GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk4 => Golf mk4 gallery => Topic started by: OSR on 03 August 2016, 12:12
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Hi All,
I used to post many moons ago under a different forum name (Silver_Turbo or something like that IIRC) and have more recently re-joined under my current username of OSR, partly to draw a line in the sand and party because I couldn't remember my old login details!
Anyhow, I've been mainly lurking for several months popping on and having a read every now and then but thought I'd put up a project thread as the Golf is not my daily driver and I can finally get on top of all the stuff I've been meaning to do for years but either never had the change or always had to make sure the car's not in bits for more than a Saturday afternoon!
I've had my 1.8T since 2008 and have never spared a penny to keep it maintained and functional. Oil change every year regardless of miles, cambelt services every 3 years regardless of mileage etc. With the mechanical stuff I'd rather spend the money ahead of time and know it's been done so I may seem a bit over zealous at times!
In short my car is a 1.8T AUM running Revo Stage 2 all running fault code free and happy :smiley:
As I said the car is no longer a daily driver, and I now finally have a garage, so I'm hoping once all the post-move s**t is shifted out of there I can store the car over the winter months, especially as I now live in Scotland where the winters tend to be fairly harsh at the best of times!
One thing I've always drooled over in car magazines and at car shows is the ridiculously clean, gleaming show car look and I'm hoping to start on a journey to deep clean the car and get rid of the last 8 years of hidden grime. In addition to this I have a few maintenance jobs stacked up, mainly;
New clutch/flywheel
New oil catch can and pipework
Timing belt/water pump change
Oil & Filter change
With regards to the cleaning mission, I have dipped my toe in the water and spent 2 hours clay bar-ing and polishing the bonnet last weekend. First time using a clay bar and I'm impressed with the results and just how "rough" the surface was before versus the glassy smooth surface after. I'm probably looking at a good few weeks to get all of the metal panels sorted, then I'll be looking to have both front and rear bumpers resprayed, with potentially a JOM R32 front to replace the standard bumper but the jury's still out :whistle:
I'll leave it there for now but hopefully get some pictures up over the next week or so and try to keep up to date with my progress.
Thanks for reading!
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Progress update from this weekend - continued clay bar-ing the metal panels on the car, currently have the bonnet and both front wings done. I may well get sniffed at but I've always been a fan of the Autoglym products as they're well priced and give me results I'm perfectly happy with. I use the following;
Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner
Clay bar using rapid detailer
Super Resin Polish
Extra Gloss Protection
I also disconnected the short section of inlet pipe for the SAI system to see if it throws a CEL before I go the whole hog and remove the system and fit the blanking plate/resistor.
Still need to get some photos uploaded!
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Bit of an update and (finally) a couple of photos of my clay bar efforts to date. In addition to the bonnet and wings I've also completed the roof and boot - the roof took me about 3.5hrs in the end but think it was worth it :wink:
Drove the car on a 400 mile round trip to my mates and back and now she's washed and back in the garage ready for winter. The CEL light didn't come on at all in about 200miles of driving but then as soon as I fired her up to come home the light came on again. No biggie, I'll just keep clearing the code as and when with my code scanner which I keep in the glovebox. Having said that I drove all the way home with the CEL on just to see and didn't notice any discernible difference in performance.
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/4F0026DC-A2CF-4E13-9899-737C01387A02_zpsgbewguhs.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/4F0026DC-A2CF-4E13-9899-737C01387A02_zpsgbewguhs.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/2A4987A9-6A06-49FD-84ED-EA68359D4887_zpsssk2im6q.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/2A4987A9-6A06-49FD-84ED-EA68359D4887_zpsssk2im6q.jpg.html)
In addition to the above, the evap system is now removed and I have a pack of 5 330ohm10w resistors to solder in. Still on the list is the timing belt and oil change in the short term, plus clay bar of the doors and sills.
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Thats gotta be the best beading I've seen on a mk4
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Hehe - thanks mate! :smiley: The boot wasn't quite as impressive in that photo but I was pretty astounded at the roof, and that was after a 200 mile motorway jaunt!
