any instructions on sevicin (water and oil change)
like: amounts
were to find plugs
bleading system
its a gt by the way
please please help mainly oil water amounts
chears calvin
please help service
Note: All from memory, might be slightly inaccurate.
Oil: Get engine warm (not blazing hot, halfway up the guage is fine) and turn off. Take oil filler cap off (on the rocker cover) to stop it air-locking. Look under the front of the car (lie down on the ground) you'll see a hexagon-headed "bolt" in the front of the sump, that's the drain plug. Crack it off and stick something under for the oil to drain into (a Roses tin's fine).
Leave to drain for 10-20 mins (until there's only the slightest drop coming out).
With the bonnet open, looking from the front, look down the right hand side of the engine, you'll see the oil filter. Whack an old screwdriver through it with a hammer and use that as a lever to undo the filter.
Put a bit of fresh oil round the rubber seal on the new filter (a drop on the end of your finger will work well) and screw it on.
Replace sump plug (I tend to use a new plug and washer, costs about 70p, makes the job easier next time).
Put 3.5 litres of oil (can't remember grade for polo off-hand) in. Use a funnel, go slow, and watch for it air locking and backing up. Replace filler cap. Run engine for a couple of mins and check level on dipstick.
Will do a how-to for coolant later if I get time.
Oil: Get engine warm (not blazing hot, halfway up the guage is fine) and turn off. Take oil filler cap off (on the rocker cover) to stop it air-locking. Look under the front of the car (lie down on the ground) you'll see a hexagon-headed "bolt" in the front of the sump, that's the drain plug. Crack it off and stick something under for the oil to drain into (a Roses tin's fine).
Leave to drain for 10-20 mins (until there's only the slightest drop coming out).
With the bonnet open, looking from the front, look down the right hand side of the engine, you'll see the oil filter. Whack an old screwdriver through it with a hammer and use that as a lever to undo the filter.
Put a bit of fresh oil round the rubber seal on the new filter (a drop on the end of your finger will work well) and screw it on.
Replace sump plug (I tend to use a new plug and washer, costs about 70p, makes the job easier next time).
Put 3.5 litres of oil (can't remember grade for polo off-hand) in. Use a funnel, go slow, and watch for it air locking and backing up. Replace filler cap. Run engine for a couple of mins and check level on dipstick.
Will do a how-to for coolant later if I get time.
When changing the oil, it's a good idea after you have replaced the oil to crank the engine over with the hall sender unplugged (so it doesn't fire up) until the oil light goes out.
This ensures the new oil has circulated the engine properly and filled the filter so there will be immediate oil pressure when it's fired up and the engine is under load.
This ensures the new oil has circulated the engine properly and filled the filter so there will be immediate oil pressure when it's fired up and the engine is under load.
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Sorry about the length (as always!)
Oil will be probably less than that - as you're unlikely to get all of it out without either using engine flush, or leaving the sump bolt out overnight (with a custom mechanism turning the engine over ever so slowly to ease out the remnants). 3.5 is the fill amount from completely empty, such as mine was before putting it back together ... seemed to take about that much when i did, between initial fill and topups as it circulated and depleted the sump.
Put about 2.5 - 3.0 litres in to start with, wait a few minutes and check-wipe-recheck the dipstick, and top up gradually with a couple more checks til it's at a happy level (make sure you have at least 3.5 on hand though, in case i'm wrong / to cover spillages etc). Check it again the next day to see if its settled to a level above max/below min.
Putting too much oil in can damage the cat (or whats left of it after all these years!) and cause overpressure problems elsewhere.
The coolant amount is about accurate - i seem to remember it swallowing endless amounts of antifreeze and distilled water for such a small hole and expansion ball (of course, it all goes elsewhere in the engine). You'll be able to get perhaps 3 or 4 litres in (make it a good mix of both fluids) at first, if the radiator and heating system have been emptied, and then the rest of that 5.5 whilst bleeding it, and heating it up so the radiator flow is established.
(again it might be slightly less - i seem to have ended up with about 1/3 of a litre bottle each of the two liquids from when i changed the thermostat - but all that and more went back in after the rebuild ... i saved as much of the drained stuff as i could (as it was only about a month old) in a sealed bucket and put it back in ... but it still needed a heck of a topup because of spills etc)
Was starting a method on doing the oil but i think what Omicron and Logik have said does it far better
I will note that
1. ensure your catch tray/container is big enough, at least a 3 litre capacity, with no leaks and a wide top! And leave it or some other ground protector in place when you take the filter off, unless you really dont care about the place where the car's sitting. It will likely leak some old oil itself, and getting that stuff off a stone driveway is a complete pain in the ass. It can also damage asphalt/tarmac...
