1 hour ago, commievid said:

It's sad to see what should be a galvanised chassis suffer this much in such a short time. The plan still remains though, only this time the Lanoguard looks to need applying almost everywhere.

 

Depressing to see so much rust on any car let alone one that's only 8yo!

7 minutes ago, petrolcan said:

 

Depressing to see so much rust on any car let alone one that's only 8yo!

Yes I agree. I’ve had Saabs and Subarus much older that didn’t have as much rust. To be fair I do a lot of driving on the A939 but even so … did the same thing with the Subarus and Saabs, all of which were well over 10 years old when I sold them, and not in bad condition. Not sure if it is a “bad car” or if it’s par for the course for VW group cars. I need to work out how to make my new Skoda last better!

 

1 minute ago, nicknorman said:

Yes I agree. I’ve had Saabs and Subarus much older that didn’t have as much rust. To be fair I do a lot of driving on the A939 but even so … did the same thing with the Subarus and Saabs, all of which were well over 10 years old when I sold them, and not in bad condition. Not sure if it is a “bad car” or if it’s par for the course for VW group cars. I need to work out how to make my new Skoda last better!

 

If that's genuine, then I'd suggest either applying Dinitrol or getting a rustproofing outfit to do so. It's a much simpler job when everything is new, clean and everything can be undone. It'd probably be over a thousand pound done professionally given the size of the car, but if its a new car, you most likely never have to worry about it again. It cost £1200 for my GR86 to be done, and the chap said a decent saving was had by not needing to scrape off any flaking rust, etc.

 

Most of the horror has lied behind things though, so it's completely understandable as its out of sight and out of mind.

 

I still don't understand how the sills have ended up as they have though, be it snow drifts, salt, or whatever. It won't be rotting from the inside out though, so I think it's still rectifiable.

 

A few more posts from me before I call it a day.

 

Next post will be about me removing the air filter and battery, which frankly I made more of a drama of than I probably should have.

 

So firstly, decided to take out the hose connecting the air filter housing to whatever is next (maybe the throttle butterfly?). The nearest front clip was a spring one, so the Knipex pliers were involved and loosened and out of the way. The rear hose clip though:

 

For whatever reason, was done pointing towards the engine, rather than say towards the battery where access would have been much easier. Managed to eventually manoeuvre a 7mm spanner in between wiring and bits to get a few turns onto the clip. This then loosened enough so I could rotate it:

 

So I can actually get to it, even if its facing down. Simply flipping this around would have been a big help.

 

So after a bit of wiggling, I plucked the hose out of the car and stuffed some shop towels down the hole:

 

Now, my first thought was that the air filter housing was probably kept on with rubber studs so would entail pulling upwards to remove. So firstly, disconnected the vent hose:

 

Needed to get the thin screwdriver to get some purchase, as rubber hoses tend to do. Once it starts to wiggle it comes off easily. However I couldn't get the housing to budge, so made a foolish guess that maybe something is at the bottom of the housing, so unscrewed the top off:

 

A bunch of T20 torx screws. These luckily don't really fall out unless you make an effort to, so no flashbacks of fallen screws.

 

Just the usual signs of use, normally needing a vacuuming out, but given I want to take the whole thing out, I started to see if I can remove the bit at the bottom. I think the workshop manual calls it a "snow strainer".

 

However, don't do what I did and be completely cack handed with it:

 

Snapped bits as I tried to lift the thing free. Got there eventually:

 

With me snapping more bits though. I suppose I could source a replacement, but I can't be bothered. Spoiler alert: I may not use the OEM filter housing in the future!

 

Still couldn't get the housing to budge and nothing was underneath the strainer, so tried removing the "air guide" as per the workshop manual, to see if that helps any:

 

Two T20 screws and a latch on the back can then allow it to be lifted up at an angle with the front.

 

There is then a middle part, which connects to the housing, which unclips:

 

Then its a couple more T20 screws and some tabs for the bottom part:

 

So the air guide was removed, but it still didn't look obvious regarding the air filter removal. I then got a bit miffed and then just pulled at the sod, and obviously it then pops up:

 

So yeah. Not actually sure whether the air guide needing removing, but I certainly didn't need to disassemble or destroy the snow strainer. Oh well.

 

So the battery is next. The negative is already disconnected, so repeat for the positive terminal, a 10mm spanner for it. I didn't take any pics, but the front of the battery has the clamp, much more visible with the air filter housing removed. A 13mm bolt, and once undone, the clamp can be lifted.

 

This will then allow the battery to slide forward and then lifted straight up and out:

 

The tray itself has two bolts, which I may have already taken out in the pic above. There is also a bolt hidden in the corner at the front of the car:

 

Then a nut at the back:

 

Which also seems to have a zip tie of some sort. I guess it was sorta put there but not tightened up. I cut this and will need to remind myself to attach a replacement.

 

That should be the fasteners for the battery tray, but there's a few more things connected to the tray that'll stop it from coming free. One is this thing clipped into the side:

 

Just came free with a bit of tugging at the latch. Not actually sure what it is.

 

The positive cable for the battery also has a few clips, a couple of u-shaped ones and a standard pop clip type:

 

That will then free the battery tray. I struggled on the rear part, and after some force, something popped and has disappeared into the ether:

 

I've assumed I cocked this bit up, but after looking for a possible replacement battery tray, they all seem to have this notch missing in the corner, so I'm less sure now that I've broken it. I imagine the thing that had the zip tie was what popped free, so not sure how to sort that out for now. Might not be a big deal.

 

But with the tray out, that leaves the filter housing for the DSG in view:

 

Now, for whatever reason I left it there rather than actually replace the filter whilst I was there. Maybe I was getting tired. I'll probably spend some time in the future to give some of these nooks and crannies a quick wipe over.

 

Maintenance: £1806.50

Upgrades: £952.09

Miscellaneous: £618.13

Eventually, I may need to lift the car higher in order to make things like the Haldex and DSG oil changes a little more easier. If I do that though, I'll definitely struggle to reach the top of the engine bay as I'm on the short side. That'll be my reasoning for tackling the spark plugs.

 

I'm immediately stumbled by how contrived the wiring connectors are for this. The connectors are pretty much the same as what I've seen in the past (brother used to have A3 1.4 TFSI, so the same connectors).

 

But this car also has a plastic frame or cradle or whatever which looks like it's to cover some of the exposed wiring, and maybe keep things together.

 

So some fumbling, and the use of the thin screwdriver again, something pops up:

 

 

I still couldn't really pull the connectors out for whatever reason, so decided maybe if the coil packs could be lifted out then maybe that'd give me a better angle at figuring things.

 

I bought one of these:

 

 

Another thing from eBay, £13.54. This is similar to what I see on the workshop manual, designed for pulling these things out.

 

So once the nut for the copper rings are undone, and the longer bolt removed for the coil packs, you insert this tool into the recess, and screw the knurled knob until the tool feels tightened to the coil pack. You then grab it and give it a go:

 

Then it pops out, feels like a couple of times actually.

 

The connector stops the coil pack coming out freely, but now that its raised, it gave a bit more purchase. Using a thin screwdriver, I gently wedged the top part of the connector until I head a faint click. That was my cue to pull the connector with a bit of intent.

 

This then disconnects the connector.

 

Didn't take pics of this bit, as I was starting to get miffed with these connectors. For this first coil pack, it was removed, and a spark plug socket with an extension plonked down and essentially the first spark plug is lifted and removed:

 

I'll have to swot up on the internet about spark plugs after some use, but this doesn't look like anything of concern.

