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2006 Golf 2.0TFSi GTi - Bargain Basement 197k miles TFSI Club Member


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Posted
8 hours ago, mintwth said:

Could give JB weld a go. Their epoxy or steelstik are about a tenth the cost 

I do have some old stuff kicking about (no idea if it's still any good). My concern is that I won't get square enough and it'll just snap when putting back on again. Also if not square then the belt won't run straight and risks kicking it off into the cambelt cover/disaster. 

I'll just use the spare alternator from @dan95x when I get time to pickup it up.

Possible second hand units seem to be around £25-50 on eBay too. Like this one dredged up from the bottom of the ocean. 

I'm getting good at removing TFSi alternators now though. 🙃

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Update please - hopefully this is alternatord up and terrorising the local streets by now?

Posted

It's making itself being a nice driveway ornament 🙈

Need to write an update when I get time. Not had a lot of time for that or even working on it recently. 

This is the post I wrote on a  Facebook GTI group the other day. I think I've solved the problem now but I won't give what it is just yet and I'll let people guess. 

 

Holy moly this car is fighting me damn good at the moment.

Now I didn't expect a high mileage car to be a walk in the park - in fact I wanted it as a project to learn working on these engines. However this one is realllllly testing my patience and just doesn't want to stay living. 

My first job was to change the cam follower. It was knackered and needed doing. I brushed past a coolant flange and it snapped. No biggy, replaced it. 

Then the thermostat split. *sigh* So I replaced it. 

Serpentine tensioner pulley bearings leaking+noisy. So I replaced it. 

Alternator clutch pulley wasn't one way. So I replaced it...

Alternator mounting lug cracked. Replaced that too... (With second hand unit at this point!)

Get the damn thing all buttoned up and ran it up to temperature. Revved it up to 3k to remove any airlocks/bubbles, over shot a bit and hit 4k then backed off. 

*BANG* sounded like a backfire. Idle now all over the place.

 

 

Presumed it was the new PCV, so put the old delete kit on. No change. 

Disconnecting MAF bought idle back to normal. 

 

 

I don't think it's the MAF (while it's badly hunting the values seem sane-ish).

  • Sad 3
Posted

Have you got codes? Mine did almost exactly that after changing the thermostat and it was the crank sensor. I was certain I hadn't damaged or even touched it, but it was.

It fired up fine but like you say as soon as it went over X rpm (about 2500 for me) the crank signal dropped out, popping and misfiring then I assume it went to some cam based fallback mode with reduced performance and a shit 1200rpm idle.

Febi sensor from Amazon sorted it, I think around £15.

Posted

No codes and no misfire counts. Just ran like crap. 

I'll put the answer up later once I'm back home. Raining cats and dogs again plus lack of time means not had a chance to sort it despite being a few days ago. 

Posted

I kinda of knew what I was getting when I bought a high miler VW, but I thought I'd at least be able to shut the bonnet before it broke again. 

  • Haha 6
Posted

I swear I triple checked the securing clip was fastened when I put it all back together

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Boost charge pipe hose to intercooler outlet if anyone can't make it out. 

Posted

Isn't this a potentially good thing though? Assuming it came off and threw all the lights on as you fired the engine? 

Posted

Yeah it's my fault. Well I'm sure I attached it properly but I must not have done. Went back in with a firm click.

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Picture to prove I did push it in if it does it again 😅

Posted
9 minutes ago, SiC said:

Yeah it's my fault. Well I'm sure I attached it properly but I must not have done. Went back in with a firm click.

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Picture to prove I did push it in if it does it again 😅

Is that similar to the EGR to intercooler pipe on the MK4 platform?  I had that go on my 1.9PD when the lugs wore out at about 165,000 miles.  Really alarming when it failed doing 70 on the M23...

Posted

I'm not a fan of those quick release joints, they seem more faff than a normal hose clamp and I can never quite tell if they're in place.

TBH I am always relieved to find it's my own ineptitude rather than some new fault.

  • Agree 2
Posted
16 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

I'm not a fan of those quick release joints, they seem more faff than a normal hose clamp and I can never quite tell if they're in place.

