Ben vs Mk3. Round 2.

[Bflat]

What i've noticed after scrolling through the last few pages....



The new golf is nearly as low as the old one

[Ben J]

So my hatred of this car continues to grow...

Dont think I've mentioned it in this thread yet but it has some ****ed electrical problems, fuel pump etc dont turn off when I take out the key, which drains the battery very fast, so I have to disconnect the battery every time I park, so it will hopefully start again (1/3 I still need to jump/push start it). I think it may be an ignition switch so I have a new one on the way.

Anyway today I had to drive to brisbane. Before I even got out of toowoomba the coolant light came on. I opened the tank and it spat practically all of the coolabt out. Filled it up, off I went and it seemed ok. Coolant light flashed practically the entire way, but the temperature sat right bang in the middle of the gauge so I pressed on, not having much of a choice.

When we reached brisbane traffic though the temperature would sky rocket when we werent moving.

Ideas? I'm thinking radiator fans or thermostat or a blocked radiator or something? I'd prefer not to have the head warp or something on the way home...

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[ryana89]

To check if its the thermostat, run the car up to temp (say 5-10 mins) then feel the bottom hose.
If the bottom hose is stone cold whilst the top hose is untouchable, time for a new thermostat.

[killingwithasmile]

sounds alot like a blockage in your radiator.

[Ben J]

In a less then sober state my girlfriends new room mate who happens to be a mechanic and I had a quick look last night. Thermo fans werent kicking in like I expected. Found a plug had somehow unplugged itself (the solid engine mounts probably did that) so plugged it back in and it seems to be okay, havent driven it yet though for obvious reasons, so shall see how it goes today. should be fine though.

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[Wolfgang]

I just found this on redbubble.

Suits you perfectly.

[patmould93]

Hey Ben,

I feel your frustrations mate, gotta love mk3s

Anyway does the plug look like this?:



Same thing happened to me a little while ago so... I think it's some sort of sensor to do with the thermostat... Anyway I'll let you know what I did in case it's a similar problem, not sure if it's all the same with the vr6 compared to cl/gl.

Next picture shows the plug unplugged out of its socket. You can see a slit that runs down the socket:



Basically, in that little slit, a plastic clip shaped like this is meant to fit in there to secure the clip. The next picture shows this, except mine was snapped down the left side as you can see:




The plug kept on falling out when I put it in without this clip from the vibrations on the road and stuff, it wasn't secure at all. The clip breaking had caused it to come loose. I got another one at a vw specialist, but before I could make it there as I was in some place ages away, I found a pretty thin cable tie that fit into that slit, plugged the thing in and cable tied it in tight and it didn't budge. It's probably more secure than the ****ty clip if this doesn't work, have a look at the o-ring and see if it's causing it to leak.

Anyway hoping this is relevant to what you're talking about, good luck

[Ben J]

Hey pat, thanks for the effort of writing that up and im sure that will be very helpful for someone, but it was actually just the connector that goes onto the fans themselves which had come loose

That would have been one very annoying issue though! The cl has a different thermostat housing and sensors then the vr, but I do remember having issues there on the old car.



Anyway, latelt the suspension controls have decided to stop working properly etc, pissing me off quite a lot actually.

[patmould93]

Hahaha well there you go then I must have got confused about the spat out all the coolant out bit haha

My issue at the moment is that the back seat window goes up and down at will, including the other day when it went down and it started bucketing down with rain, I happened to be wearing a suit and I stood outside at the window and blocked the rain the things I do for this car haha anyway good luck with the suspension then

[Ben J]

It spat out all the coolant when I opened the tank to add some, as it was incredibly hot

Window problem sounds strange. If its going up and down like with the motor, then its not the regulator but probably a switch or a wire shorting out or something. If it just slides down then your regulator is gone.


Electrical problems with the car are even worse today, I had to get a lift to work when I couldnt get the suspension to get the car off the ground. Picked up a new ignition switch from the stealership (although I got trade price which isnt so bad) so im hoping that will fix the problems. Im meant to be driving down to brisbane straight after work tomorrow night which will be hard without a functioning car :/