Clapped out Mk3 1994 TD - bangernomics question

[fil1973]

not really sure about prices where you are, but....

up in the north east, (euro car parts) stock the front wishbones for the mk3/vento for £20 each side,

and most of the local breakers yards are asking between £50-£60 for a good diesel gearbox, & if money is really tight check the old clutch when you pick the second hand gearbox up,

for what i can remember early 2008 i replaced the clutch in my vento 1.9td (aaz engine) & the clutch was about £70 from euro car parts too,

its only the later tdi engines, passats, mk4 golfs etc that has the £400 clutches fitted because they have a "dual mass" flywheel & hydraulic thrust bearing,

yours will be a (aaz engine) like mine with very little to go wrong
i think with very little spending on it the old mk3 will live again,

well worth looking into i think,

as for diesel emissions on your golf, (9 times out of 10) they are high with black smoke because of either a dirty air filter & fuel filter,
change these & you "WILL" notice a big difference,

[baldmosher]

Yeah it's the AAZ engine. Haven't even thought to look at prices for parts. There's a Euro Car Parts in Manchester so I'm guessing they'll be the same prices.

I'd be tempted to have a go myself at fixing some of this stuff, but when it comes to repairing mechanicals I've no clue where to begin. Haynes doesn't fill me with confidence and my local garage is cheap enough. Problem is that if e.g. the gearbox does die suddenly, I'm at the whim of my local garage for obtaining spares! They are all-too-happy to charge me for new parts if I don't source them myself from breakers, and those prices quoted include labour.... does £80 a side inc labour for the sus arms seem reasonable? No idea how long the job would take. As a guess, I reckon I could change that if I had to, as long as it didn't require any specialist expertise! I do have a socket set....!

Cheers for the advice everyone - I'll make a decision at MOT time in March, as it is driving fine despite the impending doom, but to be honest, I'll probably pay for the repairs as and when they come up. I reckon it's just about economical to do so. With luck the costs will be spread over the next two years which would definitely still make it cheap motoring. In the meantime, I'll look into finding a cheap s/h g/b, and try to locate a VW specialist around Manchester to see if they are more help to me.

[jet]

GSF on Trafford park is very good for VW parts. About as cheap as you can get. They know their stuff too.
wrt garage costs, yeah I reckon 80 quid a side is about right. 50 quid for an hours labour each side plus the cost of the part.
Or you could take it to your helpful local VW dealer who charge approx 90 per hour labour! But then they do hav all the shiny surfaces and computers to pay for!

[veedub76]

I say keep it and run it into the ground!I bought a MK3 GL TDI in january 2008 and it's a P plate and it had 86k in the clock.I gave it to the missus last year and she's covered 12k in it.
All it failed the MOT on was a wheel bearing and a front tyre!Although the exhaust has a leak and the steering rack has slight play in it.everything else is fine and it still pulls well with little smoke



Cheap to run and repair so in your case get a second hand gear box and a clutch from GSF or Euro and keep it running

[baldmosher]

This is what my mate said to me yesterday

"A new exhaust? Nah, you don't need a new exhaust unless it breaks or falls off. Just stick some putty over any holes before it goes in for the MOT"

I lol'd at that.

Not sure I can get away without fixing the suspension arms though, as they're quite rattly, and that occasional knock when changing into 3rd gear is really disconcerting!

[jet]

I guess mot is crunch time then!
I'm a big advocate of keeping things going, but there are so many problems with this one, and considering you could probably get a newer tdi for under a grand with full mot, is it really worth all the messing around?!

[stevecarr]

114k miles is hardly run-in so I can't see why you should have any gearbox issues.

I changed the clutch on mine for £60 - get a Haynes manual it is really not so hard to do if you have some tools.

Suspension bushes on the front cost me £7 each - in my opinion it is not a hard job to fit them if you have some tools.

The exhaust is another matter but if you sort the rest (clutch etc.) then only renew the bits of the exhaust that has failed then you could save a lot of cash.

Take care if you buy an older Mk 4 with a dual mass flywheel because I believe a new clutch also requires a new flywheel. The Mk 3 has a normal flywheel so you anly need to buy a clutch kit.

Hope this helps...

Steve

[baldmosher]

Of the three Golfs I know (mine, my ex's L reg 1.4L, and my friend's P reg GTi) that are this old, all have had their gearboxes replaced/refurb'd. Mine seems to have lasted quite well in comparison! It's not as uncommon as you might think. My Saxo clutch went on 85k miles.

I'm surprised changing a clutch isn't hard, though I imagine a gearbox swap would be pretty difficult. I've got a Haynes and some tools (maybe not the right ones...) so I might as well have a look.

[baldmosher]

Just an update:

I bent n/s tracking arm and split CV boot in the snow last Monday (thankfully didn't buckle the wheel) so I had them and the o/s wishbone arm replaced at the same time. £170, ouch, but could have been much worse.

Turns out the n/s wheel bearing was "completely loose" which would explain why it'd been clunking around corners (including, I have deduced, the clunk from 2nd to 3rd) for a week or so.... so a blessing in disguise perhaps, and maybe the gearbox is not as bad as I first thought, but now I'm very wary that the full service I had 2 weeks earlier didn't pick up on a loose bearing!

But now it doesn't make any (noticeable) rattling noises over cobbles at all

n/s wb arm will need replacing at some point but that can wait til after MOT.

Then I tried to change my headlight bulbs on Saturday. Reconnected the battery, whoops, immobilised. RAC had to short the alarm/immob circuit (which I didn't realise was operational) so now I have to faff about and climb in through the n/s door just to get into the car. On the plus side, if I can get a new remote fob made up, I'll have fully functional remote central locking for the first time....

I'm getting used to the clutch too. If I make sure I keep the revs above 1500 whilst gradually releasing the clutch, it doesn't judder at all. Only judders if it goes below 1500 or if I release too quickly. Maybe it's not as bad as I thought: I just can't drive

[baldmosher]

Woo! Turns out the "gearbox" clattery sound is actually the fan belt slapping about. It's been slipping a little bit, but I noticed yesterday it was really loose.

Still, as I've been quoted £90 to replace the two belts, it's not much of a relief.

MOT on Friday so I'll see how I go....