John90

How much extra above the standard level plug do you use? 500ml?

I can see it costing a few quid unless you do what Mk2 said. I bought a second hand box to rebuild, it was £250 as I have a Lupo 3L (special 5th gear otherwise computer errors on that) and I had lost 3rd gear due to a selector fork breaking. Should be a lot cheaper now for a normal Lupo. Wait until you get a well looked after box and throw some new bearings in it for good measure. I have been running with the used box not rebuilt for 3 years now, with the straight 80w90 non synthetic oil. Dodgy boxes last a bit longer with non synthetic in my view, you can tell they are running a bit quieter too, but sometimes they won't shift properly when cold so feed the lever in slowly and hold it until it engages properly, not a problem in summer. I plan to TIG weld the selector fork and refit the old box when the clutch needs doing. There is a Gearbox and Clutch centre in Melksham if you google it. You never know they might fit the kit off ebay for £300 if you get the one with decent bearings, (SKF etc). They won't want to fit Chinese bearings if they are any good.

Mk2 those are amazing pictures. Those diff bearing races look like they have been sand blasted. Presumably those bits on the magnet are the once smooth bits from those races. What was it like to drive before stripping down? Right as rain, or a few niggling things? Any feedback on what caused your diff bearings to wear like that? How many miles? Am I right that the box was running fine and had done 100K miles, and that you just rebuilt it to be sure? By the look of those bearings it was a good idea to replace them!

You say blown. Does it still shift and drive just leaks oil? Does it make any noised when driving in any gears, etc? If it is just leaking then maybe only a seal.

I have just checked on ETKA, and have found 530mm (20.86") for the drivers side, and 475mm (18.7") for the passenger side, and ALSO 475mm is listed for the drivers side (GTI). Perhaps the GTI has equal length wipers? Maybe red5racing above looked them up using a GTI chassis number. The 18.7" is presumably why some parts catalogue suggest 18" and others 19" for the passenger wiper. There is a part number for a 550mm cut to length refill pack containing 2 rubbers: 895955429A. These are priced at about half the price of the passenger wiper blade (6 euro, very old ETKA). Refills on ebay are a bit steep at £18, but they do seem to have the correct end moulding that is not present on the Chinese 99p refills on ebay. Would be good to get a cheap source of refills with correct end mouldings.

Thanks for that! Exactly as you say, several almost identical kits, same prices, some NOT using decent bearings! One of my boxes has a noisy input shaft bearing which this kit should fix. The other has lost 4th gear. I have not split the box yet, the ebay box I bought as a stop gap is still running OK with EP90 "Tractor oil". Is a used box the best source of parts for the 4th gear problem?

@Mk2, where did you get the bearing/seal kit? Approx how much are they? @Charlieb793, When my input shaft bearing went, the noise happened in every gear. It does sound like the box needs rebuilding.

Cold, free flowing air makes a massive difference. I am very suspicious of these kits that have an exposed filter under the bonnet. Are they going to work with the bonnet down in hot traffic? Dyno runs are sometimes pictured with the bonnet open!

Thanks Skezza. Never heard about those wiper clips before, just ordered two off UK ebay for £4 inc post... Should be a perfect stop gap. The new complete arms for sale in ebay germany, 7 euros inc free post to Germany so have had one sent to a drop box account I have in Germany.

There is a Haynes/Autodata style German Language Lupo workshop manual that even covers the Lupo 3L. It is an interesting way to learn German, not much fun when you misinterpret and then get stuck as a result though.

The metal connecting rod with two plastic sockets that push over the ball linkages repeatedly fell off at one end of my wipers in Belgium yesterday, so I was left with one wiper which occasionally would jam and stop. It kept falling off so I removed the arm completely leaving just the one wiper working. Fortunately I still made the ferry to Dover. (Warning My car is LHD) Part number is 6x1955326a. Can you get just the plastic sockets, is there some other trick out there? It happened before on a different Lupo 3L (near Venice that time, never happens at home!). I popped that one back on and all stayed put until the car caught fire a few years later....

