UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Well I'm currently doing the social shielding bit due to the Corona virus outbreak that is wreaking so much heartache all round the world. As a result, me trusty old Polo has been spending weeks parked up in the garage. What I have been doing to keep the battery topped up, is doing a reasonable run out every 2-3 weeks to get some charge in the battery and keep everything running free.

This morning I got about 200 yds before I heard a loud "Bang." I stopped, had a quick look under the car and lifted the bonnet, twigged the drivers side front had dropped. I checked under the arch and yup offside front spring was well and truly broken.

So it's new spring time. Now I'm thinking I could just replace the broken one, but it's probably a better idea to swap the front pair. Now as the car is approaching 10 years old, and is gong to be apart, would it be prudent to replace the front shockers at the same time?

It's obviously going to add a fair bit cost wise, but assume it's not a 10 minute job to replace the springs, so while it's in bits just do it. (Anyone done the fronts. How difficult is it, and how long does it typically take?)

Is it worth going 'all-in' and replacing the top mounts at the same time? They more be getting stiff and worn due to age/wear. I don't think they are that expensive?

Also what are folks views on genuine vs aftermarket. I had a quick squint and the originals are SACHS.

It looks like the front springs on my son's car have been replaced, but whoever did them only swapped one at a time, so the car has one recent genuine spring with all of the colour coded spots on and one plain black one. I would always replace anything like that in pairs.
Recently the car has been making a twanging noise when turning the steering, so it looks like one of the top mounts is going, so I've decided to replace both sides and both front shocks while I'm in there. The parts are coming from buycarparts.co.uk in Germany. They have TRW shocks which cross reference the part number on the car at around £30 each which is cheaper than the cheapest that Car Parts 4 Less or ECP have to offer and they are a better brand. I've also ordered a pair of SKF top mounts too.

I think that the worst part of the job will be separating the struts from the hub carrier, but I am hoping that as these have been apart fairly recently and I have the tool to spread the clamp it should go reasonably smoothly.

You should be able to get the part number from your original springs if you can get the colour code off them and the sticker on the shocks should still be visible with their part number too.

@wolfie, well that is bad luck/timing, that is normally the way these go!

Wife's 2002 VW Polo 1.4 16v 75PS, did that to us as I reversed it out of the garage on New Years Day to go to a concert - it was maybe just over 6 years at the time, offside snapped at mid point so the car ended up so low that when I tried reversing it up my driveway, it collected the gravel under the front skirt! That one made quite noise breaking!
Older daughter's late 2009 Ibiza 1.4 16V 86PS, did that when I was looking after it and driving to the airport for a week away in Italy, that one was not broken too badly just the top half coil, so all that happened was that there was a small noise like a spanner etc moving around under the bonnet then no noise, I did a U turn as soon as possible and parked as near the point in the road where this happened, got out and found the top half coil - and continued on our way to park at the airport.

In both cases I replaced the springs on both sides using Sachs re-branded springs from ECP and all other incidental parts from VW.

In the case of the Ibiza, as there were rumours going around that when you removed a "suspension leg" and refitted it too often the top seal on the damper started leaking, that Ibiza was maybe 8 years old and was our 3rd car while my older daughter was working abroad, so as I had plenty time to work on it and didn't fancy repeating that job again soon as daughter was returning to work in UK, I replaced the lot, so springs - Sachs rebranded by/for ECP + dampers Sachs ECP top mountings and top bearings probably from ECP, and all necessary bolts and nuts from VW or maybe SEAT, probably from VW.

Doing the job for the first time it can be a bit of a faff as you need a large socket for the offside hub nut, a big spline bit for the strut<>hub carrier clamping bolt and a hub "opening tool" to ease open the clamped area enough to get the strut out of. A drive through socket set is handy for getting the strut top nut off though if you have an older largish size of spark plug with a hex top, then it can be used instead - I did it that way first time. The offside requires you to disconnect the lower swivel and so drive shaft to let the suspension drop down far enough, this is not needed for the nearside as there is enough room.

There is a Haynes manual that covers this job on that car if you need support and torque figures.

Edit:- very carefully and clearly mark the original position of the 3 bolts that secure the lower swivel to the lower swing arm so that you do not disturb the 4 wheel alignment too much other wise that is another job that you will need to pay to get corrected.

