mk2

I've heard of quite a few AMF 3 pot diesels that went bang below 150k. It's all over the Audi forums too... Vdub suggest 120k for renewal of the complete chain system. The blister pack kit is relatively cheap, but it's a massive time consuming job. You must have done at least one @Rich? And then there's that front crank oil seal... That said, an MOT guy I know rags about his "Gti spec" 6N equipped with a stock AMF. Original chain. It's at 215k which is red lined at each gear change. Original turbo too. He does change the oil every 3k though which may have something to do with it.

I know someone with a 2001 3 pot Polo using the same engine/gearbox combo. AMF... They're at 190k on the original balancer and oil pump chain (which I find hard to believe), so imminent destruction is expected anytime now. They usually go bang around 150k. I'll ask if they need a spare lump and box. A swap would certainly be easier than doing the chain and tensioner with the engine in the car. How to get it down here though?

And many of the original crew now have their kids in secondary school... Not long till they'll be learning to drive.

I've gotta admit though, they look bloody gorgeous! Nice work. Now where can I get a 3L steering wheel and a set of these clocks...?

Nah, petrol and diesel are different because the ignition impulse uses wasted spark system (looks like double/half revs). Plus half the sensor inputs are different. Many of the engine sensors go direct to the instruments, so if they're different/missing/additional, they'll light up different sections. I think the only things that are common are the power connections, otherwise you'll have interesting fireworks. Also the early Lupos/Arosas use the SIMOS ECU, instead of Bosch. Maybe even the Magnetti Marelli ones? I don't remember without looking it up. @Rich you've been playing too much with the high brow auto sector... Phaetons, Audis... Lots of CANbus fun there. Not sure if any Lupos had CANbus did they? Late GTIs maybe?

That's probably just the seal needing a refresh. I wouldn't worry about it.

Yeah, we do have the "original" rogue team member log in occasionally. Huge respect to the original Lupo force. The club wouldn't be the same today without you 'founders'. 👍🏻 Some come back to see if they can find either their old car or even try and find a good new one as they miss them. Still very much sought after, with some resorting to buying Jap imports, which are often near mint. But like you, most have moved on to bigger pastures, 4 door things for families... Nice to see you back, but I joined after you'd already left. Like 3rd or 4th hand cars!

My other cars are SORNed so the cost of a pair of roof pars will probably be less than insuring and taxing my big car... I need to collect something light weight but 4m long. Any ideas which roof bars are a perfect fit for our Lupos / Arosas, and directly bolt into the roof rail captive nuts (already part of the car)? Or perhaps someone has a set sitting in their shed getting dusty and neglected that they may wish to exchange for some $$$? TIA 👍🏻 -frank

@Rich, you're one of the prime candidates they're going after. And me with my lightly mod'd SDIs. I think they're trying to make us go down the same route Germany has. Only standard production cars. No kit cars. No self builds. No hot rods. No funny cars. No remaps. No aftermarket parts (only OEM). No fuel changes (petrol to diesel) etc. At least my V12 'rod and my Kei car are exempt 'now'. I've had friends going to/from the Nurburgring with their heavily mod'd cars getting pulled by the local politzei and having their cars confiscated because they were driving on regular roads. To get them back, they had to organise a flat bed to take them to the border. Mad. It's going to be happening here (especially for post 2001 cars).

I'm not sure, but I think the idea is that the MOT testers will connect to "the manufacturer" network and compare the ECU maps and settings to the original, without looking at digital signatures. In the same way that they can already do updates. I know VW was able to use the VAS system to remap (reflash the ECU) with complete new software from around 1996 onwards through the OBD connector. So if they could do do that, any vdub from 2001 onwards could be checked I guess. Many "tuners" I know unsolder the flash memory and then change data on a regular chip programmer- once it's not soldered down and off the circuit board. And I have met one or two people who complained that when they took their car in to vdub for a warranty repair, recall or something, the "tune" had been removed. After a remap, the checksum changes... The ECU uses the new checksum to verify everything is ok in the new software. That might be a way to tell if the ECU has been reflashed?

I think that the annual vehicle inspections across Europe will require the inspector to plug-in to the OBD connector to read ECU data. To see if everything is like it was in the factory. Even check VIN and various other details like milage. My local inspector now plugs in already (into gov certified emissions equipment), but he says that it is relatively easy to trick the equipment by putting the tail pipe sensor into a newer car during testing. And the sensor calibration process also has a few flaws. I agree that older cars are becoming more desirable for the simple reason that they're increasingly exempt from all the new limitations and restrictions on people's freedoms. But taxes on that category are making people pay for freedoms.

Just in case you may have missed the news, read this: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/in-use-emissions-of-road-vehicles-regulating-environmental-impacts/regulating-environmental-impact-of-in-use-emissions-of-road-vehicles Which basically means if your 2001 onwards car doesn't meet the FULL emissions requirements exactly like when it was brand new, the gov will have the power to confiscate and crush it. Every car will fail. Especially vdubs. So remaps, EGR deletes, cat deletes, cold air intakes, DPF deletes, exhaust component changes, 'pops and bangs', catch cans etc. In fact ANY non-manufacturer alternations. Which Germany has had in place for quite few years already. Factory standard cars allowed only. Full emissions testing, not like the existing MOT checks. Must meet economy fuel consumption figures. At the time of me writing this, it is just a "consultation" but we all know that means they intend to do it...

Have you checked the ignition switch? Also, have you checked the engine bay voltages? Injector bus, ignition bus and sensors (unplugged).

Everything is fixable. Pull the thing to pieces, figure out what needs to be replaced/made/modified and do it. Even glass reinforced plastic parts can be remanufactured with some care. It's one of the reasons my favourite tool is my die grinder. The cooling fan is nothing more than an assembly of parts. A motor in a housing, with a fan, a motor mount and some electrical connections. Brushes are replaceable. Commutators are replacable. Bearings are replacable. Even windings can be rewound. If someone made it, it can be made again. It can even be made better than the original. You can't uninvent knowledge. 👍🏻😎

There are zinc coated captive U nuts which clip/slide onto the subframe and wheel arch liners. The screws screw into them. The two in the centre (10mm self tapping bolts) fit into bigger captive nuts. They cost pennies, so I bought a mixed lot of 100 for my Lupos. Ebay.