New car help

[RMK87]

Hi All,

Purchased my first ever performance car today. A black 5dr dsg ed30. Truth be told its not in the best nick but with your help I want to change that. I plan to keep this car for a very long time so will be going replacing bits one at a time (I have OCD too)

Car is on 120k/ stock.

The car drives fine but has no service history. I bought the car from a friend who (lets say politely) no clue how to maintain a car. Problem is i dont have the funds to do all the maintence bits in one go. Question is in which order would you prioritise the following?

Cam follower (never been changed)
Timing belt/water pump (thinks previous owner changed it 5yrs ago)
Dsg oil and filter (changed 3yrs ago around 35k miles ago)
Brake fluid (not been changed for at least 3 years)
Oil change (due now)
Anytin else maintence wise?

I know its a lot on my plate at the mo but I want to make sure the maintence is carried out before the mods. I know i will probably end up spending more cash than the cars worth but I dont sit right unless I do this. This car is my keeper and I want to think long term.

Thanks for your all your help.

[ghuk]

Hi mate

Looking at my Golf GTI service book it recommends the following procedures

1) The brake fluid & dusten & pollen filter is changed every 2 years
2) the DSG oil & oil filter changed every 40,000 miles
3) the camshaft drive belt is replaced at 120,000 miles (Mine was replaced by a previous owner at 68,000 miles & I will change it when I reach 120,000)

My GTI has been serviced roughly every 10,000 - 11,000 miles since 2005. I cant see anywhere though that mentions the cam follower so I cant help you on that. My advice would be to get a service book off a dealer or somewhere like Ebay and start getting some history stamped, especially if your OCD is as bad as mine 

Best regards
George 

[Talidan]

Tbh there all as important as each other I'll go in order of cost if it was to go wrong.

3 major ones I would sort out like yesterday, timing belt or Cam follower failure can equal new engine so get them done.

Cam follower
Full timing belt kit
Dsg service

Then
 
A full service of all fluids

Also if it's got no history on the next oil change I'd whip the sump off and clean the pickup pipe mine had full vwsh but longlife services and mine looked like this after 150k, mates gti had a blocked pickup at 80k he bought it with no history.



Also I'd be changing the DV for a Rev G or a DV+, if it's never been changed it will 100% have a tear in.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[RMK87]

Thanks for your help this is exactly what I needed.

Whilst changing the cam follower and the timing belt is there anything else I should be changing at the same time?

Thanks again

[ducman77]

Tbh there all as important as each other I'll go in order of cost if it was to go wrong.

3 major ones I would sort out like yesterday, timing belt or Cam follower failure can equal new engine so get them done.

Cam follower
Full timing belt kit
Dsg service

Then
 
A full service of all fluids

Also if it's got no history on the next oil change I'd whip the sump off and clean the pickup pipe mine had full vwsh but longlife services and mine looked like this after 150k, mates gti had a blocked pickup at 80k he bought it with no history.



Also I'd be changing the DV for a Rev G or a DV+, if it's never been changed it will 100% have a tear in.

^^^ What he said The above is excellent advice

Cam follower is a DIY job and you should be done for £50 pounds all in. So I'd go for that within next few days...

Whilst changing the cam follower and the timing belt is there anything else I should be changing at the same time?

When you are changing the cam follower you should replace the rubber O-Ring seal too. It's only about £10-£15

Also with the Cambelt kit you will should change the water pump too (this is pretty much standard practice and I'm sure your mechanic will mention it)

I don't know about the UK but recently in Ireland the Volkswagen main dealers were offering Cam belt and water pump supplied and fitted for €399 (£340). Might be worth having a bit of a ring around the main dealer dealers to see if that offer is available in the UK?

Enjoy your new car buddy. Edition 30 is a special car. Hugely tuneable and only likely to go up in value so enjoy

[RMK87]

Just spoke to Awesome Gti (not too far from me)

They quoted me £354.00 for cambelt and water pump. It turns out this was last replaced in 2010 on 49k! (Now on 120k)

Cam follower is £74 replaced and dsg oil I believe he quoted £154 (this was last done 38k miles/ 3yrs ago.)

Purchased the car for 5750 with a brand new battery and 10months MOT.

Will get round to the DV+ (still dont know what that it is but I think its related to boost?) but hopefully will keep everything under 7k. (Want a remap and NSBBK too). Oh an exhaust too and RCD510 (I think thats what its called) and then alloy resprayed and a detail.

Just realised am gona spend a lot of time on this forum asking for help and tinkering with the car! 

[JackL15]

Definitely cam belt and water pump first as the other guys have said.

[ghuk]

"Will get round to the DV+ (still dont know what that it is but I think its related to boost?) but hopefully will keep everything under 7k"


Hi mate

When you've got the important bits sorted definitely change your diverter valve. I spent the first 15 months with a blown one on my GTI thinking the car's acceleration was pretty average. After getting the part replaced, the difference in performance was night and day............

Here is a link to my posting

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,108710.0.html

Incidentally you don't need to go the whole hog and get a GFB DV+ fitted as I did, a lot of peeps on here recommend the revision G from VW, which is £50 cheaper 

Cheers
George

[RMK87]

Thanks George,

The DV is now on my to do list. Will ring Awesome in morning and get it booked in for cambelt, pump and follower

Ive noticed a problem on the car and am concerned. 

When driving around normal traffic, stop start etc the fans come on really loud! Like all the time. Then when hooning the water temp DROPS to around 60-65.

Is this normal??

[Rob1]

Thanks George,

The DV is now on my to do list. Will ring Awesome in morning and get it booked in for cambelt, pump and follower

Ive noticed a problem on the car and am concerned. 

When driving around normal traffic, stop start etc the fans come on really loud! Like all the time. Then when hooning the water temp DROPS to around 60-65.

Is this normal??

Hi welcome to the forum, I am not sure about the fans coming on regularly when driving around town, although it were a hot day and being stuck in constant traffic I t could have a bearing on the fans coming on, if your booked in to awesome mention it to them.

Regarding the temp dropping, generally the temp gauge sits at 90.

As others have mentioned get the cam belt & water pump sorted, it may also be worth asking which ever garage you choose to give the car a full inspection.

[ducman77]

When driving around normal traffic, stop start etc the fans come on really loud! Like all the time. Then when hooning the water temp DROPS to around 60-65.

Sounds like you need a new thermostat. Usually not a big deal and awesome can do for you when you're getting your timing belt done

Those are great prices from awesome!!

Your timing belt and water pump need doing. Big time. I'd book that ASAP

Cam follower pretty important too. So if you can afford it maybe just do it at the same time

The Diverter Valve is a solenoid actuated valve which dumps your boost pressure when you lift off the throttle. It's s really important part from the point of view of throttle response and general drivability/power delivery of the car.

You might have heard of it on other turbo charged cars as a "dump valve". You know the chavvy thing that goes "psshht" when the driver lifts off the throttle

Your Diverter Valve is very important but it is not a potential engine killer like the Cam Follower and Timing belt. So if you're really stuck for cash you could wait a few weeks to change it.

The original Volkswagen part has a rubber diaphragm and these tend to split under boost hence all the talk of changing them. VW have improved the strength of the diaphragm over the years and the latest and "best" VW part is a revision G valve.

The DV+ is an aftermarket part from an Australian company called GFB which replaces the rubber diaphragm with precision machined metal parts. You re-use your original solenoid (these are pretty bulletproof) and just swap out the diaphragm.

The GFB part is about £100 as opposed to the revision G which is maybe £50. If you're really stuck for cash a revision G will be fine but might still let you down in the future. Especially as your car is an edition 30 with the bigger K04 turbo and the ability to tune to 300hp+

If you've no Intention of tuning the car revision G valve should be fine. If you're gonna get stuck into the tuning go for a DV+ as technically it should never fail

The service interval for your DSG oil is 40K mls. So, it is also due but not as absolutely vital as the Cam belt and follower. For what it's worth my local VW service manager told me that, in his opinion, the difference between a good DSG box and a bad one is how well it's been maintained. Not sure if that's 100% true but that's what he said

Check this place out for your detailing needs...
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/

Hope all that helps.
Regards,
Dave

[RMK87]

Thanks for your post Dave.

Had the car serviced today with Mobil One. Car needed a new CV joint too so had that replaced.

Had the mechanic reset the service light (and he also went through the diagostic faults for me). There were loads of old ones which we wiped.

But now comes the weird bit. When car slows down from 2nd to 1st gear (dsg box) it throws a little hiccup. Also happens if I go from reverse to first real quick.

Never noticed it before because the weird thing is every  time I feel this judder the windscreen wipes once!

What the hell is this?

Thanks

[ducman77]

A slight jerkiness between 2nd and 1st gear on the down shift, or between first and reverse when parking is not that unusual in a DSG. I've had two of them and they have both done it

There is a product called a "dog bone gearbox mount insert" which can help a bit with this issue if it's bothering you. And certainly a DSG oil change should add a little peace of mind into the equation.

The windscreen wiper thing I couldn't tell you. Sounds like a classic VW electrical gremlin

The engine and gearbox mounts on the GTI are not the most robust. Worn mounts can certainly add to jerky gear changes. With 120K miles on the clock your car might benefit from a fresh set of mounts. Again not an urgent thing.

I'm no mechanic and I swapped mine out on my own. Pretty easy job. There are videos on YouTube how to do it. I just bought standard Volkswagen mounts. But there are allsorts of aftermarket ones you can buy.

If you do you start down the slippery slope of modifying I'm sure you will be sticking these on your list

Hope you enjoy the car

[RMK87]

Thanks Ducman,

Im loving the car! Your quite right in fact regarding the mods. In the last 24hours I think I spent 23 researching mods. 

The electric gremlin didnt show up today and the fans and water temp was perfectly normal at 90 today too. All i did was top up the coolant and wd40 around the small fan when it was on the ramps (it was a bit sweaky and tiny bit stiff)

Had the car serviced and properly enjoyed it today. But the knocks and bangs are annoying me so mounts is defo on the to do list now.