 

Checked the removed spark plug with the new ones:

 

Exactly the same part number, PLFER7A8EG. So got the new one out, a bit of copper grease on the threads, and then use the spark plug socket to get the new one in. This is then tightened to 30Nm:

 

Now, the second connector the coil pack:

 

Had its latch part already broken. Such is life. Not sure how, but as per the pic above, it did disconnect, it could well be because it kind of doesn't lock into place:

 

The latch on the coil pack itself is also missing. So I guess I'd need to source both a connector and coil pack if I really cared. I don't think I'm the only person in the world who's encountered this so I reckon replacement connectors are probably easy to find.

 

Anyways, repeat for the other spark plugs:

 

 

 

They all pretty much look the same in terms of them having a sooty finish on the threads. No idea if that's good, but the consistency amongst them is probably a good sign.

 

I've torqued the long bolts for the coil pack to 10Nm, but I've left it there. I'll leave the final connecting up later, depending on whether replacement connectors are easy/cheap to source.

 

Regardless, this is my first mechanical task complete!

 

Maintenance: £1806.50

Upgrades: £952.09

Miscellaneous: £631.67 (+£13.54)

Edited 29 March, 20242 yr by commievid

Suitably pumped from the spark plugs, decided to see if I can wiggle myself under the car enough to get at the sump:

 

The answer is yes. I'm still surprised at seeing a sump made of plastic. The Honda Insight I have lightens things by having it made of magnesium, so I reckon less about weight and more about cost.

 

Anyways, got a specific tool for this as per an earlier post. I panicked a bit as it looks like it didn't actually work, until it sank further in to the plug:

 

Nice and solidly in there, so hopefully doesn't mangle the plug in the future.

 

Out it goes:

 

This is one of two drainage vessels I have. I have set aside the larger one for the DSG oil, but in all honesty, I've reached the point where this smaller one will be consigned to the bin:

 

The afternoon had bouts of gusts. Not at the same intensity as the winds yesterday, but enough to start messing with the driveway, spraying the dripping oil everywhere. I'll have to get more cardboard.

 

Anyways, decided to feign ignorance and deal with all this tomorrow, so turned to the oil filter:

 

Luckily, I have a few large sockets for things like driveshaft nuts, so a 32mm socket is what is required for the oil filter housing. Seems to be a German thing having a housing for it rather than just chuck away the entire filter.

 

The picks I bought in advance of this now in use:

 

The old filter is pulled out, and the new one clicked into place:

 

Not sure if there's an orientation, can always swap over if so. The replacement o-ring gets a slather of new engine oil, and is then inserted into the housing, and the whole thing screwed back into the engine:

 

Gave the housing a wipe down and a coat of Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care. The housing itself states 25Nm, with a +5 as well, so I've tightened it to 25Nm for now.

 

So that's nearly the engine oil change. Given the blustery wind blowing the dripping oil all over the place, I didn't rate my chances pouring fresh oil in, said blustery wind making it potentially go everywhere. I have sourced a specific pourer which might help I suppose, but I guess at this stage, I felt I've done a decent amount.

 

So a few more random pics:

 

Started to give the air filter housing a quick wash and scrub:

 

Just gave it a quick over under the tap with a sponge and Fairy Liquid:

 

Leaving these to dry and then give it a deeper clean probably on Monday, as the weather is forecast to be raining all day.

 

Here's me being bored enough to wipe down the battery:

 

That'll be the last time this battery gets any TLC I reckon as the next time it's out, it'll probably be replaced!

 

Weather this weekend is supposed to be nice, and much less blustery, so I'll tackle the draining of the DSG oil, and maybe the Haldex as well.

 

I'll probably need to remove some more under engine bay trim bits as well to reach the radiator hoses, as I'm presuming that'll need to be undone to drain the coolant.

 

I should plan the brake fluid bleed as well, given there's actually no obstacles stopping that from happening.

 

Maintenance: £1806.50

Upgrades: £952.09

Miscellaneous: £631.67

I’d recommend undoing the engine oil filter first - at which point oil drains back into the sump, before undoing the sump plug. That way the oil all comes out at once, rather than a bit dribbling out afterwards and blowing everywhere! Oil filter goes in either way up.

 

You can get to the DSG oil filter without removing the battery, contrary to the workshop manual instructions.

 

i would avoid draining the DSG  until you can run the engine, because you need to have the engine running to refill the DSG and it’s probably not ideal to leave it empty for a while.

 

Battery is original so it can’t have much life left, although I did tend to turn off auto-start-stop most of the time. That said it never exhibited any signs of being low on capacity.

Current plan is to drain the DSG and fill with 5.2l of new stuff as per the workshop manual.

 

Then once the engine is ready to be fired up, I'll try and improvise some means of levelling the car and then doing the procedure of letting it drip out oil once its at 35-45 degrees.

 

I still have to tackle the rear anti roll bar, remove the old suspension, all sorts left to do really.

 

The sooner the silent coat is sorted in the boot, then the sooner loads of stuff lying around the house can be put back in, so that's probably my focus for tomorrow.

Busy day, lovely weather so tried to get the silent coat stuff sorted.

 

The main reason is this:

 

 

The living room isn't really habitable with the entire rear seat back all splayed in bits everywhere. The sooner the silent coat is applied, the sooner the rear luggage and maybe even the rear seats can be installed.

 

So, decided to get cracking.

 

The silent coat is 2mm thick, and so was pretty easy to cut and roll, so essentially just a bit of art and craft it feels:

 

I tried to be reasonably comprehensive but not over the top. With the spare wheel done above, there was nothing really stopping the actual spare wheel from being reinstalled:

 

So installed the thing to keep the wheel in place, just slotted in and rotated 90 degrees. So then got the spare wheel out, it was lying around in the garage for quite a while:

\\

 

A closer look reveals what is probably grit and salt in the treads, so picked them all out (more salt around the car is probably not a good idea), then gave it a quick wash and wipe over:

 

Whilst waiting for the wheel to dry, decided to find other things to wipe down:

 

So went over the passenger side of the windscreen cowl and turret and sides:

 

Noticed this:

 

I've seen this along the door jambs as well. It looks to be tar spots? There must be something in the Aberdeen air, because I've never seen tar spots get into random enclosed areas such as this. Didn't think it was physically possible.

 

Did the other side, and tar spots there as well:

 

Whilst doing this, and before the wheel was dry, got an unexpected parcel:

 

Some silent coat absorber, 35mm, two lots of two sheets. From eBay for £68.60. I was expecting this sometime after the Easter break, but what this means is that whatever foam I see in the boot area, I can now replace like for like with this stuff.

 

So with that, installed the spare wheel:

 

Then I cleaned up the accessories for the spare wheel, cobwebs and whatnot:

 

The remains of a locking wheel nut, destined for the bin as not used anymore. Related to the awkward wheel nuts?

 

Forgot to take pics of this put back into the spare wheel well, but no point in that really. So with the absorber stuff now available, started to take out the foam in the left and right sides:

 

The residue is quite full on left behind:

 

I've taken pics of another area of residue removed, so I'll describe the process for that later.

 

Once sorted, the silent coat is applied:

 

I used the old foams to act as a net for the new foam:

 

The scissors used for cutting the silent coat also worked on this foam:

 

Warning: the adhesive used on the backing of the foam is very strong, like a souped up duct tape. So it doesn't mix well with gloves:

 

The stickiness also made it difficult to manoeuvre the foam into the recesses on the left and right. Just some persistence leads to:

 

So with the recessed area in the left and right sorted, the side carpet trims can now be installed, but for the left side, the subwoofer needs installing first.

 

At this stage, I broke for lunch. More posts to come.

 

Maintenance: £1806.50

Upgrades: £1020.69 (+£68.60)

Miscellaneous: £631.67

After lunch, gave the subwoofer a wipe down and once over with the Vinyl and Rubber Care:

 

The subwoofer fitted;

 

There is a 10mm nut at the base and two T30 torx screws at the top, one can be seen in the pic above, and one kinda behind in a recess. You can see the silent coat absorber all in place. There's probably a discussion to be had whether using silent coat to reduce rattling is ideal for a subwoofer, given reverb is kind of the point.

