Polo G40 oddball

[4wheeledstool]

Still getting occasional use out of this one from time to time.

 

 

 

It really is a shame that I don't get to use it more. Recently I've been thinking about selling it, but I know I'd regret it soon afterwards. So I probably won't.

[Pillock]

You will sell it.

To me.

For a very low price.

 

*waves fingers in 4ws's eyes in a hypnotic way*

[4wheeledstool]

After several years searching, I found a new tailgate badge.

 

 

 

It's a little bit sad, but once it was fitted, my "pleased" face was displayed for long enough for our Maud to suspect an imminent practical joke at her expense.

[4wheeledstool]

All photobucket links replaced with imgur ones - just one thread left to do now.

Unfortunately it's the biggest one that's left.

 

This blue box has been stashed away until the better weather comes back. Missing it already!

 

[bezzabsa]

classy looker...nice to see a decent VW

[D Spares & Tyres]

Pretty car that

 

T plate looks way too late though

[4wheeledstool]

Finally pulled my finger out today and got some car jobs done. First on the list was a service on this thing.

 

 

It was about 6 months overdue, but as it doesn't get much action I'm sure there is no harm done.

[4wheeledstool]

It's been far too warm in my unit to be arsed doing any work on my chod - it was 40 degrees in there today. The cladding soaks up the sun's heat and radiates it inside. All that's happened to this since the last post has been some mileage and a good wash and buff up this afternoon.

Profuse perspiration accompanied the buffing session - the term "sweating like a glass blower's arse" sprang to mind.

[Skizzer]

as it doesn't get much action I might as well sell it to Skizzer, who would gladly swap a limb or organ for a G40 in this condition.

FTFY

[Pillock]

I'll raise that to all my organs.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

I can deliver the entire corpse..... I'll even wrap it up for you........

 

That is a beautiful little motor. Glad you're looking after it. In my hands it would only deteriorate badly.

[Pillock]

Mine did, I loved it to bits and spent lots on it but I also thrashed the living shit out of it at every opportunity. It used to beg me to.
You know when the supercharger lets go and dumps metal filings in the inlet? That's not a happy noise.

 

I had all good intentions. I used to drive it gently and be careful. Then I'd be at the lights and something like a bloody 320d would pull up alongside me and start creeping forwards and the RED MIST WOULD DESCEND.

 

I'd debadged mine so it was a clear case of "I'll just nip in front of this old Polo and holy shit what just happened"

[4wheeledstool]

Gifferesque pootling punctuated with short bouts of neck wringing is how I choose to enjoy my G40s.

[4wheeledstool]

 

Little bit of work required after today's ride out - the in-tank lift pump appears to have stopped pumping. It still drives ok, but the fuel pressure drops when ragging it. I have one on the shelf, just need to find an hour or so to fling it in at some point.

[4wheeledstool]

Bit of a milestone in the blue one the other day.

Only doing a thousand miles a year in it - should last me out at this rate.
 

[4wheeledstool]

This shat its ECU at the back end of last year. It was behaving a bit strangely - if you gave it a little throttle when out of gear, the rpms were fluctuating by about 1000rpm. It drove OK to start with (other than the fluctuations) then started misbehaving differently. Sometimes the engine would die as soon as the throttle was touched (it always idled perfectly throughout the shenanigans) Sometimes when driving it would behave as if the ignition was flicked off then on again. 

I removed the engine loom for testing and, found no issues. I removed the temp sensor, lambda probe, CO pot/air temp sensor, hall sensor, coil etc. and everything tested up perfectly. Only thing left to check was the ECU. 

A kind chap off of the G40 forum loaned me his spare ECU, and once it was installed, the car ran perfectly. Now I knew what was required, I just had to find one! I kept hold of the loaned unit for a few months so that I could carry on using the car while I tried to find one for sale. Typically, there were none for sale when I needed one, and by April, the bloke wanted his ECU back. 

I eventually found one on ebay.de, but when it arrived and was fitted, it was found to be differently defective to the original one. Fortunately I was able to return it and get a refund, so the search continued. 

Last week I got in touch with a bloke in the UK who was selling one earlier this year for too much money. As it had not sold, he thankfully halved his price, thus making it viable. (I could get my ECU reconditioned for £250+VAT which wasn't much different from his original asking price) It arrived this week, and I tried it out this evening - Success! 

I might just get the original one repaired anyway - electrical stuff for ageing obscure vehicles probably won't get any easier to find as time marches on. 

[stuboy]

was talking to someone about g60's and thought not seen g40 in ages

[Tadhg Tiogar]

12 hours ago, 4wheeledstool said:

This shat its ECU at the back end of last year. It was behaving a bit strangely - if you gave it a little throttle when out of gear, the rpms were fluctuating by about 1000rpm. It drove OK to start with (other than the fluctuations) then started misbehaving differently. Sometimes the engine would die as soon as the throttle was touched (it always idled perfectly throughout the shenanigans) Sometimes when driving it would behave as if the ignition was flicked off then on again. 

