July 2005
I've got a 1993 MK III Golf, and have been having problems starting the car when it is hot, or the weather is hot.
What happens is that when I turn the ignition key, the lights come up on the dashboard, but the starter refuses to turn.
I know that the starter is not faulty, because when I bridge the solenoid the car will start with no problems.
When I leave the car to cool right down, or if the weather is not really hot, the car will start fine.
I've checked the wiring, and it all seems fine. I have been told that this does happen to some Golfs but I don't know why. I was thinking of putting in a relay to correct the problem, but I'm not sure how many amps the relay should be.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Josh Read more
After (and only after) a long journey, and I mean 60 + enthusiastic miles, I can induce clutch slip on my CDTI 150 at 2000 rpm in fourth at will when I put my foot down. I doubt very much it's wheel spin :-)
Does anyone know if it's a known problem or am I simply making too much progress legally?
There is no point taking it to the local dealer as it only happens after a long run and it behaves impeccably locally. They are hardly likely to take it on a long test drive nor would I want it driven so by a fitter for such miles.
It is tempting to drive it 'till it breaks (If I try hard enough I'm sure I could do it in a few days) and then get them to fix it.
Thanks in advance
Read more
Sounds as if I should try the dealer anyway. Thanks
Hi
How important is the 3-year/36k miles cambelt change interval as stipulated in HJ's car-by-car breakdown?
I ask because a friend has just bought one at 5 years old (V-reg) and 38,000 miles. He does not know the service history, so I am presuming the belt hasn't been changed. He is getting a service done this year by the selling garage, but would like to keep the belt change until next year. Is this a risky gamble with this engine? The selling garage say the cambelt is good for 60k on these engines!
Thanks in advance.
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Mike Farrow Read more
Just to tidy up this thread, the manual (yes I know, I'll RTFM next time! :-) ) says that cambelt interval for most engines is 80k or 8 years! So it's still got a bit of life in it after all!
Thanks to all who replied, and I'll make sure, if he still owns that car in a couple of years, that it's changed before the specified interval.
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Mike Farrow
Hi,
I drive a VW Polo 1.6 CL (N Reg). I have lost the remote of central locking and alarm. I think the car has a built in immobliser as well (I am not sure about it but the technical specs of the model say it). Is there any way I can either take the immobiliser and alarm system out and still able to start the car ( I can live without central locking) or be able to create a replacement remote. Any help please.
Cheers
H Read more
The immobiliser will be the transponder type which is most common on modern cars. All later VWs will have this type, the only question is whether your is slightly too early.
If it is the transponder type you won't be able to by-pass it, and they very rarely give trouble anyway....
I have a Mondeo 1.8 Zetec on a 51 plate. Since having acquired the car recently, I decided the check when the timing belt was changed only to be advised that Mondeo?s don?t have timing belts, but have timing CHAINS.
Being a novice on technical matters, could anyone let me know whether this is true or not and if it does indeed have timing chains, do they have to be changed?
John's comments on the Ford Mondeo 24v 6-speed Road Test ( www.honestjohn.co.uk/road_tests/?id=118 ) didn?t help matters as he mentioned changing a timing belt on his Mondeo and in the specifications immediately below says they have timing chains.
Thanks
Read more
The 2.0 duratech also has a chain.
If the rest of the car is treated very well then eventually the chain will need to be replaced before the car is scrapped , but it would be into 6 figures before this will happen.
I have a fairly new HP pavilion computer and a 2yr old Relisys 17" CRT monitor.
Recently, for about 15mins after starting the monitor clicks and the picture narrows by about 1/2" each side. Sometimes the whole picture shrinks by about 1/2" top and bottom and each side. This happens 5 or 6 times within the first 15mins, switching between full screen and shrunken mode. With the last click the display settles down into it's normal size and is OK for the rest of the time it's switched on.
I don't have another monitor to substitute, and before I dig out my old computer I wondered if anyone could help ? Read more
Very true. As if you could trace what I say on here. I mean, it's not like you know..my...real...na..
oops.
