98 replies to this topic

[pandamonium]

Update, the coolant light started flashing on the way to work this morning, which apparently is a common occurrence on mk3 golfs. That might explain the bottles of coolant supplied with the car...

[purplebargeken]

I replaced the thermostat housing and thermostat when I got the car. have a check forleaks around the area (to the right of the valve cover and down a bit. 

 

They are only plastic. May need a tighten or a new U clip thingy. I have the U clip if need be. 

 

The coolant was there 'cos useful.

[3VOM]

Update, the coolant light started flashing on the way to work this morning, which apparently is a common occurrence on mk3 golfs. That might explain the bottles of coolant supplied with the car...

Yes they are very fussy and the moment the level drop 1mm too low it puts the warning light on. They aren't the easiest of cars to get air out of the cooling system either.

[pandamonium]

Topped up and is fine. Just been on a drive to Sittingbourne and back at 'motorway speed' and it was perfectly well behaved.

I'm sorry to report that I've found a 'mainstream' car that I like! What next? I'll be joining old skool Ford and criticising Xantias soon...

[pandamonium]

Fixed the key that had a flat battery and no bulb... 

 

[dougiefourspeed]

Torch keys are COOL.

For some reason my abiding memory of the H-plate Granada Scorpio pool car my Dad often used to drive was that it had a torch key. No idea why.

Anyway, top work with the Golf. People have a downer on the Mk3 but I always thought they were alright.


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[Hendry]

Torch keys are COOL.

For some reason my abiding memory of the H-plate Granada Scorpio pool car my Dad often used to drive was that it had a torch key. No idea why.

Anyway, top work with the Golf. People have a downer on the Mk3 but I always thought they were alright.


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Aye I remember my old mans H plate Orion had a torch key, think most Fords at the time did, and he had an R plate mk3 Astra with one as well, think they died out with the introduction of remote central locking because you no longer needed a light to see the keyhole in the door in the dark. 

[purplebargeken]

Key torches were the biz back in the day. Nice fixeration Sir!!

[pandamonium]

[purplebargeken]

Cool!!!!!

[pandamonium]

140716 miles and it'd starting to die.  Knocking is getting worse and it is now hunting at idle and won't drive at a steady speed without stumbling. It looks like this will be another short ownership for me...

[Stanky]

Hunting at idle will be a gummed up throttle body - give it a seeing to with carb cleaner and a toothbrush. The crankcase breather system in these engines was a bit crap tbh and grots the TB butterfly up really fast, especially in winter when it blows loads of mayo gunk through due to how its routed. If its a keeper (and its sounds like it isn't) then this is the one and only engine I've ever had which has responded well to STP Fuel System Cleaner - the £15 one. It made a hell of a difference to mine and became a once-a-year service item.

 

can't help with the knock though. turn the radio up?

[pandamonium]

As it has a really long Mot, perhaps cleaning the throttle body and turning the radio up may be the way to go, for now at least. 

[purplebargeken]

Knocking?? Oh no  

[Coprolalia]

Are you sure it's not tappets?
My 1.4 mk3 (same design) ran for about 50k with skeleton-wanking-biscuit tappets. It rotted away before I got bothered enough to replace.

[pandamonium]

OK, so it is getting worse.
I've cleaned the throttle body and it drives much better now, but the weird idle/drive is worse.

On pulling up it revs between 1500 and 2000 rpm up and down until it settles at about 1100 rpm

While driving it wanders up and down randomly.

Is this a TPS fault?

[SiC]

Air/vac leak?

[pandamonium]

Fixed it.

Wynns egr cleaner spray. I just needed to use the whole can, like the instructions said, and wait for it to settle.
Fault is gone!

[pandamonium]

Spoke too soon. 

 

It's back to playing up again  

[purplebargeken]

Chuck a post on the fb Mk 3 forum, they seem to know their stuff.

 

Has to be a sensor of some kind, especially as the clean up cured it for a while.

[The Moog]

Air leak as suggested. Try spraying something round the engine - if engine not changes that is the leak

[purplebargeken]

Hold on.Asking a knowledgeable mk 3 person.

 

Check for air leaks on all the vacuum pipes around the carb. There is a pipe from manifold to the servo and it has 2 caps on it that do nothing. They fall off and it will tick over like a bag of shit

[pandamonium]

Two caps present. No air leaks. Intermittent fault. Suspect crank sensor, could be related to knocking?

Anyway, the clutch has just failed spectacularly leaving me stranded. Awaiting recovery now.

I love old cars....

[pandamonium]

Funnily enough, sitting with engine on waiting for RAC, and it is idling perfectly.

[Lacquer Peel]

Hold on.Asking a knowledgeable mk 3 person.

Check for air leaks on all the vacuum pipes around the carb. There is a pipe from manifold to the servo and it has 2 caps on it that do nothing. They fall off and it will tick over like a bag of shit

Carb? Not very knowledgeable.

[SiC]

Anyway, the clutch has just failed spectacularly leaving me stranded. Awaiting recovery now.

I love old cars....

You really don't have any luck with cars recently.

[purplebargeken]

TBF I open most bonnets and expect to see carbs. It's always disappointing when there aren't any.

 

I suspect that if we substitute the words injection gubbins for the word carb it will all be okay. Maybe.

[purplebargeken]

Any news? Bites finger nails. Misses. Gnaws thumb off instead.

 

Pleasedon'tscrapitPleasedon'tscrapitPleasedon'tscrapitPleasedon'tscrapitPleasedon'tscrapitPleasedon'tscrapitPleasedon'tscrapit

 

Further internetting declares the following:

 

Idle Control Valve

 

Throttle Body clean and replacing the gasket

 

There is also mention of using such witchcraft as vagcom......

 

The above doesn't really address the glaring clutch issue obv.

 

Chodspeed on getting her fixed!!

[BeEP]

Given the worsening knocking noise followed by apparent sudden clutch failure I wonder if the two might be related.  Maybe driveshaft/cv joint failure rather than clutch itself?

 

Doesn't explain the poor running though!

[pandamonium]

It will be scrapped / passed on for scrap value. I'm considering finance as I literally don't have two pennies to rub together, and I need a car for picking my son up from the rendezvous point.

And nobody dare suggest negotiating with my ex, she's not that kind of person, and we've only just had the court crap sorted.