Barn Find Laser Green 1.9 Gti.

[Leslie green 127]

Thanks all I'm chuffed to bits its actually passed given how much hassle the rear brakes can be , even got it taxed up last night . Its just about legal lol

 

I did think it was slightly tapered then thought I was imagining it lol .Its a bit of a silly design for sure if tapered and with powdercoat and a lined hose its a disaster . 

 

Paul this one isn't a Baker its from France but all my water hoses are Baker  and they have been fine so far , I might look an original hose if I can't get a decent fix. Rubber will certainly grip far better .

 

Tom I hadn't even thought about the Peugeot festival Tbh plus the ferry over from here is at least £300 quid and given the last unexplained breakdown first drive and now this first time on an actual road  I wouldn't be keen on going far yet .

 

SRDT I'm sure it could be tapped for some sort of fitting , I did find oil kept appearing at that corner of the rocker cover( car sits slightly down at the right side due to slope on garage floor ) and thought it a strange place to leak at the front  but guessing now it was from that hose as its very close to it . Filing 2 flats on it may work too and definitely needs a narrower clip this one is far too wide and a fuel hose type clip may suit better .

Edited April 6 by Leslie green

[Telf 232 2 Cars]

I wouldn't sweat a couple of breakdowns after the build.

 

I had a clutch cable snap. V annoying but still drove it home,  the starter refusing to work, simple fix but annoying and it used to leak oil from all over the place for about 3 months. It really uses nothing nowadays and seems to have got better with use. 

 

It's like it's settled and now just is.

 

Congrats on the build I've been quietly following along for ages.

 

Edited April 7 by Telf

[Leslie green 127]

Thanks Paul mine is leaking oil too not sure where from yet but it after it sits a few days there is oil underneath the crank pulley area but as the floor is sloping down to that side it could be coming from anywhere and just dripping of there. There are going to be teething problems after everything has been off and its sat idle for 19 years that I know off possibly more. The unexplained first breakdown unless it was low fuel is bugging me though ,time will tell.

    I cleaned all the oil up and thought about how I could keep the breather pipe on better and well it was simple , tap the spout to m14 x 1 ,(I which is a fine thread  measured and its 13.7mm at the top and just over 14mm nearer at the bottom so has a little taper)   to give it something to hold onto , I didn't tap it right to the bottom as I didn't want oil creeping down the thread when hot . I also used a sanding belt by hand to sand the powder coat first and then Scotchbtite after to dull and smooth the sharp thread and cleaned it all before refitting .

        Torquing up the rocker bolts then didn't seen to want to click out as I've fibre washers on so started at 4nm and just left it at 6  as you could keep tightening till it rings the thread easily. The fibre washers are not really wide enough and I need something better but will do for now , I went a quick 7 miles and there was oil near each plug lead as before but I hope its just sweating out from the gasket which had a lot of oil on it we shall see.  My main goal is to get the engine bedded in this year , if it needs to come out after that in the winter  to fix issues so be it.

 

I did notice its a bit shunty at low speed , having never driven one before I dunno if they are all like that, heard it said these jetronic  pre-cat ones can be a bit like that  or the airflow meter has seem better days which it likely has .Ive another airflow meter , condition unknown but will leave this one on for now .

 

Try coming aff now ya barsteward lol .

Edited April 11 by Leslie green

[Leslie green 127]

The gear change was too tight after fitting new plastic bushes so as the rods were worn I fitted a Bakerbm quick shift plus new rods which have little locking spring clips , all this was a right faff to fit on ramps but it's on now and gear change is much lighter but I've just left it at standard throw for now , there seems a long throw from 2nd to 3rd compared to more modern cars but its's no big deal . I also fitted the rear badges and 8 little grommets in the passenger floor which would have let water in , these are bullet shaped originally but I just fitted standard ones .The gti doesn't use these holes if Id known at the time  id have welded em up lol. Waste of time putting heat paint on the manifold its all gone already ! Tightened up the manifold springs to reduce a blow in the exhaust but think its more at the back and the clamp I've fitted isn't the right size ,I think it was a 55mm one , tightened it up a little too and its a bit better .

