The drama continues.....

[Cache]

Hi Guys,

I truely cant believe the run I have had with this car, as soon as it is fixed it will most likely go for sale. I know I cant speak for the other MK4 owners out there, but the frustration and drama that comes with owning such a mechanically idiotic car is astounding. This thing has taken atleast 5 years off my life expectancy.

The story so far......

Purchased car.
Broken passenger side window motor, full motor and window replacement.
Broken power steering
Broken cup holder
Shorted out internal electrics, no indoor car lights
Broken front windscreen (I know not a car problem - rock)
Car going into limp mode, found terrible bleed valve which was causing limp mode.
Installed exhaust
Exhaust backfiring, spoke to 2 mechanics, all think its due to excess fuel
New plugs and various other engine internals needed
Installed GFB DV
Car running on 3 cyls (it seems), the sound of the exhaust sounds like a lawnmower and does not accelerate properly, feels terrible.
Removed DV - mechanic said this was the problem
Car running fine, still backfiring.
Driving up the hill - car becomes chuggy again (See problem with DV) and fails to run properly. drives around like a deep sounding lawnmower, accels slowly but sometimes brakes through and boosts up ok.
Took the car to my mechanic and he can not figure out the problem, we put it on the VAGCOM, no errors. Took it to VW, they cannot identify the problem, again the car was put on VAGCOM.

I quote "There is nothing wrong with it accept for the fact that its stuffed and we have no idea why".

For sale, 1999 MK4 GTI.

[gpk_gti]

its your exhaust,,,, no back pressure id say.return the car to standard as much as possible.then begin from there... its not a jap car to have a straight through exhaust.Id be visiting Guy Harding up there!!!!!!

[pommy_golfer]

sorry to hear your agony, trust me, we all know what you are going through. i think you must have got a dud one.

maybe explain in more detail as im sure one of the guys on here must be able to help or advise.

[DubSteve]

For you to have shorten your internal electrics you have done something wrong maybe one of the mechanics did it?

Isn't backfire normal?

And for you break your glass and motor what did you do:?

[91eah]

Maybe this shows the importance of having a car fully checked etc before you buy! (they would have atleast picked up on the bleed valve) and research yours mods!!!!!!!

[Bug_racer]

its your exhaust,,,, no back pressure id say.return the car to standard as much as possible.then begin from there... its not a jap car to have a straight through exhaust.Id be visiting Guy Harding up there!!!!!!

Huh ? I drive the S3 with straight pipe no mufflers and dont get backfiring . The race cars had no cats and 1 small muffler and they had no issues with backfiring
Do you have any technical info to back up your claim ?

[Cache]

It cant be the exhaust, it's a standard 2.5' dump pimp, then a cat, then 2.75 pipe and a muffler. Thats a pretty standard system for these cars, its not straight through pipe.

In regards to the glass.....the motor that drives your electric windows in the mk 4 broke, the arm the holds the window fell down and the window came with it. The window smashed inside my door (read cracked etc) and the motor was buggered.

To go into more detail what the exact problem is:

When I turn on the car it runs fine for a short period of time, then the exhaust note changes from a nice rumble to an uneven rotory/lawnmower deep off beat sound, when i accelerate like this the car does so extremely slowly and is really loud. occasionally the sound feels like it "breaks through" and the car runs normal, but then it happens again. if 2 full time VW mechanics and my performance mechanic cant figure out whats wrong with it, i really dont know where to go or what to do.

I know I am venting my frustration here, but in my short but varied lifetime I have never had such a appauling piece of mechanic/engineering ever grace my eyes. 10 KG of potassium nitrate and some nitroglucerine should deal with it.

:(

[Cache]

Maybe this shows the importance of having a car fully checked etc before you buy! (they would have atleast picked up on the bleed valve) and research yours mods!!!!!!!

Research my mods? I did the standard exhaust upgrade that has been performed on many many golfs before. I checked everything out on here and vw vortex before getting it done.

