Those that read my signature will notice the "to do" list is getting shorter!
I think I finally have something close to 200bhp, after 6 months of engine trouble. Today we got it stripped down and found that one of the vaccuum lines to the solenoid valve had a hole in it, as did the DV diaphragm. We change the line, solenoid valve and dump valve and it was better, but it still wasn't right. We gave it a 60k service and found that the spark plugs for cylinders 1 & 4 were swimming in water, so we blasted the water out, dried the coils and changed the plugs to some NGK Platinums and its definately getting better! The only thing now is that its a bit flat around 4k, I can't remember if thats how its meant to be as it was such a long time ago!
Another bit of good news, Wynn's Radiator Stop Leak works wonders! The damn thing started leaking a couple of months ago and I was really skint so I just bunged some of this in as a temporary measure. We checked the rad today and its still watertight so I'll leave that job for another time!
We also gave it an MOT, and I was expecting it to fail because I still had my LHD fog light fitted, but it actually failed on an insecure CV boot that VW replaced about 6 weeks ago. The mechanic forgot to crimp the large clip so its sprayed its grease everywhere again. I knew something wasn't right a few weeks ago when grease was running down my wheel, but I took it back and they said it was OK, so I'm going to put in a complaint tomorrow morning and demand they fit a joint this time as I'm not prepared to pay them for one in 6 months when it starts knocking. I actually complained about the poor service I received last time when they ignored my specific instructions not to wash it because of the AutoPerfection detail, and they didn't care. This time I'll make them pay! Back to the MOT, I've also got a nice list of advisories, but unfortunately its still at work...I'll publish it tomorrow. One of those was poor front brakes, but that'll be solved on Saturday when my freshly painted R32 calipers are fitted!
By the end of the week, the car's going to make me owe Barclaycard over £500, and I still haven't had the cambelt changed, and the v-belt tensioner is shaking away so I'm gonna have to change that soon as well. Red VW's are moneypits!