AndyIggs

Drop the sump and check your oil pickup pipe, it'll potentially be blocked, very common issue on these and easy to sort too.

Drop the sump and check your oil pickup pipe, it'll potentially be blocked, very common issue on these and easy to sort too.

Did the same to me many years ago, try submitting a chargeback with your bank, worked for me and got the money back. They don't test it for long enough so if its a very small leak it may not show up.

Did the same to me many years ago, try submitting a chargeback with your bank, worked for me and got the money back. They don't test it for long enough so if its a very small leak it may not show up.

The vacuum cycle is not leak detection despite what anyone says. It is to purge the system of moisture. 
Yes, it serves as a leak test, and a lot of machines call it a leak test for a couple of minutes after the vacuum, but anything other than a completely blown seal or a hole somewhere which would fail the vacuum and indeed render the system "not airtight" may still pass the vacuum test as it'll just suck in whatever may be leaking. 
The only adequate leak detection is by pressurising the system and blowing out any weak points. Some leaks don't even show until 4/5/6 bar 

OK. 
New to me car day. Whoo and hoo! So excited I actually posted in the for sale section. Whoops! 
Let's try that again. 
Breakfast had. 
Poo count 1
Getting a lift at 8.
Much excite. 

Did the rears today, im too old for this shit. My knees hurt, my shoulders hurt and I’m tired 😂
Slight issue in that I thought the car was lowered before, however the suspension I removed was OEM M sport springs and sachs shocks.
I’ve fitted springs that apparently lower the rear 25mm and front 40mm
This is how the rear sits fresh off the jack so hopefully it doesn’t settle too much lower as that’s not what I want. 
 
I might just pay to have the fronts done as I just can’t bothered!

GLWT restoration work, 4WS! Is it a Mk2 golf on the spitroast?

My new implement of financial ruination arrived on Saturday - it's a lot bigger than I remembered from viewing it 😳
It's a 1913 Cadillac, 6 litre 50hp speedster. Coming not very soon at all to a VSCC race series!
It's got all the mod cons - electric start, a 3-speed gearbox and twin-plug ignition - and being pre 1915, it's RHD too
Of course, if I tell people that I've bought a Cadillac with 25 inch wheels and button-back upholstery, they tend to get quite a different image in their head 🤣

New car delivered yesterday, absolutely loving it and the plate 😁

Its a pass!
Another year on the highways for the 9000 secured.
Tester goes to test headlights
Me: “The headlights are a bit shit” 
Tester tests headlight image
Tester: “Yeah, they are really quite shit” 
Decided they are just within tolerance… so better add a new set of headlights to the shopping list! 
Bar the headlights (which I knew about) absolutely no issues at all. Which I’m very pleased about! 

New car delivered yesterday, absolutely loving it and the plate 😁

New car delivered yesterday, absolutely loving it and the plate 😁

New car delivered yesterday, absolutely loving it and the plate 😁

Compared to some my list is quite small! I think I get too attached and struggle to sell.
Since 2003:
1993 VW Golf 1.4
1997 Citroen Saxo VTR 1.6
2002 Ford Fiesta Zetec S 1.6
2004 Vauxhall Meriva 1.7CDti
2011 Ford Fiesta 1.25
2009 Honda Civic Type R 2.0
2007 BMW 520d
2013 QashQai +2 1.6 (Still own)
2013 Ford Focus ST3 2.0
2006 Ford Fiesta Zetec S 1.6 (Still own)
2002 Audi TT 1.8 (Still own)

Yes it is possible, there was an N75 in the glovebox!
I am trying to work through 1 thing at a time so will have a look at that next. 
I have been told on a 1.8t FB group that I could have had limp mode caused by the temp sensor so will see if that's made a difference when I've managed to fix my latest piece of ham-fistery on the rad hose.

Going off course a little but is it possibly a dodgy N75 sensor? My 1.8t (BAM) had horrendous boost issues when I first purchased and a replacement N75 valve fixed it.

With imminent new car arriving in a few weeks and lack of space for 4 cars means the TT has to go. Just a heads up if anyone is interested or on the lookout. Will put a proper post in the FS section once its prepped for photos on Sunday as I'd love it to go to a shiter.
Absolutely gutted to see it go, loved running around in this.

Ooooh what's this!
The misfire is back! Checking the VCDS confirms it's a misfire on one of the cylinders. I have a sneaky suspicion the replacement coil packs from 6 years ago weren't great
I could cheap out and order the one replacement but went for all 4.
Lets see if that puts a stop to it 🤞

Old sump off, out of 23 bolts there's always "that one" that makes life a little difficult. Looking in the pan its probably a good thing I originally planned to do the oil pickup pipe (prior to the sump plug issue above).

The pipe itself wasn't too blocked but got replaced anyway:


 
Filters changed, new sump on and back on the road for hopefully a trouble free summer. Alloy refurb next.

