Sics Consolidated Faded Moderns Thread - 2006 Golf Mk5 GTI & 2004 BMW Z4 2.2

[Scruffy Bodger]

Handy trick on the lights, not seen that one, cheers for that. The old mans Z had proper cataracts last time I saw it and that should do the job nicely.

[SiC]

I should put UV resistant sealer over the top for them to last much longer, just don't have any at the moment. The garage is in the shade and doesn't get too much light though so I'll get about a year out of them without redoing.

[SiC]

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. 


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. 


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. 


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.
 

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.



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.


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

 
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. 

[Eddie Honda]

Total parts: £401.08
Inc purchase (£1400) total cost: £1801.08

viewtopic.php?p=290247#p290247

[SiC]

Total parts: £401.08
Inc purchase (£1400) total cost: £1801.08

viewtopic.php?p=290247#p290247

Not keeping budgets is a route to being constantly a poor man! Keeping an eye on expenditure focuses the mind in being efficient.

[SiC]

Just given this a ten mile shakedown this evening.

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. 

[SiC]

So what's happening with this?

 
Nothing really to report and I've done nothing mechanically to it either. With the Golf GTI being the new toy, this hasn't been driven quite as much. That said, since it displayed it's almost stalling issue, it's done another 230 miles. Longest run was on my wife's birthday to Stourhead. About a 1hr 30m journey each way. 



While not enough miles to really say it everything is fine, it hasn't done it since. Only time it felt a bit weird was pulling up to the junction outside our cul-de-sac onto the main road when cold on the start of that journey to Stourhead. It did two noticeable thumpy gear changes as I pulled up. 

The only times it's had these pulling to a stop issues is when it's been cold. Also I think the gearbox was on Standard rather than Comfort. I only switched to standard as my wife didn't like the sluggish feel to comfort when she's driving. I've been using it back in comfort since. Comfort will start off in second gear, so one less change it has to do when pulling up to a stop. 

There is still the vibration when cornering at low speeds. But I highly suspect it's the engine mounts that do that. You can't rock just the engine without moving the whole car if you push on the lump, which suggests they have lost damping (these are hydraulic dampened mounts). So effectively the engine is sitting directly into the mounts on the chassis. It won't fall out but vibrations are directly transferred into the car. Being a relatively smooth V6, you don't really notice it like you would with a 4pot. 

I've just been out in it as it needed a run and I needed lunch. I hammered hard on the box with some hard, abrupt stops. Both in standard and comfort. Cold and hot. Absolutely fine. 

So what is next?

I really need to inspect and clean the throttle body. It's right at the back of the engine so a bit of a pain to remove. Hence why I've not done it yet. Could well be the root cause - albeit I'd thought it would be more frequent.

Engine mounts I have but I don't want to spend out on that till I know for sure the box isn't going to embarrass the vehicle. I can't imagine that'll be in anyway responsible for the near stalling it did. Would help with smoothing off any shift changes though as the mounts will take the jolts.

Gearbox oil + fluid + connector change still needs to be done. I have considered about replacing the torque converter lockup solenoid while the sump was off. However that requires dropping the valve body electrical element (conductor plate). I'm a bit loathed to start pulling off old plastic bits as this age could mean breaking things. Replacement conductor plates aren't expensive and can be a failure point, so not a big deal replacing. But then you're disturbing all the other solenoids and opening yourself up to making things worse!

So I may just get the fluid+filter+connector changed in due course as I have them and have genuine parts. All of which shouldn't hurt the box and only potentially improve things. They're all service items after all. Fresh ATF with it's fresh detergents could help clear a sticky solenoid and negate replacing it. 

[SiC]

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.

 
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. 



 
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. 


 
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.




 
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. 


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

 
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?). 


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!

[angrydicky]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353456446252 ... BMztfstslj

This is the stuff that was recommended by the Maestro and Montego club when I did the Maestro headlinings. Apparently it's used by the trimming trade, and actually works. Most of these spray glues, as soon as the inside gets hot the glue melts and the headlining sags again.


The other option are these, used to good effect on the Freeloader.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164924580495 ... BMhKeOt8lj

[SiC]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353456446252 ... BMztfstslj

This is the stuff that was recommended by the Maestro and Montego club when I did the Maestro headlinings. Apparently it's used by the trimming trade, and actually works. Most of these spray glues, as soon as the inside gets hot the glue melts and the headlining sags again.


The other option are these, used to good effect on the Freeloader.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164924580495 ... BMhKeOt8lj

First one I think I found the same on Amazon and put it on the list. How many cans did you need for a full headliner?

Those tack things make my skin itch a bit. I think I'd rather a droopy headliner than tack it up!