northeast_gti-t - mk3

[northeast_gti-t]

Got my list together for parts that i will be sorting out during my hols  also added is a new coolant flange  as i noticed tonight mine has a slight leak so seems wise to replace the whole lot really so another job to do also tonight i decided i didn't like the look of the aftermarket high level brake light a previous owner had fitted so i set to and removed it,i think the rear screen looks alot better without it no pics yet but no doubt i'll post some on here as soon as....

[northeast_gti-t]

Liking the rear windowscreen minus the third brakelight finally took a couple of pics 




Also annoyingly this week the airbag warning light has decided to come on and stay on  quick check on vag-com and this is the fault :-  00588 - Airbag Igniter; Driver Side (N95): Resistance too High
So started off having a look at the slip ring etc all seems okay so reset and cleared the code and light out  then first thing in the morning driving out onto the main road and the fcucking lights on again so had a look at info regarding airbag bypass using a resistor so deciding i didn't want to go down the route of getting other parts i decided i would disconnect the airbag and use a resistor to trick the ecu into thinking its connected thus putting the light out after its self test also was getting fed up seeing that airbag light lit every time i drove it so today i went and brought three resistors of different values disconnected the airbag plugs and taped up the connector from the steering airbag and fitted a 3.3ohm 0.25w into the connector plug sealed all up to prevent any mishaps,cleared the 00588 code and bingo ignition on airbag light on for 3-4 secs and then goes out result!! 
Also been and picked up a sump gasket and timing belt & tensioner kit (non o.e.m) as well as an o.e.m coolant outlet and required parts along with another oil filter and engine oil will be doing these jobs in the next two weeks and trying to attempt to clean up some of the engine bay at this time too,also need to fit another cam cover again as i have noticed a slight weep from mine  should keep me busy at least but hopefully coolant/oil leak free 








That's about all for now......

[northeast_gti-t]

Decided today i would remove the throttle body and give it a good clean out as well as clean up some oil/dirt/coolant leakage from around the cylinder head and block/gearbox areas,also to fit the new coolant outlet as the coolant needed to be drained below the head anyway would be saving the G13 coolant as its not been put it that long ago so  got myself a container to fit under the outlet and pulled the radiator top hose off as well as disconnecting the other pipes and multi-plug for the ect sensor and after removing the outlet and wiping it i soon found the cause of the slight leakage  both sealing faces adjacent to the bolt holes had cracked and had further cracked into the plastic housing so glad i decided to fit a new replacement

Old Housing (Cracks not that clear on sealing face due to phone cam)


Can Make Out The Cracks Better In These Pics....


Whilst in progress of this job i removed the throttle body also to see how clean it was or rather how unclean it was 


was quite bad to how the pics actually show it,so bit of patience again and a tin of carb cleaner later......
Nice Result  ....Much Cleaner!


 Time to clean up some of the general dirt and oil/coolant traces not 100% clean by any means but alot better than it was tho!




 
Much happier with all the work done coolant filled and system bled of air and all good engine seems to run better and idles much smoother too both jobs plus the other job yesterday have made it a productive couple of days i suspect due to the original state/condition of the throttle body that this hadn't ever seen a clean out in a very long time if at all  looks like a past owner had overtightened the two coolant housing bolts at some time to mask or attempt to fix the slight leak thus causing the cracking that and ageing plastic i imagine so sump gasket and oil and filter change to do and see if i can clean some of the underneath up too oh an cam-belt/tensioner to fit 2 jobs done 2 still to be done......

That's All for Now....

[northeast_gti-t]

Another productive day today set to and dropped the engine oil and sump/oil filter and removed the rather oily looking sump gave me the chance to give the gearbox,driveshafts and other oily parts a good wipe and clean so they are now oil free!!  decided i might as well give the sump a good wash out interior and exterior gave me a good opportunity to have a look at the condition of the sump,was a suprise to find it clean just a small piece of plastic found in the oil no sign of any bearing debris etc,oil pick up pipe gauze was also debris free too and looking over the bottom end etc revealed its in a good condition also with everything cleaned up it was just a case of putting everything back together,new o.e.m oil filter fitted and filled with vw platinum semi-synthetic 5w/40 oil (car seems to run well with this),also fitted an o.e.m cam cover gasket and condition of the cylinder head/valve train is also in a good general condition to not bad for an engine with just over 161.600 miles  testament to original vw build quality i feel so i shall keep on with regular (3-4,000mile) oil & filter changes hopefully no more oil drips on the drive now  with most of the mechanical side of the work done attention to the body work and alloys is the next things to get sorted out,last job mechanical wise is the cam-belt/tensioner which i'm hoping to get fitted later this week,didn't take many pics of the work done today as my phone decided to throw a fit  so here's the one or two i managed to get....




Getting there now i feel and the car's really coming together now not bad since i have only had it since march
That's All For Now....

