seanl82

What year is your car? The bypass valves we're only fitted to early cars. You can tell if it's had the recall by the fact that one is metal and one is plastic. Does the air get cooler when driving then warm up again when stationary? That's the indication that the stat is stuck open. Worth bleeding properly if you think there might be air in the system though. They're notorious for being difficult to bleed. Just run the engine up from cold with the expansion cap off, alternating revs up to 2.5k then idle for 30 secs each. When idling, massage the pipes to force air to the top. When temp reaches 90, switch off, let it cool the top up as necessary.

Could be a number of suspension or steering related parts. Best to get it up in the air and check over everything if it feels wrong.

Yeah I got some a couple of years ago and they were pretty cheap mate. The belt fo the fans was still available at the time as well.

Welcome to the forum! Its a shame the CCC died as there were some good guides on there. Some good ones here too though and a great knowledge base. Make yourself at home!

Use a pair of long nose pliers in the hole of the grommet, pull the handle apart to create a wide enough gap to feed the new hose through. I've got a spreader tool type thing but this should work fine mate.

Sorry, forgot you had already read the codes! I was getting confused with another thread I think! Have you cleared them then read again to see if there are any additional codes?

The system does a self check at start up so if it doesn't come on initially the the valves are probably ok. The actual circuit starts reading wheel rotation from around 15mph - which suggests it's something to do with the sensors, reluctor rings, or the loom itself. You're honestly best off getting the codes read. Even with the early 2x2 diagnostic ports, a £2.50 adapter will enable a modern obd reader to give you the correct codes and point you in the right direction.

I just used hammerite on mine. It's a good all rounder and cheap enough. I'm sure it'll last 10 years plus which is good enough for me as I'll likely have to replace them by then anyway. I DIY ultrasonically cleaned them but without a flow test I'm not sure how effective it was

Welcome to the forum! Good luck with your search and you've done the right thing joining prior to purchase so you can gain some knowledge of the common issues. Worth a look in the wiki section at the buyers guide too. It's a little old now but still covers most things to watch out for. Any idea what you're looking for and do you have a budget in mind?

The first image, OL is open link. That means it has no reading and the circuit is open, therefore the cable is completely broken down. Check the earth necxt to the battery too. It goes to a stud right next to the battery tray just to the side. Not meaning to insult you, but when checking current, make sure the meter is set to Amps

Looks absolute crap imo. You're right as well, spray from a car in front or a big puddle could well cause catastrophic internal damage. Will reduce performance loads too as it'll be filthy and saturated all the time, so won't allow air to actually flow.You can get cold air feed pipes and put them anywhere you want. I wouldn't run it from too low down or pointing at the floor, but as long as you're not hard on the accelerator going through puddles and you put a bend or 2 in the pipe, it should deflect enough to not suck a ton of water up.

Glove box light or ash tray are switched live as well I think? Both would be good for a tracker and hide it under the dash somewhere as its easy to find (and therefore remove) under the bonnet.

My favourite for look is Chemical Guys Petes 53 paste wax. The wet look is incredible, but it doesn't last all that long. For longevity, I use Collinite 476s, or Bilt Hamber Double speed wax. Both look great and last too.

Great stuff Chris. Looking like it'll be an absolute cracker when finished. Kudos to you for all the work done by your own hand so far! :thumbleft:

Jabbasport or JMR are probably the only reliable places with any real experience on these chargers. I wouldn't trust anyone else if it were me tbh mate.

Sorry to hear that. When I had the same issue DT customer service was excellent. Bilstein on the other hand we're atrocious, and Eibach sent the correct springs directly to me in the end. Bilstein know of the issue but it seems even after 3 years (since I raised it) and probably a couple more before me as they were aware, they still haven't sorted it out and obviously just hope that people don't know about it.

Dor cloth Recaros with loom and in decent condition, £800-1200 is generally what they go for.

Its a difficult one, so unless you break or sell, you're gonna have to dig deep in your pockets to get it running again. The fact that if you break or sell would mean you're likely to be out of pocket anyway such is the market now, and the fact that the G-lader is so rare now means you have to pay for the privilege. I've seen refurbished units about for around £900, and I'm not too swept up on the charger but a second hand unit will probably cost near that, coupled with a rebuild of 4-500 you're better off getting a good one from the word go. As mentioned above, you could go Turbo for probably not a great deal more (DIY build), and get for more bang for your buck. The Lysholm or BBM twin screws are probably cost effective, but from what I've heard the whine is far louder and soon gets pretty tedious. tough choice in all honesty and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes. Should have got a VR6. :lol:

Thanks Rob! I'm such a douche, had a thought whilst I was typing the last post, and I've just found them. Tucked up behind the dust cover on the old disks. I'll get em on tomorrow morning and get it back on the floor hopefully. I'll get some pics too. :thumbleft:

Only five months on and I've managed to get a couple of hours on the car today. I'll be moving house in the next couple of months, and as I'll be away with work for most of the lead up to it I needed to get the car at least rolling so I can put it on the the back of a flat bed for moving to its new home. Its an attached barn (21 x 17 ft) so plenty of room, has a couple of double radiators, power, light and a sink. Its a massive upgrade from my single garage in a block at the moment! Anyway, I had tried to pull the rear axle bushes in with a metre long 1/2" threaded bar previously, but the bar just sheared - twice! I had to get a camper van place to put the bushes in as they had the correct tool and only charged me £22 + VAT, where as VW wanted £102!!!!!! Apparently thats an hours labour. :eek: All was going relatively well, although as its been a year since I took it all off so there was quite a bit of head scratching and looking at photos and the online parts catalogue to see where things went! Stub axles, disk shields, various pipe clips and guides, and bias valve all on the beam, beam and brackets on, and rear suspension attached with everything torqued up. Put the races in the new disks, rear bearings sat in the races with a load of CV grease, front bearings in and then I realised the new bearing set didn't come with the thrust/pressure washer. A bit of frantic searching and I'm damned if I can find the old ones. Typical, just at the stage where I can put it back on the floor, and all comes to a grinding halt. I'll order a pair up then get the disks on, then just put the calipers on with the handbrake cables attached and it'll be back on all fours. That will be it for the time being, and it'll take a back burner whilst we concentrate on doing a few bits we want to do to the house, so won't be out this year either in all likelihood. At least I'll be able to work in a warm and light garage when the opportunity arises in future though!!! :smug:

Hold the release handle open with the seat belt and you'll be able to do it yourself. I inadvertently locked one side in place when replacing my bonnet pins.

VW Heritage have most parts but if they don't list them, give em a ring as they get them direct from VW Classic Parts so may be able to assist in getting them for you.

Door handle, wing mirror and window scraper seals almost certainly. I also replaced the door and boot seals, as well as the sunroof seal but you may get away with that. If the windows are coming out, provided the person removing them is careful the quarter windows and rear screen should be ok. The windscreen seal (especially the outer) may well need changing if its been replaced in the past, as dodgy fitters usually just dump a ton of sealer around and stick everything back in with that. The list can go on and on though. I spent close to the respray cost on bits and pieces like this to make the finish as good as possible. Pointless forking out for shiny paint when your badges are worn and seals dull and faded etc etc........

Roger, When I was having problems with mine I tried a replacement ECU with a different suffix. After fixing the problem which turned out to be the PPS I tried the ECUs again and they both operated correctly. I can't remember what the suffix's were, but I think they're interchangeable.

Silver one on the new series of wheeler dealers. Just as the cossie is being wheeled out of the garage, you can see the side of it! About 3.30 in. :smug: