History(previous history to come)13th June '05Revisited place that had fitted exhaust.
(1) It still knocked a bit. Had discovered that if i got under the car and put one of the supports for the back box back in the rubber mounting it would stop the knocking until it fell out again.. however the exhaust is fitted too far forwards
(2) this misfitting of the exhaust has melted my rear bumper a bit.
They have refitted the exhaust right, and added some spacers etc.. AND offered to pay for a new rear bumper without me having to ask.
I have to get them some quotes for the repairs from a few places and they will sort it out.
On a lighter note. After having been camping this weekend just now the idea of a split charge set up is more appealing. for both entertainment and lighting reasons. False floor idea however isn't looking so good now, but stealth speaker maybe..
28th June '05I noticed in the last week that there was a clunk when opening the drivers door. It turned out that the bolts that go into the door had come loose. Upon tightening these last night I discovered that a rattle i'd long suspected to the be the under engine bash plate had actually disappeared! Bonus!
5th July '05I won a new aerial on ebay the other day since mine was all perished and bits of rubber were falling off on the lower bendy bit. bonus its one with an extra wrap of wire around the outside.
18th July '05An Air-con recharge has been on the cards for a while now. Finally got around to doing it.
Some places offer a flat fee.. However this can be a rip-off.. The 2 I tried locally were 70 quid flat fee. (one was plus VAT too)
The garage I just got mine done at was £50 plus however much coolant is added.
Included in this they also ran pressure and leak checks.
The whole process took about an hour.
Grand total for today. £66.19.
23rd July '05Last weeked I took the old man out to halfrauds to get something for his Merc. While there I picked up 2 sets of wiper refills. (funny how they try and push those the full sets so well and hide these..). In total this was enough for 4 blades. So i had enough to do the fronts and the rear leaving me one spare. Fitting the refills to the old holders took a total of about 20 minutes. Only tools needed were a pair of needle nose pliers and a decent pair of scissors. Now I know exactly when all the wiper blades were last done and hopefully they'll work better too.
4th August '05Noticed 2 nights ago that the night illumination for the heater dials was gone so today i took it apart and ventured to halfrauds to find a replacement. Bulb #286 is the one you need and it cost me £1.39.
Its a pretty simple job.. take out the ash tray and pop off the cover that goes around the dials. Then there are 4 screws holding the dial unit in place and a further two holding the ashtray/other buttons part in place. There is a white shroud behind the central dial popping that off reveals the bulb surrounded by a green tiny thingy.
12th August '05Lost an Ebay auction last night for a cheap rear bumper. (Can't be arsed to lose the car to a body shop etc etc).
I only need the very lowest part of the rear bumper.. so no spraying needed.
However noticed another on there and the seller said he was breaking 2 MK3 GTIs. Since he only had 1 listed I called him about the other and negotiated 40 quid all in including shipping.
The guy deals in/breaks a lot of VW stuff along with servicing too and knows his stuff well. His company is called PW Cars and based in Pembrokeshire. His number is 01437 563793. (His ebay ID is philphotos)
Should be here in the middle of next week.
p.s. the ebay auction i "lost" went for 25 quid with 25 quid shipping.. so i've saved a tenner.
12th Sept '05MOT day today. (£40.00).. It Passed, but it shouldn't have!
No problems with the idle during the emissions test this time round.
The only problems highlighted were that both the front tyres although not illegal are very close to being so. So I have had those replaced with Toyo Proxes T1-S at lunchtime. £89.00 for a pair fitted and balanced.
Also, it should have failed on one of the rear wheel bearings. I had both sides replaced a few months ago along with the rear pads. The MOT guy made me promise to get that sorted, but let it pass. So i'll get that sorted soon too.
17th Sept '05Tightened up the drivers side rear wheel bearing with the old man today. Cost £0.00.ÂÂÂ
p.s. Loving the Toyo Proxes.
27th Sept '05The dipstick handle broke ages ago.. feared how much one would be from VW.
Bit the bullet and it turned out to be £7.32 for a complete replacement, not just the handle!
