mk2

I've been investigating conversion companies who convert 'dirty diesels' to clean, for use in the soon to be London wide low emissions zone. Nothing older than a 2015 diesel car or 2008 petrol will be allowed... Apparently our little SDIs are actually already below the 0.7 smoke limit (like brand new diesel cars). Even says so on the VIN sticker in the engine bay- 0.7 in the lower right corner. So technically they already are clean enough. Last MOT, one of mine with 135k miles tested to 0.5 average which apparently is amazing. I have deleted the EGR and gas flowed the inlet, but I still think they are a relatively clean engine. The EGR is what seems to soot them up badly. Not such a "horrible dirty diesel" after all...

About 45cm long. Right across the drivers zone. mot fail. Mot due in two months. Stone hit the top edge of the screen, just above the sun visor. Over bumpy road and i watched the crack grow and grow and grow.... not good.

Uh, ok. I know nufink aboyt chemistry. So it reacts with air when hot. Gotcha. 👍🏻 Mind you if the HG went on a 3L, you may as well throw it away. Head bolts connect right through to the bottom end holding the main bearings in! Not something you'd want to change.

Bang and crack. I need a windscreen... Being quoted silly money, like £260. The person I used to know in the car glass business has moved on, who told me that a new untinted glass from Pilkingtons or other suppliers is about £63 to buy wholesale. It takes 45 mins to pull the old one and put a new one in. Are the likes of national windscreens, autoglass etc just printing money or something? The prices are crazy. My insurance company has just said that they could supply and fit for £250. Their standard excess price. Normal price without windscreen cover is £380!!!! What?! what have you paid? if there was a car in a breakers within an hours drive, I'd wire cut the old one out and fit it myself. I'm a bit cross to say the least! 😡

Ok, here we go... (I'm assuming good head gasket, normal fuel mixture, ok brakes, ok cat and normal ign timing. is there coolant in the system? does the water pump run ok and circulate coolant? does the thermostat open and keep the temp gauge at 90 without moving once warmed up and driving normally? Is the right thermostat fitted... do the fan(s) work? does the interior heating work? does the coolant level stay constant (no leak or crack somewhere)? does coolant circulate through the radiator (can you feel warm fluid leaving the rad through the hose, when engine is hot?)

Details?

Is that what the stuff is? Interesting. So Mr. Chemist, how does it work? Does it just coat everything or react with oil or CO2...?

Yeah I know. Heard the same. But where to go definitive... I can see me pulling box after box to pieces, probably ruining at least one or other till I find the right cogs. Won't go that way. No-one I know in Germany is willing to pull a 3L box to bits for me for cogs as they're worth too much complete!

There's typically an AC sticker on the panel next to the bonnet (hood) lock, just above the radiator. It tells you the system capacity 750g type of R and +50 or whatever amount of oil in grams to add.

Loosen it off more. If it was the pedal box, the biting point is almost on the floor. Or it might just be worn out...

AUG or AWY, but from an 020 box. I'm not sure if the shafts are right though.

Systems about the same size as mk4 golf, so I'd say about the same. 750g 134a. 50-75g of oil from memory. Vac it all out first for at least an hour to get any moisture to boil off. Whoever does it will see all the gauges anyway, so it'll be easy to tell when it's close to the limit.

Wiring for sure. You could probe all the ecu pins and see which one goes high/low while cranking. Diagram much easier. Sounds like more than one relay or control wire (to relay).

Yeah. So it looks like the only option is the fifth gear set and synchro from a 3L box. In this country... rocking horse poo. Unless I can find which mk2 golf had the same cogs.... anyone? Just got back from another 200 mile jaunt. Yeah, definitely needs to rev lower at 80 on the motorway.

Hey and you have the matching bucket. Gotta keep the car running now!

With ABS and tow bar! Shame it's a pre £30 tax car. Looks good, but no inside pics.

I don't think it'll work, but hey worth a try. Pull the head off. By the end of Sunday you could have it runnig again

Yeah, i have an SDI 1.7 (1.9) engine on a crate somewhere. Can measure it. Which bits do you need to know. Pic would be easiest.... Either I have it completely wrong or the part numbering system doesn't work! Ok, so the lupo sdi is the exact same lump as the 1.9, and comes as standard with the 085 FFV box variant (in the lupo). The engine is slightly angled backwards by I'd guess maybe 10 degrees. The 1.4 tdi uses an 02 something (as I understand which is to fit engines mounted at a different angle -I think). 1.9 TDI engines have bigger boxes for the increased torque, which I don't think fit the lupo without messing with cv joints and halfshafts and other stuff I'd imagine. I don't know what internals cross over. So where am I at? Have I got it all wrong?

Just had a thought @RAB... The 3L has completely different hub carriers and front suspension setup. Never worked on one, but from drawings they are 'odd'. I mean what's going on with those front wheel bearings?!

What's the camber like on your's? Have you had a chance to measure it? The steering geometry is wrong though... A lot. Measure the angle of the turned in wheel on full lock (on the inner corner radius). Then measure the outer. If you take the outer as correct, the inner always needs to be turned in more to follow the smaller circumference of the turning circle but not as much as it is. Use the centre line of the car with a perpendicular line extending towards the circle centre through the back axle axis; they don't intersect. It's about 1.2m from the centre (behind the rear axle)! Mk4 golfs are the opposite. I always wondered why my mk4 keeps squealing in dry smooth car parks when on full lock. Not enough angle. It's like on the first BMW minis. Their track arm and rack tie rod lengths were different (wrong) resulting in awful "bump steer". Perhaps it was deliberate for track use....! Lots of cars get it wrong. Dunno why as it's basic schoolboy geometry.

Yeah... most vdubs, audis, seats etc. The holes on the struts are about 2mm bigger diameter than the bolts. Lots of room to play with. I read somewhere officially that's how you adjust the camber. I'll see if i can find a link. Probably for a old mk2. It's also why the lower track arm ball joint mount has slots, not round holes. I can't exactly remember the numbers I measured a while back when doing all the checks, but something like 4 degrees of variation on a standard Lupo. Surprising actually. Not that minute to be fair. But I have to agree- They do look like they were originally designed to be non adjustable. Enormous clearance holes for some reason though. But there is a huge design flaw in the steering geometry on all Lupos, which is why the inner edge of the tyres wear, even when perfectly tracked. The inner radius wheel track when turning, turns in too far and scrubs. The rack track rod end should be about 85mm further out from the axis centre- basically a longer lever. But can't as you'd need 19" rims. The short wheelbase is the problem. They partly cured it on the Up, which is why it has slightly bigger wheels.

I once left off a sump plug while filling with fresh oil... I think that's about as dumb a mistake I've ever made. Yeah dishwasher tablets work a treak. Add two to a big system (10L). Designed to not attack rubber or cause corrosion to any metal and even de-limescales too. Any oils or contaminanents go into suspension then get dumped when you drain it. Just rinse through with fresh water at least three times before filling with antifreeze again. The anti freeze last years that way and stays lovely and clear. No pinky cloudiness.

Dishwasher tablet in coolant tank will clean everything nicely.

Headgasket, crack or oil cooler leak for sure... It'll be just a question of time before it finally goes.

You could try making a very thin cut with a razor. Then very carefully inject some glue (you need to experiment), press it around the bubble with your fingers, then heat it with a hair dryer. Then using a vacuum cleaner, suck all the air out (and some glue...)To stop the air getting sucked back into the thin cut, put some tape loosely over it to act as a valve. When the glue has set, pull the tape off. You shouldn't see the cut. I've done it before on other cars and it works.