bigbroony

Where the heater hoses emerge into the engine bay; the inlet hoe has some sort of alloy union in it and the outlet has a plastic union. These are joined by a thin rubber hose. As far as I can tell the outlet hose drops down the front of the engine and vanishes near the water pump. I can't think why there should be a restriction at all never mind a complete blockage. This "plug" seems tailor made for the union and seems to click into place. The heater works fine now but obviously I'm worried that I've interfered with the setup. Alan.

I eventually got my wifes car( Mk 2 Golf GTi ) back from a head gasket repair/ radiator replacement. Everything seems fine except the heater isn't exactly hot. I found that the inlet hose was mad hot but the outlet only warm. The outlet hose has a plastic hose union in it with a thin rubber hose crossing over to the inlet side ( a balance pipe perhaps ).I found this to be blocked solid with crud, but that didn't solve anything. However by a process of elimination I removed the aforementioned plastic union( there's none of this gubbins on my Corrado by the way ) and found I couldn't see through it. On poking inside with a screwdriver I dislodged a small plastic grommet/ plug thingy. I put everything back together again, minus the small plug and the heater works a treat. Has anyone any idea what this "plug" is and is it ok to leave it out? Thanks Alan

I wouldn't be overly concerned normally, but my wife's car ( Golf GTi ) is stuck in the local bodger's emporium witha recurring cooling faultso we need at least one car operational as I work shifts and she works miles from home and not on a main bus route. Don't let this get out; two VW's in the house and both poorly.

Dazzy, the fact that it just turned up, without prior noises this morning is very confusing to me. Mind you I once had a Scirocco where the front hub was completely bladdered and I only noticed when I was washing the wheels and thought 1/4 inch play at the wheel was possibly a tad to much for safety's sake.

Now thats worth investigating mate, 'cos thats just what it sounds like. I've never heard a U/S cv joint but I'm led to believe that they "click" this is more of a knock, a sort of adult version of sticking a lolly stick in your bike spokes. However, as I said earlier, cv boot is missing, no longer with us, it is an ex-boot so logic leads me to suspect the cv joint. I'll probably do what I normally do and agonise over it for a couple of days then bang it in somewhere for somebody else to sort.

I only need a few day's grace till my wife's car is fixed. It would be unthinkable to be without a car for a couple of days; why it would be like living in the middle ages or something!

My car has suddenly developed a knocking sound when turning either right or left. It started this morning as more of a groan from the offside when negotiating a roundabout, but throughout the day it's definately a knock ( well at low speed anyway. I was convinced that it was the cv joint but after reading posts on here I see that it may be top or bottom ball joints. Is there a way of finding out for sure, and if it is the cv joint have I any leeway to get it replaced or is oit likely to fall off any time soon? Cheers Alan. PS I took it to "my man" this afternoon and he seemed to think it would be the cv joint as it had no boot!!

The car's just come back from having the head gasket changed.It's had a new oil cooler and header tank fitted at the same time.I'm sure I'd heard something in the past about the system taking a while to settle down after draining and refilling. There's no undue pressure in the cooling system and no sign of an oil/water interface. Alan

Roger, it's definately the cold running hose. It's about 2" in diameter. Anyone got any ideas about the leak problem?

I've learned that it's the cold running air hose and that you can buy something that'll fit from Halfords thus avoiding stealer prices. On the subject of this car; the cooling system's been drained and refilled( new radiator )and now water is leaking out of the expansion bottle cap. I've been advised that its been overfilled( it was a couple of centimetres above the max when cold )and that the system will "find its own level" after being run for a while. Is this the case? Alan.

I've just got my wife's Golf ( digifant Gti ) back after some engine work and I noticed that the air hose that runs out the back of the air filter box is missing.It was in a terrible state anyway( it was made of cloth I think ) and I was looking to replace it. The car seems to drive ok without it, so what's it's function and should I make it a priority to replce. Cheers Alan.

I've had a look at the cooler and can't see any retaining nut.Is it only obvious when the oil filter is removed? VEEDUBBED; the return pipe looks ok and so does the cap.

I'm just going out to look at removing the oil cooler jobby. If this is U/S will it give me the symptoms I described; oil in the water but not the other way round,and what seems to be a higher pressure in the cooling system. I can't understand how there's oil in the water but not water in the oil. Cheers Alan

Ah indeed, at least I can actually visualise the bit you're on about.Is it easy to remove?Do I have to get the filter off first? If so...........bu@@er; its only been on about 6 weeks. Still if thats the fault I suppose I shouldn't complain. Thanks very much for your help. I'll have a look in the cold( and I mean cold ) light of day. That's enough about German cars I' m off to have some more German beer ( Lowenbrau ). Alan.

