The "What did you do to your B4 today" thread...

vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
Yeah, the tank is massive - more than double the capacity of the Mk3 tank. Takes two full jugs to fill it up. It's nice though, I generally only need to worry about it every 6-9 months! There is a smaller tank available for the B3 but it doesn't have a spot for the headlight washer pump. Shifter weight is already hacked, gotta get an aftermarket one.

There's enough room for the filter as it sits now - I can fit my hand between the filter and the crossmember. There's enough room to fully unscrew the filter and then tilt it over and remove it - not a ton of space but sufficient. Definitely no worries about the filter contacting the crossmember.

Just took her for a 30 minute shake down cruise. The clutch is perfect now - I guess it just needed some vibration to get any remaining air out. Shifts perfectly now. My clutch on this package is an SBC Stage 2 Endurance - it's noticeably lighter feeling than the stock VW clutch that was on the old engine.

I replaced all my battery cables plus moved all the grounds that were on the battery terminal to the chassis lug when I was doing all of this. My cables are all 1/0 gauge welding cable now - virtual no voltage drop. She sure cranks over quick (though the engine fires so fast you barely get to hear the starter)... I also noticed my ABS pump is running faster when I turn the key on (higher pitched than before) so I've either sorted out some resistance somewhere or the alternator on my TDI is charging better. Either way I'll take it.

Can't really speak on noise and vibration yet since the exhaust only goes to the rear axle and is resting on one of the supports on the bottom of the tunnel. I would say there is more engine vibration than before but the two rear mounts are brand new and the front one has been moved to a different chassis, so they'll probably settle out some. In the end I went with the Mk2 style hydro mount on the rear engine side, a standard rubber trans mount and a Mk3 style BFI Stealth front mount.

Can't wait to have the exhaust and intercooler in - then I need to get my turbo controller back in place. And gauges. And.. And.. I'm sure there will be something else!!

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vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
Windex heated and bent the A4 shifter weight so it cleared the large washer reservoir. It works fine.

I thought about trying that. I had a feeling it would just crack so I didn't go through with it. Nice to know that's an option - I might find another one and try that.

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vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
To be honest it's shifting pretty darn nice without the weight. I'm guessing that's the Audi TT version? I could see going that way but at the moment it feels pretty good - definitely a lot better than the sloppy 02A shifter.

Today I drove her to the fabrication shop to have my exhaust and intercooler done. Probably won't have her back till the end of the week. I do appear to have one very small oil leak going on but I won't get to look at that till she's back.

In the meantime I have the fun of packing up my house to move - 9 days till the truck is here. Woo.....

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Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
To be honest it's shifting pretty darn nice without the weight. I'm guessing that's the Audi TT version? I could see going that way but at the moment it feels pretty good - definitely a lot better than the sloppy 02A shifter.

Today I drove her to the fabrication shop to have my exhaust and intercooler done. Probably won't have her back till the end of the week. I do appear to have one very small oil leak going on but I won't get to look at that till she's back.

In the meantime I have the fun of packing up my house to move - 9 days till the truck is here. Woo.....

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That's the 02J euro shifter setup, not specific to TT. If your weightless version is shifting good I wouldn't bother with it TBH unless you want to shorten the throw a little.

Steve
 

vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
thats a lot to handle, building a car, and getting ready to move soon. still staying in BC?
Yeah the move necessitated the car build - going from a place with off street storage for 2 cars including a covered carport to a place with just a paved driveway - couldn't keep the Jetta any longer.

Yes, I'm just moving a couple of km over, nothing huge.

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vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
Sold my AAZ today. That was a bit of a relief - got rid of all my leftover Mk3 bits and pieces too. Nothing like moving to make you suddenly decide you don't need all that stuff you've been hoarding.

Guy I sold it to had at least 5 VWs in his yard so I know it's gone to a good home!

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ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
Glad to hear you passed it on, to another hoarder!

I was hearing a strage noise from the engine, as if there was a bearing going bad. Car now makes the noise most of the time, but not all of the time. The sound changes, but not with rpm.

At first I thought it was the serpentine roller, so I swapped it out, but the noise persisted. Next, I removed the serpentine belt, expecting it to be the alternator or water pump, but the noise persisted.

