Mk4 Golf diesel machine
Discussion
thiscocks said:
O/P were they OEM rear arm bushes?
They were 'Problem Solving Bushes' from a seller on eBay. A little more expensive than OEM design replacements but a bit stiffer, and they've certainly done the trick. I've used the same seller in the past for my Puma rear arm bushes and had good results.Squishey said:
Speaking of which, are you planning any updates on the little silver beast of the South East?
I managed to clear some more crap out of my garage last week so I should be able to see what tiny treasures I have squirrelled away.
I did a couple of bits on it today in fact! I'll update later on if I have time I managed to clear some more crap out of my garage last week so I should be able to see what tiny treasures I have squirrelled away.
It was all going swimmingly. Until it wasn't:
I was on my way to the nearest purveyor of groceries and only about a minute from my house. I came off the roundabout about 50 yards behind the car, started to accelerate up to NSL and lost power completely. I dipped the clutch to see what would happen and the engine died. No amount of cranking the starter would bring it back to life, so I sort of coasted to a stop looking a bit confused. I popped the bonnet and had a quick poke about but there was nothing obvious. It was like I'd run out of fuel, except I still had plenty left...
Luckily, I was only about two minutes' drive from my friends garage too, so I rang him and asked for a lift:
Once back at his unit we did a very quick bit of diagnosis. Cam belt still in one piece: check. It's not 'dead - dead' then! 12v @ fuel pump but no buzzing... Looks like a new one required then. Neil dropped me and the dead Golf back to my house as he had too many dead cars to deal with, and a fuel pump swap only takes 5 mins on these cars anyway. I paid him via the medium of crates of beer
Annoyingly, I replaced the fuel pump almost exactly two years ago as preventative maintenance against exactly what happened to me anyway
I mis-read the date on the receipt, proudly bowled up to Euro Car Parts and exclaimed that I'd like a new fuel pump under warranty. Only to come away having paid £118 for a new one with a shiny new one year warranty. Oops.. I also had to faff around going to the shop, being told to go away and come back with the faulty part even though someone on the phone beforehand said I didn't need the part, only the receipt, and then being sent to another store once I was back with the part to swap over because they didn't have the exact same model in stock. After all that, I didn't need the old part OR the receipt as it was almost a year out of warranty due to me forgetting which year we're in! I lost a whole morning to that, and then didn't take any pictures of the old pump coming out or the new one going in. Still, at least my spare £0 Puma came in to its own and dutifully ran me around all morning with no issues at all. The Golf's running like clockwork again now, which is nice!
I was on my way to the nearest purveyor of groceries and only about a minute from my house. I came off the roundabout about 50 yards behind the car, started to accelerate up to NSL and lost power completely. I dipped the clutch to see what would happen and the engine died. No amount of cranking the starter would bring it back to life, so I sort of coasted to a stop looking a bit confused. I popped the bonnet and had a quick poke about but there was nothing obvious. It was like I'd run out of fuel, except I still had plenty left...
Luckily, I was only about two minutes' drive from my friends garage too, so I rang him and asked for a lift:
Once back at his unit we did a very quick bit of diagnosis. Cam belt still in one piece: check. It's not 'dead - dead' then! 12v @ fuel pump but no buzzing... Looks like a new one required then. Neil dropped me and the dead Golf back to my house as he had too many dead cars to deal with, and a fuel pump swap only takes 5 mins on these cars anyway. I paid him via the medium of crates of beer
Annoyingly, I replaced the fuel pump almost exactly two years ago as preventative maintenance against exactly what happened to me anyway
I mis-read the date on the receipt, proudly bowled up to Euro Car Parts and exclaimed that I'd like a new fuel pump under warranty. Only to come away having paid £118 for a new one with a shiny new one year warranty. Oops.. I also had to faff around going to the shop, being told to go away and come back with the faulty part even though someone on the phone beforehand said I didn't need the part, only the receipt, and then being sent to another store once I was back with the part to swap over because they didn't have the exact same model in stock. After all that, I didn't need the old part OR the receipt as it was almost a year out of warranty due to me forgetting which year we're in! I lost a whole morning to that, and then didn't take any pictures of the old pump coming out or the new one going in. Still, at least my spare £0 Puma came in to its own and dutifully ran me around all morning with no issues at all. The Golf's running like clockwork again now, which is nice!B'stard Child said:
That's quite poor for a fuel pump life....
Good to see it was a relatively quick fix tho
Yes it's crap, wasn't expecting it to be a problem in the time I own the car after I purposefully replaced it, but sometimes that's just the way it goes!Good to see it was a relatively quick fix tho
colin_p said:
Glad there was a happy ending and the storey continues...
