Long Overdue Update

[Engimaneer]

Remote controlled window open/close now activated

Finally activated the remote control window open/close function today!

Really handy in the heat as you can open all the windows (and sunroof if fitted) of your car before you even get to it let alone in it.
Then when you get out, no need to worry about closing it all individually, just use your key fob remote and all is well.

Anyone interested in this feature and live in Hants/Dorset drop me a PM and I will see what I can do for you.

 

[Engimaneer]

Eventful week for the yellow submarine

Where do I start?

It has been a very eventful week for my car.

I went round a m8s house to help them change a fuel pump on their car, and when getting my tools out of my boot, I found 2 inches of water in the spare wheel well.

Then a passer by told me that I had a brake light out, so I simply replaced it from the vast collection of lamps that I have. 3 hours later when driving down the road, I saw one of my headlights go out in the reflection of the car in front. Another lamp replaced there too then...

To try and solve the issue of worn boost hose couplings, I wirelocked some of the joint together, which so far is working well. (Ok, its not the neatest or most effective wirelocking in the world, but it only took me two seconds)

The Royal mail have been busy with my custom this week, 8 parcels have arrived for the leon, and a few more with tools for work. Details on car parts to follow.

Hoping to get some bits fitted over the weekend, and possibly aquire some more goodies.

 

[Engimaneer]

ooo flaps....

Well today was meant to be workiing on the car day, with some window clips to fit, a serviceable door locking motor and my mudflaps.
Only got round to fitting the front mudflaps as they fitted straight into the existing arch liner holes and bolts.

My friend turned up and asked if I would go to wales to get an interior for his S2 with him.
Off we went, and ended up wading knee deep through flood water! It was mad, but did enjoy chatting S2's with a guy who had a few 80's and S2's lying around in various states of breaking. Also picked up a few extra parts as a bonus. Wasnt fun fitting them in the rain with very soggy feet and trousers.

Mudflap pics: Although the wheels still stick out further than the flaps, I hope it will reduce the amount of crap that sticks to the side of my car.
Best bit, they only cost me £4 brand new and still in genuine seat packet.

 

[Engimaneer]

Lets Deflect Some Wind

Got my wind deflectors fitted a loooong time ago, but didnt bother to update here.
Havnt had the internet for a while.

Here they are fitted:

 

[LEE69]

Looking good like the mudflaps and deflectors.

 

[BigJase88]

Looking good

Personally wouldnt want VAG in a number plate as to me it could also mean VAGina lol

 

[Engimaneer]

Thank you, it was looking good until....

 

[Engimaneer]

ooooops!!

Oops...

A couple of days before my wedding, when stress levels were hugely high, I went to pick up some bits from a shop and lost a fight with some posts in the car park.

Even though the post was yellow, it didnt quite match the car!

Thankfully, several hours of t cutting and the paint was off.

From:

To:

As you can see, T cut is NOT very good at hiding the crushed door though

Glad I only plan on getting married once, was the most stressfull thing I have ever been through. The logistics of it all are a nightmare as are family members!

 

[Engimaneer]

Looking good

Personally wouldnt want VAG in a number plate as to me it could also mean VAGina lol

Haha, I did think that too. Decided not to bother with a plate though and stick with what I have got.

 

[BigJase88]

Take the door card and carrier off and try and persuade the dent to come out from the inside. Hopefully just pop back out

 

[Engimaneer]

Thanks, have been tempted since I did it. But its easy to crack the paint like that, so until the weather gets better I wont do it. If it cracks and I cant re-protect it yet, it may start to corrode.

No-one actually notices it until you point it out, so im fairly lucky there.

 

[LeonUser]

Fitted the 12V socket, just have to connect it to my aix fusebox to get power to it. Aded a switch which will illuminate when switched to on, so there is an indication that it has power.

Also wired in a new boot light on the opposite side to the existing to one to add more light.

My new rear wiper has arrived! Thought it would be a good idea as I worked out it would fit....then I realised that every bugger with a leon gets one haha...fabia rear wiper!

On sat I washed, clayed, washed, polished and waxed the car. Took 4 hours, so didnt bother with the interior!

Did some welding on the golf too whilst getting it back to selling standard

I Love the skoda wiper mod on all leons im looking to do it on mine, is it just the blade you need or do you need the skoda motor aswell?

if its just blade ill order one this week as wanted do it since i go the car (1 year ago) LOL

 

[Ruff Ryder]

I think it's just the arm conversion, need to get mine done too!

 

[Engimaneer]

Yes its just a straight arm swap. Only one single (12mm I think) nut holds the wiper arm onto the motor shaft.

All motors are pretty much standard accross the vag range of that age, with a tripod style mounting arrangement.

 

[Engimaneer]

MOT fail - In two respects!

