Ben's Black Mk2 2.0 16v Project

[Judderi]

09/06/06

Well this weekend i managed to squeeze in a full days activity working on the golf. Got a few needed jobs done and some extra stuff thrown in too. Jobs that required attention were.

* Since last week the drivers door did not open from the outside.
* Radiator fan was not working and the engine overheating.
* Startor motor has been struggling to turn sometimes.

1st up was the fan. Id already tested the wiring and motor and knew they worked fine. So i ordered a new single speed switch from GSF as well as a new blue coolant bottle cap. However upon removing the dodgy switch i discovered it was actually a twin speed one with 3 connectors even though it had only ever been used as a single speed one. This meant that the new one i had ordered had a different electrical plug on it. Undetered i removed the spade connectors from the plug and pushed them onto the contacts withough the need of the plug.

The blue coolant cap was bought in an attempt to fix the intermittent flashing red coolant level light on the dash. I thought while i was there that i best try cleaning up the sensor too. So i removed it from the tank and cleaned the prongs with a wire brush. I then put it back in and did it up good and tight. So far it hasnt really helped as the light is still flashing now and again. Either the sensor is dodgy or my coolant is actually a little low since i re filled the system. To be honest i havent checked yet.

Up next was the drivers door opener. Lately ive had to squeeze the handle loads to open the door then last week it just stopped working all together. Ive been climbing over from the passenger side for days now. 1st pop out the handle insert. Then unscrew the screw that holds the handle to the door (right hand side of handle.

Then unscrew this screw on the side of the door above the lock.

It turns out that my problem is related to this crack in the handle mechanism.

I will need a donor handle from a scrappy to fix it properly but for now ive bodged a temporary solution and greased it all up to free up the movement as it was very stiff.

Now the starter motor problem. Basicly when hot and even when cold sometimes the starter really struggles to turn as if the battery were dead. This has been the case since i had the starting problem last month. My theory is that with all the attempted starting i have burn out part of the motor or even the main supply wire from the battery. So i started to remove the motor and take a look. Tip no 1 place a jack under the bell housing like so to take the weight of the motor becase the three bolts that hold the starter to the engine also hold the front engine mount and when removed the engine will drop forward. I didnt and got a big shock when i removed the final bolt and the engine dropped towards my head!

In total there is one long bolt from the top and 2 at the bottom underneath

Undo the spade connectors, undo the main securing bolt and remove the 2 main power wires.

With the motor removed from the car i gave it a good old testing and found no problems at all. The solonoid fired every time and the motor span no problem. So i greased it all up and put it back on the car. This made me think that it must be the main live wire so i replaced it with a piece of 8 awg audio amp wire. The wire in question is the main thick black one in the pic. So far i havent used the car enough to see if it has done the job but time will tell.

[Judderi]

While tinkering i also decided to trial fit my replacement LPG tank. It a donut one that will sit in the spare wheel well. Im hoping it will free up allot of boot space for my stereo and carputer plus bring the centre of gravity on the rear of the car down allot and improve handling. It weighs a ton and i nearly did my back in lifting it in but i managed cos im big and strong and eat me spinach. I didnt actually manage to get it in cos the origional tank is in the way but i recon it will fit. Luckily the well is much larger than the spare wheel for some strange reason. I just need to run the lpg empty now and give the swap a go.

I almost made a start on sorting out my gear linkage but the light was fading fast so i decided to leave it for another weekend.

Last but certainly not least. As it was now coming in dark i decided it was best to move things indoors. So i whipped out my centre console and made a start with my trusty dremmel drill to make a hole for my screen. I took things real slow and steady and was very happy with the finished result a few hours later. This is what it looked like during the cutting.

Much fine tuning later the finished fit was as follows.

Im happy with the result, it just needs glueing in place now with some black silicone sealant. Jobs a good un!

[Judderi]

10/01/06

Glued/siliconed the screen in last night. Boy that stuff stinks! I got a right gob full and nearly chucked. It doesent look to clever from the back but hey you will never see it from the front.

[Judderi]

16/01/06

Ive got a little story for everyone. I was on my way home from work on Friday when i came up behind an scooby. Im not sure what engine it was running cos the rear badge said 2.0 GX, so i dont think it was the turbo version. Anyway we come to a roundabout and he took the lane next to me, so i thought he was going the other way. But the next thing i knew on a long strait he was sat right up my arse! Always game for a little race i quickly flicked my fuel over to petrol (my racing juice) and floored the bugger! Much to my surprise i left him behind, quite allot behind too, that is until i smelt the unmistakable smell of electrics on fire and i slowed right down. I went to switch back onto gas only to find that the controll switch was dead and it wouldent, so i was stuck on petrol. So i thought sod it and floored it again passing the impretza again, at least it would be dying in sytle if it turned into a ball of flames. When i got home i turned my attention to the controll box 1st. Once i got the casing off it was pretty clear that it had burnt out a track on the circuit board. Luckily none of the components had been damaged and i was able to solder a standard wire in place of the burnt out track. Plugged it back into the car and i was cooking on gas again, well until the next morning that is when i was ticking over on petrol. I could smell burning electrics again and when i looked down at the controll box i could see one of the wires on its plug melting!

