₦airaland Forum

gogodaye: Also old/bad plugs could be responsible as well. If you indeed need to have the ATF change be sure you use ONLY the prescribed ATF grade for refill. Also the process I understand does not just end with draining out of theold ATF and refilling the gearbox with new fluid. It also involves change of filters etc. So make assurances doubly sure before proceeding as taking the wrong step could wreck your car Auto gear box which also expensive to replace. Please be there to see them undertake the task.

Advice taken. The challenge here is getting d said expert in Ado-ekiti or Akure.
All the same, thanks

I observed my car's gear don't change like b4. Also, it takes it sometime to speed effectively unlike b4. I consulted two mechanics. One said I should drain d gear oil and replace it with a new one. According to him, it will take up to 7 litres for it 2b fully guaged. The other opined that I should just top up. He went further that it is unhealthy to drain 'follow come'(factory) gear oil.
This has hold me in a dilemma. Kindly advise.
Please treat with dispatch. #siena #ikenna #other auto gurus

Siena:
I believe you mean the engine appears to "run on" briefly before stopping. Is this correct?

Sharp and sudden forward movement of the car at the point of switching off. Prior to this,the car must have be stationary.

tpacalipse: If it is the road btw Ikere and Akure, then you are wrong about the robbery thing. I travel those roads well, they are prone to armed robberies. Including Ikere to Emure road. Have you heard recently that the leader of armed robbers on that route has been arrested and taken to Abuja. Did you here the leader is a Police man? I will never wait to pick pipu on that route.

Inasmuch I will not conclude that you are wrong,I insist I have never heard of or experience armed robbery case along Ikere/Akure road. I have heard about Ikere/Ise-Emure. For the former, I haven't even as I ply it on daily basis. This doesn't means,it didn't happen. I'm only asserting from my own knowledge of the road.
As for the leader of the gang robbing on Ikere/Ise road being a policeman, I'm privy to it.

ziccoit: I think you need to wait till after you may have understood the language of your car. The car should be able to handle the stress of the long journey but there could still be some hidden loose ends that need to be tied.

The car took me Abuja without any fault, though, driven by a relative who had been handling d wheel for a very long time.
Their argument was based on my expertise on d wheel, not d car condition.

Is it improper for an amateur like me to drive on a long journey? I intended to drive my Golf 3 to Abuja this morning but was prevented by my parents, saying it is improper at this time. Could this be true?

shepherdO: LWKMD, Swt mama, nevr mind, its jst abt d learning experience of GOLF3...........I was 1ce like U bt I guess am mbecomin a guru 2 d extent of enlightenin new buyers in my area 2 reduce extortion 4rm mechanics. Tel me, wat appnd 2 Ur kool golf...I use an Auto 1, wit A/C n hav bn enjoyi it 4 d past 3 yrs. As a NLder, Cal me on 08060286044. GOD may use me 2 elp U. Relax, dnt regret owning golf, its d best ride U cn tink of! Pls dnt panik, relax els. U fall in2 rong hnds.
Takia

Thanks. I won't hesitate to contact u when I should.

New observation. The car jerks as I off d ignition. Could it be d fuel I bought this morning or something else? What can be done.
Pls

gogodaye: And also please I'll admonish that you do not adhere to the advise of folks suggesting that you cruise between the speed limits of 90-100 klm/h to cover specified distances within 10 minute time space (just for them to gloat & be satiated with having to see how good your face might be) without taken into cognizance the state of your car tyres. Please stick to the 80 klm suggested. I'll also suggested you stick to the monthly service routine considering the age of your car' the mileage covered, etc

I have my speed limit target. Maximum of 40 within town and rough roads. Maximum of 70 on good highway. Though,it is subject to change subsequently as I get used to driving.
Someone said this will lead to higher fuel consumption. Could this be true?

.

gogodaye: My sista woman sorry to have to learn that you car didn't come right through from the Auto electrician. Don't attempt to cruise around with his bypass contraption. Ask around for good electrician.The quest for the solution should commence from the fuse box unit which is usually beneath the steering wheel area to determine if the fan didn't stall because of a burnt/blown out fuse. And then a check for leakage,blockage etc. Pls post pix of your dashboard & engine bay areas for further assistance.

