Evening all. Here's my little story to share with you all...
Mate of mine calls up and says:
"Mate of mine has a Golf V5 that he's going to scrap if no-one buys it off him. I know you love your Veedubs so thought you might be interested in taking it on and fixing it up." Challenge accepted.
Now I'm a Mk5 Golf fan boy, not too keen on the Mk4 if I'm honest but I had to at least look at the thing, right? Can’t let a good car get scrapped if it can be saved with some minor work.
“Oh, by the way, it’s got some running issues. The cooling fans don’t come on when it gets hot, so they’ve been hard wired to stay on the whole time.” Ah, right… Not a big drama.
Send me some photos of the car I said, so I could look it at least a little bit:
Just another Mk4 to me, but that engine is attractive. And the asking price is low enough that the gamble is worth the risk I thought to myself. So I went to have a look at it and came up with the following list of faults:
3 faults from my scanner (need to get the codes again, lost them from my scanning tool)
- Crank angle sensor (assume this is the same as a camshaft sensor)
- Something with the cooling system (shocker)
- Something with the ignition barrel
Brakes full of air
Cooling issues (as mentioned)
Drivers side lock needs replacing, can’t put the key in
Rear wiper arm missing and the motor doesn’t even work
Front bumper is in need of a respray, looks like it’s been shunted (maybe why the cooling doesn’t work?)
Passenger mirror has taken a hit and needs new casing, possibly whole unit (although it does work)
Damn good service
Paint work is not great, many spots of rust (only spots though) and scraps/marks
Normally I’d walk away when I see crank angle sensor issues, but the thing runs so sweet (despite several faults) although those brakes need serious attention! The calipers, pads and discs, although rusted solid, are all pretty good with life left on them so I think it’s air in the system from being sat for months on end.
The interior just needs a good clean and a few trim bits swapped for better condition ones, the rear seat that folds down is a bit dodgy so may need to repair/replace that as well, but everything work and it’s amazingly good condition, despite being filthy. And there’s enough change scattered about to pay for at least an oil filter!
Other good bits, it’s done just 95,000 miles and been carefully owned (apparently). The engine bay is proper tidy and it appears it has been treated well. Just became unloved once the faults appeared. The plan as it stands is to bring it back to it’s former glory then pass it onto someone who’ll either love it or take it to new levels. Unless I keep it as a track toy…
Any advice, hints or tips is more than welcome and requested!