So i traced this yellow wire into the engine bay. I found it wound into a ball and not connected to anything just under the expansion tank. This too had also melted the insulation quite a bit. So i whipped out the good old multimeter and tested the wire. It turns out that it becomes live when running on petrol but stays dead when running on gas. What i recon has happened is the wire has become live when i flicked over to petrol to race then shorted out on the bare metal of the chassis causing it to melt and burn out. So i chopped the wire, taped the end up and tucked it away out of sight. Has been ok since.

[Judderi]

23/01/06

Right my plan for the PC mainboard is for it to be installed in the little compartment under the steering wheen where the log book and stuff is supposed to go. I always forget that its even there and never use it anyway. I would prefer it up the front of the car as there will be less cables to run and im limited on boot space anyway. Heres my plans for its location, should be fine tucked away in there.

Also here is a pic i took of the motor in the early hours of the morning after a wash the day before.

[Judderi]

30/01/06

For ages now ive been suffering with bad running on LPG. Ive just put up with it really but decided to do something about it this weekend. Basicly it would not run above 3k revs and was very lumpy with the power. After joining an LPG forum and getting some advice i set to work this weekend. First i needed to remove my power rhor and put back the standard intake hose including an LPG mixer.  The mixer works like a carb and sucks more gas in as more air flows through it. Its best to have it as close to the throttle as possible to cut down lag but you still need it to be before the idle valve take off so that it can still tick over on gas. Then following the advice on how to set it up propperly i set out on a few test runs. It only took 10 mins to do. Now it runs as smooth as silk with no flat spots and good power delivery. Ded chuffed now. Just need to see if i get even better economy now! Fingers crossed. 

It all looks like this now.

Next job on the list was too have a look at the squeeling power steering. Yet another thing ive been putting up with for ages. First i jacked up the drivers front corner.

This is the power steering pump.

My plan was to just tension the belt some more, but upon further investigation i found that the tensioner was already at full tension and not in the best of condition (bent bolt) i gave it a go and ended up snapping the bolt. So i fitted a new bolt and left it alone. I will get a new belt ordered now along with a few other bits and pieces. I found out that my header tank is leaking so will replace it with a nice new round one.

I also made a start at sound proofing my doors or should i say door. I bought a small roll of fat mat http://www.fatmat-uk.com which is exactly the same as dyna mat extreme but cheaper. This stuff was real easy to install with the use of a heat gun and so far so good. I only got my door 80% done cos i ran out but then i did do both the inner and outer skin. So im going to order another bigger roll to finish the other door and boot floor. I will do other pannels at a later date. The following pic only shows the inner skin complete but i did the outer too. This stuff also has a cool logo which looks like the transformers face.

When it came in dark i moved indoors and set to work on converting some switches and heater pannels to use blue LED's. So far ive got a couple of swithes done and 2 heater pannels. Im doing an extra set to sell so if your interested then let me know and i will tell you when they go on ebay. All i can say is im a perfectionist and my work is alway top quality. Ive even gone to the trouble of converting the little lights on the bottom of the switches that come on when you put the fogs on etc. Plus i use frosted LED's which give a much better light coverage and not the cheap clear ones. I will post pics when im done.

Thats it for now. Another saturday well spent in my opinion! Bet the wife doesent agree though. 

[Judderi]

07/02/06


Right the Blue switches are all complete and for sale here

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-Golf-MkII-Dash-switches-with-blue-illumination-LED_W0QQitemZ4611426255QQcategoryZ9889QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And look like this...

The following pictures were taken during the day. Notice how visable the illumination is, these really are that bright!

[Judderi]

23/02/06

Well the above switches sold pretty dam well. Nice little profit made, although it does take ages to do them properly. Ive got a few people asking for different colours so will have a go at keeping them green but extra bright next. Im also thinking of converting a few sets of clocks and see if there is any interest. Will all have to wait till pay day now though cos im skint. At the begining of the month i bought a few bits and bobs and ordered loads of various parts from vw in order to continue upgrading and fixing. I think vw have forgot about me though cos i never received a call to say my parts are in and that was almost a month ago. I will chase them up when i get paid. Here is the other stuff i bought.

