Mk3 16v Problems!

[Pete Taylor]

Just before christmas I bought a red 3dr 2.0 16v GTi knowingly with a few problems. It's only now i'm realising the extent of them. The rear quarter that wraps under the brake light cluster has lovely bubbly rust and a hole that leaks into the boot, this combined with the wet roof lining above the drivers side in the corner has caused the car to become constantly moist and a bit smelly. The handbrake travel is so bad that it points to the roof and the handbrake light on the dash doesn't work at all. The ABS and airbag unit doesn't light up at all. On further inspection whilst having a new alarm fitted, the connector that goes into the back of the light unit has been cut off and hidden behind the fusebox even though I bought the car with near on 12 months MOT. This led me to believe it has a big ABS fault, I bought an OBD2 cable and downloaded the trial software which showed one fault on the car which is an rear left ABS sensor fault. There is play in the rear wheel bearing which I thought might be causing it. These are being replaced with the rear discs and pads soon though. The next problem is the supposed air conditioning. This doesnt work. I knew it didn't work when I bought it assuming it needing regassing or a new pump. Again the ABS unit has no wiring into the back of it. This leads me to believe it doesn't even have air conditioning at all, anyone any idea of what i'm looking for under the bonnet?? The rocker gasket needs replacing, as does the cam oil seal and now the cam belt as it has oil on it. The power steering belt constantly slips too which is a nightmare. The gearbox is a mother b!tch too, It takes several attampts to get into 1st gear, 2nd is as bad and 3rd ocassionally grinds when slipping into gear. The car also needs new door hinges as the doors drop quite badly. All of this topped off with a bit of paint work that needs doing. I've already replaced a window motor and several pieces of body work on the car including lights and interior bits. The guy wanted £1200 for it but I got it for £850 after he let slip he wanted cash before christmas. I have £1000 to spend on it now. What i'm thinking though... is it worth doing or should i just cut my losses with the car and get what I can for it? I've got mechanic friends but they're always too busy to even look at it for me, and garages want me to pay with my own body parts to do anything to it 

[Len]

Well if you cant do most of that work yourself - cut your losses mate and sell on.
If you can do stuff yourself then go ahead and you'll end up with a nice car.
You dont say what year and mileage???

[adyh]

If you have AC you should see some metal pipes in the engine bay with green caps on them .

[Pete Taylor]

It's a P reg 1997 and it's just notched up the 130k mark. I can do a lot of things myself like the small bits of painting and the brakes which i've done before but i've never touched an engine before and I have very limited time and space outside my house. Shame because it looks an awesome car when it'd cleaned up!

[Pete Taylor]

Just had a quick nose around the engine bay, the only metal pipes I can see are the brake lines and one pipe which seems to be heading in between the inlet manifold which has 2 green caps on it. Really need to find myself some pics!

[Len]

Same as mine then mate on age and mileage. seems I picked a good one! Not had any probs like yours.

As for the air-con - the alloy pipes have huge fittings and a lot of their length are covered in thick cushioning.
If you switch it on at tick over can you hear a click as the clutch engages and do the revs drop?


As for engine work most is relatively straight forward with some good tools and a Haynes.
But you may want to get the cambelt done by an expert. Make sure they replace the tensioner with a VAG part.

[Pete Taylor]

Doesn't switch on at all, the wiring is missing from the back of the AC recirc unit!

[patch900]

Clean it up, flog it and buy a new one.

[Len]

I tend to agree with patch, coz it looks as if yours has been messed around with and bodged.

[Pete Taylor]

Might just keep it for 12 months, fancy a highline VR6 near the end of this year, either that or make the dreaded switch to fords!