VW Golf G250xan Respray update

Dropped the car off last week for respray to front end to fix scratches on bonnet and stone chips to wings.

I had to remove the front wing trims so they could paint them properly. Once they were removed I was very pleasantly surprised to see how good condition the wings were in. There was a small amount of rust under the wheel arch trims but nothing significant and certainly nowhere near as bad as many other examples I've seen.

Went to collect car last night and unfortunately it wasn't quite ready but I got to see it masked up in the spray booth all ready to go.

Now looking forward to seeing the finished result!

 

Update -

 

Now got the car back and the paint finish is excellent. They've done a great job blending in the colour to the original. The bonnet and front wings are both now a very good gloss and without the stone chips and scratch that was on the bonnet.

 

 

Golf 16V G250XAN Update One Year On

It's now nearly 12 months since I bought my Golf GTI 16V registration G250XAN so it seems like time for an update one year on.

The car came in fairly good working order but with a few MOT advisories and interior that needed some work.

So I've replaced the driver's seat, fixed all the advisories and more, had GTI racing specialist setup the KJet injection and most recently fitted refurbished BBS alloys to the car with new Dunlop BluResponse tyres.

Interior shot showing new seats

With the new BBS alloys

With original Montreal Bottle top alloys

G250XAN in 2015

Dunlop BluResponse Tyres Review 195/50R15

I needed to get a full set of new tyres for the BBS alloys that I've bought for my MK2 Golf GTI 16V.

The best value branded tyres seemed to be Dunlop BluResponse in size 195/50R15 which I managed to find for the all-in price of £50 per wheel. That included fitting, valve and balancing but the garage didnt need to remove wheels from car or dispose of old tyres as the rims were bare.

Dunlop BluResponse Tyres Review 195/50R15

Dunlop BluResponse Tyres Review 195/50R15

The tyres fill the arches perfectly and the BBS alloys really set off the look of the car compared to the original bottle top alloy wheels.

Fitting Replacement VW Golf Mk2 Radiator Mounting

When I bought my Mk2 Golf GTI 16V the radiator was held in place on one side with a cable tie. One of the jobs on my list was to replace this with the correct radiator mount VW part but despite placing an order with the local dealer they found the part had been discontinued.

VW Golf Mk2 Radiator Mount - with cable tie!

 Fortunately I had the other original radiator mount still in position so I was able to use this to see how it should be attached.

VW Golf Mk2 Radiator Mount

Although the radiator mount itself was no longer available new I managed to find a refurbished one on Ebay. I also located some 1 1/4" rubber tap washers that were the perfect size to use as the cushion for the mount.

Now the correct mounts are fitted to the radiator there are no cable ties left holding parts together under the bonnet!

VW Golf Broken Front Engine Mount Replacement

For a while I've found that there has been a jerky movement when changing gear associated a slight clunking noise at the same time. On investigation we found that the front engine mount was giving a lot of play and movement thus causing the noise when changing gear.

The engine mount is a cheap part to replace, mine cost under £20 delivered from my usual parts supplier, B&B Components and is an easy item to fit too.

VW Golf Broken Front Engine Mount Replacement

VW Golf front engine mount from above

VW Golf Front engine mount from below with 1 bolt removed

There are 3 bolts to remove in order to replace the front engine mount, 2 are underneath the engine mount and the third is on the top visible inside the engine bay.

Jack the car up to be able to access the front bolts and release them. The use a jack underneath the gearbox housing to lift the engine clear of the bolt on the top of the engine mount. Don't use the sump to jack as it can get damaged. Remove the old mount and fit the new one retightening all the bolts once done.

Once removed it was obvious what the problem was with the old mount as the top bolt had broken from the rubber surround of the mount and was leaking fluid as these mounts use water damping.

New engine mount ready to fit

First bolt removed from under engine mount

Old engine mount removed

Engine mount leaking where top bolt broken away from rubber

New engine mount fitted to car

New engine mount fitted to car

Replacement Scuttle Cover Golf MK2

Replacement Scuttle Cover Golf MK2

The original scuttle covers in the MK2 Golf were made of flimsy plastic. These were changed from around 1990 onwards to a more robust hard plastic so I decided to replace mine with one of these as the scuttle protects the ECU and the heater motor from water coming in.

The hard plastic scuttle covers are no longer available from VW but I managed to pick a secondhand one up from a VW forum which was in excellent condition.

Another MOT Passed G250XAN Golf GTI 16V

I took the Golf for it's annual MOT today and it passed first time! I shouldn't have been surprised with the amount of work that we've done on it over the last year some of which was to rectify all the advisory points on the last MOT.

The car has now done 179,000 miles, from previous MOTs that's only 9,000 in the last 3 years.

When you look at the list of work done all the main MOT items have been covered so the car should have been in a good state for the MOT, as it obviously was!

