New member with MK6 GTi called Greta - now with photos!

[Dooge]

Hey all,

I have been lurking on here for awhile, getting information and finding out about MK6's. After looking at a rusty white 2009 one locally I decided to make a 4 hour trip to look at a United Grey one.

It was worth the trip! I was instantly smitten and set about bidding. I got a measly £25 off which ended up in the fuel tank but better than nothing.

Spec is:

2009 GTi, leather interior, Winter pack, Monza II's, RNS510 satnav unit and a few other bits Ive probably missed. Full service history, lots from VW dealerships. Bodywork is very good for the age of it but it has little bits of rust coming through on the bottom of the bootlid, is this common?

Its also had a remap by a company called Stealth Racing. Bit wary as their website is a single page site and despite saying they specialise in VAG remaps Im always wary as these cars are picky. Anyone heard of them?

Got a respectable 42mpg on the way back, much better than the 30mpg I was getting out of my Clio Sport. Also much more comfortable and quiet.

Only a few plans for it, GTI plaques for the front seat height levers, get the bootlid sorted, LED bulbs throughout the interior - any recommendations for LED kits? Also retrofit cruise control, possibly a Revo map later depending on how the Stealth Racing one holds up. When I work out how to upload photos (how do I do this?) Ill put a few photos up.

Doug

[Octoparrot]

Looks nice.

[Dooge]

Looks nice.

Thanks 

I had my first day off today since buying the car and decided to go over it with a fine tooth comb. Gave the interior a good hoover and clean, picked up on a few little bits I want to get sorted. I noticed the rear near side door reflector was broken so I have ordered another. The rear vent is broken too but I need to work out how that comes apart first. Whilst I am snagging, the paint on the drivers wiper arm is peeling so Ill replace that and I bought some new wiper blades. I also fitted the plaques to the seats.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a short shift kit also? 

[Dooge]

I gave Greta a clean today as the weather was spot on. It came up well but I noticed a few scratches already which I think has been caused by a hose at a local cheap car wash I used the other day 

I also need something to get the tons of tar spots off too. Has anyone tried Autoglym Magma?

I have a wiper arm on the way to replace the drivers side.

[shoaybmakda]

be sure to check if it has the revised tensioner on yours @Dooge as if it fails could cause a heap of problems.

i understand they did a revision on the 2012 onward vehicles so be worth a check if yours has a new one or not

[Dooge]

be sure to check if it has the revised tensioner on yours @Dooge as if it fails could cause a heap of problems.

i understand they did a revision on the 2012 onward vehicles so be worth a check if yours has a new one or not

Thats definitely next on my hitlist, especially as I am doing more shorter joruneys. Quoted £720 including an oil and filter change at the same time to be cautious. I rang 3 places and this is the only one who said they could do it, the other 2 said they didnt have the tools.

My local VW dealership is Murrays, Id guesstimate over £1200 judging by their hourly rate.

I did buy a new light unit though, couldn't stand getting into a dark car all the time. £66 from said dealer but easy enough to fit and should last for the life I have the vehicle anyway. LEDs from Lightec fitted in the interior. All fitted and great except the footwell and glove box lights. Every time I plugged an LED bulb in it kept blowing the fuse. 4 times it blew til I gave up!

I ordered some bespoke LED units that supposedly work, attempted to fit them but they dont fit very well. Trying to fit one to the drivers side bracket I ended up breaking the bracket!  I compared new and old and there dosent seem to be any size difference so I am confused. Left it for another day when the weather is better!

Rear vent replaced too from eBay. Easy enough and went back together fine.

I also had one wheel with missing wheelbolt covers so decided to buy a set from eBay that matched. The only issue was the locking wheelnut one didnt fit so I had to modify it to fit. Im planning on removing all the locking wheelnuts, Ive always removed them as they end up failing when you most need to get the wheel off. So the plan is just to replace them with 4 regular wheelbolts.

Also changed the sidelight bulbs for Phillips brighter jobbies and dipped beams for Phillips 150% bulbs. Sidelights were a pain! Thought they might be twist like the dipped beams but after ages I just tugged them with a pair of needlenose pliers.

Other than cam chain and tensioner, not alot else planned for the car. Eventually cruise control, possibly LED rear lights. Toyed with the idea of making it louder through a resonator delete but want to hear one in person before I commit in case its drony/too farty.

[Dooge]

Soooo...

I've had the camchain and tensioner changed. Cost me farrrr more than I had hoped, the total job came in at £1301!!

When they first started taking it all apart, a part called a cam bridge was broken. It has a valve with a bearing which is covered by a metal filter mesh, I guess it flows oil? When they took it off the mesh had broken but was pretty much in place of where it should be. Looking around it appears this is a common issue for cars 80-100k. The filter mesh as a whole isnt a problem but broken up bits of metal floating around in oil isnt good. And the bearing can come unlodged and block the oil pickup.

The cam bridge was £150ish on its own, but part of an electro magnetic pickup had changed design in VW's ultimate wisdom so that was another £60ish. Then an adaptor was needed for the wiring.

They also had issues getting the metal timing chain cover off, apparently bonded on using a special silicone. They had to pull this off, not sure if this is designed to be replaced or re-used but given how bent out of shape it was they needed another at over £100. The rubber gasket for the upper timing chain cover was almost £50 too.

On the plus side, the original tensioner and chain was actually in quite good condition. Everything looked minutely worn suggesting regular oil changes. The car seems to pick up better, whether this is the change in the electro magnetic pickup I dont know but did over 300 miles the day after picking it up and it was great. Got 40 mpg with a mixture of B roads and motorway running with 3 of us in the car so really happy.

Not really sure what to do next except sort LEDs for the footwells and sort some bodywork out. I like the Maxton spoiler extension though, anyone have one? How easy does it fit?

[Dooge]

Hopefully these photos work:

Just after I bought it with my mate Jedd's mk5 GTI.
20190922_220909 by

20190922_160113 by Douglas King, on Flickr

20190922_160326 by Douglas King, on Flickr

First proper wash with my old Clio watching on before it was sold.
20191002_182303 by Douglas King, on Flickr

20191002_182134 by Douglas King, on Flickr

Part of what cost me so much money when the cam chain tensioner was changed!
IMG_1520 by Douglas King, on Flickr

IMG_1522 by Douglas King, on Flickr

After a clean and wax
20191117_202504 by Douglas King, on Flickr

20191119_225107 by Douglas King, on Flickr

20191202_162051 by Douglas King, on Flickr

[Octoparrot]

Looks really nice , hopefully the major expenditures are over for a while at least, enjoy.