1992 VW Golf 1.8 CL
Discussion
Cheers for the support guys! The bangernomics swingometer took a bit of a hammering today but I think I have found a reasonableish solution. It's that thing of balancing your time, comfort and wallet. The weather here is, at the moment, totally dry but cold. If it swings the other way it will be warmer but raining. Neither are very working-on-car-in-driveway friendly so my swingometer was moving towards the "Get someone else to do it" marker.
An ex colleague of mine here knows quite a few people so I gave him a bell and he has sorted me out with someone to do the work. He's also going to fit the replacement clutch so for sure the car will be transformed and I won't have to freeze my bits off, realise I need a special tool, find out I can't undo a certain bolt... etc.
The guy has quoted €270 which I think is pretty reasonable. It does go against the bangernomics principle somewhat but like I said, it is a balance. Once the APK is done I hope to have another year trouble free motoring
note to self: buy bigger house with garage, install lift and buy loads of tools...
An ex colleague of mine here knows quite a few people so I gave him a bell and he has sorted me out with someone to do the work. He's also going to fit the replacement clutch so for sure the car will be transformed and I won't have to freeze my bits off, realise I need a special tool, find out I can't undo a certain bolt... etc.
The guy has quoted €270 which I think is pretty reasonable. It does go against the bangernomics principle somewhat but like I said, it is a balance. Once the APK is done I hope to have another year trouble free motoring
note to self: buy bigger house with garage, install lift and buy loads of tools...
Forgot to update this at the time but I'm happy to report that the APK was a success a couple of weeks ago. So the Golf and I have another year ahead of us. It drives much better with the new clutch but its sharpness is highlighting the very worn engine mounts. I bought one replacement mount months ago but haven't fitted it yet, will have to do it when the weather is better as it will improve the drive and get rid of the vibration which is especially bad when the engine is cold.
Months ago I bought a set of engine mounts. There is a fair bit of vibration when the engine is cold and you can feel the engine rocking when going on/off the throttle. It was made even more obvious they need changing when I was doing the thermostat - undoing some bolts and the engine was wobbling all over the place!
Today I had time to change the front mount. The new one was a good 10mm taller than the old one, I can only suppose the old one had compressed over its 23 years in the car. Date stamp on it shows '91'.
Three mounts in boxes showing part numbers:
New ones at top of picture:
Old one removed:
Also whilst faffing around under the bonnet, I took the air filter out to see how dirty it had become (not much at all). Found the hot/cold flap stuck in the hot engine position so only cold air being drawn in. That may well explain why it takes so long to warm up despite me changing the thermostat.
Took it all off and found the metal hook which pushes and pulls the flap across was stuck fast. Freed it up and then found the plastic brackety thing was broken so the hook would just pop out making the whole thing useless. Superglue didn't fix it so... improvised
Going to take it for a bit of a drive soon and see if it has made ANY difference at all.
Today I had time to change the front mount. The new one was a good 10mm taller than the old one, I can only suppose the old one had compressed over its 23 years in the car. Date stamp on it shows '91'.
Three mounts in boxes showing part numbers:
New ones at top of picture:
Old one removed:
Also whilst faffing around under the bonnet, I took the air filter out to see how dirty it had become (not much at all). Found the hot/cold flap stuck in the hot engine position so only cold air being drawn in. That may well explain why it takes so long to warm up despite me changing the thermostat.
Took it all off and found the metal hook which pushes and pulls the flap across was stuck fast. Freed it up and then found the plastic brackety thing was broken so the hook would just pop out making the whole thing useless. Superglue didn't fix it so... improvised
Going to take it for a bit of a drive soon and see if it has made ANY difference at all.
The 'fix' in my previous post keeps breaking so I eventually decided to just ignore it. Maybe in winter it will help get the engine to temperature quicker if it was working but I don't care enough to get it working.
Not a lot has happened with the car recently. I've been driving instead of cycling to work for the last 6-8 weeks for a few reasons and the Golf takes it all in its stride. Starts first time every time, no fuss at all.
Yesterday I drove a few hundred km's around the country since I was given the run-around by a guy selling a pair of roof bars. Turns out they were for a mk4 Golf. Bloke didn't really have a clue what he had, no problem for him really but a wasted trip for me. Problem was, I had to have a pair because we'd bought a wall unit and had to go pick it up. With no roof bars, there's no way it would have been able to come home! Luckily managed to find a pair but they were a long way away. Picked them up, fitted them on and drove another 130km back home, picked up Mrs and then another half hour to collect the unit:
Now sitting on 227,000 km.