Also whilst doing the roof I took off the gutter trims and treated them to a full clean out/clean up - it's like the day it left Germany!
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/EA76B6C4-4DB8-42C4-80DA-A1BF7C704860_zpsutjgzihk.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/EA76B6C4-4DB8-42C4-80DA-A1BF7C704860_zpsutjgzihk.jpg.html)
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Prob wasnt that good when it left the factory. :grin:
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Quite a bit of activity over the last couple of weeks. Decided it was time to get the car up on axel stands in the garage and get after some things that are long overdue - including a good clean of everything!
Tackling the clutch first so got the starter motor off, dog bone mount, various bits and bobs from the top etc. Mainly need to get myself some spline bits so I can remove the drive shafts and I'm almost down to the bell housing bolts.
Whilst I've been under the car I've also decided to remove the subframe and wishbones with a view to getting them powdercoated. Might as well do a proper job as I'm under there right?
Question of the day - I see psi tuning sell various suspension kits and some come with the OEM stretch bolts but does anyone know where to get replacement subframe bolts from? Is it a dealership only thing or would eurocarparts and the like stock them?
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Id say dealer only.
Things like that usually are.
I got some clarke splines from machine mart which i use more than the snap on ones because of how there designed
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I ended up getting a set of Halfords Professional spline bits, worked a treat and all came out with no issues - I did have to loosen the large end of the gator though to get proper engagement of the spline. As you say this is likely due to the chunky shoulder design on the Halfords bits.
Subframe removed along with wishbones and arb attached and has now been disassembled. Picture of how it came out below;
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/8F97A3A3-0FA4-4236-B2E2-C72861A7C1C2_zpsvtphsdxx.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/8F97A3A3-0FA4-4236-B2E2-C72861A7C1C2_zpsvtphsdxx.jpg.html)
Had to grind one of the lower all joint bolt heads off as the captive nut came loose where the spot weld broke off, still one out of six ain't bad...
Also then managed to snap one of the wishbone to subframe bolts (the one that sits vertically and has a nut on the upper side of the subframe). I can only assume this was due to reuse of the TTY ("stretch") bolts which appears to have been done many years ago when I had my Powerflex bushes fitted, they did copper grease them up though :-/
Been on the hunt for replacements as I'd like to do the full lot whilst I've got it all apart. Had a little bit of success on eBay finding them and also the vagspares website but I'd rather go somewhere, get etka up and order all in one place. Rang the local dealers up here and they said they can't order them but to try TPS which is just down the road from them so that's the next port of call.
Plan for the subframe is to wire brush back using a drill attachment and spray with Hammerite smooth black. There is a powder coating place but I'd like to do as much as I can, plus £120 for power coating versus £13 for a spray can is worth a go in my opinion.
For the wishbones I'm planning on ordering the suspension refresh kit stage 3+ from PSI and a set of Polybush subframe mount bushes to match. Whiteline ARB and it's all good to go back on!
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All go then. Just noticed the intercooler sticking out the bumper.
Thought this was standard
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Standard car? No not at all - Revo Stage 2, coilies etc. This is just the first time I've been able to do a proper strip down and get through my wish list now it's not a daily!
The inter cooler is the THS kit which I was pretty impressed with - it's dual pass so all the pipework sits at the drivers side hidden so it's a lot neater than the eBay specials. I was looking recently and it seems THS have vanished, maybe gone bust?
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Dont know but saying that ive not heard of them for a while.
Sound like you have a fun little golf. How is the revo for delivering the power
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Yeah it's good, for whatever reason my stage 1 map (which was a custom map, not a Revo) was never quite right. It only made 190bhp on the rollers when I had it done but should have got 210bhp as it's the KO3s turbo, vvt, etc (AUM). This was identified at the time as a boost/vacuum leak so I did do the N249 and vacuum simplification mod including fitting a catch can which helped but it still used to go into limp mode fairly frequently when under full boost. In the end an N75j valve sorted the issue and it's been fine ever since but interestingly when I had the Revo stage 2 map done the guys said they couldn't do a before run as it was "overboosting to f**k" but it made a clear 230bhp and 200whp on the after run.