TBH I am always relieved to find it's my own ineptitude rather than some new fault.

I think the only ones that are a fan of them are the production workers where they can quickly just push it in during factory assembly. I'm sure it's mega easy to do that and clear it's engaged at zero miles!

Torx and triple square are designed to take a lot of torque and slammed in during production without risk of camming out like pozi/etc. Again why the Germans love to use them on cars as it speeds up production and reduces cost. 

Posted

So to recap. Fitted a replacement alternator - tricky job but I've got good at it now. Alternator is the same code and off something completely different VAG. I think a TDI of some sort. These alternators seem as generic on VAG as the Lucas 18ACR. This was only £20 shipped from some breaker up in Scotland. Bosch unit versus the older Valeo that was on here. 

Tensioners pulley was grumbly. Did ponder about repacking fresh grease in but the bearings showed wear on them. Basically the grease has all leaked out. Took the pulley off and noticed it's an INA branded unit. The part number lines up to something used on Fiat/Jeep/others. Less than £15 for a replacement on eBay. Far cheaper than the £60+ for a whole new tensioner assembly.

Torqued the bolt to 23nm as everything else seemed to be that on this tensioner and put a dribble of loctite on for good measure.

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Belt back on and filled the coolant up. I wanted to use my new fangled vacuum bleeder but apart from the gauge not at zero, it was missing a fitting from the fill pipe. Dang, that's going back to Amazon then.

 

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Started running up to temperature and did a quick code scan. There was a code for temperature sensor open circuit. Weird as the scantool is giving the coolant temperature. A quick Google says there are two separate sensors. One on the gearbox side and one under the thermostat (that I've just replaced). 

 

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A bit more diving into the scantool live data found another reading. One for engine outlet and one for radiator outlet. 

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Anyway given I had just been around the thermostat area, it was very likely that one. Problem is that the recommended way of getting to that sensor is removing the alternator...

You can just about see the sensor in between the bundle of pipes above the connector for the Aircon compressor in this picture.

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Looking up I could just about see the connector disconnect. Damn, I must have forgotten to plug it back in. Much swearing was to be had but I managed to get my hand in and get it lined up with a good click out of it. 

Ran it up again and revved it to clear any coolant air locks. Over shot my 3k target and hit 4k. Let off the accelerator and ... *BANG* what sounded a massive backfire.

Revs were all over the place at idle and barely could stay running.

 

 

Thinking it might have been the new PCV let go, I put back the delete kit. Still there. Pulled the lid off the valve and the diaphragm is undamaged. 

Hmm. Tried unplugging the MAF incase that had failed and it idled perfectly.

 

 

So possibly MAF has failed? After all I was plugging it in/out and moving it around a lot as it's in the air filter housing lid. Checked the values of it connected and they all seemed sane - albeit all over the place because of the revs not stable. At this point it was late, so I went inside and ordered a second hand unit. 

While I was trying to sleep, I was pondering what it could be. I didn't think it was the MAF (having a spare good used is no bad thing though) and possibly the symptom rather than cause. Maybe boost leak?

In the morning I put a post up on a GTI Facebook group and most said boost leak. I did triple check everything when putting together so I wasn't certain. In the afternoon I had a look under the bonnet and it was pretty obvious.

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These are quick connect fittings. I think what I did wrong here was put the clip on after putting the hose on. So it didn't latch properly. 

At that point I ran out of time and went on holiday to Amsterdam. 

Came back and ended up being too busy to look at it again until yesterday. 

Yesterday I jacked it up, took the under tray off and plugged that hose back in. Started and ran great. Dropped it back down and ran up to temperature. This extra temperature sensor is handy to know when the thermostat is open - presumably why it exists. Ran till the temperature got up and fan kicked in to low speed.

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Went for a test drive. Boosts absolutely fine now. Coolant level dropped a little - hopefully just some more air getting out of the system.

Posted

Polishing headlights always brightens up a car a treat. My usual trick of G3 and a felt wheel on a grinder works well and makes it a ten minute job for both sides.