Thanks. Let's see how long this pumps lasts... Cue two years from now with a similar picture of a roadside 
There's some fun in the chassis somewhere, it's just a bit hidden. The rear bushes have made it a little bit more neutral, rather than ridiculous understeer. Lift off oversteer is definitely available now - if I throw it in to a roundabout I can feel the balance changing towards the rear. It's nothing like the Puma though, which just encourages you to play with the handling.
If your pedal is long but there's no air at the calipers, have you tried bleeding the master cylinder? There's an obvious bleed point on the end of the cylinder and another one tucked half way along it under the fluid reservoir on the right hand side as you look in to the engine bay. Most likely the air's shifted around and gathered there. I'm pretty sure that's what has happened to my car now, but it's not bad enough for me to go out in the cold and bleed it a bit more. I've also had the same on a friend's Golf. A quick bleed of the master cylinder and his brakes were perfect again.
If your pedal is long but there's no air at the calipers, have you tried bleeding the master cylinder? There's an obvious bleed point on the end of the cylinder and another one tucked half way along it under the fluid reservoir on the right hand side as you look in to the engine bay. Most likely the air's shifted around and gathered there. I'm pretty sure that's what has happened to my car now, but it's not bad enough for me to go out in the cold and bleed it a bit more. I've also had the same on a friend's Golf. A quick bleed of the master cylinder and his brakes were perfect again.
The pump was made by PWM, which is a German company and supposed to be OEM quality, but we'll see how the second one lasts!
I've not installed a rear ARB, just some better bushes on the trailing arm. Have a look through the thread and you'll see all the pics of the work.
I've still not changed my drive shafts but I will get around to it, probably when the weather's warmer!
I've not installed a rear ARB, just some better bushes on the trailing arm. Have a look through the thread and you'll see all the pics of the work.
I've still not changed my drive shafts but I will get around to it, probably when the weather's warmer!
Sounds like you've covered all the bases. Have you tried the two bleed points on the master cylinder itself? Your pedal sounds like how mine was at first. You'll just need to bleed some more fluid through and find somewhere slippery enough to activate the ABS for a few seconds at a time. It's possible the master cylinder could be at fault - I've heard they like to blow seals so it's something to watch out for. In my experience though, it's always been the ABS unit having some air stuck in it and as soon as you activate it the air moves around and the pedal comes back. Hopefully you've just got a lump of air stuck in the master cylinder.
If you don't regularly use full throttle and higher rpm then try to do so every so often as it exercises the vanes in the turbo so they don't stick. That's my excuse anyway
If you don't regularly use full throttle and higher rpm then try to do so every so often as it exercises the vanes in the turbo so they don't stick. That's my excuse anyway
Cool, if using the ABS pump made no difference then there's no air left in it. Hopefully it's in the master cylinder in that case
I've not had mine mapped but I am quite tempted to. Mine will go up to about 190bhp apparently. That would probably feel quite good because the torque goes up a load too. The only problem is I'll have to change the clutch if I do a remap as it's still the original as far as I know! It feels a bit worse for wear but still perfectly useable. Not bad at 181k miles
I've not had mine mapped but I am quite tempted to. Mine will go up to about 190bhp apparently. That would probably feel quite good because the torque goes up a load too. The only problem is I'll have to change the clutch if I do a remap as it's still the original as far as I know! It feels a bit worse for wear but still perfectly useable. Not bad at 181k miles
Thanks for the comments, everyone! I don't think the Golf will be going anywhere for a while. It's too reliable apart from a couple of hiccups, and anyway, I want to crack 200k!
chrismc1977 said:
If you can justify the cost of needing a clutch/DMF (eventually) then a remap is a no brainier.
For a PD they are silly cheap nowadays. My new file was £40 then ~£20 for a cable/software. Diesel mapping is somewhat more crude than a petrol equivalent so no need to be scared of generic files as long as they are from a reputable source.
I can definitely justify a new clutch/DMF if a remap is that cheap. Would you mind elaborating on where you can get the files from and how to flash it on the the ECU? I'm relatively competent with computers so I'd be interested in a DIY remap.For a PD they are silly cheap nowadays. My new file was £40 then ~£20 for a cable/software. Diesel mapping is somewhat more crude than a petrol equivalent so no need to be scared of generic files as long as they are from a reputable source.
How much is the SMF compared to the standard? I'd prefer that over DMF if it works just as well because in my experience they give much better feel at the pedal. My Puma's clutch is lovely as it's brand new but the Golf's isn't very good. Partly due to age and mileage, partly due to having the DMF.
