Greetings to all

Hi to all - I'm Dobbs and a couple of weeks ago I took a gamble on buying a 2000 VR5 golf.  The 'gamble' was on a noise coming from the engine & after a trip to the local VW dealer here in sunny Scunthorpe it turns out I've kinda lost the gamble as it's the timing chain/s that are noisy.

However, the golf is in excellent condition and drives superbly so I'm willing to get the chains done, & now I'm looking for a local garage who'll charge me a bit less than the £1878 that VW want...

Okay, so it's a main dealer, but the parts total £260 with 16 hours of labor, putting their labor costs at around £100/hour...   

As I paid £650 for the golf I figure that if I get the work done for say £600, run the car for a year I can then still sell it and not loose much at all.  I'm rather impressed with these Mk4 golfs, having owned mk1,2 & 3 GTIs in the past.

So anyway, that's who I am and what I own and I'll keep ya'll informed with progress.

Cheers,

Dobbs.  

PS - if anyone can recommend a good garage here in scunny with cheap labor costs, please let me know  

Hi Dobbs, wouldn't it be cheaper to drop in a replacement 2nd hand engine???  
I have seen them go for £250-£350 on that auction site, can't remember it's name   

with most garages charging around £40 an hour you should be able to get a price of around £900. VW might be charging more than others would for parts too.

another engine is possible but that would need declared to dvla and in your insurance quotes. it might even develope noisy chains too.

im getting my chains done soon but havent got a price yet. it will include more bits that need the gearbox out too(lsd, clutch, flywheel and long 5th gear), so wont be able to compare prices.

let us know how you get on.

Hi all,

Just to let you know that I've found a (hopefully) good garage in Scunthorpe who's going to take the engine out and replace the chains for around £750.

So on Monday I'll be back in the old MX5 for a week but hopefully if all goes well I'll have my V5 back on Sat - can't wait to take it out on the back roads and put the foot down without having to worry about breaking the chains.

My to-do list is then to get the back windows tinted, the engine remaped followed by a full leather interior (ideally Recaro), then a nicer-sounding exhaust and air-filter...   

I'll keep you informed,

Dobbs.   

Nice one Dobbs. Good luck with the work. How much have you been quoted to get the windows tinted, its also on my to do list? Cant wait to see how your car drives once you have had the chains done. Then again after your mods. Maybe start a build thread?

R444SPY wrote:Nice one Dobbs. Good luck with the work. How much have you been quoted to get the windows tinted, its also on my to do list?

£130 to have the back window and the side windows + quarter-lights tinted in black (it's a 5-door Mk4) - I'll get some photos up once I get my V5 back.

Dobbs.  

That's a good price, I had got quoted £180. Maybe I need to move

Forgot to mention that one of the first things to be done to my V5 is to replace the door speakers - the OEM ones are sadly lacking in bass...

I could put a sub in the boot but I need the room, so the plan is to replace the door speakers with component speakers and find a good place for a set of new tweeters.

I'll take a few photos  

Dobbs.   

Hi folks,

The timing chains have just been done by a local mechanic in Scunthorpe - Tom Davis motors.  It's been a bit of a long job as they removed the engine to better access the gearbox etc.

I've had both chains and tensioners replaced, along with a new clutch kit, aux belt and tensioner, gearbox oil replaced with fully synthetic and the aircon has been re-gassed.  Oil, oil filter and coolant also had to be replaced.  All parts are genuine VW - Tom Davis was able to get genuine parts for the same price as OEM or just a little (5%) more, so it was worth going for the genuine parts.

And the cost - £1080 in total...!  Replacing the chains came to £750 and the clutch kit was £140.

So to sum up, I've now got a V5 that is running very smoothly and I've got a lot more confidence to push the 'go' pedal.  I'm planing to keep the V5 for at least a year, after which I'll still be able to sell it for a decent price, so at least I'll get my monies worth...

Oh yes, and the rear windows are now tinted - I'll take a few photos if the sun comes out - £130 at Tint my Ride in Scunthorpe.

Next job - new speakers!

Cheers,

Dobbs. 

I hope my squeel is not the chains and it is just the auxilary belt haha