JoeyEunos

^I think this thread ended up being mainly centered around SDI's for the most part chaps, hence my interest in skezza/Rich/Paul's experiences Nice to hear about your high milage experiences none the less

This thread brings me so much joy/hope @Paul, is she still going? Also, have you had to intervene gearbox/peddlebox wise in the space of 200k? Is there a 'Members Cars' thread? Also, looking at these chaps last log-on dates it seems like most of them aren't around so much these days Big shame as you lot (Particularly @Rich as he's local) are potential SDI brethren for me to share trials and tribulations with... At least @Skezza is still prevalent here

Not yet @Skezza, do you think it could help? TBH after valeting, treating rust, painting, fitting new tyres + alignment and completing a major service including topping up box oil all in the space of two weeks of having picked the car up (Inbetween my regular job) I'm feeling slightly burned out with it all So much for buying a cheap hack and not worrying about it TBF I always end up doing this, I tend to find it way easier to have affection for cheap/scrapper cars than I do new/expensive ones... Having now had over 1000 trouble free(ish) miles out of her I've really bonded with this little Lupo, my last tank of fuel returned 67MPG, any car that can do that I have tremendous respect for

^Yep, it's something that only happens when the car's under load, heavy load at that, so hard revs in 4th and 5th gear ect, and yes, spirited uphill slogs are a good way of producing these symptoms. I'm pretty much convinced it's not the exhaust as it feels to me like a drivetrain thing, and FWIW it's seems to be imperceptible to passengers backing up this theory. The more I think about it the more likely it seems that it's either drive shaft or engine/gearbox mount related. The car often has a judder/clunk/shivver after turning off the engine so mounts seems possible. This is the caveat of sub £600 cars IMO, the very set of circumstances that pose the advantage of being able to walk away and leave a car if it goes wrong because of it's low vale, are the same set of circumstances that lead to a reluctance to spend time/money replacing things like driveshafts etc in search of an elussive solution Frankly, it's rare that I take the little diesel engine above 2500RPM, which means thankfully it's only something that I encounter once or twice a week. I'm starting to come to the decision that this is probably something I'm going to have to either live with or wait to get worse TBH.

@rrdoctoruk, Firstly, thanks for the response Re being a possible reason for the car being sold, that may well be the case, although TBH the circumstances that lead to this happening are so infrequent (Once or twice a week) that's it's not a huge problem, a niggle though none the less. RE there being no dual mass flywheel, I thought that was the case but the large numbers of 'Single Mass' conversion kits online for the SDI seemed to directly contradict that, weird eh? FWIW I can't recreate the symptoms i neutral or at standstill with the clutch in whilst holding high revs, does this rule out any suspicion of flywheel related issues? *Crosses fingers* As I say, this is probably something I'm going to have to learn to live with as one of those 'old car' quirks but I'd really love to get to the bottom of whatever's causing it. Having ruled out balancing/alignment the only things I could think of were either flywheel, engine/gearbox mounts, or finally perhsps a slightly bent or damaged drive shaft (It's worth mentioning that one of the wheels had a large-ish dent in it and a gauge out of the tyre indicating a misshap/impact of types, needless to say I've since replaced that wheel/tyre)

Edit triple post WTF, posting on the computer at work often results in double/triple posts, argggh. Serves me right for spending my time here when I'm supposed to be grafting...

Edit double post.

Put a multimeter across the battery terminals with the car running, IIRC readings of a bove 14V and your alternator is good, anything below that and it's not charging the battery properly.

Right, where to start with this... Having now reached a dizzying 1000 miles in my new Lupo I'm getting to grips with it's niggles and minor faults, but there's one persistent issue that really irks me... When accelerating hard in 4th and 5th gear (Around 3K RPM or above and between 40-70mph) I tend to get a heavy pulsing/judder/vibration feeling through both the steering wheel and the pedals. Most of the time this isn't an issue as I poodle the car round at sub 2k engine speeds, but it's something I'd like to get to the bottom of none the less! So far I've had all four wheels balanced and also had the car's alignment set up with a hunter 4-wheel alignment machine. This was actually carried out by the chaps who work on my Mazda (As a bit of a favour because we're friends ) they're a sportscar specialist and I have the printouts and saw the wheel balancing happening so I know this was done properly! You guessed it, no improvement At this stage my thoughts have turned to engine/gearbox mounts or possibly a flywheel issue *Crosses fingers for not flywheel* My question is simple... 1. Does anyone have any thoughts/musings/advice as to where I should be looking and as to what this issue might be? 2. Is my car (SDI) fitted with a dual mass flywheel? I'm assuming the answer to this is yes on the basis there seem to be several 'Single Mass' conversion kits available online, like this...https://www.dmrclutch.co.uk/products/dmr6008-dual-mass-replacement-flywheel-clutch-kit-75.html and another...http://www.eurocarparts.com/solid-flywheel-conversion-kit It's also worth mentioning that despite finding multiple 'Solid Conversion' kits online if there is an original style 'Dual Mass' available I can't find it so I'm assuming this is a part I'd need to go to VW for? Thanks in advance for any help or advice chaps. FWIW the car's so old/cheap that I may well not bother chasing this down but my inner meddler means that I can't stop trying to think of ways to get round or explain this issue.

