gearheadgrrrl
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2002
- Location
- Buffalo Ridge (southwest Minnesota)
- TDI
- '15 Golf DSG, '13 JSW DSG surrendered to VW, '03 Golf 2 door manual
Bought new and never returned to a dealer until it was almost 12 years old for rust repair under warranty. 155K miles, uses no oil, but increasing niggling problems- rust hole at the front of a rocker panel, rusted out steel wheels developing leaks around the valve stem, AC quit, oily smoke when cold, a failed glow plug that busted off when I tried to replace it, the brake hydraulics were getting suspect, and I needed to replace a rusted out rear brake backing plate before it took out the ABS sensor, etc..
So I order up the parts, figure the hub will get ruined so order that and a stub axle too. May as well replace the suspect rear springs as long as I'm in there. Get the car up on the lift and goes pretty well, even the hub slides on the stub axle without the usual battle. But the ABS sensor can't be removed without destroying it, so I wait a few more days for another ABS sensor... Which doesn't fit. Then I manage to bleed 3 brakes as the left front bleeder broke off despite liberal application of penetrating oil.
So now the cars been taking up space in my shop for a couple weeks and I really need to get the Golf 7 in to fit a bash plate before winter. So I give the brake pedal a few pushes to see if it's still firm... Not much resistance. Then I look for leaks and notice that I'd forgotten that the whole right rear caliper is still off and I'd darn near pumped the piston out of the caliper. Managed to push it back in and put it all back together, but some brake fluid leaked out and after I put it all back together the brake pedal is still soft. Stuff like that happens when a repair drags out for weeks and you forget what you'd done. The car is in worse shape than I started, and looks like I need to spend hundreds more- 2 or 4 calipers depending on whether I can get that busted left front bleeder screw out without trashing that caliper. And did I mention the rusting brake line I noticed?
Then what else is going to break?
The A4s are great cars, but rust never sleeps and aftermarket parts quality gets dodgy after a decade or two. Here in the rust belt cars are a lost battle after 10-15 years, though their now galvanized bodies look great. My Golf 7 TDI's a keeper and I can buy most any new car, cash. So should I pull this Golf 4 out back and forget it, or is it worth another few hundred dollars in parts?
So I order up the parts, figure the hub will get ruined so order that and a stub axle too. May as well replace the suspect rear springs as long as I'm in there. Get the car up on the lift and goes pretty well, even the hub slides on the stub axle without the usual battle. But the ABS sensor can't be removed without destroying it, so I wait a few more days for another ABS sensor... Which doesn't fit. Then I manage to bleed 3 brakes as the left front bleeder broke off despite liberal application of penetrating oil.
So now the cars been taking up space in my shop for a couple weeks and I really need to get the Golf 7 in to fit a bash plate before winter. So I give the brake pedal a few pushes to see if it's still firm... Not much resistance. Then I look for leaks and notice that I'd forgotten that the whole right rear caliper is still off and I'd darn near pumped the piston out of the caliper. Managed to push it back in and put it all back together, but some brake fluid leaked out and after I put it all back together the brake pedal is still soft. Stuff like that happens when a repair drags out for weeks and you forget what you'd done. The car is in worse shape than I started, and looks like I need to spend hundreds more- 2 or 4 calipers depending on whether I can get that busted left front bleeder screw out without trashing that caliper. And did I mention the rusting brake line I noticed?
Then what else is going to break?
The A4s are great cars, but rust never sleeps and aftermarket parts quality gets dodgy after a decade or two. Here in the rust belt cars are a lost battle after 10-15 years, though their now galvanized bodies look great. My Golf 7 TDI's a keeper and I can buy most any new car, cash. So should I pull this Golf 4 out back and forget it, or is it worth another few hundred dollars in parts?