Hi all bought my gt tdi yday, with couple of probs that i noticed on the journey home, 1) Foam in the header tank 2) Boosted fine untill i got to motorway speeds then seemd to lack in power, although could still get upto 85mph and will rev through the revrange just no turbo :S no smoke or anything, but seems previous owner has killed eml bulb in the clocks, This is the issue im most concerned with so help REALLY appreciated 3) inner edge of front tyres balding, and looks like car has been lowered at front just with springs on original shocks would this be the cause??? 4) Also all the electrics in the drivers door are not working, no windows no mirrors and central locking not working on this door either :S very baffling Now a bit of history about the car, its a Y reg 3 owner car, Service history till 92k and car now has 138k, 3 door, 115bhp PD engine, 6 speed box, only modifications i can see are front springs and window tints. All help is appreciated i know this forum is great as ive used before with a 90bhp tdi and a gti turbo too
Foam: Foam in the header tank is caused by low quality/low antifreeze and/or the wrong colour mixed. It is common for some people not in the know to chuck in any old (usualy blue as its cheapest) antifreeze in. It does not mix and is not the correct OAT grade for the type of metals its mixing with, the foam can also be a result of the head and block creating a small electrical charge, fizzing the water. Boost: I would get the MAF checked to make sure its ok, and get all the fault codes erased then pulled once you have been driving for for a few hours. Then come back to us and post the codes. Tyres: Thats just poor geometry, anyone can drop a car, its the setup afterwards thats key to handling and tyre life. Any decent tyre fitters should be able to do a full 4x wheel laser alignment. Probably got a bit of weak camber going on. Electrics: Probably the connection in the crease of the door, broken wires etc due to a mis-aligned door. Im not sure if the mk4 has a comfort ecu fitted like the passats, but if it does you can interogate it the same as the engine ecu to find out whats up, it will probebly say sporadic/no signal to the door etc. Let us know how you get on, hope that helps.
Thanks for the reply mate thought my thread was invisible lol, right so for the coolant problem a good flush of cooling system and some genuine coolant from VW should sort it? Electrics, fuses etc have been checked and the rubber wire cover from in between door was mis-seated so im thinkin maybe broken wires, ill get the allignment sorted soon as i get a few new tyres, Ill hopefully get the faults read tomorrow, Only issue is NOW the bloody thing wont start, i had it parked with passenger side up on a curb, ie over the road from my house, moved it to my side so its parked with driverside higher then passenger side, and now wont start :S so ive put some more fuel in, and now the bloody battery is dead so im waiting for my jump starter to charge and hopefully ill get it running again, (maybe a new battery is in order)
Just sounds like poor maintenance to me by the the previous owner. Antifreeze is far more important than most people realise, use a good coolant flush, then use a decent coolant, I think its red in those. If you can stretch to it, buy a couple of 5l dionised water. Makes the cooling system so much more effective. Broken wires sound right to me. Time consuming and fiddly do-able.
I would also give it a basic service, false economy not to. Most important is the fuel filter, because if its that low, you will have pulled all the silt and crud up from the bottom of the tank, now blocking the fuel filter which wont help.
Well when it comes to electrics in cars i normally get a little stressed and pay someone to sort them. Im gonna give it a full service as soon as i get it through its MOT, just at the moment its parked on a public road not SORNed or taxed so ill get them sorted and then give it some TLC
Sounds like he 'forgot' to mention the problems the car had. Always get a full car service once you have bought a second hand car as you do not know how the previous owner has treated it.
