The to do list

[krisby]

Mine doesn't leak, not sure if previous owner had the seals sorted, but certainly ok, as is the wifes Tolly, but my old tdi tolly did, well, it was damp in the footwell when I bought it, but I never saw it leak, I did cut the base of the drivers door though, and never had it leak once.

I bought my 2002 V5 late Feb, paid £200 + Vectra dti SRI, has 120,000 but is mint, body all tidy, wheels clean, and FSH, no rattles, carpet all tidy and clean, in fact everything flawless, my only grip is my average 26mpg, but then I do commute into London on the M4, and a good 5 miles is often in stop start, or just stop, traffic. So I don't know if it is good or bad. But then I don't get more than on a run either, last Wednesday morning (3am) from Gatwick to Heathrow I still only averaged 27mpg. So sounds like you have a minter engine, with a few interior issues.

 

[Howrare]

I think you must be right. Innsbruck to Stuttgart gave 38mpg ave, then two days later 600 miles from Stuttgart back to Ipswich saw 33mpg. The first stage had a lot of down hill sections, but also over 150 miles of of autobahn at around 75. The second part included a good 100 miles at a steady 85 cruise. The car was fully loaded with gear too. Love this car!

 

[Howrare]

BAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLS. The gaffer tape holding my window up and sealing up the gap has ripped off a massive chunk of paint lacquer off my door. Gutted. Rather dampen'd the feel good factor of repairing the window regulator myself. The VWVortex guide was great though. Bit more info about how much effort is required to replace the regulator cables would be handy. They are a nightmare, particularly when you have a spacky right arm. Job done though.

 

[Howrare]

Wheel bearings boooooooo. I have the drone of dying bearings coming from somewhere behind me. Time to get some new rear wheel bearings sorted. I have found some redic cheap ones for around £50 a pair including new nuts and dust covers on ebay. Anyone used them or are they utter cack?

 

[Slimy]

Have you checked ECP? I don't believe they're that expensive for good stuff.

But first I'd recommend you have a look at your tyres. My car sounded like the bearings had failed all round, a switch to conti sport 3's and suddenly my bearings have fixed themselves! The Golf 4 platform is renowned for being sensitive to tyre choice and wear.

(And I used masking tape to hold the window up, it's a bit kinder to the paintwork!)

 

[Howrare]

Well I did have my summer tyres put back on before I headed back to Austria the other week. I only noticed once I got to Austria though. So thats some 800 miles before the noise started. I have Conti's on the front, and some budget Runway things on the back. Guess I could swap them all around. I am having to drive up and down a very bumpy dusty track regularly at the moment, and did notice the noise quietened down a lot after I washed the car. Gave the wheel arches a good blast in the process. Naturally I avoided directing the pressure washers jet on the hubs. I'll keep my ears on them.

Just a thought, as I am at a much higher altitude, may be i need to check my pressures again.

I had used Parcel tape, but that didn't work so went for something stronger. I get the feeling that my drivers side may well have had some paint work in the past. When I stripped the doors to reseal them the other week, I noticed inside the drivers rear had been signed and dated, and had slightly different trim clips to the other side. I have one other patch of bad lacquer on the car. Guess what... its that right rear door. It's a shame, and particularly gauling, as I see it everytime I get in. Live and learn I guess.

Right lets have a look at these tyres then.

 

[Howrare]

I WAS RIGHT! The pressure had gone up to 38-40psi in the rears! About 5-6psi more than I put in when I left sea level Ipswich. They're back down to 31psi and everything is much much quieter! My wallet is crying with happiness. I can get my service done, and whatever is clonking in the front suspension now. Marvelous.

 

[Howrare]

I like my office

 

[Slimy]

Yep, 40 psi would have been way too much!

 

[Howrare]

The plot thickens on the wheel bearing saga. Swapped my wheels around today so my Conti rubber was on the back. No bearing noise when spinning the rears whilst jacked up. Sounds like the discs and pads are rubbing. There is still a bit of meat left on the pads. Any way of adjusting the pad clearance, or just bite the bullet and change the rotors and pads?

