Today I.....

Today met up with Ian big ..a fellow member from chobham ..he picked up a set of alloy wheels about 10 miles from his home for me a few weeks ago .. and said to me the next time he came down to (Bridport) West Bay to see his mum he would give me a shout and meet up well we did this at 5pm today glad I did took sally for the run out ..it was like a ghost town you could count the number of people on one hand ..and then tonight all unnecessary travel is out so glad to have had the run down to the sea ..
We kept our distance 10ft plus ..I had gloves on to be safe ...but big thanks Ian for the road train down .?.they will go in the parts pile for another project ..
 
....refreshed the cloudy headlights on my newly acquired 200k TDI.


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Prior to work
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After being wet sanded with 800, 1000, 1500 and 2500 wet and dry
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and then after being machine polished with Meguirs ultimate compound. I’ve now given them a coat of clear laquer and the are baking in today’s glorious sun. Once hardened for a day or 2 I’ll wet sand them again with 2500 grit and a final machine polish.

Not perfect, but a damn sight better than they were.

You should give laquer immediately after sanding, not after polishing. Because after polishing the surface will be too smooth and laquer will not stick as it should.
 
Today I replaced the replacement thermostat on my 1.4TDI.

Not too long ago I replaced the thermostat and the coolant temp sensor due to there being no movement on the temperature gauge and poor cabin temperatures. The cabin temperature did improve somewhat but the temperature guage still did not move.

The first replacement was a Meyle thermostat. Today, I fitted a Circoli thermostat.

My normal daily journey resulted the temperature guage reaching 90 degrees for the first time in months. ?
 
Today I discovered my aircon doesn't do very much by way of cooling. Think it will need regassing as some stage.

On the plus side, I adjusted the rear seat base studs to get the backs fitting into place properly.
 
Today I stitched a new lifting strap made from braided paracord to the boot floor battery cover lid.
battery cover strap.jpg
 
Started to do the timing belt on the Devon car (TDI75), but lack of lifting beam stopped play. Will make one up tomorrow evening when at main workshop. Also began to eye up some old generic eBay mudflaps. I'm wondering whether, with a bit of red-neck re-engineering, whether they might not find their way onto the car. After all, it's already jacked up and the wheels are off ...
 
Today I replaced the replacement thermostat on my 1.4TDI.

Not too long ago I replaced the thermostat and the coolant temp sensor due to there being no movement on the temperature gauge and poor cabin temperatures. The cabin temperature did improve somewhat but the temperature guage still did not move.

The first replacement was a Meyle thermostat. Today, I fitted a Circoli thermostat.

My normal daily journey resulted the temperature guage reaching 90 degrees for the first time in months. ?

I‘ve read a few posts about thermostat replacement and wondering whether I should do this. On my TDI90 the temperature gauge wavers between 70 and 80. I’m getting mpg in the low 50s in mixed driving, from what I saw on fuelly this seems a bit on the low side for this engine, is it the consensus that thermostat replacement would not only make it run at 90 but make some difference to fuel consumption too? Climate control seems to be working fine (most of the time, except for one day when it decided to blow out hot air for no apparent reason).
 
I‘ve read a few posts about thermostat replacement and wondering whether I should do this. On my TDI90 the temperature gauge wavers between 70 and 80. I’m getting mpg in the low 50s in mixed driving, from what I saw on fuelly this seems a bit on the low side for this engine, is it the consensus that thermostat replacement would not only make it run at 90 but make some difference to fuel consumption too? Climate control seems to be working fine (most of the time, except for one day when it decided to blow out hot air for no apparent reason).

It very much depends on the outside temp and the type of driving you are doing. You don’t have the Webasto on this latter A2 so the cabin heater is more than capable of cooling the engine on its own when the outside temp is low and little fuel is burned in low speed running
Try feeding the temp of the pipes going to and from the main radiator when the gauge is in the 80 deg region. At this temp the stat should be closed and therefore the pipes also cold. If the pipes are warm or hot the thermostat is faulty
The other possible cause is the temp sender unit there are two circuits in it one feeds the gauge and the other the ecu, so even if the gauge is reading 90 there is no guarantee that the ecu is seeing the same reading. A vagcom scan will prove this but if you don’t have it then replace the sender unit as under £10. It’s green in colour and as 4 pins. In the top of the engine near the tandem pump

Paul



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Today I drove my car for the first time after spending some time working on it.

New brake disks and pads have completely removed the shuddering halt. The old disks were only a year old but had a 2mm lip all around.

The rpm and load related vibration noise WAS the bonnet. A bit of PVC tape on the catches and some grease in the runners and blessed silence. Completely changes the driving experience.

My indicator stalk works again.

My TT 3-spoke steering wheel is lovely. A bit smoother and shinier than my previous 4 spoke...

Yay!




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Today I drove my car for the first time after spending some time working on it.

New brake disks and pads have completely removed the shuddering halt. The old disks were only a year old but had a 2mm lip all around.

The rpm and load related vibration noise WAS the bonnet. A bit of PVC tape on the catches and some grease in the runners and blessed silence. Completely changes the driving experience.

My indicator stalk works again.

My TT 3-spoke steering wheel is lovely. A bit smoother and shinier than my previous 4 spoke...

Yay!




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Nice - by PVC tape do you mean good old Duck Tape?

BTW dont want to be the one to say but shiney steering wheel is most likely due to years of sweaty dirty hands :D
 
Today I drove my car for the first time after spending some time working on it.

New brake disks and pads have completely removed the shuddering halt. The old disks were only a year old but had a 2mm lip all around.

The rpm and load related vibration noise WAS the bonnet. A bit of PVC tape on the catches and some grease in the runners and blessed silence. Completely changes the driving experience.

My indicator stalk works again.

My TT 3-spoke steering wheel is lovely. A bit smoother and shinier than my previous 4 spoke...

Yay!




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I find a strip of old credit debit card cut and superglued into the bottom of the black abs bonnet retainer works well to remove the vibrating bonnet corners
Slap some grease in there as well
Now you need the gear change knob and gaiter from the TT to finish off the look but beware it’s a different knob fitting to the A2 so a little fettling is needed

I can send pictures if you like as I did the TT make over on mine about 12 months ago
With the TT wheel it all comes together nicely and in my eyes looks more oem than the A2 setup

Paul


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Thanks peeps!

I used electrical tape rather than duck tape. It was a really tight fit - two layers of tape was too much. Grease was also needed!

I’ve got the matching TT wheels so it already matches my scheme but I’ll bear in mind the gearstick for a future project. photos are welcomed for inspiration. I think Scott did the swap too.

All fun - shame I did it before the quarantine (although I’m an NHS bod so, if anything, less free time now!)


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Oh and the steering wheel is shiny because I cleaned it - a lot - with a beeswax wipe. A LOT!

I cleaned a 30 year old campervan steering wheel last year. Bolk!


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Yup I have all the TT 5 speed stuff here in a box but haven't even approached doing it as its a not an easy job. Looks nice in the box though.

On bonnet corners I will modify my high tech bubble wrap install with this tip. Still though scratching my head at what could be causing a knock when I go up and down on steeper speed bumps on the drivers side. Track rod ends, drop link, wishbones all new. I even had a look at it last week when I did indeed openly scratched my head and wiggled things around to no avail.
 
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The lip generally means that disc thickness is reduced and pad contact may be less efficient so I would say no and buy new.
 
Skimming might have helped as they felt pretty corrugated but to lip that much in one year they must be pretty soft.

Taking off the lip alone probably wouldn’t do much - the pads aren’t touching that bit, that’s why it’s a lip.


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