The stage 2 map I really like - it's quite aggressive in that it hits full boost after a bit of lag but then holds all the way to the redline without really tailing off at all.
The big thing letting it down is the clutch, which I believe to be original as I bought the car with 69k on and had the stage 2 done after I'd hit 100k so it tends to slip the clutch under full load rather than spin the wheels which is what kicked off this entire process!
Long way to go yet to do everything I want but happy now I have it as a toy rather than a daily driver. I'm useless for remembering to take pics but I'll try to get some when I start to reassemble the front end.
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Update - been working away when I've had the chance and got the gearbox off a couple of weekends ago. Given it a good degrease and clean and now painting silver, partly to tidy it up but also so it's easier to spot leaks!
To get the gearbox out easier I removed the subframe and removed the old bushes using a hacksaw - got loads of photos to put up here when I'm next on a laptop... I then cleaned up the subframe with a drill and wire brush attachment to remove surface rust and a screwdriver to scrape off any bits of scale around the nooks and crannies. Bit of sanding down and then three coats of hammerite black spray and she's good to go!
Went to the local TPS and they actually had all the bolts in stock with the exception of one wishbone bolt which I need to nip back to get when I have time. £50 for all 4 subframe bolts and wishbone bolts but I only plan on doing this once and doing it right.
Ordered a SMF clutch kit which uses the G60 flywheel and VR6 clutch from Darkside Developments. Decided this was not o lay cheaper but a more OEM/quality item versus the ECS tuning kit.
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Finally got around to uploading some photos of progress.
Painted gearbox, still a few bits to do but I think you'll agree looks a lot better than the oily lump I pulled out of the car :sick:
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/108D7A6B-A9F8-48D1-958F-99E112FC790C_zpsiq0muhvl.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/108D7A6B-A9F8-48D1-958F-99E112FC790C_zpsiq0muhvl.jpg.html)
DIY refurbished subframe, before;
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/58528DD7-9CD8-472F-B352-6BBA9831BB1D_zpsj0zh9mm8.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/58528DD7-9CD8-472F-B352-6BBA9831BB1D_zpsj0zh9mm8.jpg.html)
After;
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/D40E79BA-0322-4EB5-B3A6-9C0B3D24ACE0_zpsfq184qiu.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/D40E79BA-0322-4EB5-B3A6-9C0B3D24ACE0_zpsfq184qiu.jpg.html)
I also have quite a few pictures from when I removed the subframe bushes to create a DIY, but I'll wait for the new Polybushes to arrive and get some photos on installation to cover it all in one hit.
Clutch kit and ARB arrived with wishbones on the way so hopefully can get the majority fo the front end back together over the coming weekend. Ideally want to get a test run in before Xmas.
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Pile of parts;
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/122D64C6-9F04-4742-A84F-AF7B455B823B_zpsxbwixijq.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/122D64C6-9F04-4742-A84F-AF7B455B823B_zpsxbwixijq.jpg.html)
And assembled ready to go onto the car this Friday;
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/5BB5D6E7-C636-424B-B23D-7ABFD7B3F06A_zpsbsft9m3o.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/5BB5D6E7-C636-424B-B23D-7ABFD7B3F06A_zpsbsft9m3o.jpg.html)
No pictures of the clutch but there's not a lot to see really! Slight issue was when doing the flywheel bolts up on the third stage (1st 22lbsft/2nd 44lbsft/3rd +90deg) I managed to slip the socket on the final bolt so didn't quite get the +90deg, maybe got 30-45deg but they were new bolts with blue loctite so I'm living with it. Not ideal but I couldn't tighten it and couldn't loosen it without totally goosing it so thought I'd take my chances. If I need to strip it all back again then that will suck but they were bloody tight and it's not like it ever needs to come off again so fingers crossed!
