VW Golf Mk4 - any recommended repair shops in Sutherland Shire?

[jonesy63]

Hi Folks,
2nd post after joining today and lurking for weeks.

I recently helped my daughter buy a 2000 Golf Mk4, 2L with auto and sunroof. There are a few niggling things that need attention and need to find a good repairer in the Sutherland Shire/Southern Sydney.

1) It has 105,000km on odometer and will need service shortly, with timing belt/water pump replaced.
2) The headlining has fallen off the sunroof cover-raining sticky orange foam everywhere!
3) The handle on the dipstick snapped off, and the plastic dipstick tube needs to be replaced as well.
4) The front rotors have runout. I'm pretty sure it is going to be cheaper to replace them and put in new pads, rather than have them machined. RDA rotors are pretty cheap... what is a good brand of pad for these?

Any recommendations on 1 & 2? Camden GTI is a stretch to get to, and all the old skool VW shops that were around (when I had a '73 VW L bug) have closed down.

I can do 3 & 4 myself - just need leads on a good parts supplier.

Thanks for any suggestions!
Cheers,
Rob

[Swainey32]

3) I know ecstuning sell them, but have to pay shipping. maybe also check ebay
4) talk to our sponsor GSL Rallysport - Store

[aprr32]

If you want to drive south a bit more Canberra VW Centre has a shop in Kiama.

[Bug_racer]

Dont machine discs on a VW

[Watercooled]

Be aware that some mk4s had front axle carrier bearing that failed fairly early in life compared to earlier models,best to find the cause of the run-out before buying/fixing.
The headlining is relatively expensive to fix a unless you are a DIY person.
Auto's can be weak if not serviced more $$$ to repair/replace pay to get it checked, if the fluid is dirty run away from this one.
Belt kit and pump are fairly expensive cause only top OEM or geniune parts will cut it.
You need to factor in this costs and buy the car very cheap or find a better one,looks like you have a fairly high parts cost here let alone the labour charges.

[jonesy63]

Dont machine discs on a VW

Care to finish that sentence? For instance "Don't machine discs on a VW - as there's not enough meat on them"

[jonesy63]

If you want to drive south a bit more Canberra VW Centre has a shop in Kiama.

Thanks - my parents live in Kiama, so I could drop it off in the morning and work from their place until it is ready.

[jonesy63]

3) I know ecstuning sell them, but have to pay shipping. maybe also check ebay
4) talk to our sponsor GSL Rallysport - Store

Thanks - checking them out now.

[jonesy63]

Thanks - will check out the front end before buying the rotors/pads.

I am a DIY person, but dread the thought this job!

Auto service - yes, one thing I omitted from the list. Will add a double flush to the list of things to be done.

Re water pump - I've seen lots of comments about the genuine part having plastic impellers. Please explain how that is better?

Re cost of the car - yes, it was a bargain - so money has been set aside to perform this first almighty $ervice!

Thanks.

[Watercooled]

Not sure about the worth of flushing ,have heard some horror stories, I won't do it,theres a good article on the net (sorry can't find the link)that states 2 fluid changes is enough to clean up a neglected unserviced (dirty )trans.
Good OEM pumps don't have the plastic impellors from memory,VW agents in my country have an exchange on later pumps,not sure about Oz,the loose impellor issue has been well documented but I've not struck this problem........yet.
Good luck.

[Umai Naa!!]

Not wise to machine VW rotors, because if it's needed, by the time you machine the lip off and remove the run-out, they'll be undersized. The steel in them is pretty soft, but it makes them stop good.

Definately service the auto if it hasn't already been done.

Metal Vs plastic water pump impeller is up to you. If you replace it as often as do you a timing belt, the plastic one won't cause you any issues. With the metal ones, people get complacent, and just leave them in there forever. However, due to the design of the pump, they can be prone to bearing failure, meaning the metal impeller can chew it's way through the engine block. The bearing can still fail on a plastic impeller'd one, but it won't cause any terminal damage as the plastic just wears down, and finds its way up to the overflow bottle.

[jonesy63]

Thanks guys - everything said makes sense.

FWIW, a "double flush" I mentioned earlier is not really inferring flushing fluid through the box. It's just a fill - drive for 1000km - and then drain and fill again. (The first change ends up mixing old ATF from cooler lines/torque convertor, the second freshens it up some more). I've just looked up a guide on changing the ATF in these and will just follow that one - and change it every 100,000km.
Cheers,
Rob

[Umai Naa!!]

I'd change it every 60,000kms as per more recent VW recommendations.

Worth dropping the pan off, and replacing the filter as well.

Also, make sure you get the right oil for them. They don't like the Dexron-based stuff.

[jonesy63]

60,000 km... noted.

"Sealed for life" - what a crock of excrement!

[Bug_racer]

Care to finish that sentence? For instance "Don't machine discs on a VW - as there's not enough meat on them"

Dont machine discs as you'll probably go undersize doing so .
Ive seen a piston pop out of an Audi once and the cost to repair exceeded $5k