Today I.....

Celebrated 'The Rite of Spring'.

Investigated the noise coming from the front wheel arch in my other half's A2 - it apparently gets louder with speed, and more so when cornering, and could still be heard over the Tay FM - so quite loud then.

Based on the symptoms described thus (after being driven like this 12 miles to work and home again on the local dual carriageway on Friday) when I got home after dark I assumed it was the bearing installed at the MOT beginning to fail due to the wrong press tool being used. Finally had time to look yesterday morning and take photos on the jack just now. Quite apart from the fact that there is now almost no clearance between the inner / outer wheel arch and the tyre, I was rather surprised to see this. This was one of the Suplex 03207's I've been extolling for the past couple of years along with all new suspension parts when it was refreshed. It could be bad luck (rogue in the batch with a small imperfection in the metal) - I hope it isn't indicative of a general QC problem, but I am replacing both just in case. The top half of the spring is still present below the shock and seems to be sitting on top of the suspension arm - the wheel doesn't rub when it is straight or slightly turned so I don't know if it is being supported by the ARB and the other side?? Have a pair of Sachs springs with the same specification on order, and will take it to the same mechanic 100 yards up the road who did my gearbox swap. .. A2s, neverending fun for all the family :)
 

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depronman said:
You will also need a new top mount as that one is dead
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I was wondering that and hoping it just needed to be put back together as the bearing had come away from the mount. Easy to get hold of (they were new 2 years ago) - and at least it is passenger side so the top bolts are accessible - thanks for confirming!
 
johnyfartbox said:
The top mount is in two half's, in the photo you can clearly see that the bottom half is halfway down the spring.
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The only counter I have to that is that they were delivered as two separate pieces (bearing and mounting) to begin with, and since the top half of the spring is now dangling below out of shot, it's not surprising that the bearing ring has also fallen down the shaft of the shock absorber. Whether it is intact or not it is being replaced as the strut is rebuilt. My bigger concern is that the car has been driven 12 miles at speed and manoeuvering speed with probably the entire front end being supported by the driver's side spring and the anti-roll bar alone. I'm imagining this would be putting a fair amount of force into the drop link(s), although they were also new when the front end suspension was rebuilt.
 
Today I decided to use a gps app to record a 0-60 and a 50-75 time.

Nice and safe pulling away from a layby onto a fast dual carriageway and something you’d do anyway to get up to road speed, engine up to temperature before trying it.

Aside from a bit of tyre scrabble 0-60 was despatched in 9.7 seconds (9.8 official) and 50-75 in 6.9 seconds.

I reckon that when my 185 Continental (Eco Contact) are changed over the 195 Goodyear EfficientGrip it will improve the time marginally and help avoid the initial scrabble. Probably could do a better 50-75 too as I was concentrating on 0-60.

Happy my FSI feels like it’s got a full stable of ponies and in good health, not bad for a near 17 year old car. Might try it without the rear seats next time.
 
Today I realised this whole A2 thing has got completely out of control.

Closest, The Yorkshire FSi, PYXi the project FSi and then the problem child: Juke (JWK), assuming his usual position of surrendering to further underbelly poking (to no avail, again).

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And here, including the recently acquired TT in the background ...

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A few months ago I didn't own any of these four. Now the mission is to get back to just one, PYXi, although the TT might survive the sell-off as just so pretty!
 
Got the rear axle back from the blasting and powder coating, new cylinders, pipes and bushes, flexis,
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all ready to start the rebuild

The old bushes came out very easily indeed. Have not got the new ones in yet though. W
What is the torque for the four bolts that hold on the stub axle please. Cant seem to find and answer.
 
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tried to get the starter out but am stuck at the gear linkage... can't get the damned circlip out. Any advice welcome...

- Bret
 
bretti_kivi said:
tried to get the starter out but am stuck at the gear linkage... can't get the damned circlip out. Any advice welcome...

- Bret
Click to expand...

Really? What do you have?

On my 1.4i it was a case of remove cables via quick releases, unbolt the cast weight via central nut and wiggle off. I 'think' that was it. I do remember it was all a bit tricky though.

On my TDi car, Devon, I'm not even sure the weight had to come off. It was miles easier anyway.

I did remove the cross-shaft on one FSi, but that was just a case of prising off the black plastic cap and sliding the now visible clip out. I don't remember doing this in relation to the starter though.

Whilst here: you cropped up recently. Did you have a thread on front wishbones? There's been much discussion about these and other issues on the current 'toe' thread. Now looking to see what the cure might be.
 
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