 

Continued along the boot towards the rear seats, so here's some pics of removing the residue. So this is a piece of foam on the driver side removed:

 

With the residue on the chassis:

 

What I used was some stuff called "Goo Gone" and a plastic scraper:

 

This Goo Gone has been used over many years to remove anything that leaves a sticky residue. I think its some sort of petroleum based solvent. It usually has an orange scent, but unfortunately, its been a number of years since I've used this stuff, and the orange smell is a bit off.

 

It still worked though, just rubbed into the residue which will then start to gum up the residue:

 

The plastic scraper (and fingers) then take this off. Hopefully making it nice and neat ready for the replacement foam:

 

So continued applying silent coat and any foam as necessary:

 

The area under the rear seat is next, which is a bit awkward, so applied in little bits:

 

I still had some silent coat absorber from the first sheet, so cut it up into arbitrary sizes and applied to the right luggage area:

 

So it was time finally to get some of the boot trim back into the car:

 

Started to dry fit the left and right side:

 

Same for the upper part for the right side, which has the Bowden cable already attached:

 

So the next step was to try and determine a route for this Bowden cable.

 

The carpet trim appears to have bits that look like candidate channels for the Bowden cable:

 

So slotted the cable through one, and further down towards another part with a hook.

 

Started to do the same for the left side, but with the subwoofer in place, some wiggling of the carpet is required:

 

So just pull down the cover/lid and rejig the bottom carpet if it catches on anything:

 

Whilst getting the carpet trims further in place, made sure the rear most plastic tab is hooked into the car, needs to be lifted up and it will plonk down:

 

In addition to wiggling the Bowden cable into place, the rear seat belts also need to be weaved into the slot in the upper trims:

 

Only then can the trims really start to look like they're ready to go:

 

For now, I've improvised a route for the Bowden cable where it follows the wiring that is present, and I expect the cables will then loop back before going vertically up into the seats.

 

With the carpet and upper trims fitted, installed the lower part of the rear most trim:

 

Then clipped the trim for the lip, didn't take a pic of that.

 

Started to seat the upper trims home properly now:

 

With that, then took the boot carpet and refitted it:

 

Starting to look like normal now.

 

Got a bit excited, so took the left rear seat backrest, and dry fitted it:

 

 

The latch appears to work, so hooked up the Bowden cable to the seat, then tried the seat:

 

Gave the lever a pull:

 

Then nothing. You can see the red tab goes up, so the latch is actually released, the seat then needs a push to actually fold down. So I have a horrid feeling something is missing, like a spring maybe that keeps the hinge under tension when fitted? Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

Regardless, decided to start filling the boot with the other gubbins ready for finishing up later:

 

Which leaves the living room in a better state:

 

Mainly the tailgate trims to be honest.

 

As I type this, I now realise I haven't actually tightened up the screws or the nut for the subwoofer! So I suspect I'll have to do a fair amount of trim removal again to get access to those to tighten up.

 

Also, I'll need to swot up further on the rear seat release, because it feels like I'm missing something, which would be very annoying given the effort spent on it thus far. Any ideas would be most appreciated!

 

Only other thing today was some engine oil filling, which I'll sort out in the next post.

 

Maintenance: £1806.50

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £631.67

As part of preplanning for tomorrow, looks like a 24mm socket is used for the DSG oil filter housing, so scrambled in the garage to find one, and left it there ready:

 

Installed the sump plug:

 

So I've used one of the green viton o-rings to replace the black one there, and tightened the plug until it slotted into the notch as above. I suppose it prevents needing to check up on torque settings, but doesn't sit right with me. I'll probably get used to it after a few years.

 

Whilst under there, removed the undertray at the front, 5 torx screws, with a central one tucked up a little:

 

This should mean easy access to drain the coolant.

 

One thing I bought recently was a set of 5l oil pourers:

 

Most of the cars I have usually have a 4.5l refill capacity, and this is the first car I've owned which has more, so I'm hoping this pourer helps in terms of dishing out quantities, in addition to having a lovely long spout so I don't risk making a mess.

 

I have some of this old Quantum stuff from a few years back when I did the wife's old Seat Ibiza. It is VW 504 and 507, which doesn't really mean much to me. I'll add fuel to the fire by topping up with some 5w40 rated VW 505. I'm not fussed, and I'll probably interchange between 5w30 and 5w40 depending on what oil I have in surplus.

 

Decanting the entire contents has shown its a little over 5l, so probably may well be enough as is.

 

This particular engine doesn't have a deep oil filling area, and has some bits which I presume is to reduce splashing when oil is poured in. This meant I couldn't really shove the spout in there and let it rip, so still had to pour it slowly, albeit with a little more accuracy with the spout.

 

Left an oil drain pan under the sump and will leave overnight to assess if the o-ring has done enough of a job.

 

So that's it for the day. I also went through all the suspension bolts and liberally sprayed some plus gas on them, in anticipation of stuff in the future. So the strut bolts and all the anti roll bar stuff essentially.

 

I'll probably want to try and extract the rear anti roll bar tomorrow so I can ascertain a suitable replacement part.

 

Oh, and I guess I need to remove parts of the left trim again to access the subwoofer so I tighten it down properly, and figure out the rear seat releases.

 

If I'm lucky, may be able to drain some more stuff and maybe even refill it!

 

Maintenance: £1806.50

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £631.67

I'm no clearer on what's different for the rear seats. I've seen some parts that suggest possibly different hinge bushes and whatnot, so I may start taking random punts.

 

Anyways, some deja vu early morning. Emptied out the boot again, and started to disassemble the left side to get to the subwoofer. So the boot lip trim is lifted up:

 

Disconnect the cable, and then start taking apart the top left trim:

 

This is pic from the front. Obviously this is after the two bolts and three screws are undone. Then once loosened, the D pillar lower trim can be wedged out. This leaves the one remaining screw used for the carpet trim. Once undone, the clips can be unlatched on said carpet trim and given a little pull:

 

Just enough to see the two screws and the nut. The workshop states 3Nm, so pretty much finger tight would have done it. Decided to do it with the torque wrench given I've already made the effort to retread all this:

 

The rear most screw needed some improvisation with the extensions I have available, so all sorts of adapters were involved, so looks a little overkill:

 

Just needs a long extension really. Once tightened, the trim can all be reinstated:

 

Decided to things correctly whilst I was here, so the T20 screws are done to 2.5Nm:

 

The one furthest forward needing an extension to get to it.

 

Then the T30 bolts are done to 7Nm. That should be it:

 

So as above, just reassemble the rest of the boot trim and carpet. The D pillar trims can then be wiggled on:

 

This actually took me a few tries, as I wasn't getting all the latches and tabs aligned along the bottom and front, but just a bit of a faff really, has 4 spring clips so no real pain to endure.

 

Whilst I had torque wrenches around, sorted out the rear seat belt anchors:

 

An M10 spline socket and done to 40Nm. There's a metal bump on the bodywork which locates into the anchor grooves, which makes the alignment of this fairly idiot proof from the looks of it. It won't really line up any other way.

 

I then looked at the leather padding/side trim, and noticed at the bottom there's a couple of plastic guides:

 

 

This reeks of being used for the Bowden cable, so a dry fit:

 

Kind of suggests it does make sense:

 

It looks to be just about the right size.

 

I recall getting some stainless steel nuts for the modules under the seat:

 

So perfect as replacements for attaching these side trims. They're hardly structural so might as well if they're lying around spare.

 

Repeat the install for the other side:

 

The nuts were done to 9Nm as per the workshop manual.

 

So just the rear seats left and for all intents and purposes, the interior is sorted! It's just the question of how to get the seats to fold down automatically now.