Thanks so much my teacher. Attached is the Dashboard as requested

instinctg: @ OP,

I was in dis situatn when I got my golf3 too.
The solution then was that d radiator had blocked holes and despite steam washing d radiator , d issue persisted.

It got so bad dat d temp soared to 110 Celcius !

Solution : I changed d radiator (4k) and ensured d wire dat connects to d fan was properly connected as it was observed dat d fan stopped working even at hot engine temp.

As a matter of fact, don't get too worked up wit ur car, u need to understand it better day by day till it beomes ur good pal.

Also note that not only do u need a good mechanic, u would need competent car electricians/ rewires for cars used these days.

Enjoy ur rugged german machine jare

Thanks so much for this information. I will keep to it to the letter.

Advocate sam: Are u coming to Ado on Monday? If yes, I can assist by exchorting u to Igbara Odo n d rest of d journey is straight forward. But let me give u d breakdown of d route.

When u get to Ejigbo in Ado, turn to Falegan road. The Falegan road links the road to Ilawe (ur speed shud not exceed 70km/h, it is 12km from Ado to Ilawe n it is 15mins journey). Take note dat it is just a straight road that links Ado to Ilawe to Igbara Odo to Igbara Oke in Ondo state. Ilawe road to Igbara Odo is straight n u can increase ur speed to 100km/h(10 mins drive). Also Igbara Odo road to Igbara oke road is 10 mins drive (90km/h). When u get to Igbara Oke, u are almost in Akure. Igbara Oke road links to d express which is 15 mins drive. The whole journey is 50 mins.

You can get me on 07064954609.

Thanks

Advocate Sam

This is so sweet and lovely. It makes me feel so special than the Queen. Thank you sir.
I shall be off Ado for two weeks starting from Monday. Once I return,I will let you know.
I'm a tomboy. By the description,I'll go by myself. If it becomes futile, i'm gonna call you. The description seems easy and understandale until when it proves otherwise during my trial. I hate acting dumb.
All the same,I'm indeed grateful.

Ikenna351: Its simply. The mechanic has removed your cooling system thermostat and bypassed your radiator cooling fan factory connection, for the fan to spin constantly, once the ignition is on or the engine running. The strange wires you saw is the bypassed of the fans factory connection. I knew it would happen anyway. When I call them "clowns", some people would say am being too harsh.

To be honest with you, if you continue to use that car in the state he has put it, give it 2 years, 1 year or less, the engine will start emitting blue smoke. In that case, you either replace the engine or rebuild it.

Call the man, ask him to keep the thermostat he removed from your car, that you are coming to collect it back, before he throws it away. And pray that he gives you the one he removed from your car because their must be a lot of them lying in his workshop that he removed from other people's car. Even if you are not putting back that one in, you can use it find another one (new one) to put in. You need the exact thermostat or part number to find it in the market, unless all Golf 3 use the same Thermostat, irrespective of engine size.

Also, if you choose to use the car with the radiator fan spinning constantly, be prepared to be replacing the fan every now and then. Why? Because the fan's motor wasnt designed/made to run for a long time without a break, just like our Brendas/electric grinding machines in our Kitchen.

When you get back the thermostat, I will guide you on how to test it, to know if its still working or not via a pot of boiling water.

Do you really know what it means for your coolant temperature to remain at the lowest level of temp gauge constantly? It means severe friction will be going on in all the lubricating parts inside the engine.

I chose not to comment before because am not a VW expert. But I picked the same Golf 3 for a family member 2 weeks ago. I just got it registered today. Will be driving her to Anambra next week or so to give to the owner I bought it for. Even though its a city car, I could see the Germans quality in the ride. Its really a nice car!

Ikenna.

I requested for the Thermostat as u suggested,he claimed it was not tampered with not to talk of been removed. Could you help me confirm this if I send u d engine pix?