SimonPoole wrote: Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:07 pm It looks like the front springs on my son's car have been replaced, but whoever did them only swapped one at a time, so the car has one recent genuine spring with all of the colour coded spots on and one plain black one. I would always replace anything like that in pairs.
Recently the car has been making a twanging noise when turning the steering, so it looks like one of the top mounts is going, so I've decided to replace both sides and both front shocks while I'm in there. The parts are coming from buycarparts.co.uk in Germany. They have TRW shocks which cross reference the part number on the car at around £30 each which is cheaper than the cheapest that Car Parts 4 Less or ECP have to offer and they are a better brand. I've also ordered a pair of SKF top mounts too.

I think that the worst part of the job will be separating the struts from the hub carrier, but I am hoping that as these have been apart fairly recently and I have the tool to spread the clamp it should go reasonably smoothly.

You should be able to get the part number from your original springs if you can get the colour code off them and the sticker on the shocks should still be visible with their part number too.

I've only ever had a Polo with the older design of top mount and top bearing ended up twanging, it was my wife's previous Pol a 2002 car that I had replaced both springs and top bearings on 7 years earlier, these later Polos have a different design of top mounting and top bearing.

Anyone working on an older car should make sure that they are buying the later revised top bearing and its threaded retainer and maybe thrust plate if it has one I've forgotten, as VW Group did revise these parts, maybe even retro fitting them to some earlier cars if the owners complained about a slight knocking.

RUM4MO wrote: Sat Jul 11, 2020 3:13 pm @wolfie, well that is bad luck/timing, that is normally the way these go!

Wife's 2002 VW Polo 1.4 16v 75PS, did that too us as I reversed it out of the garage on New Years Day to go to a concert - it was maybe just over 6 years at the time, offside snapped at mid point so the car ended up so low that when I tried reversing it up my driveway, it collected the gravel under the front skirt! That one made quite noise breaking!
Older daughter's late 2009 Ibiza 1.4 16V 86PS, did that when I was looking after it and driving to the airport for a week away in Italy, that one was not broken too badly just the top half coil, so all that happened was that there was a small noise like a spanner etc moving around under the bonnet then no noise, I did a U turn as soon as possible and parked as near the point in the road where this happened, got out and found the top half coil - and continued on our way to park at the airport.

In both cases I replaced the springs on both sides using Sachs re-branded springs from ECP and all other incidental parts from VW.

In the case of the Ibiza, as there were rumours going around that when you removed a "suspension leg" and refitted it too often the top seal on the damper started leaking, that Ibiza was maybe 8 years old and was our 3rd car while my older daughter was working abroad, so as I had plenty time to work on it and didn't fancy repeating that job again soon as daughter was returning to work in UK, I replaced the lot, so springs - Sachs rebranded by/for ECP + dampers Sachs ECP top mountings and top bearings probably from ECP, and all necessary bolts and nuts from VW or maybe SEAT, probably from VW.

Doing the job for the first time it can be a bit of a faff as you need a large socket for the offside hub nut, a big spline bit for the strut<>hub carrier clamping bolt and a hub "opening tool" to ease open the clamped area enough to get the strut out of. A drive through socket set is handy for getting the strut top nut off though if you have an older largish size of spark plug with a hex top, then it can be used instead - I did it that way first time. The offside requires you to disconnect the lower swivel and so drive shaft to let the suspension drop down far enough, this is not needed for the nearside as there is enough room.

There is a Haynes manual that covers this job on that car if you need support and torque figures.

Edit:- very carefully and clearly mark the original position of the 3 bolts that secure the lower swivel to the lower swing arm so that you do not disturb the 4 wheel alignment too much other wise that is another job that you will need to pay to get corrected.

I guess it's not too bad, this is only the 3rd spring I've had go in 4 decades of driving. First on a Mk3 golf that destroyed the top mount completely. Second on my previous Polo. That one failed one morning as I backed out of the garage and did no other damage as car wasn't really moving as such. Don't know if it was coincidence or not but that was a similar age to my current Polo when that failed, I just got the front springs swapped as a pair on that one.