 

Maintenance: £1806.50

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £631.67

So, decided to try and tackle the rear anti roll bar. I emphasise try.

 

When I first got the GR86, I immediately ordered about £100 worth of suspension nuts and bolts, because like the VW group, Subaru also like to use TTY bolts.

 

I essentially removed the existing (and sadly still new) nuts and bolts under the car, greased up the central splines of the bolts with lots of grease, and then reassembled.

 

Basically, for any cars with multi link suspension, or frankly anything where a bolt goes through a bush, it really should be greased.

 

Otherwise, you'll end up in a situation such as when I had to deal with suspension arms on the Ford Focus, which eventually devolved into lots of fire and lots of swearing, as the rubber bushes had to be burned away.

 

Given the pics in previous posts showing the rust on the bodywork, the suspension was unlikely to be better. Even on a good day, I've usually had to resort to angle grinders and violence to sort out anti roll bar bits.

 

This is no different. Firstly, the anti roll bar link is attached to the suspension:

 

Manky looking nut, this had plus gas sprayed on it last night. From the front:

 

The bolt hex head actually looks in good nick. Took a guess at 13mm:

 

Eventually slots in with the spanner once the loose dirt and rust was cleared. So checked the other side:

 

13mm as well. The impact wrench fouled the suspension, so had to use the spanner on the front side to act as a counterhold, and attempted to buzz out the nut:

 

Which it did without much drama.

 

Make sure you wear some eye protection whilst doing this:

 

Because rust and dirt will start falling from wherever it wants.

 

Now, this was on the right side, with the broken anti roll bar. I was expecting the bolt to be tapped out and the link removed. But no.

 

As mentioned at the beginning, my fear of the bolt seizing into the bush has happened here. Even with violent strikes with a lump hammer, nothing was budging. I'll swot up on the workshop manual to see if there's something I may be missing, but I suspect either fire or a reciprocating saw may be required.

 

So decided to look elsewhere:

 

This is the roll bar bush mounting bit, the C shape bracket that attaches to the subframe. Even with plus gas applied, there's still a lot of dirt and crap. Decided to skip on by for now and look for anything that might be a small victory:

 

So looked at the suspension bottom bolt. Not sure whether it's just a VW group thing, but they find almost some sort of kick out of using non-standard nuts and bolts. Rather than 17mm or 19mm, I had a guess that this suspension probably involves 16mm and 18mm bits, and lo and behold, the 18mm impact socket is what fits here.

 

I jacked up the suspension arm slightly, as I've usually found that aids in getting the bolt out. So readied the impact wrench whilst holding the spanner on the other side.

 

Now, the use of the impact wrench yielded nothing. Exact scenario as the wheel bolts on this side of the car.

 

Had to resort to a breaker bar, which then acted as a counterhold:

 

With the other side using a ratchet spanner, and the arm of the trolley jack to extend it. An almighty number of cracking sounds was emanating as the bolt was presumably being undone. You can see in the pic above that the driveway way taking damage as this bolt was being undone.

 

Exhausting, but it was coming away:

 

With the nut out, took the lump hammer and gave the bolt a few taps:

 

This is what is supposed to happen, i.e. the bolt actually comes free.

 

Once popped up, the jack was lowered and the rear damper was now hanging:

 

Disconnected the DCC connector and the rubber but that attaches to the damper, and improvised a small plastic bag to cover the connector, as I've no idea how long I will end up spending on this rear suspension.

 

The top of the damper is attached with 16mm bolts:

 

No drama here, impact wrench buzzes them out without issue.

 

So once done, the damper itself can then be taken out:

 

Another small victory.

 

The remains of the wheel arch is pretty much on par with the rest of the car:

 

Hopefully when I get some Lanoguard on this it'll stop it from getting worse, because this is a MoT disaster in the making.

 

Anyways, popped out the upper cover as I don't think I bought these, and will put them onto the new dampers:

 

Although, given the state of what's underneath, seems a bit ironic that these covers haven't really kept it clean.

 

Before I took out the other suspension, disconnected the level sensor on the left suspension arm, just in case:

 

It looked like T25 bolts for whatever daft reason, and the right side one did round itself. I manage to luck out with the Knipex pliers, where a bit of tightening and loosening got the bolt free. I'll source some normal stainless bolts for this, see no reason for tiny fragile bolts for this.

 

Now, the suspension bolt for the left damper had the nut on the other side to the rear. Did the same process, attempted with the impact driver:

 

This side came out without any drama. Take the win.

 

The bolt didn't come free as easily, used a spanner to spin it which helped to slowly get it out.

 

 

This nut and bolt seems to be in better nick. Doesn't matter, as these are all for the bin anyway.

 

Whilst I was there, disconnecting the DCC on this side, the one wheelarch bolt that remained on this side was spinning freely. I resorted to brute force:

 

To get out the old plastic captive nut. I'll have to source a new one, and need to do so for the other ones that remain (I think two on the right side).

 

Didn't take pics of the other damper being removed but was the same steps.

 

So with that done, revisited those anti roll bar mount bolts:

 

This side was even worse. Had to find a wire brush, and gave it a once over with some plus gas afterwards:

 

Still a mess to be honest, but a closer look suggests maybe a spline bit:

 

I basically just got an M10 spline bit and tapped at it with the hammer. It eventually slotted in, and felt like it was about right.

 

The suspension arm was conveniently at a height that allowed an extension and spanner to rest on it:

 

Then again with the trolley jack arm to extend the wrench, some deep breathes, and then attempted to undo the bolt.

 

It then started to move, and after a few more turns, squeezed the impact wrench in and buzzed out the rest:

 

So despite being caked in loads of dirty, the bolt that came out didn't actually look too terrible.

 

So suitably inspired, looked at the top bolt, which entailed raising the suspension arm further:

 

In order to gain access to the bolt:

 

Just about see it between the anti roll bar link and the green plastic part of the level sensor arm.

 

Tried the same spiel with the M10 socket, hammered in and some extensions. Whilst it started to undo, it then started to tighten up and then I slipped:

 

The sorry git is now rounded, so I stopped for now, maybe even for the day, as I'm a bit miffed.

 

Not sure how best to proceed here. I imagine if I can get an angle grinder in there, I could cut out bits of the mount. I basically need to do whatever I can so I can get some pliers onto the bolt and hope that I can get enough purchase to keep rotating the bolt. A least a couple of millimetres has come out, so it isn't completely flush against the mount.

 

I doubt this would have happened with just some normal hex head bolts, like the ones used in the suspension arm. So a bit frustrating really.

 

I'll try the other side later, but otherwise, this day hasn't gone as smoothly as I'd like.

 

Maintenance: £1806.50

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £631.67

Edited 31 March, 20242 yr by commievid

Had a spot of lunch (and some chocolate!) and went and jacked up the other side to gain access to the other top bolt.

 

Same with the hammering on of the M10 bit to make sure its slotted in, and some extension gymnastics:

 

Took no chances, got a big breaker bar and the trolley jack extension. Once it started to loosen, I then swapped it out with the ratchet spanner, and slowly slowly:

 

Had a decent angle to see it slowly getting there.

 

Then out it went:

 

So the anti roll bar on this side now flops about, as the one remaining rounded bolt is still loosened, so it's just that one left.

 

I think there's enough attack angles to get at it with a reciprocating saw, which I will most likely need to use for the anti roll bar links anyway.

 

That's it for the day, so not perfect, as the DSG and Haldex haven't been touched yet.

 

Forecast is rain tomorrow so a sad end to the Easter break unfortunately.

 

Maintenance: £1806.50

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £631.67

I think this thread needs more pictures 🤣

 

I especially liked the one of a bag of nuts, no warning label that it might contain traces of nuts though!

Not the best of days, car has really tested my patience.

 

Small victory was removing the washer bottle, which as it turned out, just needed some confident prying away.