::runs off
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Adam
This isn't intended to start an anything bashing thread but why is it that some car companies seem to have such great problems producing vehicles which are reliable? There are any number of basically good innovative cars out there which are badly let down by cheap trim and dodgy components. Given that many of these faults will ultimately be fixed under warranty and the sort of grief experienced by owners will often lead them to desert that marque why do the makers persist in using parts which are patently unsuitable, badly designed or just not durable enough - I'm thinking about the sort of astonishing, infuriating and even dangerous things we read about over in Technical virtually every day. Is up front cost the only factor in this or is the speed at which designs change these day partly to blame.
Many of the problems seem to be down to down to items which in themselves aren't that expensive but cause huge bills when they go wrong. Read more
>>It is no wonder Honda produce such reliable cars if their ECUs come from a company like Matsushita. I had no idea they were behind Technics,panasonic etc.<<
A part of the Matsushita corporation are also behind the battery technology in the Toyota Hybird systems. Toyota are a little embarrassed of this fact because as a company they really like to develop their own technology - they see themselves as a true learning organisation (that is also why they launched Lexus instead of buying a luxury brand and their own F1 team instead of buying one). They used Matsushita as they were pressed to launch the Prius in time when competing with the Honda Insight.
IMO the overall response to the question is one of recognising that profit does ultimatley come from long term customer satisfaction but this requires a long term business strategy and not just thinking about this year's share price as most western companies do.
If you also study alot of western automotive and engineering company board structures very few actually have a quality director on the board where as all Japanese auto makers do. Many of us participated in a recent thread that discussed Audi quality - yet they do not have a quality director on their main board. Toyota and Honda have at least 1 each.
What then happens is that (& please do not think I am bashing here - it's just a subject close to me at the moment as my brother's Golf is off the road and he is borrowing one of my cars) the purchasing director for instance (and these are powerful figures on German auto boards) decides to cost reduce something with a supplier as in the VAG coils and there is no quality voice on the board to balance his decision - the subsequent result is unrelaible cars for the group and their owners. Just because the company wanted to make a quick buck out of it's customers.
I recognise this happens to mant other companies and not just VAG - as I say I use it as an example as it is close to me at this time.
Well. Just heard it.. How will the traffic cope? Read more
This thread seems to have gone about as far as it can go,
so locked.
DD.
Bit of a long shot this one, but paging any Bristol based Backroomers.
I'm delivering down west next week but will need to stop in Bristol city centre en route for a couple of nights. Obviously a van parked in the street will be a theft/break in magnet - is there any secure parking anywhere within reasonable diatance of the city?
It's a VW LT35 so about 6 metres long. Read more
Thanks all for your replies - been stuck in London all day but will digest the contents shortly.
When buying a new car these days the dealer often offers a "protection package" including some kind of treatment for the paint work.
My question is are these worth the extra £300 or so? Or are they just a way of the dealer getting a bit extra on the deal after negotiations are over.... Read more
I just didn't have time to do it myself unfortunately. Anyhow, the smell from the interior protection was bad even after a couple of days to wear off. I would not want my kids in the car immediately after applying it!
Joe
Browse
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where do you get the 30A figure from? at 2 ohm DCR the mk4 golf starter i have would have trouble reaching that.
You could indeed attempt to measure the temperature of a starter motor be measuring the coil resitance. However this would only be a very crude indication; the non-linearity of the copper +Temperature Coefficient of Restance, the thermocoule/peltier effect of the differing metals on the starter contact (@circa 195 oC) and also the unknown extra resistance of the starter contact (@circa 195 oC) would all be sources of major measurment error.
For the car in question, a golf mk3, the engine block/cooling system is regulated at about 95 oC. The starter is conected via the thermal mass of the aluminium bell-housing in a well ventilated area of the engine bay. The solenoid is then relatively loosly mechanically coupled to the starter motor, although from above. I can't see it reaching anywhere near my earlier predicted 100 oC worst case. This is backed by the fact that i can put my hand on it always, my touch gets too hot at 55 oC.
From the transition from the mk2 to mk3 golf, VW themselves have fitted interposing relays for the fuel pump and ecu:
Digifant FUEL PUMP relay 191 906 383C £17.83 + VAT
Digifant ECU relay 165 906 381 £8.81 + VAT
Which are both a major source of unreliability.
If there was a known problem for the starter solenoid, do you not think they would have taken this opportunity to fit one there too?