[northeast_gti-t]

Today i finally got the cambelt and tensioner replaced,although both were in decent condition i just felt the need to replace it myself then i know exactly what's been done,really enjoy working on the 2.0lt engine plenty of space and accessability and easy to work with the cambelt change has to be one of the easiest i have done can't beat the older stuff less hassle (in theory  ) than the newer engines of today  so now the mechanical side of the golf is now finished! also decided that i'm not to keen on the chrome door pins that came on the golf so i ordered up some o.e.m standard black ones from vw (should have by saturday),i plan to cut them down so that when locked the end of the pin sits flush with the top of the door card should look better...

Some Pics From Today's Work....







That's About All For Now....

[northeast_gti-t]

Realised after seeing the mk3 interior door pins that they are different to the mk4  and getting them flush to the doorcard wasn't an option without some modification so i settled for cutting the plastic pins down and taking a small piece off the threaded lock rods  five minutes work and got them where i wanted to be when locked much better o.e.m than the aftermarket ones that were fitted....



Pretty much all for now with it unless i decide to start with some bodywork/paint jobs but no rush 

[northeast_gti-t]

Not much has happened since i got all my main jobs finished but the other day it decided to let me down  car suddenly slowed up and stopped on me so after failing to start i had a quick look under the bonnet and soon found the cause the king ht lead was laid across the coolant pipes and the end melted  felt the coil pack and it was red hot so i pushed the lead back onto the coil and it seemed a little loose so i'm assuming for some reason or another it just fell out  with that done i limped home and rang up my local motor factors and they promptly ordered me a full set of ignition leads,as well as a new coil pack,got those picked up and replaced the old set and also had to fasten the coil pack to the bulkhead fixings properly as due to a past owner it was only located with one bolt  so new coil pack and leads done now so that's pretty much all the ignition side now replaced and since fitting the cars 100% better so was worth the expense of replacing especially with winter approaching best to fail now rather than later 





Also i decided that i liked how my mk4 had the little alarm led near the door pin so i had the idea of wiring one into my aftermarket alarm/immobiliser easy enough but not so easy to locate the mk4 led tho  but the other day one appeared on e-bay for not much money so i snapped it up and once it arrived modded the original mk4 one to fit into my mk3 one easy enough just a case of carefully getting the led and wiring out,had some wire already anyhow so wired this into the alarm led wiring from the dash and into the drivers door,drill a small hole into the mk3 cap and fixed the led in with some silicone sealer job done,sorted the polarity for the led and put everything back together and all looks oem

One mk4 alarm led....

Led and wiring carefully removed....

And then into the mk3 cap....


And....



That's about it for now....

[northeast_gti-t]

Yet another little fault sorted tonight  found out last night my electric window switch wasn't working,so earlier decided to investigate,i suspected the switch might be faulty but had worked the previous days so i had a look at the door wiring loom/plug and found the cause pretty much straight away  yet another half hearted fix by a previous owner who had kindly decided to just join both the earth and power wires together by twisting them and the earth had pulled away! so i corrected this by fitting some cable connections and joining the bodged wires properly ,resulting with a fully working switch again whilst sorting this i found two more sets of wires cut and the ends taped over  so tried my electric mirror switch and this was inoperative ( clearly has been since i bought it as i have never adjusted the mirrors) so trimmed wiring back and connected them properly and result i now have a working mirror adjuster  another little job sorted out.Also found a small coolant leak from the rear coolant outlet on the cylinder head so assuming this is also going to be cracked wish now i had reolaced it when i fitted a new outlet on the front side of the cylinder head a couple of weeks back oh well  so ordered a new one and o'ring from the dealers as well as a new coolant bottle as i decided to replace this whilst the coolants out as the old ones looking tired,looking to get these fitted at the end of the week.

[northeast_gti-t]

Finally sorted out these small coolant leaks,replaced the outlet on the rear of the cylinder head and fitted my new coolant expansion bottle (new cap to be fitted when collected from vw),decided i would also add just neat G13 instead of mixing with water as i prefer a 60/40 coolant/water mix  drained some coolant out,quick wipe and clean up of the engine bay then removed the leaking outlet fairly obvious once off that it was due to the sealing o'ring incorrectly seated allowing a small amount to leak out and run down from under the outlet and onto the gearbox,actual outlet was okay no sign of any cracks but i would rather just fit a new one,that done and new coolant bottle fitted fill up with coolant and then the usual stuff in checking everything,all good cant see any tiny spots of coolant on the drive or garage  so another job completed  :whistle:new coolant bottle looks much better now i can actually see the coolant level,took some random pics as usual....

Old Coolant Outlet....








Will be collecting the new cap from vw tomorrow and thats pretty much the coolant side done in terms of plastic housings replaced,some more G13 so prepared now for the winter months hopefully,looks like the bodywork side of things will be waiting until next year as i don't have much time with work etc to get it all sorted but no rush the majority of things needed doing are done and its driveable gotta remember its an old car so can't expect it to look as good as a new one  i'll keep it for now and as i like the mk3's im not ruling out replacing with a 16v or vr6 version 

That's about all for now....