2. You won't always have to whack a screwdriver (or in one extreme case for me, a chisel) through the filter to lever it round the first quarter turn. If your garage/previous owner has been decent, they'll have done it up to a level of tightness that means it seals well and won't come off by itself, but isn't quite enough to stop you grunting it off by hand, or with a fabric belt done up tight.
Oh and remember the gloves! If the oil hasnt been changed for a while it'll be thick, black, mutant ooze that has nasty carcinogenic properties. You don't want basal cell melanoma, trust me. Plus it makes cleaning up a lot easier even if it comes out golden.
Coolant.............. ok.....
First up, old clothes and gloves are a must once again. Goggles too if you're paranoid. Always do it with a COLD engine.
Get a bucket or other catching device - a roses tin will not be big enough! Wide and low is better than tall and narrow, but it must hold at least 6 litres without being a spill hazard. You could get away with a 4.5L (one gallon) job, by tipping the stuff you've collected halfway into another container, but better not to risk mishap. Best if it (and the second one, if you use it) have sealing lids or some other way to stop curious kids 'n' animals having a drink (it smells sweet but is deadly poisonous). Or insects, if you plan on reusing it somehow.
Plonk this under the thermostat & radiator area. Carefully loosen the cap on the expansion tank (the big, yellowing plastic ball) and remove. Set the heater controls on the dashboard to HOT.
Now, if your hose clips haven't been changed to jubilees but are still the awful VW originals (perfectly circular and grip tightly, so good from an engineering POV, but not user friendly in the slightest) you'll need mole grips or other heavy duty, wide mouthed, ratcheting pliers type object. You need to slacken off the clips on the radiator hoses (at the radiator end) and move them towards the middle of the pipe, away from the joint. There's a lot more to it than that, and probably some pain involved, but it's fairly self explanatory when you look at them. Be prepared for annoyance. (if they're jubilees, just turn the screw to loosen them
)
Now you can disconnect the hoses and point them into the bucket. I can't remember the "proper" order for these, it's probably in the haynes (or someone can correct me), but from splashy experience i'd go for the bottom hose first. You can get the radiator and some of the system drained at the same time that way, and it avoids stuff dribbling down from the top of the radiator (and having to immediately try aiming the top hose down thru wires and stuff). Take a firm grip on it, try squeezing the middle to slow down the initial flow, and work it off the joint. It may need a bit of rotation and tugging to break any long-standing corrosion seal thats built up, but after that shouldn't be too difficult to pull out. Point it in the bucket, move things around if the flow from the radiator is missing it, and let it drain down for a while. Should be quite quick and produce a fair bit of fluid. Repeat with the top radiator hose (shouldn't be much, or anything, as it drains into the radiator after all).
I think that's it for the drainage... may well have got those two hoses back to front so i invite corrections!
Refilling - re-fit and re-clip the hoses back on the radiator. Remove the plastic water guard from the scuttle tray at the back of the engine bay (the little firewalled shelf that holds the battery, ECU, fuses, wiper motor etc). There will be a black plastic construction in the middle that looks like a turbine from the left of the car. Near that there will be a white plastic wingnut sticking out of the top of another black part. It should come off by hand, though might be a little stiff. Unscrew it until you can see a small hole in one side of the thread.
Proceed to pour maybe a half litre of distilled water (aka "de-ionised" or "battery top-up" water ... about a quid to £1.50 a bottle at halfords, GSF, or any petrol station) and antifreeze coolant alternately into the centre hole of the expansion tank. Stop when it no longer drains down. Give all the reachable large-diameter coolant hoses (most of the break off the thermostat and main pipe, follow them all out from the expansion tank and radiator) a good squeeze and massage, note - hopefully - wet bubbles coming out of the bleed screw and expansion tank. The level of coolant in the tank should go down, keep topping it up until the massaging stops having an effect and only fluid, no bubbles, comes out of the bleed screw.
Start the engine and let it idle to warm up. Keep checking the dash to make sure the temperature isnt rocketing dangerously high, and - keeping out of the way of the fan blades - continue to massage the pipes & top up where neccessary, until they're too hot to touch (get some decent winter/driving/cook's gloves - not plastic jobs - to help with that).