 

Firstly, undid the two washer hoses from the lower washer motor:

 

Which as you can see, starts draining the washer fluid, so waste not want not:

 

So once the two nuts and the screw in the wheelarch was undone, pry the washer bottle out of the captive stud:

 

Then for all intents, the washer bottle just plops out. Only with the hoses and the wiring keeping the thing on.

 

So undo the three metal clips along the top:

 

Which makes disconnecting the wiring connectors to the lower and upper washer motors easier, in addition to the hose, done by squeezing in the blue tabs on the sides of the connector and it should pull out (vaguely similar to the odd fuel line connectors on cars with under body fuel filters and so on).

 

Like the DCC connectors on the rear, wrapped up the connectors and hose connections with a plastic bag, to stop any dirt from possibly getting into the washer hoses:

 

Hopefully, I can get a good clean out of the washer bottle, and I guess the plan will be to flush out the washer system, just in case any of the crud I saw at the top is lurking in any of the pipework.

 

Given I was there, decided to just go ahead and remove the front wing.

 

It's mainly 10mm bolts, so three along the top:

 

There are two bolts at the rear of the wing towards the front door:

 

There's a weird blob on the front bolt which fouled it. I'm guessing some sorta overzealous seam sealer application?

 

Just chiselled the thing away:

 

So the bolt can be undone. Decided then to unclip the black plastic bit near those two bolts:

 

This is continued up along the wing:

 

Which is also where two bolts are. Then turning to the front:

 

There are two T20 screws, which actually are bolts, which connect the bumper to the wing. This allows the bumper to be pulled out slightly:

 

Which makes access to the last two front bolts much easier:

 

That should be it:

 

So stuck that into the garage, leaving behind:

 

Hopefully just needs the remains to be wiped down.

 

It makes access to the troublesome hose connector much easier:

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't go back in with any conviction, and just slides out without any resistance. It could be missing a o-ring, can't really tell at this stage. Worse case scenario, I'll source a repair section off of eBay or wherever and just get rid of this connector.

 

This was about where the day took a turn for the worse.

 

Decided to see if I could remove the front struts, as for all intents and purposes, this would have been the bare minimum requirement for the MoT (unless a subsequent tester discovers the rear anti roll bar I guess).

 

So normally, I struggle with the anti roll bar drop links, usually resulting in their destruction. See the posts about the rear ones.

 

So I threw caution to the wind and got the Impact wrench straight onto the drop link nut, which was 18mm. This loosened it, but it did the classic spinning and not loosening thing.

 

Now, the recess in the drop link was nice and clean, and fitted an M6 spline bit nice and cleanly. So I got that onto a ratchet spanner with a normal 18mm ring on the nut. I tightened with the ratchet spanner to actually loosen the nut:

 

So out it came without any drama.

 

Same result on the other side. Was pleasantly surprised.

 

So the big strut bolt was next. This had an 18mm nut on one end and a big M14 spline bit on the other end. This did not get affected by the impact wrench at all, so required the breaker bar, with added trolley jack bar:

 

After a few turns, disaster:

 

Didn't know such beefy bolts can snap like this. I had a decent feeling why though. Checked to see if the nut could still be undone:

 

So at least that was freed:

 

The hubs look like aluminium, and I imagine years of a steel bolt through it, and well, you've seen the rust under this car, so could be years of salt and corrosion in this mess, making the bolt most likely absolutely mashed together with the hub.

So I imagine fire and a hammer might be my only choice.

 

I started to undo the three top of the strut as well, which again decided to end in disaster:

 

Somehow, one remaining bolt has decided to spin freely, and the top mount captive nut appears to now be spinning freely. This is much more of a pain than the strut bolt I imagine as access is tight up there.

 

Took some deep breathes and tackled the other side:

 

The strut bolt came free from this one. The whole process was much harder, even with the trolley jack handle extending the breaker bar. This whole bolt having aluminium corrosion on it just emphasising the point I've made already. Just grease the sodding things.

 

So to really get me at snapping point:

 

I tried to disconnect the hose on the bottom right of the radiator to drain the coolant, as part of the servicing. The workshop manual simply states to undo this clamp and disconnect it from the radiator.

 

It doesn't budge.

 

So decided ok, I'll just disconnect the hose via the clip. No dice.

 

The clip is oriented in such a way that the air con compressor is right in the way, and some manoeuvring with the pliers to try and release the clip kept slipping, and even worse, slipped and rotated further inwards away from the outside.

 

It reached the point where it then had to be tackled from above, which only succeeded in getting the hose clip absolutely facing inwards now.

 

It was then that I was screaming to the heavens.

 

Sure, snapped suspension bolts are frustrating, but I'm now anticipating that this will happen with this naff car.

 

But to struggle to empty the car of coolant? Blimey.

 

Maintenance: £1806.50

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £631.67

Calmed down a tiny bit and looked at the left side:

 

The workshop manual cites both this and the radiator on the right need undoing, so again, tried it for this side connecting to the additional radiator, undoing the clamps but again not freeing.

 

However, the hose spring clamps were much more accessible:

 

Once the clamp was loosened and wiggled down the hose, took the pliers and squeezed on to the hose and rotated it. What I've normally experienced is that once the hose starts to rotate from its stuck position, it'll then be more easily removed, even if that still entails things like pry bars.

 

So some of the coolant is now out, but I'll need to tackle the main hose. Once I get a spare moment, I'll probably remove the hose which I guess is for the intercooler, to see if that gives my more room to tackle that troublesome hose clamp. I'm super loathed to buy a remote hose clamp tool for this one hose, as I won't be using the tool again (or will I?).

 

I'll probably source some JCS hi grip hoses to replace these, as these will be the ones I'll be using for future coolant drains.

 

I tried to free the right suspension strut:

 

But like an idiot, tried to do this with the hope that'll just come out. Alas, it's one of those cars where it'll need compressing or things disconnected and out of the way.

 

So I'll have to source some driveshaft bolts by the looks of it to disconnect it from the hub.

 

I also rather cackhandedly:

 

I suspect my attempts to lower the hub to try and get the strut out have damaged the level sensor. Completely my fault as these should be undone in the first place. So another thing I may need to source.

 

This arrived today:

 

A rear anti roll bar. According to eBay and the label:

 

From a 2019 Audi RS3? Why not? Hopefully it fits.

 

Normally, what I would have done is taken out the old one and at least visually sized it up, but couldn't really do that. Decided to take a punt on this because:

 

1. If it's from an Audi RS3 maybe it'll be a bit stiffer, so maybe some handling benefits?
2. Looks in really decent nick, only a few scuffs that could probably just be fine with some Hammerite or whatever.
3. Bushes, clamps and links are attached, so pretty much a straight swap if it fits.
4. It was £35

 

So as long as it goes in, I think it'll be worthwhile.

 

Maintenance: £1841.50 (+£35.00)

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £631.67

Edited 4 April, 20242 yr by commievid

At this stage, got to take the little victories.

 

Some bits arrived today:

 

A 14mm hex socket for the DSG drain bolt, and a 24mm 12 point socket for the driveshafts.

 

Frustratingly, I know I actually have a 14mm hex socket, because it's the same size as used for the Renaultsport Clio 172/182 dephaser bolt. But in typical fashion, it decides to not want to be found in the garage, and I'll probably find it now that a replacement has arrived. It was £4.45 though, so could be worse.

 

The 24mm socket was £8.50, and its more frustrating due to having 30mm, 32mm and 34mm sockets in varying guises in the garage due to every other driveshaft fixing using those sizes.

 

I have decided for the rear anti roll bar to use equivalent size 8.8 bolts. So cross referenced the parts diagrams and ordered up some M8 x 80 bolts, to replace the links to the suspension arm, which is N10 776 501 (technically 85mm long bolts, but honestly, don't think that 5mm will make a difference, he says...).

