My Tolly1.8T Sport Toy!!!!! - Sold

[S3 AKR]

Finally - got around to uploading my pics of the car following the fitting of the spacers (15mm rears and 10mm fronts) and the adjusting downward of the front ride height. Also my new second hand seats (from aaronipswich) which are in absolutely amazing condition.

 

[aaronipswich]

Looking great mate you will have to try pop along to one of the meets

 

[S3 AKR]

N249 Bypass Done and a Problem Solved ?

I've mentioned on here a few times that the car is hesitant under certain circumstances as I've not really got to the bottom of it before. Anyway, recently it got quite a bit worse so yesterday I decided enough was enough and set out to fix it. Mostly when cold, the engine has a flat hesitant spot at about 2300rpm, normally after lifting off and dropping back below 2300rpm then gently accelerating again.

I checked all vacuum hoses - no splits, no poor connections and nothing visible to speak of. I even dismantled the plate in the front of the engine under which a number of hoses disappear beneath the inlet manifold.

I dismantled the air hoses that form the breathers etc from the rocker cover and through all the valves and junctions (again under the mani) and cleaned all the gunk out of them. Some were completely blocked and they are now all nice and clean.

Reseated all of the secondary air intake hoses and ensured they were secure.

Found that the orange dipstick tube was cracked about 3/4" from the bottom. As I was looking at how back the crack was, I finished it off - it was that brittle it just snapped off in my hand. I've not been able to get a replacement this weekend so I have plugged it for now with another piece of plastic that is a pretty tight fit and has a wider top so it can't disappear any deeper into the tube or sump.

Satisfied that all was good, reseated all of the electrical connections and checked the looms to the injectors, the coil packs and any visible connections - all looks good and nothing obvious to report there.

Went for a run, and it was no better, so decided it was time to bypass the N249.


This took all of 10 mins to do - really simple and easy. Search the forum and you should find this guide for the AUQ N249 bypass

Work done, started the car in its instantly smoother on tickover. Took it for a short run (kids in car so had to be sensible) and I could not get it to miss a beat at all. Seems to pull smooth and cleanly and the engine is now running a lot more smoothly. Hopefully I've solved the issue and done a small mod all in the same process!!! Fingers crossed!

 

[S3 AKR]

Took it for a proper run today - seems to have resolved the flatspot. The car runs much smoother and pulls cleaner than it did before. Not a bad, cheap mod. I can't say that I noticed any additional performance, but it was running pretty poor before so I guess that maybe my car isn't the best benchmark for that question!

 

[S3 AKR]

Dipstick tube now replaced. Bit of a pig to do as the remaining pieces that were still attached were so brittle that you could not pull it off cleanly. Had to plug the hole with some cloth and then snap the remaining plastic away bit by bit which was just awkward to get at more than a difficult task in itself. The old tube had gone so brittle that it broke away very easily. New one (£3.50 from E-Bay and seems genuine OEM - has all the markings and the correct part numbers moulded in) fitted really easily after removing the cloth bung and the fragments it had caught. Nothing more complex than pushing it into place until it clicked.

 

[S3 AKR]

Bloody flat spot is back - getting a bit fed up with it now. Might have to throw in the towel and get it looked into by a proper mechanic!!! No ECU errors logged, no clues as to cause. Could it be the turbo ???? No idea so time for proper investigations from trained professionals.

 

[S3 AKR]

Not got around to the flatspot thing again yet, but have found another route that water is coming into the drivers side of the car and soaking the carpets - the good old leak from within the door. I did originally find a leak through the door frame seal along the sill but solved that.

Also considering lifting the ride height as the cross member hits anything and everything that sticks up even slightly and I can't help but thing its only a matter of time before the sump gets a whack. Thinking maybe fitting Eibach springs and the original shocks and get rid of the JOM's that I am finding to be a bit too bouncy on the straights for my tastes. As always with this car, I won't spend big money on setups as the car isn't worth much so no KW's for me!! Any suggestions on springs welcomed, but I used Eibacjh prolines on the Leon to good effect.