I removed the engine loom for testing and, found no issues. I removed the temp sensor, lambda probe, CO pot/air temp sensor, hall sensor, coil etc. and everything tested up perfectly. Only thing left to check was the ECU. 

A kind chap off of the G40 forum loaned me his spare ECU, and once it was installed, the car ran perfectly. Now I knew what was required, I just had to find one! I kept hold of the loaned unit for a few months so that I could carry on using the car while I tried to find one for sale. Typically, there were none for sale when I needed one, and by April, the bloke wanted his ECU back. 

I eventually found one on ebay.de, but when it arrived and was fitted, it was found to be differently defective to the original one. Fortunately I was able to return it and get a refund, so the search continued. 

Last week I got in touch with a bloke in the UK who was selling one earlier this year for too much money. As it had not sold, he thankfully halved his price, thus making it viable. (I could get my ECU reconditioned for £250+VAT which wasn't much different from his original asking price) It arrived this week, and I tried it out this evening - Success! 

I might just get the original one repaired anyway - electrical stuff for ageing obscure vehicles probably won't get any easier to find as time marches on. 

What bits inside your ECU have failed? Or is it just solder joints on the PCB going dry through age?

[4wheeledstool]

No idea chief - had a good gawp at it with a magnifying glass, but there's no visual sign of anything amiss.

[4wheeledstool]

Fitted some new brake cylinders to the back of this today. It rewarded me by getting a puncture.

[stuboy]

12 hours ago, 4wheeledstool said:

It rewarded me by getting a puncture.

sign of affection!!

[4wheeledstool]

Because the puncture was dealt with cheaply, it replied by shitting its hall sensor.

One new distributor courtesy of autodoc  sees it doing the business once more.

[stuboy]

12 hours ago, 4wheeledstool said:

Because the puncture was dealt with cheaply, it replied by shitting its hall sensor.

One new distributor courtesy of autodoc  sees it doing the business once more.

wants to go out and play

[4wheeledstool]

The only component to give up so far this year was a front wheel bearing. It took me most of the day to fix it due to arthritis related restricted mobility, but got it done with enough time left for a decent ride out in it.

Still scrubs up well. 

[4wheeledstool]

I try to give all my heaps a coat of wax once a year. This one was the last to get its annual paint love session this year, and for a change, didn't get rained on straight afterwards. 

Colour looks very different in the sun

compared to the doom blue look you get in lower light conditions. 

Tyres are 9 years old now, hopefully I can still get decent tyres in this size.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

I've not seen a G40 in the wild for a long time now. Quite adventurous for VAG at the time really. How do you do your annual car wax protection - drive on ramps? 

[4wheeledstool]

On 26/09/2022 at 21:22, Dick Longbridge said:

I've not seen a G40 in the wild for a long time now. Quite adventurous for VAG at the time really. How do you do your annual car wax protection - drive on ramps? 

Annual wax is just paintwork, cavity wax is applied every three years or so. Never waxed the underside - it still has its factory PU sealant on there.👍

Attended to a few jobs on this while it's immobilised by saltiness. First up was the load compensator valve - it seized up some time this year, highlighted by less than normal brake effort at the last MOT.  Car goes up.

Easy enough job, made easier by one of those pressure bleeders that utilises an inflated tyre as a source of air pressure.

Job done. Next was the in tank fuel pump, after the in-line pump became noisy, this was suspected as the cause. Another easy job, access is through a removable panel under the back seat, now fuel delivery is quiet again. 🙂

Whilst having a good look around while it was up in the air, I noticed that the (original) radiator had started to fail, leaving pinkness as a witness. Unable to buy a genuine one now, I settled on a Nissens one - I've been using one on the grey car for years. Car goes up again.

Radiator, intercooler and charger outlet all came off.

Removed bits cleaned up before going back on.

The job was then let down by Royal Mail's "24hr" service, which after 72 hours still hasn't materialised.  ☹️

[grogee]

2 hours ago, 4wheeledstool said:

Royal Mail's "24hr" service, which after 72 hours still hasn't materialised

I've suffered this month too. I've got a bit of sympathy for them at this time of year but it's still annoying when you've got an immobile car. 

[4wheeledstool]

Post man came today.

Stuff went back together.

New radiator and clean intercooler brighten up front end view.

Some pre 2001 font number plates should arrive tomorrow. I've been meaning to address the inappropriate plates ever since the car went back on the road nearly ten years ago. 😀

 

[4wheeledstool]

Cam belt and pump unexpectedly arrived within 24hrs of ordering.

After removing the belt from the car

it was apparent that they'd send the wrong stuff. (Sigh)