In regards to an inspection, I had a RACQ 100 point inspection done....and that wasnt picked up.

[pommy_golfer]

Come on guys, help this guy out......

the explosives are only any good if you are fully comped;)

[quozl]

Coilpack?

Cheers Al

[Cache]

Hey Al,

That was my first thought, but that throws codes and the VAGCOM is clean as a whistle. VW mechanic confirmed.

[gpk_gti]

Huh ? I drive the S3 with straight pipe no mufflers and dont get backfiring . The race cars had no cats and 1 small muffler and they had no issues with backfiring
Do you have any technical info to back up your claim ?

Also Guy H only sells parts

you are the resident "expert" seb and im not a mechanic.whats your advise to the member?

Guy seems to help alot of our members,parts seller or not.

[SoVeReIgN]

Hey Al,

That was my first thought, but that throws codes and the VAGCOM is clean as a whistle. VW mechanic confirmed.

I was under the impression they didn't?

Where do you live - Maybe someone on here with hte same engine code wouldnt mind swapping coilpacks for a quick test.

[DubSteve]

Did you buy it privately or through a dealer can you take it back under there like 6 months warranty thing?

[quozl]

Hey Al,

That was my first thought, but that throws codes and the VAGCOM is clean as a whistle. VW mechanic confirmed.

I would pull them out and check them regardless mate. If the previous owner or yard you bought it from had a penchant for washing the engine bay they can become corroded and stuff up. It just sounds exactly like a failed coilpack though I'm no expert.

If your in QLD (Bris North Side) you can check out Lawrence at German Auto in Geebung, he has always done excellent work on my car when general VW maintenance is required.

German Autos
(Lawrence)
20 Fortune St
Geebung
Brisbane
Qld
Ph 3865 5457

Cheers Al

[Cache]

Hey guys,

I bought the car privately through a friend of a friend off a guy who posts on here. No warranty.

I will let you all know how I go.

Thanks!

[DUB 20V]

Hey guys,

I bought the car privately through a friend of a friend off a guy who posts on here. No warranty.

I will let you all know how I go.

Thanks!

i once had the lawn mower afect lol it was the module on the side of the air box got one off seb and it was sweet.

dude i have a full set of coil packs here if you need them/or want to give them ago sham you are not in sydney we could swap them over.

[Cache]

Hmm. Gonna test the airbox module thing now.

Thanks guys.

[Guy_H]

Huh ? I drive the S3 with straight pipe no mufflers and dont get backfiring . The race cars had no cats and 1 small muffler and they had no issues with backfiring
Do you have any technical info to back up your claim ?

Also Guy H only sells parts

Sorry Seb, we don't only sell parts (regardless of what you might think)

Anyway - on the problem, we could help try to Diagnose it for you in Brisbane, On the Sunshine coast, I would try Northern Volks (I think at Kawana) - they have the latest diagnostic gear and should be able to sort it.

Also there is Garry Crick VW, we personally know the service staff there & the service manager is a true enthusiast, so he should be able to help.

Both these will be a lot closer to you. Feel free to give us a call - or if you have another mechanic, we may be able to offer some assistance on the telephone as well.

[gpk_gti]

thank you for helping our member Guy and contributing some useful information!:)

[ope126]

Cache,

All I can say is that car was treated very well for the time the previous owner had the car. Well maintained, services competed and pride was taken in it. European cars are quite different than Japanese cars (Skylines / Sylvias etc.) and need to be driven with a little bit of respect. Then they will return the favour with years of trouble free motoring.

Some of the many issues you have expreienced have been quite unfortunate. However some may have occured due to age, stress on drive train etc. etc. (Hence your signature)

I am positive with the resources available to you that any issue could be fixed in a timely manner and then you will be back driving the car of your dreams. If it is not the car of your dreams anymore - SELL IT!

Life lesson 101; you do get what you pay for!

