OK first of all, SHAME ON ME! I know its awful and I'm embarrased! I've a P reg Mk3 Golf VR6 with 125k on the clock. Its been parked up for well over 2 years I think now (was lucky enought to get a MK4 TDi and then a Mk5 GTi (AWESOME) as company cars) and when last fired up (over a yr ago) it had a serious missfire. Prior to coming off the road it had a minor water leak that I never worked out where it was coming from. Being the summer I made the usual total idiot mistake of toping it up without adding anti-freeze (or more importantly CORROSION inhibitor!). Spoke to someone who pieced together the leak and the missfire and said that the VR6 blocks (or is it the head?) are susceptable to corroding through from one of the water ways being an alloy block with not a lot of material between things being a narrow angle, and that this happens at the same rate regardless of whether the car is parked up or in use. This sounds pretty terminal to me, I suppose it depends on the severity, or its perfectly possible I guess (oh PLEASE let it be so) that it just has a minor water leak and needs new plugs! Question is, how do I go about diagnosing this, is it likely to be repairable, anyone know someone who has this as a specialist area (I'm sure I found myself once in a workshop nr Uxbridge somewhere that had loads of VR blocks lying around being worked on!), if its not repairable what am I looking at a complete new engine?? If its not recoverable is there anyone out there interested in the rest of the car? (no leather or aircon btw). Someone also mentioned that when dismantling to inspect there was a belt/chain tensioner of some sort that was fine if you let it be but would crumble as soon as you removed it. Dunno if its related but there's also some motor under the bonnet that continues to run after you switch the engine off that seems to completely flatten the battery. I'd love to get the old girl running again (and I'm in need of a car now as new job doesn't come with) but I'm in that horrible place of no idea how much its going to cost without spending a load in the first place. I've started looking into it a couple of times but just getting the car relocated into my own care again so need to pull my finger out now - IIRC Stealth seemed to think worst case if recoverable would be about 1500... If I've got nothing to loose I'm up for getting stuck in with some spanners! Would welcome your input guys n gals! Oh, any other tips of things that will deff need done after this length of time before I even turn the key would be great!
The coil packs arn't the best on the VR6. When ever it rains and I start my car, most of the time it misfires till it gets warm. Maybe condensation getting into the numerous cracks in the coil pack. Considering yours has been stood for a few years, it could be the coil pack. Best thing to do, is get the misfire fixed and let it run for a while.
Yeah i had missfires on my VR whenever it was stood for some time , it was the coil packs , spray water over them at night and if you see sparks you know what the problem is . I always use G12 to stop the corrision issue . My VR had a new head fitted to it by a previous owner and i think from what i could make out from the workshop receipts that it was a problem like yours . fingers crossed its the coil packs
that would be the fans running on...give it a complete coolant flush and oil change, before condemming the engine.
Pas, Aircon? Belt, Alt Belt? Prob Will Stop Once Its Been Run For A While Or Change Belts. Put Some Proper Vw Or Similar Coolant In , See If It Overheats!
Hahaha, your joking right? The whiring after you turn off ignition will probably be the aux water pump. Shoudnt run for long though.
Nope, wasn't joking... If it's been run without the correct coolant and that mileage then I would just change the whole thing... Stealth charge 1500 for Head rebuild, clutch and chains which is good but thats no good if the bottom end is fooked... there will be bore wear anyways on 1 and 6, 2k gets you a brand new engine built up with MK4 solid tensioners, good for another 100k miles at least!
That'll be the auxiliary water pump, its normal for it to keep running for a while after the engine is switched off. Its at the upper rear right of the engine.
I would have bash with the spanners first , flush the system out and stick in some G12 . track down this leak and find out where it is. The large plastic part that the Stat sits in and the coolant temp sensor can crack and not seal properly if the seals are old, but that a easy fix getting a new one and seals , the top hoses can let go after high miles . Track down where this water leak is first Get it running and spray WD40 over the coil packs it should clear the missfire after small amount of time , they can fire on 3 and the MPG drop to 16 instead of 30 when running bad, it should clear. As about for the aux pump you can unplug it if it keeps running if it never goes off , but should be easy to fix For the price of some G12 and some WD40 its gotta be worth having a go first I saw a bill for over a K for a new head fitting because someone had not used G12 very silly for the sake of 2 bottles Fingers crossed dude
They do have a rep for blowing head gaskets (although more in the earlier cars) and corrosion of the head face. If you fancy doing the work yourself, The man in the shed will flow and refurb your head for 350 + VAT, but it'll be a bit more if it needs welding to the head face. Suggest you see what you can do from the outside, but get ready to pull the head off and have it done. At the end of the day, it doesn't cost money to pull the head off and have a look. It costs money to buy the bits and put it back together! Of course, your other option is to get it running as well as you can, MOT it, and get rid before it gets any worse.
Thanks for all your input guys, the machine is now back at base and I will be having a crack in a couple of weekends time, I'll update y'all! I'd forgotten what a nice car it was actually! Oh, Anything I really must do before I crank it over (its been started only once in over two years)...
