The Burd's MK1 Golf Rivage - Drive It Day +1 28/04/25

[big_al_granvia]

fair play mate, lot of graft but on the finish straight

[320touring]

We were due to go to the Burd's parents in this today.

Glorious weather, ideal top down tootling.

Its properly grumpy when started, won't rev cleanly at all.

 

We took the Clio instead.

 

Gah

[Jim Bell]

*unhelpful internet remote diagnosis*

It's always the plugs m8. 

 

[Supernaut]

At least it did it before you left, giving you the option to take the other car!

[Fraz]

Sounds like it needs a 1.8t engine and box fitted 

[320touring]

Tonight was a good night with the golf.

@juular came over with Mrs_Juular and we set to work diagnosing the missfire issue.

First order of business was checking the fuel pressure - a small tweak to the cold setting was required, but overall the system was in fine fettle with good pressure - testament to the good work done by @Mk2 Craig

 

As the pressure was good and @Mk2 Craig and I had checked spark the other week, we came to the conclusion that the problem likely sat with the injectors.

Handily I already had seals on order for the injectors, so we elected to pull them to do a flow test.

As you can see @juular moves with lightening speed.

 

we put the injectors into 500ml bottles and cranked.

As can be seen, #2 injector was not flowing correctly - both spray pattern and volume were poor. #1 & 3 were ok and #4 was a new injector I had fitted previously.

No bother - time to swap the injector out for a new one..

Bugger. The new one doesn't have the pintle on the bottom end and the top connection is a larger bore and coarser thread..

I've found the right injectors, so will get them ordered up and installed with the new seal kit.

In the meantime I have the #2 injector soaking to see if it can be revitalised..

 

Thanks again to @Mk2 Craig and @juular for all their help and advice on this cantankerous auld tub!

[hairnet]

did mrs juular try and put volvo bits/v8 in it

 

[320touring]

5 minutes ago, hairnet said:

did mrs juular try and put volvo bits/v8 in it

 

No, she kept the burd distracted whilst we pulled the Golf apart🤣

[hairnet]

but cos it no fixt you were gonna get beat up anyway

 

[320touring]

New injectors have been ordered today, and should be here early next week.

Anticipation!!

[320touring]

This car continues to be a challenge.

I fitted the new injectors. All was well.

 

Except it wasn't. Because 2 of the pintles on the injectors fell off, landing on the valves. Whilst this did no damage to the valves, it did mean those injectors were not properly seated.

 

And they leaked.

 

@Mk2 Craig got the call, and came over with his WiFi camera. After a look, it was decided that the inlet manifold had to come off. Luckily I had ordered a new manifold in anticipation.

 

Manifold off

The operating table

@Lacquer Peel had lent me a very slim magnetic tool that was bendable - it made short work of extracting the pintles.

 

We put it back together and it ran well.

Thanks to them both for their help.

 

Then it was time to do some local driving 

A successful lunch procurement a few days later.

Bit of an alternator belt squeal though...

[320touring]

A few days later, I took the golf to the local station - nice and early in the morning for a full day at the office .

The belt. She squealed.

I thought it was maybe due to the lights being on and it being a short drive, so the alternator was working hard?

 

Anyway, all was well until the time for the commute home.

I exited the car park and turned right. The belt squeal stopped, and the battery light came on.

This is made even more handy by the fact that the water pump is driven by the same belt..

As you can see, the 1.5 miles back from the station was enough to get the car from stone cold to operating temp.

 

I ordered 2 new belts the next day -£8.54 for Meyle ones.

Fitment is a doddle.

Locate alternator and loosen adjuster bolt

Apply new belt (950mm one as no power steering)

 

Tension

Marvel at full charging.

[stuboy]

good work!

[320touring]

After I offered the Elgrand to @stereotype, it occurred to me that the sole available functional(ish) vehicle was the Oxford.

At that point it was not starting, and seemed to be properly grumpy. 

Hence, it came time for the golf to make an appearance.

Despite the hammer in shot (needed to shock the battery clamp bolt into coming out), we just went to the lockup and jump started it and drove it straight home.

It's driving well, and managed the station shift last week with no issues.

The Burd is loving coming home with the roof down and being able to drive one of her dream cars.

