My first yellow car - Leon FR

[massiveCoRbyn]

3k

Decent for the money. There's a chance I might need a cheap smoker soon, so something to keep in mind!

 

[Djw John]

Thankfully I got the job I bought a diesel for today 😂
It's like being prepared but in a really stupid way.

 

[Djw John]

Not done anything with it yet, funnily enough. But in preparation for the suspension arriving I thought I'd put some mystery juice on the wiper nuts. It's amazing how clean the engine bay is, 10 years old and 110,000 miles.

Its clearly been cared for. Which makes the lack of service history really weird. Think I'll write to the last owner in the hope he's got it.
Also, the 18s are reps, think I'll get them sold on and put the 17s on once the plastidip is removed.

 

[R3k1355]

Thats been steam cleaned, both thoroughly and quite recently. Looks like they even dressed the plastics?

Ain't no engine bay thats done those miles looking like that naturally, especially a diesel one.

 

[Djw John]

Oh no doubt, but there's a few things that makes me think it wasn't a one off clean for selling.
It won't look like that ever again 😂

 

[R3k1355]

The EGR looks nice and clean

Mine's leaked from that gasket twice already

 

[Djw John]

Whilst I've owned a couple of diesels I've never done anything with them. I hear egr deletes are good, dpf removals are much trickier than they used to be.




Also, the top mounts are a pain in the c**t if the captives spin.

 

[Djw John]

Turning out to be more worthwhile than I expected!
It would seem that along with the rear springs being standard Leon ones rather than FR ones so was 1 of the fronts!

Just waiting on a top mount arriving then I'll get it finished off and move onto the rears

 

[R3k1355]

Ha I bet it will ride a fair bit lower now!

I wouldn't delete the EGR unless you've got a smart solution, most of the time the kits are so totally obvious that you've got no chance of slipping it past an MOT man.
The DPF can be removed and gutted relatively easily, it's tough to spot if they've been done in the correct way. The CR engine is alot kinder to the DPF tho, so if running correctly it shouldn't give issues.

 

[Djw John]

Aye I bet it will! Shocks being 110k old won't do any harm in changing them too.

Fair enough, I don't really expect dpf problems, out of the 90 miles my round trip is going to I think about 80 will be on the motorway.

 

[Djw John]

Welcome to the worst photos ever.

long story short, guessed what height to set the front to, left 40mm of thread, decided that was a bit much but I'd get the rear done and see what was what. Put the tears as low as they'll go with the adjusters still in (lots run without them)

Yeah, got aw the reverse take going on, it's dropped about 35-40mm at the front and 85mm at the back!

No pics of the full thing as I'd outstayed my playtime so came in.
Have a bonus one of the original suspension travel instead, tyre was still touching the ground

 

[Djw John]

Managed to get a hour to adjust it all. The rear is a pain in the arse as the collars are deep within the arm so you have to dismantle it. At least I greased everything yesterday.

Brought the front down 15mm and the rear up 30mm. It's still a tiny bit of reverse rake if you measure wheel to arch, about 6mm or so but I reckon the front will settle that at least.

Pics still ain't great, dusk yo

 

[Djw John]

Doorcards are a pain in the arse!! And hands...

Basically, these are renowned for issues with not unlocking from the outside. Which was happening on the front pass door.
Luckily one of the 3 things that works on the red one is the doors. So nicked a good mech off it and swapped it over.

What I didn't realise is that the doorcard is critical to the window reg. cue a couple of hours of f**king about to get everything right after a 10 minute job.

Ah well, sorted and legal from midnight. I won't be but the car is...

 

[R3k1355]

You know you can simply drill the door module and fill it with WD-40 right?
Works like a charm and takes about 10 minutes to do.

 

[Matt Cup]

You know you can simply drill the door module and fill it with WD-40 right?
Works like a charm and takes about 10 minutes to do.

Is it safe to assume that this will work on Audi’s too? The family A3 8P has similar issues. We’ve spent well over a grand changing 3 of the locks and now the front passenger door is reluctant to open more often than not. I don’t really want to spend another few hundred quid on a lock if that’ll cure it.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

It'll be the same design that VAG have been using since the dawn of time, it's shite.

Had same issue on my B8 S4. Didn't do anything with it as the previous owner had done the drivers door one replaced...

 

[Djw John]

I do now.
If I scrap the red one I'll take all the locks off it!
I'll see if I can get it working again as I threw it onto the red one so the door would close

 

[R3k1355]

Is it safe to assume that this will work on Audi’s too? The family A3 8P has similar issues. We’ve spent well over a grand changing 3 of the locks and now the front passenger door is reluctant to open more often than not. I don’t really want to spend another few hundred quid on a lock if that’ll cure it.

Does yours refuse to open from the outside but opens fine using the inside handle?

If so then give then try the fix in that video.

 

[Matt Cup]

Does yours refuse to open from the outside but opens fine using the inside handle?

If so then give then try the fix in that video.

Yes it doesn’t open with the fob the only way of opening is with the inside handle. It locks fine with the central locking though.

