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I think you mean the other way round. E5 has 5% ethanol, E10 10%. E5 is always better than E10. Nothing wrong with the stuff if it's used fresh, but as it ages it absorbs water and then the ethanol (alcohol) oxidises. Oxidised alcohol is..... vinegar (also known as acetic acid), which corrodes loads of stuff. But in any 2-stroke carbureted engine, only use E5, because as the alcohol vapourises near the jets, moisture condenses out in the throat. And those droplets make cold starting really difficult.

I decided to be there from monday to thursday, thinking it was going to be less busy, but it was busy anyway, being only two and a half hours open a day. Next year I will try to be on weekend too. I went to Brunchen in the morning too see some trackday action. The inclination changes of the track were really impressive on live! And after lunch and studying the racing line a bit, was time to do the first lap. I decided to film the laps to share on youtube, since the inspiration came from there watching slow cars driving fast on the track. But first day was only for me to enjoy the experience. So lets go there! It was a big WOW! Was like a rollercoster more than a circuit hahah. I didn't know in what corner I was, or which gear, or even what was my name! Too much adrenaline... I went to the parking to calm down a little, check tyre pressures, and went for another. My reference time lap was from this 60hp seat mii video (11:15 btg), and I ended the day with a reasonable 11:50 on my second lap. Tyres definetly went hotter than ever before, and catch some rubber from the track. I was really surprised on how well the car performed, I didn't feel the suspension wasn't good enough. But something I didn't want to repeat was to overdrive like I did on some corner entries, trying to not block faster cars. I cooked the brakes and tyres needlessly.

@amgeriz Thank you so much! Yeah, we took the heat gun to it (was bent outwards beforehand) and its the best we could get it. We also used said heat gun to expand the screenwash tubes, so that an oversized bit of tube would fit inside! It's lovely and snug now its proper cold again

@tigcraft Yep, 100% agree mate. We've cleaned the seats now as it was indeed covered in grime. The overall condition when taken mileage into account is poor. However, we cannot find anything which disproves the mileage, so we've concluded its just had a very hard life! (Perhaps it was used as a runaround at a garage, and the stains around the steering wheel and stalks is dried oil?) Who knows, but yes, you do make a good point. Not the best for the interior haha! The good thing is he's a solid little runner

Never thought of it turning to vinegar but that makes perfect sense. I always use premium E5 in my motorcycles because if I don’t use a full tank and they end up not getting used it preserves the tank and carbs better.

An almost brand new Lupo! Result.

Update! Otis made it to the lovely Kent Automotive garage in Maidstone yesterday, and turns out the timing belt needed replacing (no shock really, despite its low mileage it could be the original 21 year old belt!), and should be ready to collect today. Belt and water pump are to be replaced Lets hope this fixes the issue! For said issue, please look here: https://forums.clublupo.co.uk/index.php?/topic/110717-engine-light-epc-illuminated-whilst-driving/

Mine don't, but you might be able to fit them from a mk4, bora or something?

I can tell you it's been obsolete from VW since 1-7-2020, but seems to be the correct part number. It does fit quite a few VW's, so chances of finding a decent 2nd hand one are pretty good, if you can't get a new one through someone like Autodoc.

Never too early

You know you can test the BPR by simply removing that bolt and tying the little lever to hold it at the end stop. Then the rears will get full hydraulic pressure and they'll lock (which they are not meant to- inexperienced MOT inspectors think they work like modern cars- they don't). They're a pretty reliable part, so I'd be surprised if it's failed. If you fit a brand new one, it'll do the exact same...

update time! seatbelt pads, a toy lupo (hard to find!), otis sticker and floor mats!

Anyways, I will leave here the first surprise I had, after buying this car: When I made the agreement to buy it, the "Check engine light" was already ON. I checked with the seller (local car shop) if he had noticed it, which he said no. The car was driving well and only has 116k km, so I also took the shot. Forward on the timeline, I go there to take the car, MOT all OK without any issues, light not the there, really happy customer. It was late in the evening, rainy day. Next day morning, more light and I find the engine light indeed resolved: covered with black paint 😁 Already in talks with the vendor, that claims he was also scammed, as it was diagnosed in an external shop, but who knows....I have an agreement to take the care there for. It to be correctly resolved and I am taking more precautions on prossible further scams, will keep a sharp eye and, of course, update you guys!

