Another VW Golf Mk2 16v
Discussion
Good work!!
There are some BMW wheels which look remarkably similar fitted to E30s which are 15x6.5 cant( remember the Style number) and the E28 BMW "Style 15" which is a 16x7 which I have seen fitted to Mk2/3 Golfs before.
The top OE upgrade option for mk2 Golf 16v is the BBS RS001 in 15x7 et25 which sit beautifully on small bumper mk2s. BBS RM,RJ, RZ,RA,RG in 15inch also do the same job depending on your budget.
Gallons Per Mile said:
I have seen a set of 15" bottletops on a MK2 before but I don't know where the came from. Maybe try tracking a set of those down?
They won't be VW bottle tops/caps in 15inch in less they have been made into custom split versions , although i've only ever seen them stepped to 16inch. There are some BMW wheels which look remarkably similar fitted to E30s which are 15x6.5 cant( remember the Style number) and the E28 BMW "Style 15" which is a 16x7 which I have seen fitted to Mk2/3 Golfs before.
The top OE upgrade option for mk2 Golf 16v is the BBS RS001 in 15x7 et25 which sit beautifully on small bumper mk2s. BBS RM,RJ, RZ,RA,RG in 15inch also do the same job depending on your budget.
So, you know when a car gives you a little warning and you think to yourself, it will be all right... I did. Don't. 
I thought I'd take the Golf out to my son's garage for a run. It's about 10 miles away, country lanes, twisty roads, 2-3-4-5-4-3-2 gearchanges, not busy. Sun is out, sky is blue etc. Fabulous.
I had the MFA pegged on the oil temp gauge, as I was curious to see at what temp it stabilised at. 98-102 seems to be normal whilst cruising about. Everything else is fine. Water temp needle is sitting bang in the centre, car is driving beautifully, the miles go past, birds singing in the trees.
Temp needle is going up. Hello... now temp warning light is flashing.
Immediately killed the engine and coasted to the side of the road. I'm between villages so in the middle of nowhere really. Minor B-road.
Ominous hissing sound. Bonnet up and you guessed it... that tiniest of tiny leaks from the lower hose... not so tiny anymore. I had taken tools and water with me, but the pipe wasn't leaking, it had actually split... though not from where it had been dripping. Which is how we ended up here.
I'd just passed an old couple walking their dog who, all credit to them, did stop to say hello and check I was ok, with the lady commenting "I was just saying that you don't see many of these around any more" ... as my car is steaming away. I said "And this is why!" 
Fortunately my son wasn't far away so he came and towed me back to his garage where we put on a new hose. Good having an apprentice mechanic in the family! I cooked him dinner and got him a beer when we got home.
Wasn't too long before we were back up and running. No harm done so it seems.
The hose was in an awkward spot (under other hoses in front of the water pump) and upon removal we could see why it had gone. Looked ok from the top, but was clearly on its last legs when viewed the other way around. Many of the hoses have already been replaced, but we'd missed this one. According to Golf lore it's a common problem. A 5mm split had developed whilst driving along.
So... therein is today's lesson. Fix anything obvious before driving.
I consider myself suitably chastised.
Cheers,
Drew.
I thought I'd take the Golf out to my son's garage for a run. It's about 10 miles away, country lanes, twisty roads, 2-3-4-5-4-3-2 gearchanges, not busy. Sun is out, sky is blue etc. Fabulous.
I had the MFA pegged on the oil temp gauge, as I was curious to see at what temp it stabilised at. 98-102 seems to be normal whilst cruising about. Everything else is fine. Water temp needle is sitting bang in the centre, car is driving beautifully, the miles go past, birds singing in the trees.
Temp needle is going up. Hello... now temp warning light is flashing.
Immediately killed the engine and coasted to the side of the road. I'm between villages so in the middle of nowhere really. Minor B-road.
Ominous hissing sound. Bonnet up and you guessed it... that tiniest of tiny leaks from the lower hose... not so tiny anymore. I had taken tools and water with me, but the pipe wasn't leaking, it had actually split... though not from where it had been dripping. Which is how we ended up here.
I'd just passed an old couple walking their dog who, all credit to them, did stop to say hello and check I was ok, with the lady commenting "I was just saying that you don't see many of these around any more" ... as my car is steaming away.
I said "And this is why!" Fortunately my son wasn't far away so he came and towed me back to his garage where we put on a new hose. Good having an apprentice mechanic in the family! I cooked him dinner and got him a beer when we got home.
Wasn't too long before we were back up and running. No harm done so it seems.
The hose was in an awkward spot (under other hoses in front of the water pump) and upon removal we could see why it had gone. Looked ok from the top, but was clearly on its last legs when viewed the other way around. Many of the hoses have already been replaced, but we'd missed this one. According to Golf lore it's a common problem. A 5mm split had developed whilst driving along.
So... therein is today's lesson. Fix anything obvious before driving.
I consider myself suitably chastised.Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Tuesday 2nd June 13:53
The MFA on my Mk1 reads 99.9mpg also. The external temp is also slightly off, and my oil temp is often over 110 (sometimes 120) so I'm not convinced that reads 100% also.
I've been thinking I need to replace all my hoses for black silcon replacements, this thread has just confirmed the fact. I'll get them ordered before the next service!
I've been thinking I need to replace all my hoses for black silcon replacements, this thread has just confirmed the fact. I'll get them ordered before the next service!
Well... another day another problem!
Looks like, in addition to the hose, there's another problem. A short drive today and the car started overheating again. Stopped at roadside to look... all hoses ok... but water now dribbling down the back of the block!
Mostly likely culprit at this moment in time is a failed coreplug. Could have been weakened by the overheat yesterday I suppose - difficult to tell.
