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

[dome]

Still at £1400 the grand the seller must have left in the glovebox will come in handy 

[Jazoli]

58 minutes ago, SiC said:

The GTI is supposed to handle better but then the reviewers would say that. A3 TFSI is supposed to be suspension tuned to be a bit more for comfort and touring. Especially the SE. I'd imagine the S-Line is closer to the GTI. 

I'm sure my S-Line came with the suspension delete option!

[Kiltox]

No warning lights?

Best order this shortly then

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276310355244?epid=1073291268&hash=item4055616d2c:g:bgQAAOSwtbVllIwq&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4N%2FUmT6hDy%2FRN%2FHRJrWexTfO5AVuXF1PHIc8zmyaKrGDu4PFhaZX6jUJdG06utz48duu2%2FEq85DbXyBV%2B7o2rUNHHdWcCem6sO4zR%2FH8YguXL8UEVKTfbsx20bift3P21g4LaoNy2GVjfJ5UKc26gspUVZuNUSYQkY4dfG7KBDs8XmQEATxgPkzk6g72EWBL9pA8XPJTz7XolDeV5aM7wkxkme5HuCrCb18SldtUVdKLiFLTvgoc7SPSjbXSFjlha8qvkn3VF7LG6Pihx2YH%2Bg3Vq7LkAuh4rB2OKS2OF1yp|tkp%3ABFBMrJXQsLFj

[SiC]

30 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

I'm sure my S-Line came with the suspension delete option!

Our A4 B8 TDI has S-Line suspension. Discs and pads were the same one as the 329bhp S4. Utterly pointless setup for a photocopier salesman 140bhp diesel vehicle. My suspicion was that the parts reuse allowed the costs for the hot cars to be lowered from bigger manufacturing scale. By the time the original suspension got to 210k and it kacked itself, I don't think there was much cushioning left!

Did handle surprisingly well considering what it was. Definitely the small diesel engine didn't get anywhere near the chassis limits. 

[RoverFolkUs]

15 minutes ago, Kiltox said:

No warning lights?

Best order this shortly then

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276310355244?epid=1073291268&hash=item4055616d2c:g:bgQAAOSwtbVllIwq&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4N%2FUmT6hDy%2FRN%2FHRJrWexTfO5AVuXF1PHIc8zmyaKrGDu4PFhaZX6jUJdG06utz48duu2%2FEq85DbXyBV%2B7o2rUNHHdWcCem6sO4zR%2FH8YguXL8UEVKTfbsx20bift3P21g4LaoNy2GVjfJ5UKc26gspUVZuNUSYQkY4dfG7KBDs8XmQEATxgPkzk6g72EWBL9pA8XPJTz7XolDeV5aM7wkxkme5HuCrCb18SldtUVdKLiFLTvgoc7SPSjbXSFjlha8qvkn3VF7LG6Pihx2YH%2Bg3Vq7LkAuh4rB2OKS2OF1yp|tkp%3ABFBMrJXQsLFj

He just hasn't got as far as "cleaning" the tape off them 😉😂

[Ghosty]

8 hours ago, SiC said:

Having two the same cars, especially two Civics just seemed wrong!

Oi!

[SiC]

Had a quick poke around when moving cars around.

Made the wiper situation less embarrassing

 

Nice to see a GTI without a stupid aftermarket air filter.

Is this the cambelt or aux belt sticker?  @RoverFolkUs

I assuming cambelt

 

Aux belt doesn't look very fresh

Is the boot badge supposed to be red on the GTI? Or is it like the TT where something has fallen off? 🤣

The car definitely shows it age in places.

 

Headlights have the usual cataracts

 

Rear tyres are two different ditch finders.

Fronts are Avon. Might replace the rears with something decent.

 

Now what you're all wanting to see! Quick photos so will take better later.

[Jazoli]

Doesn't look too bad, the gti badge is silver on these, that red VW rear badge wants throwing in the bin.

[Back_For_More]

Zahnrwimenwechsel... Yes - toothed belt, so cambelt.

Looks a proper shonky basement buy and you can't go far wrong. See how it goes on the road and chuck it at the track - win/win. 

