VW Golf Mk4 TDI PD130 Brakes Grinding After Fitting New Discs

At the weekend I fitted new brake pads and discs to my VW Golf MK4 but shortly afterwards I noticed that the brakes seemed to be making a grinding sound especially when cornering.

I'd originally been supplied the wrong brake discs by Eurocarparts when I was given 256mm discs and just managed to beat closing time to get some replacement ones before they shut. It now appears that the replacement ones are wrong too!

My car is a 2001 model VW Golf PD130 Diesel yet according to the Eurocarparts website it could have 256, 280, 288 or 312mm brake discs. This would appear to be completely wrong and Golf PD130 engine can only use 288mm brake discs along with the 1.8T GTI and PD150 diesel.



Frustrating when it takes 3 visits to get the correct part but fortunately I now know the cause of the scraping/grinding noise after fitting new brake discs and pads so if you have VW Golf and experience that sound, make sure you check the size of the discs are correct.

The cause of the grinding sound is the bolt securing the caliper to the hub that touches the rear of the brake disc. The clearance is very small and the difference in thickness between the 280mm disc at 37mm thick and the 288mm disc at 34mm thick is only 3mm but this is enough to bridge the clearance and cause the rubbing and consequent noise.

VW Golf Mk4 Brakes Grinding After Fitting New Discs

For a VW Golf MK4 PD130 TDI the brake specs are:

The Front brakes are 288mm x 25mm Vented Discs,  54mm ATE single piston calipers

The Rear brakes are 232mm x 9mm Solid Discs

VW Golf MK7 Manual Gearbox Fault - Selecting Gear Problems

Although I have an old MK4 VW Golf, a colleague at work has a 2013 model MK7 Golf with manual gearbox that unfortunately has a problem trying to select first gear.  Her description of the faulty gearbox problem with her Volkswagen Golf are below:

It doesn’t stall, and is more that it doesn’t go into gear at all, gets stuck and feels like you’re going to snap the gear stick if you force it.  Although the dealers have now described my gear box as ‘clunky’


Has anyone else experienced the same problem with a MK7 VW Golf gearbox?


VW Golf MK7 Manual Gearbox Fault - Selecting Gear Problems

VW Golf MK4 Breaking for Spares & Parts on Ebay

I needed a few parts for my new VW Golf MK4 and looking on Ebay I found a very helpful seller called Jaso.Woolfe. After a chat on the phone going through the spares I needed we established that he had all the parts and the body panels were in mint condition, still on the car.

VW Golf Mk4 bonnet being fitted (on a different sunny day!)

It was quite a long drive for me to get to Bournemouth and I arrived in the pouring rain to collect some parts and for him to fit some others. Despite the torrential downpour he got the parts prepared off the Golf being broken and started to remove the parts from my MK4. It was a slow process that continued into the darkness of the evening but he did a great job and the parts were exactly as described.


I also needed some interior parts and left with my Golf fully laden with seats and a spare wheel too. If you need any parts for your VW Golf MK4 then I'd highly recommend giving him a call on 07971-403124 as he has huge stock and is breaking many different MK4 Golf variants.


 Parts Breaking Spares

Golf TDI 130 PD Engine - Best VW Diesel Engine?

After a year away from MK4 VW Golfs I'm now back with another Golf with my favourite TDI engine, the 1.9 litre PD130.


Golf TDI 130 PD Engine - Best VW Diesel Engine?

The TDI PD130 diesel engine is arguably the best diesel that VW have built with the perfect mix of power and economy. It also predates the emissions scandal so matches exactly what is claimed although obviously as an older design it isn't as clean as a EURO6 diesel.


On the other hand the engine is a lot less complicated without DPF or other technology that can go wrong so is one of the most reliable engines out there, probably one of the reasons that PD Golf TDI cars tend to hold their value very well. Over the last year I've run a couple of Ford Pumas which have been excellent fun to drive but don't compare to the fuel economy and motorway smoothness of the MK4 VW Golf.




Golf TDI 130 PD Engine



MK4 Golf TDI with 130 PD Engine