Little update. After two years my battery is dying... I measured voltage both stopped and running and were fine, 12.4V and 14.4V respectively, but it doesn't have power at all. So I received this today. The recomended one for the lupo is 45Ah or above, but with 340 cranking amps is more than enough being the starter 0,9kW. I = 900W / 12V = 75A. It's not a huge weight saving, but the less the lead the less you pay. I payed less than 50€. For example an Odyssey PC680, weighing 7kg, cost more than 130€ plus specific mount.

This is my daily runaround, Hayley! (Featuring Otis the Loop below ) I know she's nothing fancy, but it's the most reliable car ever, and I've shared many, many ups and downs in this car. It's got custom made mudflaps, roof bars, trims made to look like steelies, and a couple of decals from a previous owner. Apart from that, she's a bone stock base model, with a 1.0 16v Engine producing 64hp. She gets through all kinds of weather, has got lots of dings and scratches, but the thing just won't quit. It's a certified tank, and for sure a keeper!

how did you know it was the back left 😂 do you know where i can buy the frame from? i honestly have no idea what im looking for.

I wouldn't put any force on the drive shaft "cup" when trying to push out the threaded part of the ball joint. You can damage the wheel bearings. My method is to tap the side of the hub with a hammer, then pull the track control arm down, by tapping the body of the ball joint with a pin chisel and hammer. The ball joints can take about 2000kg of reverse force without damage. If you don't mind replacing the seal, you can also use a slotted ball joint wedge removing tool (when really stuck).

I passed some time thinking how to solve the driveshaft issue with what I have on hand. I ended buying a pair of suspension balljoints, a 8mm tungsten carbide burr bit and modified them, making it slotted. This make more room for the shaft, gain camber from the bottom, and 8 milimeters of front axle width, without worsening steering geometry (scrub radius). I took advantage to modify my alignment tools. I cutted the big ones to suit the limited room I have on the wheel arch, and instead of buying a long spanner for the camber bolts, I made it myself welding two of them to the lenght I wanted. I also made an 'extractor' for the balljoint. Its a 14mm tall bronze disc that fit between the driveshaft cup and the thread, so when you unscrew the nut forces it against the cup, moving the balljoint down. Some taps to the hub with a hammer and it's off with ease. I adjusted the steering balljoints outwards the same 4mm of the lower one to have something near straight wheels. Then I did the camber adjustement and aligned the car. Camber without driver: FL: 2,2°, FR: 1,8° RL: 1,1°, RR: 1,4° Camber with driver: FL: 2,0°, FR: 2,0° RL: 1,1°, RR: 1,6° Toe: FL: 0mm (84,5/84,5), FR: 0mm (83,5/83,5) RL 0mm (78/78mm), RR: 0mm (78/78mm) With this, the car is finished. I'm very pleased with the end result. Now it's time to enjoy it, see if all the things I did are bulletproof, do some maintenance, try better tyres, and start to search for a 1.4 16v.

My guess also would be crank sensor because of the way it cuts out. Could be ignition switch or main power control relay as well? I've never seen a TDI pump fail.

Yeah. What @Rich said. Full car =400kg loading. And while you're at it, may as well do both fluids, magnets and filter inside the gearbox...

Surprisingly I counted 6 lupos in Adenau, but none of them on the track. What I saw interesting on my last day was this.

It's great seeing a club lupo member on the Nurburgring again! Thanks for updating us on the latest. Excellent. 👍🏻 I wonder how often you see any Lupo or Arosa doing laps these days.

Is possible the coolant temperature sensor is not working? Blocked fuel filter? But it is also possible you have a lot of carbon build-up in the inlet EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve. Welcome to club lupo

Crank sensor. It's on the front of the block and pretty easy to get to.

You shouldn't. What you don't mention is what's the restart like? I chased this to learn exact specifics so I knew whether or not it was the cam or the crank sensor. Hate loving the TDI but it did give me pd mastery which I still use now. One of those is your problem, likely the cam as the crank would leave you stuck for a few minutes.

