Octavia Rescue Project

[edwardsj]

Hi All,

Can't beleive I haven't posted the news here already, but I've recently become the owner of a 2005 Octavia 1 VRS. For better or worse, I've taken it on as a bit of a repair project. Got it about a week ago as a non runner - or at least, garage write off. Sounded horrible, metallic noises from the engine etc. Oil warning light, coolant warning light, MIL light, it was much like a christmas tree! Think I've made some progress tho, I drove it yesterday.

Here's what I found -

On the top of the head, right hand side, there's a hose with a moulded "Y" peice in it. This had an obvious split in it. Replace, £20.

Follow on problem, ingress of dirt! This was confirmed on removal of the cam cover, gave everything a good spray down. Tipped some clean oil over everything (being careful not to loose any down the spark plug holes), and put the lid back on.

On the underside, removed the sump and cleaned out a whole lot of crap. The strainer on the inlet pipe was obviously blocked. Removed pump to check the mech, but this honestly wasn't required, as there was nothing wrong with it - I could have just removed the pipe with the pump in place, it had to come off for cleaning. Good few blasts/soaks with carb cleaner and it's as good as new! Put back together, refit the sump.

Filled up with decent oil, seems to sound much better. Not bad considering other people were very quick to write this one off. To clear the coolant warning light I needed to replace the header tank. Common tank, so pretty cheap, £10.. took 15 minutes. For good measure I also replaced the coolant temp sender, also didn't take very long.

Actually quite impressed with the layout of the engine bay so far, everything I've tried to access didn't need a lot of other stuf taking off/moving aside! Engine is obviously well built, it came apart as it should.

Left with a new outstanding bits to do to bring this one back to spec, most notably a set of door locks. Two of the doors don't unlock and another is intermittant. Based on the limited driving I've done in it, I've noticed that at low-ish revs (1200-1800) it does struggle a bit. More noticeable when warmed up. I'm ascribing this to a dodgy coil/plug, so replacing all for good measure. Could be a vacuum leak I guess, already found one split vacuum hose - the first time I drove it I quickly discovered I had NO BRAKES!

Also got a radio to chuck in there.

Paintwork could use a bit of touching up, but I have almost no skill in this direction !

Will come back and post some pictures/updates when i have some.

[edwardsj]

Update!

I replaced all spark plugs with nice NGKs, and put a set of Bosch coils on the top. Running sweet now - I've driven it 130 odd miles =] Drives quite nice actually, I like the suspension set-up. Noise insulation isn't as good as in an A6, but this one is every bit as fast as the 3.0 v6 monster. Surprisingly good on fuel too, the DIS reports 36-40 for most trips, although fill-to-fill gives 33.8. There might have been some stationary running inside that to show people it running, see what comes back next top-up.

Started work on the inside and fittings; the drivers' seat had gloss paint marks on it. Rather than try to remove, I went for concealing - got some black leather conditioner and dabbed in. Gonna go back and buff in another application over the whole of the leather surfaces to blend in, but looks much better already. Prepped for the radio that's coming from Germany, should get that in next week.

Now the doors.. reminder that both rear locks need doing, they don't operate with central locking.

The rear left door opened by using the internal handle. Joy! Removing the door card wasn't too difficult, I found that pushing up at the lock end loosened that end, and getting in two fingers in behind the tweeter appeture was enough to free that end, then one good push and it freed off.. handle cable still attached. Getting the lock out is a bit of a working it out exercise, I'd do another much quicker. Spline key required to remove the two fixings, but somebody had tried mine previously with a torx or allen key, and ruined the keyway. I needed to drill both out. The lock came out with the lock bar, internal and external cables attached. I had to remove the exterior handle to get space to remove the lock out of the door frame, you need some good trim tools to get the end cover off.. also be aware there's a locking clamp that you screw down from the lock side of the door - T20 driver will get in there. Loosed this before trying to pull out the wedge.. then the handle will reveal it's cable.

One down, one to go. Problem is, I haven't yet found a way to get it to open. The wiring to the door doesn't look bad, I'm pretty sure it's deadlocked and the motor is stuffed. Hopefully someone reading this will have a special handshake they might share =] It's the only known operational defect left on the car, would be nice to be able to sort it out.

[edwardsj]

OK peeps, I'm having no luck with the fated rear door.. Am now reaching for ideas!

Taking the door card off by force seems to be the accepted solution, problem is, it's not clear what to do once I'm in there. I'm pretty sure the deadlock is stuck on, pulling cables etc won't release it..

Other idea I have is to jack up the corner, remove wheel + arch liner, and drill out the fixings for the striker/catch..the door will then just pull open.

I'll post back when I have a fix. Will be a few days, foul weather ahead...

[Doctle Odd]

How to open a VW door that won't open from inside OR outside - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy3KbKkAZZ0)

Golf Mk4 rear door won't unlock (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/1632-Golf-Mk4-rear-door-won-t-unlock)

[edwardsj]

Thanks Doc.


Tried having a quick watch on works computer, that top link looks a little extreme - cutting into the door to get the lock out..! There must be an easier way. Will re-watch later when I can get a decent frame rate and audio in case I'm missing the point...

[Doctle Odd]

I'm thinking the door was cut for the video to show how the door can be opened. You don't need to cut the door only need to cut the ever popular wire coat hanger!

[edwardsj]

I did re watch it, yeah it was cut for demo purposes. Don't think the cables are the problem I've got, otherwise that trick is viable..

I have managed to get the door card off from the inside. Access to the seven fixings is not easy, but possible. The three on the lock side were unscrewed with pliers - not easy to start, but perserverence will get them; remove trim and pivot seat forward for access. Next one around, with the backrest up but seat folded out, use ratchet + T15 bit. Fold seat up, next one is easy, use T15 driver. Next two on the inside, remove cross head screw behind drivers' seat belt, and push trim up a bit. Pull off mating section of weatherstrip and remove centre trim. By pulling the door card out slightly, you can get a T15 screwdriver onto the fixings.

So, it's off with no damage, I'm still not sure it helps. I have been able to determine that there's no easy access to striker fixings from underneath, you can see this after removing rear trim as above.. never mind ☺

[edwardsj]

Ok, so for anyone following the thread, this worked for me. I opened the door by breaking into the lock and operating the motor gear manually.

Remove the two T10 screws that you can get a driver onto - one of them slightly off angle - and then prise apart the top of the case with a large flat driver. Doesn't matter if you crack the back casing! I opened it up enough to get a finger in, and inside the casing nearest the wiring plug there is a gear. Turned it by hand until the push bar unlocked the door.. magic ☺

Felt this was much better than the hammer swinging techniques I'd read about, no risk of denting/bending anything...

Really must post some pics to illustrate all this !

All I've got left to do on this car is smarten up the bodywork a bit. It's otherwise defect free ☺