Lovely. Car is not endearing itself to me at the moment!
Cheers,
Drew.
Looks like, in addition to the hose, there's another problem. A short drive today and the car started overheating again. Stopped at roadside to look... all hoses ok... but water now dribbling down the back of the block!
Mostly likely culprit at this moment in time is a failed coreplug. Could have been weakened by the overheat yesterday I suppose - difficult to tell.
Lovely. Car is not endearing itself to me at the moment!
Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Tuesday 2nd June 16:57
chrismc1977 said:
Have you confirmed thermostat is ok given both issues have occurred after short drives?
I wouldn’t expect a weep from a core plug to cause overheating unless all the coolant had gone...
We put a new thermostat in when we fixed the first leak... so hopefully not! I wouldn’t expect a weep from a core plug to cause overheating unless all the coolant had gone...
Car managed a 20 mile drive yesterday with no issues.
We've now managed to see the water is definitely pouring out of the centre core plug... engine doesn't even need to be running. Looks like the plug is quite badly corroded and they weren't done as part of the engine rebuild.
Working theory is that fixing the leaky hose has revealed the next weakest link in the chain and popped a dodgy plug.
Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Tuesday 2nd June 19:29
So. I managed to actually get a photo of the problem today. Water dripping out at a steady rate the moment you undo the expansion bottle cap (engine not running).
There are three core plugs and it's the centre one that's gone.
Here's a pic of the engine when it was out (if only they'd been replaced then!).
Fixing it doesn't look too hard. Getting to it with engine in situ, not so easy. It's underneath the exhaust manifold, so we'll have to unbolt that and drop the exhaust. Not sure whether we can get to it from underneath or whether we'll have to approach from above, if so that means taking off all the inlet gubbins too. It's looking like the latter.
Core plugs are on order!
Fun, fun, fun. Car currently has a new nick-name. The brokeswagen.
Cheers,
Drew.
There are three core plugs and it's the centre one that's gone.
Here's a pic of the engine when it was out (if only they'd been replaced then!).
Fixing it doesn't look too hard. Getting to it with engine in situ, not so easy. It's underneath the exhaust manifold, so we'll have to unbolt that and drop the exhaust. Not sure whether we can get to it from underneath or whether we'll have to approach from above, if so that means taking off all the inlet gubbins too. It's looking like the latter.
Core plugs are on order!
Fun, fun, fun. Car currently has a new nick-name. The brokeswagen.
Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Thursday 4th June 17:19
Took the intake runners off yesterday so we could have a better look.
Better picture of the busted core plug. Fortunately the other two seem to be fine. From the looks of this it's been weeping for a while. The hole is maybe 2-3mm wide.
Since we have a 4-2-1 manifold on the car we're hoping we can get away with replaceing the plug without dropped the manifold off. Will report back with progress (weather stopped play for the time being).
Cheers,
Drew.
Better picture of the busted core plug. Fortunately the other two seem to be fine. From the looks of this it's been weeping for a while. The hole is maybe 2-3mm wide.
Since we have a 4-2-1 manifold on the car we're hoping we can get away with replaceing the plug without dropped the manifold off. Will report back with progress (weather stopped play for the time being).
Cheers,
Drew.
Well... I feel like a bit of a mechanical God today. Didn't have to drop the exhaust manifold. Phew!
Finally... after a *lot* of banging and levering... managed to get the wretched core plug out. It didn't give up without a fight that was for sure - none of that tap it on one side, lever it out business. No.
Had to go the full monty on it with virtually everything in the kit bag. Eventually it came out!
You can see by what's left of it how reluctant it was to give up.
Lightly sanded down the resultant hole with some 800 grade and then flushed water through it a few times. Seems to be a bit of a casting lip at the 1-2 o'clock position, but it's totally solid.
Going to leave it to stand overnight and dry out and then attempt fitting the new plug with some locktight tomorrow if the weather is ok.
Pretty happy to have got the old plug out though.
Cheers,
Drew.
Didn't have to drop the exhaust manifold. Phew!Finally... after a *lot* of banging and levering... managed to get the wretched core plug out. It didn't give up without a fight that was for sure - none of that tap it on one side, lever it out business. No.
Had to go the full monty on it with virtually everything in the kit bag. Eventually it came out!
You can see by what's left of it how reluctant it was to give up.
Lightly sanded down the resultant hole with some 800 grade and then flushed water through it a few times. Seems to be a bit of a casting lip at the 1-2 o'clock position, but it's totally solid.
Going to leave it to stand overnight and dry out and then attempt fitting the new plug with some locktight tomorrow if the weather is ok.
Pretty happy to have got the old plug out though.
Cheers,
Drew.
She's back together and (touch wood/lucky rabbit's foot) working ok.
Took her cautiously around my local roads half a mile away from home until she had warmed up. Inspected and found no leaks. Let her run up to full temperature and the coolant fan is cutting in and out as required. All ok!
Took her on a 10 mile run and all seems good! I'm going to give her a few warmup/cooldown cycles to ensure everything is happy, keeping an eye on that coolant level throughout.
Just passed 200 miles on the rebuild now, another 300 or so to go before a complete service and start opening her up to see what she can do!
Cheers,
Drew.
Took her cautiously around my local roads half a mile away from home until she had warmed up. Inspected and found no leaks. Let her run up to full temperature and the coolant fan is cutting in and out as required. All ok!
Took her on a 10 mile run and all seems good! I'm going to give her a few warmup/cooldown cycles to ensure everything is happy, keeping an eye on that coolant level throughout.
Just passed 200 miles on the rebuild now, another 300 or so to go before a complete service and start opening her up to see what she can do!
Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Thursday 11th June 17:03
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