mk2

Was there any gear whining when you drove it before it stopped shifting? The gearbox should have been completely silent.

Pic would help, then we can say stuff like "the third across, next to the green and red thing..." Relay is a square black thing that plugs in. You want to look for the same number on the top, like 137A or something...

I'll have the driver's door if someone could collect it for me... for a payment of course it's even the same colour as mine. How good is that?! shame about the steering wheel. Thanks for the info @Rich 👍🏻 If only it were 200 miles nearer to me.

The SDI is a very heavy lump... but it uses the exact same block as the 1.9 line of diesel engines. Not tried the 1.2 petrol, but you're certainly correct, as it's a much lighter thing. At least 75kg lighter I'd imagine.

My SDI is definitely quicker and outhandles my 1.8L petrol mk4. Both factory spec (apart from gas flowed inlet plenum and EGR disabled on the SDI). It's the mk4 handling that gets me. It's awful (compared to my mk2s). I've had a drive of the little 3 pot TDI. The main benefit is when you're on a motorway going uphill. Pulling away power is far superior on the SDI (more torque, 4 cyls), but top end power dies. I guess that's why AHU engines are so good. Lots of low down torque and reasonable power at the top.

Some big rock! The best paint is PPG 2k base then 2k clearcoat over the top. Being an American paint, you'll have no problem getting the stuff. When you run the clear over it, do the headlights at the same time with any spare lacquer (rub the old stuff off first though). They'll come up like new. is that how you canadians wash your cars? Interesting. But i guess the temp is already subzero, so the minute you drive out, it sets solid! did you ever get a block heater sorted?

the word you're looking for in german is "Endschalldämpfer" or back silencer. try german ebay or german google

Exactly my thinking with my SDIs... Lupos are getting to the point now that they're beginning to be investable. All the rubbish is going and i think within 5 years only the good well maintained stuff will be left. If you've spent the money, it's worth hanging onto. After all, any car needs to have regular money spent on it just for maintenance.

If you plan on hanging onto your gti, it's worth getting an original Ernst exhaust (they made the OEM units for vdub). I get mine from germany, delivered for 15 euros from these guys - https://www.qp24.de/

If the airbag module from a plastic steering wheel fits a leather one, then that's an option for me... I could swap over the airbag module. if you're nearby, any chance you can ask them how much they'd like for it? PM me if doable... :) I'd walk up to the counter with the bag hanging out for extra poverty effect... "now who'd want that piece of junk...?" :)

A pair of complete ali doors for under £100... not bad at all. that car'll be stripped to the bone within a week now it's been on here. I'd love the rear beam, but can't justify a 10h round trip by car for that. hey @Rich , can you have a look at the steering wheel if you're going there? I need a decent one as you already know.

The tip where crud builds up is on the inside of the block. So you need to remove the sensor to clean it. No option sadly. It's like when metal dust sticks to a slightly magnetised screwdriver. You need to wipe it clean. Great news about the compression. Engine should last years then, with regular maintanance.

Whats the difference? Do i want one too?

Nah, the 1.7 always takes ages to warm up. With or without EGR. The reason it takes ages is because it is so efficient, where most power goes to the wheels or as heat down the exhaust pipe. The beauty of a DI diesel is that you have a thin boundary layer of air between the piston crown, the cylinder head, the bores and the ball of fire expanding, generating pressure to run the engine. The thin layer of air blocks the heat getting into the engine. Air's a pretty good insulator. The quick way of disabling EGR is by disconnecting the vacuum hose on the choke flap. Then block the hose. Keeps the air supply clean. But you also need to do the same to the EGR valve, to stop the exhaust gases getting through. EGR is disabled over about 2200 RPM.

Cough cough! Splutter. Mk4 golf? Biggest piece of lumbering german junk ever. I have one. Ok, so it's comfy. That's where the good news stops. So so many serious design flaws. So much to go wrong or OEM stuff that keeps going wrong. And heavy. And not economical. And does not handle. Also true for the R32 too.