Not had a look around this one, though it did grind a little bit as I applied enough lock to swing back into the drive. From the quick peek I've had, it looks like a clean break. (though obviously you van't be 100% without having it all in bits)

With having the heart problems I'm just trying to weigh-up whether it's the sort of job I can tackle myself or just find a garage to do it. Being somewhat of a control freak I like to do stuff myself where possible. I've spoken to a mate and he can sort me out with a spring compressor. I'm sure I did have a large socket for the hub-nut, but sods-law, it's not where I thought I'd stashed it. I've just had a quick google and the VW 3424 splitting tool can be picked up for under a tenner, so not so bad. Not looked for an appropriate open socket for the top mount yet. I can also get my hands on an impact drill, should I need one.

I hear what you say about marking the mounting position for the bottom swivel. I do that sort of thing anyway, but it's good to have a reminder.

I've just had a look on ECP for spring prices and they only list SACHS anyway. They are circa £68 a pair. (Though the part description and detail is typically vague "Spring front")

SimonPoole wrote: Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:07 pm You should be able to get the part number from your original springs if you can get the colour code off them and the sticker on the shocks should still be visible with their part number too.

Cheers. I've not had anything in bits yet so not sussed out any part numbers directly from the car. I'll possibly take a look in the morning. Good shout on the Haynes manual. It's doesn't actually cover the 1.2tsi, but much of the running gear, etc is the same across the range, so will probably get one.

wolfie,

I'm pretty sure I've seen at least one quite useful video on replacing front dampers and springs on Polos and Golfs on YouTube. Did you think of that? Given that you've an ongoing medical issue these days (join the club!), it might help you decide whether to do the job yourself or instead to hand it to a competent, experienced car mechanic.

I think that if you have done this job on the previous, ie 9N version of Polo, then working on this version of Polo will be slightly easier, easier to remove from the car top mounting and bigger bolts fixing the lower swivels and track rod ends, so less nonsense with rounding off seized nuts.

My first experience of doing this work on a VW was early January, and buying "specialist" tools locally was not easy and working in a garage in winter to tight deadlines as I was working and my wife ended u using my car was horrible - repeating that task with no deadlines in late May/early June did not fill me with dread at all.

veteran wrote: Sat Jul 11, 2020 8:35 pm wolfie,
I'm pretty sure I've seen at least one quite useful video on replacing front dampers and springs on Polos and Golfs on YouTube. Did you think of that? Given that you've an ongoing medical issue these days (join the club!), it might help you decide whether to do the job yourself or instead to hand it to a competent, experienced car mechanic.

I did have a little look last evening, though it was a just a quick flick through rather than a serious look for a "how-to." (if I find any decent videos, I'll stick the links up just in case anyone else need to walk the same path) Plus as mentioned above I'll download a Haynes manual. Even if I don't end up doing the work it's always handy to have one at hand just for information on torque settings, etc. As you say, I will spend some time weighing-up the job as a whole. How difficult it's likely to be, potential cost of me doing it versus getting it done and what tools I'll need to beg borrow or steal to get it done.

RUM4MO wrote: Sat Jul 11, 2020 9:31 pm I think that if you have done this job on the previous, ie 9N version of Polo, then working on this version of Polo will be slightly easier, easier to remove from the car top mounting and bigger bolts fixing the lower swivels and track rod ends, so less nonsense with rounding off seized nuts.

My first experience of doing this work on a VW was early January, and buying "specialist" tools locally was not easy and working in a garage in winter to tight deadlines as I was working and my wife ended u using my car was horrible - repeating that task with no deadlines in late May/early June did not fill me with dread at all.

I have done one in the past on my 9N, but that was way back. (15 years or more, at a guess) Tool wise the two jump out tools I'm missing are the V3424 suspension hub spreading tool and a large 36mm, 12 point socket for the hub nut. I have a reasonable DIY tool-set, though not huge. I'll try and make sure I have all the required socket sizes to hand before I dive-in. The other one that's just come to mind is the hollow socket for the strut mount, definitely not got anything close to that.

On the plus side as you say it's summer and there is no rush, likewise because of the lock-down and shielding car is barely being used at the moment so it's doesn't really matter if it takes me days rather than hours. I consider myself reasonably competent, and as you say there is nothing there that looks beyond what I've happily done in the past. Where I may come unstuck is if I need to maul with any heavy parts, it's just not good for my ole ticker. I "tinker" no problem, but anything heavy is just beyond me now.

I'm going to spend some time later today checking part numbers where I can and getting some prices; possibly ordering up the odd tool or two. Then come Monday I will have a ring round and get some all-in prices for the work. I'm guessing and it is literally a finger in the air at the moment that I can get the parts for around £250 ish (that's shockers, springs, mounts X2) I have no idea how may hours a garage would book it at, maybe north of £400 all fitted?