 

Also some M8 x 30 bolts for the roll bar clamps. Supposed to be N10 765 801 but yeah, don't want to endure using these spline bits if I can help it. It'll depend whether the head of those bolts fit and not foul the clamp in any way I suppose.

 

I also got some M5 x 16 bolts to replace the ones attaching the level sensor to the arm. Supposed to be N10 569 501 but again, already rounded off one of them and only just about lucked out getting that off.

 

I wasn't brave enough to get stainless bolts for the anti roll bar bits, even though I'd argue it's probably the only part of the suspension where it's probably ok, as even if it snaps, nothing is going to fall off (case in point, the actual roll bar snapping on this car).

 

All those came to £18.80, which I reckon would have been similar had I went for the OEM ones.

 

So took that 24mm socket and went out quickly to have a look:

 

Just looking at it was giving me bad vibes. I went at it with the wire brush to quickly scrape off the easy bits, and proceeded to get the socket aligned and in place with a few taps of the lump hammer.

 

The impact wrench looked like it was struggling again, akin to the other times when the poor thing couldn't budge things.

 

However, I noticed the labelling on the socket just rotate ever so slightly a fraction of a millimetre at a time, so after half a minute of impacting:

 

It came free. Absolutely relieved.

 

The other side had a similar story:

 

It was stuck for about 15 seconds but then immediately spun out with more oomph than the other side.

 

The workshop manual stresses that you can damage the wheel bearings if the weight of the car is on the suspension without this bolt tightened up. I presume because the driveshaft and wheel bearing need to be clamped in place quite tight to keep it centralised or something.

 

Car won't be on its wheels for ages yet, so no rush to source replacement bolts.

 

Back to work, so not sure whether the driveshafts are seized into the bearing at the moment. I suspect yes.

 

Maintenance: £1860.30 (+£18.80)

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £644.62 (+£12.95)

On 30/03/2024 at 20:25, commievid said:

Then nothing. You can see the red tab goes up, so the latch is actually released, the seat then needs a push to actually fold down. So I have a horrid feeling something is missing, like a spring maybe that keeps the hinge under tension when fitted? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Yep, you’re correct; there is a spring which is supposed to force the seat back down when the handle’s pulled. In our case, it doesn’t work on the twin seat, but the single seat falls down fine. 

25 minutes ago, numskull said:

Yep, you’re correct; there is a spring which is supposed to force the seat back down when the handle’s pulled. In our case, it doesn’t work on the twin seat, but the single seat falls down fine. 

Thanks for that, so there's something.

 

Guess I gotta swot some more!

Someone or something is definitely out to get me.

 

This arrived near the end of the day:

 

Another impact socket, this time an 18mm long one. This was £5.45 from Amazon.

 

The reason is this strut bolt:

 

No amount of hammering has gotten this out, so my idea is to take the nut, and impact it down, with the hope that as it slowly tightens, it actually pulls the bolt outwards, and hopefully free.

 

My initial attempts to do so bottomed out the existing impact sockets, so a longer one sounded like the best approach.

 

So with the impact wrench attacking the nut, it took a few moments but the nut could be seen tightening. Then a popping sound, some white dust flew around, and the nut started to spin. Loosened it slightly, and it pulled out rather undramatically:

 

So that's that sorted:

 

No remains in the hole, so another small victory.

 

So to remove the struts, it would look like the ball joint and the driveshaft need separating from the hub in order to get enough free movement on the hub to get the strut out and clear.

 

So started going at the ball joint on the driver side:

 

These were 16mm, and pretty tight, so went slowly with them, with extensions as well.

 

So obviously this happens:

 

As if to spite me, the last nut just decided to nope and shear the bolt clean:

 

So another thing to source. Annoying because long term plans probably involve replacing these lower arms as part of a fuller suspension refresh, but hey ho, I'm sure eBay will have some cheapy ones to bridge that gap for now.

 

Annoyingly, I decided to jack up the arm on the other side and use the impact wrench, and of course, all the nuts came free without issue.

 

Regardless, it does mean the ball joint can be separated, I just pushed the lower arm down and wiggled it free:

 

So the driveshaft next. I decided to put the bolt in about 2-3 turns and give it a few gentle taps with the lump hammer:

 

The driveshaft didn't look stuck on thankfully, and was started to come free.

 

It still required a silly amount of wiggling, messing around and loud swearing before it did come free:

 

I ended up using an empty oil bottle to hold the hub steady, then scrambled for something else to hold it up to stop the wiring and brake lines from being strained. Found some bricks to do the job.

 

So with the strut now in the open air, it was a case of wiggling it around a bit, and moving the strut spreader tool in order to clear the route for the strut, and eventually:

 

The additional plastic bag is for the disconnected DCC connector, but a milestone of sorts:

 

One front strut out at last. Ironically, not the one that actually needs replacing from an MoT perspective. Not sure if it's worth anything, it's less rusty than the other side.

 

So I guess I'll now need to plan to tackle this:

 

The top bolt for the ball joint is absolutely caked in rubbish, so I'll need to spend a bit of time cleaning this all up. I'll probably end up disassembling the brake caliper to make it easier to move and work on the hub, which will then end up meaning only the track rod end is keeping the hub attached.

 

Sod's law it may well end up being easier to disconnect that as well in order to stick the hub on a workbench or whatever.

 

If anyone has any idea regarding the rear seat spring hinge mechanisms, I'd be most grateful, as I can't see anything on parts diagrams, etc.

 

Maintenance: £1841.50

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £637.12 (+£5.45)

Busy day today, I'll use this post for the morning.

 

With the strut on the front left out of the car, decided to give the car a go over with some Autoglym Engine Cleaner. Whilst doing so, did a once over with the engine bay.

 

So its a case of spraying it, using a brush to rub and agitate the engine cleaner, then give it a mist to rinse:

 

The engine bay has a few annoying bits that'll trap water (the top of the gearbox and the inlet manifold for example), so I'll probably need to dab some cloths or something to clear up excess.

 

There's the elephant in the room of whether I should have done this. I at least put a plastic bag over the inlet at the rear, but have taken a chance in regards things like the electrical connectors, etc.

 

But doing the same process with the rest of the wheel arches:

 

Some bits have cleaned up alright:

 

Other's less so. The Autoglym stuff is water based I believe, so less aggressive than something like brake cleaner, which I suppose I could use if I wanted it absolutely sparkling.

 

Did the same within the wheel arches:

 

Which again, probably requires a bit more aggression for absolute cleanliness:

 

All the colours in the rear wheel arches are amusing:

 

So with that done, the plan is to wait for this to dry so I can then get underneath and sort out the DSG oil change, as well as maybe tackle some of stuck bolts.

 

So whilst waiting, decided to disassemble the breaks. This is mainly to get a chunk of the weight off of the hub, hopefully making reassembly a little easier. Especially so as the right hub needs the ball joint removing, and it'll probably be easier to do with as little in the way as possible.

 

So the guide bolts on the top and bottom are first:

 

I wasn't able to slide the 17mm spanner all the way in, so not sure if that's the right size, but with a 13mm on the impact, the guide bolts come out without much drama.

 

Decided then to get a 10mm and undo the bracket:

 

This allowed the caliper to wiggle free (with the help of a pry bar) and for now rested onto the hub:

 

In hindsight, the brake line on the bracket should have been undone before the bracket:

 

With it hanging freely and the caliper now where it should be, it was a bit more of a hassle to undo the clip with pliers and just holding onto the bracket for dear life.

 

Freeing the brake line then allows the caliper a lot more leeway, so moved it around and onto the ground:

 

Used a brick to raise it slightly so that the brake line is nice and slack.

 

Continued with the pry bar for the brake pads:

 

Fortunately nothing seized here:

 

So next is the pad carrier itself. The workshop manual specs these as 200Nm, which is tight indeed.