gogodaye: My Sista woman, Hi & a warm welcome to the world of auto-owners.Please put the ugly incident of the car owning & riding you behind.Is the car out from the mechanic yet? My contributions relate to basic maintenance tips:-
(a)Prior to setting out every day, spend about 5 minutes, routinely checking the water level in your raditor; oil level with the dip-stick; car tyres (to ensure they well unflated);the hydraulic level, the level of the ATF,etc.[All of these you can conveniently do from the hood of your car];
(b)Since on the average you do about a 100 kilometers to & fro your home and work-place daily, I shall modestly advise you to do & carry out your car-service, i.ie.,(change of engine oil, oil-fiter,)at least once every month.[This ain't expensive, a 4 litre can of Engine oil goes for about N2,000 & Oil filter N250 & the labour cost for the mechanic is N500 here in Abuja];
(c)I'll equally advise you subsequently change all the four tyres and the spare with new tyres and do wheel balancing & alignment as well[You may have to do this within the next 3 months as its capital intensive and I'll advise in the interim you keep your speed within 80klm per hour). When procuring the new tyres ensure you buy tyres produced this year. Do not go for any otheer tyre made beyond 2012[tyres come with a 4-5 year life span. Every tyres has its' year of manufacture embossed on it. This is a 4 digit figure, the first two digits indicating the week in the year it was made and the last two digits the precise year of its manufacture.Thus, 0513 embossed on the tyre shows it was manufactured on the fifth week of the year 2013; change the spark plugs, your car was delivered with and keep an eye also for a battery change as well in the future.
(d)If you're car has an injector never let its fuel level go down beyond quarter tank level before you refill your tank.
(e)Do not leave you car in the Drive position in the traffic jam (hold-up).i.e., with its engines running whilst you are in a stationary position for too long, i.e., about [8-10] minutes as its an automatic gear shiift system. Leave the car in either Park or Neutral position.And engage it in the Drive position when the traffic begins to move.
(f)BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR OUR REVERED MECHANICS/ELECTRICIANS.ENSURE THEY DO NOT CUT OFF WIRES, REFUSE TO REFIT PARTS SAYING THEY ARE NOT NECESSARY.Ensure what ever is taken out is repalced.
(g)Get the following set of tools in your car, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 spanners, either ring or flat,Plug spanner; flat and star shaped screw drivers, plier, Torch light (possibly the rechargeable type)etc.
(h)Get Tyre Jack, Fire extinguisher.
More tips to follow shortly. cheers

Wow ! This is my purpose of opening this thread. You got it as I want it.
As Oliver Twist, I'm asking for more.
Thank you very much. God bless you.

Ikenna351: Hey! I apologise. I didnt know my comments were that harsh to you. Its just that i didnt feel comfortable when i saw "I regretted owing it", because i get that a lot from people. I was only trying to make you realise its not ideal to say such things within two days ownership of the car. Am just the type that doesnt know how to use sweet words to express my opinion when it come to cars. I just say it as it is, which people do find harsh. Anyway, i apologise.

If you check my first few posts in Nairaland, you would see how my 505 seriously dealt with me when i first got it, which later turned me into a Peugeot expert. Lol!. But all those while, i never wished i never got the car. I never let that hindrance get me. It was my problem and i dealt with it. Now, am enjoying the car since then. Whenever i come out from my house, i would look at the car and smile. Sometimes, we would both wink at each other. Lol! Dont mind me and my Baby. We simply understand each other. I treat her the way she wants to be treated and in return, she put smiles on my face whenever am behind the wheel. Thats how i want you to see your ride. Thats the only way you will enjoy it, against all odds.

As for the state of your car now, there is nothing i could say in my previous posts in that regard. Its now in the hands of the mechanic. So, we can only hope for the best. After all, its natural for one to want his/her car fixed, even if it gets small abused along the line. Because, i bet you, the mechanic may, if not will, remove the thermostat and connect your radiator fan to run constantly. Thats their simplest way of fixing overheating issues. I wished there is anything i could do to prevent that. But there isnt.

Next time you are driving that car, pay more attention to temperature guage than the fuel guage on the instrument cluster. Its what i do. Though, i could tell when a car is overheating by mere acceleration and sound of the engine. But with observing the temp guage all the time, i wont let it gets to the stage of acceleration and engine note. Never let an overheated car stalls by itself without your input. At that stage, it could cost you a head gasket, cylinder head or the entire engine. Stop as soon as the temp guage exceeds 100 degreee celsius. Something must have gone wrong.

How do i make it upto you. Had it been you are in Abuja, i would have ask to take you out. And who knows were that would lead us. After all, we are both single. At least, you wont need to come to Car talk to receive harsh words anymore, since you already have an in-house mechanic 24/7. What do you think?

Ikenna.