The fan should come on not soon after, and when it stops, turn the engine off. By this point the thermostat should have opened and coolant been pumped around the radiator, so more air might be flushed out. Keep checking the level and topping up if needed. When the pipes are cool enough give it a final squeezing session, and this time, after no more bubbles are seen, close the bleed screw tight and top up until you can see the level of coolant rest just below MAX on the external marks of the expansion tank. Allow the engine to fully cool and check again, as it will likely fall a ways and need a couple hundred milliltres more.
Replace the tank cap, start engine again, and watch the temperature guage more closely. See that it rises fairly slowly to the mid 90s, where the fan will come on and reduce it to the high 80s before turning off and carrying on in a cycle. Overheating or cooling relative to this indicates a fault or incomplete bleeding/filling.
The colour of your old coolant and the new stuff may be quite different, especially if the old stuff is truly ancient. If it's come from VW it will be a pink-purple colour (G11 as the car was originally filled, or G12 that is the current version), other sources e.g. generic coolant are more likely to be medium blue. Either way it's likely to be quite dark from age, and possibly taken on a bit of an angry red tone if it's been there long enough that the anti-rust additives have broken down. (if it shows this sign of rust contamination, take a peek in the emptied pipe to see if there's massive buildup ... this is what clogged my thermostat! might be worth checking that and the water pump out whilst the system is empty if there's a chance they're affected by this)
Oil will be probably less than that - as you're unlikely to get all of it out without either using engine flush, or leaving the sump bolt out overnight (with a custom mechanism turning the engine over ever so slowly to ease out the remnants). 3.5 is the fill amount from completely empty, such as mine was before putting it back together ... seemed to take about that much when i did, between initial fill and topups as it circulated and depleted the sump.
Put about 2.5 - 3.0 litres in to start with, wait a few minutes and check-wipe-recheck the dipstick, and top up gradually with a couple more checks til it's at a happy level (make sure you have at least 3.5 on hand though, in case i'm wrong / to cover spillages etc). Check it again the next day to see if its settled to a level above max/below min.
Putting too much oil in can damage the cat (or whats left of it after all these years!) and cause overpressure problems elsewhere.
The coolant amount is about accurate - i seem to remember it swallowing endless amounts of antifreeze and distilled water for such a small hole and expansion ball (of course, it all goes elsewhere in the engine). You'll be able to get perhaps 3 or 4 litres in (make it a good mix of both fluids) at first, if the radiator and heating system have been emptied, and then the rest of that 5.5 whilst bleeding it, and heating it up so the radiator flow is established.
(again it might be slightly less - i seem to have ended up with about 1/3 of a litre bottle each of the two liquids from when i changed the thermostat - but all that and more went back in after the rebuild ... i saved as much of the drained stuff as i could (as it was only about a month old) in a sealed bucket and put it back in ... but it still needed a heck of a topup because of spills etc)
Was starting a method on doing the oil but i think what Omicron and Logik have said does it far better
I will note that
1. ensure your catch tray/container is big enough, at least a 3 litre capacity, with no leaks and a wide top! And leave it or some other ground protector in place when you take the filter off, unless you really dont care about the place where the car's sitting. It will likely leak some old oil itself, and getting that stuff off a stone driveway is a complete pain in the ass. It can also damage asphalt/tarmac...
2. You won't always have to whack a screwdriver (or in one extreme case for me, a chisel) through the filter to lever it round the first quarter turn. If your garage/previous owner has been decent, they'll have done it up to a level of tightness that means it seals well and won't come off by itself, but isn't quite enough to stop you grunting it off by hand, or with a fabric belt done up tight.
Oh and remember the gloves! If the oil hasnt been changed for a while it'll be thick, black, mutant ooze that has nasty carcinogenic properties. You don't want basal cell melanoma, trust me. Plus it makes cleaning up a lot easier even if it comes out golden.
Coolant.............. ok.....
First up, old clothes and gloves are a must once again. Goggles too if you're paranoid. Always do it with a COLD engine.
Get a bucket or other catching device - a roses tin will not be big enough! Wide and low is better than tall and narrow, but it must hold at least 6 litres without being a spill hazard. You could get away with a 4.5L (one gallon) job, by tipping the stuff you've collected halfway into another container, but better not to risk mishap. Best if it (and the second one, if you use it) have sealing lids or some other way to stop curious kids 'n' animals having a drink (it smells sweet but is deadly poisonous). Or insects, if you plan on reusing it somehow.
