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

Made a trip to the JY today. Of course it was like the hottest day of the month but I had finally decided I wanted to change to the sport seats in the wagon. I knew these were there, they had been for quite a while and as such they're dirty! I will need to spend some considerable time cleaning these though.

I also picked up an additional seat cushion to replace the driver which has a tiny hole in it and a base so the passenger seat has height adjustment too which it didn't have from the factory. I also bought some additional black fabric just like these from a couple cars where the seat backs had been protected.

I also bought the rear seats so if I eventually decide to use these in the Jetta TDI I'll have the rear cushions in this striped pattern, and, unlike the seats I have now in the Jetta TDI, which are from a 97 GT, These are split 60/40 in back which is what I always wanted.

While the bottoms can be pretty easily dismantled for cleaning, the upper sections with the big bolsters are always a pain to take the covers off of. I might just clean the uppers with fabric still installed, then again I wouldn't be able to install the heating elements that I'd like to install in these.

Steve

Nice catch! Please post an after pic

lisab4 said:

Nice catch! Please post an after pic

Click to expand...

Will do, this car came up for sale locally two years ago but the owner claimed he couldn't get a title for it because he never transferred it then lost it. I looked at the car, and arguably the seats were much cleaner back then but didn't want to risk the non-title situation. When the JY I frequented ended up with it I wasn't sure how they did it without title except that they could declare it abandoned I suppose.

If the car would have been spotless I might have bought it and converted to diesel, it was 95 Golf Sport (GTI in all but name) with 2.0L but had AT so that made things worse and it had some rust underneath and appeared to have been in an accident too. It also had bad AT.

I also managed to snag two perfect Mk3 tilt column clamshells too, those are now unobtainium!!

Steve

Steve- were you planning on using the factory heat pads or aftermarket? Been hearing a lot of decent stuff about the new carbon stuff.

I’ll start looking at those clamshells... Rotbox needed one and I found one in the JY. I didn’t realize they were rare or sought after.

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

Steve- were you planning on using the factory heat pads or aftermarket? Been hearing a lot of decent stuff about the new carbon stuff.

I’ll start looking at those clamshells... Rotbox needed one and I found one in the JY. I didn’t realize they were rare or sought after.

-Todd

Click to expand...

Todd
I was planning on using the OE heating pads since I have a complete set of seats from this car originally that has heat pads and I'm not going to use them ever again.

Interesting about the carbon stuff, send me a link for those if you can, I'd be interested in replacements that are new so there's less opportunity for future failure.

The clamshells tend to break when you take the screws out. The small posts that the screws go in to are too slender and they fracture too easily. I've been able to get them undone by taking my sweet time and being very gentle removing the screws. Too quick a turn will snap the post off and then you're done.

They aren't rare so much as they are just hard to get intact now with most of them breaking after being taken off a couple times.

The crop of Mk3's (at least in this area) is starting to dwindle pretty significantly and so I'm taking this opportunity to snag any of that stuff that's high demand and known to be low availability. I probably have three or four of the clamshells in unbroken condition now.

My local Upull JY here has zero Mk3 cars right now and the only one that's coming is a disaster of a 97 Mk3 Golf that was in the parking lot last time I was there. The other JY 35 minutes out of town, that I worked for during 2015, still has about 8 Mk3 cars that are there for the picking. I plan to scavenge anything from those that I can since I know from past experience that they often crush willy nilly, like they did with the B3's and B4's, which are now all gone..:-(

Steve

The carbon pads are the ones that are all over eBay or Amazon. I’ll send a link, if needed. The main thing that sets the pricing seems to be the switch options.

I wanted to get a set for the project and also swap the pads in the B4s. I won’t do the B4s, until I figure out how to get them to work with the factory switches. Supposedly many people have gotten them to work... there’s something about cutting a thermistor out and maybe adding a resistor. Been a while since I looked into it....

I spoke with a guy who ran them in his air cooled VWs and mentioned they work better than the heated seats in his newer VWs.

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

The carbon pads are the ones that are all over eBay or Amazon. I’ll send a link, if needed. The main thing that sets the pricing seems to be the switch options.