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That looks good did you not poly the roll bar
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I used the bushes it came with, which are poly but a very dark (almost black) purple/grey colour. Definitely not rubber so was happy enough not spending another £20 on bushes for the sake of it! Getting those arb brackets and bolts back on though, what a pain in the ass!
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Ahh. You wanna try doit in on a mk2 golf. Makes you sweat. Coming along though. Whats next
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I've always wanted a mk2, but haven't really got the room so all my eggs are going in the mk4 basket!
Next is getting the driveshaft bolts back on and then subframe all torqued up and bolted back onto the car. I've got Friday off work so I'm going for an early start and a test run after lunch all being well!
Bought a couple of cheap balljoint kits just for the fitting kit (bolts and plate) as there's technically nothing wrong with the ones currently on there. The only bit that may not work so well is using the standard drop links with the Whiteline ARB but I'm not silly low (yet) so hopefully it will all line up when the cars sat on the ground again.
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So got out for a quick shakedown yesterday, only up the road and back maybe 10 miles in total. All seems well but when I first started her up there was a pretty loud ticking noise which went away when I depressed the clutch pedal. I thought that was it - stop it all back as somethings obviously not right but seemed to be able to get all gears and it engaged OK so took it steady.
After about 2 miles the noise stopped, stopped and started the engine a couple of times as I popped to the shops and the noise didn't return - but of a weird one but hopefully sorted?!
The only thing I can think of was the starter motor teeth slightly interfering with the flywheel but then depressing the clutch wouldn't stop that?
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Clutch release bearing?
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Yeah this the conclusion I came to - definitely clipped it in securely so think it was maybe just seating itself. Touch wood all seems fine now albeit I've not driven the car for a few weeks!
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So the saga continues. I realigned my gear cable linkage and it now gets all gears ok but when using reverse there's a weird smell - almost like burning and fish?! Doesn't really smell like burning clutch but I'm assuming that's what it is. My driveway is on a hill so I have to backup up the hill and then full lock 90deg corner round the side of the house and into the driveway if that makes sense.
Is there a chance it's simply not engaging reverse fully or is it likely to be due to the new VR6 clutch and SMF flywheel? It does seem to take more revs after the change of setup as it's a bit more "stally" and due to the tight corner I am having to kind of ride the clutch a bit to get it round and into the drive/garage?
What's not helping is I'm fairly sure I've got a sticking rear passenger side caliper, but that gives off a different smell and earlier this eve I literally only started the car and backed it from the driveway straight into the garage, maybe 5metres total so wouldn't have thought the brake would even get hot eneough to smell during that time?
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My mums s3 is single mass converted and it never smells like burning clutch and such. Also never adjusted the linkages.
Riding the clutxh will burn a little bit but im not sure that quickly.
Its not often i ride the clutch round a corner reversing to find out though.
How stuck is the rear calliper because once i had a golf with a stuck calliper and after a few metres you could smell it
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Cheers for the reply Lemski! The rear caliper is well stuck - jacked it up yesterday and couldn't turn the wheel by hand (handbrake was off!). Too the wheel off and also removed the caliper quickly. Guide pins are free so I thought I'd push the piston back in. Using the correct VW tool (turn and push) I had to put some serious force to get it to move but got it to go back in a little bit l, maybe 1/8 of a turn using the dimples as reference point. Now I wasn't expecting to get it to go much further in as all discs and pads were new about 500miles ago but it wasn't as easy as I'd have expected. Cap was off the brake fluid reservoir too so wasn't hydrolocked.
Only driven it about 6 miles after that and it ran ok with no real burning smell but I'm not convinced. Will jack it up again at the weekend and see if the wheels free. Might be time for a pair of new calipers and perhaps an upgrade to vented whilst I'm at it?
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Vented rear setup on the way - found a good kit on eBay with new calipers carriers discs and pads.
I believe this is a straight bolt on so should be fairly straight forwards. With regards to bleeding the system after a caliper change I take it the calipers will take a fair amount to fill but can be done with my EasyBleed kit as long as I keep an eye on the fluid levels in the reservoir bottle? Also do I have to do the full system (4 corners including clutch slave) or can I get away with bleeding the tears in isolation?