The TT's been sat a couple of weeks as I've been using my old fezzy (2006 zetec s) instead which flew through its MOT with no advisories.  It was extremely surprising given it had been stood for over 12 months beforehand requiring only a new brake hose which I knew was needed. Not sure what you guys are like but not using a car for so long has felt like having a new (to me) car. Its come at the right time as my eldest daughter absolutely hates the TT as theres no room in the back so a Fiesta, albeit still small, is definitely an improvement.
Gave  the TT a clean and took some photos of the catch can, its a great piece of kit and really simplifies the  PCV system and prevents a whole load of gunk and oil circulating the system. Its quite a common mod on these old 1.8t VAG's as replacing the original PCV pipes is quite pricey. The only downside to the installation is having to empty it. Generally only need to do this every 1000 miles and even then I could probably leave it much longer and more like 3000.


This week its time to clean the engine bay, get all the engine covers back on with refreshed metal fixings ready for MOT next week. 

Should have got round to this a long time ago.

Last year I purchased this fine steed, an Audi TT (225 BAM). It's an itch I've wanted to scratch for a fair while,  ever since my dad bought one when I was 19 in 2002. These are now rock bottom in price, you can pick up a rough one requiring work for less than £1000.
 
Bought unseen with 11 (yes 11!) previous owners mine had a fair few issues: Poor boost upon acceleration, oil fumes in cabin, faulty temperature reading, cambelt change and cluster requiring a repair (dials intermittent and LCD screen very pixelated). A replaceent N75 and temperature sensor, new  cambelt and cluster being sent off means these issues are now fixed!
Another big issue with these and cars around this age is the amount of pipework for the overcomplicated turbo systems. Over time, heat cycles etc the system and pipework just crumble..... As experienced on mine:

A check of the PCV system revealed at least 5 cracks and splits which explained why the car's cabin absolutely stunk when idle. A quick check of the amount of pipes and the cost of these in total, I made the shiters decision to rip out the whole lot and use the cheaper option of a catch can simplifying the PCV system as well (I'll update with a photo next time I use the car). Also did the rocker cover gasket as these are prone to weeping and changed the sparks to better NGK iridiums. Luckily a previous owner had the joy of the coil pack issues seen on these engines so these have all been replaced. 

Also updated the discs/pads with some Brembo bits and swapped the budget tyres all round to some Goodyear Eagle F1's which has made a massive difference especially in the wet.
 
Future plans? The bodywork on the car is a little tatty and to be expected for its age, theres a pillar repair thats been completed by Stevie Wonder and all alloys are bucthered and require a repair which will be done in the future. Small bubbles of rust but nothing out the ordinary for these.  I have made a start on freshening it up, the bottom black grills are prone to flaking and discolouring:      Popped all these off, cleaned and prepped and resprayed they have come up a treat!     And thats where we are up to so far! MOT due in September so will be going over a few things in the next few weeks to make sure its not a financially ruinous experience!   Anyone needs any more information or advice if you are looking for one just let me know, I've built up a fair bit of knowledge over the past 12 months and I'd certainly recommend one for a cheap winter hack/weekend toy.

It's only gone and fixed it! Old plugs swapped back as I knew these were definitely working before installing the new (fake) ones, only difference I could see was the print on the plugs. Definitely lesson learnt, I had no idea of fakes but kind of makes sense with them being £20 a plug. They lasted less than 2k miles before one or more started to break down. 
Thank you gents 👍

With imminent new car arriving in a few weeks and lack of space for 4 cars means the TT has to go. Just a heads up if anyone is interested or on the lookout. Will put a proper post in the FS section once its prepped for photos on Sunday as I'd love it to go to a shiter.
Absolutely gutted to see it go, loved running around in this.

Been a while but a small update! Just coming up to 118k now on the silver dream machine.
MAF sensor taken off, cleaned but still seeing idle issues. The only thing I did find on another check is the "hockey puck" section of the PCV has a slight weep to the valve with some lovely oily contents, so off it came and replaced with a new one:

Whilst in a productive mood and to be 100% sure, I replaced the remaining 3 coilpacks:

Ruck of pipework connected to the block also checked with no damage or splits seen, and assembled back together (again). The only good thing about doing this is I'm relatively quick at taking all this off and back on again the amount of times I've done this now!

Unfortunately this has still made no difference to the missfire. Already pumped a fair few £ into this now and don't fancy any further games of "part darts" so I've given in and its booked into the garage next week for a smoke/compression test.
Fingers crossed nothing major comes out the woodwork as I really do enjoy running around in this thing and it makes a perfect winter shed.

With imminent new car arriving in a few weeks and lack of space for 4 cars means the TT has to go. Just a heads up if anyone is interested or on the lookout. Will put a proper post in the FS section once its prepped for photos on Sunday as I'd love it to go to a shiter.
Absolutely gutted to see it go, loved running around in this.