Sorry but I can't help you guessimate a price for a garage to do that job.

If I had/have a need to buy car springs with no time restraints, I'd always try to source Lesjofors springs as they basically only have that as their main manufacturing activity, GSF used to sell them, obviously there will be other online sellers as well, if you look on the link below.

https://www.lesjofors-automotive.com/au ... prings.asp

wolfie,

It was some while ago that I myself was looking at YouTube videos on this matter, and I don't recall seeing any need to take off the hub nut and pull the whole carrier outward, though I do remember that, on the driver's side, something on the carrier was baulking extraction of the strut assembly and had specifically to be released. I think this was required only on certain models of Polo, though. That releasing may have been something as simple as taking out the bolts or nuts of the bottom swivel joint (but don't quote me on that!). I think if you can find the right YouTube video all will be revealed.

On the matter of tools for the job, there are some all-in-one kits on sale on the Web. For example, Laser Tools do product no. 7673, a 24-piece "Shock Absorber & MacPherson Strut Tool Kit". This includes a go-thru' ratchet wrench for the top turret fixing, extension bars, adaptors, and several hex shank bits. I believe the kit includes a 17mm socket specifically for use on VWs and Audis. Not sure of the hub nut size on Polos but the kit has some pretty big, long-tubed socket-pieces, up to 24mm. However, I don't think any of them are 12-point socket-pieces. All the usual Laser quality but the kit is quite expensive, though of course it'll tend to be cheaper on Amazon or eBay (about £120, I think). Unfortunately, it doesn't include the hub spreader you'd need, but Laser do a 2-sizes spreader, Laser no. 3396, which you can get for about £12 on Amazon, or maybe even less. If you need to economise, then I think you could fashion a spreader from a short, wide-bladed screwdriver (it helping, if you have access to a grinder wheel). The spreader needs to be short because of the in-situ restricted access but tough enough that it can accept blows from a hammer if the strut is rusted in (perhaps use some Plusgas or other fluid before doing). I think the Laser spreader incorporates an attachment, so that once you've got the spreader into the slot you can, as an option, apply a turning force with a small wrench, to open up the slot. This may help prevent damage to the damper tube for the situation where you might wish to re-use the damper.

I'd think in doing the job yourself the main health risk you'd run would be the physical effort required to manhandle both the lower suspension arm and then a bit later the entire strut, once they're released from their respective fixings. It bears some thinking about. Perhaps even more important would be the mental stress you'd endure when doing this job, which could increase your blood pressure. I myself am having to review my car DIY ventures from hereon in, as I now suffer from extremely painful and crippling spinal osteoarthritis.

Addendum: On a more general note, I'm quite shocked at the frequency at which Polo springs break. Various people on this website have reported such occurrences. Surely, in trading law this suggests that the OEM springs used on Polos are "not fit for purpose"? Indeed, I'd say they're a potential death-trap. Okay, I wouldn't expect a hard-working component like a suspension spring to necessarily last for ever but, in stark contrast, all four springs of my former Mk3 Golf GL lasted for 24 years-plus, the only issue with them after that time being that the driver's-side front spring had compressed a little. Maybe the new adjustable dampers I had fitted to the Golf from the outset made a lot of difference to their longevity. It seems that VW likes installing soft, bouncy springs on their vehicles, and I'd contend that this must increase the probability of them breaking, especially these days with so many speedhumps to negotiate in urban settings. With my old Golf, I found that a combination of heavy-duty adjustable Konis and the original springs made for a good marriage, getting rid of excessive bounce as well tightening up the steering. I of course made it known to my insurers, who left my premium unchanged.

@veteran

I've managed to find a Hub spreader and 36mm, 12 point on Ebay. £18ish for the two. (Yeah, the 36mm may not be necessary, it does seem you can cheat it by simply loosening bottom ball-joint bolt and persuading it ) Reason for picking up one is 50/50. 1. I did have one and cannot for the life of me find it at the moment. 2. I think for a few quid, it prudent to have one at hand just in case.

I've seen the top mount kits similar to the laser one. I think the cheapest is around the £40 mark. Ok, if it's something that will get some use, but for me it would be a one-off. Once I suss what the nut size is I'll see if I can find an appropriate socket. I've read somewhere some spark plug sockets have a through hole which does the job.