Wow, so many places to look and so little time.The car is actually a late model(1990 big bumper ) so it has a plaintwist off cap and what seems to be two square holes on the side nearest the wing, normally covered by a black push on cover. Do I understand correctly that it may be the exchanger gasket and not the actual device. I've had a look in Haynes and it involves much interior plastic removal. It's got my arms aching just reading it. I also gather from the other replies that the exchanger is a more likely culprit than the head or gasket.Would that be right? Thanks once more lads. Alan. PS I've just been out and checked and I've definately lost oil.

God I hope it's one of those two. The coolant was discoulered a couple of months ago, but without the leaking problem.It became cleaner with the addition of fresh coolant but today was back to a coffee coloured gloop. Where is the heat exchanger , what does it do, and most importantly can I get one from ECP .Also, how do I check it? Will it be obvious if it's U/S. Was I correct in thinking that the hole the coolant's leaking from is some sort of pressure release valve? Oh and of course thanks for the speedy reply. Alan.

This is a problem with my wife's Golf ( mk 2 GTi ) but hey they're all part of the same family.Late this afternoon, after she'd gone shopping my son noticed a wet patch on the drive. As I 've recently changed the oil this had to be the primary suspect. When she returned I had a look with a torch and discovered it was a coffee coloured liquid oozing out of the header tank; out of a small square hole in the wing-side of it to be precise.This suggests to me oil in the water brought about by excess pressure due to ( if I'm lucky ) a split head gasket. The oil's gone from max to min on the dipstick, though I'd better check that when the engine's cooled down to be sure. There's no water in the oil and the car's never overheated and runs perfectly normally. What's the opinion of you knowledgeable gents. Is it going to be a head off job to find out and what sort of time would you think it would take a professional to do the job. Why do these things always happen on a Saturday night? Alan.

Got all the bits this morning from my local ECP. Drove there and back with fingers crossed. Bits, including two new drive belts came to £53.Itook the car to my "man" who can't do it till friday but I left the car there anyway. No sense pushing my luck any further for the sake of a couple of days inconveniencs.I'll just use my wife's Golf GTi for work.As we say in these parts "owt does for work!"

OOPS! yes its a 2.0.l 16v. The "expert " said it was the tensioner but the belt's so cheap it might as well get done as well.I've ordered the bits from my local ECP and am picking them up tomorow. I'll take the car straight to my "man" and leave it with him till he's done. Fortunately I'm currently on nightshift so I don't need the car. Alan.

After a couple of weeks of listening to my alternator whining I thought I'd do a search on here to find out the usual remedy. I was dismayed to find that it may not be the alternator but the timing belt. I've been to my nearest expert ( PITSTOP in Newcastle ) and he confirmed that it was indeed the belt or at least the tensioner breaking up that was causing the noise.He's too busy to do the job for me any time soon so I'll have to take it to my usual "man". I haven't spoken to him yet as he was out this afternoon, so how long could I' reasonably expect the job to take; a couple of hours, a half-day or a full day. Thanks Alan

I'm afraid I'm even more confused.Must be an age thing.

Regarding the radio reception post;naturally I did a search, and none of those threads came up.They were a big help.My car is a K reg 16v so it may have had an add-on amplifier at the radio end.I really don't fancy pulling the headlining down to check.The stereo in the car is the second non original while I've had it, so ,if I'm lucky it may be the old connecting the black wire( if its hanging about ) to a power source ploy. At least thats the way I understood to be the easiest( for which read least time consuming )method.Thanks again

I've put up with terrible radio reception for ages and I thought it would be sensible to ask if anyone could help.I know its not the radio because I've recently put a new one in.I'm assuming its the arial but I don't fancy pulling the headlining to bits, as in my experience, trim never goes back properly.Someone at work told me they were amplified/powered. Is this true? Any body got any ideas please.

This problem is on my wife's Golf GTi actually but my corrado has a similar arrangement.Her car dies regularly and has a terrible tickover sometimes.It'll start up straight away but can be inconvenient in traffic.I've just noticed this morning that the warm air hose on the bottom of the air box looks very raggy/possibly even split.On looking at the one on my corrado I see that it looks just about pristine.Could an air leak in this area give me problems?It looks like the removal of a load of gubbins to get it off but it'll be worth it if it cures the fault. Thanks.

A quick update which may be some help.I was fiddling about with the handle yesterday and still couldn't see why it wasn't working.Everything seemed to compare favourably with the drivers handle and mech.In the course of this the handle eventually snapped. I can only assume that it had been cracked and was flexing instead of bearing down on the cam.