77 golf beginning to worry me

[BJIH_86]

I am an 18 yr old from brisbane australia, i have picked up little automotive nouse thru a school tafe course and tinkering with our family's old leyland mini moke.

I have had my 77 golf for about 10 months now...

i bought it in a private sale... the vendor claimed the engine had been 'reconditioned'

weeks later it all came clear

the brakes began to fail, near misses and lucky gaps at traffic lights!!!
the engine took years to warm up
engine stalled every time i wanted to move off from a stop
battery was drained by the alternator (wiring fault -earth wrong?)

the car was taken to our local mechanic who has serviced our family cars for some time.

having explained the problems with the car it was hoped that the car would come back operational.

the brakes were fixed... a very good job
the mechanics did something wrong with the battery after hving charged it, they started to smell smoke! dashboard wiring gone...

a the carb was looked at and fiddled with etc. to fix the jerky/jumpiness of the car

after having the same problem with the jerky take offs and stalls i took the car back ...replaced carby with spare...
same problem...

i checked it out after having looked thru the TEXTBOOK of my auto course to find that these numbnuts have not connected the accelerator pump...

anyway after all the hassle with these mechanics, misdiagnoses, their lack of confidence in explaining the problem thinking i was some incompetent 17 year old with an old car that they could possibly milk..

oh well they didnt get their fees...

...a new battery...

well we found the power problem to be the cylinder head, oil in the radiator water...

the cylinder head was taken off. ..a small crack in no. 3 was letting this happen... the machinist took the head and did an incredible job... to find that the guy that 'reconditioned' the head, ground tips of the valves too far and incorrectly fitted the guides etc... humph.

about 2 months after the head was off... she's back on again... a nice mobile mechanic provided me a little assitance in this task... a good job... but soon i began to realise that driving this thing felt as though you were driving against a brick wall! the timing was retarded, he missed the timing by about 17 degrees(5 notches)..ouch... a another mobile mechanic with about 30 yrs more experience corrected that problem... after i had the carburettor reconditoned (another good job there).

the back taillights werent working one night as i headed off for a long drive, leading to the realisation that the winshield wiper motor had blown and had melted out the fuse box...!

despite all these problems and corrections the car still...

reaches 150km/h (not as easily as it has previously)

chews up a little more fuel than desired

takes a while to warm up (even after i have replaced the thermostat)

cannot reverse back up our driveway when cold (moves jerks and stalls)

has a weird grumble sound in the engine area when changing up, especially from 3rd to 2nd.

the gear shift is stiff... to get first nowadays you have to push down and head toward reverse and find the gap between where first should be, and reverse... instead of just straight up the side wall of the 'gate'

also my oil pressure sometimes sits at around 15 psi... which it hasnt been before. (the rings need replacing?oil pump?filter?)



i have reason to believe that maybe:

the clutch is close to dying?

the bottom end needs an overhaul
the head job has put to much pressure on the bottom end (bearings etc.) (grumbling?)

(the rings need replacing?oil pump?filter?)


the car runs well when hot but these issues are beginning to worry me... as i am frequently doing somewhat long trips (200km) at least once a fortnight...

i am extremely confused over the issue and after all the crap and confusion i have already been through i would really like some answers..

if there is any one who could provide me with some assistance , it would be greatly appreciated ..

thanks...

BJ

[KC Ron Carter]

Lots of issues.

On the backing in the driveway, if it is on an incline the fuel level in the carburetor is most likely high enough to splash over. That is one reason fuel injection was invented.

On the engine temperature, some of the in car indicators are suspect.
Get a external laser point remote temperature indicator to verify the temperature.

On the oil pressure, the missing oil pressure is a BIG deal and needs to be check FIRST. You need to check it with a mechanical gauge.

Correct this oil pressure issue or the rest of the problems will go away with the car.

Later,

[BJIH_86]

in backing in the driveway (inclined), it only occurs when the engine is 'cold' (the normal outside temp is about 20-36c (70-100F) all year round.)

does this affect the diagnosis?


BJ

[BJIH_86]

also, i have recently bought an electrical oil pressure guage, (bulb on engine with wire to dashboard guage) is this a problem, are they accurate.?

is the grumbling im hearing when changing into lower gears have anything to do with the pressure problem? (bearings) ...im not familiar with all the sounds.

BJ

[MagicRat]

A few things:
The faster your engine spins the more oil is pumped by the oil pump. They have a pressure relief valve so they will develop no more than 35 to 45 psi.
However, it is common for an engine to be warmed up and the pressure drops down low to 15 or so at idle. This means the engine has high miles on it, but is not abnormal.
I would suggest change the engine oil and use a heavier grade. Try 10W-40 or 15W40.

Lots of new cars use a thinner oil like 5w30, so the mechanic might have put that in your car in error. A thin oil will build less oil pressure than a thicker oil.
Also, engine oils thin out as they get more miles on the car. Change yours every 3000 km or so. This will help keep the pressure up.

The noise when you downshift is likely from your transmission, and has nothing to do with your engine oil pressure.
As you shift into a lower gear the synchroniser rings in the trans must work to match the speed of the input and output shafts in the transmission. They are likely getting worn out, and require a full trans rebuild to fix.
However, you can get many many more miles out of the trans by making them last longer by double clutching your downshifts.

When you want to downshift, you push down on the clutch, shift into neutral, release the clutch, give the throttle a little poke to get the revs up, push down on the clutch and slide it into the lower gear.

Ideally you want to poke the revs up to the same RPM that the engine will have after you downshift.

Once you practice a bit, it will become second nature to you. People used to double clutch all the time with older cars and most big trucks still need this technique.