Will watch n learn 

[LoftyvRS]

You might find the Red rear VW badge is just a sticker infill on the original boot badge. Pick an edge up with something picky/sharp and peel it off

[Matty]

19 minutes ago, LoftyvRS said:

You might find the Red rear VW badge is just a sticker infill on the original boot badge. Pick an edge up with something picky/sharp and peel it off

Ah leave it red. Makes it quicker. Fact.

[RoverFolkUs]

3 hours ago, SiC said:

Is this the cambelt or aux belt sticker?  @RoverFolkUs

I assuming cambelt

Yes that's cambelt, but a very old one I must add! INA stickers haven't looked like that for quite a while

Probably just helps you decide its a case of roulette 😬

[SiC]

One of the things Mrs SiC was annoyed about was me spending so much on cars. "Why do you always buy a new car that needs tyres and wiper blades". Naturally I said I don't think this does. 

Well that wasn't true. The offside rear was worn to the wear marker at the edges. Fronts are a pair of nearly brand new Avons. Rear was one blackhawk (iirc) and one roadstone. Anyway my local tyre place had a Falken on the shelf which I had that one illegal tyre replaced. At £97 its a bit over priced but beggars can't be choosers..

I'll get both changed once I am a bit more confident it's not going to crap itself. Also that there isn't any ridiculous wear happening on that rear. 

 

With the wheel off, it definitely looks like some money has been spent here. Caliper definitely replaced at some point and a new backplate. Other side is still a red caliper so probably original. Discs and pads look almost brand new on both sides too. 

 

Less good now, it's stopped raining, is that I noticed the drivers arch definitely has the usual Golf 5 grot coming through. Looks like someone has picked off the lacquer as well. I'll give it a buff and see if I can tart this turd section up.

 

Front number plate is falling off. Being a Golf GTI, I guess the right thing to do will be to fully pull it off and put it on the dashboard?

 

Definitely has a cigarette smell inside. Not absolutely awful but it is there lingering .Hoping a good scrub will remove most of it. Also running my O-zone machine to see if I can remove most of it. Mrs SiC especially hates the smell and could make her never wanting to be in or use the car. I.e. I'll end up selling it. So hopefully I can remove that smell...

[Schaefft]

Yeah, whatever mileage/date you can decipher on there is supposed to the time the next belt change will be necessary. I have the feeling its been a while since that mileage has passed...

[SiC]

10 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Yes that's cambelt, but a very old one I must add! INA stickers haven't looked like that for quite a while

Probably just helps you decide its a case of roulette 😬

I can just about make out that it says 109k and 2017. So 6 to 7 years and almost 90k miles. 

Intervals vary if from VAG UK, DE or USA. But seems to be 90k to 60k miles. Some say no time, some say 6 years. So it's due but not long due. 

I'll get that cover off soon and have a proper look and go from there.

Not that the belt is expensive nor is it hard to do. Just having the time and needing the car with no backup car to have this off the road. TT is sold and the E320 is now again going off to my sister for a few weeks till her car is fixed by insurance. 

Hence needing to sort the tyre asap. 

[SiC]

A 4 minute walk around video. Sorry I struggled on this one and probably not my best video. Hard to make a video about a Golf particularly thrilling.

 

[Bren]

I think with something like this you have to not get carried away with the spend.

[SiC]

14 hours ago, Bren said:

I think with something like this you have to not get carried away with the spend.

Definitely. Trying to keep the spend low is hard on this. I do know I'll never get my money back on it if I spend too much. I'm already £97 in on that tyre (but then I knocked the car price down by £100 so that's cancelled out) and I've got £52 of parts coming from Amazon today. Oil filter/sump plug/pollen filter/aerial/cam follower - so nothing fancy. Cam follower is Febi at £23 as I didn't fancy spending £50+ on genuine.

I was pricing up Febi suspension parts to give it a refresh. Need to have a look underneath properly and see the condition of the bushes. It feels pretty tight so it could well have had a fair few new parts in its life. Debating if I want to keep this long term or just buy a nicer one. Either way I'm extremely tempted to do a few track days and rag the shit out of it. At least if I blow this one up on a track, it's (for me) at a throw away price point.