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If you do a calliper at a time and dont let the fluid drop to nothing in the res then you should be able to do just the rears. Obvously leave the calliper til last and if you can clamp the pupe to stop fluid youll loose even less fluid
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Cheers Lemski - makes sense. I'm going to clamp the pipe as you suggest to help mitigate fluid loss and go from there. I was considering putting braided lines on whilst I was at it but the only ones I can seem to find are for mk2 conversions when fitting mk4 rear calipers? Had a look and the rear line is fairly long as it is a single piece with rubber and integrated hard line that has a flange connection to the hard line just above the rear axle beam. Still would have thought you could get replacement lines unless I'm being blind?
Parts update the kit arrived. Had a quick look and all seems in order - it's come with new bolts and high temp grease so all good. Bit random but the carriers are powder coated red (assume they're new old stock from a 4mo/anni) but the calipers are unpainted :laugh: I was umming and arring about painting them but looks like my mind has been made up for me :rolleyes:
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You know i cant actually think if ive ever seen braided lines for the mk4 rear. But im sure someone like hel or goodridge would make them as you cant be the only person who wanted some
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Calipers painted and fitted, forgot to take decent photos so just have on of the calipers with one coat on and then fitted.
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/68E3C7B6-53CB-42C3-A7EA-D55CC1FB1D39_zpsahbabfze.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/68E3C7B6-53CB-42C3-A7EA-D55CC1FB1D39_zpsahbabfze.jpg.html)
(http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e127/OSR32/81A61909-D3B6-4B9F-B66A-91D574340718_zpsjnb6kgq3.jpg) (http://s38.photobucket.com/user/OSR32/media/81A61909-D3B6-4B9F-B66A-91D574340718_zpsjnb6kgq3.jpg.html)
Didn't want to remove the rear wheel bearings to fit splash guards as there's nothing wrong with them so took a pair of tin snips and cut the lip off to fit. Gave the edge a quick file and all sorted.
Barely lost any fluid when I swapped and bled as I just hung the old caliper out the way but left it connected whilst I swapped the discs and carriers over. Then it was just a quick case of bolt the new caliper on and swap the brake line across as quick as possible!
Took it out for a quick run and it does seem a bit better. Think I need to look at readjusting the handbrake a little bit to get an extra click or two but all seems ok. The pedal feel is still a bit spongy and there's a bit of travel before the bite kicks in but I've never managed to get it how I think it should be on this car. Plans are to fit new standar calipers to the front (already 312mm conversion) so everything is nice and new and then look at a full ABS bleed at a dealer as I don't have the full VCDS to run the pump whilst bleeding.
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Looks good. Ive always had slight sponge on the pedal with new discs and pads. Then they bed in and there good
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Hello mate I'm new here, do you have any pictures of the catch can install ? I also have a aum be good to see what can and can't he or hear from you as all the other guides confuse me lol thanks mate
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Hello mate - yeah I can take some photos for you this weekend if that helps. To be honest figuring out what to remove is harder than installing the new kit!
Basically 19mm ID hose from oil vent pipe down under the inlet manifold on the block (It's a 90deg plastic elbow to the right of the thermostat housing). Run this for about a foot to a t-piece.
Connect the 19mm outlet from the right hand side of the rocker cover to the same t-piece.
Connect t-piece to catch can.
Then just connect the other outlet on the catch can directly to the "hockey puck" on the turbo inlet pipe.
Job done! Anything that was attached to any of those 19mm outlets gets binned. The tricky bit is related to the various solenoid valve bypasses under the plate attached to the inlet manifold which is always worth sorting too. A simple photo from underneath should show what's left but I've totally stripped everything so maybe won't show it that well anymore.
There used to be a really good guide kicking about for this - try googling "N249 bypass and catch can simplification diy" and it should pop up - I did mine using that guide a number of years ago.