Well, MOT time came and I thought I would give my car a thorough check over.
Great, all looked well.

I forgot to check one MAJOR component.
The rear brakes!

Now, I knew they were low, as I checked them when I replaced my front discs and pads. But it seems I chewed through them a lot quicker than expected.

Highly ashamed of taking my car for an MOT with pads like that!
However 30 mins for me to change them on sat and got the car re-tested today. Not bad when the test, pads and re-test cost £55 all in

 

[csd_19]

Car's looking good with the mudflaps on Nice one managing to get a set of OEM ones for a few quid as well!!

One word of warning with them - if you catch the front ones when going over sleeping policemen type speedbumps, keep a close eye on the paint underneath the flap. Noticed the other day I've worn through the paint under the driver's side one so will need to get that sorted before the sill gets a beating.

They should really be supplied with some 3M type clear film to put on the body to protect it - Volvo do this when fitting OE mudflaps.

Still liking the pre-facelift yellow and black, looks good!

 

[dgjdrummer]

Well after carrying out the EGR delete, I decided to reduce the risk of boos leaks and boost lag.

Set to work on this:

Ended up removing all this:

Im sure that VAG put it there for a reason, however the turbo now spools up so much quicker and the torque range is greater, meaning I can change gear earlier and has made it more economical!

Now my bay looks like this:

I am going to find a better way to tidy it all up, however I needed to drive the car so just shoved it back in place.

Hey mate, loving the small touches you've done to your car and had a couple of questions...

Firstly ,when fitting the Audi steering wheel did the horn function work ok afterwards as I've seen there is not separate horn thing on the Audi wheel like there is on the Leon?

Also, in the quoted post, what exactly did you remove here and to what ends? My car seems a bit laggy and have done an EGR/inlet clean out which helped a little but want to clean up as much of the inlet system as possible including removing useless/nannyish bits!

Cheers

 

[kyleb123]

Hi, sorry to bring up an old thread but where did you get your gearstick from & how much?

Was it easy to swap?

 

[Engimaneer]

Apologies for not replying to any questions, been off the forum a long time!
Leon is still going (just) and having huge issues at the moment with the braking system.

In answer to above questions, the steering wheel was a straight swap for the leon one, very quick and easy to do once you have the knack of removing the airbag via its fiddly spring clips. The horn and airbag work exactly as the Leon one does so there are no issues with warning lights or the horn working.

The FR gearknob was an Ebay buy I am afraid so I cannot say where to get one other than Seat (or any other VAG dealer/TPS) themselves. - Just be cautious that some Audi/Skoda/VW dealers will NOT order parts that they cannot varify fitment to your car for. Others are happy to order anything you give them the part number for.

 

[Engimaneer]

So, in Feb this year I took my car for an MOT and it failed badly.

Just before Christmas my wife and I had been made homeless and were renting a single room somewhere with the entire contents of our old two bed flat in storage, we were in the process of buying a new house and when we went away for Christmas the news was full of pictures of our Town underwater. (The only flooded place in the country at that point, however within a few weeks many areas were much worse off.)

This meant that when the car failed its MOT in feb, not long after moving into our new home I did not want to do the work myself through lack of time, space and my tools being in storage.

It failed because it had no CAT fitted (which I pointed out to the tester had not been there for the previous two he did in the past), 3 seized brake calipers and a few other little niggles.
I ended up fitting the old exhaust and CAT myself whilst the guys at this garage did my brake calipers. Then we had strange issues with the brakes, where we could bleed them, get a solid pedal but within about 40 mins the pressure had gone and the pedal could hit the floor. After 2 weeks trying to sort it out, I decided to get them to change the master cylinder, which solved the problem.

Also in this time, I have increased the mileage a good amount but neglected the bodywork. The rain through Jan-March stripped the laquer off my bonnet quite badly but I could live with that.
My wife managed to Kerb 3 of my alloys, and I topped it off by smashing the powder coating on the 4th while mounting a kerb to let an ambulance past in a queue of traffic.

To top off a bad year for the Leon, I smashed the rear R/H sill outside my house as I had been driving another car for 3 weeks in/out of our tight parking space, and then forgot I was in mine and tried the same manouver in one go. This ended with me wedged on a concrete step.

The other day I noticed my tyre was showing the chord on the inside yet all the treads were legal. Great, so my track rod end balljoint boot had exploded.

After all the neglect I finally gave the Leon some love (shamefully I had not serviced it in many many miles) with a full service and a nice shiny new track rod end. Just waiting until I get two new front tyres and my Audi wheels can go back on the front (yes, I have two sets of wheels fitted currently).

Huuuge issue with the brakes at the moment so I think it wont be driven this week, cant seem to actually bleed them. Issue described HERE any ideas or help would be welcomed than you. Pics to follow soon