     Once the rocker cover leak was fixed it seems the oil leaks have slowed a lot so I hope that continues ,done 180 miles now , had a quick bolt check today and all seems good and have ordered a spare tyre , will be here next week.Wheels are grey with brake dust as the pads start to bed in .

After the car came out the mot the steering wheel was way off centre having been aligned before it went in so I've straightened  it up again by moving a couple of splines , the sideways push/pull test  on the mot ramp is sore on them .

Edited April 24 by Leslie green

[Leslie green 127]

Looks like I bought a 69mm exhaust clamp of ebay which appears to be right for a phase 2 (genuine part number is 1713 56). should have really used some exhaust paste I guess  ...

[Leslie green 127]

Went to a car show today and car I thought at first was holding the handbrake on so I pulled in  and the rear discs were hot so I backed of the handbrake as there was way more weight in the car than usual , a few miles more and I puled in again and backed it right off as the car was still what seemed like lightly shunting constantly at 60 mph . I noticed since I filled the tank right up and put the spare on as well as putting a few tools in the boot the rear suspension has dropped right down and now even before anybody is in the back the wheel is tucked up in the arch as in the pic. There were 3 of us today and its far too low with passengers in the back and a full tank of fuel now .Before when sitting with half tank and no spare there was at least an inch between the tyre and arch. 

Are the rear discs usually hot after a drive I thought they did very little ? I thought the low height was pulling the cables but that may be nothing to do with it .

The handbrake is backed of completely at the minute and doing nothing but its still the same , the wheel isn't hot so I'm thinking its probably  fine. 

 

What could be the cause of this light shunting at a steady 60 mph , its not just at 60 mph but its more noticeably there and when pulling uphill , is it likely to be the fuel pump failing ? I was glad to get home today with 110 mile done as I've a feeling it won't be going much longer and its spoiled a nice day out .Maybe its the timing is off a bit I might tr moving that too incase its actually pinking although it seemed to be going fine before when I Was in myself .thinking its only really appeared since I filled up but may be coincidence .

Pic of the rear wheel ride height below , its now way too low and needs a more sensible height to carry passengers will possibly go back to standard .

 

 

Edited May 4 by Leslie green

[welshpug 1,678]

I guess all engine mounts are new, so its not the engine shunting back and forth, it may be a tired AFM flap spring allowing the flap to bounce at low throttle openings,

[Leslie green 127]

Yes all new but they are probably softer than original ones , I didn't get fast road ones as I didn't want a lot of vibration, I did notice though last night the 2 buffers now have a gap at the front one  only , I had spaced the rear to close any gap but with them settling the front has maybe a 2mm gap now ,no gap at the back .I have another AFM I might try it but I also want to get this high idle sorted so will block the rear of the sad off next time I get a chance to see if it needs replaced.

           Its really too annoying to drive now till I get something sorted ,just constant slight jerkiness that shakes your head a little at a steady speed on a smooth road at 50 to 60 mph ,like what a grabbing front caliper would feel like .

Edited May 5 by Leslie green

[Leslie green 127]

I swapped out my sad valve today for the working one (bosch 112 part , 182 removed ) and it started and went to 1700 instantly ,after a couple of mins it had dropped a bit to 1500 but a rev and it dropped to 1000 but crept back up to 1300 again...arrrhhhh !Nothing has improved , I tested the old 182 one and you guessed its working too , gave the ends a little clean while it was closed up.One stud had sheared of my sad mounting plate so will need fixed but will do for now on one nut.

My throttle body needs setup correctly again and I need to clean that idle screw which is fully closed at the minute too.If no improvement I've an air leak or that coolant sensor is not working right , the plug too it is broken so there is no metal retaining ring anyway so I've bought an injector plug new with the wiring in it for 4 quid ( wired 2 pin bosch ev1 sensor with boot it was called) which is great for testing the sad .

My next step is calibrate the throttle body correctly , the micro switch clicks as soon as you move the throttle(  not saying its working either as I swapped it out as the case was cracked, will need to meter the pins) but the end stop isn't set right as I thought it controlled the idle ,it doesn't the big brass screw in the top does .