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Minor and not that exciting update but Gates cambelt kit ordered off eBay, got a day off Friday so will hopefully get cracking on that. The kit comes with the plastic impeller water pump which according to a well respected member on another thread the latest revision of these does away with the previous issues of the impeller falling apart. Time will tell I guess but given I do about 1000 miles a year in the car I think it will be a while before anything happens!
First cambelt change I've done myself as I now have the facility (garage). Was always a bit worried about doing this job on the pavement/drive and as per my recent clutch change it's nice to have the car on axle stands and take my time in the dry.
Ideally I wanted to fit a set of Forge boost hoses whilst I was at it but they can wait, not too much hassle to drop the coolant again at some point and fit them when I finally get round to ordering them.
Still on the list is a rear ARB, new air filter and a front and rear bumper respray to get rid of the various little bumps and scratches, mainly thanks to London living back in the day.
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So timing belt was all sorted shortly after my last post - plastic water pump impeller came out after being assured by the last specialist that they had fitted a metal impeller pump :shocked: Either way I fitted the plastic impeller pump that came with my kit - apparently the design has changed for the better and I do about 2000 miles a year if that in the car so should be fine for the next 3-4 years.
Not much else has been done on the car since then - grand plans and all that!
MOT time in July, can't really see it needing much, list of things on my radar are;
- CEL constantly on due to removal of EVAP canister. It was fine for a while so might have burned the resistor out. I understand this is not an MOT fail so not too concerned, but might see if I can refit the EVAP canister and plug and do something smart with the vacuum line to seal the system without fully reinstating it.
- Previous advisory last year on both strut top mounts having play when car is raised. Likely not going to bother changing and will just put it into the test and see what comes back. Due to very low mileage I wouldn't have expected their condition to have deteriorated much but I don't know how they quantify "slight" movement versus "excessive" movement!?
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On facebook right now there are front and back r32 bumpers fpr sale for 60pound the pair. Need repairi g. Didnt read if there genuine or not though
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Cheers for the heads up - but delayed in seeing it but was not spending on the car ahead of MOT just in case...
Speaking of which it sailed straight through - one advisory for having the CEL illuminated but that's due to the evap system being removed and I think the resistor has gone pop! It's been like that for the last few hundred miles and didn't affect the emissions (plus I'm running a Milltek sports cat) so good to know for the record as there's a lot of conflicting information about regarding this kind of thing.
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Again, it's been a good few weeks since I updated. Not a lot happened over summer and I kind of lost the bug for a while :sad: To be honest I was getting a bit bored as I felt like my options for further mods to the car were limited - any further tuning requires Stage 3 and likely forged internals and that's a hell of an undertaking and not one I'm sure I have the space for.
The simple fitting of an eBay special volt gauge re-kindled my interest and the bug is definitely back I'm glad to say :grin:
Volt gauge fitted in place of one of the "heated seat" blank buttons to the right of the hazard light button in the dash. Simple but helpful as I now know when I flick the ignition on how charged the battery is as I leave the car for weeks at a time sat in the garage and am not all that good at ensuring I keep it topped up. Next purchase definitely needs to be a battery maintenance charger!
Then I began the great wire tuck........... update to follow when I've got a bit more time!
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So I decided I wanted to do a full wire tuck, I've always hankered after a "show car" engine bay and thought it would also be a good opportunity to learn more about the bit of the car that I'm not that familiar with - the wiring! I've used the DIY guides over on Vortex as a great starting point, but I have found in my early days that whilst the guide is spot on, it is based on a LHD car plus omits a few specific steps/instructions that I would have found useful. To that end I'm going to try and write up a DIY as I go, split into smaller, manageable sections. I'll also try to add photos in retrospectively once I've figured out how to get image hosting working now that Photobucket want you to upgrade your account for third party hosting :undecided:
Wire Tuck Phase 1 - Drivers Side Wing Area
The following wires are present here;
- Drivers side (RH) headlamp unit. 10 wires in total controlling the headlight motor, main beam, dipped beam, foglight and indicator. OEM route is out of the cowl panel just to the right of the strut tower as you look at the engine bay, then underneath the coolant ball, down the inside of the wing and then across behind the washer bottle. Most of the wiring is in a corrugated tube and is routed through a couple of plastic formed "runners" - one by the base of the washer bottle and one behind the coolant ball.