Plonk this under the thermostat & radiator area. Carefully loosen the cap on the expansion tank (the big, yellowing plastic ball) and remove. Set the heater controls on the dashboard to HOT.
Now, if your hose clips haven't been changed to jubilees but are still the awful VW originals (perfectly circular and grip tightly, so good from an engineering POV, but not user friendly in the slightest) you'll need mole grips or other heavy duty, wide mouthed, ratcheting pliers type object. You need to slacken off the clips on the radiator hoses (at the radiator end) and move them towards the middle of the pipe, away from the joint. There's a lot more to it than that, and probably some pain involved, but it's fairly self explanatory when you look at them. Be prepared for annoyance. (if they're jubilees, just turn the screw to loosen them
)Now you can disconnect the hoses and point them into the bucket. I can't remember the "proper" order for these, it's probably in the haynes (or someone can correct me), but from splashy experience i'd go for the bottom hose first. You can get the radiator and some of the system drained at the same time that way, and it avoids stuff dribbling down from the top of the radiator (and having to immediately try aiming the top hose down thru wires and stuff). Take a firm grip on it, try squeezing the middle to slow down the initial flow, and work it off the joint. It may need a bit of rotation and tugging to break any long-standing corrosion seal thats built up, but after that shouldn't be too difficult to pull out. Point it in the bucket, move things around if the flow from the radiator is missing it, and let it drain down for a while. Should be quite quick and produce a fair bit of fluid. Repeat with the top radiator hose (shouldn't be much, or anything, as it drains into the radiator after all).
I think that's it for the drainage... may well have got those two hoses back to front so i invite corrections!
Refilling - re-fit and re-clip the hoses back on the radiator. Remove the plastic water guard from the scuttle tray at the back of the engine bay (the little firewalled shelf that holds the battery, ECU, fuses, wiper motor etc). There will be a black plastic construction in the middle that looks like a turbine from the left of the car. Near that there will be a white plastic wingnut sticking out of the top of another black part. It should come off by hand, though might be a little stiff. Unscrew it until you can see a small hole in one side of the thread.
Proceed to pour maybe a half litre of distilled water (aka "de-ionised" or "battery top-up" water ... about a quid to £1.50 a bottle at halfords, GSF, or any petrol station) and antifreeze coolant alternately into the centre hole of the expansion tank. Stop when it no longer drains down. Give all the reachable large-diameter coolant hoses (most of the break off the thermostat and main pipe, follow them all out from the expansion tank and radiator) a good squeeze and massage, note - hopefully - wet bubbles coming out of the bleed screw and expansion tank. The level of coolant in the tank should go down, keep topping it up until the massaging stops having an effect and only fluid, no bubbles, comes out of the bleed screw.
Start the engine and let it idle to warm up. Keep checking the dash to make sure the temperature isnt rocketing dangerously high, and - keeping out of the way of the fan blades - continue to massage the pipes & top up where neccessary, until they're too hot to touch (get some decent winter/driving/cook's gloves - not plastic jobs - to help with that).
The fan should come on not soon after, and when it stops, turn the engine off. By this point the thermostat should have opened and coolant been pumped around the radiator, so more air might be flushed out. Keep checking the level and topping up if needed. When the pipes are cool enough give it a final squeezing session, and this time, after no more bubbles are seen, close the bleed screw tight and top up until you can see the level of coolant rest just below MAX on the external marks of the expansion tank. Allow the engine to fully cool and check again, as it will likely fall a ways and need a couple hundred milliltres more.
Replace the tank cap, start engine again, and watch the temperature guage more closely. See that it rises fairly slowly to the mid 90s, where the fan will come on and reduce it to the high 80s before turning off and carrying on in a cycle. Overheating or cooling relative to this indicates a fault or incomplete bleeding/filling.
The colour of your old coolant and the new stuff may be quite different, especially if the old stuff is truly ancient. If it's come from VW it will be a pink-purple colour (G11 as the car was originally filled, or G12 that is the current version), other sources e.g. generic coolant are more likely to be medium blue. Either way it's likely to be quite dark from age, and possibly taken on a bit of an angry red tone if it's been there long enough that the anti-rust additives have broken down. (if it shows this sign of rust contamination, take a peek in the emptied pipe to see if there's massive buildup ... this is what clogged my thermostat! might be worth checking that and the water pump out whilst the system is empty if there's a chance they're affected by this)