I've just been looking at Haynes manuals. They are on offer at the moment £14.99 for the online version. I thought that sounds reasonable until you notice it's only a 1 year subscription. Bit cheeky that in my book. Paper back is a little more expensive but at least you get to keep it.

Yeah health wise it might well be a challenge. I've started many a diy job only to need a day or so off to recharge. That said there is no real rush, so within reason that shouldn't matter too much. If it takes a week to do, then so be it. Stress wise if it all goes to plan, things will be OK. With the heart failure it's a bit of a balancing act between doing what you can, and not overdoing it. I don't always get it right and end up feeling like rubbish for a few days. But I think it does you good mentally to still do stuff.

You may have been wiser to have spent the Haynes money on an EasyManual (check out their website). The latter consists of a library of PDFs of VW step-by-step workshop maintenance/repair procedures, with sketches/drawings for various jobs, according to model. You register with EasyManuals, do the transaction, and then you download the collection of PDFs. Takes only a short while to do. For the Polo, years covered are 2010 - 2017. And there's now an additional edition for the Polo purchaseable that gives the post-2017 updates.

Unless your car has chopped front springs, you will need to remove the RHS drive shaft from the hub, no ifs or buts about that, remember that the 12 pointed nut needs replacing, ie you should never reuse it - bandit garages tend to reuse them but the locking element can/should snap off when you remove that nut - if the locking element does not break off then it will have been weakened.

Like a lot in life, most of these DIYer, Garage and Component maker's youtube videos are as basic as it gets, typically only working on the "easy side" in cases like this.

Some people have used a modified screwdriver bit instead of the hub splitter I managed to get one side off that way but what a time wasting annoying substitute tool any thing that I could find was, using the correct hub splitter makes this job so much easier - trust me.

The spark plug socket that is needed to get the piston top nut off, is the older bigger size, ie what used to be the "standard size" maybe 20 years ago for most cars, lots of them had an external hex pattern cast into the upper end so you used it, in this job, with a spanner while passing a suitable Allen key down through it.

veteran wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 2:34 pm You may have been wiser to have spent the Haynes money on an EasyManual (check out their website). The latter consists of a library of PDFs of VW step-by-step workshop maintenance/repair procedures, with sketches/drawings for various jobs, according to model. You register with EasyManuals, do the transaction, and then you download the collection of PDFs. Takes only a short while to do. For the Polo, years covered are 2010 - 2017. And there's now an additional edition for the Polo purchaseable that gives the post-2017 updates.

I'm already there with the EasyManual. Great for factory information, but not quite so good at pointing out some of the shortcuts/cheats a DIY mechanic might need to use when not having a full factory set of tools at hand.

RUM4MO wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 4:31 pm Unless your car has chopped front springs, you will need to remove the RHS drive shaft from the hub, no ifs or buts about that, remember that the 12 pointed nut needs replacing, ie you should never reuse it - bandit garages tend to reuse them but the locking element can/should snap off when you remove that nut - if the locking element does not break off then it will have been weakened.

Like a lot in life, most of these DIYer, Garage and Component maker's youtube videos are as basic as it gets, typically only working on the "easy side" in cases like this.

Some people have used a modified screwdriver bit instead of the hub splitter I managed to get one side off that way but what a time wasting annoying substitute tool any thing that I could find was, using the correct hub splitter makes this job so much easier - trust me.

The spark plug socket that is needed to get the piston top nut off, is the older bigger size, ie what used to be the "standard size" maybe 20 years ago for most cars, lots of them had an external hex pattern cast into the upper end so you used it, in this job, with a spanner while passing a suitable Allen key down through it.

Not spent a huge amount of time looking but found this chappie changing a set of shocks on a Mk 5, Polo. He's managed to do both sides without removing the hubs nuts, just the lower ball joint bolts on the drivers side. What he doesn't show you is how much of a fight the car put up to do it that way, or how brutal he had to be to get it done.

https://youtu.be/zVDoLsvBoxc

This second video is a little more orthodox and make it look easier than it really is if your doing it in your own driveway/garage.

https://youtu.be/w3__EErXlJg

Re the old style spark plug socket, not sure but think I have a couple buried somewhere so it's either that or buy a cheap set of deep ring spanners. We''ll see what tomorrow brings when I have some garage prices to compare.