1999 1.8T SLXi

 

At the start of the year failed the MOT for brakes (they seemed OK to me although I new that the NSF caliper was dragging.

 

All new disks and pads front and back and a new NSF caliper, replaced front flexi's for good measure

Noticed a strange rattle from rear, sounded like something in the spare wheel well.

Couldn't find anything and didn't see anything when I was doing the brakes

Returned car for MOT, garage reported that the OSR top mounting for the damper had puled it's mounting out of the body (no rust), they agreed to weld it, which was a reasonably big job. I haven't heard of this problem have you? 

 

I expected everything would be good for a while, but soon after this the exhaust started blowing, transpired to be the gasket between turbo and exhaust, new gasket fitted back to normal.

 

Then the exhaust dropped at the central support (non standard st/st exh with the standard support which had rotted) removed the mounting and replaced the rotted support with a bit of 15mm copper pipe, sorted.

 

Bubbling paint on the front wheel arches was starting to become more visible, so I decided to do something with them before rust started to take hold. Sanded treated primed painted and lacquered, unless you look very closely or know that they have been done you can not tell that they have been DIY'd

 

Next when collecting my daughter from work, she decided to put the passenger front window down, which made a sharp cracking noise, I stupidly operated it again which resulted in the window dropping all the way down and having to drive home with the window fully open. New second hand regulator fitted OK. a common failure I believe

 

Then all the instruments decided to stop working, seems that this is common I decided to send instruments away for repair, so far so good now all working again.

 

What else can go wrong, well the clutch seems a bit sharp to me so I took it to an independent VAG specialist, I was expecting them to diagnose the DMF as becoming worn and was anticipating a hefty bill, but they said they could find no fault, I still think the clutch is sharp particularly for the first few uses in the morning, but it doesn't seem to have become any worse.

 

While the car was in the garage I had them change the oil pick up and the Gear box oil, it became evident soon after that the gear selection from 1st to 2nd was a bit reluctant, eventually after some investigation I decided to change the gear box oil myself using VAG oil, that returned gear selection to normal, garage is 30 miles away they said that they would change it, but due to the distance and that I gad already purchased the oil, I did it myself.

 

Most recently a few weeks ago, a loud rattle from OSF, a quick check confirmed a broken spring, fished the broken part out and no more rattle, and car seemed to handle normally, but now and again when maneuvering at low speed with a lot of steering, a very disconcerting noise of a spring moving could be heard. So I decided to purchase 2 new springs, 2 new lower control arms (as the bushes were starting to go) and 2 new top mount bearings.

 

Just had these parts fitted yesterday, I hope all is well.

 

The car will be 15 years old summer of 2014, so will require cambelt etc replacing again this will be the third time and the car has only done 59000 (this is genuine since I have owned it since 2000 and it was a demonstrator when I bought it).

 

Lastly the aforementioned clutch may need to be done some time soon.

 

I hope I can get a decent period of reliability, as I like the way the car goes

1999 1.8T SLXi

At the start of the year failed the MOT for brakes (they seemed OK to me although I new that the NSF caliper was dragging.

All new disks and pads front and back and a new NSF caliper, replaced front flexi's for good measure

Noticed a strange rattle from rear, sounded like something in the spare wheel well.

Couldn't find anything and didn't see anything when I was doing the brakes

Returned car for MOT, garage reported that the OSR top mounting for the damper had puled it's mounting out of the body (no rust), they agreed to weld it, which was a reasonably big job. I haven't heard of this problem have you?

I expected everything would be good for a while, but soon after this the exhaust started blowing, transpired to be the gasket between turbo and exhaust, new gasket fitted back to normal.

Then the exhaust dropped at the central support (non standard st/st exh with the standard support which had rotted) removed the mounting and replaced the rotted support with a bit of 15mm copper pipe, sorted.

Bubbling paint on the front wheel arches was starting to become more visible, so I decided to do something with them before rust started to take hold. Sanded treated primed painted and lacquered, unless you look very closely or know that they have been done you can not tell that they have been DIY'd

Next when collecting my daughter from work, she decided to put the passenger front window down, which made a sharp cracking noise, I stupidly operated it again which resulted in the window dropping all the way down and having to drive home with the window fully open. New second hand regulator fitted OK. a common failure I believe

Then all the instruments decided to stop working, seems that this is common I decided to send instruments away for repair, so far so good now all working again.

What else can go wrong, well the clutch seems a bit sharp to me so I took it to an independent VAG specialist, I was expecting them to diagnose the DMF as becoming worn and was anticipating a hefty bill, but they said they could find no fault, I still think the clutch is sharp particularly for the first few uses in the morning, but it doesn't seem to have become any worse.

While the car was in the garage I had them change the oil pick up and the Gear box oil, it became evident soon after that the gear selection from 1st to 2nd was a bit reluctant, eventually after some investigation I decided to change the gear box oil myself using VAG oil, that returned gear selection to normal, garage is 30 miles away they said that they would change it, but due to the distance and that I gad already purchased the oil, I did it myself.

Most recently a few weeks ago, a loud rattle from OSF, a quick check confirmed a broken spring, fished the broken part out and no more rattle, and car seemed to handle normally, but now and again when maneuvering at low speed with a lot of steering, a very disconcerting noise of a spring moving could be heard. So I decided to purchase 2 new springs, 2 new lower control arms (as the bushes were starting to go) and 2 new top mount bearings.

Just had these parts fitted yesterday, I hope all is well.

The car will be 15 years old summer of 2014, so will require cambelt etc replacing again this will be the third time and the car has only done 59000 (this is genuine since I have owned it since 2000 and it was a demonstrator when I bought it).

Lastly the aforementioned clutch may need to be done some time soon.

I hope I can get a decent period of reliability, as I like the way the car goes

You have had fair share there buddy. Like you said a lot of what you have had is common problems. The cause for a broken spring is normally a seized top mount bearing so hope you have replaced those as your maintenance may come back again.

Hope you have a reliable period now buddy.

Sent from my Samsung S3

Thanks, I did have the top mounts done when the springs were replaced, as apart from the OS having a broken spring the NS was protruding at the mount turret, not worth not doing as these parts are cheap and labour isn't.

At least these things are done now and shouldn't happen again in the near future!