The inlet manifold gasket , throttle body o ring , or the bellows to the afm could be leaking , I know even the sunroof vac switch is leaking as you hear it hiss as soon as engine turned of so I may block that off too .Might get some time next week to look at it .

I felt the spring in the afm flap and it seems ok to me not loose so i think its ok although that's not saying the afm is ok , will swap it after i get a fix for the high idle as changing stuff while its too high so probably a waste of time.

Edited May 16 by Leslie green

[Tom Fenton 1,562]

Check that you have power and earth to the SAD electrical plug, as standard the SAD earths through the starter motor of all places.

 

It sounds like an air leak somewhere though. As a mate of mine says, fix what you know about first, in this case the sunroof vac.

 

The idle control should be a combination of the throttle disc stop and the bypass screw. If the throttle disc opening is set too small, the engine will tend to cut out when you say dip the clutch to stop at a junction and the revs fall quickly from say 3000rpm. I often see now, this opening too small, as the throttle stop screw has gradually worn away over the years. However 9 times out of 10 the adjuster screw is seized in the body and can't be adjusted.

[Leslie green 127]

Thanks Tom will have a check of those soon although now think the sad is closing ok and it doesn't cut out at junctions .

Did a bit of work today , started with the sunroof switch , these can be opened and all is inside is an o ring and a spring , my o ring was split hence the hiss and loss of vacuum as soon as the car is turned off . I put another slightly larger o ring in and jobs a goodun. it now opens and closes the seal 5 times after you turn it off . Result . This made no difference to the fast idle though but I did fill with super unleaded this morn , had E10 with an additive before and with the sunroof handle down it did seem to run better , its certainly not shunting much and is running fairly ok just the high idle .

    Next  I took out the throttle air screw (not had it out before) and it doesn't look like the one in the other throttle valve I have which made me think it had the wrong screw fitted , The one in my car has a blunt end and doesn't come to a point like the other , I tried the other one it but its far worse with it , revs to 2k + and it feels a bit loose until its well down so thinking there are 2 types ? Anyway I cleaned the body out with brake cleaner as much as I could while leaving the 2 water pipes attached. 

Then I setup the throttle body , 4 turns on the disc after it contacts the throttle plate and the  micro switch just off idle( 0.3mm feeler gauge) .I also changed the throttle body big o ring for a 4mm thick  one I had as the original was flat and didn't seem to offer any resistance,It was probably 3.5mm before originally when new . I also checked the throttle body to AFM boot and no splits . Its now idling at 1500 to 1700 rpm !!!!!!!!!!! so I took the hose from the throttle body boot to SAD  off and blocked it   and this made no difference , when you take the piece of bar I used to block the pipe of these is a little build up of vacuum but its very slow and I guess this is correct as no way a SAD would be airtight, even with bolt the piece of bar out it makes no difference so SAD has to be closed .

   I then sprayed some brake cleaner at the throttle body and inlet manifold gasket and  near injectors and no change in engine speed.

Lastly I put another shim in front of the engine mount to close the gap right up but at the minute I'm out of ideas .

I didn't meter the micro switch on the throttle body yet as its hard to reach when fitted and I will meter the ecu temp sensor and maybe unplug it see what happens , the car doesn't run without the AFM plugged in as I forgot to when I tried to start it.

Next step may be fit the other throttle body see what happens but stumped at the minute !

   The other throttle body seems to have a 3rd port underneath but it looks like its blocked off , mine has 2 for water , 1 for vac take off for dissy.

 

 

     

     

 

Edited yesterday at 07:27 PM by Leslie green

[Tom Fenton 1,562]

Have you got the bolt fitted in the side of the inlet manifold where the oil filler tower attaches? This is a through hole into the manifold, and can be a big air leak if no bolt fitted.

[Leslie green 127]

Yes Tom its fitted thanks  ,I don't think it would even idle with that out back then, got caught with that one long ago , I think the next step is to fit the other throttle body and test the micro switch on it unless anybody has any other suggestions , I did have the co meter fitted yesterday and should have turned the pot just to see that happened the revs , it was showing 3% at 1700 rpm .

It will be remaining in the shed as trying to drive with that high idle speed would be a right pain lol

Edited 10 hours ago by Leslie green