I wanted to get a set for the project and also swap the pads in the B4s. I won’t do the B4s, until I figure out how to get them to work with the factory switches. Supposedly many people have gotten them to work... there’s something about cutting a thermistor out and maybe adding a resistor. Been a while since I looked into it....

I spoke with a guy who ran them in his air cooled VWs and mentioned they work better than the heated seats in his newer VWs.

-Todd

Click to expand...

I'll take a look, let me know if you run into the info on how to adapt to factory switches, I won't do the aftermarket pads unless I can keep the OE VW B3 dash rheostat controls.

STeve

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=38816&highlight=Heated+seats&page=7

Starts at post 94. It’s about the A4 chassis, but I think the info may be relevant.

If you make headway with it, please share the info.

-Todd

Well, something is up with the Rotbox. Went to start it, to ease edging the lawn, and it had a dead battery. No big deal, I grabbed the Noco jump pack and cranked and cranked and cranked.... no bueno.

I didn’t see any fuel moving in the clear line, so I grabbed the vacuum pump to prime the IP. I was thinking it leaked down, but fuel flowed immediately. System is tight...

I wasn’t seeing smoke at the tailpipe and rain was coming in, so I packed it in, so I could finish the yard work. I’ll scan it later.

I put the battery on a charge and was only seeing 4v and 30% capacity, which doesn’t really surprise me. It’s an old battery and the car hasn’t been started in over a month. Need to get better at that or at least hook up the solar panel.

This Noco GB70 is a beast. I had another LiPo jump pack that was garbage.... this bad boy cranked that engine at least 10x, without breaking a sweat. Before I bought it, I borrowed one my body shop had. I disconnected the battery, hooked the Noco up and it started the car, with the Noco acting as the main battery.... I was sold.

-Todd

Started the icky process of cleaning the striped bucket seats. I knew they would be dirty, but I didn't know it would be this awful. The yuck in the diver seat base cover came out in a flood of dirty water..

Since this is the cover that has to go to the upholstery shop I wanted it cleaned first. I'd already gotten to them with a vacuum so they were significantly better than they were the day I brought them home however, the water does not lie!

The small inset photo is of the sink water before immersing the cover.

I can't wait to see this seat cover dry, I'm just praying that everything comes out. Also oils tend to remove color from fabrics when they're washed out and I'm hoping that doesn't happen.



Steve

Doesn’t really surprise me... that’s decades of sweat, body oils, and other garbage that accumulates over the years. I doubt they ever got the full treatment that you’re doing.

Got back to the Rotbox. Charged the battery overnight and reinstalled it. I didn’t see smoke at the tailpipe yesterday, nor did I see the CEL or GP lights with key on diagnostic, today. Pulled the black 109 and worked it back and forth with no change. Installed a gray 109 that’s been in the B4V’s glove box, for a few years. Car started instantly.

Odd that a relay fails from sitting, but whatever. Opened it up and it smelled a little burned. I may just solder the coil closed or shim it with some solid core and toss it back in the glovebox.

Drove the car a few miles, filled it with fuel, cleaned out some trash, hosed off the floor mats and pulled the front wheels.... I had to deadblow them off. I was hearing a rotational noise, that I was thinking was a dust shield, but it wasn’t. I’ll pull the calipers and inspect the sliders, later.

Wire wheeled the galvanic corrosion from the hubs and the wheel center bores. Applied a thin coat of anti seize and parked it. I also installed the solar panel.

The B4V will need to go back the body shop, soon. Today, I caught my buddy’s retaining wall paver cap while backing into his crazy narrow driveway. The right door and fender got gouged. It would have been better if it were the left side, since I was planning on getting that fender’s rusted lip fixed. Luckily, the damage is below the trim, and the work can be minimized. I want to get 2 areas of clear coat repaired, also.

Not how I want to spend my hard earned money, but I can’t drive it, looking like this.

-Todd

kooyajerms said:

Being such a specific bumper, I truly hope they had a b4 wagon in white. They took it off in daylight on a Sunday, I really doubt I’ll see that bumper again.
Trying to find any replacement will be tough.

How bad does it look without a bumper? Drive it or park it for months?


(Still can’t get these pictures to be right side up)

Click to expand...

