mk2

Excellent tip Rich. I'll investigate! Thanks.

Thanks guys. I'll have a look for some pics to see what the difference is. I thought the gti has metal or at least different coloured "spokes", which is the main reason i'm avoiding it. Or am i confusing that with the 3L....?

The steering wheel on my SDI is a bit tatty around the edge... So I thought I'd swap it for another. I know the Gti has leather, but is there a model out there that a leather wheel comes with as standard, and looks similar to the standard plastic one mine has? I don't want to go after market, and I don't think a Gti wheel would look right in a poverty spec SDI..... Any ideas? I guess I could swap the SDI for a decent Gti, and then it'd come with a nice wheel?!

Right coil pack? U sure it was the old coil pack that went?

When you stripped it down, what condition were the bores in? How about the ring gaps?

Never thought to use easy start. Good un

Its not critical...

Yeah, i'd guess its something to do with air flow... An old but dodgy way to find air leaks is by flooding the engine bay with propane gas. As you move the hose around, as you get near the suction point, the revs change (increase).

Air leak? Inlet manifold/brake vacuum/plumbing?

Gearbox oil and linkages.

Wow! I didnt think they were launched till about may that year! I'd love to see an original, without all the mods they did to it over the life time of the mk2. Shame you're so far away...

The milage might have something to do with it.... You get bike engines that go on forever, and they really rev. A quick rehone might get him another 50k! Did that 32k Y reg ever get pulled to bits? I'd have been very interested to put it on a bench and find out what had happened to it....

It's a massive job... You need to rig up everything as per donor car, but dont forget there are loads of sensors. Dash out too. A lot of work.

Dunno what p0226 means... Any other info?

I dont believe it... Unless the engine was run without an air filter for a long time, or without water, or is 200,000 km+ it is very unusual for the rings to wear out in a modern petrol engine. I'm sure something else is causing the problems.

How do you know the pistons/rings are no good? Have you taken the head off? It is the only sure way to know if its the pistons...

There is a breather pipe that is meant to reduce pollution. Try disconnecting it, as it mght be sucking oil fumes/oil in that way. Post a pic of your plugs. Clean? Oily?

You'll have to get a thin angle grinder blade and slice out the offending section and then do the same on a donor car. Then seam weld all along the join. Then grind off any excess, prime and fill till its all nice again. Then respray. You'll also have to pump a load of waxoyl into the sill cavity to stop it rusting from the inside out... Its quite time consuming work.

I did a "how to" fix it here... http://forums.clublupo.co.uk/index.php?/topic/63534-mending-cleaning-lupo-indicator-stalk-lever/

I'm interested... post a drawing of what you're thinking of making

There are many times i wish that damned tray wasnt there... The pulley arrangement on the sdi is different to other lumps, which have the axis in a different position, allowing debris to miss that slot between the pulley and the belt. On another car i once had a tiny stone get between then and cause no end of grief. It also makes a big difference on the roads you drive on. Where we are the roads are bad, potholes, mud and all sorts of stuff. The wheel arches look like i've been offroading after just a few months of getting the car. I guess protection is worth having if there is a lot of road dirt, but not that big a deal if the roads are urban and cleaner.

Its the same...

Yes. You must fit it because it stops mud and grit getting on the belt and into various mechanisms.

dunno if i can do it till you tell us what you need done...

2nd attempt posting this... did someone delete my post?! Anyway.... I thought I'd post an update after 6 weeks of usage. All looking good even with a few extra scratches. In fact the laser etching seems to stand out more once it gets a bit scuffed. At least there's no enamel or paint to chip off. I had to grind off the Gti spoiler (sorry Gti fans!), as it kept snagging. I also ended up polishing the edge as I like the feel of polished metal over laser cut metal. What it looks like now: And an edge close up: Ask cooter who makes them