Awesome pic! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

The plan for this trip was to do it on two days from where I live in Galicia, driving during the night until hotels check-in time, take a nap in the middle of France, and continue to Adenau, where I booked for four days. But nothing went like I planned, because I was so excited I couldn't sleep until night... So, I started at 20:30, and started to fall asleep at 7:30, with no hotels oppened until 15:00, I slept a bit on the back seat, and decided continue driving. Somewhere in Luxembourg I managed to book for that same night in the place I was going to pass the week, so I continued to the end. 24 hours later I was finally there.

Hey, we're all learning from your experiments here. So thank you! Yeah @cj1 also had so many problems with the left side drive shaft and CV joints. I think the solution was to machine a different groove (for the spring clip) on the splines. Then grind off some of the end off the shaft. That moved the inner CV joint away from the gearbox flange a bit- it was the inner one that knocked.

Everyone's back again!

There was not much time left before Nürburgring trip. I managed to do all the important maintenance things on the garage, and I leaved to do outside the brake refresh and the last alignment to have it ready. So I went to a flat floor to test for the first time the new camber gauge and measured before adjusting to the desired one, this time with and without driver weight. Camber bolts are going to be very tight, and only have the oem lift, so I measured subframe clearance to the floor and buyed a 10cm wood cube to rest the car on. Lift the car, zero the gauge, loose the bolts, add the camber needed and tighten again. Then I used my new string kit for the first time. Was a pain on the arse to set it, but easy to adjust the toe, even at this low. Perfect, now was time to test the car! And the result was, a total failure... Left transmision (short one) didn't want more camber, CV joints were fully compressed and they were knocking badly in hard cornering to the right (then I remembered I felt something very subtle there before, without knowing what was) I took out small amounts of camber in 0,1° increments until knocking dissapered, trying to retain some, but I ended at the starting point I was before touching anything... I adjusted the other wheel to be equal and do the alignment, again. This was the result: Camber without driver: FL: 1,8°, FR: 1,6° RL: 1,1°, RR: 1,4° Camber with driver: FL: 1,7°, FR: 1,7° RL: 1,1°, RR: 1,6° Toe (equal on both): FL: 0mm (87/87mm), FR: 0mm (87/87mm) RL: 0mm (78/78mm), RR: 0mm (78/78mm) At least I tried.

thats a genuinely beautiful shade of blue, huge thumbs up man!!💙

it does have a bit of monotony to it, i'll give you that mate! XD i've been intrigued by the tractorwagen 1.7 sdi. if i ever get another lupo, this could be good (i'm beginning to learn that 1.4 petrol's are darn thirsty!)

Yeah, same. If any type of diesel variant ever comes up for sale, I'm all in. Then I'll sell my silver Loop. Most boring color ever.

Ah the Fantasia green virus 🦠!! I’ve got it too. Always wanted a Fantasia green Tdi and never found one although I did see a fantasia green one broken down just off the motorway nr me but i couldn’t stop. I ended up with a beautiful met blue coloured Arosa Tdi instead

Way it’s 2024

Time for some revisions... After the caster change I drove it harder than ever, and I noticed some imbalance between left and right corners and during hard braking. Both was caused by the same thing, differences in height left to right. It was spot on while parked, but not right in running order. Maybe I should have gone to a shop to cornerweight it, but instead I got three 30 liter drums, filled with water and putted on the driver seat, to measure and raise driver side without going too crazy (measurements from the ground to the center of the arch) Coilover height: FL: 81mm FR: 75mm RL: 5mm RR: 0mm Without driver: FL: 556mm FR: 552mm RL: 574mm RR: 569mm With driver: FL: 547mm FR: 551mm RL: 560mm RR: 563mm Problem solved. Another issue with the extra caster was that it had some rubbing between the control arms and the wheel weights on full lock. So I change them to adhesive ones on the barrel. Here with some cousins.

I try to be self sufficient in all the things I like. It was time to align the car myself and don't argue with anyone again about that. So I buyed this basic string alignment kit from Caliper Garage. It consist in 4 hooks to hold into the car, 6 tubing pads and 8 connection blocks. So I needed to buy separately all the tubing, alignment string, plum bobs and a steel ruler to make it work. It took some time to choose, collect and setup everything, but I wasn't on a hurry either. This is what I used: 8 meters of 16mm raw aluminium tube A plumber tube cutter Some 0,40mm fishing line Two 60g fishing plummets Some 1,5mm stainless sheet And a half milimeter graduation steel ruler. After I used for the first time, realized that I could make it better from scratch, so I ended buying another meter of tube (9 meters in total) and 16 aluminium tube clamps to make two rigid units once setup.The only thing I would improve is to change the tubing finish to an anonized one to be easier to slide and harder to scratch. The end product. The best way to start is to cut all the short tubes to half meter and leave long ones 2 meters long. They can be shortened later even mounted. To be accurate and setup easily its better to have the line equally spaced on both tubes, so I grooved them with the same tube cutter. And I used the stainless to make one of the clamps work differently, by opening it like this you can slide freely the big tubes to center the string box.