[sierraman]

I’d just treat it like a peasant treats a horse and hold out for a good one. 

[SiC]

I think I've said this before elsewhere but cigarette smoke really puts me off a car. Even if it's a good car, I find it a big turn off. Which is happening a bit here. If I was a smoker then I'd have had no problem with it. 

I don't think this is inherently a bad car. A good scrub inside hopefully will help wonders. I've been running the O-zone generator for 6hrs or so yesterday and I'll see what difference that has made. 

I guess the question is what makes a good car and does it fit that. Also what I want to do with it - whether a runaround + commute, trackday toy and/or long distance cruiser. I'm not sure which yet and all require different amounts of expenditure in different areas. Don't forget I have two other moderns that can fulfill some of these too (e.g. commute/long distance). 

Miles certainly isn't a factor on a good car either imo. A 80k to 100k car at this age can easily be on mostly original factory parts and need money spending. Obviously resale value is much better as the UK car market puts a heavy emphasis on low mileage. 

If I had a wodge of history that gives an indication of how it's been treated then my view could be different right now. But that's all missing due to the copart connection.

I need to go through it a bit more to get a better feeling. Air filter, pollen filters and spark plugs usually good indications but also just general suspension parts too. Going for a good drive and see how it feels will help. I didn't get a good indication on the drive home as tired and god awful weather on back roads. However it ran smoothly and pulled well with no real hesitation. You can hear on that video that the engine sounds alright (for a VAG). Its obviously been driven a lot and kept it a long time (last owner 6yrs) which means someone has had to rely on it. 

I don't want to do many miles in it till I've had that cam follower replaced and inspected the cambelt. Both are parts that can go from running absolutely fine to bye-bye engine almost instantly. 

[SiC]

Noticed this on the wing mirror glass earlier. At least I now have evidence it definitely has been welded rather than fibreglassed!

 

My Amazon parcel arrived today with a few bits including the cam follower. Basically the cam follower is a bucket type shim that rides between the intake cam and the high pressure fuel pump plunger. These have a special coating on to resist wear. Unfortunately that coating simply does not last and ends up wearing through. When that happens, the pump plunger rides against the cam and both get destroyed. 

Over the years VAG and their suppliers have tried to improve the life of the coating. However they have never completely solved it. On later engines their solution is a roller tappet which solves the problem entirely. That can't be retrofitted to the older engines and so these are just another in a long line of consumable VAG parts that shouldn't be. 

Thankfully it's not that hard to get to. 

First job is to remove the engine cover. On these engines it houses the air filter and MAF. 

The air filter looks in excellent shape and not that old. Very good sign this has been serviced regularly.

Not sure what the date code is on this as I can't remember which bit is the Bosch magic code that you need to convert into a date.

MAF is genuine VW and looks to be a date code of 2013. So not original factory item and a quality item.

With the cover off, something interesting was quite obvious.

This is a PCV delete kit. It keeps the cam cover connected to the crank case (which happens under boost normally) but stops the manifold sucking a vacuum into the cam-cover when at idle. I'm not sure about this and extremely tempted to put back to stock. After all, VAG are cost conscious company and they wouldn't design+make something if they didn't have to. 

It does also suggest this car has been worked on by an enthusiast and/or a specialist.

 

The fuel pump has three torx bolts. You need to be exceptionally careful to not round the heads off. Otherwise you're going to have a bad day.

This connector is broken and suggests someone has been here before.

In getting to the fuel fitting on the bottom of the pump, my hand pushed against a coolant flange.

Naturally the old, brittle, shit VAG plastic snapped right off.

Balls.

Thankfully Bezo and his team of minions can get a replacement out to me tomorrow.

For now I've deleted that hose with a screw and superglue. Sealing it and making the area cat and wildlife safe.

 

With the bolts out, the pump pulls right off. I couldn't easily get to the hoses on the bottom of the pump, so I decided to play it safe and not disconnect them. 