I will let you make you own mind up wether you got yourself a bargain, or you got the car at market value. If you got the car at a bagain price, maybe the money you saved could have gone into restoration and reliability of the vehicle first and fore most. Then look at all the Crazy extras that you were looking at doing, Big Turbo, Front Mount, LSD, 18" wheels etc. etc. at a much later stage. The car is almost 10yrs old remember.

As for the RACQ inspection; its a bit late when you had already taken delivery of the car. That sort of thing you should do before you hand over the green stuff!

If you feel that any of the above is not true or correct for you in this instance, please feel free to PM me to talk off line.

P.S. To all thoses that have got this fare reading the above, it was a very good friend of mine who sold this car to Cache, not me!

Glenn

[Cache]

Cache,

All I can say is that car was treated very well for the time the previous owner had the car. Well maintained, services competed and pride was taken in it. European cars are quite different than Japanese cars (Skylines / Sylvias etc.) and need to be driven with a little bit of respect. Then they will return the favour with years of trouble free motoring.

Some of the many issues you have expreienced have been quite unfortunate. However some may have occured due to age, stress on drive train etc. etc. (Hence your signature)

I am positive with the resources available to you that any issue could be fixed in a timely manner and then you will be back driving the car of your dreams. If it is not the car of your dreams anymore - SELL IT!

Life lesson 101; you do get what you pay for!

I will let you make you own mind up wether you got yourself a bargain, or you got the car at market value. If you got the car at a bagain price, maybe the money you saved could have gone into restoration and reliability of the vehicle first and fore most. Then look at all the Crazy extras that you were looking at doing, Big Turbo, Front Mount, LSD, 18" wheels etc. etc. at a much later stage. The car is almost 10yrs old remember.

As for the RACQ inspection; its a bit late when you had already taken delivery of the car. That sort of thing you should do before you hand over the green stuff!

If you feel that any of the above is not true or correct for you in this instance, please feel free to PM me to talk off line.

P.S. To all thoses that have got this fare reading the above, it was a very good friend of mine who sold this car to Cache, not me!

Glenn

I will not turn this into a discussion on whether or not the car was taken care of previously, I am talking about the present. The cars condition was good when I bought it and nothing has changed, I maintain it with the highest quality oils, its been serviced every 5,000km and is garaged every night. I think you are under the false misconception that I drive the car unusually hard - it is babied for daily driving and very rarely driven over 3,000 RPM. In regards to the nasty little bleed gauge that wasnt spoken of on a "Totally stock golf", I am not sure what to think. Whether the previous owner was ignorant to its presence I cant say.

"Life lesson 101; you do get what you pay for!"

What are you implying here? The car was paid for at market price with market kays. I am 100% sure that nothing I could of done, whether it be my driving style (passive) or my meticulous maintenance schedule could of caused any of these problems. I was not infering that your friend was dodgy or anything of the like, he just left out information on the car and subsequently whether it be due to coincidence or not I have paid for it financially.

Back to the problem - Guy, thanks for the info.

The car has been taken to Gary Crick today and looked at. Only to be given the "We have no idea, sorry. Here is your bill by the way :)".

I will try the guy you mentioned in Kawana ASAP!

Also I almost forgot - you have already spoken to my mechanic (Also named Guy). He rang you recently in regards to future modifications to my golf.

Thanks again for your help guys.

[fuzion]

sounds like a lot of troubles your going thru dude.. good luck with everything! dont stress to much, im sure you'll sort it out

[99gti]

Cache,

It sounds very similar to the problems I was having. I'm by no means an expert with VAGCOM but does it give out a MAF reading? I found the problem to be a leak that was past the MAF. The car was sucking air in their an wasn't being measured by the MAF so it would then go into limp mode. Have you tried to disconect the MAF and see how it runs?

Resident experts - would VAGCOM show an error if the car wasn't under load? It apears Cache's issue is when the car is under load (similar to my issue last week).

