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Lupo GTI repair


christophertr6
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On its wheels. Bumper & wing off at the paint shop

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Almost finished from this angle

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Had to give the window switches some attention but the "how to" guide was very useful.

The switch plate itself was going manky - that coating you can scratch off with your nails. I have some 3m black vinyl film which I have applied to passengers & drivers side switches & they look a treat.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi again.

Car now on the road! Insured & taxed yesterday. Still need trip to the paint shop but have test driven it now. Great! There is a snag though. The issue with heating system is still there. I had hoped that a run out would help push coolant round the system and I'd get heat in the cabin. No joy but did notice the temp gauge dropped back to zero. Back home & in the garage and had  a good feel of the hoses. Pretty hot - bit maybe not as hot as I'd expect. I haven't heard or seen the fan come on yet either. Put a little obd scanner on it but the codes relate to battery (probably from when I changed it) and something to do with starting/immobiliser which just isn't an issue. So if the notorious temperature sensor was at fault I'd expect a code. So I suspect the thermostat as place to start. I think I'm correct in thinking that the stat is not connected electronically to the ECU so wouldn't generate a fault code itself. I'll buy a stat and a temp sensor but change one at a time so as to prove which was at fault.

But is there any other possible reason for these symptoms?

 

I'll upload some pictures soon.

 

I'll have a couple of bonnets for sale soon and some other minor bits.

 

 

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If you buy a stat buy the housing and O ring too as part of the inside of the housing usually breaks. It's a tip I got off this forum and it paid off as it turned out to be true when I replaced my GTI stat!

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It's probably the heater control valve, can't get air out of the heater if it's not open fully, there is a bowden cable that drives it

It will be just the other side of the firewall, beware of cheap versions on Ebay they leak if you need to replace it

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Thanks for all the above. Bought the stat yesterday but not the housing. I will pick up a housing before changing. Put the temp sensor in, but not had chance to run the car out since. I'm still mystified by the eater control valve. I cannot see any such valve on the water circuit on any Elsawin diagrams. The air distribution function  (screen/dash/ footwell) all seems to be fine. The blower works. If left standing & idling and then put blower on heat dose come out of vents but then cools down - as if a pocket of air has warmed up, is then blown into the cabin, but no more air gets heated. It really smacks of no water flow through the heater matrix. So carraera-gt's theory of stuck water valve makes all sorts of sense - if I could only find it!

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There is a you tube how to video that shows the bowden cables from the heater control panel, it just doesn't show where they go. Two possible places either buried under the dash or under the inlet manifold neither easy to get at.

I'm surprised it doesn't show up in the manuals.

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Thanks for this. I'll get down & dirty under the bonnet tomorrow and have a damn good look. I'm going to take the car out for a run & see what difference the temperature sensor makes, then change the thermostat. I really don't want to have to take the dash apart to get to all the heater ductwork. Mine has A/C so allegedly you cant get the heater matrix out without degassing the system. I just want to drive it.

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Looking at ETKA, I can't find a heater control valve either......

You have done a great job of restoring this so far, a lot of people wouldn't have taken this on!

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The bowden cables go into the heater box with is on the inside of the firewall under the dash, so this will be the place where you willl find the valve for the heater matrix. If you can get on elsawin there is a basic settings procedure for adjusting the bowden cables, it's quite easy. I did it when I replaced the heater dials in our SE a few years ago. Perhaps the cable has come off the back of the dial? Either way I would think you will be able to follow where the cable goes by searching up into the footwells, but you might find that the actual valve is inside the heater box.

Perhaps you could disconnect both pipes for the heater matrix at the bulkhead in the engine bay, and rig up a hose pipe and see if water runs through whilst manipulating the heater valve (via the temperature dial obviously).

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found this might be useful


b). The Golf MK2 used a new system in the heater: there is no control valve to influence the temperature in the car: the heat is always "on" in the matrix, the control of heat in the car is down to an air flap in the airbox where the matrix sits. This flap may have broken, become disconnected from it's cable etc etc so check the cable route and operation and check the flap moves when it is supposed to.

If there is no valve that might be why.