Lights have condensation build up inside. Probably from where it's been sat & not used. Hopefully use will make the bulbs boil off any moisture in them.

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Now I could see inside, I noticed that the nearside main beam reflector had melted! Explains why I could sometimes smell a hot melting type smell on occasions after a drive.

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What has happened is that someone has hamfisted the bulb replacement. They've managed to loose the retaining clip and just shoved the bulb back in place. But without the clip in place, any bump moves that bulb. So it ended up sitting on the plastic reflector and ruining it. The otherside still had the clip but the bulb was in the wrong orientation. Thankfully nowhere near as much reflector damage on that side.

The proper solution will be to replace the headlight unit. Only £30 or so off eBay for second hand but I want to keep the budget low on this still for now. As it's just the main beam, it won't affect blinding oncoming traffic.

Bulb envelope is damaged but still works. It's coming to spring soon and clocks change, so won't have to do much. If it blows it blows and I'll have to replace this light cluster anyway.

For the mean time I got a Split Pin (yes I shipped him all the way from Scotland for this before anyone says...!) and bent it into a rough clip shape fashion. Worked much better than I expected!

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The side light kept flicking a bulb out warning on regularly too. Again in the same place as the above bulb. Looks like someone has pinched the wire and damaged it. Didn't take much for it to snap.

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A bit of soldering with my handy Milwaukee soldering iron and some heat shrink fixed this. Not my best soldering but it'll hold and it's only low current. Plus I need a new light cluster at some point due to the other damage.

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Posted

I might have a headlight for this in the garage, 100% a VW, so let me dig it out and confirm.

God knows why, but I also have a TT, MK4 Astra and other random lights 😅🫣

Good work on keeping this on the road

Posted
23 minutes ago, Minimad5 said:

I might have a headlight for this in the garage, 100% a VW, so let me dig it out and confirm.

God knows why, but I also have a TT, MK4 Astra and other random lights 😅🫣

Good work on keeping this on the road

That would be fantastic! You can get brand new aftermarket headlights cheap on eBay but I don't know how good they are. Plus there is a little VW logo on the bulb cover on the front and I don't think my OCD could put up with not having that on one side. 😅

 

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Posted

Years ago I got called out to a Skyline that had a loss of power and bad idle at a posh private school in Sevenoaks. It was an uprated twin turbo set up with lots of silicone pipework running everywhere and the young owner said he just started it up blipped the throttle and it went bang and lost power and was now convinced he had blown a piston or dropped a valve.

He was moaning on that he'd told the call taker he would need a flat bed recovery and not me in my orange T5. Anyway while he was pacing up and down mentally pricing up the cost of an engine rebuild I was looking for anything obviously wrong as it overfueling massively and being JDM I couldn't plug in to look at any live data when I reached under the air boxes to have a wiggle of the wiring and hoses when I felt a three inch boost pipe hanging free.

You couldn't see it from above and the car was too low to get under the engine bay to look up but once the air boxes where removed it became visible. It was a right sod to get back on again  but once it was securely retained and everything reassembled the engine restarted and ran fine again.

I think he had been more than just been blipping the throttle but he was mighty relieved although never gave me a tip or appologised for giving me ear ache about the recovery truck.

Those VAG turbo hose fittings were a big call out/easy fix for us with many popping off usually a few days after being disturbed while having repairs carried out at a garage. We kept new clips for them but often it was the wedge bits on the hose that were a bit worn and would slip under the clip when on boost so many cable ties were added for extra security.

Posted

You can't beat the satisfaction of making cloudy headlamp lenses look new again.

The sister in law put a wide scratch along the whole length of her caravans side window getting too close to a tree and was in tears but half an hour of sanding with an 600 pad and cutting back with various compounds had it looking like new again.

Posted

Looks quite tidy and respectable now it's had a scrub (from a distance)

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Closer up, less so 🤣

The plastic sill cover is a bit misshapen from probably me when jacking the car and caught the cover. However in doing so, it made the paint come off from where they did the weld and painted over that top. 