Not a lot has happened with the car recently. I've been driving instead of cycling to work for the last 6-8 weeks for a few reasons and the Golf takes it all in its stride. Starts first time every time, no fuss at all.
Yesterday I drove a few hundred km's around the country since I was given the run-around by a guy selling a pair of roof bars. Turns out they were for a mk4 Golf. Bloke didn't really have a clue what he had, no problem for him really but a wasted trip for me. Problem was, I had to have a pair because we'd bought a wall unit and had to go pick it up. With no roof bars, there's no way it would have been able to come home! Luckily managed to find a pair but they were a long way away. Picked them up, fitted them on and drove another 130km back home, picked up Mrs and then another half hour to collect the unit:
Now sitting on 227,000 km.
A couple of days ago the gear linkage seemed to suddenly become a lot more sloppy. Turns out part of it is very worn out, I reckon a piece of one of the plastic joints broke off.
Thankfully there is a repair kit which I've just ordered...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390975037910
eBay shop is called veedubmachine_ltd - http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/veedubmachine_ltd?_trksi...
With every fix and bit of money I spend on it, I feel like I'm gradually getting further away from bangernomics. A true bangernomics devotee would have binned it when it failed its MOT last year, but I quite like the feeling of spending a bit here and there to keep it moving.
The rear brakes will also need some attention. They had new shoes and cylinders for the MOT and it passed fine after they were replaced, but the pedal is low and they sing when they're cold. I suspect the self adjusters are not working and/or perhaps the drums are too far worn.
Thankfully there is a repair kit which I've just ordered...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390975037910
eBay shop is called veedubmachine_ltd - http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/veedubmachine_ltd?_trksi...
With every fix and bit of money I spend on it, I feel like I'm gradually getting further away from bangernomics. A true bangernomics devotee would have binned it when it failed its MOT last year, but I quite like the feeling of spending a bit here and there to keep it moving.
The rear brakes will also need some attention. They had new shoes and cylinders for the MOT and it passed fine after they were replaced, but the pedal is low and they sing when they're cold. I suspect the self adjusters are not working and/or perhaps the drums are too far worn.
Yesterday I finally had a free morning so made some time and fitted the two remaining engine mounts. The one on the right side of the car was fairly straightforward but the gearbox end one was a right old job. You have to remove a pretty beefy bracket on the end of the gearbox to make space to pull the mount out. Got it done eventually and the engine no longer lollops around when you rock it by hand.
Beefy gearbox bracket:
Right side - new vs old (notice the height difference as the old one has collapsed)
Left/gearbox side - new vs old (not much height difference but old one was very soft and can be bent by hand, new one is much firmer)
Unfortunately I haven't been able to give it a test drive yet. The eBay shop in my last update never responded to my purchase and subsequent email asking how to pay so I carried on searching and found the same kit for sale in NL. Bought online (from www.boelm.nl) on Friday and it turned up yesterday whilst I was under the car doing the engine mounts. Love fast delivery
Repair kit:
It all tied in quite nicely because the gear linkage is in the same general area as the gearbox mount so I was easily able to do both jobs at the same time. It soon became painfully clear that the kit I'd just received was not going to fix my almost completely broken linkage.
This piece is the worst, not just worn but broken. I think it is supposed to be a ball, half is missing. Despite how knackered it is, you can still change gears without problems.
That's one of the parts which isn't included in the kit I bought. Had to get back on the net and figure it out. Back to the same site I bought this kit and find a kit for a mk2 Golf/Jetta appears to have the piece I need. My Golf is a 1992 mk3 so I suspect that because it's such an early one, there was a crossover period of mk2 bits being used on mk3's. Still doesn't quite explain why the repair kit for the mk3 does not include that ball piece, it is shown on a diagram for the kit but the part isn't highlighted as being part of the kit (makes sense...?!)
Shoddy pic of the mk2 kit, the white slatted ball is the bit I need as well as some other washers etc.
Annoyingly I have now spent more than I wanted to - the 'wrong' mk3 kit was €25 and the mk2 kit was around €45. Maybe I will be able to make a full mk3 kit back up with the extra bits and sell it on.
In the meantime it will be bus or cycle to work until the mk2 kit arrives and I can make time to fit it. Mmmm, dark evenings, not my favourite for clambering under the car out in the street.