• New brake discs and pads all round
• New suspension all round (springs, shocks and top mounts)
• New rear wheel bearings
• New rear stub axle
• New handbrake cables both sides
• Electrics sorted & removed after market horn
• Professional K-Jet setup to tune car
• New wheels and tyres

MOT Passed Golf GTI 16V

G250XAN VW Golf GTI 16V

G250XAN
1989 Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V

These photos of G250XAN were taken at the Kent VW Klub meet at Tankerton in April 2015. The car currently has 178,000 miles on the clock

G250XAN Golf GTI 16V

Photo of Golf GTI 16V

G250XAN VW Golf GTI 16V

VW Golf Mk2 GTI 16V Radiator Fan Not Working When Car Hot - Overheating

I've thought for some time that the radiator fan on my VW Golf Mk2 GTI 16V didn't seem to be cutting in when the car had warmed up but as most journeys I do are on the motorway it's not been too apparent.

When driving in town recently I found that the fan is definitely not coming on and the car does start to overheat if driven in traffic. I needed to check if the fan motor had broken or if it was just the thermostat switch that needed replacing.

Fortunately it's an easy test to do, all you need to check is that when you remove the plug to the radiator and connect the two terminals the fan comes on. This is the same as if the switch was working and turning on if the radiator gets hot. Luckily the fan did work when the terminals were connected so next on my purchase list is a new radiator cooling fan switch which is much cheaper than a new fan motor!

VW Golf Mk2 GTI 16V Radiator Fan Not Working 

How to Fit Golf 16V Injector Rubber Seal Replacement

When checking the engine on my Golf 16V I noticed that the injectors seemed to be quite loose in their mountings. I've bought some new seals for them so my next job was to remove the Injectors for the Seal Replacement. As usual B&B Conmponents on Ebay were the supplier I used for the seals, they seem to stock most Golf parts and deliver very quickly.

How to Fit Golf 16V Injector Rubber Seal Replacement

As you can see in the above photos there are 2 different types of seal, the small thinner ones fit near the injector nozzle end and the fatter ones further up the injector.

The injectors just unplug and when I removed the first injector I found that only one seal was actually present (there should be two, a large and a smaller one) and even that one was badly perished and distorted.

Old worn rubber seal from 16V Golf GTI

 Once removed it was then possible to fit the new larger seal. This is a VERY tight fit over the injector and takes a lot of pushing to get it in place.

Once fitted the seal needs to be pushed into place along the injector body.

Video showing how to remove injectors and replace the seals

VW Golf BBS Alloy Wheel Refurbishment

I bought a set of BBS alloy wheels for my VW Golf GTI 16V late last year and since then they've been sitting in my shed. I've finally got round to doing something with them and today dropped them off to Lepsons to be refurbished. Lepsons are based in Gillingham so very convenient but deal with alloy repairs and refurb for customers across the UK.

VW Golf BBS Alloy Wheels Before Refurbishment

I've decided to only get 2 wheels done so far as the other 2 look in much better condition. They may look far worse when compared to the refurbished ones I get back!

VW Golf BBS Alloy Wheel Before Refurbishment

The BBS wheels were available as standard on some MK2 Golfs and you can see the VW logo stamped onto the wheels.

I'm looking forward to seeing how they look once returned - not looking forward so much to the bill which will be around £144 plus VAT.

MOT Fail Bump Stops Deteriorated

One of the advisories on the last MOT for the car was that the bump stops were deteriorated. When we took the suspension apart to replace the shocks and springs it became apparent exactly how bad this was. Amazing that this is just an advisory, I can only assume to fail they would have had to be totally missing.

MOT Fail Bump Stops Deteriorated

 These are photos of the bump stops from my VW Golf that had an MOT Advisory Bump Stops Deteriorated

MOT Advisory Bump Stops Deteriorated

Golf 16V Idle Revs High - ISV Faulty?

Over the last few days my VW Golf GTI 16V has started to rev much higher than normal at idle or in traffic so rather than 1000rpm it can jump to 2000rpm or more.

Interestingly a problem that I'd had with the idle not holding when the engine was cold for the first 30 seconds or so has now resolved itself so I'm guessing the two are linked.

I've disconnected the ISV (Idle Stabilisation Valve) and the engine now idles correctly when warm - but still struggles when cold first thing.

Looks like more investigation needed this weekend!


Golf Mk2 GTI 16V Revs high at Idle

VW Golf GTI 16V Rev Counter Intermittent

When I bought my VW Golf GTI 16V the rev counter intermittently stopped working along with the MFA display. It appeared to be some sort of electrical connection problem with the dash module but there was no apparent damage to the circuit board at the rear of the clocks.

Eventually the rev counter and MFA stopped working completely so I managed to source a replacement from Ebay as many of my Golf related purchases are!

There is an excellent YouTube video by Richard Dane showing how to separate the speedo from the rev counter so you can swap the original speedo into the replacement unit and retain the correct mileage for your car. The series of 5 videos linked below will show you how to remove the speedo and replace it with the one from your existing car to keep mileage correct.



VW Golf MK2 GTi16V Rev Counter Intermittent Fault

Painting VW Wheel Centre Caps

Painting VW Wheel Centre Caps.

When I got the bottle top wheels for my MK2 Golf only one of the centre caps was in a decent condition, all the rest were scratched and peeling so another job I've had on the list has been to clean and repaint them. With the better weather today seemed an ideal opportunity.

After a delayed start due to the first spray can being defective I managed to get them rubbed down and several coats of paint applied.

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