I purchased a fender from this ebay.de seller -- they have a white B4V rear bumper at link FYI:


https://www.ebay.de/itm/Stosstange-...221947?hash=item51f032f37b:g:3zkAAOSw2xRYP-w-

Yeah, I agree, it's decades of nasty packed into that fabric. That's 23 years of oil, dirt, sweat etc, hopefully it will all come out.

Here's the water after the 4 hr soak, the first rinse, which wasn't a lot better, but the second rinse was very clear so that ought to be good. The second photo is of the cover, which looks pretty good but it's not yet dry and probably won't be for a day or so. I'm convinced now that the black vinyl will need some dressing.

Steve

Any reason that you don’t toss them in the washing machine, even on the gentle cycle? The fabric is very durable.

I’ve been pressure washing and scrubbing fabric seats with a stiff brush, for years.

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

Any reason that you don’t toss them in the washing machine, even on the gentle cycle? The fabric is very durable.

I’ve been pressure washing and scrubbing fabric seats with a stiff brush, for years.

-Todd

Click to expand...

Todd
I didn't use pressure because I didn't want to push anything further into the fabric than it already was. Nor did I want to push anything from the fabric into the cushion. These have the metal bits in the bolsters to keep them upright and I didn't want cause more damage later on down the road. Now it looks like I'll be replacing both seat cushions (passenger just because I'm picky) so that doesn't matter but I also didn't want water on the seat frame that could cause rust.

I have used the machine before but since these have the wire stitched into the bottom edge to pull them up tight I didn't want to risk losing that and having to thread a new wire through completely. I did manage to remove the metal rods that secure the seat cover to the cushion.

All in all I didn't want to aggravate the fabric any more than it already was from the dirt and oil. I'd like them to last as long as they can.

Given that I'm wondering now whether I should apply some fabric protectant like Scotch Guard? They cleaned up pretty well it might not be all that necessary.

Seat cover is dry, the coloration is the same as when it was still a little wet above so I'm very happy with it. It'll probably go to the upholstery shop today, just hoping that they're not outrageously expensive. I don't have a machine otherwise I would do it.

Steve

I wasn’t suggesting using a 0° nozzle, but if what works for you works, keep at it.

Any time I clean an interior, I Scotchgard everything. It’s a lot of work to do properly and the protection is cheap insurance. Oddly enough, Home Depot was cheaper than Walmart for the carpet and fabric stuff. This has been a few years running and the last car that got the treatment was Rotbox, last summer.

-Todd

2 nights ago, I messed with the AC in the sedan. Body shop said they may be able to get the wagon in next week, and I’m not driving a car with terrible AC.

When I hooked up the gauge set, I’m watching my pressures climb, then drop. One second they’re normal, the next second, they’re abnormal. I’m thinking the TXV is faulty, so I pull the cover. It’s heavily corroded and looks to be the original Valeo. I grab a body hammer and dolly, then start giving the TXV a few whacks.... I have nothing to lose.

Both pressures drop in unison, and it looks like a low charge; I have a leaking condenser. I dump about 14oz in and it’s cooling pretty nicely. Today was 92° and I was seeing 55° on speed 4, high 40°s on speed 3, etc... temporary success!

As long as it lasts until the heat breaks, I’ll be fine. The system is getting pulled apart and flushed to metal, in the fall. New TXV and drier are on the shelf. I’ll leave it in vacuum, until spring.

Tonight I started the timing belt on the wagon. This month marks 7 years and maybe 40K miles, logged since I bought it. Pushed my luck long enough, so I pulled the belt components off and the front pulley side of the engine is thick with oily grime.... I don’t remember ever cleaning these parts.

Cam and IP sprocket, lower timing cover, valve cover and the metal backing plate went into the parts washer. Engine got hosed down with degreaser, brushed and hosed off a couple times.

One of the reasons the wagon is going to the body shop is a rusted fender lip, caused by the factory foam blocks. I yanked the fender liners to pull the p/s foam, and there’s a ton of packed dirt, leaves, that looks like compost, against the a-pillar. Pulled the driver liner and there’s the same stuff, although much less.... hosed it clean. Huge potential for rust, so the liners will need to be pulled at least once a year, to check.

