ABF needing some servicing. Various problems

[MowatGTI]

Howdy-ho.  Right, my '94 Gti 16v ABF has got its MoT this week.  I have got many faults that I have seen, I would love if anyone could help me on any of these.

It runs really rough, well, sounds rough, but ive not noticed any performance change.  Still idles around 800ish when warm.

Just went out and changed the air filter + pollen filter, no probs apart from snapping the trim cover for the pollen filter.

Went to change the spark plugs, two came out fine, but the other two were very tight.  Surprised I didn't shear them, but they eventually came out, and had oil all over the top of them.  Anyone got any ideas what this could be?  Obviously its not meant to be there, only down just shy of 90k, and I dont drive fast.

Ive had an oil leak since the last oil change, but i think its coming from the filter seal, Im changing oil tonight so will clean everything up so the leak should stop.

This is the big one - Noticed the belt for the alternator is not centred.  Its starting to fray on the outside edge.  I will be changing the belt this week.  Would a worn belt cause my engine to sounds really rough??  Im not an experienced mechanic so I've no idea what the cause is.  I hope its nothing internal.  How hard are these belts to change?  Time and money wise.

Also, I posted last year about finding a plug dangling down near my alternator, and asked what it could be.  People replied saying it could be redundant as they fit numerous plugs for the different engine codes etc, but just now I noticed a socket on the forward face of the alternator that looks like the plug would fit, any ideas??

Last year, both Macpherson struts had excessive play on the top mounts, the mechanic got it through its MoT, not sure what he did, but now the top mount is not tight.  I can turn it easily by hand.  Do you think its a case of tightening it up, or do you think more needs to be done.

Cheers for sticking through the post.  Any help would be great folks.  Thanks

Chris

[1982.rpd]

I had oil on my plugs on my 9A, change the rockercover gasket and all should be well there. 

[MowatGTI]

Right.  The 8v engine looks totally different from the 16v.  Not sure if its a gasket with only two of them having oil.  Im hoping they just weren't tightened enough and the oil worked its way through.  I hope.....

[skcollob_ho]

I'm not a mechanic, but i would hazard a guess that the rough running is a symptom of the oiled plugs. Probably not sparking properly because they're soiled.

I had a similar problem on a mk4 I owned.

[Paul86S2]

2 of my plugs on my 16 valve used to fill up with oil. There is aninternal gasket on the rocker cover which seals the spark plug holes. You will need to change this and the outside edge rocker cover gasket, both should come as a set.

Paul

[sharpie]

2 of my plugs on my 16 valve used to fill up with oil. There is aninternal gasket on the rocker cover which seals the spark plug holes. You will need to change this and the outside edge rocker cover gasket, both should come as a set.

Paul

that's right it's the middle bit here



it will be obvious when you take the rocker cover off. mind you don't shear any bolts while doing so as it makes a simple job an arsy one.

[MowatGTI]

Cheers guys.

Drove the car to a mechanic earlier for a pre Mot check.  He thinks the alternator tensioner has gone, so the belt and tensioner should be reaplced tomorro night as long as the stealer stocks the bits.

The nearside track rod end also needs replaced.  This will be done tomorrow too.  Should I get the wheels re-aligned after changing the track rod end??

The guy said the fact that the top mount turns isn't a problem, but surely its not meant to happen?  Any ideas?

[Rmachines]

the spring plate should turn and the bearing stops the rubber top mount from turning.  probably just a seized up bearing, which is about £6 but would replace the mounts with it.    but yea really its no big deal.  just leave it untill they wear out and replace them all.

[kells]

oil on spark plugs is not good, any oil in the head, if so engine is fooked, it really is a sign of a worn engine is oil on the Spark plugs, car may be running too rich too, could have shot stem seals etc etc

[MowatGTI]

Hmmm.  Doesn't sound too great!

Doing an oil change tomorrow, so i'll see if the old oil is particularly minging.  The electrodes of the old plugs didnt look that bad.  No wet oil on them. 

I'll wait and see what tomorrow holds.  Thanks again.