Baked bean can/Gun gum/hose clips...?

My whole system is looking decidedly ropey FWIW. I might well opt to pay one of the local exhaust specialists to fab up a quiet stainless catback replacement on the basis I'd expect it to be not much more than a couple of hundred quid given the tiny size and should last forever... My thoughts are that if an aftermarket system from the likes of Klarius/Bosal only lasts a couple of years and comes in at just under £100 and I have to fit it myself or pay someone else £50 or so to do it then it represents a false economy? (Furious 'man maths' at work here )

Ian, The part number I gave t them was G 005 000 , it's actaully printed on the bottle too. Capacity should be 3 litres I believe and skezza reliably informs me the drain plug is n the other side of the box, although if I'm honest I never checked given I was only topping up this time Here's a link to a DIY Polo oil change on the same 085 gearbox that's fitted to the SDI models of Lupo, lot's of good pics in this one...https://chocosmith.wordpress.com/2010/09/04/chaning-the-oil-in-the-vw-polo-6n-gearbox/ Worth noting that in the thread I've linked the OP opts for 80w90, which I believe is also @Skezza's oil of choice...

You may well be right RE viscosity, given it was only for a top up this time I'm not going to get bogged down with it any more than I already have It's also worth considering that oil viscosity changes throughout the lifespan of any oil so what starts life as 75w90 ends many years later as something very different... as mentioned it's a proper minefield isnt it? RE additives, lots of evidence to suggest that they are indeed a massive factor in terms of what's suitable to put in an 085 gearbox, but the infamous 'yellow metals' in there should be something people are mindfull of, pretty much all 'GL4' rated aftermarket oils should be safe though.

Nowadays, and certainly since the late nineties VW no longer print the viscosity of their gear oils on the tub, but their G50 comes from a simpler time and quite clearly states it's a 75w90... however... This only tells half the story. Many off the modern off the shelf oils of this grade include package additives that contain phosphorus/sulfur compounds that are corrosive to yellow metals such as the copper and/or brass used in bushings etc, and you guessed it, the 085 gearbox is full of these metals Ergo problems when using modern oils, albeit of the correct grade. The G50 oil was designed to work with and is friendly and compatible with these 'yellow metals', making it a good choice IMO. Having said that these 'boxes are frankly pretty fragile at the best of times and were originally designed to be used on 50HP 'period' engines, so with more torque being applied in modern applications it's an inherantly flawed set up even with the correct oil... I just want to give mine the best possible chance of survival. This is 100% something you could deal with yourself It looks like your car's black judging from your avatar, luckily it's one of the easiest colours to match... The key to success would be to rub back both sides of the arch lip thoroughly with emery paper (120g or so) , wipe down with panel wipes (Halfords own will do) treat using Hydrate 80 following the instructions, and then a couple of coats of etch primer followed by several of the correct paint from a colour matched rattle can. TBH if it's just the inner arch area I'd be tempted to spray the paint into cups and apply it with an artists brush. An extra note if going down the brush route would be that you'd need to probably still spray on the etch and thoroughly mask off areas where you didn't want it, and let the actual paint sit in whatever cup you'd chosen for 10mins or so to let the solvents evaporate before getting started... You'd need to pick a spell where no rain was expected for 2-3 days mind! All of that should come in at around (or under) £50 where as I expect a body shop would want three times that or more, and usually all they'd be doing for that would be rubbing back, putting a layer of filler (Bodge) over everything and then re-painting. The rust would bubble through again in 6 months to a year for sure... With the above method this should be an *almost* permanent fix if done properly with decent prep, and would certainly last for many many years.

I've owned this Golf for two years and during that time it's been the most reliable car I've ever had. I'm only selling on the basis of an ultimatum from 'her indoors' that three cars is too many! Worth mentioning that this isn't a new vehicle and as such has a few bumps and scrapes as you'd expect but overall is in very good for a 15 year old car with absolutely NO RUST, it's also cheep to insure and run when compared with many of the larger engined models. * Full 12 months MOT. * The car's just had a full service completed. * Low millage for year with just 93k. * Four brand new tyres, new wipers and new brake pads fitted all round. * Loads of history and all old MOT's. I'd like SOLD

