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.Gallons Per Mile said:
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.
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.
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 
+1 for an uprated rear arb to tighten things up & dial out some understeer.
Made a huge difference on all the VW’s I’ve previously owned.
They don’t alter the balance so much as to make you oversteer everywhere- & lift off oversteer a bit easier to achieve as well.
Interestingly my stock 288 brakes on my Ibiza are poor- long pedal but air-free fluid. I shall be swapping some TT 312’s on instead. Will try a few ABS stops once done!
I really need some dampers & new front arms/console bushes too
Made a huge difference on all the VW’s I’ve previously owned.
They don’t alter the balance so much as to make you oversteer everywhere- & lift off oversteer a bit easier to achieve as well.
Interestingly my stock 288 brakes on my Ibiza are poor- long pedal but air-free fluid. I shall be swapping some TT 312’s on instead. Will try a few ABS stops once done!
I really need some dampers & new front arms/console bushes too
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.
If you cannot get a proper pedal, as the MK4 can be very difficult to bleed properly, then find someone or get VCDS / VAGCOM so you can activate the electronic ABS bleed procedure.
Quite simply that is following the on screen prompts and bleeding both fronts at the same time (as prompted). A pressure bleeder is a must as well. I've done this a few times now with great success, the brakes on a MK4 are very very good if bled properly. It helps if you can all four wheels off at the same time and make sure you have a big 5ltr bottle of ECP's finest Padig DOT4!
As for upgrading from 288mm to 312mm fronts, the same caliper is used, it is just the caliper mounting bracket that needs to be changed and or course the disc.
Quite simply that is following the on screen prompts and bleeding both fronts at the same time (as prompted). A pressure bleeder is a must as well. I've done this a few times now with great success, the brakes on a MK4 are very very good if bled properly. It helps if you can all four wheels off at the same time and make sure you have a big 5ltr bottle of ECP's finest Padig DOT4!
As for upgrading from 288mm to 312mm fronts, the same caliper is used, it is just the caliper mounting bracket that needs to be changed and or course the disc.
Oh bugger that's annoying. What brand was it? I'll be sure to avoid!
Did I miss you'd installed a rear ARB? I will have to look back to see which you went for. Good to hear it improves dynamics, is it still safe in normal driving? Would hate for the rear end to step out on the wife when she's driving it!
Just an update on my mentions on the previous page on J&R driveshafts and their CV boots - wasn't the issue in the end. I ended up putting it into a garage as couldn't work out why it sounded like something was hitting something when I braked. I thought it was the circlip on the CV boot hitting the knuckle but the garage found I hadn't located the little ears on the back of shocks properly into the hub. They reinstalled them and the noise went. I still can't work out why that made a noise when I braked but hey happy days now.
Did I miss you'd installed a rear ARB? I will have to look back to see which you went for. Good to hear it improves dynamics, is it still safe in normal driving? Would hate for the rear end to step out on the wife when she's driving it!
Just an update on my mentions on the previous page on J&R driveshafts and their CV boots - wasn't the issue in the end. I ended up putting it into a garage as couldn't work out why it sounded like something was hitting something when I braked. I thought it was the circlip on the CV boot hitting the knuckle but the garage found I hadn't located the little ears on the back of shocks properly into the hub. They reinstalled them and the noise went. I still can't work out why that made a noise when I braked but hey happy days now.
Edited by _Mja_ on Monday 25th January 14:15
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!
Great thread, love the MK4 platform myself. Nice to see one getting maintained properly rather than just run into the ground like they all seem to these days.
Cool to see it nudging 140 on the autobahn, not bad at all. I have a PD130 Bora and I'd be a bit scared about running it at high RPM like that, it just feels wrong and like it's about to explode
RE your brakes and the poor pedal after a bleed, was wondering if you had any advice for me! I've just had my seized rear calipers replaced at a local garage and my pedal is awful! He's had the vacuum system apart to test for leaks (turbo was very lazy, another reason I took it in) No leaks were found. The turbo has now woken right up, it's a lot more responsive at low RPM and pulls hard all the way round to 4.5k. Seems having it apart and back together has magically fixed that. Unfortunately it now has a new problem in that the brake pedal is awful, goes almost to the floor before any real braking happens.
