mac11irl

todays guilt free pedal.... it qas tough, a fair bit of get off and push on the really steep inclines... but so worth it.. im not inserting all the pics below... couple of the better ones though.. so after the "easy" bit up to the cross... knockindotha and long hill ahead.. stop time at the back of longhill.. time to push... lagnafrankee weeeeeeeeeeeeee down we go. view back across from gurteen to the hills i went across then into the woods...

as Pete said, pop the original bulb types back in. putting leds into a headlight unit not designed for the way the light is delivered (multiple sources instead of one centred halogen point) causes the light to be reflected out badly, causing scatter - so poorly lit areas of road for you the driver, and also glare for on coming drivers. i could explain the sciency bit about parabolas and focal points but im pretty sure its been covered 100+ times previously

mmm. .... not much hunting when they just run out in front of you... Am i right in my visual thinking that there are 3 radiators up front? (i have aircon) or are they combined into 1? can o ly see 1 part number sticker.

well, i mentioned this over in a different section yesterday. Hit a fox at 65mph on the way to work Wednesday night. initial check - cracked the bottom of the bumper and drove the grille into void ahead of the radiators. just got to go do a bit of a deeper inspection... i could here a bit of rubbing going over a couple of speed bumps last night on the way to work.. undertray will rub when its ripped off on one side alright.. yup, grille is shattered.. eh... that metal bit at the bottom should be straight.. and that rad isnt curved like that ex factory... so a little bit of pulling and twisting, got the bumper pulled back into line. and managed to line the grille up reasonably well for now. so...i need... a scrappy sourced brilliant silver bumper (to avoid spraying. ) a set of radiators, the front one is warped, second one probably is too. no fluids leaking though at least. and a new lower grill (might get lucky with the bumper...) and i need to see better how the undertray is looking couple of the screw point are definitely ripped out.. at least Basil shouldnt have suffered much.. i hope..

check the connector blocks where the cable passes from the car body to the hatch. pretty sure its tucked under the headlining. also check the cables for wear and tear inside the bellows. good chance either the connector has water corrosion or theres a broken/shorted wire in the loom. happens with drivers door cable bellows alot too.

the fact they are locking and then unlocking, id wager its the microswitches too. can vouch the chinese ebay specials are fine. used one on my old mk1 and it worked flawlessly for the 2yrs i still had the car after fitting it.

unfortunately you are in the "low budget, limited options, anyhring could happen" category on this purchase. i know we discussed that vrs in the mk1 section the other, didnt rwalise there was a second conversation going on about it. reality is any car you pick up in this price range could be an epic disaster waiting to happen or a work horse that plods on for thousands of hassle free miles. everything is going to have little niggly rattles, and wear and tear things to be dealt with or lived with. the fun part is not knowing for sure which you'll get.... like a pack of match attacks cards

if thats the only time it throws a tantrum hes a lucky man

fuel consumption varies on how heavy your right foot is too though, dont drive everywhere like your heads on fire and you may keep sonething reasonable on your average. you can hear some problems alright, not everything, but make sure to get "in cabin" video ideally on the move too they can legally and safely record that and external/ under bonnet too.

i think they ran out of mk1 shells to use also, they had released the facelifted version of the mk2 in 09 (iirc) so it was now 2 models old. they had to stop, and the mk3 was probably in the pipeline for factory retooling etc...

ask him for a couple of videos of it running too...

yip, it is (was) so popular they kept making mk1s in a diesel "taxi spec" up to 2010 that you had to supply your cabbie license to be allow to order..

work away and copy whatever you need ask about - water leaks at doors, cabin filter, bonnet cable grommet, boot hatch hinges. "bouncy" idle (if its not smooth the maf is dying, has to be a genuine replacement) turbo condition. has it had the coilpacks recall carried out? when was the timing belt, thermostat and water pump done last. what was the repair work done on it after the insurance write off. suspension condition - including bushes etc. .

mot history isnt going tell all the stories though... what condition is the turbo actually in.. sticky vanes is common, but easy enough to sort. it almost a given that at least one door card will have been off for a lock mechanism repair. that can be done with subtlety, or with a lump hammer... and if the hammer option a good chance the membrane wasnt replaced properly = leaky boi.

well, its definitely a mk1. honestly, noone can say its a good car without physically looking at all the oily bits - should they be oily? should they not be.... being an uneconomical repair write off, it could mean anything or nothing - its old, so a smooshed bumper could be enough for insurance to say good bye to it. in general if its been minded reasonably well and hasnt been overly abused or tinkered with by anyone who thinks they know more about what theyre doing than reality, it should be alright. it could be the photo angle but image 4 of the rear it looks like its sitting down on the driver's side rear? might need a suspension refresh if it is - thats trickier on the estate vrs as getting proper rated springs and dampers is getting harder, with a lot of misadvertised (through ignorance not malice) kits on the like of ebay etc. sellers listing them for estate vrs but they're actually for a mk4 golf gti and the rears wont sit properly other than the above - look for evidence of leaks everywhere. go through the service history if available and look for any big or odd parts being put on

when your finished your house arrest you'll have to post some piccies of the new beast

in keeping related to the original thread title, but down a few rungs on the power ladder, how does this video make people feel? i have chest pains watching it... 82eca4410274a3b95fee5ad728ac8af6.mp4

you feel free to p in your adblue tank or top it up with water. let us know how how u get on.

adblue is made using urea. urea is a nitrogen based chemical. nitrgoen production uses natural gas extract. nitrogen is also used for agri fertiliser. fertiser has has been hitting a supply issue for over 12months now, so pre Ukraine, but the situation regarding gas supplies since Ukaine started is going to have a massive impact on nitrogen production and all the stuff that needs it - farming especially as Ukrainian grain is of such high importance for global supply. therefore it also makes sense that adblue is going to be harder to get and more expensive..

given its an 09 A3, id probably have a look for similar issues in the mk2 Octy section? they would share a decent amount of electrical gear as the later mk2s. not sure if the 09 A3 had moved to the mqb platform? if it did then the mk3 octy would be the hunting ground.

dry ground all round today on my Long Hill jaunt. the amount of hill climb condition ive lost over the winter is staggering.. despite the running! 48mins to the top, i could do it in 40 last summer . no coffee shops at my rest stop i put the deer sigting video in the joy thread, if anyone managed to see them! i have my eye on the next challenge though, next peak to the south is another 75m odd higher than long hill, it then drops down to the "Powers the Pot" road, which leads back to Tickincor woods which has some nice trails to drop down, and then a 4-5k riverside tramp to get home should make a nice circuit.

i get to join properly now... father in law's set uo from his youth, MIL found someone who could fix it, arrived back the other day and set up today.. i have no additional info beyond the pics.. havnt seen it yet. FIL reckons its about 51yrs old, he'll be 71 in August..

the used one you were offered has the carpet that runs out under the rear seats included with it in the photo, but they are separate sections.

eh, yeah, the previous last post pre dates my joining by 19months !

keep a bar of emergency chocolate in there with less melting