Apology seen and accepted without any reservation.
As your 505 is your baby is what I want my Golf 3 to be. Hence, my coming to this forum in the first instance is to get DIY knowledge. I love adventure and trying out new thing as well practicalising new knowledge. I wish I could be my own mechanic.
I guess the mechanic has done his expertise on the thermostat cos I could see a strange wire passing from d battery to a device. When I enquired about d wire, he reply that lawyers are too inquisitive for his liking. He added that what should be my headache is whether d fan is working or not and if d temperature is low or high. Seeing him becoming unfriendly,I paid and got my key. I'm still trying to get an expert who will interpret what d wire means and it effects on the car.
According to him, the temperature meter will permanently be zero/extremely low. I don't know d effect of this too. When I get an expert, I will know better.
But I strongly believe that if professionals like you have come handy when I raised d alarm of risen temperature,I might have evade this situation. Though, i'm not in anyway apportioning blame to anybody. I'm responsible for my woes.
Now,how do I solve overheating problem by myself? It seems over heating issue is common with Golf.
As for our being single and eventual in-house mechanic,I can only laugh and say thanks for the compliments. Anyway, I shall be in Abuja for some Appearances between 10th&16th April. Within my idle time,I MAY get in touch with you to know the man who like saying it raw. Honestly, it is pleasant to say unpleasant thing in a pleasant way.

Advocate sam: Sorry 4 diverting pls. @glom... Are u a Barrister n u said u work in Ado Ekiti. I am based in Ado too but frm d description in one of ur posts, it seems u go tru Ikere -Iju/Itaogbolu to Akure. Dat road is bad n why dont u go tru Ilawe-Igbara Odo/Oke to Akure.

Pls note dat am not inquietude neither am I trying to be inquisitive.

Yeah, I'm a member of the Bar. It is also true that I enroute Ikere/Iju/Itagbolu to Akure. As for the alternate route, I knew not. Could u kindly be my guide? If I'm coming from Odo-Ado/Matthew Road,how will I venture?
Thanks for your kindness.

Advocate sam: Mr Ikenna, I asked a question that "won't we go with Majority since dis is democracy?". I never expected u to give me dis type of answer. Ur response showed u are likely to be arrogant n it shows d low water mark of ur correspondence career.

In Law, there are better ways u can use d same reply in answering my question but in a civilized n re-phrased intonation. I never advised anybody to remove d thermostat of his/her car cos I didn't remove mine but I only stated my observation which can still be subjected to more debate.

Worst of it all, u are d moderator of dis section meaning u are d leader n one important virtue of a leader is dat u must be cool headed. Pls learn frm people like Siena, Trac, Inspired etc. Else I am going to move section revolution against u in dis car section.

I rest my case

Advocate Sam

I'm glad I got a learned colleague here who sees it my way

Kx: I suspect d fan aint working.A good electrician can fix dat easily in my opinion

Perhaps d termo is intact too.
Experts in NL will always advocate dat d termos shud nt be removed, but when almost all d naija mechanics we can afford can't effectively service a car with unremoved termos, wat can one do?

D car wud naturally have stayed long and unserviced b4 u took delivery hence immidiate servicing is always recommended bfore use.

Thanks so much. I will take to your advice by servicing it today.

Ikenna351: That's not how to own a car. So simply because you had your first issue with the car, you have started regretting a decision you made, when the journey have not even started?

Or is that you have started " Ah! They told me so o! They warned me to buy Toyota and I went and brought this nightmare into my life."

If you are driving to Abuja, you will observe that commercial transporters use Golf 3 wagon to convey passengers from Lokoja to Abuja, via Lokoja-Abuja highway. We are talking about 3 hours hot speed here. If the car is not that rugged and reliable, do you think they will be using such vehicle for such a severe use? You wont know the worth of what you have until you lose it.

From your description, it appears the car didn't come with the issue, but I could be wrong.

Ikenna.