- Bonnet catch sensor. 2 wires that follow the same routing as the RH headlamp as above.
- Washer bottle pump motor. 2 wires that lead into the same routing as the RH headlamp as above.
- Washer fluid level. 2 wires that lead into the same routing as the RH headlamp as above.
- Brake Fluid Level Sensor - 2 wires that run a short length from the grommet to the brake fluid reservoir.
- Coolant Level Sensor - 2 wires that run to the side of the coolant ball.
- Air-Con Pressure Switch (I have simple A/C on my model, not the clima-control which may be different) - 3 wires that run along the bulkhead and into the air-con hose located approx. midway along the engine block at the back of the bay. Covered with a fabric heat shield secured with 3 press-studs.
***All of the above wiring systems run into the upper rubber grommet at the cowl panel. Also note the front and rear washer hoses run from the washer bottle (obviously!) and into the harness alongside the wires.
- Finally the ABS senor cable runs into this upper grommet. It appears as 1 wire (noting that it actually contains double sheathed twin wires) and resembles a black silicone hose roughly the same diameter as you would use for a washer jet or vacuum hosing in the engine bay. This runs from a plug on the wheel hub via the clips mounted on the suspension (my AP coilovers have the correct OEM tabs as part of the strut body), through a grommet in the inner wing and then into the wiring harness back to the upper grommet at the cowl panel.
There is also a lower grommet at the cowl panel, with the following;
- EVAP canister connector - 2 wires that plug into the top of the black plastic charcoal canister.
- Exhaust pre and post CAT sensors.
Process
The process I followed went something like this noting that I plan to relocate the washer bottle to the boot and already have the EVAP system removed.
1. Unplug all harness connectors and unbolt/unscrew the fastenings holding the coolant ball and power steering reservoir so you can move these around and give you a bit more space to work with.
2. Remove the washer bottle, remembering to disconnect the two washer hoses and pump harness. This is easier if it's empty, however if you leave the pump and sensor in the bottle you can just about get away with it like I did :whistle:
3. Unclip the harness from the plastic runner down where the bottom of the washer bottle used to be. There will be two hard pipes to the right which are for the aircon system, leave these be. You will need to then cut any tape holding the harness to the runner and bin the runner.
4. Continue to chase the harness back and remove it from the small o-clip attached to the inner wing. Keep going and unclip from the plastic runner that sits on the strut tower. Note this is tight between the strut tower and the brake fluid reservoir so be very careful not to force this out the way too much as you really don't want a damaged brake system. This was a pain but with a bit of wriggling it comes out easy enough. You can then bin this plastic runner too.
5. You should now have a harness that runs into the upper grommet at the cowl panel, noting the ABS sensor wire gets added into the mix near the top. Get back to the headlight and start striping the corrugated tubing and any harness tape off so you're left with loose wires.
6. Optional - for reference and for my own knowledge I then got the trusty Haynes manual out and verified I could trace everything back to the wiring diagrams at the back using the colour coding of the wires and the pin numbers on the connectors.
7. Remove the cabin filter housing panel at the passenger side (4 small black +ve screws), windscreen wipers (prepare for a battle) and windscreen cowling panel. There's enough guides kicking about on the net for this so I won't go into any detail here.
8. Cut the upper cowl grommet with a knife to remove it - be very careful not to nick and of the wires, particularly the ABS sensor.
9. Basically you now want the headlight wiring (10 wires) and bonnet latch sensor (2 wires) to run towards the wing and through a hole already present just to the left of where the bonnet release cable enters the cabin (looks like a bicycle brake cable going into a grommet almost vertically).
***The headlight wiring will need cutting as the 10-pin plug does not fit through the hole and even if it did I think you'd end up about 150mm short of wire to properly hide it away. The bonnet latch sensor wiring is really long for some reason so just slide that through and along the inside of the wing to where it needs to be.