Almost 1000 miles covered now, the pedal box hasn't died yet and, the gearbox hasn't lunched itself either *Crosses fingers* None the less I thought I'd better makes sure there was actually some oil in there! I'd toyed with the idea of a full gear oil change but in the end decided against it (For now) and settled for a quick top up... This in itself is a bit of a minefield, some recon a run of the mill 75w90 will do the job, others have had success using thicker oil, and some folk insist that VW's own oil is the only thing that will do This is where the plot thickens slightly, having called VW they told me the correct oil for the 085 gearbox is now listed as their 'G60 Gear Oil', however many online sources suggest that when this 'box was first used on Polo's in the eighties the oil for the job was 'G50'... And that was before they became know for failures... Do you see where I'm going with this ? Naturally, I decided I'd set about getting some of this mystical 'G50 Gear Oil', my local VW claimed not to have heard of it and it wasn't until I found the part number on an Australian website that they finally fell on their swords and ordered some in. Here it is in all it's glory... The catch is that it cost a mighty £17 per litre vs the recommended 'G60' at £8... Pricey! With a nudge in the right direction from @Skezza I located the fill plug, here's a little pic to help anyone else who may be looking for it, green arrow shows the correct plug, red arrow shows what I'd imagine is some kind of oil presure switch, I didn't disconnect it and just covered it with cling film to avoid getting oil where it wasn't wanted. Final step, I ordered one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cars-Draper-38323-Drain-Plug-17mm/dp/B0001K9U28/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462951967&sr=8-1&keywords=17mm+allen+socket , Assembled a length of hose and a funnel and got cracking In the end it only took about 200ml to get to the fill level, but at least I know it's been done!

Do you realise you've put this in the new members section? I'm pretty sure this part of the forum is intended for introductions etc, something that's clearly lacking in your post! How on earth you managed to post this here frankly bewilders me, did you throw a dice and decide at random where to put the topic? RE Lupo SDI gear linkages, mine's an SDI and feels pretty sloppy but I do manage to get all gears without issues... I think they might be cable operated but I'm pretty new to these cars so I could be wrong...

I've just skimmed through this whole thread, really nice car and some great work being done! It looks like you've really bonded with her, although I suppose it would be hard not to given the kind of millage you're doing Also, didn't realise you'd had a bump, bad times

Right, slightly busy weekend After looking at several SDI Lupos and Arosas before settling with this one I found them all to be corroded to some extent, one of which was a real horror show... This one was the best I could find in a 50 mile radius during the course of a month's hunting. That's not to say that she's rust free, because frankly she isn't! Just a couple of areas to sort out though so I thought I might as well crack on Firstly, a patch ajoining the roof trim, trim removed in this pic... And another area where a previous owner had clearly experienced a spot of bother with a kerb or similar obstacle, tin worm clearly starting to set in here... Both areas had a good going over with 120G emery paper, here's a pic of the offending area on the roof during the process of rubbing back... Next up, products... The cleaned up areas were given a couple of coats of Bilhamber's Hydrate 80 half an hour apart to convert any rust left and stop the corrosion in it's tracks. I seriously love this stuff, it's starts out a kind of milky blue colour and you can virtually watch as the reaction takes place! Note the black colour as the converter works it's magic... And the sill... At this point the Hydrate 80 had to be left for 24 hours to properly 'go off' Fast forward to this morning and I was out with the larks applying several coats of etch primer followed by many layers of Halfords own brand of VW Flash Red paint. After much blending in things were looking satisfactory... And after even more blending and much patience the colour match is pretty much spot on... I'm really happy with the results and feel confident that this should be a permanent fix, I trust the Bilthamber products and have used them for years and given I already had the Hydrate 80 converter the whole job came in at under £30 I'm sure lot's of folk would have liked the dent on the sill to be filled and smoothed but from past experience I tend to find this often causes more problems, I also have a keen personal dislike of bodge and if at all possible would like to avoid having it on any of my cars!

From one SDI enthusiast to another, thanks, I owe you one We seriously need to get an SDI collective/mafia dedicated section of the forum started, Skezza's been a great help to me too FWIW. Perhaps not the most exiting cars to drive, but with 65pmg and £30 a year road tax you can't go wrong, vive le SDI!

Great crack, good to see she's still around! The car looks fantastic and is a real credit to you I'm already hatching plans to get the paint out and tackle my wheels thanks to this thread, although those Euro spec Lupo wheel centres might prove hard to find... I'm looking all over the web and can't seem to find any. Can one simply order them directly through a Volkswagen dealer?

Great thread... What ever happened to this car I wonder? This has really inspired me to take more pics of the work I'm doing to my little red SDI Edit to say I also love the look of the original steel wheels sans trims, if you don't mind me asking where are the centre cap/black trim bits from though? They look ace!

Edit triple post.

Edit double post.

What's wrong with your existing box? It's perhaps cheaper and easier to have it rebuilt if there're problems... At least that way you know the box's history and you can be sure to avoid buying another one that's no better. Out of interest what kind of millage are you on?