Here is a new cam follower on the left with the old cam next to it. I think the words just in time come to mind! The protective coating has entirely worn off and just relying on engine oil to not destroy the cam and pump. 

The cam is completely undamaged thankfully. 

 

Tomorrow I'll get that flange replaced and give it a run. 

[SiC]

This is the main stages of wear these cam followers have. Thankfully this was between Stage 1 and Stage 2. If the cam started eating into the metal then it'd also be eating the cam up too. Plus metal shavings being deposited into the oil system too. 

[FakeConcern]

This guy is VAG mad and had a 200k miles GTI

He went on to mod it to fuck I think

[SiC]

This is a example of a good GTI. But it is £4k 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116063961462

Another really nice one and a potential future classic example. But I don't love Golfs Mk5 anywhere near enough to spend nearly £6k on one.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156046136928

Probably the best and decent for the money. Still over twice what I paid for mine. Just as likely to blow up.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/326003357341

Then this is the other end of the market. Pop and bang maps 😑

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126297157837

At least mines better than this modified heap. Mine runs smoothly and over half the owners. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355438741362

[Popsicle]

17 hours ago, SiC said:

This is a PCV delete kit. It keeps the cam cover connected to the crank case (which happens under boost normally) but stops the manifold sucking a vacuum into the cam-cover when at idle. I'm not sure about this and extremely tempted to put back to stock. After all, VAG are cost conscious company and they wouldn't design+make something if they didn't have to. 

I've fitted a few things made by X8R over the years, it tends to be well designed and well made stuff - they're a good company for fixing common faults on vehicles, might be worth leaving it in place, it does read up well. https://x8r.co.uk/pcv-valve-delete-kit.html

[SiC]

With the Merc E320 out of action, the TT sold and this broken, I don't have a working car for myself. This will mean I'd have to catch a bus into work. No thanks.

So instead of the gym, I need to do some evening repair action and allow me to get to the office tomorrow.

To be honest replacing this flange was a piece of piss. Clamp the pipes to reduce coolant loss, three hose clamps and replace.

 

I didn't replace the o-ring on the high pressure fuel pump when I did the cam follower. I forgot to order one and so didn't have it to hand. This is a decision I regret. I ran the engine up tonight and it doesn't show up a leak but I really should have changed it as it was all flat. I've ordered a new one and should be arriving tomorrow. That said, as it's not leaking, I'm tempted to leave it now! Risky to keep removing those HPFP torx bolts.

Speaking of oil, it says it need a service.

However not only is the oil quite clean looking, it's actually on the full marker! I don't believe it is really due a service as any TFSI showing full must have been recently had it changed. Can't possibly be the case it doesn't burn it nor is it not leaking. 🤣

I've got a tub of oil, a filter and sump plug in the garage though, so I will do it soon. Might as well get a few miles under it first.

Took the cambelt cover off. All broken up unsurprisingly as it's probably been off several times in the cars life.

The belt is still there at least.

I mean it's obviously worn and I don't see any writing on it. However I don't really know how to judge it. I know it needs doing but is it imminently needing doing?

Was a right arse getting that cover back on with everything in the way. No wonder it's broken already.

After faffing around with that, I took it for a blast.

Pez shot.

I put the good stuff in. It's probably feeling spoilt as I bet most owners don't bother. I won't likely long term, especially commuting but right now I want to make sure she runs sweet as a nut. Full fat stuff will mean it'll not be retarding the ignition at all from knocking and should be giving me the full rated power.

 

Pumped up the tyres and gave her a good blast. Certainly is boosting absolutely fine. Enough that flooring it makes the front Avons scrabble for grip. I do miss the hard bite that Quattro (including Haldex) gives. 

Coming home I checked the coolant temperature with my cheapy code reader (my nice one is in the Merc still). Appeared to be perfectly okay. This is good as the thermostat is a nightmare on these to change. Also a good indication again that someone has spent money on this car as ime thermostats most people don't realise or notice need doing.

