Maintenance

[svvg]

Hi All - I'm a new member - and picked up a completely standard 2005 manual MkV GTI with the AXX engine on Saturday. It has 113,000 miles on it and seemingly a full service history and is genuinely a one lady owner car...(!). I'm looking to do some basic maintenance now I've got it - and would be grateful for some pointers....

We've had a Mk3 gti (8v) from new and I've rebuilt most of that and am very active on BMW sites - being very hands on re maintenance and DIY stuff on those cars (rebuilt vanos, head gasket, smg pump swaps, timing chains, suspension, coding etc etc etc) - but I'm looking to get to grips with the MkV - so grateful for some pointers as mentioned.

Firstly - what's a good maintenance manual which covers torque settings etc? I've used ErWin before - paid the 7 Euros for an hour and gone nuts to print stuff off when I had to do some suspension work on a friends Toureg a few years ago - is that the best reference (I've seen the free links on this site - but they look a bit cumbersome to navigate??? I know Pelican Parts quite well and Autodoc etc plus the Humble mechanic - but I'm after torque specs in particular, as while I feel pretty confident at taking jobs on, and am good at following instructions - I'm no way a professional, and don't have the "feel" for whether things are tight enough/over torqued - so need the instructions!!!!). There doesn't seem to be a relevant Haynes manual or Bentley manual for the MkV GTI?.

My car is VERY noisy on start up - almost like a diesel, and then settles down a little after a couple of minutes - is that normal (sounds like a vacuum leak/running rough - but no check engine lights - and I have VCDS which only shows a couple of one-off faults - which I think are dump valve related. I removed the dip stick with the engine running and it ran lumpy - so think the PCV is OK (although may blow through it this weekend to check)).

Is it worth removing the inlet manifold and cleaning the inlet ports with the mileage I have? The major cost is replacement of the injector seals - which I think will be about £80 plus the manifold gasket.

There seems to be a flat spot on the torque curve at about 3000rpm - is that normal? With half throttle held the car pulls then seems to flatten out until more revs are added. It does go well though - possibly runs out of puff a little at the top end...

As mentioned, I only have a 000665 fault code with one appearance a few thousand miles ago, which I'm hoping is dump valve related - so no other codes logged (although haven't checked fuel trims yet.....)

I'm going to give it a full service over the weekend - oil and filter, air filter, fuel filter, cabin filter, spark plugs and coils and also replace the cam follower as can't see any evidence of this having been done. I'm going to use Castrol Edge fully synthetic 5w30, Bosch coils and NGK plugs - and Mann filters for everything - sound sensible???

I've replaced O2 sensors and MAFs on other cars at the scheduled maintenance intervals (100,000 miles) and seen ZERO improvement in performance or economy - so don't think I'll waste my time and cash on that with this car. I also had some injectors cleaned on a Peugeot which I ran Jenvey throttle bodies on - and the flow rates came back as hardly off of standard - so again, that seems a bit pointless too - but generally I'd really appreciate others experience and thoughts on the above!

Many thanks and hello again!

[PatchySan]

My car is VERY noisy on start up - almost like a diesel

Sounds like the Cam Chain Tensioner may need adjusting if its rattling like a diesel, very common on AXX engines. I had this done at 101k miles so it's not unusual to get this done at your mileage. Get it checked or have a second opinion on this to make sure as its usally not a cheap job.

As mentioned, I only have a 000665 fault code with one appearance a few thousand miles ago, which I'm hoping is dump valve related

Does sound like you need to replace the Diverter Valve as the rubber seals will wear out over age leaking boost which may explain why your GTI is running out of puff over the rev range. Part number is 06F 145 710G for the one with the rubber seal, there are the newer plastic piston version which are longer lasting (Revision D) but they don't hold boost as well as the original.

I'm going to give it a full service over the weekend - oil and filter, air filter, fuel filter, cabin filter, spark plugs and coils and also replace the cam follower as can't see any evidence of this having been done. I'm going to use Castrol Edge fully synthetic 5w30, Bosch coils and NGK plugs - and Mann filters for everything - sound sensible???

Good call, also check when it last had a cambelt and waterpump service too. 4 years/60k is the usual interval here so if it hasn't been done it would be worth doing to look after the engine.

[svvg]

Many thanks for this!

After about 2 minutes or so the noise settles down - but I’ll have a look at the cam chain. Seen a couple of helpful guides so might give it a whirl.

Is it worth trying to diy injector clean once I’ve removed them (when I clean the inlet ports). I’ve had injectors cleaned from high mileage cars before but when they were checked they weren’t that far off and not really seen any benefit. That said, it seems a few cars have suffered with dodgy injectors - not sure if as a result of the higher fuel pressure used? I’ve seen folk hook them up to a battery and spray carb cleaner through them...??

Cam belt and water pump were done quite recently.

I picked up the latest DV - it’s a revision D - with the plastic piston - as I didn’t realise there was an issue with holding boost? Haven’t fitted it yet - is it worth sourcing the G version?

It seems the cars run relatively soft boost (200bhp isn’t a lot from a 2 litre turbo) - so maybe not a big issue? I was umming and arring about a stage 1 remap as I’m quite close to st albans and there’s a revo dealer there...

Grateful for your advice - much appreciated!