So I’ll be trying the above when the weather improves 👍

 

[Djw John]

Boy in the video is full baller with that much WD though 😂 I'll give it a shot but I'll not drown it I think

 

[R3k1355]

I used about 10x more than that, don't hold back.

It takes a while to soak in so don't worry if it doesn't work immediately, leave it to soak overnight and check in the morning.

 

[Djw John]

Finally been able to use it today! So first impressions are, torquey, rides way better than I expected, radio is gash, seat seems comfy, brakes are good.
Unfair to comment on mpg or that as the dpf light had come on (it's done lots of idling the last 2 weeks) so went down the motorway in 4th to clear it. Which it did.

Went up to see @Djw Dave who also got his car on the road today 🎉

Things to do, bring the front down 10mm, sort the drivers mirror, it's vibrating like f**k, new wipers.

 

[Djw John]

Family trip out, wife thinks the rear needs raised to match the front.

So that's my mind made up. Defo lowering the front 😂

 

[Krarl]

Wife is wrong

Front needs to come down to match the rear😉😂

 

[Djw John]

Wife is wrong

Front needs to come down to match the rear😉😂

Exactly. It's still driveable and relatively comfy. That won't do.

 

[Philip.]

Lowering the front is definitely the right choice 😬

 

[Djw John]

Brought the front down 10mm, looks better, probably drives worse and rides worse but you know, form>function when it's doing 100 miles a day..... 🤦🏻‍♂️

 

[R3k1355]

Fixed the door locks yet? or has StanceWorks taken up all of your time?

 

[Djw John]

Yeah they're all working. Today anyway.

 

[Djw John]

Damn you to hell @R3k1355 back door has now started doing the same. 😂 this is your fault for sure.

Also, needs a front wheel bearing.

 

[R3k1355]

Lol at least you know what to do with the doors now.

You have parking sensors on that as well?

 

[Djw John]

Yup, was hoping not to test it so soon. It's not everytime yet. But it will be.

Yeah, on the rear. Don't break them too please.

 

[Djw John]

Done about 700 miles now, trip comp seems close to right, about 1mpg optimistic but that's still been 44mpg with a real mix of motorway, short journies, stuck in traffic, fully laden etc etc. So I'll take that.

One thing I've noticed is a wheel bearing hum when turning left at higher speed. Given that as of next week it's going to be doing at least 500 miles a week I figured best to change it before it causes issues.

Unfortunately I hadn't charged any batteries for the ugga dugga so had to do it like a pauper. Resulting in 2 of the bolts rounding off and me taking no prisoners with the grinder!

Ground part of the flange off to get access

Then got into the back of the bolts and it came off fine. Did mean I was quite committed to changing it though 😂 at least it felt rough.

I started quite late at night so by the time I finished I couldn't be arsed taking it a drive but hopefully it's sorted.

Was £60 inc vat so happy at that considering it didn't need pressed or that.

Also thought I should service it since I've no history. But when I saw this

I figured it had been done recently, the coolant is also nice and fresh so I reckon it's been fully done and I'll keep what I bought for a few thousand miles.

Chatting to @George@rtrparts about some new brakes and lines for it too. Once the red shed goes I'll get them sorted and got a plan for some new wheels too

 

[Djw John]

Not much has happened recently, started my new job last Monday and done about 1200 miles since. Some of it along back roads...

I've ordered new discs, pads and lines from @George@RTR_Parts which will come next week, cracking price and service as normal.
I'm also planning on getting the new stereo ASAP, the current one is utter dogshit and really doing my head in now.
So a digital and CarPlay one will be inbound.

And I'll probably book a track day cos I'm an idiot.

 

[Djw Dave]

But you're our idiot.

 

[Krarl]

Weird but I like them wheels on it tbh

 

[Djw John]

They've really grown on me since lowering it and taking the centre caps off. @Djw Dave reckons I should get some that fit the centre but don't cover the bolt holes so I'll measure them up and see what's what.

 

[Djw John]

Not much has happened bar loads more miles on it. It's more than I expected it for sure but it's doing it fine. 50mpg at 75, 47mpg at 85, 40mpg at 100. Apparently. So that's pretty reasonable.

Gave it another clean as seeing out the windows was getting tricky.

Had a wee bit of AG Magma left so thought I'd see just how bad the paint is.

Bad. Gonna need a bigger bottle!

But it passed the 10ft test at least. It needs a good decontamination and clay then I think there's a good finish underneath it.

And no, I didn't really clean the wheels, pressure washed them and that was it

 

[Djw John]

Another 2 weeks, another 1200+ miles.
So time for a clean and whilst doing that the postie came with the bits for fitting the stereo. So I simply didn't go inside and thought I'd see how long I could get away with playing for.

Long enough it turns out.

Given that it was the cheapest Apple CarPlay and DAB named brand one I could get in pretty happy with it. The dash will never be exciting but I'll also not care

Some how ended up with this all over the driver side midweek, think it was tar

And the mandatory washed it pic.

 

[Djw John]

Another thrilling day of VAGlyf

Better than the red

Used the last of my metal polish, need to order more

But have ordered this little lot