
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