Agree with Rich & co on the wedges. However, is the rust bond between the drum and the hub broken? You removed the cross head screw, and now you should be able to rotate the hub centre so that the bolt centres don't align with the holes in the drum. If you can't do that, then the drum could be stuck to the hub. The wedges are tiny and have a small dot on the back you can move them with using a screwdriver. A seized or dragging handbrake cable can also contribute to this. There are 2 per car. One thing though, first make sure the handbrake is totally released in the car and to the floor, then pull hard on each hand brake cable at the hub, waggle the outer, so there is as much slack as possible at/inside the hubs, opposite one first, then the one you are working on.

Turns out the car appears to be Immo2, and the donor immo3. The car started and ran for a few seconds with the immo3 ECU box, but the immo3 immobiliser box won't fit, as the connectors are different on the loom. 2 extra pins on the immo3 box (6x0953257), compared to the immo2 (6h0953257B). The key reader connections were the same... So looking at ebay for a 6h0 box with matching immo chips on ebay...

OK. I have been behind that fuse flap to change relays before. On LHD the fuse flap is on the left of the car by the driver. I have lost my only working Lupo key with chip. Looking back should have glued the chip as suggested. So all I need then is the immo chip from a key and matching immo box, then code the box to my ECU with Vagcom... If my car happens to be immo2 (July 2000 model so could be either), can I code a November 2001 immo3 box with chip to mine? (never done coding yet with Vag com, mainly used it to reset the 3L semi auto transmission) As an aside here, does Vag Tacho talk direct to the immobiliser when programming keys???

I read on here that the immobiliser box is located "under the passenger vent". Does that mean I need to pull the dash out? Easier way? Also is it on the passenger side of an LHD car? Would really like some accurate instructions as to where the box is located. Thing is have lost my key. I have a duplicate key that works mechanically, but no immobiliser chip in it. I want to swap the key chip, ECU and immobiliser box from another Lupo 3L. My car is a July 2000 model. Could be immo2 or immo3. Will it matter if the donor car is immo3 as I am swapping as a matched set, and the immo3 Lupo 3L also has a separate immobiliser box (not found it yet). Instruments are not coded on this model). Any info appreciated, esp. if this is a detailed description of exactly where the immo box is on an RHD Lupo.

The driveshaft problem was the inboard CV triple joint, which has been replaced now, and the car is driving smoothly again. Missing Passenger side electric mirror is going back on today. So car is in better shape now.

PM sent.

Make: VW Model: Lupo 3L MOT: Swiss MOT, 1 year left TAX: Swiss registered, no UK tax paid. Nov 2001 first registered, might be tax free in UK when registered. Engine size: 1.2l Fuel type: Diesel Description including modifications: 250k KM, new turbo at 240k km, good brakes, good engine and gearbox. Runs nicely, but drive shafts clicking and vibrating between 30 and 60mph OK at 70mph & under 30. Passenger mirror knocked off. Body wise some scratches here and there- Have some pictures. You will need to register the car here. At the moment I drove over from Switzerland last week in the car and am visiting friends, so all papers are Swiss right now. It is taxed and insured. Location: Canary Wharf, London Images: Price: 2000 gbp negotiable.

One side of the wedge is flat with a small drillout that goes half way through. The other side of the wedge has a cylindrical bump, about 1.5mm high. The bump could actually be a pressing (which explains the drillout). Which side of the wedge goes against the shoe backing plate surface? The flat side? or the side with the bump? At the moment I have the flat side touching the shoe backing plate. I had to position each wedge manually to get a really good handbrake setup yesterday for the test which passed (2nd time though).

Refilling cap was 17mm hex on my Lupo, couldn't shift it. I ended up taking out the reversing light switch and filling through that hole, measuring the required amount.