I'm now thinking it's the injection pump rollers. It may be my imagination, but the car seems smokier. The runs normally and isn't throwing and CELs.

-Todd
 

ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
I just realized the water pump is on the v belt, although the noise sounds as if it's coming from a higher source. Maybe this weekend I'll pull the v and serpentine belt, to isolate more.

-Todd
 

ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
Well I figured out my weird noise issue. Water pump went bad, but not in a way I've ever seen.

You can see the ends of the bolts eating into the pump housing. Also noted a bit of moisture at the gasket.




Set up to pull the pump from the top. 45 min later, it's out.




Never saw an impeller move away from the housing... was giving me a crazy squealing that I could hear while driving. Pretty embarrassing... took the car off the road for a few days.




Pump and block internals look clean.... all hail evil green! Lucked out with no snapped bolts and the gasket stuck to the pump side!




The pump is OE and I can only assume it's original. Lasted over 233K, so I guess it didn't owe me anything.

-Todd
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
That is pretty crazy to have the WP move like that, only ever saw the impeller move around on the shaft, not the shaft move in the pump. That's pretty good miles for an OE pump though, the WP on my 97 Mk3 went at 64k miles and again at around 125k miles, which I thought was pretty fast.

Steve
 

ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
I definitely can't complain about the longevity; unsure how long a thermostat can last, but that was also OE.

The impeler/shaft could not be pushed back into position, by hand. Turning the shaft was pretty tight... almost had a plastic feeling. I'm guessing these are just some type of bushing? I can't see there being any bearing in them.

Anyhow, I didn't get too far with the repair. After cleaning the pump housing in the parts washer, and mating the halves, I realized I ordered the wrong thermostat.... need a Stant 45379.

-Todd
 

vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
Fabricator sent me some photos to show how my intercooler install is going...





A little bit sad that we had to remove the stock airbox. There wasn't any way to route the pipe work with the turbo as low as it is. I'll live with the cone filter for now but I might see if I can find a Donaldson style airbox that'll fit.



Exhaust looks about like you'd expect. The downpipe and resonator are left over from my Jetta.

I should get the car back early next week...

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IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
That looks nice.

I visited my Passat at the body shop today. As usual, rust damage is always more than it appears.


Apparently this car was hit here at some point in its life and the inner fender is pretty much shot. Looking for one.

No comments on the brake, please. I know.
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
That looks nice.

I visited my Passat at the body shop today. As usual, rust damage is always more than it appears.


Apparently this car was hit here at some point in its life and the inner fender is pretty much shot. Looking for one.

No comments on the brake, please. I know.
My rule of thumb has always been that the rust you can see is probably 10% of what's actually there.

Sorry to hear that you have to find a replacement for the inner, parts for these things are getting slimmer by the day.

Steve
 

ToddA1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
NJ 08002
TDI
'96 B4V, '97 B4 (sold), '97 Jetta (scrapped)
Fabricator sent me some photos to show how my intercooler install is going...

You don't need AC in your area or are just going to sweat? When I bought my wagon back in 2011, I basically bought AC.

-Todd
 

vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
You don't need AC in your area or are just going to sweat? When I bought my wagon back in 2011, I basically bought AC.

-Todd
Car never had it - has the non-AC heater box, doesn't even have the knockouts punched out of the firewall for the refrigerant lines.

Here in Vancouver there's usually a few weeks a year where AC would be nice to have. I've actually only owned one car with AC throughout all the cars I've ever had - wasn't all that common here until around 2000.

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nh nam vet

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Location
Raymond, NH
TDI
2- 97 Passats , 02 Jetta
I recently R&R'd the oil cooler gasket on my back up plan 1997 B4 sedan. I had performed this job on my DD years ago, but with advancing age and increased beer consumption, I couldn't recollect anything relevant. So, I searched the www and found this YouTube video which provided good content on how to do this job:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fEpW1xpSHw

I purchased the HDX Internal Pipe Wrench Set at Home Depot for $11.97. With the 3/8" tool, turned by a 14 mm deep socket, I removed the treaded pipe from the engine block. This provided more range of movement for the oil cooler (to remove and install the new gasket) still tethered with two coolant lines. Parts on the workbench:




Here's a clip from Volume One of the Bentley Publishers Official Factory Repair Manual, panel D13-10 (maybe) showing the big picture:



I did notice that the thin (4 mm thick) hex nut which mounts directly to the bottom of the oil cooler and compresses the O ring gasket up against the engine block has two different sides. One side is machined with a flat surface:



And the opposite side is much less flat, even beveled:



During reassembly, I coated both the O ring and the top of the canister oil filter with petroleum jelly. I like the stickiness or tacky factor to help gaskets stay put. I also mounted the hex nut with the flat side up against the bottom of the oil cooler. I also followed the pictogram on the Mann oil filter:



..........and refrained from using the filter strap wrench; hand tight snug plus 3/4 turn. No leaks after filling with Mobile 1.

My DD was giving me thunks from the front end when turning even while parked. I had replaced everything (lower control arms, outer tie rod ends, ball joints and struts) a while ago. For whatever reason, I became convinced that my inner tie rod on my drivers side was bad. I took my DD to a local reputable tire/alignment shop. The diagnosis was that my driver's side outer tie rod end was toast. Long story short, the linkage on the left side was changed due to a seized jam nut, an alignment was done, and as I was paying the counter guy, he says that my noise is most likely coming from bad upper strut mounts.

Confirmed here in the forums:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=371448

Two upper strut mount kits are on order.

Lastly, I have had three different B4 TDI Passats that have each managed to have one of their side view mirrors simply fall off. Are you kidding me????

This just happened on my DD's driver door. I got my replacement from Amazon, very quickly. The made in USA replacement mirror product is a Burco 2592 (www.burcoinc.com). I avoid self-adhesive stickers. I use the 5 minute epoxy solution instead, shown here:





I know that my days (and their days) are numbered, but I will still try to keep the B4 TDI's on the road. Jeff
 
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Digital Corpus

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 14, 2008
Location
Ontario, California
TDI
'97 B4 w/ 236K mi body, 46K mi soul
Doing an early timing belt job. Thanks to the fluidampr I have to play tetris and lower the engine to get it off. Also, I have stainless steel bolts cause they deform enough to loosen after being torqued down. From a conversation with Matt Phelan, I think we have a new winner for a better timing belt. I'll post up in the respective thread a little later.
 

vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
Went to check on my car yesterday - pretty happy with the IC setup. They still need to do some trimming to get the lower (only?) grille back in place but it's pretty much done.

Very happy with the exhaust setup. They kept the factory B3 tip and preserved the angle so it looks totally stock despite the whole system being 2.5" stainless to that point.

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nh nam vet

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Location
Raymond, NH
TDI
2- 97 Passats , 02 Jetta
Yesterday I changed out the front strut mounts (357-412-331-A) on my DD. After opening the hood, I first removed the non-functional plastic strut cap (1H0-412-359). Since I don't have an air compressor or air tools, I used my reliable Milwaukee HD 1/2" drive impact gun fitted with a 7/8" (or 22 mm) socket to remove the M14x1.5 self-locking hex nut (N10535201). This exposes the strut stop (357-412-319-B)

Next, with the floor jack, I lifted up the car so that the strut began to fall down from the strut tower. I removed the strut stop by unscrewing it counter-clockwise off of the strut stud. I lifted the some more, got my hand in through the fender well over the mounted tire, but I still did not have enough clearance to manipulate the strut mount over the top of the strut stud to remove it. I used a second (bottle) jack under the frame rail under the radiator and was able to lift the body for additional clearance to remove the strut mount, shown here:



Notice that the strut bearing (1J0-412-249), is under the second hex nut. Under this is the front upper spring plate (1J0-412-341), under which contains the spring.

After the new strut mount is installed, first lower the bottle jack and then slowly lower the floor jack to get the strut mount centered in the strut tower. Shown NOT CENTERED here:



My DD got new front struts (Bilstein F4-V36-4058HD) first at 235K miles and then then the same Bilstein's again at 273K miles. These new strut mounts might just be a bandaid at 334K miles. Time will tell. Jeff
 

Stromaluski

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Location
Greenville, SC
TDI
'67 Deluxe Bus, '80 Rabbit Truck, '92 Corrado, '10 Cup Edition
My DD got new front struts (Bilstein F4-V36-4058HD) first at 235K miles and then then the same Bilstein's again at 273K miles. These new strut mounts might just be a bandaid at 334K miles. Time will tell. Jeff
You got less than 40k out of Bilstein HDs? I'd think there's something else wrong, causing the struts to wear prematurely... Bilstein HDs are usually awesome struts.
 

