DaveySprocket
A2OC Donor
Hello folks, an A2 that has been in the family for quite a while has come into my possession, so I thought it was time to join this forum/owners club.
This car was owned by my sister for a long time, unfortunately due to her never having any money it was usually very neglected. I had it on loan for 6 months or so at one point while my sister was away travelling in foreign parts, and did a few jobs on it then, as it had an awful lot of nasty rattles and noises from various places. Since then it eventually got sold to my other sister, who has done her best to look after it, but has been hampered by dody mechanics, ripping her off, and doing jobs very badly, such as breaking off glow plugs and not admitting to it. She has been using it for ages even though it really struggles to start, and the drivers door release catch doesn't work. I ended up with it, mainly to make sure it doesn't get scrapped, and also for the challenge of finding out what is wrong with it and fixing it.
I didn't have much mechanical experience until a few years ago when I restored a Series 3 Land Rover, after getting it finished and on the road I decided it really needed a V8, so then did that conversion myself. This built up my mechanical skills enough to make me decide to give up on using mechanics, and maintain our vehicles myself, using the money that would have been spent to buy any tools I needed. I had got sick of mechanics wasting my time and doing a bad job half the time, so this seemed like the way forward. I am looking forward to figuring out what is wrong with this one, I've SORN'd it for now and can take my time getting to the bottom of things.
Initial research and discussions suggested the place to start was the fuel filter, as I had no idea when it was last changed. Of course the drain plug snapped off straight away, so I will be looking to order a nice aluminium one from Depronman. The filter was very black, but fitting a new one has not made any difference, so it looks like this is the start of a journey. The car has done 175,000 miles, so it would be no big surprise if things are starting to get worn and tired. I've had a good search around for where to go next, and this is my list so far:
Fuel tank sender
Earth points
Tandem Pump
Crankshaft position sensor
Injector Loom
Genuine Fuel Filter
I've got a basic OBD reader for my lads Scirocco, so I will scan it with that and see if it throws up anything useful.
Any tips or ideas will be very gratefully received.
Cheers, Dave
This car was owned by my sister for a long time, unfortunately due to her never having any money it was usually very neglected. I had it on loan for 6 months or so at one point while my sister was away travelling in foreign parts, and did a few jobs on it then, as it had an awful lot of nasty rattles and noises from various places. Since then it eventually got sold to my other sister, who has done her best to look after it, but has been hampered by dody mechanics, ripping her off, and doing jobs very badly, such as breaking off glow plugs and not admitting to it. She has been using it for ages even though it really struggles to start, and the drivers door release catch doesn't work. I ended up with it, mainly to make sure it doesn't get scrapped, and also for the challenge of finding out what is wrong with it and fixing it.
I didn't have much mechanical experience until a few years ago when I restored a Series 3 Land Rover, after getting it finished and on the road I decided it really needed a V8, so then did that conversion myself. This built up my mechanical skills enough to make me decide to give up on using mechanics, and maintain our vehicles myself, using the money that would have been spent to buy any tools I needed. I had got sick of mechanics wasting my time and doing a bad job half the time, so this seemed like the way forward. I am looking forward to figuring out what is wrong with this one, I've SORN'd it for now and can take my time getting to the bottom of things.
Initial research and discussions suggested the place to start was the fuel filter, as I had no idea when it was last changed. Of course the drain plug snapped off straight away, so I will be looking to order a nice aluminium one from Depronman. The filter was very black, but fitting a new one has not made any difference, so it looks like this is the start of a journey. The car has done 175,000 miles, so it would be no big surprise if things are starting to get worn and tired. I've had a good search around for where to go next, and this is my list so far:
Fuel tank sender
Earth points
Tandem Pump
Crankshaft position sensor
Injector Loom
Genuine Fuel Filter
I've got a basic OBD reader for my lads Scirocco, so I will scan it with that and see if it throws up anything useful.
Any tips or ideas will be very gratefully received.
Cheers, Dave
