Nigel's GTI - The tale of the jumpy throttle continues...

[nigelelliott394]

Cheers brad Glad I had a go at them... They aren't perfect but they don't look 10 years old anymore... Maybe 2 years old now!

Anyone got any pics of their steering wheel or perhaps someone could let me know if I'm trying to get the red stitching to stand out more than it's supposed to? I'd really appreciate it!

[Bradley]

Havent got a picture yet dude but it's not supposed to stand out as much as say the floor mats.Very subtle styling not too bright,id say going by your after picture it is how it should look,thats how bright mine is anyway.

[alexperkins]

what is that little bottle of cleaner you used called and where do you get it

[nigelelliott394]

Fila PS/87... Used for floor tiles but my Dad has used it as an APC for years! I'll ask him where you can get it.

[Godderz23]

Looks really good dude, well worth the effort!

[nigelelliott394]

Looks really good dude, well worth the effort!

Cheers

[nigelelliott394]

Got the car on the VagCom the other day. I can't remember exactly what the fault was... but I think it said the coolant temperature sender/sensor was reading too high and then it said Intermittent beside that. I'll maybe have another go and see see if the fault comes up again. Would this be why I can hear bubbling coming from the engine after I turn it off when it's been driven for a little while?

[nigelelliott394]

...anyone got a part number for the coolant temperature sensor?


Please

[alexperkins]

059 919501A i think thats it. Get the dealer to check it when you order

[nigelelliott394]

Cheers Alex

[nigelelliott394]

Few little updates

First off... I tackled the juddering and that's a battle I've almost won. I cleaned the throttle body first of all and to my surprise it wasn't actually too bad. I removed it and cleaned both sides, I would have taken pictures but honestly there wasn't a huge transformation at all..... and I also forgot, I do forget to take pictures when my mind is on the task at hand.

I replaced the air filter too... it was splashed in oil and a bit of a hash really. Just went with a standard replacement filter at the minute. The BMC will come later

Whilst at that I cleaned out the airbox and the airfeed... again, nothing too bad but it all helped in the end and the stuttering just wasn't so bad.

Next... Changed the spark plugs. Something I've never done on a car before because I've only ever owned diesels up until now so I will admit, however mundane a task it does seem to some, i got rather excited about it I went for Bosch Super 4's and they made a nice difference as well. Acceleration is much smoother and again, juddering isn't so bad.

After a while... My front left tyre needed replaced. The pressure kept dropping until one morning I came out to the car and it was as good as flat. So pumped it up for the 2 and a bit mile journey to Charles Hurst to get a new tyre. Now, Unfortunately, I don't have spare money sitting about to buy myself 4 new tyres... as much as I'd love to, I can't afford that right now. So I had to get a relatively middle of the road tyre for the mean time. It's ok... doesn't grip well in the wet but what's important right now is that it's not flat and it's legal.

I'm hoping to get my wheels refurbished in a little while and I'm hoping to get some Toyo's or Yokohamas to accompany the refurbishment so i'll get 4 new tyres all round then.

A nice discovery was also made... I'm not sure how the guy knew (maybe someone on the site can enlighten me) but he was able to tell me that the tyres on my car were the original (yep, that's right... apparently) the ORIGINAL tyres fitted at the factory and that they were manufactured in 1999. Again, not sure how the guy knew but to be honest, having looked through the service history and various receipts, I'd say he's probably not far wrong.

(I'm also not sure how safe 11 year old tyres are!)

Last but not least... I've done a spot of cleaning. Like some of you, I'm a bit of a night owl. I don't have a garage to work from, but you know what? That wasn't going to stop me.

I started this evening at about 6pm after work and finished about half an hour ago. I'm not exactly sure how it'll turn out but I'll be sure to get some more pictures up tomorrow of the finished result (after i do some more cleaning)

Here's a few pictures before I washed it.







Here's how I was trying to get some light on to the driveway... a reading lamp in the living room pointed out the window. (I have a video of the whole setup )



And a shot whilst cleaning.



The process was...

Wash - 2 bucket method, AG Bodywork Shampoo and a dash of fairy liquid (to strip any previous polish or wax on the paintwork.. I don't use that all the time)
Clay - Megs Clay kit.. Feelin' smooth!
Polish - Used AG SRP, polished by hand, panel by panel, 3 passes per panel. Potentially a 4th tomorrow when I can see it in daylight and decide if i've done a decent enough job.
Glass - Treated with RainX. I've been meaning to get some Carlack which I hear is a much better equivalent but in the meantime, RainX will have to do. Really do love the stuff and I honestly hate driving a car where the windows haven't been treated with it.
Wheels - Largely ignored due to the corrosion on the lip and the paint bubbling on the centres. I've been getting some quotes here and there from a few places to get the refurbished. One place quoted me £135 per rim... sheeeesh!

Still needs to be sealed, for that i'll use AG EGP. No more than 2 coats.

Apologies for the large lump of text at the top of the page, I hope to get some better pictures up tomorrow of how the car looks in daylight because to be honest, I'm not sure myself how it will turn out. That's probably why most people wash their cars during the hours of daylight

[alexperkins]

3 coats of AG should be enough. Id look more into getting a wax (if you havent already got one) and doing two coats of that to seal the polish in

Looking good though mate!

[6N2 GTI 00]

Nice update dude
For some reason your car looks like a Lupo in the night pic.

Hopefully you can get some more snaps later on of the finished results.
As for the wheels I think they are best tackling yourself mate, by all means get the wheel centres done at a body or spray shop but you will save yourself some mega bucks by doing the outer rims yourself.

There is an awesome guide in the DIY section, make sure you check it out.
Its not difficult to do just very time consuming

[Godderz23]

Get some pictures in the day dude, so we can see the results, feels so nice after claying, learnt some good methods from the guys on here.

[nigelelliott394]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone

@Alex - I have a mate who keeps going on at me to get some wax rather than a sealant. In the mean time I'm gonna stick with Extra Gloss unless my mate wants to lend me AG High Def Wax... I kind of hope to machine polish the car at some point over winter so perhaps I'll get a good wax then

@Ben - I thought that too (about it looking like a lupo) ...Maybe I'm on the wrong forum? I think it's just the way the light is reflecting on the taillights though. With regards to the wheels... I MIGHT have to do the outer lip myself. If it's just a case of sanding it's the sort of thing I'd enjoy doing myself regardless of the time it takes and get the centres done somewhere else. I'd just be a bit worried about putting them back together and not sealing them up properly or something.

@Godderz - I've literally just taken some pictures... I have to say, I'm really impressed with the results. Unfortunately, I don't have camera skills so I'm not great at highlighting the shine/gloss in pictures. I've just been using my iPhone with the HDR setting but I can't expect anything special from that I suppose. Any tips?