Initially, I wanted to ignore this rattling of yours, I couldn't cos I'm professionally trained to face facts and clarify them.
One, the word 'decision' is absurd in this situation as I have earlier sent you a mail in which I told you that the car was bought for me. I wasn't even dreaming of owning a car until the donor called me to be expecting my car in two hours time. So,I didn't 'decide' to buy a car,not to talk of Golf 3. Having said that,your assumptions on 'they told me so' were totally wrong. And if you using that phrase in my context, i'm so sorry, you have missed d way. All I meant with that phrase(so they said) was that 'they said it was over heating'. I was only responding to Redcliff's enquiry as to the cause could be over heating.
Besides, no one is querying d ruggedness of Golf here and your defence on that is not why I open this thread.
Furthermore, I couldn't remember claiming d fault was from Volkswagen. I'm not sentimental, I always hold myself responsible for my woes.
The last time I checked our cyber laws and nairaland's, it was not a crime to express one's feeling or experience. This is why your outburst surprise me. I don't like sounding like a feminist but I will cos of you. Women are weaker vessel,handle us with care. Your tone is too harsh on me especially at this time.

Ikenna351: Would you stop if you were among the other drivers that failed to stop and conveyed you to major town? It takes a lot of courage for one to stop for a lady in the middle of no-where. Because if care is not taken, as soon as you stop, that your car may seize to be yours that moment. Armed robbers & car snatchers do use ladies to carry out such operations. So, blame no one. Good Samaritan can be a difficult thing to practice on Nigerian roads

Ikenna.

Kindly get me right, I'm not blaming anybody for my woe. As for if I would stop? If it is on that road and that situation, I WILL STOP. Cos, one, the road is secured as I have never heard of armed robbery attack on it for past 2 years that I have been travelling on daily basis on it.Two, the car stopped inside a ditch at the middle of d road,which make it impossible for any other road user not to slow down before passing by. Had it been I was a bait,there is no way they could have escaped from being robbed. Infact,it was that only yesterday that I didn't see any passenger to lift. In as much as I don't blame them for not stopping,my basic philoshy of life is 'help your fellow human being when and where u could do so conveniently'. I'm not in anyway expecting others to be like me. I'm myself.
It might delight you to know that d good samaritan that stopped did not only stopped but gave his clean toyota corolla 2001 to fetch my mechanic cos he is a stranger in that part of d world. And,he watched over my car till i return.

redcliff: but thats quite surprising. how long have you got it for now?

The car was delivered to me by the Dealer last sunday. I started using it on tuesday. Lol,it drove me on thursday

redcliff: lol. what happened? overheating i guess?

So they said. I have left it in d hand of my colleague and d mechanic. Gosh ! The experience is horrible. Imagine a car broke down in the middle of the bushy road where there is no network service to make contact while other drivers failed to wait to convey me to the major town where i could get an aid. I was there for more than two hours confused.

My car drove me today. I regretted owning it

redcliff: Hope you dont use just water for your radiator?

I did but it has been rectified since sunday

redcliff: the engine noise is normal. Its the fan. This happens when the fan is on when the engine was put off. Its totally normal. when my fan's working when the AC is on and i switch off the engine, it keeps working for a while then stops. can we see a picture of yours? about the noise and the pointer thing, I am not so sure but i think you need to check it out. Is there any light on the dashboard?

Thanks so much Redcliff. The car is Ac-less and no dashboard light is on except d rising temperature that moved from 70 to 100 this morning. For this pix,i'm gonna do that later. All inconveniences regretted

I observed three things in my car(Golf 3,Auto) that I'm not comfortable with. One, there is a sound coming from d dashboard/steering area. The noise only stop when I trafficate. Once the pointer light is off, the noise continues. Is it a normal thing?
Thirdly, the engine fan is not rolling yet d car is working. Hope this is not a threat?
Two, after switching off d engine,the engine seems to be working as the engine sound will not stop immediately i switch off until after some few time (I have not been patient enough to know how long). Is this normal also. I'm kinda scare.
Never mind me and my Golf 3, i'm a newbie. Help me to grow.
#oga siena and other experts,pls rescue me this time around.

Siena:
When you say "maintain", what exactly do you mean?

What and what to do on daily,weekly,monthly basis that will make the car less problematic and durable

Too good to own a ride. Punctual to office, earlier return home with little stress. I'm just happy.
But guys,teach me how to maintain my car-Golf 3,Auto . Please abeg oh

Too good to own a ride. Punctual to office, earlier return home with little stress. I'm just happy.
But guys,teach me how to maintain my car-Golf 3,Auto

Siena: Glolomoh, my apologies for responding late, I got your email too, just been pretty busy the last couple of weeks. I'll go through your query, and respond to it here later in the day.

Thank you very much sir. I'm relieved.