It stops perfectly well, it's just very disconcerting having the pedal drop that far away from you. After reading about your quick fix to get air out of the ABS pump, I've just been out for a quick drive and did several very hard stops. ABS kicks in as it should and the car stops really quickly. Pedal is still crap though. A vac leak would give a hard pedal, wouldn't it. The garage suggested the tandem pump may be to blame but changed his mind after I told him how much better the turbo was. He has plenty of experience with VWs of this era and he has used the correct bleeding techniques with VCDS etc so I'm a bit stumped. He mentioned it could be a faulty MC/servo now, which I don't want to change as it's even more money thrown at the old thing.
It's a long shot but just thought you may know of something obvious that we haven't thought of!
Cool to see it nudging 140 on the autobahn, not bad at all. I have a PD130 Bora and I'd be a bit scared about running it at high RPM like that, it just feels wrong and like it's about to explode
RE your brakes and the poor pedal after a bleed, was wondering if you had any advice for me! I've just had my seized rear calipers replaced at a local garage and my pedal is awful! He's had the vacuum system apart to test for leaks (turbo was very lazy, another reason I took it in) No leaks were found. The turbo has now woken right up, it's a lot more responsive at low RPM and pulls hard all the way round to 4.5k. Seems having it apart and back together has magically fixed that. Unfortunately it now has a new problem in that the brake pedal is awful, goes almost to the floor before any real braking happens.
It stops perfectly well, it's just very disconcerting having the pedal drop that far away from you. After reading about your quick fix to get air out of the ABS pump, I've just been out for a quick drive and did several very hard stops. ABS kicks in as it should and the car stops really quickly. Pedal is still crap though. A vac leak would give a hard pedal, wouldn't it. The garage suggested the tandem pump may be to blame but changed his mind after I told him how much better the turbo was. He has plenty of experience with VWs of this era and he has used the correct bleeding techniques with VCDS etc so I'm a bit stumped. He mentioned it could be a faulty MC/servo now, which I don't want to change as it's even more money thrown at the old thing.
It's a long shot but just thought you may know of something obvious that we haven't thought of!
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
Gallons Per Mile said:
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
Cheers. I'll ask the fella at the garage if he bled the master then, I assume he has, as he knows the platform well. Hopefully he hasn't and that's all it takes, either way I'll not be doing it myself. As far as I'm concerned its his problem, I paid him (more than I paid for the car 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
) to basically sort every issue with the way it drives. Yeah I did take it out yesterday and do a few hard ABS stops on wet roads from 50-60 to a dead stop, but it made no difference. Gave the turbo a good workout too, these things are genuinely surprising when they're working properly! Yours will be even more so, being a 150. I can't remember if you had yours mapped as I read the bulk of the thread a few months ago. I got mine mapped just after I bought it about 4 years ago, it feels quicker now than it did even then, so I must've had a vacuum problem the whole time but not been aware. I do use it for a fairly short commute into the next town (7ish miles of country lanes) so it doesn't get a proper workout too often. But yeah, that's a good excuse
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
Gallons Per Mile said:
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
To be honest when I got mine mapped I was kind of disappointed with it and didn't see what all the fuss was about. Maybe I was expecting too much. But now whatever was hindering the turbo has been fixed, it does seem properly quick for what it is. My clutch and DMF died a couple of years ago, ripped the centre of the pressure plate out I bought it with the DMF/clutch on the way out, thought the clutch just needed bleeding hence buying it anyway. It wouldn't fully disengage so would creep forwards in gear with the clutch fully in. Used to slip quite a bit too until it eventually just grenaded. Took the gearbox with it too, input shaft was like a sausage in an alleyway
Now got a replacement box from a scrapper but that crunches into second when cold 
I believe you can get torque limiting remaps which give you a bit of extra poke while being sympathetic to the clutch. As far as I know mine is just max power/torque available and on the new OEM Sachs clutch it hasn't slipped once. Then again I only seem to have had full power since getting it back the other day
Guy who put the map on all those years ago quoted 160 or 180 bhp (can't recall) and 420nm. No Dyno though so who knows. I really feel like I should buy a couple of mint MK4 Golfs/Boras while there are still a few out there, really like them and over the next 10 years they'll become a rare sight!
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