Beefy gearbox bracket:
Right side - new vs old (notice the height difference as the old one has collapsed)
Left/gearbox side - new vs old (not much height difference but old one was very soft and can be bent by hand, new one is much firmer)
Unfortunately I haven't been able to give it a test drive yet. The eBay shop in my last update never responded to my purchase and subsequent email asking how to pay so I carried on searching and found the same kit for sale in NL. Bought online (from www.boelm.nl) on Friday and it turned up yesterday whilst I was under the car doing the engine mounts. Love fast delivery
Repair kit:
It all tied in quite nicely because the gear linkage is in the same general area as the gearbox mount so I was easily able to do both jobs at the same time. It soon became painfully clear that the kit I'd just received was not going to fix my almost completely broken linkage.
This piece is the worst, not just worn but broken. I think it is supposed to be a ball, half is missing. Despite how knackered it is, you can still change gears without problems.
That's one of the parts which isn't included in the kit I bought. Had to get back on the net and figure it out. Back to the same site I bought this kit and find a kit for a mk2 Golf/Jetta appears to have the piece I need. My Golf is a 1992 mk3 so I suspect that because it's such an early one, there was a crossover period of mk2 bits being used on mk3's. Still doesn't quite explain why the repair kit for the mk3 does not include that ball piece, it is shown on a diagram for the kit but the part isn't highlighted as being part of the kit (makes sense...?!)
Shoddy pic of the mk2 kit, the white slatted ball is the bit I need as well as some other washers etc.
Annoyingly I have now spent more than I wanted to - the 'wrong' mk3 kit was €25 and the mk2 kit was around €45. Maybe I will be able to make a full mk3 kit back up with the extra bits and sell it on.
In the meantime it will be bus or cycle to work until the mk2 kit arrives and I can make time to fit it. Mmmm, dark evenings, not my favourite for clambering under the car out in the street.
Some kind of winter cold/flu thing attacked me recently so it's been tough going out in the cold to fix the damn car. Yesterday evening I got outside and fitted all the remaining gear linkage parts in the engine bay side which had arrived on Monday.
There are a few more linkage parts inside the car to fit. It is not possible to fit them without 1) dropping part of the exhaust 2) removing a big heat shield 3) reaching and removing the underside of the gear lever from under the car. Doing that allows removal of the vertical lever from the horizontal link which goes through to the engine bay. But I ain't got time for dat, so left it alone. Maybe one day.
Once all the engine bay side bits were fitted, it was pretty clear that, of course, something was wrong. The lever would not move fully left/right. Some head-scratching later, and the handy arrival of my Dad (who spotted the problem) we discover this:
Original on left, new on right - horizontal bar is in a different place! Rage face. The ball part was fitted to the new shiny rod so had to be removed (pull it, HARD) and fitted to the old. Of course, that didn't fit either did it; it was way too loose. Dad's bright idea; slip it on loose and tap tap tap tap the end of the rod it sits on to peen it off. Booyaka! It holds.
Car now back on the road and will fight other day. Gear shift is hugely improved BUT the new engine mounts, hmm. At idle and overrun there's more vibration inside the car than before! Pulling away feels smoother and the drivetrain shunt is much reduced. Under acceleration it feels smoother. Perhaps they'll settle down after some more driving...?
There are a few more linkage parts inside the car to fit. It is not possible to fit them without 1) dropping part of the exhaust 2) removing a big heat shield 3) reaching and removing the underside of the gear lever from under the car. Doing that allows removal of the vertical lever from the horizontal link which goes through to the engine bay. But I ain't got time for dat, so left it alone. Maybe one day.
Once all the engine bay side bits were fitted, it was pretty clear that, of course, something was wrong. The lever would not move fully left/right. Some head-scratching later, and the handy arrival of my Dad (who spotted the problem) we discover this:
Original on left, new on right - horizontal bar is in a different place! Rage face. The ball part was fitted to the new shiny rod so had to be removed (pull it, HARD) and fitted to the old. Of course, that didn't fit either did it; it was way too loose. Dad's bright idea; slip it on loose and tap tap tap tap the end of the rod it sits on to peen it off. Booyaka! It holds.
Car now back on the road and will fight other day. Gear shift is hugely improved BUT the new engine mounts, hmm. At idle and overrun there's more vibration inside the car than before! Pulling away feels smoother and the drivetrain shunt is much reduced. Under acceleration it feels smoother. Perhaps they'll settle down after some more driving...?
APK is due at the beginning of March so I took it for a test on Saturday. Not hugely surprised when they called to say it had failed 
From memory, the list was as follows:
I had to don my sensible hat. Parts and labour = €500. That's what I paid for the car ffs! But I don't have the time or inclination to faff about changing the car right now. Either pay for repairs or get rid of it. If I get rid, I'll have to find another car which may well be another whole bag of unknown problems.