10. Label up the 10 wires so when you cut them you know what joins to what. Sounds daft, especially as the colour coding is a dead give away, but there are two plain yellow and three brown (IIRC sat at the PC) and you don't want to mix these up. I opted for electrical tape and a sharpie and made two little "flags" on each wire with A, B, C etc. I then cut between the flags so A would join to A and so on. I left about 300mm of wire from the headlight plug before the cut so any joins would sit in the inner wing, not in the engine bay.
11. Double check when it's cut you know what joins to what then take a deep breath and snip away!
12. Take the headlight end which now isn't attached to the car to a bench and strip about 10mm of sheathing off each. Cut 10 extension wires off a reel of automotive wire. I used 1.5mm2 wire and made the extensions 200mm in length. I went for plain black sheathing for the new wire as I knew what was joining what and also it's going to be hidden away in any event.
13. Using all-in-one heatshrink/solder connectors attach an extension wire to each wire on the headlight plug.
14. Back at the car, feed the 10 wires for the headlight through the hole in the wing and out the arch of your car (between the tyre and the arch worked for me. Then get your newly extended headlight plug loom and do the same to connect all 10 wires back to the harness matching the little flags as you go.
15. Run it through the big hole in the inner wing where the washer bottle used to sit and plug it in. Don't worry about being neat at this point, you just want to test everything still works :grin: Key in ignition and then cycle through the various headlight/foglight/indicator functions to make sure all your connections are good.
16. I guess you can do what you want at this point but I've opted for some self-amalgamating tape around the bunch of connectors to doubly seal them against moisture, and the OEM style Tesa harness tape (furry black fabric stuff) to protect and pull everything nice and tight together. I'd also recommend putting so corrugated split tubing around potential rub/chafe points.
17. For the brake fluid level sensor you could simply cut the connector and twist the wires together, but I quite like having the functionality - odd that, given its a safety critical system! Simply cut the connector and extend the wires by about 100mm, then feed it down the hole behind the little bracket thingy (?!) that connects the scuttle panel to the strut tower directly below the grommet. This doesn't fully hide the wire but neatens it up a little.
18. As above, you can do the same for the coolant level sensor, but again I like to have the functionality and visibility the coolant ball gives of the coolant levels, hence why I'm not deleting it currently. I extended the wires and ran it down the same hole as the brake fluid level sensor then hid it underneath the coolant ball and up into one of the little clips that sit on the "equator"lip of the coolant ball.
19. ABS Sensor - pushed this back through the grommet in the wheel arch and then re-routed it through the same hole as described in steps 17 & 18 above. No cutting required.
20. I stripped the wiring harness back from between the brake fluid reservoir and the strut tower back to the lower grommet in the cowl panel. This was to expose and pull back the two EVAP system wires into the cowl panel area. I decided to leave the exhaust sensors well alone for the sake of seeing a very short length of hose at the bulkhead get hidden. I wasn't down with cutting holes in the bottom of the scuttle/cowl panel.
Minor update, and it will coincide with another "Phase" of the wire tuck but the MAP pressure sensor wire annoyingly runs from the injector wiring loom and across the front of the engine between the block and the inlet manifold hose (just behind the drivers side headlight). I can't recall what the OEM position of the MAP sensor was as I have a FMIC fitted and the MAP sensor mounts on the hard pipe that sits down behind the corner of the bumper. The plan here is that when I unwrap the injector harness all the way back to the cowl panel behind the battery I should be able to simply route these wires along the cowl and through the same hole where I've sent the RH headlight loom and bonnet latch sensor above. Hopefully it will be long enough as-is but if not I can extend I guess.
*** I looked into this at the weekend and it's a major headache to strip the entire engine loom back for this one sensor. Once the injector/engine sensor loom is de-cluttered I'm happy to run this underneath the throttle body and behnd the inlet manifold turbo hose then tuck it above the headlight. Not strictly "tucked" but hidden well enough from view for the sake of the hassle.
Looking to get some more progress on it this weekend and finish the driver side them move onto the injector loom.