Sye's Leon TDI - Minor Stuff.

[sye]

Seat Leon TDI 90 S 2001 on a Y

Well I needed to get a more economical car for work.
Being self employed and on the road I needed to save a few quid as fuel prices are getting daft.
My BMW 525TDS Touring Auto was only giving me 28-30MPG as I spend a lot of time around town.

I wanted a car with the VW 1.9 TDI engine in it and I've always liked Leons.
A really smart looking car, nicer than the Golf in my eyes.

Anyway I saw one at a local used car lot and had a look around it and a test drive.
A few niggles but good service history with 2 cambelt changes. 137k on the clock but in fairly good nick bar the odd scab and a shed load of stone chips on the bonnet.
£1550 later it was mine.

Pic from ad

First things first.
Fuel filter
Air filter
Glovebox handle
Bluetooth kit
Brodit active phone cradle
Brodit Proclip vent mount
Front aero wipers
Clean VNT acuator
Block off EGR pipe.
A good clean.

I then ordered the rear Fabia wiper conversion, tuning box and number plates.

I got the wiper yesterday and decided to fit it today and de-badge it while I was at it.

Car kit and active phone cradle

General Pics

For those that are interested here is my BMW when bought in 2006

Individual Modena Leather only standard in M3s

Recent-ish pics.

Currently on winter wheels. I drove on thick snow and ice with no problem with winter rubber on.
I can get my mtech sport rims refurbed before they go back on in a few weeks.

It's been chipped to 180BHP and 350lb/ft.
EGR delete
Braided hoses
Uprated lights
Heated seat kit
Tints
Black grilles
Aero Splitter
ACS side skirts
M Sport rims
Uprated audio with dab unit
Hids
Ali dial rings and a lot of other subtle touches which help with the overall effect.
Plus a shed load of servicing and plenty of parts.
Well looked after and I can now do all the jobs on it that take longer than one day.
I couldn't take it off the road as it was my work horse.
Now with the Leon on work duty the BMW will get pampered.
Classic insurance for the BMW next year as it will be 15 years old.
It doesn't look too bad for it's age and 178k miles.

I have a rear sport bumper that needs to be painted and fitted once I get the rub strips with the PDC holes on them.


I still have more plans for the Leon though.
Wheels, possibly an interior and a few other tweaks.

I always modify my cars, I can't help it.
I costs money though.
I'll be updating this as I go along.

Loving the Leon. It drives great and looks great.



Thanks for the welcome. The knowledge on here is superb and gave me confidence in picking a Leon.
I've learned loads already.

That's it for now.

 

[Torred1771]

Nice Leon mate! Been wanting to change mine for a diesel, for power and fuel economy reasons. How do you find the power in your Tdi 90?

 

[sye]

Nice Leon mate! Been wanting to change mine for a diesel, for power and fuel economy reasons. How do you find the power in your Tdi 90?

TBH it feels more than 90bhp. Quicker than expected but I've heard it's not unusual for them to put out more than stock.
I should hopefully get the tuning box tomorrow so I'm looking forward to see how much of a difference it makes.
I'm averaging around 42MPG at the mo but I'm clogging it due to it being stood for a while.
Everything is settling down and running nicely.

 

[Torred1771]

Sounds good mate. I really want to change mine for diesel but cant afford it, and I keep fiddling with mine making it "personalized" for me lol. I really want to get the skoda fabia rear wiper now, I thought just debadging the rear made it look better but after seeing your pic with the fabia wiper, its 100% improvement again!

 

[sye]

I really want to get the skoda fabia rear wiper now, I thought just debadging the rear made it look better but after seeing your pic with the fabia wiper, its 100% improvement again!

Yeah and the wiper doesn't sound like a queef-fest when I use it lol.

 

[Torred1771]

Yeah and the wiper doesn't sound like a queef-fest when I use it lol.

queef-fest

Bahaha! Yes, mine currently sounds like one of those...was it easy to swap over?

