Back in the fold at last - with questions already

[jezza16v]

Hi all, Iv'e at last managed to get myself a 7/8 descent standard Jan 91 mk2 gti 8v (oops!)  .
I drove it 100mls home this afternoon, it ran sweetly, but as ever on a long journey a few issues not picked up on a short test cropped up which I could do with some confirmation/advice on......

1  When I set off and got on the Mway the temp gauge only just got off the bottom....Thermostat I'm guessing?
2  The heater worked OK when I set off but when I got stuck in some traffic the temp went up to halfway and the heater went cold...I'm guessing that's the old by-pass valve issue?.......or is it just doing its job? The rad fan came on OK just above halfway on the temp gauge.
3  Stopped in services and lifted the bonnet and there was a trickle of steamy water overflowing from the coolant res. but the engine didn't seem particularly roasting and wasn't boiling.....dodgy cap?
4  Tried to chech the temp via the MFA, it works fine but no oil temp reading at all just dashes? I guess this might be the sender but not being used to 8v I'm not sure where it is. I can see 2 on the top of the oil cooler and one on the end of the head.....but which one? Is there a way of checking by connecting to another sender like on a 16v?
5  The knock sensor wire has chafed through its outer cover on the oil cooler.....it seems to be a coaxial screened wire, is this fixable or am I in for a new sensor?
6  The wheels are BBS RA, I think?? There is no 'lip' on the rims though, they're tidy but the rims are flush right up to the tyres. Is that a refurb thing or is it because its a late model or maybe off a non VW? Not like my previous RA's anyway.
7  It has a roof aeriel and a grommet in the wing, and smoked back lights.......I thought that was a 16v only thing?
I have some other questions but I'll wade though the 'search' with those as they're less pressing

Thanks in advance. J

[nealey]

1- More than likely the thermostat, i would also order the plastic elbow on the bottom of the water pump as when i did mine it had a tiny fracture around the seal and it wouldnt seal properly afterwards

2- Bypass the heater valves and see if its any better

3- Try the cap first, get the engine block tested to rule out any headgasket leaks

4- I have the same problem, havnt tried to rectify it but i was planning to swop it to another sensor on the oil cooler and see what happened

5- New sensor im afraid

6- Dont understand 100% what you mean, can you get a picture? I assume you mean there is no rim protection offered by the tyres, in which case its the tyres not the rims

7- aerial is retrofitted, all 8v's have it wing mounted, late 8v's came with smoked rear lights, rainbow interior, 140mph speedo, bbs ra's

[Conker]

I'll add...


6)  My RA's haven't got a lip.

7)  I thought all 8v's had wing aeriels too, but someone on here said it was an option from factory.

[Diamond Hell]

2  The heater worked OK when I set off but when I got stuck in some traffic the temp went up to halfway and the heater went cold...I'm guessing that's the old by-pass valve issue?.......or is it just doing its job? The rad fan came on OK just above halfway on the temp gauge.

If you remove the valves, replace the heater matrix, or you'll likely blow it, especially if there are any other issues with the cooling system.

3  Stopped in services and lifted the bonnet and there was a trickle of steamy water overflowing from the coolant res. but the engine didn't seem particularly roasting and wasn't boiling.....dodgy cap?

Replace the cap - not worth murdering the engine for want of a cap.

5  The knock sensor wire has chafed through its outer cover on the oil cooler.....it seems to be a coaxial screened wire, is this fixable or am I in for a new sensor?

Replace and make sure you torque it to the right setting.

7  It has a roof aeriel and a grommet in the wing, and smoked back lights.......I thought that was a 16v only thing?

You think your new car might not have been modified over it's lifetime?

[jezza16v]

Thanks all for your responses.

1 Not looking forward to replacing the thermostat, last time I did it one of the bolts sheared, had to drill it out & bust the pump casing, a real a*se to sort with PAS etc. Still, I might be lucky this time. 

3  Stopped in services and lifted the bonnet and there was a trickle of steamy water overflowing from the coolant res. but the engine didn't seem particularly roasting and wasn't boiling.....dodgy cap?

Replace the cap - not worth murdering the engine for want of a cap. Checked the cap, the O ring seal had been dislodged and 'nipped' through.

I found a similar 'blue' cap in the garage with seal in-tact and swapped it, all seems fine now.

6- Dont understand 100% what you mean, can you get a picture? I assume you mean there is no rim protection offered by the tyres, in which case its the tyres not the rims.

Not the tyres, the alloys, the RA's I've had before had a lip sticking out about 4mm where the wheel meets the tyre this has a 30mm smooth rim right up to the tyre. Will get pics up when the light is good.

7  It has a roof aeriel and a grommet in the wing, and smoked back lights.......I thought that was a 16v only thing?

You think your new car might not have been modified over it's lifetime?

Well it's clearly had some mods as the dash switch lights are blue but nothing else obvious, the roof aeriel is really neatly done and I can't see any disturbance to the headlining....not bothered either way really, just curious.

Which is the oil temp sender BTW?

Regards J.

[gstar-dubworld]

A late 8v or in particular the run out model tend to have roof arials, run out models also have the 16v interior, rear lights & RA's.

Mines an Aug 91 car that has a roof mounted arial from factory but it's not a run out model, not an option.

Temprature sender is at fault not the thermo as regards to the gauge reading.

Sounds like there could be an underlying problem, as your symptoms are all realted (expansion tank cap/heater/gauge), if you decide to replace the thermostat then do the pump while your there for a piece of mind and they're not dear, even genuine one, but they are on an exchange basis.

[Dolly]

mines a 90 8v gti (well was  ) it has both the roof ariel and wing ariel. also has half smoked rear lights. and as mentioned 140mph clocks with rainbow interior.

the heating issue is certainly the stat, but i think the heat or lack of could be the matrix, replaced mine as it was all blocked up. also replaced the by pass valves by fitting new pipes from VW, they dont have valves in them.

[jezza16v]

Thanks for your reply, it has 140 clocks but that have been changed by previous owner since its mot last september so not sure if they're normal. What is a rainbow interior? This is what I have......
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/jezza16v/IMG_4920.jpg

These are the 'no lip' BBs wheels I was on about?
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h30/jezza16v/IMG_4913.jpg

I will post some more pics in the relevant section shortly.

J

[nealey]

thats not a rainbow interior, the ra's look normal to me as well

[nealey]

A late 8v or in particular the run out model tend to have roof arials, run out models also have the 16v interior, rear lights & RA's.

ive got a runout model and it has a wing mounted aerial, i also have the relevant sales brochure for the car and it says in there they have wing mount aerials