Garage just tried to call me... wonder what they want?!
From memory, the list was as follows:- Both rear wheel bearings loose (these were replaced last year! Garage will tighten them)
- Front wheel bearings bad
- Front tyres need replacing (I knew this and already have a new set waiting to go on)
- Front pads very low (I think this it not a failure, but they do need doing)
- Rear middle belt doesn't fasten - they will get a replacement socket from scrapper
- Slight corrosion on a brake line - they will "clean it up a bit"
- Rear left trailing arm bush, excessive play
I had to don my sensible hat. Parts and labour = €500. That's what I paid for the car ffs! But I don't have the time or inclination to faff about changing the car right now. Either pay for repairs or get rid of it. If I get rid, I'll have to find another car which may well be another whole bag of unknown problems.
Garage just tried to call me... wonder what they want?!
Went to pick up the car earlier only to find they had only fitted two of the four tyres. Why would I order four but only want two of them on the car?!
Garage man also showed me a brake pipe and said they had replaced it on the front right because I don't know. Bulging perhaps, I didn't understand what he told me because language barrier. No charge for that.
They are cash only so I asked for a bill for my records. Bloke types it up and only after I leave I notice there are things on there that guess what, they didn't change e.g. brake discs. Also around €180 for two new rear wheel bearings which we'd agreed they just needed tightening. Will have to go back and talk to them about it.
Yet again I wish I had the time and facilities to do all this stuff myself, no matter what garage I ever take any car to, I always feel like they're having me on.
Despite all that the car now has new tyres all round and a fresh APK to last another year. Unsure if I can put up with it for another year though :-/
Garage man also showed me a brake pipe and said they had replaced it on the front right because I don't know. Bulging perhaps, I didn't understand what he told me because language barrier. No charge for that.
They are cash only so I asked for a bill for my records. Bloke types it up and only after I leave I notice there are things on there that guess what, they didn't change e.g. brake discs. Also around €180 for two new rear wheel bearings which we'd agreed they just needed tightening. Will have to go back and talk to them about it.
Yet again I wish I had the time and facilities to do all this stuff myself, no matter what garage I ever take any car to, I always feel like they're having me on.
Despite all that the car now has new tyres all round and a fresh APK to last another year. Unsure if I can put up with it for another year though :-/
There is no way they rebuilt the rear brakes, they're as bad as they always were
Came out the house this morning to find this:
Brand new left rear, flat as a pannenkoek (that's a Dutch pancake).
Put on spare, thankfully didn't find a nail or any other nasty in there. Conclusion: garage didn't seal it properly or the valve is bad. Makes me wonder if the other three new tyres are OK or not.
Came out the house this morning to find this:
Brand new left rear, flat as a pannenkoek (that's a Dutch pancake).
Put on spare, thankfully didn't find a nail or any other nasty in there. Conclusion: garage didn't seal it properly or the valve is bad. Makes me wonder if the other three new tyres are OK or not.
320touring said:
Glad to see this old thing still soldiering on
And thanks. Despite massive lack of general interest in this thread I'll also keep soldiering on with updates. Not in love with the car at all but it serves a purpose pretty well and overall doesn't cost much to keep going. I just hate APK/MOT time and having to entrust it to garages.Tyre re-fitted. Man he tell me "new" valve not good, now replaced with actual new one.
Front wheel bearings were done, not rears hence high price.
So for now we seem to be rocking and rolling again. It'll need the alignment done soon as it hasn't been quite right since I replaced the front springs and shocks last year. It doesn't pull left or right but the steering wheel is not centred anymore and on full right lock it won't try to self centre but instead keeps pulling to the right. Full left lock gets you an extra strong tug to self centre. Maybe not alignment but camber? Considering I've new tyres on there, I'd like to get it sorted so they don't wear weirdly.
Front wheel bearings were done, not rears hence high price.
So for now we seem to be rocking and rolling again. It'll need the alignment done soon as it hasn't been quite right since I replaced the front springs and shocks last year. It doesn't pull left or right but the steering wheel is not centred anymore and on full right lock it won't try to self centre but instead keeps pulling to the right. Full left lock gets you an extra strong tug to self centre. Maybe not alignment but camber? Considering I've new tyres on there, I'd like to get it sorted so they don't wear weirdly.
Booked in for alignment check tomorrow morning.
Fitted new starter today, got it back in summer for €70. It has been playing up for ages; it'd spin but not always engage when the engine was warm/hot. It'd always start eventually but was clearly getting worse.
