xavier

Just figured out why we like our Gal's. Stockholm syndrome.

You got a good flairing tool Paul? > t have you considered taking the wishbone off with ballpoint connected Clive, I had considered it late on Saturday, and think that's the route I'll take. I can wait for parts if it turns out I can't get it out. Tried wedging the bottom of the balljoint on a brick and battering it. Applied copious amounts of heat then battered it again. It's not for moving. And it seems all the additonal movement of the hub and driveshaft to get some clearance to whack the thing has split the inner cv boot. So looks like I'll be taking the driveshaft off anyway. BigDave, Don't think I need to touch the steering balljoint, unless I need to remove it for clearance. Not according to mr haynes

clive, I'll try your suggestion tomorrow am. Failing that, I found a sealey ball joint kit on amazon for £56 that looks like it might cope but at that price I figure I might be better just doing the front wishbone. Anyone done one, am I just setting myself up for an even greater fall?! Thanks!

> Corrosion of brake pipes? Would be inclined to agree seatkid. I thought the rears were in a poor state until I had to do the caliper, when I had to clean the pipes they looked brand new. Ok, problem appears to be halfords splitter is too small. Can anyone suggest one of a suitable size? one I have is a laser 1793.

Am planning to get the tyres replaced one she passes. If I can get this bl**dy ball joint off! Invested in a splitter from halfords (cup type) but it's just mullered the bolt. Think I need a bigger hammer!

once again, thanks Paul!

I drove it in, handed the keys to the guy at the desk and the MOT guy stopped me on the way out : "is that a petrol or diesel?" me : "diesel" "has it had a good run" me : "nah, just brought it down the road" "they need a good run before a test, you should've taken it out and good 1/2 an hour to warm up" me : "I just brought it down, I didn't know" "it'll probably fail on the emissions, I need to take it up to the max and hold it there" me : "well, just see how it goes" she passed the emisisons....

Do these things have different number of splines or something, what's the diference between the different keys?

oh, and I've done just under 3000 miles last year. Hard, hard miles those.

Thanks for the tips guys, if I have time tomorrow I might try and do the cv boot taking the joint off. Having said that, already been 3 hours on the ball joint today. Bloody locktite! Interesting that advisories aren't put on the database. Last year I had 2 : bonnet safety catch siezed rear indicators white this year, 22: ns rear sock slight corrosion os rear sock slight corrosion ns front brake fluctuating os front brake fluctuating front reg plate deteriorated (yeah, fair enough!) ns rear indicator discolored ns rear brake disc worn os rear brake disc worn ns front brake pipe os front brake pipe ns front to rear os front to rear os track rod end ball joint cover ns and os rear seats missing undertrays fitted obscuring some underside components engine covers obscuring some components in engine bay play in steering rack inner joints ns and os front brake discs worn ns and os front wiper blades slightly deteriorated ns and os tyres cracked on side walls ns front and ns and os rear tyres cracked in center tread ns and os front lower sills damaged (- no s*1t sherlock!)

Magic paul, that's that ordered. Made a start on the ball joint today, though looks like I'll need to invest in a ball joint splitter to get the thing out the wishbone. It's not fur movin! No sign of the springs yet, hope they arrive tomorrow. £55 for 2 from ebay - used the co before and they're carparts4less's ebay outlet. Oddly carparts4less's website was showing the anschler springs as out of stock but they have them on ebay and are apparently on their way to me.

guys, got a link to the stretchy boots? Do they come in different sizes? The kit I've just bought requires the joint be removed. It came with the boot, big bolt to fit the hub back on and the grease and circlips (all for £8 - not bad considering I paid £6 for a bolt from VW for doing the reluctor ring!). If I could I'd prefer to save myself the hassle of removing the joint if possible I was considering a new driveshaft at one point! Thanks!

Hi guys, Just to check, is a spring compressor required with the Gal or is there enough clearance without? Cheers!

Well, had the old Gal in for the MOT today, failed on a few things, plus 26 advisories! Do I bother fixing her? Been quoted £500 to do the work, which is : n/s outer CV rubber n/s ball joint both rear springs ... and a bulb. Helpfully the've already replaced the bulb, leaving me the easy stuff. Now I figure the rear springs should be straightforward as the shocker is separate, and the ball joint can't be much more than what I removed to do the reluctor ring, which just leaves the cv boot. Do you need special tools for that? Anyway, looks like I better hope for good weather for the next 2 weeks! Plus point though, looks like the new caliper is a-ok!

Finally got them sorted, both front and rear drivers side are a real pain. An extra mm clearance in the rear and it would have been straightforward, no idea how you're meant to remove the brake light bulb without taking the whole light out! Got the front sidelight changed by using my phone and a chisel, I'll post the video on you tube (maybe, if I can figure out how to...).

Just reading up on the MOT regs, is a broken one of these now an MOT fail? Looking at the one I have there's a VW part number stamped inside it, might give my local dealer a call and get a price.

Could also be a split in the vac line to the actuator, would still suggest getting under the car to check though. If the arm won't move, the VNT mech is coked up. If it moves easily as chris says check it's positioning correctly at idle.

Evening, MOT time and I thought I'd scout around the car and check the lights. Noticed the o/s front sidelight is out and suspected the o/s rear sidelight was also out, but after a couple of minutes blindly fishing around I figured maybe there's only one sidelight on that side. Are both sides the same? If so, given front and back are out, should I be looking for a fuse rather than changing (the rather awkward) front and rear bulbs? Thanks!

It's likely the mechanism is either siezing or stuck. There can be other causes, but I'd rule this out first. It was certainly the cause on my galaxy. Another way you can diagnose problems is to use the logging feature in vcds, you log the data you're interested in, plot on a graph and depending on the curves you can get an idea what the cause is. I'd post the graph I got from VCDS but I can't seem to upload it.

Just remembered, the allen key bolts that are used for the wishbone to hub, should these have threadlock on them? I could see blue threadlock on them when I removed them. Which is probably why it was so difficult separating said wishbone from hub, thinking about it!

Sparky, you're right, no big washer. familyman, the big washer comes with the bolt and is pre-fitted. The dealer one looks identical to the one you've taken off. Just did the abs ring on my gal today so had to put a new bolt on. I got mine from VW as I ordered the parts to retro fit a load cover.

Spline IIRC. I got a Sealey AK219 from amazon and it seems to cover most things (though haven't needed to remove any seats yet!).

well, job done. Not much fun, though probably to be expected working with 13 years of corrosion! Anyway got the hub separated from the wishbone eventually and now everything is back together. And it seems to work!

Just doing this on mine now, should the driveshaft be supported once I get it out of the hub? Also is it easier if I turn the wheel to full right lock (changing driver's side). Thanks!

what's on the VIN plate? I replied to your post in the Mk II forum