Cooling fans didn't kick in but did previously on the drive home. They're really loud and sound to be on full. Apparently this happens if the small fan stops working and the fan controller puts the large only ever onto full speed to compensate. I'll get my VCDS out and do a check at some point to confirm. That can be done when the cambelt is done. At least it's working - even if a bit embarrassingly noisy.

I need to check the engine number as it feels too healthy for a 198k engine and I can't help wonder if it might have been changed. It could just have been looked after and done mostly motorway miles too. 

Steering and gearbox feels tight. I can't decide if the gear cables look new. They don't look particularly dirty. Steering creaks a bit of you dry steer but iirc TADIS with the electric steering rack on Golf. VW said it's normal and didn't accept any warranty claims for it creaking. 

Brakes grab hard - typical modern over boosted setup. But discs and pads look fresh too. There is a intermittent rubbing noise from the rear when braking, so I need to double check that's all okay. Offside rear has been replaced in its life, so maybe the nearside rear has started to fail from age too. 

I've also been looking at track days. I definitely want to do one and I think this would be a good car to do it in. Respectably fast, great handling and steering feedback and decent safety if I make a big mistake. It's cheap enough that it'll be annoying if it break it (crash or blow up) but not a huge sum to loose. Thinking maybe this track is a good one for my first as not far away and doesn't look too fast: https://www.llandow.com/

Castle Combe is the nearest track near me but that I know is a notoriously fast and unforgiving track. I even remember my boss in my first job out of school (gap year) telling me that he stacks his not very old MGF into the tyre wall and quickly learnt what brake fade was. 

Before then though, I want to get a few miles under the wheels and make sure everything is golden. The mix of Falken and Roadstone (or whatever it is) on the rear will need sorting. Likewise prudent to change that cambelt if I'm going to be driving it really hard. Weather can warm up a bit first before I do that though!

Short term I really want to fix that headlining. Also a bloody good scrub inside and out. 

[SiC]

Rose thorn between two thorns. Not doubt it'll gain a few more dents from one of these by the time I get back tonight. 

 

This car is "completely standard". Yeah...

 

I wonder if I can hack them to just light up instead of the stupid sequential thing. I'm not buying a new light though unless these break as these work. 

I do have a complete Febi PCV setup with replacement pipes coming though. Looking at YouTube videos of those that work and tune on TFSI for a living (e.g. Decimal Tenths/others), I notice they almost all use the stock PCV setup. The general view seems to be that if you use the pcv partial delete kit (like on mine) it's for one of two reasons. One because yours broke because it's worn out, two because your engine is highly tuned and keeps blowing them. First one isn't really a valid reason to delete it. Deleting it brings its own set of potential problems. If it was as easy as just removing it, VAG would have done that rather than going through many revisions to make it last. Febi kit from Amazon was £60 - hopefully I might be able to get some of that by selling my existing kit on. 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Signs look quite promising on this, I must admit.  As a tragic fan of Golfs I’m a little envious…

[Dave_Q]

Interesting that you mention you struggle for traction at times, I have been wondering about that as I have been getting 2WD mode occasionally since the Haldex controller went on the blink. 

Admittedly I think the fault I have turns all ASR and ESP off completely but if you put your foot down, even in the dry it just spins a wheel on the front. I always wondered how the people with K04 Golfs etc with big remaps on manage for traction, I guess badly is the answer. 

What is the power delivery like? Mine is not amazing below 3000rpm, but above that you get full warp. 

I wondered with the smaller turbo if it feels more linear or boosts from lower down.

[SiC]

Are you getting codes for the Haldex in the ABS? I know when I pulled the Haldex fuse for my TT, the ESP light came up. So I imagine the S3 is going to be the same where if it can't see the Haldex controller, it disables the ESP. 

I wondered about those running 300bhp+ FWD Golfs too. Must be shit to drive unless completely dry and warm tyres. I'd imagine they'd really need a LSD to make that power useful. 

FWD does make the engine bay and under the car so much simpler. Also far less vac lines on these 2.0 TFSi than the 1.8t, making the engine bay much less messy. Access in the engine bay is not amazing but far better than the TT. I don't want to say it, but it's almost nice to work on.