Thats a ruddy good shout mate, but hey ho It matches the dash!

Honestly I don't like to do maintenance to the car. You spent money, time, effort, sometimes loose your patience and the reward it's nothing but new parts. But sometimes there are surprises... I ended buying complete control arms with balljoints, and always thinked the shape of those was to only be possible to mount in the correct arm. But having them on hand I noticed that the bolt pattern is symetrical. If you look mounted like it suposed to, you will notice that the balljoint is offset to the back. So if I flip positions the offset will be to the front of the car, giving some real needed caster to the suspension geometry, for free. Sounds too good to be real. But there's only one way to know it. I went to the garage, mounted everything, compress the strut with a transmission jack while on the lift, rotate the wheel to see clearances, it may work... I went to an alignment shop near the garage and ended with this Definetly it gained caster! It loosed some camber too, but it can be adjusted later. Yes, again. First impressions were that the weight of the steering was increased (so pleased with that), the steering numb center it had going straight dissapeared, the car rotates even better, and is more stable too... it feels like a bigger car! (well, it is actually, with the added wheelbase hah) And all this only driving home!

thought it'd be easier to just do photos and then captions, so here goes 1. Sanded & polished the headlights. 2. Cleaned the upholstery (and spent extra time cleaning that damn drivers seat!) 3. Managed to get some of the gunk off of the steering wheel, but the stalks are flawless now😯 4. Another pic of the clean(er) interior. 5. New side indicator covers, as one was missing and the other was very foggy! 6. An actual aerial! He previously had a 10cm nail poking out XD 7. Took off the existing adhesive which was barely holding the trim on & replaced it, with the trim being firmly in place. 8. Done over 200 miles since the last pic! So no, I don't intend in keeping this low mileage. I want to enjoy what this car has to offer! Thanks guys! -Adam

@mk2 Thank you so much for your comment. I've been busy working on this little beauty and here's everything i've done so far! No matter how little, progress is progress I'll be uploading now below in the replies.

The other reason it might have leaked is that it’s got damaged by some one poking a welding rod down too harsh. The exit of the tubes are just above the door hinges and you can blow them through with a high pressure airline to clear them.

Thanks all. I took the starter out and there it was. Just got to pick a new one up tomorrow and hopefully it solves the issue. The old one was covered in quite a bit of oil.

Yeah @ObjectiveAway is right and I was talking out of my... Here's a pic i found

I think ALD engine is same as several lupo and polo 6N2 engines, cranckshaft sensor is located under gearbox bell, you can try to locate through starter hole.

The sunroof on my car is now giving me problems. I have the full length webasto style roof and it looks like ive been having issues with blocked drainage holes so today I was going to sort them out. However, I went to it this afternoon and went to open the sunroof to access the drains and as I pressed the button I got the normal sound of the motor then nothing. It didn’t open. When I pressed close, I got the corresponding click from the motor. As I’m getting a click when I press the buttons I’m guessing that eliminates an electrical issue but, what do I do now?

Cheers! even though the car is lacking power it was very good fun, and having a lack of power will just help me learn how to carry speed through the corners , use the brakes less and ultimately go faster after an engine upgrade!

Right guys tech help please. i was driving lilly sunday and the EPC light and Check Engine light (lightning bolt) came on. The EPC light went off after 15 mins but the engine light didnt, it finnaly went off yesterday night. i took it to a family friend who runs a car garage and he hucked it up to the diagnostics today and go an error code PO321 / P0321 (Unsure if zero or "o") but he suggested waiting for the light to come back on, saying it wont be long again, and take it back to the garage i brought it from as i still have a months warenty left. but just wondering if any of you could fill me with some info on P0321/PO321 as in whats wrong, price etc Thanks Patrick