I'll go to Halfords or something and get a spray can to recover it. 

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I have been busy scrubbing the interior and especially the seats. This is the best I can get them and seems that it's stained into the leather. Need to get some dye and see if I can tidy them. Anyone have any recommendations that work well?

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  • Like 3
Posted

The Gliptone Scuffmaster stuff has worked pretty well for me, but I haven’t tried it on areas this large.

Tried recolouring an old BMW E39 drivers’ seat with Swisswax products once, but was really disappointed. It turned sticky/rubbery and wore off. Stained from wearing jeans, too.

I’ve actually just recoloured an 80s lounge chair with some über-dubious chinese stuff from eBay called «Eidechse».  Guess that’s meant to sound like German Kwalitee to someone who doesn’t speak a word of German 😄 It actually worked great, pretty nice coverage after three coats. There is no colour matching though, just a few standard colours in tiny tins. 

Posted

Oof just catching up on this sounds like you've got a battle on your hands. It's always a roll of the dice with high mileage hero's  as they're either high miles as they've been very well looked after or your getting it when lots of components are reaching the end of their natural life.   Sound like you're getting there.

On the leather you can get re-colouring balm, which you rub in to re-colour it like show polish. It may work better on dark colours though.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scratch-Doctor-Recolouring-Treatment-Absorbent/dp/B08PZ957X8/

Posted

Yeah I think it's just at that age where everything is a bit brittle and old. Not just because of high mileage either, just age. However one of the aims is to learn the tfsi engine and get used to working on it. It's certainly achieving that! Being a cheap example, it gives me a lot of confidence in having a go without worrying about making a really, really expensive paperweight.

They're a lot simpler to work on than the older 1.8t that was in my TT for sure. Much neater wiring and less pipework going on. Engine bay access is pretty decent too. Not fantastic as say my wife's Civic 1.8 n/a but for a modern turbo'ed lump most things are visible or able to got to without too much faff. 

Having stared at the blasted thing for so long, I've gotten quite familiar with it and where everything is 😂

  • Like 2
Posted

Attacked the floor carpets with a Vax spot cleaner in an effort to try reducing the cigarette smell in the car. The water came out dirty, so it must have got something out. Not sure if made a difference to the smell. 

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As I made the carpets rather wet (despite my best efforts to suck the water out), I've stuck the dehumidifier in with the O-zone machine for a bit today too. 

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The boot locks okay but the hatch is a bit limp. It doesn't give a good thunk but that also could be that it appears to have an aftermarket boot catch (date coded 2017). But also the boot struts are probably original and rusting out. 

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I put some £9.44 eBay ANG RONG specials on. Only the finest* parts will do. In fairness they work absolutely fine - if anything they're a bit too strong. 

Yes they probably won't last another 200k miles like the last ones, but the rest of the car is very unlikely to either.

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I treated to new mirror passenger glass too. The old one (if you can make it out from the photos) had rusty welding splatter marks on. For £7.10, it's not exactly a large expenditure.

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Also cleaned up the electrical contacts to the glass. This cleared the error code in the door module that the glass was open circuit. We're coming to spring soon, so probably won't need heated mirrors but at least it works now and was a free fix.

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The mirror cover does have some impressive lacquer peel. It can stay like this for now.

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Apart from the cambelt+water pump that I'll do when it warms up and the clocks change, it should be pretty much a sorted car. Still a few other minor bits like sort the sagging headlining, stained seats and try eliminating the cigarette smell but they're not essentials. Also need to fit a radio but that will be probably the freebie from dan95x when I get time to grab those spare parts.

There is a bit of unknown with the brakes. They grab on absolutely fine (if anything the Golf mk5 is too touchy on brakes) but I keep hearing dragging when warm. Not sure if maybe seized calipers, sliders need a clean or warped discs. Will use the car and see if it becomes a problem.

 

So cost and how much has this "cheap" GTI cost me so far? Something that I'm sure many of you are wondering. 