I spent some time at the weekend adjusting the alternator belt again, giving the battery a full charge and painting the battery clamp. I also gave it a cursory check over for fluids, and set all the tyre pressures correctly.

Tomorrow it's going to be out on a long run ( first of more than 10 miles each way in over a year), so we will see how that goes.

On Saturday we have a family event, so I think we'll need to get it cleaned out, rear seat refitted and give it a good wash before heading to that.

[320touring]

283 miles completed in this at the weekend.

A wee Jaunt down to Grasmere for a weekend away.

prior to departing @juular's better half very helpfully got the headlights working correctly, and @davidfowler2000 got the radio power supply working, and identified no power at the fan switch.

we fuelled up on Friday morning, and I got my first shock:

 Pat my shants when I filled it with fuel. Thought it was a 45L tank, with 1/4 tank already. Put 53l in it🤣

then the run down through the drizzle was ok - handily the Bluetooth speaker sat well in the sub radio cubby so we had tunes.

it's still not running quite right with a stutter under some conditions, but it sat happily at 65-70mph without issue.

destination achieved

Important activities undertaken

 

The weekend itself was great, very relaxing.

On the way back we managed from Grasmere to Penrith with the top down, looking like Thelma and Louise's Scottish cousins.

Thankfully we put the roof up before hitting the M6 as the rain was nightly when we hit Scotland.

Overall, the golf acquitted itself very well - it's easy to drive and comfortable on the motorway.

It was even possible to keep the screen clear just using the airflow through the heater vents.

Things that need addressing:

New dampers/bottom arms as they sound tired

Blower motor/switch

Leaks from the roof

 

All in all, 13/10 for a car that went from hardly used to roadtrip in short order!

[320touring]

Got a call off the burd last night.

She had alighted at the station and walked towards the Golf 

Upon approach, she spied a puddle under the rear of the car..

As you can see, it looks an awwfa lot like oil, despite not being anywhere near the oily bits of this front engined, fwd car.

Careful prodding identified it as clean oil, hence further confusion.

Opening the boot revealed an upended oil bottle that had dribbled into the spare wheel well..

Relieved, we cleaned up and went home.

[beko1987]

Lift the boot carpet up and wipe the excess around 🤣 Won't rust out then

[captain_70s]

Could be worse, I had a bottle of brake fluid leak in the Acclaim’s spare wheel well…

[320touring]

Ats yer gowf jrapped aff furreh MOT and new front dampers/topmounts and bumpstops.

They are so small. At the time they were a spacious family car. Same size as the Clio.

Clio is marketed as a supermini.

 

[320touring]

This is now back on fleet with a new MOT.

As usual with VAG stuff, it went to see @Mk2 Craig - he did top work and well pleased with the outcome!

It has had front dampers/topmounts and bumpstops.

The missfire has been significantly improved with some fuelling tweaking(was showing as lean on MOT emissions test).

New spark plugs and new vac lines were applied to help it idle more cleanly.

Blower motor now works on speed 3, suspected blowing fuse due to motor being noisy. Will buy a new one and new resistor.

It's had a good look over underneath and is apparently in tip top condition - I see lanoguard in its future.

The burd is best pleased, brownie points are high😀

[320touring]

This was put into winter storage on Mid Sept last year - the day before we set off to New Zealand on holiday.

Today was time for a resurrection -

Peekaboo!

The garage is nice and dry. Even better, so is the car

Everything seemed in order under the bonnet too.

@davidfowler2000 had popped over so helped me push it out into the sun - it's such a good looking car!

 

He pointed out that the battery was showing a green dot in the charge window - and the meter suggested this was indeed correct.

 

Reconnecting it caused it to fire right up and settle down to a happy idle.

All good news so I expect it'll be pressed into use shortly.

Great news😀

[320touring]

Back and ready to go out again, off for an MOT on Monday hopefully.

[Bear]

Do love a Mk1 Cabriolet - that looks great

[320touring]

Awww yessssss!

Happy days!

[320touring]

Given this passed its MOT, the money that was expected to be needed could go on fixing the advisories:

2 new rear dampers

Front exhaust leak fixed with a new seal and clamps

New sump gasket

Oil and filter change..

 

Picked it up and had a great drive home. Think a good clean is in order then a lot of use😁