8 valve

[Rog]

Hey lads
I just bought a 1990 gti 8 vavle. Bit late asking now but are these engines good.

[panky]

It's been a while since I had mine but it brought a smile to my face every time I put my foot down. Went like stink was fairly economical (when I wasn't putting my foot down) was reliable and never gave me any trouble for the 70,000 or so miles or so I drove it

[Rog]

Thanks for that. Anything I should look out for apart from regular oil change.

[panky]

Like I say it was a long time ago but yes all I did was regular servicing but other owners, with now older cars, may have more to offer. One thing I did find on the car was that the rear brakes disc and calipers needed a good clean up every six months as they seemed to do very little work and got covered in surface rust - maybe I was just light on the brakes

[Rog]

I already have a td hurricane so it will be nice to drive a gti as I never drive one before.

[rutter123]

The gti8v engines are pretty good capable of clocking up 150k plus if regular serviced, Motronic ignition systems are favoured over the Jetronic, watch for airleaks on intake pipework this can cause all sorts of running issues.
Had a few issues with mine dry joints on the injector wiring and a leaky radiator. Apart from that was quite dependable.

[rutter123]

If you have no history ensure a cambelt and water pump change ASAP pretty straightforward on these and potentially could save your engine.
I just used a regular 10/40 oil and quality filter.

[Rog]

Yeah checked all mots but i was wandering did anyone actually know the car e.g.. previous owners, was it looked after etc. The hurricane i bought last year came with pages of history. Will be booking in for cam belt and water pump change along with full service. Also will be flushing out lhm. Is there a cleaner you can get to put through the suspension. My Citroen man said there was years ago.

[rutter123]

You can get a lhm flush think it's called hydra flush or something like that.
Sometimes the tiny filters in the system need manually cleaning out after accruing 30 odd years of crud, to completely flush the system you will need to bleed all the brake lines as well.

[xantia_v6]

The current availability of "Hydraurinçage" is described here: https://frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/view ... 95#p587495

[Rog]

Yeah did lhm flush to hurricane and again after 1k.totally transformed the car. Also cleaned filters and resivor but didn't clean brake lines but will do next time

[rutter123]

Old brake caliper bleed valves have a nasty habit of seizing and snapping off especially the rears, invest a few pounds in some new ones and copper grease the threads.
I got some from my local factor's and they had a 10mm shank instead of the 7 or 8mm standard.

[Rog]

Thanks for that. It's been parked up for a while so a lot of things to check including brakes. Engine and suspension are good, bumbers might need respray and body a mother and a father of a polishing. Should be nice winter project. Will clear it next year when 30 yrs old then I'll get 80 euro a year road tax.