saving another one

A co-worker recently was looking for part of a window switch mechanism for a customer. It was easier to look it up in ETKA by VIN so she grabbed one - mine. For a moment she didn't understand why she couldn't find the window switches, then she realized. Manual windows. She got trolled by my car.

GIDDY_UP_GO said:

Nice looking Golf! What is the color code and name?

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Jazz Blue *I think*. I got the color code off the trunk tag and looked it up (I forget the code now).

I bought some paint from this site, but now use it for reference:www.automotivetouchup.com/touch-up-paint/volkswagen/1999/golf/

"Saw a Beamer on US131 that was simliar in color the other day, looked good"-Think it's called Laguna Seca blue (if you're thinking what I'm thinking). One of my favorite M3 colors....

Patience paid off, I got the turbocharger actuator bolts out finally, soaked them with PB Blaster every week for a month, turned them back and forth a wee bit, and eventually they both came out without any damage.

So new Garrett actuator installed, went for a test drive.... no idea how long they were putting around with no boost, but it must have been a while. Pretty sure you could see that smoke cloud from space.

All cleared up now, runs fantastic again but a little smokey. Going to run some BG cleaner through the tank and top up with fresh fuel.

Changed the oil, air filter, fuel filter, cabin filter, new battery, took the bald Chinapops off and put some used take offs on it for now (had some already on wheels).

Still need to address the shifter. It is pretty awful. But at least it is driveable again!

Our local guru only drives post-blown turbo TDIs at night initially to prevent getting pulled over for the fog. Once the oil is out of the exhaust things get better.

Oilhammer, Do you need a shift tower from an 02J?

I just pulled one out of mine when I put in the short shifter if you want this one...

sawmilldon said:

Oilhammer, Do you need a shift tower from an 02J?

I just pulled one out of mine when I put in the short shifter if you want this one...

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Someone was supposed to send me some shifter parts, but never did... and I do not even think he had everything I needed.

So yes, if you have something that would be awesome.

You can send them to the shop here, let me know what I owe you.

Thanks!

Test drive today revealed it needs a thermostat, and it still has the early ALH hot restart issue. Good time to RC2 the sumbich!

oilhammer said:

Someone was supposed to send me some shifter parts, but never did... and I do not even think he had everything I needed.
So yes, if you have something that would be awesome.
You can send them to the shop here, let me know what I owe you.
Thanks!

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I will head by the shop and snap a pic of the tower just to make sure it is what you need.

Do yourself a favor and grab the shift linkage off a later MK4. Makes a HUGE difference.

I drove three of my TDIs today. Drove the '99.5 Golf to work and on some errands, then the B4 Passat later in the day, and finally my '02 Wagon. The '99.5 shifts differently than the '02, but I wouldn't say it's worse. Throws are a little longer, but the shifts take less effort. The '02 has a TT shifter, so that may make a difference. But I'm going to risk flaming here and say that the B4 shifts smoothest. Sure, throws are long, but it's a pleasure. And although all the shifters are in good shape, these are cars with north of 250K on them (one is way north of that) so they may not shift as the engineers intended. But I prefer all three to the 02Q gearbox in the '15.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

Sure, throws are long, but it's a pleasure.

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Long throws? You would like my '82 Ford F350. Like notchy shifting? Got that covered too!

This car's linkage is actually MISSING something. I can find all the gears, but it takes finesse. There is a bushing or something in the shifter box area that is just flat gone.

But, I also have an issue with the turbo. Keeps overboosting. I have adjusted the rod on the new actuator up and down, makes no difference. The VNT arm feels like it moves freely. N75 seems fine, at least when I test it on the bench. But if I graph the boost, it repeatedly pegs off the chart actual if I get on it much at all, and if I stay in it, it'll go limp.

I did drive it home last night, so it was the first time I actually got to drive it any real distance. It went limp repeatedly on the highway, and eventually the quick key cycle trick was useless. Just drove it the rest of the way home at a leisurely 70 while floorboarded.

Other than that, and the seriously tired struts/shocks, and the abysmal clouded over headlights, it drives pretty good. I forget how much quicker the heat starts working with a functional EGR cooler too.

I know I have a few used late ALH VNT15s in The Archives, I may put one of those on there although I kind of would like to put something bigger on there just for fun. Although RC2 + the stock turbo on the ALH is a pretty decent running package to me. Needs to have the software changed anyway.

OH, does it look like anyone messed with the stop screw on the turbo? I got a guy that keeps over boosting and I finally noticed that the screw was flush with the lock nut.

No, I do not think so. The actuator was rotted out, but nothing looks like it had ever been disturbed under there to me. And it is still the original early style Garrett turbo (with the early lower mounting bracket).

So an update to this little guy:

Put about 43k miles on it since I got it. Finally found out the random turbo issue was the old rusted out VNT actuator let a bunch of debris into the N75. Got that replaced, and it runs perfect. Ended up swapping in a newer 02J along with the entire shifter and linkage... whew! Much better. Did a full suspension refresh on it with powder coated GTI springs, Billy HDs, TT bushings, newer type rear calipers and cables, replaced the tired starter, new glass lense E-code headlamps, a few other odds and ends. Put some 16" NB steelies on it, hope to get it repainted at some point, all the clear is gone from the horizontals.

And to think it was likely destined for the scrapyard or some kid would have put a hood stack on it, drove it for a few thousand miles and blown it up. That is a really nice looking car, I think that color is awesome.

Of course, there is always more... just got this one:



Original owner, 2003, only 104k miles... had a "mishap" of some form, that led to a tooefed engine.

This is a GL, but there is a GLS just like it with a quarter million on it here, too, that may also be in search of a new home. Parked since 2019, the leaky pump is dead, won't reprime and get the engine started. Even if it did, it would start barfing fuel all over the place.

oilhammer said:

So an update to this little guy:

Put about 43k miles on it since I got it. Finally found out the random turbo issue was the old rusted out VNT actuator let a bunch of debris into the N75. Got that replaced, and it runs perfect. Ended up swapping in a newer 02J along with the entire shifter and linkage... whew! Much better. Did a full suspension refresh on it with powder coated GTI springs, Billy HDs, TT bushings, newer type rear calipers and cables, replaced the tired starter, new glass lense E-code headlamps, a few other odds and ends. Put some 16" NB steelies on it, hope to get it repainted at some point, all the clear is gone from the horizontals.

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Having owned a 99.5 Jetta and a B4 with the crapalicious MK3 shift linkage, a can't fathom how anyone (you all know who you are) continues to defend that linkage over the vastly superior MK4 shift linkage.

The best MK3 linkage with new pivots is still a slopfest compared to a worn MK4 shift linkage, let alone a linkage in good repair from a MK4.

If I ever get another car with a MK3 linkage, it'll be the very first upgrade I perform.

My brand new 1998 Jetta's shifter was worse than my 600k mile 2000 Golf shifter, so yeah, those old cable setups were just junk.

In this one's case, the stamped steel shifter box was torn in three spots.... it was beyond any help.

oilhammer said:

Of course, there is always more... just got this one:

Original owner, 2003, only 104k miles... had a "mishap" of some form, that led to a tooefed engine.

This is a GL, but there is a GLS just like it with a quarter million on it here, too, that may also be in search of a new home. Parked since 2019, the leaky pump is dead, won't reprime and get the engine started. Even if it did, it would start barfing fuel all over the place.

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Hmm, my boss is looking for one that exact color. He had one a while back, and ended up selling it because it was in limp mode, and he didn't feel like fixing it... now he regrets that.