A lightened flywheel. Im going to be doing a full rebuild of the engine shortly. My plans are to have the whole bottom end lightened and ballanced and gas flow the head. Hence why i bought this.

A big ass roll of sond proofing to finish off the doors, boot and any other pannels that i feel like doing.

A new round header tank to replace my crappy leaking orange kidney shape tank of which the sensor intermitently works. I ordered the needed bracket etc from vw but im still waiting on them. I also need to source a plug for the sensor.

A new pas belt. Mine has been squeeling for months now and is already adjusted to the max. To me it looks too small but i will soon find out when i come to fit it. I also ordered all the needed bolts and adjuster from vw but yet again im waiting for them.

And last but not least a replacement drivers door handle. The mech inside mine has snapped so im gonna see if i can swap the mechs over to my handle. The reason im doing this is because my handle has been painted so would like to keep it.

On the way home last night i struggled with gears at a junction and ended up doing a rolling start in 3rd with plenty of cluck riding. Then on the way to work this morning my cluth is slipping. Seems like i need a new clutch then. I will see how long i can get out of it then when its totaly shot i will tow the car to my mates garage and start the rebuild. Hopefully i will have moved house by then too and have the funds and time to work on it.

[Judderi]

09/03/06

Where do i start! Ive been taking half days at work all this week and spending some of them working on the car. Ive got loads done but have also got problems. I went to start the car the other morning and there was a loud bang. It seems that fuel ignighted in the intake manifolds causing a blow back. This has knocked my Metering head out of calibration again causing the car not to idle or run correctly. I had the exact same issue a month or 2 back and ended up taking the car to a specialist BOSCH garage costing about £150. Im gonna have a bash at sorting the issue myself but its not looking too promising. Oh well..

Anyway here is some of the jobs ive got done.

I fitted my new pas belt and renewed some of the bolts. The pump is held by a couple of bolts which i had to remove completly in order to get the new belt on. This top hindge bolt.

And the tensioner bolt assembly

All back together and tensioned up. No more squeely squeely on full lock, jobs a gud un!

I also fitted a new dipstick guide as mine had broken, probably giving an incorect oil reading.

I also did a bodge job of arch rolling. When i have my 90's on the front left catches the inner arch now and then. Enough to bend the lip anyway. So i simply folded the lip up on itself to give another 1cm clearance. I say it was a bodge cos i just used a pair of grips to bend it up. Then i made sure it wouldent rust by applying losts of hammerite paint. I only had some red hammerite but it doesent matter cos you cant see it. Once the paint was dry i also applied plenty of wax oil just to be sure. The finished article looks like this, not pretty but does the job.

I also removed and cleaned up all my spark plugs and dizzy cap and rotor arm. Im not sure what it means but the plugs had a thick coating of white hard powder. Might have something to do with running on LPG.

When doing stuff and being under the car etc i noticed a few problems. The first was that my Tie rod end on the drivers side is nackered. The rubber bushing has given way and moves rattles etc, this will explain the random movement in the steering/handling sometimes. So i picked one up yesterday and hope to fit it today.

 Also my drive shaft on the drivers side has worked itself loose again! One bolt was completely missing and the others were loose, just finger tight. So i nipped them up as much as possible and replaced the missing one with a bolt which allowed me to tighten it better than the origional allen key bolts. When i do the engine re build i might do them up tight with some thread lock.

Thats it for todays updates but there is plenty more for tomorow.

[Judderi]

10/03/06

Good news! Upon closer inspection in daylight i could see that my little backfire had blown the bottom half of the intake hose off and also the brake vacume hose on the back of the manifold. So i re connected them and voila! Brum brum again. My idle is very high for some strange reason but im not that bothered about that at the min. That sorted i decided to do some more jobs.

First i got to work at replacing my worn Tie rod end. I thought it was gonna be a right royal pain in the arse to do but turned out simple enough once i figured out how it all worked.

1st take the nut off the bottom and belt the bolt upwards with a hammer till it pops out of the hub.

Then with a spanner or some grips hold the nut, then with another spanner free up the tie rod end. Once free'd you will be able to wind it all the way till it drops off. The tie rod end has 2 notches on it making it sqare in shape, this is the bit you use to grip with a spanner.

Then simply screw the new one on all the way back to the nut.

After doing all my suspension jobs i figured it would be a good idea to go and get my suspension laser alligned. So while i was there i cleaned up the threads on the tie rod bar and free'd up the adjuster nut. This will save me extra cash in labor at the garage which they charged if they have to spend time free'ing up seized bits n bobs. When free'ing up the nut you can hold the main shaft still with a 13mm spanner, there is a specially grooved bit on the shaft about half way up. Scrape some dirt off and it will all come clear.

Job done and all threads clean and free ready for the allignment.