erubus
31-10-2015, 01:32 PM
Hi there guys. I finally got the all clear fom the finance comaony that was trying to seize my car due to a previous owners debt. Apparently they made the decision not to pursue it way back in septmeber but its against their company policy to inform the people they are trying to seize the vehicle off!! I had to contact them myself.
Anyway, now that I get to keep my own car, I can start to do the work thats needing done. As I have no history, I am going to change the timing belt, tensioners and water pump just as a matter of course - its only about £60 - 70 of parts and a few hours of my time (using my old mans huge discount at his work)I
also need to look into the knocking coming from the front end that is getting worse and worse. I'm currently thinking it could be subframe mounts as everything else seems OK, but I need to have a good poke around and try and pin it down because its very annoying.
One of the inner track rod ends seems to have play in it, although this could be internal to the rack, I need to investigate.
The gearbox needs its bearing change. I may have to bite the bullet and either fit a five speed until I can sort the six speeder or fork out the money for a genuine repair kit. Either way its more expensive than I would prefer.
This one I'm not so sure about. The engine bay has a good coating of oil all around it. I had thought this was due to a slightly bad fitting turbo boost pipe but now I have a more worrying theory. The brake pedal intermittently goes rock hard - ie no vacuum assistance. Usually a bit of a worry when in traffic. It mostly seems to do it at low revs, like trundling along in 6th at 30 mph then finding you need to stop and solid pedal! Luckily I'm used to inordinately heavy brakes from my series landy and have a strong leg to compensate but its usually a bit of a panic.
Does this sound like the tandem pump has failed/is failing? lots of oil in engine bay and intermittent loss of vacuum? What are the options regarding fixing the pump if it has failed, costs etc? It could be something simple of course like a loose or perished vacuum hose. I still need to have a good look around, steam cleanto the engine to see where oil is coming from etc. Are there any diagnostic methods to check the tandem pump? I have a new fuel filter to fit and know that if this is oily thats a pretty good indication (one of the A3s has this problem)
cheers in advance, gill
Anyway, now that I get to keep my own car, I can start to do the work thats needing done. As I have no history, I am going to change the timing belt, tensioners and water pump just as a matter of course - its only about £60 - 70 of parts and a few hours of my time (using my old mans huge discount at his work)I
also need to look into the knocking coming from the front end that is getting worse and worse. I'm currently thinking it could be subframe mounts as everything else seems OK, but I need to have a good poke around and try and pin it down because its very annoying.
One of the inner track rod ends seems to have play in it, although this could be internal to the rack, I need to investigate.
The gearbox needs its bearing change. I may have to bite the bullet and either fit a five speed until I can sort the six speeder or fork out the money for a genuine repair kit. Either way its more expensive than I would prefer.
This one I'm not so sure about. The engine bay has a good coating of oil all around it. I had thought this was due to a slightly bad fitting turbo boost pipe but now I have a more worrying theory. The brake pedal intermittently goes rock hard - ie no vacuum assistance. Usually a bit of a worry when in traffic. It mostly seems to do it at low revs, like trundling along in 6th at 30 mph then finding you need to stop and solid pedal! Luckily I'm used to inordinately heavy brakes from my series landy and have a strong leg to compensate but its usually a bit of a panic.
Does this sound like the tandem pump has failed/is failing? lots of oil in engine bay and intermittent loss of vacuum? What are the options regarding fixing the pump if it has failed, costs etc? It could be something simple of course like a loose or perished vacuum hose. I still need to have a good look around, steam cleanto the engine to see where oil is coming from etc. Are there any diagnostic methods to check the tandem pump? I have a new fuel filter to fit and know that if this is oily thats a pretty good indication (one of the A3s has this problem)
cheers in advance, gill