Bangeromics mk3 golf gti
Discussion
Going to look at a 8v mk3 golf gti tomorrow, mot and tax, 130,000 miles, a few issues but apparently runs well and mechanically sound bar a few spots of rust. He's asking £350 ono so I'll update this tomorrow night!
Having just sold my 08 Passat tdi and e39 m5 all I'm after is a runabout to keep me mobile, going to try and spend very little money on it and see how cheap I run the car.
Let the Bangeromics commence!!
Having just sold my 08 Passat tdi and e39 m5 all I'm after is a runabout to keep me mobile, going to try and spend very little money on it and see how cheap I run the car.
Let the Bangeromics commence!!
Check the front jacking points first and foremost, before even going anywhere else, if they are severely bent/folded,/deformed then the car has a year or so left without spending a few hundred rectifying this.
Cracking cars the mk3, I've had more than 20 of them, approx 4 of them have had good, straight sills, so beware
Cracking cars the mk3, I've had more than 20 of them, approx 4 of them have had good, straight sills, so beware
Agree with the above, I had a mk3 GTI that I've recently scrapped, had it 3yrs, 1st year MOT had to have the front foot well areas repaired.
Make sure the ABS works properly too, especially if a later one with Ate/Teves mk20 system.
A lot of 8v mk3's have a noisy gearbox in reverse, teeth can get chipped off reverse gear.
Mine was like it when I bought it, never got any worse. During the 3yrs mine needed a clutch about 120k , crank sensor failed once, and I had fun getting it to pass MOT emission test, turned out to be the fuel line (return) blocked and the fuel pressure was 6bar!! Ignition switch failed as did ECU relay (very common) Oh, air-con compressor seized too but picked one up for £20.
Make sure the ABS works properly too, especially if a later one with Ate/Teves mk20 system.
A lot of 8v mk3's have a noisy gearbox in reverse, teeth can get chipped off reverse gear.
Mine was like it when I bought it, never got any worse. During the 3yrs mine needed a clutch about 120k , crank sensor failed once, and I had fun getting it to pass MOT emission test, turned out to be the fuel line (return) blocked and the fuel pressure was 6bar!! Ignition switch failed as did ECU relay (very common) Oh, air-con compressor seized too but picked one up for £20.
Edited by GVK on Tuesday 9th July 20:25
Well I bought the car, was expecting a lot worse but seems rather solid underneath. Both sills and jacking points are straight and solid. A few issues with the car, 3 windows do not work, one of them being the drivers side so I'm going to fix that, not to bothered about the rears although the left hand side seems to drop on its own while driving.
Also it's had some lowering springs fitted, which make the ride really bouncy and quite uncomfortable (remember I have been driving a vw passat and and m5 so not used to all this crap lowered suspension) it's banging and clattering all over the place so I need to jack it up and have a look what's going on underneath. The car came with a brand new set of front brake pads so ill fit them if their needed.
It also cut out once at the lights when I was coming to a stop and dipped the clutch in, so will look up what that could be.
Cost so far £350 and I'm going to order some oil, filters, and spark plugs which comes to £35 from euro car parts.
£385 total to date
Also it's had some lowering springs fitted, which make the ride really bouncy and quite uncomfortable (remember I have been driving a vw passat and and m5 so not used to all this crap lowered suspension) it's banging and clattering all over the place so I need to jack it up and have a look what's going on underneath. The car came with a brand new set of front brake pads so ill fit them if their needed.
It also cut out once at the lights when I was coming to a stop and dipped the clutch in, so will look up what that could be.
Cost so far £350 and I'm going to order some oil, filters, and spark plugs which comes to £35 from euro car parts.
£385 total to date
Sounds like a decent buy,
The windows will likely be regulators requiring replacement, and/or broken wires in the grommet between the a/b posts and the doors. The broken wires are more common on the rear doors.
Jack the car up on the subframe and rear axle mount, not on the body of the car.
Cutting out is common, clean out the throttle body and replace the ECU relay with a genuine VW part.
The windows will likely be regulators requiring replacement, and/or broken wires in the grommet between the a/b posts and the doors. The broken wires are more common on the rear doors.
Jack the car up on the subframe and rear axle mount, not on the body of the car.
Cutting out is common, clean out the throttle body and replace the ECU relay with a genuine VW part.
GVK said:
Ecu relay '30' VAG pn 165 906 381
Also check voltage on fuse no 15 when running for battery voltage, failing ignition switch can lose voltage.
As well as cleaning throttle body check for air leaks in the breather hoses etc.
this is the standard answer for mk3 gti 8v problems and nearly always rightAlso check voltage on fuse no 15 when running for battery voltage, failing ignition switch can lose voltage.
As well as cleaning throttle body check for air leaks in the breather hoses etc.
Mine was s
te total ste and i sold it for £350... about 5 years agoIm going to run it until something major gives way.
Progress today:
Fresh oil
Oil Filter
Air filter
4 bosch spark plugs
cabin filter
fuel filter
Little lot cost me £35 from ECP and it was well over due, the oil filter was very diffucult to get off and looked like it had been there a while (was a genuine VW one) and the spark plugs the same.
While i was at it i jacked the car up to do the fuel filter and noticed the heat shield above the cat was loose causing the clattering noise. A bit of improvisation with some cable ties (thats what i went to uni for eh...) and its firmly in place and not going anywhere.
Also noticed the center box rubber hangers were drooping and causing the back box to knock, sent my dad on his bike up the road to the exhaust place and picked up 2 new ones for £5 and it has done the car wonders, no more rattling and clocking round corners.