 

So after a few fumblings with 17mm and 19mm sockets, turns out a 21mm socket is needed, and just went straight at it with the impact wrench:

 

The top came out with some resistance, with a chunk of aluminium dust sprinkling down to the bottom bolt:

 

The bottom did not budge with the impact, so had to do as per the other bolts witnessed before:

 

Once loosened a few quarter turns, the impact did the rest:

 

The pad carrier pretty much falls out from the hub.

 

So pretty much only the brake disc left. But of course:

 

The bolt rounded off almost instantly when attempting to be undone. Not my first rodeo here, I'll need to find my drill bits for the afternoon.

 

So, the other side already had the strut out, which also meant the hub was pretty much only attached via the track rod end. Regardless, the guide bolts still came out without drama:

 

With the hub loose, getting to the pad carrier bolts is a little easier:

 

Compared to the left side, the impact was sufficient to free the bolts and the carrier:

 

On this side, the disc also fell out, as the retaining bolt has already been pre drilled out from a previous life I expect.

 

So for this side as per the pic, I left the hub resting on the brake disc which seems to be sufficient in terms of not straining the ABS wiring.

 

So that was it for the morning, decided to break for lunch, these arrived in the mail:

 

Some replacement JCS Hi Grip hose clips which I'll use to replace the spring clamps for the left and eventually the right bottom hoses, so that I don't have to deal with the quick releases and what not in the future. The hoses were £15.58 for 6 of them, 4 smaller ones for the left and 2 slighly larger ones (although I only saw one for the larger hose, probably be another random one somewhere).

 

Maintenance: £1857.08 (+£15.58)

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £637.12

So after some lunch, and some gardening, and some laundry, the driveway was dry enough to get underneath and spot the DSG drain bolt:

 

I basically followed the guide here:

Which is pretty much all that's needed really. Any pics here are pretty much the same as in that post:

 

So a 14mm hex socket undoes the drain bolt, and in my case, some oil started to come out, but with the 8mm hex on the fill level bolt:

 

Then a lot more flows out.

 

So with the oil draining out, removed the filter housing:

 

A Mann filter ready to go, steps are basically akin to an oil filter:

 

So a bit of oil on the o-ring on the filter, some on the o-ring to be put into the housing, and the filter is clicked into place:

 

I used some shop cloth to soak up some of the oil within the housing, not sure if this is necessary.

 

The housing is then tightened to 20Nm, and that's that.

 

So still waiting for the oil to drain away, looked at the anti roll bar links and checked if my reciprocating saw has enough clearance:

 

It just about does, but perhaps might be easier with the springs removed, which will probably need to be done eventually.

 

I then recalled the rounded bolts in the right rear wheel arch:

 

These are the remaining screws for the wheel liners:

 

Now, with the liner aggressively removed (as seen with the remains on the pic above), a pair of pliers had enough to bite into them:

 

Both were able to slowly rotate and free. One of them took the retaining clip as well. I'll probably want to remove that other retaining clip and replace them both with new ones.

 

So, enough distractions, back to the DSG oil. With the tool purchased a few weeks back, checked the drain bolt against the possible adapters:

 

As soon as I tried "ATF107" it was immediately too small, so just ended up trying random ones:

 

So "ATF106" is the correct one. Essentially, just hand tightened via the knurled part is enough. Make sure the fill bolt is back in place first of course, tightened to 3Nm, which is pretty much less than hand tight in all honesty.

 

It was then a case of filling the tool:

 

I think I ended up putting slightly over 5.5l, takes a while a litre at a time.

 

I didn't take any more pics unfortunately, but the tool pushes onto the adapter and a nut is used to tighten down onto the adapter.

 

With the valve turned a quarter turn, I then pumped the oil via the handle.

 

This took quite a while, as it was only pushing a few millilitres at a time it seems. I think about 15-20 minutes of pumping before it wasn't pumping anymore. I suspect it would end up less than the 5.5l due to the hose, and due to always have a little bit left over along the bottom.

 

Made the mistake of disconnecting the valve before the adapter, which then resulted in lots of oil over the adapter making the knurled area difficult to undo.

 

Decided to fit the valve again and then focus on the knurled adapter. Then it was a case of quickly fitting the previously removed bolt once that the adapter was removed.

 

Hopefully didn't lose too much during this.

 

Worse case scenario, still have some leftover I suppose. What I need to do next is to mess around with the trolley jacks to raise the front slightly to get it level before getting the power back on and checking the levels.

 

I have some inclinometers which hopefully I can use along say the sill to determine levels.

 

With the DSG filter in place, there's nothing stopping the engine bay being reassembled really, so there's nothing stopping getting the power back on.

 

Maintenance: £1857.08

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £637.12

So with the DSG oil replaced, only thing left in terms of servicing is the Haldex oil change, and once the engine bay is reassembled, the Air Filter will be done as part of it.

 

Just the remaining elephants in the room, so tried to get some of them addressed.

 

For the coolant hose on the right of the radiator, one initial idea was to remove the hose underneath, which was using a pair of standard hose clips (so 7mm).

 

Whilst they did start to undo, for some reason, the clips are attached in an unexpected way, so couldn't really sort that out quickly. So retightened them, and just had no other approach except to persist with the pliers on the spring clip.

 

Eventually, was able to get the spring clip rotated to somewhere more accessible. Then slowly and carefully got the spring clip moved downwards and then eventually:

 

The coolant hose was finally freed. A little bit more coolant out, not as much as I was expecting. Will need to double check the workshop manual.

 

So one down.

 

So looked back at the front brake disc. Found my drill bits, normally I start at about 2.5mm or 3mm and progress upwards, but here, just started straight at the 5.5mm:

 

Then after a while, up to 6mm:

 

The bolt head then snapped off free onto the bit. So that's that.

 

The brake disc just needed a gentle tap:

 

The brake disc looked stuck onto the hub, but probably as expected. Couldn't get any purchase with pliers on the remainder of the bolt, so I'll just it there.

 

With the strut still attached on this side, tapping out the driveshaft was actually easier than the other side, a few gentle taps and once the tone of the taps changed, just gave it a wiggle:

 

Then it came free without drama.

 

So the only thing left is that one remaining top strut bolt.

 

Attempts with a mole grip:

 

Did not work, nor did squeezing a socket on the bottom end and attempting to undo from the top.

 

No easy way to do it, and fire did not look like a good idea in that general area.

 

From the bottom, the bolt could be pushed up slightly. This bit of clearance was enough to try out the reciprocating saw/sawzall:

 

It slowly cut through the bolt, the key appeared to be not to go at full speed but somewhere between a third and half to get it cutting. Given the wiring and hoses to the bonnet are in the vicinity, this was a little touch and go, but I was getting desperate at this stage.

 

Eventually, the top of the bolt popped out and flew across the engine bay. I haven't found it, so something I'll need to check on later, but:

 

The bottom part fell through to the floor. No idea why this became so problematic, took about an hour to get this out.

 

But a milestone reached:

 

All the struts are out, and amusingly, the final one is really the only one that needed to be done:

 

Guess the end of the spring just disintegrated and is lost to the ether.

 

The remains of the battle:

 

I'll probably just dab in some touch up paint around this area and move on. Regardless of recommendations, will be greasing all bolts when reassembling.

 

The remainder of the day involved removing the rear anti roll bar, which will be the next post.

 

Maintenance: £1857.08

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £637.12

Edited 6 April, 20242 yr by commievid

So in order to have a chance at tackling that one remaining rounded socket on the anti roll bar clamp, I needed to remove the springs.

 

Given I actually have replacement rear springs, they would need to be removed anyway.

 

Logic would suggest that with the strut removed, the suspension bolt attaching the lower arm to the hub could also be removed, and in doing so, lower the arm enough to free the spring.