LOL! Excellent! Very funny! @mscherryviolet , you've gotta laugh at that....

Yeah, us lupo/arosa people are an elite group who strongly help others within our clan... (And there are more of us than them). Picture a street full of Lupos turning up blocking the area off. Nowhere to run.... post a few pics inside and out of your canary

Don't get ripped off buying crank sensor... they are nothing more than a steel magnet with some wire wrapped round it. Priec should,be about £15. Like @Rich says they can just get crud on the end. But the other reason they fail is because the magnetism gets lost if you know what i mean. A ghetto fix is to move it very slightly closer to the crank by removing some of the flange mounting plastic- but only a tiny amount, like half a millimetre. Google how they work....

Yeah, and i reckon (after only a few hours of searching so far), that the 1.7 SDI engine is probably the smallest direct injection diesel, without a turbo anywhere. Ever. There are smaller and older diesel engines from other manufacturers, but always indirect (with a swirl chamber), or with a turbo. So I'd say it's a bit special. All new diesels come with turbos or if NA, start around 1.9. People with SDIs always whinge that they don't have enough power. I've never had a problem and I'm quite brisk on the road. I'm a Mk2 golf driver after all. If you're not cornering on two wheels, you're taking the corner too slow.... On a level motorway, i easily cruise at around 80 with a very light right foot, maybe only 25% throttle/torque demand. Added benefit of such a small swept volume is that the scavanging efficiency goes right up. I wish there were a straight six 1.2L diesel DI engine out there. It'd be amazing. BMW got close a few years back. I've rebuilt an SDI diesel pump, and the thing is completely electronically controlled (injection quantity and timing). But is still uses the tried and tested mechanical pump tech from yesteryear, which is what makes it so unbelievably reliable. My only gripe is that i think the timing sense injector gets very noisy as it ages. Haven't found a solution to that just yet. Tap tap tap, just like tappets. Irritating.

We're up to about 15 now by my reckoning. need just a few more takers. Arosa vs Lupo side profile pics. Not a lot of difference from the side....

Oh yeah baby. I have two SDIs and a spare engine... I did 130 miles to Dover and back yesterday, so a total of 260 miles, mostly motorway and doing 'average' of about 70 the whole way. Best bit, only used 15 litres of diesel, which works out to about 80mpg. Beat that, any new generation blue or green spec car! Yup, i just love the SDI engine. Ok, so i have gas flowed them, deactivated the EGR and diverted the breather fumes, but still i think standard car should be able to get close to that. 3 pot four stroke engines are just plain wrong. Otherwise i'd have gone for one of them.

I've noticed on my SDIs, there are tiny little paint colour spots between the bleed pipes on each diesel injector. On one car they are green, the other yellow and on two spare sets I have white and also light blue. I have a hunch that they are flow matched at the factory. The lift or pressure when they open has been measured on each injector during production and then they've been colour binned? Does anyone know what each colour means? When you use diagnostics to read the idle injection amount trimming, it may say -0.2 0.0 +0.5 -0.3 in milligrams of diesel (the ECU obviously averages out the amount to be zero). The differences by my reckoning are the small variations in the injector opening pressures. From my experiments, I've noticed that you can remove the shim in an injector to up the pressure at which it opens. When I mixed colours, the ECU really didn't like it- I got readings like -2.1 -0.3 -1.2 3.6 where the 3.6 injector was a yellow one in a batch of greens. It ran rough at idle. So, is that all it is? Just a matched set? Begs the question, which colour gives the biggest punch....? Which colour for which pressure? Or is it flow? Just a wild guess right now.... Has anyone ever got a straight result of zero across the board? I'd guess that it would be the same for AHU and 1.9 engines with turbines (all non common rail, non PDI systems, with a timing sensor on one injector).

My S spec only has leccy windows, lowered suspension, tilt seats, ali wheels, opening back windows and locks.

Improv means engineering spirit is alive and well. Engineering design is improv after all. Using and improving what was there before

Just thinking of a way to boost the numbers so we can get these things made... calling all arosa owners....