One tyre £100 (can't remember exactly but close enough)

Aerial £4.59

Pollen filter £11.84

Sump plug £3.06

Oil filter £10.05 (not done yet)

Oil (on shelf so from memory) £18 

Cam Follower £23.42

Fuel pump sealing o-ring (not used yet) £3.65

Coolant Flange £10.42

PCV kit £59.20

Thermostat £28.20

Aux belt £13.53

Aux tensioner pulley £14.53

Rear wiper arm + blade £6.20

Alternator £21.24

Spare MAF sensor £29.99 (will keep as a backup)

Upper tailgate struts £9.44

Passenger mirror glass £7.10

5l Anti-freeze £5.22

Boot carpet £21.40

 

Total parts: £401.08

Inc purchase (£1400) total cost: £1801.08

 

Providing it doesn't keep breaking (there still is a good chance it may...) then that is still a very cheap GTI. 

Posted

Just given this a ten mile shakedown this evening.

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Currently running great and all fluids seem to be holding. I know it's an over used cliche but this could genuinely say 97k on the clock rather than 197k and I really wouldn't know any difference. There aren't any knocks or clonks from suspension. Everything still feels relatively tight on the controls. Not brand new or low miler but certainly not baggy. 

Ended up behind my neighbour with the BMW M3 F80 (2016-ish vintage iirc). We both pulled out onto a nearby hill with the road clear in front. I know she always spanked it up the hill (she got into triple figures in their R8 🙈🙉) so I did too. Now clearly the M3 pulled ahead with a big gap, however it wasn't quite as big as I expected. (I'm not going to divulge the speeds we both hit...)

Given the DV delete and wanky indicators, I do wonder if this has a cheeky remap despite being told it's completely standard. That said I haven't driven a TFSI engined car for a number of years (last being ~2018 with my TT MK2) so I don't have any reference. 

Certainly nice power curve to drive on though. Even if the throttle map is clearly tuned to make it feel responsive low down. I end up driving it like a diesel where you ride the torque and boost wave between 2k and 3k before changing up again. 

This drivability is exactly why I wanted another TFSI. I'm looking forward to the clock change at the end of the month so I can give it a good spring evening spanking around some quiet country roads.

 

In less exciting news, I treated it to a second hand OEM boot mat to replace the crappy bit of carpet left in there. Which reminds me, I probably ought to buy a towing eye as I don't have one (missing all the spare wheel+tool set) and it's a VW after all. 

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Posted
On 05/03/2024 at 16:35, SiC said:

Attacked the floor carpets with a Vax spot cleaner in an effort to try reducing the cigarette smell in the car. The water came out dirty, so it must have got something out. Not sure if made a difference to the smell. 

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As I made the carpets rather wet (despite my best efforts to suck the water out), I've stuck the dehumidifier in with the O-zone machine for a bit today too. 

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On the subject of the cigarette smell, I've had pretty good success with neutradol products in the past. Mainly the carpet powder because you can sprinkle it everywhere and leave it for however long you'd like, but also the gel pod things leave a strong, overpowering smell for ages if you use them continuously. 

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I don't mean overpowering in a bad way either, mainly that it seems to override anything else. The one in the green packaging (super fresh) seems to be the best one for it

The smell is a bit marmite, I don't mind it but it's quite a "clinical" smell which some people aren't a fan of, so maybe worth trying one of the other fragrances if you aren't keen on those sort of smells

  • Like 2
Posted
13 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

On the subject of the cigarette smell, I've had pretty good success with neutradol products in the past. Mainly the carpet powder because you can sprinkle it everywhere and leave it for however long you'd like, but also the gel pod things leave a strong, overpowering smell for ages if you use them continuously

I did actually buy this. I was going to use it before the wet vac but it said not to use it on a wet carpet. Presumably as it may just turn to a slurry?

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The smell currently is not that noticeable now. I need to do something about the drooping headliner. I'm wondering whether to have a go at DIY replacement as that may be harbouring a fair amount of smells. 2 metres of foam backed headlining material (should be enough, it's 1.8m long by tape measure) is about £25. Then £8 or so for some high temperature headlining spray glue. 