I’ll finish the TB job, tomorrow night.

-Todd

Reassembled the B4V... new timing belt, tensioner, idler, cam seal, VC gasket, VC grommets and air filter. Didn’t bother centering the IP, rotated the engine twice then cranked it.... and cranked it again. No start... frustrated...

I pulled the air box, accordion tube, and idler, marked the IP sprocket and belt, loosened the tensioner, carefully added slack to the top belt span and advanced the IP 1 tooth clockwise. Reassembled, cranked it and it immediately started.

I’ll mess with setting the timing later. Main goal was to get it running, to get it out of the driveway. Supposed to have another tree taken down, Saturday.

Need to order a new v-belt and fuel filter.

-Todd

That seat cover looks A LOT better already!

Decided to look at the reverse issue on the Rotbox. All of a sudden, getting reverse was a major pita. It started at the end of winter, so I ignored it.

Just like everything else, the nut on that plastic linkage part was frozen and the plastic broke, trying to break it loose. The pivot part needed to be hammered out.... the bore was filled with corrosion and was cleaned out with 80 grit rolled around a drill bit.

Took decent parts off a spare tower and greased and reinstalled everything. Shifted perfectly on the first try, although I only got to 3rd gear.

The B4’s PS pump has been howling for a bit. I ran around town looking for some CHF202, returned home and went looking for a spare pump. Tore the place apart and ended up empty handed. I’m thinking I scrapped all of them with the last shed clean out, although I thought i kept at least 2...

-Todd

B4 sedan seat belt light (lower right on the instrument cluster) was flickering on and off when seat belt was worn while driving. A nuisance but not affecting car drivability.


I replaced the switch today and now the red light and seat belt buzzer are not working. Any ideas what's causing this?

There is a seat belt buzzer? In the 10+ years of my B4, I’ve never heard it. Now, it is from the same relay/speaker for the door chime, I’ve not heard it because I pulled out that b*****d shortly after getting the car. I’m fine with a warning noise for lights being left on, but I hate door chimes.

More on the topic requested, there is a switch inside the seatbelt. Have to replace the female end under the seat for this particular problem, iirc.

I hadn’t heard from Pete, and my wagon has been sitting for over a week. I pulled the fender liners and wasn’t driving the car around, without them.

This morning, I went to the body shop, grabbed Pete and took him down to my house. I showed him what I wanted corrected:
- slight rust that ate the lip, on the driver fender. Caused by VW foam, that I reinstalled...
- lifting clear coat on the passenger, outer roof edge
- damage to passenger door and fender, caused by my friend’s stupid retaining wall, along his incredibly narrow driveway.

Pete wanted me to:
- pull the fender and door belt line molding, since the damage was below these. Glad I didn’t have to disassemble the door...
- pull the passenger roof rail and plastic trim
- weld in a dogleg on the driver fender, that he’ll provide... waiting on him.

Everything, but the dogleg got done tonight. I was a little apprehensive about the plastic trim under the rails. Never pulled them before and I was afraid to break them. I haven’t seen a wagon in the JYs for years.

I ended up pulling both sides, because I have a leak that drips into the side tray, on the driver side. Steve A, says it’s coming from a roof seam under these. May as well seal both sides.

Amazing how much dirt makes it’s way under these, but luckily there was no rust to be seen. Hosed the channels out and I’ll take a better look in the morning.

Ordered new roof trim clips and need to find the part numbers for the little rubber cups and tits for the belt line molding.

-Todd

Found the part numbers I needed for the molding, but before I spend any more money, I’ll be looking in the shed for spares I can use.

New PS pump arrived today.... China pump for under $48. Got it on without much hassle, gave it a few hand turns, then topped off the reservoir with some 202. Started it up and I’m still hearing the groaning... wasted $48.

The fluid that came out was green, so I doubt a full flush will accomplish anything. I’m going to look for some additive to quiet it down. Not looking forward to swapping the rack.

-Todd

Scrubbed out the roof trim channels with soap and water and a toothbrush. I didn’t really see any separation or broken seam sealer, so I wrapped the roof rail posts in butyl.

Hosed down the roof and water started slowly dripping inside. I shoved my head in the side compartment, and the water was flowing on the cabin side of the sheet metal. I concentrated the hose on just side window and didn’t see much activity.