 

[Howrare]

Well bugger me! Guess whos got vibrations coming up his steering (doesn't feel like a miss balance though), and the mother of all droning coming from the front now!? Yes those rear discs and pads are going to need swapping out for something newer soon. The noise is deffo coming from the tires though. Looks like I have an original and unused Michelin on my spare. I think the way forward is to buy one more new one, and stick one of the still legal but grumbling budget Runways in the boot.

In a moment of sillyness today I did think about trying a burnout just to see if I could scrub them back into shape. Skids are for kids though, and I'm well beyond the age for leaving tracks outside the local Macca D's

 

[Howrare]

My moment of sillyness may not be entirely silly after all. A sunday afternoon blast has quiettened things donw a little. Perhaps over inflating the tires a wee bit too much and driving a 1000 miles has given a slight uneven wear. Not sure I can bear waiting for them to go back to normal though.

 

[Howrare]

Hmmm all is quiet again. €200 lighter in the pocket, but with a nice pair of Nokian's fitted. I can enjoy a cruise in relative hush, of V5 burble when I want. I also have no need to explain to passengers that the wheels aren't about to fall off, and they are perfectly safe. Instead they just say "nice car" I feel all smug again.

In other Tolly news. Whilst Euro 2012 plays out in Poland and Ukraine. another battle was on in Austria. Spain Vs Japan. My parked tolly, vs the RED PERIL of my landladies Honda Civic aerodeck. Just as I was about to leave the house to go get my new rubber fitted, I got a frantic knock on the door, and was greeted with a birthday gift, of a restyled front bumper. Now sporting Honda Red highlights. I looked pretty horrid, but liberal application of Autoglym polish, has got most of it off. The Honda was looking very sorry for itself though Every cloud having a silver lining, I now get to use Hermanns (the landlord) power polisher to bring up the whole paint finish. Whilst I get him to do my much needed service. If it doesn't polish out, he's adament that he's sending me off to the local bodyshop to get it repainted. Looks like my lacquer issues might get sorted out after all

 

[Howrare]

8 Months and 3 days after writing the to do list. I finally de-badged the ol girl. Saw a Tolly on Swiss plates the other day with a clutter free rump, and it reminded me. So housemates hairdryer, and nail polish remover were "borrowed" for an hour.

Before

After

Looks much nicer eh?

As I had the polish out, I gave her the once over too. I also finally got around to buying some heavy duty wheel cleaner from a german brand called Sonax. It did a cracking job. Spray it on, leave for 5 mins. It turns a very bright red once its done its business with the old grease and brake dust, and then very easily rinses off. Also made my toes rather tingle and then go itchy. Flip flops will not be worn next time I use it.

 

[Howrare]

Baaaaaaah, Passenger side window regulator clips failed yesterday. 5 months since the right one failed. I am getting pretty nifty at stripping down the door panels on these things.

 

[Howrare]

Knocked the fix time down from 3.5 to 2 hours compared with the right side. Happy days.

 

[Howrare]

Took tolly to a mein lokal Herr Ingineer today to get my lower arms replaced to stop all the squeeking I've been suffering from. Turned out my roll bar bushes were dry, and a squirt of grease was all it took. Didn't charge a single euro. I wonder how many garages would have just slapped on the new arms anyway? Just got to get the tracking adjusted now, and should be going in a squeek free straight line again.

 

[Slimy]

I've just noticed, you've done exactly the same as I did with the rear end! I also took the 'SEAT' and 'TOLEDO' off, but left the V5. I thought some indication of what has overtook them might be appreciated .

 

[Phillips1795]

Lovely looking Tolly, after seeing your de badging skills think i will have a crack at mine.

Was it difficult to do?

 

[Howrare]

Ta very much. I'm rather fond of it. Your's looks pretty tidy too.

Nope it took an hour. Hot day, hairdryer, and lots of wd40 and nailpolish remover. Had a table knife with a cloth wrapped around the sharp end to pry them off. Once the goo is removed it'll need a good polish, and may be a clay bar to remove the dirt trapped by the badge. Noticed yesterday I can still see a shadow were the big SEAT badge in the middle was. Speaking of which, sometimes I think I should have left that one on.