New one is fine and weirdly sounds very very different!?
Gave it a vacuum and found a French supermarkt receipt from 1997 for strawberries costing 10.70 francs...
Fitted new starter today, got it back in summer for €70. It has been playing up for ages; it'd spin but not always engage when the engine was warm/hot. It'd always start eventually but was clearly getting worse.
New one is fine and weirdly sounds very very different!?
Gave it a vacuum and found a French supermarkt receipt from 1997 for strawberries costing 10.70 francs...
You'd think so wouldn't you. The new one works perfectly though so it seems that extra shaft length (fnar) makes no difference at all.
Had the alignment done this morning, it was WELL out. All sorted now though, €70 at Kwik Fit. Despite their terrible rep in the UK, the local one here in NL seems to have a good rep and my experience with them was good.
Took it for a blat along the motorway and some urban driving, it feels more like a normal car again now. Might even treat it to a wash soon (it'll be the first one in my possession) as there's a cheapish and very good carwash quite near here.
Thanks to the few of you who have left comments, I know it is not an exciting car at all and much more worthy of more s
tey forums... but I think it's a perhaps refreshing angle on car ownership when compared to a lot of stuff on here. Also give you UK folks a small insight into owning a car in another country (if anyone is remotely interested, I can go into detail on that) 
Had the alignment done this morning, it was WELL out. All sorted now though, €70 at Kwik Fit. Despite their terrible rep in the UK, the local one here in NL seems to have a good rep and my experience with them was good.
Took it for a blat along the motorway and some urban driving, it feels more like a normal car again now. Might even treat it to a wash soon (it'll be the first one in my possession) as there's a cheapish and very good carwash quite near here.
Thanks to the few of you who have left comments, I know it is not an exciting car at all and much more worthy of more s
tey forums... but I think it's a perhaps refreshing angle on car ownership when compared to a lot of stuff on here. Also give you UK folks a small insight into owning a car in another country (if anyone is remotely interested, I can go into detail on that) 320touring said:
some elements can seem simpler, others more draconian!
Ohhh, yes! Germany felt like a nightmware. Easy to see why folk hang on to their cars for so long - the procedure and bureaucracy to change is not pleasant! NL isn't too bad; quick trip to post office and about €9 to change ownership. As a foreigner you have to have a certain updated document which costs about the same and is valid for 3 months. If it's expired or you don't have it, you can't get the vehicle registered to your name.Other costs in brief:
- road tax... EXPENSIVE (depends on weight of vehicle and fuel type. Diesel = approx double petrol) Golf is approx €360/year
- insurance... CHEAP (I pay €11/month 3rd party)
320touring said:
A wash it not a bad plan-i know pretty much my whole fleet needs doing just now..
It is worth doing At the least it makes you realise the car isn't as st as you got used to it looking! Next bit isn't really an update but since there are a couple of folk interested in how this old hack is doing... the other day we bought some new furniture. It cost more than double what I paid for the car and thanks to the roof bars, no problem getting it all in/on and home:
The last tankful calculated to a smidge over 30 mpg which is one of the best I've had out of it
I'm looking at replacing it but not yet - it still has loads of life yet and we* want to change the kitchen, so no car change wonga until perhaps next year.
Bit of a shame, yes. The car is far from perfect and at this value/age there will always eventually be something which kills it. Maybe if it was a better/rarer model (it is the base level CL, you can't get any lower!) it would be more tempting to fix it up and keep going.
I've never been in love with it. I only bought it because I needed a car, it was very very close by (same street) and cheap. It has felt a bit like a sort of experiment in bangernomics although many would argue I'm "doing it wrong!" and to an extent, I'd agree.
Glad you found the thread interesting. There haven't been a huge number of replies but I've always kept updating it anyway, even just so I have something to look back on later. Nice to know some people like to read about such an old, valueless shed!
I've never been in love with it. I only bought it because I needed a car, it was very very close by (same street) and cheap. It has felt a bit like a sort of experiment in bangernomics although many would argue I'm "doing it wrong!" and to an extent, I'd agree.
Glad you found the thread interesting. There haven't been a huge number of replies but I've always kept updating it anyway, even just so I have something to look back on later. Nice to know some people like to read about such an old, valueless shed!
MJK 24 said:
Great thread!!
Thanks MJK 24 said:
Are you going to get it welded?
Highly unlikely. I've pretty much decided what car I want to get next so the Golf will hopefully be used in part-ex* against the next car.MJK 24 said:
The sill to floor area can be quite suspect on these.
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