New 6N2 owner - 1.4 16v SE

[f6had]

Hi folks,

Just dropping in to say a quick hello

Picked up my wife's first car for her this week.. a 2000 'W' Polo 1.4 16v SE, 5 Door in Satin Silver.

This forum's been great as I've been lurking in the background and reading up on some of the problems we have and can expect to have with it.

I got it at a good price so am not overly concerned at the list of jobs I'll need to do. The car is overall straight and honest, no signs of crash damage. It will need some paintless dent removal on one side and a bit of paint on front and rear bumpers where its been scuffed from bad parking etc.

Otherwise mechanically engine seems sound, nice and crisp throttle - it almost reminds me of my brothers old MK3 Golf GTi.

The thing that's concerning me most is the heavy and creaky clutch pedal and tempremental gear selection.

The seller told me it's had a new clutch around 1000 miles ago and I have a bundle of paperwork inc the original VW Wallet with bill of sale etc so I'll dig it out. The biting point is nice and low which indicates some clutch work to me (unless the cable has been adjusted to max which I haven't checked yet)

My concern is that the car might need a pedal box.. which in the scheme of things isn't the end of the world as it's 10 years old now. I made a stop at VW today and the service lady checked the Reg on the system and advised it wasn't included in the faulty 'batch' that were recalled The part is only £35?? but labour over £250 :O

My friendly local mechanic has done a couple of Polo pedal boxes before so if it needs it, I'll take it to him.

Can anyone advise what the gear selection problem is likely to be? Is it a selector/linkage adjustment?

I've bought all the service bits today and plan to spend Friday servicing it. I think the TB needs a good clean out too.

I'm fairly handy with the spanners, although not a trained mechanic.

My own car is a Honda Accord ICTDI (Highly tuned) with a number of mods to it, and we have a total of 6 cars in the household now inc the Polo lol. We have a Golf GT TDI 150 (remapped by me hehe), a Mini Cooper oh and a Yaris and new Hyundai I20 sneaked in too.

So I'm always tinkering away with something or other. I'm also the Head Moderator over at the Honda Accord Owners Club for my sins.. so if anyone needs any advice on Accord, I might just surprise you (and probably not know the answer )

Anyways, that's me.. I'll be sticking around and will try and not ask too many stupid questions - but do bear with me please.

Cheers

Fahad.

[alexperkins]

Welcome bud

Sounds like a good little motor you have there!

The pedal box only really needs doing if its starting to creek - some of them just dont break!

Gear selection is probably down to a poorly aligned linkage. These are cable shifts, and unless you have the jig for alignment its very hard to get them right.

A decent service will probably do it a world of good anyhow

Keep us posted

[f6had]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the welcome. I'll get some decent pics up of the car once the bodywork has been sorted out - the wife doesn't seem too concerned but I want it to be perfect lol

Regarding the gear linkage alignment - where can I get this 'jig' ?

Cheers

[alexperkins]

Sounds like a plan

Its a VW dealership jobby Im a afraid - they might let you borrow it if you ask them nicely mind you lol!

[6N2 GTI 00]

Welcome to the forum mate

Look forward to seeing some pics of your new motor

[f6had]

Thanks for the welcome guys...

Dropped the car off at the garage this morning, inital report is very good. Exhaust system and all major mechanicals look very good.

They're investigating the 'heavy clutch' might just be a new clutch cable is needed.

Guys, I'm just looking through my new Haynes manual and the service parts I bought from GSF yesterday. They've supplied me with Bosch FR7 LDC+ plugs with a 0.9mm gap.

However the manual says the Bosch recommendation for all 1.4 engines except the 100bhp engine is for a 1.0mm gap plug.

It recommends these plugs only for the 100bhp engine.

Will they be ok in my AHW 75bhp engine?

Cheers

[alexperkins]

I cant see it being too much a problem - specifications do vary between manufacturer sometimes. If in doubt, get a set from halfords or VW!

[f6had]

Same as this listing so I guess they're ok

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BOSCH-YTTRIUM-Spa ... 2a05ed5151

[RS_GT]

i have those exact plugs in my 6n2, i have the 1.4 8v (60hp)

[f6had]

Thanks matey.

[f6had]

Quick update,

Had the clutch cable done that same week but the clutch was still heavy and after warming up, it was hard to get in and out of gear. My trusted mechanic says its the pressure plates and whilst the last owner may have changed the clutch, he may have just had the clutch friction plate replaced...

So as this car is for my mrs and she's already a nervous driver.. I've bit the bullet and left it with the garage to have a new clutch kit (pressure and friction plates and release bearing). Also having the timing belt/s and water pump done for good measure.

I serviced it last week and gave the throttle body a good cleanout, filled with 5w/40 Fuchs oil. Car drives like a dream.

Arranged for a guy to come over this weekend to do the paintless dent removal on the passenger side, I'll then have it painted on the o/s where it's been keyed and she should be good to go.

I'll get up pics when she's looking her best.

Cheers

[6N2 GTI 00]

Sounds like its coming along nicely mate

Look forward to seeing the pics

How much are they charging you for the New Clutch Kit?

Ben,

[f6had]

My local garage owner has become a good buddy of mine so I sort of get mates rates.

He's getting parts from GSF so I'll get the invoice tomorrow and will see how much the parts have cost but he said over the phone today that the total job is £340.

That's:

Clutch Kit, supply and fit.

Timing Belt Kit (two belts plus tensioners) and fit

Water Pump, supply and fit

Gearbox Oil

Anti Freeze

I already know £340 is a bargain - no need to tell me

He's probably charing me around £80 labour for the clutch kit fitting and gearbox oil replacement which is fair in todays rates.

[alexperkins]

Not bad at all for all that!

I would though, always get a genuine cambelt kit, waterpump kit, gearbox oil and antifreeze/coolant due to the OEM quality and guarantee that comes with. I have seen these parts when not original fail, and have had to deal with the consequences. Haven't had a particularly good experience with those parts from GSF. If you have TPS near you, it might be worth looking into it imo.

[f6had]

Alex - thanks mate, but too late. It's already fitted

The parts and work are all guaranteed for 12 months so I'm not too concerned. He kept all the old parts to show me.. the last owner wasn't lying, it was a brand new clutch plate but the release bearing looked old and it was hard to tell whether the pressure plate was new or not.. but the problem was clear - the PP was either incorrectly loaded or just a crap part but it was basically jamming the PP and FP together causing the car to stick in gear and giving it an extremely low biting point..

Even at the clutch cable's highest setting, after 5 miles of driving it was just getting jammed.

Anyway's the car is now lovely to drive as I always knew it would be - soft pedal with a nice feel and biting point is just right. No judder on take off either - apparantly it was an LUK part so I'm happy with. LUK is what Honda supplied for my Honda Accord recently so it must be dealer quality..

The parts cost £190 and he included the transmission fluid and anti freeze in the £150 labour cost.

Once the PDR guy has been over on Sat (fingers crossed he gets the dents out well enough) I'll take some snaps