Golf-Fiend

vwmotorparts do some very good prices on genuine parts and oils https://www.vwmotorparts.com/gearbox-transmission-diff-oils-c-404_143/genuine-vw-manual-gearbox-oil-p-438.html Just bought some Fuchs 507 oil for a steal.

It's highly unlikely you have Zero compression on all cylinders. Even a badly trashed piston/bore will make some pressure or make the guage move for a bit. I recon you have done something wrong with the kit.

So just an update. I decided to tackle them with ultra fine wire wool (0000 grade) and white spirit. First I used a sharp chisel to gentle scrape off the remaining rubbery stuff. It was disgusting. Just like the grime on a shirt collar that had never been washed! Yuck. The wire wool and spirit took a bit of rubbing but it worked. Then I used T Cut to clean it all up, followed by Autoglym Rubber And Vinyl spray. I think it looks a lot better than before. Just need to do driver side front and rear.

Just wondering if they could be rubbed down with some fine wire wool and white spirit to remove the rubbery stuff? Might give it a go when I have the chance.

Hi. The one thing bugging me at the moment is the state of my inner door pulls. The rubbery soft touch finish has had it and it looks awful. I’m not having much luck finding replacements from scrappies looking any better. is there a way of removing the coating and just having the hard plastic finish? What have others done? see pics:

If you buy a kit from Darkside Developments they usually send you detailed instructions with it. Probably too late if you’ve already bought a kit elsewhere.

Impossible on a PD as Valver16 says above and I also know when I had one changed on my 2.0 PD This video seem to show it is very straight forward. Hope this reassures you somewhat. Is the car OK now? Any fault codes?

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/starline-wiper-motor-48778005S

Top tip. Slide every thing that comes off onto a cable tie when you are dismantling. That way things stay in the right order and in the right orientation. It will all be covered in thick grey grease so hard to tell what’s what. I once forgot to replace the thrust washer when doing a CV joint many years ago. It was horrible and noisy. Basically had to do the whole job again at 6pm at night.

That seems frighteningly cheap. Personally I’d prefer to use quality components for suspension as it is a critical safety item.

For UK based you could try www.vwspares.co.uk not every thing is listed on the website but if you call them they can get most parts. Usually buy my oil and filters from them as they are cheaper than ebay.

I had this on my car a few years back. I threw PlusGas at them daily for a week before I took it in for alignment but they were still stuck solid. They priced up with new lower suspension components and parts totalling a few hundred pounds to fix. I got some of the rubber bonded bushes from Eurocarparts and new eccentric bolts from Skoda and my VW garage fitted them for me four around 1.5 hours labour. They had to cut the old ones out. Took it back for alignment after as my garage didn't have the 4 wheel stuff.

Here, try this link. It shows the pins that need connecting:

I too replaced a non-MP3 head Unit with a MP3 Stream. I bought a cable from the internet that had a 3.5mm jack plug and pins on the other end. I had to push these pins into the connector block in the loom behind the HU. I also had to swap one of the original pin positions for the Grounding otherwise I would have got the buzzing. I really cannot remember which pin it was but I found the info on here. It was about 12 years back now. This meant I could keep the multi-changer in the boot and have MP3 disks in the HU and a an AUX input. I drilled a hole in the box on top of the dashboard and fed the jack plug through that so I could rest the MP3 player in that.

Sounds to me more like a hydraulic tappet noise. It seems to disappear very quickly. A lot of my Golfs sounded like that at start-up but also a lot worse.

On a side note, my AC needs re-gassing yearly. Every time I tell them it has only lasted a year they say if there was a leak then the machine wouldn't re-gass it. It works well for about 8 months every refill. Any idea what likely culprits are?

Sell it and buy an SUV like everyone else does? I think if you want a car that is not crashy over bad roads then you have the wrong car. 18's are horriby harsh. I've got 16's on my Elegance and standard suspension and that too makes me wince from time to time on bad roads. My wife has a Polo with tiny rims and balloon tyres and that absorbs potholes like a sponge. Wheels/tyres are the easiest/cheapest thing to change. Perhaps try and borrow a set of 16's and see if that makes it tolerable? No idea why car marketing has sold us all on big rims and low profile tyres. Looks nice. Rides horribly. Fine if we all have pan-flat EU funded tarmac, but we don't.

See this post. I replaced both mine a while back

Can't you go to a friendly tyre fitter and ask them to fit the suspect tyre size to your rim to check for clearance? I'm sure they'll have worn tyres kicking around. It might cost you £20 or so but at least you'll know for sure. It would be polite to get them to fit the new tyres of your choice once you've decided.

I've got a dodgy microswitch in my driver's door lock so sometimes my boot won't open unless I open the passenger door or one of the rear doors first, then it opens fine. This is a common problem on Skodas (one other Octavia and three Fabias I know have this issue). I have a new switch but CBA to take the whole door apart to fix. Maybe in the summer.

Sounds like something has got sticky somewhere or something disconnected. You'll need to take door trim off to access. Not sure what plastic clips Skoda used on the door trim of Mk2 Octy's but just hope they aren't the same as VW used on similar aged Polos! They were designed by the son of Satan. This link might help. Removing Door Trim Panel Once you have everything off then identify the issue. Give moving things a good squirt of GT85.

The beeper speaker is an easy fix. Did this myself a few years back. Pull the B pillar trim off. The speaker is held in place with two small plastic rivets with a removable centre core. Poke the core through and remove the speaker. The core/rivets are small so make sure you don't drop them into the pillar. Put new speaker in. Replace rivets. Put pillar trim back in place. This is probably the hardest bit. Good luck.

WHOOPS! My mistake. Should have been wearing my glasses when browsing on my phone! Indeed, you are correct 205/60/15's which, for the Toyos are £6 a corner cheaper. Win-win then.

Blackcircles list that size: https://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/205-50-15 £65 fitted for some Sumitomos or £72 for some Toyos. The wife has the Sumitomos on her VW and they seem fine though I'd plump for the Toyos personally. You might want a chunkier tread for your 4x4 but really depends on where you drive?

Seems a little odd that an exhaust clamp comes loose by itself? In my experience they are anything but loose and often require the bolts cutting off. Any ideas why this might happen? Maybe someone was trying to nick it but got disturbed?