Newbie questions... Horn, Temperature, Gearbox Diff.

[AdamR]

Hi guys,

My first post, so go easy please! 

Picked myself up a '96 GTi 16v (84k miles) a few weeks back to use as a weekend/track toy and been tinkering with it over the past few weeks. Finally got chance to nip out for a spin last night and got a few questions if I may...

1. The temperature on the trip computer showed as high as 102 at some points (but was around 92/94 with 'normal' driving), is that anything to worry about? I checked the cooling system and all seems fine with no leaks, all new hoses and correct fluid level.

2. Trying to 'heel and toe' brake seemed impossible! The brake pedal is pretty close to the accelerator and starts at the same height, so once the brake pedal was depressed I couldn't figure out a way to get the outside of my foot anywhere near the accelerator. Any tips other than persevere? I thought about possible 'shimming' the brake pedal out a bit but I'm not sure if this would be a bit offputting...

3. The steering wheel is a big lump and not very comfortable, so a friend gave me a 3-spoke wheel that is the same spline. However, the centre of the wheel is completely different so there's no chance I can get the 'guts' of the old wheel into the new wheel - I'm going to need to relocate the horn. Am I right in saying I can just use a 'push to make' switch, connecting the negative terminal from the horn through the switch and then to earth? Is there any legislation regarding the position of the switch? I have a quick Google and website search but found nothing specific about this... [Edit] - sorted now!

4. Lastly, I was told about a possible problem with this model of car with the gearbox diff rivets shearing. I'm not sure if it's a 'real' problem (eg. only a few people have had it happen but kicked up a fuss), or something I need to get checked out asap.

http://www.yell.com/motoring/blog/gearbox-explosion-riveting-stuff/

http://www.btinternet.com/~a_hutton/VW_Gearbox_Failure.htm

http://www.volkswagenspares.com/page.php?page=Gearboxes

Any help with this one is appreciated, as I'd rather spend a few days and a few quid sorting it than end up needing a new box @ £500 ish!

Thanks in advance for any help, once I have picked up a bit more knowledge hopefully I'll be able to give something back to the forum 

Cheers again,
Adam

[Wayne]

Welcome to the site.

1) That is oil temp not water temp and is normal.
2) ?
3) Aftermarket steering wheels should use a boss that has a horn push in the center, if yours has a airbag fitted you will need a resistor to keep the warning light off.
4) Yes well known failure, not easy to fix as the box needs to be completely stripped down and the rivets replaced with bolts so expensive to sort.

[AdamR]

Thanks for the quick reply Wayne!

1. Ok great, thanks for confirming

3. Sure, that makes sense. Thing is it's a wheel off a MK5 (I think) and doesn't have anything with it other than the bare wheel (no horn push, centre cover or airbag). Thanks for the tip about the airbag too, he did mention that and sounds pretty easy to sort out.

4. Alrighty, thank you for the info there. The car is running around 165bhp and I intend to drive it quite hard, so it sounds like it might be prudent to get it sorted before anything drastic goes belly up!? If so, can anyone recommend a good VW specialist in the North West that would be able to do this, maybe Awesome GTI?

Thanks again,
Adam

[Wayne]

Might be worth checking but I don't think a mk5 wheel will fit, mk3 is the same as a late mk2 in terms of splines.

What mods has it got to get it to 165bhp.

[AdamR]

I tried the wheel and the spline is the same luckily, so it might be a Mk2 wheel actually as you said... my bad, thanks for the info!

The mods are:

Kent cams and pulley
Ported and polished head
Port matched manifold and throttle body
Full Milltek de-cat stainless exhaust with custom 4 branch manifold
Dubpower 8mm HT leads
K&N Filter and modded airbox (search-friendly link: http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=129025.0)
(Other bits are coilovers, upgraded ARBs, strut braces, brake discs, pads and lines if interested)

[VR6_Wherry]

We need pics, and we need them now! 

For info, but i'm sure you knew. Just upload to photobucket, then paste the Image Link. 

[AdamR]

Haha, ok ok... I'll try and get some after work for you  It's not much to look at but goes pretty well, certainly feels stiff in the bends.

Thanks for the photobucket heads up too!

[AdamR]

if yours has a airbag fitted you will need a resistor to keep the warning light off.

It does have an airbag and it seems that the correct resistor should be 3.3 Ohms from a bit of searching. If so, it seems that Maplin do them: http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=341668. Hopefully be helpful for someone else in future...

[dom]

If so, can anyone recommend a good VW specialist in the North West that would be able to do this, maybe Awesome GTI?

Thanks again,
Adam

There used to be a place called Dub Sport in Wigan, a friend used them a while back and was impressed (not sure if it's still around though!). Alternatively there's Kendal VW centre which I have heard good things about: http://kendalvwcentre.com/.

[seyles]

2. Trying to 'heel and toe' brake seemed impossible! The brake pedal is pretty close to the accelerator and starts at the same height, so once the brake pedal was depressed I couldn't figure out a way to get the outside of my foot anywhere near the accelerator. Any tips other than persevere? I thought about possible 'shimming' the brake pedal out a bit but I'm not sure if this would be a bit offputting...

You don't really need to HT, it's a bit of a throw back from gear boxes without or knackered syncs.

I used to do it all the time back in the day with a my minis, the pedals are perfect for it. I used to do it in a ford escort too that didn't have close peddles by HT the other way around; braking with the heel and blipping the throttle with my toes.

I tried left foot braking as well, you could try this, but be careful, it's surprising how much difference in pressure your left foot is used to pushing with the clutch compared to the right with the brakes and throttle!

I still catch myself blipping when changing down to 2nd sometimes!

I wouldn't add anything to the pedals.