Removing VR front bumper

[Rpmayne 0]

Bloody cars, what happened to the joy of working on a mk2 golf. I have a water leak coming from the front of the engine block somewhere but need a closer look. This requires removing the entire front of the car. :x

 

I'm stuck trying to get the bumper off. Apparently there are 4 17mm bolts but I can't find them. Does anyone know where they are or any other things holding it on, like the wings need to come off aswell or something.

 

Cheers

[Mike Edwards 0]

Lie on the ground undet the front of the car in line with the inner wing and look up. You will see three bolts in a row - 2 really big ones and one fairly big one.

 

Undo and remove the big ones only.

 

Repeat on the other side.

 

Having diremoved the indicators and fogs, grab hold of the bumper and pull.

 

Under no circumstances undo the 2 fairly large bolts as the front cross-member - along with the front engine mount and engine will drop on the floor. :shock:

 

Oh and DO NOT drive the car with the bumper removed.

[Rpmayne 0]

Nice one mate, didn't think it was those ones cos it also carried the front engine mount. Did what you said with an axle stand under the cross member just incase and all good.

 

After taking all this apart I got a bit of better look at the leak and it appears to be coming from the front right hand side of the head gasket. Is this likely? I keep wiping it dry and the water seems to form there, although I can't really feel above and maybe its flowing down from soemwhere else.

 

It's a constant drip which doesn't seem to get any worse with heat / pressure. It looses about an inch in the header tank every day.

 

I must say that the reliability of these cars it not what I have been used to with golfs. Don't get me wrong, bloody excellent to drive and looks wicked, just crap sunroofs, rattly doors, intermittent stalling and burning oil (think the valve stem seals are worn at 83,000mls) are getting me down.

[dr_mat 0]

It's cos they're hand-made, and were designed with limited budget for a short production run. That's life. Try running a "proper" sports car, it's much worse...

 

LOTUS = Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious

TVR = Terribly Variable Reliability

 

The water leak sounds a bit worrying. Tho if you think it *is* the gasket, you can always get it done at the same time as the valve stem seals etc etc.

[Mike Edwards 0]

Which model is it?

 

If a VR6, think thermostat housing.

 

Sunroof is shared with the Passat and Mk3 Golf.

 

Engines shared with several other models.

 

Doors rattling is the glass in the channel and/or the clip that's meant to hold it still having fallen off.

 

Any Mk2 Golf still on eht road has been maintained by an enthusiast to last this long - rough ones used to be quite common. The C is currently in the age/mileage low point for reliability. They either get fixed or scrapped...

[Kevin Bacon 5]

You also need to partially undo the inner arch liner and lift it out from behind the bumper. There is also a long metal strip underneath with several screws, these need to come off too.

 

Regarding the bumper bolts, there are 3 in a row, undo the outer two and leave the middle one in place.

 

A good mod actually is to replace the rubber cross member mounts (there are two at each end) with powerflex yellow poly ones. Reduces engine rocking a fair bit.

 

Kev

[Rpmayne 0]

Its a VR6, found it was the thermostat housing in the end. The inside plastic lip which meets the head had just perished and rubber seal was is several bits. Will get on to the stealer on monday for a new bit, just glad the head gasket ok for a bit longer.

 

Thanks for all the help, just got to get used to the little querks of these cars. I've been spending more time fixing it than driving it recently, was just loosing the plot abit. Always the same though, once I take it out for a drive everything is forgiven. Wicked fun!