I then concentrated the hose on the rear post and got a steady stream. Dried it off and I saw a small area that was missing paint. Dried it off and coated this area with butyl. It was getting dark and I was getting eaten by mosquitoes, so I packed it in.

Heavy rain is expected, so I’ll see if it keeps the inner tray dry. If it does, I’ll paint around the posts with seam sealer and also any areas that are missing any paint.

The look of the wagon without the roof rails is growing on me. I found the part number for the Estate roof trims, for about $150 each. I was going to respray mine, bit I’m considering either making some type of cap or plastic welding then texturizing them.

I found the molding clip pieces I needed, in the shed and swapped them out. Now, I’m just waiting on Pete, for the dogleg. I want to get the car in the shop next week.

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

Scrubbed out the roof trim channels with soap and water and a toothbrush. I didn’t really see any separation or broken seam sealer, so I wrapped the roof rail posts in butyl.

Hosed down the roof and water started slowly dripping inside. I shoved my head in the side compartment, and the water was flowing on the cabin side of the sheet metal. I concentrated the hose on just side window and didn’t see much activity.

I then concentrated the hose on the rear post and got a steady stream. Dried it off and I saw a small area that was missing paint. Dried it off and coated this area with butyl. It was getting dark and I was getting eaten by mosquitoes, so I packed it in.

Heavy rain is expected, so I’ll see if it keeps the inner tray dry. If it does, I’ll paint around the posts with seam sealer and also any areas that are missing any paint.

The look of the wagon without the roof rails is growing on me. I found the part number for the Estate roof trims, for about $150 each. I was going to respray mine, bit I’m considering either making some type of cap or plastic welding then texturizing them.

I found the molding clip pieces I needed, in the shed and swapped them out. Now, I’m just waiting on Pete, for the dogleg. I want to get the car in the shop next week.

-Todd

Click to expand...

That's good progress. So your leak was from around one of the mounting posts? My car has rubber washers around those posts. I'm now wondering if those washers should be replaced before I reinstall the roof rails and trim strips?

I can see that the non-roof rail car would be cleaner but I've always wanted to be able to transport bikes on top.

Steve

I’m thinking it was the tiny chip in the paint. Rain hasn’t come in yet, so it hasn’t been proven.

-Todd

Got home from work and looked at the wagon’s storage tray... perfectly dry. I wasn’t sure how hard it rained, so I pulled the hose out and blasted the area by rear roof rail post... storage tray was still perfectly dry.

Steve called it... the tiny crack in the paint/seam sealer was letting the water in.

Siphoned the sedan’s power steering reservoir dry, then dumped in 12oz of Lucas power steering sealer. Supposedly, cures noise instantly and it gets decent reviews. I must have turned the rack 30 times and it still sounds the same. I’ll wait and see if it needs some tine...

There’s a money back guarantee, so let’s see if they fight me for my $8.

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

I’m thinking it was the tiny chip in the paint. Rain hasn’t come in yet, so it hasn’t been proven.

-Todd

Click to expand...

On my car it wasn't obvious where the leaks were coming from but using sealant on the post bases and on the full length of the panel seam took care of the leak into the rear trays.

Steve

Well, I took a look in the tray this morning and there was water in it. I’m thinking water may be sneaking past the butyl somewhere. I’ll pull everything off and seam seal it to see what happens, before I reassemble the car.

Needed to finish prepping the wagon for the body shop. Instead of having Pete make me a dogleg, he gave me a Subaru fender from his scrap pile. Honestly, I didn’t really see anything wrong with it.










Shot some primer and paint on both sides of the repair, in case it rains again. Shop will do the finish work.

Cleaned and sprayed the roof channel trim. Used Bulldog adhesion promoter and SEM Landau Black. The Black didn’t look even, likely because the trim was sun bleached, so I topped it with gloss black Fusion. Toned out to a satin, that I was looking for.




The rails were painted years ago and faded. Scuffed with a gray pad and spot primed, areas in need. Went over everything with Rustoleum Satin Black.




I’m off next week, so Pete wants me to come up Tuesday and help get the car done.

-Todd