Hi All

[asp383]

hi everyone,

 

i'm currently running a '98/r plate galaxy 1.9tdi in green,with 125k on the clock. it's affectionately known as the slug ... more for it's colour & the fact that my roadside patrol van accelorates quicker when towing a car ... not because of any slime it leaves in it's trail.

 

previously, i was running a '97/n plate 2.0 sharan.

 

overall, i'm quite happy with the models, they've been quite reliable & offered plenty of room for the family. despite the low (for age) mileage, the galaxy has had a hard life, as it belonged to a bishop & was used as a pool car amongst the congregation when they needed a bigger car or theirs was in the garage, despite this, mot time, it's flown through, with only service parts requiring attention 2010: track rods & suspension bushes. 2011: rear fog light (broken wire). 2012: n/s/f wheel bearing, wiper blades, 2x tyres. more recently, it's had a service, 4x glow plugs & battery. i'm currently having an issue, but looks like it's related to the maf sensor.

 

i'm a qualified mechanic, been in the industry for 20 years, i spent my apprenticeship working for a motorsport specialist, mainly in the engine shop building anything from stock mini up to ex-f1 engines, although the main bulk of the work was the company's own 16v twin cam cylininder head conversuion for the pinto (we were effectively in direct competition with cosworth, but where all cosworths are turbo, all warrior engines are n/a), i'd also work in the race shop building race cars for all different classes & formula, when the boss decided to sell up & emmigrate, i left & spent some time as an engineer for jcb. since then, i've spent time working in accident & breakdown or plant, currently working as a roadside patrol for a certain nationwide breakdown organisation.

 

in my spare time, i've looked after a private rally team as their cheif mechanic & been involved in the building of their cars, while working for them, they won 2 national championships in 2001. i owned & ran my own drag racing team, where i carried out all the work myself, i also looked after my brother's  drag cars. i prefer to work on my own cars & very rarely let others do the work, as i know then it will be done right. since other commitments have pulled me away from motorsport, i'm slowly rebuilding my fishing kit after my last lot was stolen & i'm enjoying shooting my air rifles.

 

i'm very much an old school mechanic, i'd rather rebuild than just replace, i hate modern electronics on newer cars ... it's just more to go wrong & more expensive when it does ... in my personal opinion, you can't beat a carb & points dizzy for petrol, or std rotary pump with manual fuel shut off ... very little to go wrong & if it does, you can often bodge to get home. with modern stuff, if it's more than a wheel change, jump start or doesn't start on easy start, it's generally a recovery.

 

 

[gregers]

hi and welcome to the forum,have fun reading up on the problems with these cars,take a looskie in the faqs found in the technical section of the forum.