 

[sye]

A doddle, 5 minutes inc scratching my nads.

 

[Torred1771]

A doddle, 5 minutes inc scratching my nads.

cheers for the info, including the scratching bit

Where did u get your wiper from?

 

[Wash It!]

A doddle, 5 minutes inc scratching my nads.

This made me chuckle

Nice rear end on your Leon though, the wiper conversion adds to the smoothed effect from de-badging.
Good luck with the tuning!

 

[Torred1771]

Also, noticed your "S" has fog lights...

I wish my "S" had fog lamps, i suspect they were installed later on since new..

 

[sye]

One has a cracked lens
They work on the factory switch and it has the CD player in the glovebox and aircon so I assume factory fitted.
Maybe they were options when new, I don't know the trim levels that well for Seat's.

 

[Torred1771]

One has a cracked lens
They work on the factory switch and it has the CD player in the glovebox and aircon so I assume factory fitted.
Maybe they were options when new, I don't know the trim levels that well for Seat's.

Yes, sounds like a possibly package, because my car has none of those things. I suspect the cracked lens will be an MOT failure as well...

 

[sye]

The tuning box arrived today and I fitted it and set it up as per instructions.

All I can say is that it's well worth the money.
Noticeably quicker all through the range, the torque comes in nice and early and makes it so much more drivable.

A mod well worth doing especially as it was only £84.

 

[sye]

Mr Muscle to the rescue..

It's been running great since the tuning box was fitted but went into limp mode when booting it on the motorway.
Definitely VNT sticking when hot.
It was time for the MR Muscle.
I removed the feed from the exhaust manifold to the egr which made access easier.

As the Mr Muscle is foaming I didn't want to just spray it down the hole as some might have got to the head which is not good.

I had a nearly empty can of wd40 with the smart straw on it.

I removed the spray nozzle from the Mr Muscle and fitted the smart straw.
It was a doddle to feed it down the correct hole straight to where it was needed.
A generous squirt then bolt everything back up and leave for just under 2 hours.
I started it up and took it on the M60 for a clean out and it behaved itself.

Job done.

I really need some wheels now though.

 

[sye]

Seats

Ok I've been busy and have a leather steering wheel coming from richellis on here.

The car has had an oil change with Mobil1 and a new filter.
I've been playing with Vagcom and have activated the Autolock and Auto Unlock feature.

I've been looking for an interior but had no luck finding something local-ish until e-bay had a Leather/Alcantara interior for a Toledo.
Advertised as needing a clean and the pics on the ad did it no favours.

Anyway a cheeky bid of £120 and it was mine. I drove to Worksop to pick it up this morning.
90 mins there and 105 mins back averaging 44mpg in the BMW Touring.

Well the alcantara on the drivers seat was in a bit of a state as was the base of one of the rears. Probably due to a baby seat. Well the leather is really good with no scuffs and just needed a good clean.
I vacced the alcantara first then used a stanley blade to remove the large clumps of tuft that had built up over time. Next was an upholstery cleaner and a thorough clean.
Wiped it down and brushed gently with a suede brush and job done.

Pics below. The drivers looks dark because it was still slightly damp but I'm well pleased.
They are electric so I'll do a search to fine out what's what as the passenger is a doddle ( + and - ) but the drivers looks like I may need some extra wires as it has the memory function. I'm not too bothered about the memory side of things so I'll see what a search brings up.

I love a bargain and I'm looking to change the alloys next.
17s preferably.

 

[sye]

Well the seats are in and wired up.
I had to use the airbag plugs from the old seats as they were different.
Very comfy.
Today I fitted the leather steering wheel bought off richellis and fitted an alarm system.
F**king ball ache of a job.
I had the wiring location and colour code to work from but a couple were wrong and that cost me a lot of time.
Also getting the wire for the siren through the bulkhead was a pain.
I ended up going through the same grommet as the bonnet release cable.
Central locking side wasn't too bad, just removing the drivers door card and running through the waterproof flexy thing between the door and chassis.
I had a few issues programming it but it's all done now so I'm happy.
I'll post some pics soon.