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That's how I thought it was, hence my previous comments regarding the cables/ switches. It's always hot in there once up to temperature but the mixflap is operated by the cables, either allowing the hot air to mix with the air going to the cabin or not.

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Thanks all again for the input. Changed the stat yesterday and I think that has done the trick. Took her out for a run and temp up to middle & stayed rock solid. Heat in the cabin but I have to say not as warm as my SE. It's great to drive it though. It's exactly what I wanted - the compact size of my se but with some proper power. My poverty spec SE doesn't have central locking so it's luxury now with the GTI.

Carrera-gt's paragraph about heater matrix makes sense. That's how I believed they worked. Noticed the illumination bulb on the heater controls was out so I'll be having a rummage in that area so I'll check out the control cables- though I think they are working as the "feel" is exactly the same as the SE. It's really handy having another car the same to act as a comparison.

One thing I have noticed is it's a bit squirrelly on hard acceleration - a little torque steer as well. The tyres on the car are 195's and of budget heritage I would say. Without wanting to reopen an often discussed topic, what it the general opinion as to best tyres? I know Proxes are the correct size as in 205, but are they a good all round tyre for everyday use? I ain't going to track day it but I'd like to stay facing forward even on wet days. 

I also want to find the stickers that fit on the slam panel. Any ideas?

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Unfortunately the 205 are summer tyre only.

I went for these

https://www.protyre.co.uk/buy/Falken-ZE-914-car-tyres-195-45-15-78V-1954515VBUFA914?search=%2fm%2ftyres%2fsearch%2f195%2f45%2f15%2f78

Quite a good tyre on the ratings. I would check your insurance they are OK with it. Admiral are.

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I run 195/45 Vredestein Sportrac 5s perform well in dry and wet.

used them for a 3,000 mile road trip of Europe in which there was some serious pushing in the Pyrenees and they were fine

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4 hours ago, Silver! said:

I run 195/45 Vredestein Sportrac 5s perform well in dry and wet.

used them for a 3,000 mile road trip of Europe in which there was some serious pushing in the Pyrenees and they were fine

Mmmmm. Did twisties in Italian/Swiss Alps in September on bikes so really want to do a re-run with the missus in either her GTi or the Lupo GTi so that info is valuable. Is your suspension standard?

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Well just drive home - about 8.5 miles. The temp gauge on my SE usually gets up to normal at a certain point on my route, probably after about 7 mins of driving. The GTI took till I was nearly home before making normal and the heat from blower was not that hot. New stat; new temp sensor, full of coolant. Water pump ok.

What other things could possibly be slowing down the warm up? Could the pipes be blocked? I did run a flush fluid round the cooling system while it was off the road. Could this have loosened loads of rubbish in the system which has now collected somewhere & is now slowing the water down?

A cooling system is made up of pump, rad, stat, temp sensor, main fan, heater matrix, & interconnecting pipes. Have I missed anything? I'd say these symptoms are a stuck open stat leading to over cooling, but its new as of Saturday.

And this morning, going to work, it seemed to come up to temperature in normal time (but cabin temp still disappointing). I'm normally ok with sorting this sort of stuff out but not when it defies logic!

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On ‎17‎/‎01‎/‎2016 at 5:36 PM, christophertr6 said:

Mmmmm. Did twisties in Italian/Swiss Alps in September on bikes so really want to do a re-run with the missus in either her GTi or the Lupo GTi so that info is valuable. Is your suspension standard?

No, KW V1s wound down about 80mm I reckon, white line arb and 17mm spacers on the rear

 Brakes: 280mm Brembo front discs, TAROX Strada pads all round, S\S braided hoses on all but the rear beam to calliper and DOT 5.1 fluid.

Great fun and bigger and better cars Merc SL500, TTRS  were impressed with her on the twisties. And as for the Mazda MX5s; they couldn't keep up on the twisting uphill sections.

 

My passenger, asked for first refusal if I sell up.

 

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The only thing left is the heater matrix, if the engine is at temp and you have no air locks then that leaves the matrix being blocked. When you flushed it what came out?

if you can physically get a hand on the matrix and pipes to and from it while it should be hot then that might help. Could be the heater controls / valve or whatever that opens closes isnt working properly.

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