what and when service wise mk3 golf

[shelaghmk3gti]

bloody nora i put water in that bottle 2 days ago 

gonna google me a  dealer right now

[Seanl]

Dont panic it is a mixture of coolant and water!  2 bottles of coolant, then topped up with water is recommended by vw. If you lose a bit then topping it up occasionally with water is fine. Its just when its not been changed for ages that problems start to occur. Dont just bung it all in when doing it though, take it very slow and walk away for a minute in between every half litre or so, so that any air locks rise to the top. Make sure you get rid of airlocks (known as bleeding the coolant system) after refilling. Guide in haynes I think and there is one on here too if you do a search. 

[Len]

Cabin Filter, also known as the Pollen Filter.
This is a flippin pain to change!
Its under the front scuttle on the passenger side.

With bonnet open there is a plastic panel where the wiper arms come out.
There is a rubber seal across the engine bay, just pull that off and carefully lift up the plastic scuttle panel, it has bits that fit around the bonnet hinge etc.
You'll probably find a load of leaves in there!
But there is also a panel filter that you just pull out and fit a new one.

[shelaghmk3gti]

cool, cheers Len xx

[chrisuk]

Have a look for pink bits around gaskets and pipes - I had pink bits in a few places and kept using coolant additive to seal the system...it worked for a while but eventually it gave up and this led to a new radiator and waterpump and thermostat while they were at it.

£80 is such a bargain for the cam belt especially if it was tensioner too.

Other common faults are things like the coil pack going...a symptom of which is the car refusing to start! You can pick these up on ebay for pretty cheap so having a spare in the garage may not be a bad call..they are easy enough to replace.