 

[sye]

Here are some pics I took while doing the work.
Nothing fancy as I had my hands full.



Halfway through fitting the interior and obviously it pi55ed down all afternoon.

Next day was the alarm.
Took this pic while figuring out a couple of the wires that were not as listed, plus a quick nad scratch.

Interior, alarm and leather steering wheel fitted.

Rear complete with kiddy seat.

I still can't believe I got the interior for £120.
The alarm was £35 with two fobs so it's handy having central locking with both keys.
Thanks to richellis on here for the leather steering wheel.
Excellent condition as described

 

[andy17]

Lovely interior that , very nice price as well!

you have done some really interesting mods, seem to be a magician with the electrics! To scared I will blow myself up when messing with wires

 

[sye]

Thanks. I'm self employed fixing electronics but mainly TVs. Plasma, LCD, Projection etc..
Wiring is not a real problem. You just have to be methodical and take your time.

I like to change things on all my cars but have to stop myself from going too far.
I tend to stick to OEM stuff these days.

I had a 3 series compact for 2 years that I went too far with.
I ended up selling in 2006 as I went off it soon after I thought I'd finished.
A mate bought it and abused it. Sad.
The money I spent on eibachs, supersprint Zorst, SSK, Braided hoses, grooved discs, fast road pads, chipped, K&N, powerflex bushes, sport interior, skirts, wheels, spoiler, splitter, lights, rub strips, paint.. the list goes on.

The front splitter and chrome Hella angel headlights ruined it and I couldn't be arsed changing them.
I wanted a change and vowed not to go daft in the future.

So wheels are next on the Leon. 5 twin-spoke Cupra alloys take my fancy.
Probably next month as I've done enough for now. Still look on e-bay though


Edit


This was before the compact. MR2. Great car, a proper screamer.

After selling the compact all my modding was done on the 5 Series.
I bought a Focus 1.8 Zetec to mess around with about 2 years ago

I changed the wheels and lights. Not bad for what it was.

With the bad snow we had last year the 5 series was struggling.
255 tyres just sat on top of the snow and I was going nowhere.
I was bored with the Focus so I bought a CR-V to play with and flogged the Focus.
Great fun and the 2.0 16v 146bhp screamer was great in a straight line and surprised a few people.
Great in the snow but I got bored again and I sorted out some winter wheels for the BMW.
It had to go

Then I got an A Class because I just fancied one for a laugh. A140 in case the wife wanted a go. Go kart handling but it really grated after a while.
I put a half leather interior in it, smoked rears, coded grill.

In the end I hated driving it.
Minting up the 5 Series and saving a few quid on fuel brought me to the Leon.
A lot nicer drive, better on fuel and great for using for work.

 

[sye]

Cheapo W8 light alternative.

I've seen Leons on here with the interior light from the W8.
I like them as my BM has similar. Unfortunately they seem to go for around £45.
I don't like them that much lol.

I don't know if it's been done before but I fancied a cheaper alternative.

Anyway they are basically LEDs so I thought I'd have a mad half hour and see what I could knock up. I have red LEDs and some 470 ohm resistors I picked up for £1.40 so away I went.

I drilled four holes and fitted 4 leds as shown below. The negatives were soldered to the neg rail on the light. This gave some solidity to the mounting of the LEDs. Then the resistors were added to each LED and then all joined together, a wire was then soldered to them so I could pick up a switched 12v feed from around the fuse box. The wire was run under the headlining and down the A pillar and connected to a switched live.

LEDs as marked.

Viewed from directly underneath

Further away

I'll tinker about with a feed resistor if the light is too bright.
I may tap in the the variable feed to the cluster once I'm happy with the output so it will vary with everything else.
I just want a bit of ambient light to improve the interior at night.
All in all it took half an hour.
Obviously the map and interior lights are unaffected, all in all I'm pretty pleased with it.