chrisrhayes

Hi, 127 TSI hatch just bought by me @133k miles just outside Bristol

I had similar to my mk1 estate on the rear. Maybe not as bad as yours, but enough to complete ruin the CD changer and saturate the boot floor panel over time. After a very long story of trying to find out where the leak was at the rear of the car, the best I could do was isolate a section of the roof gutter behind the roof bar connection. I used putty to block areas of the gutter and pour water into localised areas. The fix has stood up for a couple of years now: And it was just spraying a few coats of clear lacquer into the gutter in the relevant section. Felt like a bit of a cheat after so much effort to find it... Good luck.

Nice to see shiny Mk1s. I fitted 4 Bilstein shocks to mine recently and the ride improved. Still soft, but more... controlled. The ones being replaced were well past it though. I think I went for the lower engine mount too, which improved the general driving feel. The worst suspension I've driven was an old Citroën BX GTI with completely shot air suspension: like a pogo stick, but less controlled! I used to feel physically sick after 20 mins of driving it...

Yes I will treat with care. Trying to think how long it's been like this. Perhaps a couple of years back, lengthy traffic jam in sweltering weather resulted in engine becoming very odd, multiple warning lights and no power, limped to destination. This odd behaviour has never repeated, but may have been when the fan end-of-lifed and caused that current increase...

Yes I’ve ordered a new fuse box. Not driving much at the mo so time to fix these niggles.

I had no refrigerant for months to the point the compressor was smoking. Now it’s summer regassed and that’s working ok. Phew. re fans, my right hand one is dead, there’s a useful video for testing here https://youtu.be/Af-jT9cAioM ie unplug thermo rad connector switch and connect the 12 and 4 o clock (as you look at it) connectors on the plug- Both fans should run. Low speed. Switch on ignition and connect 2 lower connectors (4 & 8 o’clock) and the high speed should run. in both cases my right fan didn’t rotate, but if I moved it by hand it wanted to go, so the connection was there. I also found the main black alternator ground on the battery top almost melted through. 03 Octavia VRS