If read right replace your head to sturtbrace earth strap with a head to coil braket earth strap... Most common cause for dash insert and tci failure, also renew the ring terminals for the 2 earth wires on the cylinder head if haven't already... HTH..
it was drayton fields M.O.T Station, Daventry. will add a rocker cover to coil bracket earth for good measure
Sorry to hear about this, fortunately my local VW specialist also does MOT's so I always get them done there, they know the Mk2 inside out.
its all good, goes well now. really pulls after 4krpm. when the 1.8 lump was in, it pulled well in 1st 2nd and 3rd. and acceleration slowed down noticably in 4th. was 4 e gearbox. now with the 2.0 and normal gti 8v box 4th its much quicker 70-90. with 5th slowing the acceleration down.
it was my understanding that you are not allowed to remove or instal anything on the car on an mot? i would still report them to vosa a a place like that should not be allowed to operate like that and they give all the other decent garages out there a bad name, also in future try and get an mot when you are not at work then you can stand around while they are doing it and watch they dont f@ck it up! what people are saying is a good point there are poeple out there who either dont have a clue or are just out to rip you off, but equally there are many highly skilled honest mechanics out there its just finding out which one is which!
As I understand it, there is a no dismantling rule for MOTs. They can't even take your wheels off to check the pad thickness. As for Garages - they can **** off. I do most of the work on my car myself, and have occasionally taken a car to a garage when I can't be arsed or for stuff like tracking. Every time, I've not been particularly happy with the work that's been done. Now all work on my Golf is done by me, or at somewhere I've had recommended to my by someone who knows - my view is that if my car never sees a garage except for exceptional stuff, how on earth am I supposed to pick a good one? And as for MOTs, the tester's got a MK1 and I'm always there to watch.
I don't like this garage bashing.I'm a qualified mechanic and an mot tester.When doing an mot there's no need to dismantle anythig.Believe your story and i'd be looking to get even.I'd always stick to main dealer garages.Their mot's are normally pretty much the same price and you get a good quality technician(like myself).
No offence Paul, but that is a bit laughable. Get a "good quality techician" like yourself, and you came on an internet forum asking why your car was running hot? And what additive would be best to stop your valve stem seals smoking? How long have you been a mechanic for?
sorry i don't know the name of every additive and oil treatment.As i said i could remove the head but hard to find the spare time.i've been a qualified mechanic for 8 years.The hot running question was due to people on here having owned vw's for years and normally having sound advice rather than spending hours diagnosing/testing.
I can see your point and no, I wouldn't expect you to know every additive available, you probably don't use them a lot in garages. But come on, 8 years and you ask about a simple overheating problem? I'd be bloody worried if I was to take a car to a mechanic with the same and it took him hours of diagnosing and testing to work out what was wrong. Is it a main dealer you work for, with newer cars that don't generally suffer from that kind of issue?
i work for subaru.I have done for 6 years.My other time was at mercedes which i left due to a lack of mechanical work(all laptop rubbish).At subaru i spend the majority of my time building engines,doing clutches etc which i enjoy.4 years ago i had a mk1 golf with a 2 litre tsr engine(had loads of torque) and a brief encounter with the gutless 1.8 20v mk4.i would suggest the temp problem could be partially blocked rad or water pump as i've eliminated stat.I was wishing someone would say "i had that problem it was .....".Like if someone asked me(and they do) what the cause of their hesitation is in a scooby i'd say "probably the air flow meter".Sorry for going on,just making my point
Nah I know what you mean, and it probably came across as an attack which I didn't mean it to, but there was no other way to put it really. I find it pretty astounding though that you didn't just check a few things and realise what is wrong, I suppose so much of mechanics these days is as you said, plugging in the laptop and replacing things without actually working out what the fault could be. My aunt had a Sharan years ago, it was still under warranty and kept blowing ECUs. 800 or so a time for a new one if they had paid for it, and it went through 4 of them. In the end they took it to an autospark who works out of a wee shed on a council estate and he traced it to a duff earth connection!
why not wise? you are being honest and protecting your friends/family/buddys etc nothing wrong with telling them to steer well clear of offending station. but just dont go around shouting it angrily in the pub/highstreet etc
