Update
The carpets are now completely out and drying nicely and I can confirm that water is indeed coming in via the heater motor thanks to the damaged scuttle tray. Success. I think the plan here will be to wire brush the floors back, repair the damage on the drivers side and then give them a good coat of zinc primer and paint before fitting some new sound proofing and refitting the carpets. Driving with most of the interior missing doesn't really bother me.
With the seats back in and the new oil cooler hose fitted I set off on the 50 odd mile weekly trip to see the better half down in Chichester and unlike last week made it without a hitch. Even with some spirited commuting I'm still averaging 35 mpg as well. More success.
What one must remember is that too much success is bad for the soul. Thankfully some bad luck was just around the corner in the form of a two hour traffic jam that brought about a nasty problem. After about 20 minutes of stop start the fuel pump became audible. And then loud. And then the engine started to shudder and cough. This was very worrying because I really didn't want to be 'that guy' who breaks down in the middle of an already bad traffic jam on a dual carriage way. The problem got progressively worse over a very short period of time and then the engine died. There was an exit just ahead so I restarted, gunned it and limped out of the traffic, the engine coughing and kangaroo-ing really quite badly. But within a few seconds of actually moving it cleared up and was running fine. Luckily I found myself in a university campus so was able to drive about and make sure the issue had gone before pulling up and trying to work out what had gone wrong, and what I could do about it. Thank Jebus for mobile tinernets!
What I believe has happened is either the lift pump has started to pack up or the fuel filter is clogged up, or both. I rejoined the traffic and was just careful to only turn the engine on when necessary. This worked and I didn't hear the pump again. I have ordered a new lift pump and fuel filter which I will fit ASAP.
The downside is the kangaroo-ing has broken a seal on the exhaust which is now blowing and has made the issue with what I think must be the engine mounts worse. Giving the engine a good rock by hand doesn't reveal any real movement but it was supplied with new mounts when I bought it. When pulling away at low speeds or slowing down, even gently, there is the occasional (loud) thunk from the front end. Confusion.
As one can imagine I was feeling pretty worn out after the 2.5 hour trip and a day at work so the last thing I needed was more drama on the way home. Never one to let the side down the Golf decided that what I really needed to cheer me up was a nice festive Christmas tree. On the dashboard. Oil light and water light! Hurray! Thankfully it was all down hill from here(!) so I was able to coast home.
Problem 1: Water
The plastic heater outlet was leaking. This was pretty easy to remove and on inspection had been removed before.
The face was filthy and covered in sealant. The o-ring was still soft but a bit out of shape measuring about 2.8mm. With the recess in the body 2.5mm I don't think there was enough crush so I rubbed the plastic down on some wet and dry, cleaned it all up and refitted. Maybe this time it can manage a full week without spewing coolant everywhere.
Problem 2: Oil
Now this is a strange one. The oil light seems to have a mind of its own and so tired of waiting for the replacement sender to arrive I swapped it for a known good one from the Nissan engine I have under the bench. This is actually 1/8 BSP but the threads are so close to M10x1.0 that I don't think it will be an issue. (1/8 BSP - 9.728 OD x 0.907 Pitch). Knowing my luck it will be an issue and I'll be having the oil housing off later this week. Watch this space. Anyway, with the knew switch fitted I started it up and all seemed good for about 5 minutes. Then not only did the light come on but the buzzer did to. Oh dear. This is bad.
Figuring that if the light wasn't lying the engine would be damaged anyway so there would be no harm in getting out the multi meter and just checking that the sensors were reading no pressure. This is where I got really confused. The sensors are good. There is oil pressure. No resistance with the engine off. No circuit with it running. Repeatable. But when I connect up the wire the lamp still comes on. I am at a loss.
Problem 3: Possible damage to top mounts?
These don't look right to me, should they not sit more flush with the turret?
Anyway, tomorrow is another day.
James
The carpets are now completely out and drying nicely and I can confirm that water is indeed coming in via the heater motor thanks to the damaged scuttle tray. Success. I think the plan here will be to wire brush the floors back, repair the damage on the drivers side and then give them a good coat of zinc primer and paint before fitting some new sound proofing and refitting the carpets. Driving with most of the interior missing doesn't really bother me.
With the seats back in and the new oil cooler hose fitted I set off on the 50 odd mile weekly trip to see the better half down in Chichester and unlike last week made it without a hitch. Even with some spirited commuting I'm still averaging 35 mpg as well. More success.
What one must remember is that too much success is bad for the soul. Thankfully some bad luck was just around the corner in the form of a two hour traffic jam that brought about a nasty problem. After about 20 minutes of stop start the fuel pump became audible. And then loud. And then the engine started to shudder and cough. This was very worrying because I really didn't want to be 'that guy' who breaks down in the middle of an already bad traffic jam on a dual carriage way. The problem got progressively worse over a very short period of time and then the engine died. There was an exit just ahead so I restarted, gunned it and limped out of the traffic, the engine coughing and kangaroo-ing really quite badly. But within a few seconds of actually moving it cleared up and was running fine. Luckily I found myself in a university campus so was able to drive about and make sure the issue had gone before pulling up and trying to work out what had gone wrong, and what I could do about it. Thank Jebus for mobile tinernets!
What I believe has happened is either the lift pump has started to pack up or the fuel filter is clogged up, or both. I rejoined the traffic and was just careful to only turn the engine on when necessary. This worked and I didn't hear the pump again. I have ordered a new lift pump and fuel filter which I will fit ASAP.
The downside is the kangaroo-ing has broken a seal on the exhaust which is now blowing and has made the issue with what I think must be the engine mounts worse. Giving the engine a good rock by hand doesn't reveal any real movement but it was supplied with new mounts when I bought it. When pulling away at low speeds or slowing down, even gently, there is the occasional (loud) thunk from the front end. Confusion.
As one can imagine I was feeling pretty worn out after the 2.5 hour trip and a day at work so the last thing I needed was more drama on the way home. Never one to let the side down the Golf decided that what I really needed to cheer me up was a nice festive Christmas tree. On the dashboard. Oil light and water light! Hurray! Thankfully it was all down hill from here(!) so I was able to coast home.
Problem 1: Water
The plastic heater outlet was leaking. This was pretty easy to remove and on inspection had been removed before.
The face was filthy and covered in sealant. The o-ring was still soft but a bit out of shape measuring about 2.8mm. With the recess in the body 2.5mm I don't think there was enough crush so I rubbed the plastic down on some wet and dry, cleaned it all up and refitted. Maybe this time it can manage a full week without spewing coolant everywhere.
Problem 2: Oil
Now this is a strange one. The oil light seems to have a mind of its own and so tired of waiting for the replacement sender to arrive I swapped it for a known good one from the Nissan engine I have under the bench. This is actually 1/8 BSP but the threads are so close to M10x1.0 that I don't think it will be an issue. (1/8 BSP - 9.728 OD x 0.907 Pitch). Knowing my luck it will be an issue and I'll be having the oil housing off later this week. Watch this space. Anyway, with the knew switch fitted I started it up and all seemed good for about 5 minutes. Then not only did the light come on but the buzzer did to. Oh dear. This is bad.
Figuring that if the light wasn't lying the engine would be damaged anyway so there would be no harm in getting out the multi meter and just checking that the sensors were reading no pressure. This is where I got really confused. The sensors are good. There is oil pressure. No resistance with the engine off. No circuit with it running. Repeatable. But when I connect up the wire the lamp still comes on. I am at a loss.
Problem 3: Possible damage to top mounts?
These don't look right to me, should they not sit more flush with the turret?
Anyway, tomorrow is another day.
James