 

[S3 AKR]

Decided to raie the ride height a bit. Lifted the rear to the top of the adjustment but it took a while as I wanted to take the tension out of the spring first before winding the platform up to its max height which meant getting the car on stands and removing the shock from the cross beam to get the tension off the spring. In the past, it was too easy to adjust it so that the front was high relative to the rear - and it felt wierd driving it! This way I could then adjust the front to the height I wanted for looks, and to a height that avoids the undertrays scraping everything in the road!

I raised the front adjusters by 4cm initially, then gradually adjusted down by about 2 cm to get the height about right for now. Then adjusted the back down a bit - but only about 1cm for now as I will let it all settle then drop it a bit more on the front before really getting the back sorted out.

You also have to then level the car to make sure the left side and right side are the same height - easier said than done as the weight across the car is not uniform so you can't just measure the height of the adjustable spring platforms and make them the same, and you have to keep raising the car and dropping it down again to get the weight off the spring so you can move the adjusters!! Anyway, 3 hours of messing about has got me something that I reckon is OK for now, but next weekend I'll refine it a bit more and get some pics up.

 

[S3 AKR]

Resealed the drivers door to cure the common leak issue that these cars (and 1M Leon's) suffer. Has done the trick, but a complete PITA to do, but its done. And it worked!

 

[Richy Cupra]

Resealed the drivers door to cure the common leak issue that these cars (and 1M Leon's) suffer. Has done the trick, but a complete PITA to do, but its done. And it worked!

When you do one door the others are much easier i found

 

[S3 AKR]

I agree - if the other side leaks it'll take half the time to do now I know how it all comes apart. The one tip I would give is that once the door glass is out, drop the mechanism a couple of inches lower before removing the inner door carrier.

 

[pampi]

Just simple Toledo

 

[S3 AKR]

Replaced the MAF today. Used a Bosch one (£80 exchange at Euro Cap Parts) and have an instant improvement in responsiveness, smoother idle and as yet there has been none of the hesitance that I keep getting and bleating on about on here.

Also replaced a fog light bulb at the same time, and cured a rattle from the steering cowling that has been driving me mad. The centre plastic insert under the clocks locates into a metal sprung clip attached to the underside of the clocks which had opened out and wasn't gripping that bit of plastic. Closed it up with some pliers, refitted the plastic and its been silent since!

 

[S3 AKR]

Failed the MOT with a wheel bearing having excessive play. One new bearing later (and a new ABS sensor that broke when being removed) it passed later in the day with no advisories. £206 all in didn't seem too steep.

 

[S3 AKR]

Ran a can of Halfords air con system cleaner through today just as a general maintenance thing, and the car smells lovely!!!!

 

[TheScientist]

Never really thought much of Toledo's, but yours looks lovely mate - ride height is perfect

 

[S3 AKR]

Now that we've got the Supercopa, the Mini Cooper S and the Tolly I reckon that the Tolly will be on its way to Pistonheads/Ebay/Autotrader in the next few weeks. I just need some paint done on the Mini, so will get that done before I sell the Tolly. I am going to put it back to standard and I've promised the R interior to ET CUPRA. I'll leave it all "as is" (except the seats) if I get a decent offer around £1200 (with all OEM parts thrown in and both sets of wheels seen in the pics in this thread). The paintwork isn't exactly pristine, but its got to be worth that....... hasn't it ?

 

[S3 AKR]

Finally got around to putting it all back to standard. The only thing I am leaving on it is the N249 bypass! Cleaned it at the weekend, and just need to get the tracking done and the original seats back in then it will be advertised for £1200.

I reckon I can sell the immaculate 'R' interior (£250), the 5 shabby starfish alloys (£120), the silicone TIP (£45) and the barely used (2000 miles) JOM coilovers (£100) via a popular auction website!

Then to sell the Mini CS (£5k) and buy something else - but what ? I have whatever the above makes to spend and not a penny more - so I reckon a car for about £5k and the rest on mods.

 

[LeonUser]

The seats are awesome mate, didi get them for a great price? and you not putting any wheels on or keeping them standard?

Great work tho buddy awesome car!

 

[S3 AKR]

All that work undone to sell tho mate. Standard wheels as per the 1st pics in this thread. I don't need the car anymore so it's going up for sale.