I can't make it any worse than it is! Great thing about this car is it's so cheap that I can muck around practicing doing this stuff that I wouldn't dare to on a more expensive car. I'm very unlikely to devalue it. (Conversely I'm unlikely to add value over what I've been spending too 🤣)

  • Like 2
Posted
11 hours ago, SiC said:

I did actually buy this. I was going to use it before the wet vac but it said not to use it on a wet carpet. Presumably as it may just turn to a slurry?

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The smell currently is not that noticeable now. I need to do something about the drooping headliner. I'm wondering whether to have a go at DIY replacement as that may be harbouring a fair amount of smells. 2 metres of foam backed headlining material (should be enough, it's 1.8m long by tape measure) is about £25. Then £8 or so for some high temperature headlining spray glue. 

I can't make it any worse than it is! Great thing about this car is it's so cheap that I can muck around practicing doing this stuff that I wouldn't dare to on a more expensive car. I'm very unlikely to devalue it. (Conversely I'm unlikely to add value over what I've been spending too 🤣)

I've only ever used the powder on dry carpets so I would imagine it's best to at least hoover most of it out before using a wet vac, and perhaps reapply after it's dried

On something like this I think it would be very hard to lose money unless it catastrophically blew up or something, I know it's all adding up but you got it very cheap and they do hold their money. Also the benefit that they are desirable to a lot of people so they're easier to buy and sell than something more niche

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

This has always felt a bit lumpy on idle when sat at lights. Its worse when holding the brake pedal down. I think it might be the engine mount knackered or TADIS. However the spark plugs were of unknown vintage, so I reckoned it would be worth changing them anyway.

A set of four NGKs were just under £40 from my local GSF. I wanted to get them from a major retailer to reduce the chance of getting fakes.

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All the plugs came out and were all pretty tight. I hate removing plugs that you have no idea when they've been out last. I've never broken a plug in a OHC engine and I don't ever want to!

They're pretty manky and well worn to my eyes. 

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While I had the plugs out, I decided a compression test would be a good idea. 

First thing was to stop fuel getting into the cylinders. Dave_Q suggested to me to disconnect the injector multiway. This is easy to get to on the front by the throttle body.

Worked fine but just needed the codes clearing before the engine would run again. 

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So what compression am I running in these cylinders? Bear in mind these are on a cold engine (60s run to move onto the drive), dry and 198k on the clocks.

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So between 195psi and 200psi (probably the accuracy of the gauge). I don't have the factory figured and I'm used to British Leyland lumps, but they sound very healthy numbers to me!

Of course having no history, I don't know what degree it's an original lump. But I have no reason to believe it's been changed. 

 

I also changed the coolant tank and cap. I bought these when I have the coolant leak, before I had a chance to diagnose the source. Was a hope it was the tank/cap but ended up being the thermostat. I left it too long to send these back to Amazon, plus given I want to track day the car, it's going to get very hot and risk bursting the old, discoloured tank. It was only £20 for this Febi tank+cap anyway. 

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I mean at the very least a new tank looks better in the engine bay!

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In other news, I tried sticking the headliner up with spray adhesive. This worked for about a week and looked passable. It's fallen back down again. I believe it's the foam backing that it sticks to and then comes detached again. I've noticed it smells more with the headliner down. I imagine the smoke has got into the foam backing (maybe why it's more likely to deteriorate?). 

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I did enquire at a trimmer but they wanted £200 to replace it. 

I have seen foam backed material on eBay for £12 a metre (I think I only need 2 metres). Headliner spray glue for £8 a can. How hard can it be....? We'll find out soon! 😅

Posted

A sensible and well thought out plan of works there Si. The carpet might just be easier to bin and replace, highly unlikely to get rid of the accumulated odours tbh. The degrading foam on the headliner is a ball ache to do just by resticking. Take it out strip it down and scour off the old foam with a couple of those really coarse metal pan scrubbers will usually suffice, then make sure it’s dust free before attempting a refoam, etc. Anything else will be a bit shit.

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