Cache - don't loose hope. There are plenty of people on here who have suffered similar experiences and once identified they can be quite simple to fix. My issue came down to a dodgy clip! My car is running as smooth as a babys backside again. I know you've had mechanics look at it but it can't hurt just to run your eyes over this. It also only takes 2 seconds to disconect the MAF to test. :)

[h100vw]

MAFs can appear to operate fine but I have seen them only show low or no airflow when under load. Happened to a mates A4 after I chipped it. It ran fine before or so we thought, no sign of problems and I checked the MAF before chipping as a matter of course. He had said that some days it ran much better than others.

It ran exactly them same after the chip. I was gutted as it was my best mates car. Anyway, I disconnected the MAF and it ran much better.

A new MAF was fitted and all was good with the world.

A similar thing happened to my own Leon Cupra. Within 24 hours of chipping it a coil pack failed, would it have gone anyway? We'll never know. I bought a new one and carried on.

The next thing was an intermittent limp mode which could be cleared by turning the ign off and back on. I put this down to a intermittent leak between the MAF and TB. As the code showed there was a big pressure drop and pointed to the DV but that was a Forge so I ignored that one. I fitted a few new jubilee clips and it went away.


Is that GFB DV an atmospheric one? I would drop that if it is.

MAF problems don't usually give a code, often it might be another code that seems unrelated. A problem with fuel trim because the ECU can't work with the incorrect MAF output for example.

My 2 cents, not the exhaust but could be the MAF. If it is going into a limp mode than there should be a code to explain why. If not then fit some new plugs and get a coil pack, new or otherwise and fit it in each cylinder and see what happens.

Gavin

[NGOLF.U]

hey man long shot but ehy dont u check the o2 sensors and air flow meter....
my old golf did that too but it was only a 2.0L

i replaced those and the prob was fixed

[Cache]

Update

So yesterday I drove the car home....same problems. It was sitting in my garage making the lawnmower sounds as usual and then it just.....stopped......and started running normally again.

350km of driving last night and today has seen the problem not reoccur. All I did yesterday was had a look at my coils (fine) and played with the module outside the air filter.

I really have no idea whats going on. In regards to the GFB atmo bov h100, it was taken off awhile ago.

I will continue to drive the car and see if the problem comes back. I'm pretty sure its something small. Still....that doesnt help my car turning into a bloody out of tune lawnmower when I have my lady friend in it...making me look like an idiot :(

Oh my pride, where have thou gone.

[SoVeReIgN]

It cant be the exhaust, it's a standard 2.5' dump pimp, then a cat, then 2.75 pipe and a muffler. Thats a pretty standard system for these cars, its not straight through pipe.

Did they modify the O2 sensor or its position when they replaced the cat ?

[See post above aswell]

[Cache]

Did they modify the O2 sensor or its position when they replaced the cat ?

[See post above aswell]

Hmm....I dont know exactly what you mean. It was moved from the stock cat to the high flow cat, so I guess it was moved?

[gpk_gti]

sensor is before the cat,you need a photo?? theres one floating around here somewhere..look under from the drivers side and its just at the point where the down pipe straightens up.

[geoff_gti]

sorry to hear about your troubles man, my car has had two dud windows. one with me and one with the previous owner, seems to be an unfortunate 'feature' of the mk4.

thumbs up though, i'm sure you'll get it sorted :)

[Jmac]

Mate if it helps i repair them and diagnose at the weekend. I am in Brisbane mate. I have an up to date VAGCOM and over 14years Audi/Vw experience and have a string of happy customers here in Brizzy. Been in the dealerships here but left there mate they have no idea. I was trained in the Uk and had endless amounts of factory training. I was with a VW dealership for 10 years there and ive been in numerous here, that tells you something. Im off the tools now and do it at the weekend. More appreciation now and satisfaction, to see people no longer be ripped off. If i can help feel free to PM me