Sounds to me like the seller fiddled with the light in the dash to stop it coming on, not realising that the loose wire was the cause of the light problem. Once the wire is in the computer now knows that the oil is OK, so the beep has gone. Hopefully you only have the light problem left to fix.

Have not done this recently. But in the past I scrapped one lock, and made the other good from the tumbler parts. Then a central locking kit, or open the passenger door from the inside. I have also used another good lock as a donor, and fitted my tumblers into that one, filed down/chucked tumblers (reduced security I know). In the old days, there were only a few tumblers, and 5 or so different shapes, so scrapping 2 or 3 locks would give you enough parts to build one perfect lock. A VW lock with no key must only be worth a quid to a friendly scrappie. With a stubborn scrappie, one trick is to turn up with a washing machine in a wheel barrow, and offer to swap it for a few VW locks without keys... Usually the neighbour gives you a beer for getting rid of their old machine too. More recently, when doing a rolling restoration on a classic car, I have built a lock like this to fit an original key, so all numbers match. Great feeling to get the original key, all worn looking, and open a nice new lock with it.

Took my steering wheel off to centre it. The ribbon cable came out of the slip ring. Manage to get it back in OK. The big mistake I made was not removing the lower cowling off the steering column first off, and disconnecting the airbag cable there. Had I done that first, the slip ring would have come off in one piece with the wheel without unravelling. Disconnect the car battery the whole time too... The slip ring has 5 tuns of lock, and the rack has just under 3.75... So full left hand down, back out the minimum slack and fit. Not much choice. On the bottom side of the slip ring, nothing attaches it attach to the column. It seems like the connector fits in a notch on the lower steering column cowling. The top screws to the wheel (3 small torx screws), but the bottom seems to be just held in by the connector coming out the bottom, held in place only by the cowling which seems wrong. Is that it? Have I missed something putting it back?

You are only calling me a B***ard because you pay for my road tax. Tax free, 200 quid a year insurance. The 3L is pretty awesome... Forget the eco shite, it is a cool car. Thrashing the nuts off it you can still get 4.5 litres per 100km. 2.6 litres/100km on a 75 mile trip is my best and doable, 113mpg. The Mag wheel and tyre complete weighs in at 9kg. Have managed 2litres per 100km over a 10 miles with a 800m descent. It cruises at full throttle for ages, has nice ally calipers, magnesium rear drums, does 100mph+. Very quiet because it has super high gearing. It double de-clutches sometimes on down shifts in the Alps (Italian job style), has all these nice mag and ally bits underneath, tyres are dirt cheap, because it is a real clutch it will spin the tyres at the lights (and because they are skinny and crappy but we will skip that part). It comes pre-lowered too, and the standard ride is amazing. It feels like some 60s sports car on crossplies. No wonder Lamboghini wanted the sgear gearbox tech for their cars. This was part of the takeover deal, that they got the eGear off the lupo, exclusively for new Lambos. The Lambo system is so good the don't do manuals now. You can see the same Lupo actuators and VDub connectors mounted on the end of the Aventador gearbox!!! Anyway, thanks guys for paying for my road tax, and ensuring a cheap supply of spare parts. Another cool thing, if you flick the shell of a 3L, you can tell it is high tensile steel. Much nicer sound than my other tin can an Audi S4, etc. They pressed the shell from thinner high tensile steel in Wolfensburg. The GTI shells should have the same ring to them. The GTI's must be pretty cool, but the 3L is another totally different bizzare fun experience too. You need a totally different mindset to drive and enjoy, but it is well worth giving it a go...

My lupo is a 3L eco model, Not the normal setup. With the hydraulic shifters doing the gear changes and clutch. The inboard CV joints are held in with a 6mm allen bolt. You take the driveshaft out of the joint, clean away the grease inside to reveal a 6mm allen bolt right in the centre of the shaft. So in with a hex key on a socket drive, and the whole thing comes out easily.