Sics Consolidated Faded Moderns Thread - 2006 Golf Mk5 GTI & 2004 BMW Z4 2.2

[NorfolkNWeigh]

The E320 is being a right little shit. 
….

Bastard cars. It must have noticed I've sold my TT and the Golf is broken. 

If you’d still got the TT it would only have added to your misery. The starter seems to have given up! Starts easy enough with a push, sitting at Waseem’s , my family go to mechanic . He’s going to sort it tomorrow, a new starter motor is only £75 so not anything like the pain the Merc is causing.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Old tensioner pulleys need the seal picking out and a bit of grease fingering in. Refit the seal, job done.

[SiC]

FOR FUCKS SAKE

[SiC]

I did not want to be putting a new alternator in this. Literally almost finished this job too.

[FhakeConcern]

Fuck!

[christine]

I , being clever a fucker with metal , would make a bracket and a bush and use the next hole ...You being clever and wealthy , would buy a new one ..Good old M.G B on the station run tomorrow ..

Tell mrs SiC you need a tig welder..

[Eddie Honda]

I , being clever a fucker with metal , would make a bracket and a bush and use the next hole ...You being clever and wealthy , would buy a new one ..Good old M.G B on the station run tomorrow ..

Tell mrs SiC you need a tig welder..

I, being angry...

20509366_f6660c76c8_b.jpg (155.85 KiB) Viewed 403 times

[SiC]

I do need to learn to TIG sometime. My set can do scratch Tig so it's something I can start practicing on.

Just right now I want the damn thing working.

[SiC]

Back to the GTI.

Fitted a replacement alternator - tricky job but I've got good at it now. Alternator is the same code and off something completely different VAG. I think a TDI of some sort. These alternators seem as generic on VAG as the Lucas 18ACR. This was only £20 shipped from some breaker up in Scotland. Bosch unit versus the older Valeo that was on here. 

Tensioners pulley was grumbly. Did ponder about repacking fresh grease in but the bearings showed wear on them. Basically the grease has all leaked out. Took the pulley off and noticed it's an INA branded unit. The part number lines up to something used on Fiat/Jeep/others. Less than £15 for a replacement on eBay. Far cheaper than the £60+ for a whole new tensioner assembly.

Torqued the bolt to 23nm as everything else seemed to be that on this tensioner and put a dribble of loctite on for good measure.



Belt back on and filled the coolant up. I wanted to use my new fangled vacuum bleeder but apart from the gauge not at zero, it was missing a fitting from the fill pipe. Dang, that's going back to Amazon then.




Started running up to temperature and did a quick code scan. There was a code for temperature sensor open circuit. Weird as the scantool is giving the coolant temperature. A quick Google says there are two separate sensors. One on the gearbox side and one under the thermostat (that I've just replaced). 

 
A bit more diving into the scantool live data found another reading. One for engine outlet and one for radiator outlet. 


 
Anyway given I had just been around the thermostat area, it was very likely that one. Problem is that the recommended way of getting to that sensor is removing the alternator...

You can just about see the sensor in between the bundle of pipes above the connector for the Aircon compressor in this picture.


Looking up I could just about see the connector disconnect. Damn, I must have forgotten to plug it back in. Much swearing was to be had but I managed to get my hand in and get it lined up with a good click out of it. 

Ran it up again and revved it to clear any coolant air locks. Over shot my 3k target and hit 4k. Let off the accelerator and ... *BANG* what sounded a massive backfire.

Revs were all over the place at idle and barely could stay running.
 


Thinking it might have been the new PCV let go, I put back the delete kit. Still there. Pulled the lid off the valve and the diaphragm is undamaged. 

Hmm. Tried unplugging the MAF incase that had failed and it idled perfectly.


 
So possibly MAF has failed? After all I was plugging it in/out and moving it around a lot as it's in the air filter housing lid. Checked the values of it connected and they all seemed sane - albeit all over the place because of the revs not stable. At this point it was late, so I went inside and ordered a second hand unit. 

While I was trying to sleep, I was pondering what it could be. I didn't think it was the MAF (having a spare good used is no bad thing though) and possibly the symptom rather than cause. Maybe boost leak?

In the morning I put a post up on a GTI Facebook group and most said boost leak. I did triple check everything when putting together so I wasn't certain. In the afternoon I had a look under the bonnet and it was pretty obvious.


These are quick connect fittings. I think what I did wrong here was put the clip on after putting the hose on. So it didn't latch properly. 

At that point I ran out of time and went on holiday to Amsterdam. 

Came back and ended up being too busy to look at it again until yesterday. 

Yesterday I jacked it up, took the under tray off and plugged that hose back in. Started and ran great. Dropped it back down and ran up to temperature. This extra temperature sensor is handy to know when the thermostat is open - presumably why it exists. Ran till the temperature got up and fan kicked in to low speed.


 
Went for a test drive. Boosts absolutely fine now. Coolant level dropped a little - hopefully just some more air getting out of the system.

[SiC]

Polishing headlights always brightens up a car a treat. My usual trick of G3 and a felt wheel on a grinder works well and makes it a ten minute job for both sides.

Lights have condensation build up inside. Probably from where it's been sat & not used. Hopefully use will make the bulbs boil off any moisture in them.





 
Now I could see inside, I noticed that the nearside main beam reflector had melted! Explains why I could sometimes smell a hot melting type smell on occasions after a drive.

 
What has happened is that someone has hamfisted the bulb replacement. They've managed to loose the retaining clip and just shoved the bulb back in place. But without the clip in place, any bump moves that bulb. So it ended up sitting on the plastic reflector and ruining it. The otherside still had the clip but the bulb was in the wrong orientation. Thankfully nowhere near as much reflector damage on that side.

The proper solution will be to replace the headlight unit. Only £30 or so off eBay for second hand but I want to keep the budget low on this still for now. As it's just the main beam, it won't affect blinding oncoming traffic.

Bulb envelope is damaged but still works. It's coming to spring soon and clocks change, so won't have to do much. If it blows it blows and I'll have to replace this light cluster anyway.

For the mean time I got a Split Pin (yes I shipped him all the way from Scotland for this before anyone says...) and bent it into a rough clip shape fashion. Worked much better than I expected!

 
The side light kept flicking a bulb out warning on regularly too. Again in the same place as the above bulb. Looks like someone has pinched the wire and damaged it. Didn't take much for it to snap.


A bit of soldering with my handy Milwaukee soldering iron and some heat shrink fixed this. Not my best soldering but it'll hold and it's only low current. Plus I need a new light cluster at some point due to the other damage.