Im a little undecided what to do about the suspension as the spings and even the dampers look quite new. The only problem is the ride is really bumpy. Im sure to the modified VW crew its what gets you noticed, but for me its just uncomfortble and spoiled the ride in what should be a hot hatch! (warm hath)
I have been trawling the forums to see if i can bag myself a set of standard springs but nearly all the cars that are being broken have been lowered. Even been offered some coilovers for £30 but thats not what im after, so the search will go on. Running it on a small budget means im not wanting to spend more than £40 to sort the suspension out.
Cost to date:
£350 car
£35 service parts
£5 exhaust rubbers
£10 remote central locking module
Total £400
Progress today:
Fresh oil
Oil Filter
Air filter
4 bosch spark plugs
cabin filter
fuel filter
Little lot cost me £35 from ECP and it was well over due, the oil filter was very diffucult to get off and looked like it had been there a while (was a genuine VW one) and the spark plugs the same.
While i was at it i jacked the car up to do the fuel filter and noticed the heat shield above the cat was loose causing the clattering noise. A bit of improvisation with some cable ties (thats what i went to uni for eh...) and its firmly in place and not going anywhere.
Also noticed the center box rubber hangers were drooping and causing the back box to knock, sent my dad on his bike up the road to the exhaust place and picked up 2 new ones for £5 and it has done the car wonders, no more rattling and clocking round corners.
Im a little undecided what to do about the suspension as the spings and even the dampers look quite new. The only problem is the ride is really bumpy. Im sure to the modified VW crew its what gets you noticed, but for me its just uncomfortble and spoiled the ride in what should be a hot hatch! (warm hath)
I have been trawling the forums to see if i can bag myself a set of standard springs but nearly all the cars that are being broken have been lowered. Even been offered some coilovers for £30 but thats not what im after, so the search will go on. Running it on a small budget means im not wanting to spend more than £40 to sort the suspension out.
Cost to date:
£350 car
£35 service parts
£5 exhaust rubbers
£10 remote central locking module
Total £400
Edited by jgy6000 on Friday 12th July 19:51
Got a free CD player of my cousin which doesn't work apart from the radio so I got some tunes. That will do me nicely.
Also the fact that the windows where not working and the air con was not cold I decided to spend £40 and get it re gassed. It's ice cold at the moment but it's a gamble how long that will last.
Also the fact that the windows where not working and the air con was not cold I decided to spend £40 and get it re gassed. It's ice cold at the moment but it's a gamble how long that will last.
It was up for £400 Ono, then he dropped it to £350, I did try and get it for a little less but he didn't budge on the price. Tbh at that price range I was happy to give him £350 for it.
It's got a black bonnet on it. This car had some sort of artwork/ airbrush done on the bonnet, so when he bought the vr6 he swapped the bonnets over, and this is the black bonnet from the Vr6, and the vr6 wheels as well
It's got a black bonnet on it. This car had some sort of artwork/ airbrush done on the bonnet, so when he bought the vr6 he swapped the bonnets over, and this is the black bonnet from the Vr6, and the vr6 wheels as well
jgy6000 said:
It was up for £400 Ono, then he dropped it to £350, I did try and get it for a little less but he didn't budge on the price. Tbh at that price range I was happy to give him £350 for it.
It's got a black bonnet on it. This car had some sort of artwork/ airbrush done on the bonnet, so when he bought the vr6 he swapped the bonnets over, and this is the black bonnet from the Vr6, and the vr6 wheels as well
It's got the VR6 front airdam too, judging by the pics. I had a couple of Mk3 VR6s years ago - I remember how excited I was when I got the first one; it felt so quick comapared to everything I'd had before!It's got a black bonnet on it. This car had some sort of artwork/ airbrush done on the bonnet, so when he bought the vr6 he swapped the bonnets over, and this is the black bonnet from the Vr6, and the vr6 wheels as well
johnnyBv8 said:
It's got the VR6 front airdam too, judging by the pics. I had a couple of Mk3 VR6s years ago - I remember how excited I was when I got the first one; it felt so quick comapared to everything I'd had before!
Ye it's got a VR6 front splitter if that's what you mean by airdam.It's missing the front fog lights and or reflectors I think from the bumper which I'm not to fussed about.
Flying Toilet said:
Check vacuum lines for stalling too, mine had perished and caused it to cut out coming to a halt.
It did it again later on in its life and it was the crankcase breather pipe folding in on itself.
Good luck, great cars!
I used to have a 1.8GL MK3 that kept cutting out. It got progressively worse and in the end turned out to be the coil pack. Worth considering if it keeps happening as it took a while to figure out on mine (apparently it's a fairly common fault).It did it again later on in its life and it was the crankcase breather pipe folding in on itself.
Good luck, great cars!
Covered just under 1000 miles in the gti now. Apart from the suspension it's a great run about. The engine is quite characterful! Been cutting out once in a while but starts up straight away so hasn't caused me any real issues. A lot of my driving is on the motorway and the engine goes well when up to speed. Even used it to tow a much never, less miles Renault Megan that had broken down, the irony of it made me chuckle!
As per all things that have been modified from the factory, each wheel was missing a wheel bolt (4 out of 5) so I had to spend a further £6 on a set to ensure the wheels didn't fall off while I was driving :0
I also splashed the cash on a new head unit, as the free one only played radio, just about. £20 from a friend at work and I have bagged myself an all singing all dancing unit that has usb, aux in, mp3 cd etc.
As per all things that have been modified from the factory, each wheel was missing a wheel bolt (4 out of 5) so I had to spend a further £6 on a set to ensure the wheels didn't fall off while I was driving :0
I also splashed the cash on a new head unit, as the free one only played radio, just about. £20 from a friend at work and I have bagged myself an all singing all dancing unit that has usb, aux in, mp3 cd etc.
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