Bob S.

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Location
Central MD.
TDI
A B4V, some ALHs & BRMs
I feel as though I am finally a B4 owner. Over the past 2 years, only very minor issues (driver's door latch, coolant elbow webpage (thanks Choochlyman for your product), blend door repair, oil cooler seal, etc.), then on Friday, the infamous no start with known good battery. Fortunately, I coast down hill & gear start it. Now to diagnose the cause: Alarm, starter or ignition. Again, I now feel like I belong. Thanks to those that have contributed to the knowledge base.
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Yesterday I changed out the front strut mounts (357-412-331-A) on my DD. After opening the hood, I first removed the non-functional plastic strut cap (1H0-412-359). Since I don't have an air compressor or air tools, I used my reliable Milwaukee HD 1/2" drive impact gun fitted with a 7/8" (or 22 mm) socket to remove the M14x1.5 self-locking hex nut (N10535201). This exposes the strut stop (357-412-319-B)

Next, with the floor jack, I lifted up the car so that the strut began to fall down from the strut tower. I removed the strut stop by unscrewing it counter-clockwise off of the strut stud. I lifted the some more, got my hand in through the fender well over the mounted tire, but I still did not have enough clearance to manipulate the strut mount over the top of the strut stud to remove it. I used a second (bottle) jack under the frame rail under the radiator and was able to lift the body for additional clearance to remove the strut mount, shown here:

Notice that the strut bearing (1J0-412-249), is under the second hex nut. Under this is the front upper spring plate (1J0-412-341), under which contains the spring.

After the new strut mount is installed, first lower the bottle jack and then slowly lower the floor jack to get the strut mount centered in the strut tower. Shown NOT CENTERED here:

My DD got new front struts (Bilstein F4-V36-4058HD) first at 235K miles and then then the same Bilstein's again at 273K miles. These new strut mounts might just be a bandaid at 334K miles. Time will tell. Jeff
Did you contact Bilstein about replacements or warranty? I think they're covered by warranty for life and they will rebuild them.

Steve
 

nh nam vet

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Location
Raymond, NH
TDI
2- 97 Passats , 02 Jetta
In response to Andrew S. and Steve A. about my Bilstein front struts, I did go back into my Pendaflex files for a more thorough look-see.

I ordered my Bilstein F4-V36-0406-H1 HD front struts from Import Replacement Parts for $269.28 on 3/05/10 and I installed them on 3/29/10 at 235,625 miles.

It looks like I changed everything but the front (Bilstein) struts on 4/12/13 at 273,514 miles: front strut bearings, strut mounts and spring plates. So I stand corrected; I did not change the struts at this time.

I have had a strut failure on my DD, however. My OEM right rear strut seized up on a February winter day in 2010. According to my records (I know, I've been called OCD among more colorful names), I R&R'd the rear struts and did a rear brake job on 2/26/10 at 234,161 miles. Those rear Bilsteins cost about the same, $263.90 for the pair from Discount Auto Shocks.

On another note, yesterday I got my back up plan B4 Passat into the garage and up on RhinoRamps for a 7" lift and then used the floor jack and jack stands for rear end access. My rear rotors are sad looking and I wanted to spray everything that I could with Aero Kroil (thanks for the tip Abacus) to help loosen those 8 mm cap screws (that hold the caliper carrier bracket) and any other bolt or screw that might give me a fight. Especially targeted with Kroil are the caliper bleeder screws. I purchased more than one disc caliper because of a snapped off bleeder screw and I confess that I've paid for at least one rear caliper carrier bracket that I managed to break.

The back up plan has ABS so there is more hardware and wiring here in the back. It looks like I saw a fixed disc on the passenger side. Anyways, I'm going to let the Kroil saturate for a week or so before I tackle this job. Jeff
 
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vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
Got my car back from the fabricator finally. Very happy with their install job. Still wish I could have kept the stock airbox though...



Little trimming to the lower grille...



They added some reinforcement behind the lip so it has some support.

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