Marticus' Red GTI

[Marticus]

Hi,

You're doing great on the subject, keep it up!✌🏻

Pozdro 🇵🇱.

Hej, dziekuje!

[Marticus]

Had the weekend to myself so got stuck into the brakes.

Hiw it started








And the end



That was a decent amount of work, made a huge mess bleeding everything, but it seems to have turned out right in the end.

[Marticus]

I just realized it's been a whole year since I've updated here, and unfortunately no exciting pictures, but a ton of updates, so it would be good to keep everything here I guess.

Firstly since the last post, the car developed a gearbox issue with the box jumping into neutral and the lights on the dash flashing.

Initially it was very sporadic but gradually it got worst and seemed to happen at the worst moments like going down single lane roadworks, or halfway round a busy roundabout etc...

That issue has been taken up a lot of my mental capacity over the last year.

First I took it to my local mechanic, who said it's an electrical problem and he can't help.
Next I took it to an electrician who checked everything and said it's fine..must be a gearbox issue.
So off to a dsg specialist I go hoping that if anyone can help they can.'no problem' they say ' it's just the connectors on the harness' £150 later for diagnosis and cleaning of electrical connections I get 1 mile from home and bam..it's gone again!
Back to the gearbox specialist who I just paid £150, 'dunno we can check it after christmas'.
So car sits for a month or two, and in the meantime I'm recommended a good local electrician, so I figure ok might as well try.
Wait a few week for an appointment but drop the car off, they confirm that the harness and electrical installation is fine, kept the car for over a week while they tested things, but could get to the root. Said that it must be either the selector lever or mechatronics
So I'm thinking f*ck not the mechatronics it's gonna cost a fortune, I'll do the selector first. Start looking for one, nothing, nadda, not a whiff of a used selector unit from a mkv dsg anywhere. And new, only from Germany £500, sh*t.
So mechatronics. And as luck would have it there is a specialist 10miles from me who deal with mechatronics, call them up and average repair cost is around £500 exactly the same as selector.

So I get on the phone to my local mechanic, to see about removing the mechatronics unit for me, can get a visit for three weeks. Ok fine I've waited this long, what's three more weeks.
Turn up on the agreed date and get told 'sorry I over booked it will have to be after easter, I'll let you know'

Wait a week after easter.. then two...f*ck this.

Found instructions online, talked to a mate back in the UK who's a VW mech, and did that f*cker myself. Took a couple of hours to get it out, and would have been less if not for a stripped bolt.

Sent it off, and one electrical board replacement, some connections resoldered, two valves replaced, and £500 later it's fixed! Hallelujah!

What a drama. But cars been fine since me and my friend got it back together.

[Marticus]

Aside from the gearbox dramas I managed to get a few other jobs in.

Gave the car a service, nothing special but whilst I was under it I figured I would swap out the diverter valve, and sure enough the old one was completely f*cked. The moment I pulled it off the whole center peice fell out and the diaphragm was split in half.

So now I've got actual power that I didn't realize I was missing 🤣.

Also went for an MOT and the guy immediately turned me out because of the tinted front windows. I'm not a fan of limo tint anyway, do wasn't gonna fight him on that, went home and took out the wife's hardryer and ripped it off.

The look on the testers face when I turned up again 20 minutes later with no tint was hilarious, for a minute I think he was questioning reality. I might have played into it a bit with some 'what tint?' comments 🤣.

Most recently I managed to get a couple of other small jobs done. Firstly I upgraded the can gateway, as I want to get a more modern radio.

This was another job I had been putting off like the mechatronics, because I thought I wouldn't manage. But 10 minutes with OBD11 transferring the correct long coding and correct modules and it seems fine now.

Lastly Tonight I decided I would try and deal with the creaking from the front subframe, which has been gradually getting worst and worst.

I picked up a pair of replacement bolt from the audi / Passat models as I found recommended on vortex forums, but once I got under the car I found one of the outer bolts between the wishbone and subframe was finger tight!
And when I went to replace the two subframe bolts I had bought the ones I took out where neither the originals, nor the replacements I had bought, in fact they were about 10mm shorter.

So someone had be f*cking about down there in the past I guess. Anyway got everything torqued up and no more creaking subframe! Happy days.

[Marticus]

Last post for tonight, I've split it into several posts be cause there was a ton to write about and there's still plenty to do.

Between dealing with all the stuff I mentioned in the last two posts, I found a load of issues with the body. The front right wing is rusting out after rubbing on the wheel, so that's to be fixed or replaced. But more importantly, the sills are on their way out with a decent amount of bubbling under the paint, and rust showing under the wheel liners. So that's on the list as well.

I bought myself a small compressor, and a LVLP gun, with the idea of doing some painting myself, and I've already prepped and primered the side skirts as they're off the car ATM.

So the plan now that the car Is mechanically sound, is to focus on the body work a bit. I'll try and get the sills done before winter, and would like to spend a bit of money on some upgrades rather than repairs for once. So I'm one the look out for a rear spoiler and maybe a diffuser / r32 exhaust conversion. Along with a new front lip that got smashed within. 6months of fitting it, and then ran over by my wife when I left it on the driveway 😆.

And when the car goes into the body shop to have the sills done I might try and deal with the sagging headliner and door cards.

It never ends I swear.