1250 sounds about right to be honest. I'd reckon on selling mine for 1000 right now if I were going to put it up for sale. They're pretty bullet proof apart from the cam shaft, as we all know. The suspension will need some work on any car of that age so it's par for the course, really. Mines on 182k miles now, and I fully expect 250k to come around with just routine servicing. Brilliant every day cars, these.
martin mrt said:
Great thread, there’s something refreshing about an old mk4. Many slate them and loads are absolute wrecks but it won’t be long until they are a rarity in good original condition
I’ve got a 3dr 150 too, on the same miles ironically, it’s my daily as running my C63 daily is not an option in winter.
Keep it and crack the 200k mark
Here’s mine, I owned it in 2012-13 then sold it for an E90 M3 but bought it back recently it’s a bit rough but I’m working on bringing it up to scratch again.
200k is only 18k away, so this time next year I'll be very close to it I’ve got a 3dr 150 too, on the same miles ironically, it’s my daily as running my C63 daily is not an option in winter.
Keep it and crack the 200k mark
Here’s mine, I owned it in 2012-13 then sold it for an E90 M3 but bought it back recently it’s a bit rough but I’m working on bringing it up to scratch again.
Yes, there don't seem to be quite as many around just recently as there were, maybe they're starting to tip over the edge of being scrapped rather than repaired due to age and mileage.
Funny you should say about an E90 M3, mines sitting on the drive awaiting me to rebuild the prop shaft. Not used it for a few weeks now and it's looking sorry for itself sitting idle.
Have you got a thread going for your car? It would be good to compare running costs and jobs you've done, etc
Another month, another update. This time it's drive shafts. I've been talking about changing these for a while and I've finally got around to it! Three out of four CV boots were toast so buying a pair of shafts from JR seemed like the thing to do.
I also wanted to test out my latest acquisition:
Money well spent. It dealt with wheel nuts and hub nuts no problem at all, and I used it for everything else too - removing bottom ball joint bolts and drive shaft bolts. It saved me a lot of time and effort with a manual ratchet or bar, so I'm very happy!
When taking the wheel off the driver's side I noticed a load of free play on the hub - you could wobble the wheel back and forth which was slightly alarming. The free play was soon identified as a dead ball joint on my track rod end. I've already got a new pair on order...Oh, and noticed my power steering pump seems to be giving up while I was under there. Suspicious leakage on the bottom of the pump and fluid's been spun around the place by the pulley. Another unexpected job to sort out. I'll investigate it properly soon:
Back to the job at hand, here's where the long shaft used to be:
Old and new shafts compared. JR's shaft is slightly different to OEM but they're about the same weight and dimensions. You can see the state of the inner boot here, and the outer one is missing a clip for the millionth time:
That was quickly put back on the car, and the short shaft removed. The inner boot's been like this all the time I've had the car and I'm surprised it isn't leaking still. It survived a top speed run on the Autobahn too
Still, it needed replacing:
Everything went back together very well and I went for a test drive this morning as we needed some shopping. It all feels much tigher now - the old shafts were probably quite sloppy after all the miles:
We're on 183k now and the dash is reminding me we need to do another service soon. I've owned the car almost exactly three years so a little run down of costs seems appropriate:
I also wanted to test out my latest acquisition:
Money well spent. It dealt with wheel nuts and hub nuts no problem at all, and I used it for everything else too - removing bottom ball joint bolts and drive shaft bolts. It saved me a lot of time and effort with a manual ratchet or bar, so I'm very happy!
When taking the wheel off the driver's side I noticed a load of free play on the hub - you could wobble the wheel back and forth which was slightly alarming. The free play was soon identified as a dead ball joint on my track rod end. I've already got a new pair on order...Oh, and noticed my power steering pump seems to be giving up while I was under there. Suspicious leakage on the bottom of the pump and fluid's been spun around the place by the pulley. Another unexpected job to sort out. I'll investigate it properly soon:
Back to the job at hand, here's where the long shaft used to be:
Old and new shafts compared. JR's shaft is slightly different to OEM but they're about the same weight and dimensions. You can see the state of the inner boot here, and the outer one is missing a clip for the millionth time:
That was quickly put back on the car, and the short shaft removed. The inner boot's been like this all the time I've had the car and I'm surprised it isn't leaking still. It survived a top speed run on the Autobahn too
Still, it needed replacing:Everything went back together very well and I went for a test drive this morning as we needed some shopping. It all feels much tigher now - the old shafts were probably quite sloppy after all the miles:
We're on 183k now and the dash is reminding me we need to do another service soon. I've owned the car almost exactly three years so a little run down of costs seems appropriate:
- Total cost of buying car and maintenance so far: £3753.83
- Monthly equivalent cost of the above: £107.25
- Miles covered: 54,884
- Pence/mile: 6.84
- No of services in my ownership: 6
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