 

Alas, this was the same logic that applied to the Ford Focus, and I anticipate the same issues involved.

 

Given the anti roll bar bolts have seized onto the bushes, I would bet my mortgage on the hub bushes to suffer the same fate. In fact, attempting to use the impact wrench on the bolt yielded no movement.

 

I suspect even if I used the breaker bar and undid the bolt and nut, it'll be seized onto the bush, meaning it'll need destroying.

 

If that was done, then the hub pretty much needs to be removed in order to press in a replacement bush, or another specialist tool to press it in in situ. Either way, it'd also mean sourcing a new bush.

 

So I was pretty much stuck with needing to compress the spring:

 

I lucked out with the purchase of this spring compressor, as it just about fits. So once in position, got a wrench with a 23mm socket and tightened away.

 

It'll need some compression before the top clears away:

 

The bottom was still attached to something:

 

This thing, which has tabs that can be squeezed in from the underside, looks to keep the rubber seat in place.

 

Once unclipped, the spring comes free:

 

So it looks like about 4 coils need compressing to get enough clearance.

 

The same assembly tool on the other side:

 

Looks to have a suffered a bit. This was most likely when I applied fire to the anti roll bar link, the heat near and hot enough to melt bits of the right side assembly tool. I'll need to find out whether these are critical.

 

In any case, this gave enough access to the clamp with the rounded bolt.

 

Initial attempts with the Sawzall wasn't frankly quick enough. I guess with enough patience, it could be done.

 

The Sawzall did make quick work of the anti roll bar link on this side though, but the links are made of plastic for this car.

 

So rather than persist with the Sawzall for this obstacle, checked to see if the angle grinder has enough clearance to get in:

 

It does. A cut along the bottom half of the clamp allowed the bush to come free. This meant that after some wiggling:

 

A sigh of relief, as the anti roll bar is out at last. I cannot remember the routing I took to get it out, which would have been useful to note, as it was a faff even with a broken end on it.

 

Another couple of cuts on the clamp left enough room to get some pliers on:

 

The next 45 minutes was painstakingly squeezing the pliers to try and get purchase, and slowly quarter turning the stiff bolt. There was the occasional application of fire and plus gas which either helped it along or acted as a decent placebo.

 

Persistence got through:

 

The Knipex pliers are effective if you can get the purchase:

 

The bolt was probably not going to allow for this any longer if it remained.

 

Whilst I was down there, took a look at the Haldex unit:

 

The filler appears to be a 5mm hex bolt, with not a lot of space due to the subframe. Wanted to get as big a wrench as possible as I didn't want to risk rounding this thing.

 

But it came out without much issue:

 

So put that back in place ready for a proper drain eventually.

 

So next was the right side spring. Unfortunately, the spring compressors were only able to grab at 3 coils, which isn't enough to get the spring out. It is almost there, but even with a pry bar involved in folding down the lower arm, there still was not enough clearance.

 

Then an idea struck me:

 

I used the spring compressor the other way around. This allowed the grabbing of four coils, and once compressed:

 

Out it slid, not much drama one that was figured out.

 

So to install the new springs, it'll be pretty much a case of getting 4 coils, but sod's law this will take a few attempts, as removing them did not mean any considerations for alightment and positioning of the compressors.

 

So the anti roll bar links are in clearer view:

 

Access is still pretty tight for the Sawzall, and the metal lip on the lower arm means an angle grinder isn't practical here either. Once I've recovered sufficiently, I'll try the Sawzall on the inside of the links, around the bushes, which hopefully will mean the bolt going through is cut enough to mean the link can be removed.

 

Sized up the new one against the old:

 

It looks like it should fit. It's amazing how a 2016 vs 2019 can make such a difference.

 

That was pretty much it for the day. With the springs out, and the front left strut out, gave those areas another round of the Engine Cleaner and brush and rinsed it off. The wheel arches are as ready as they'll ever be for a couple of goes with Lanoguard.

 

Whilst I was there, I took out the old air quality sensor:

 

The replacement was installed, just a connector and a small latch underneath to attach it to the plastic clip which attaches to the car itself. This is marked 5Q0 907 643 B, with the replacement installed being 5Q0 907 643 C. Hopefully that doesn't make a difference, but time will tell.

 

So other than the rear anti roll bar links, today hasn't gone too badly, quite good in comparison to last week really.

 

Once these links are removed, that should be it in terms of obstacles right now. Weather tomorrow will dictate whether any further progress is made, but it's getting there slowly.

 

Maintenance: £1857.08

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £637.12

Edited 6 April, 20242 yr by commievid

Weather forecast was for some slight sunny spells with rain from 10am onwards.

 

Spent the morning sorting out the GR86, changing to summer tyres and giving it an oil change.

 

Once the wife and I had given it the test drive and a quick few errands, we came back to still sunny weather, with only a few spots of rain.

 

So decided to see if I can get those rear anti roll bar drop links out.

 

With the sawzall, started getting some cuts in on the left side link:

 

Once I got about halfway, the sawzall started to struggle, so took a little breather, and started attacking with the lump hammer on one end and an impact on the other.

 

Didn't do much except start heating up the rubber surround of the side of the link, so allowed it to be removed:

 

Once I took the sawzall to the other side and got that halfway through, a tap with the mallet then miraculously worked:

 

So basically, whatever seized that bolt in place had now been unseized:

 

So that's one side.

 

Feeling optimistic now, started at the other end:

 

After trying the same tactics, it wasn't really as willing, and bent the sawzall blade in retaliation:

 

This was actually a blessing in disguise, as once I replaced it with a new blade, the new one was almost cutting through it too quickly:

 

The sawzall was able to cut through the side completely, so essentially, sometime over the last couple of days, the previous blade must have been blunted from my initial use, or perhaps via the suspension top bolt. I imagine it was my initial use of too high a speed which may have blunted it prematurely.

 

This ulimately meant it was probably just easier to go ahead and cut through the other side:

 

So with that, the link itself and the threaded end of the bolt can be extracted:

 

The remains of the bolt head and a bit of the link was still there, but I had a feeling that could now be buzzed out with the impact wrench:

 

So the pliers were involved yet again to grab onto the remains, with the impact wrench buzzing it out.

 

The bolt on this side had much more of the aluminium dust corrosion than the other side.

 

So the suspension arms are free:

 

Just par for the course in terms of rust for this car:

 

The right side has a lot more of the aluminium dust remains, so I guess another round of engine cleaner for these.

 

But yeah:

 

What should have been 6 bolts to undo became a roughly 5 hour job once I think about and tally the timings.

 

Not sure what the VW group were thinking not having anything grease wise despite knowing steel bolts are going through aluminium bushings.

 

I would suggest investing £100 or so in replacement suspension nuts and bolts and apply copious amounts of copper grease (or alumslip if you're feeling fancy) to the bolt shanks before reassembly. It'll save a weekend or two (or however many hundreds a garage may charge if they're doing stuff on the hourly).

 

So that's a big milestone reached.

 

Next steps are to sort out the Haldex oil change, and start going through everything with a layer or two of Lanoguard, and maybe spray something like ACF50 or XCP Rust Blocker on some of the other bits (such as the Bilstein suspension that is ready to go on).

 

Then I can start reassembling the wheel arches and front wings.

 

The ball joint that broke will need sorting out I suppose.

 

The front brakes will need a good once over with a wire brush and brake cleaner given its all disassembled. I suppose due diligence tells me to do the same for the rears, but I'll have a think about that.

 

It may be easier to replace the calipers than give them a good cleaning out and paint, but I'll see where the mood takes me.

 

Still need to sort out the DSG oil level, and also try and figure out the rear seat remote release mystery. The internet hasn't given me any more insight so I sense I may need to do something desperate, but we'll see.

 

Maintenance: £1857.08

Upgrades: £1020.69

Miscellaneous: £637.12