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

R&R'd the starter (crapped out on me about 2 weeks ago). While in the area, R&R'd the front engine mount (Interesting jig saw puzzle that area is) & oil change. Now on to the other mounts.

Came home from work, and found this in the driveway.






The painter missed the 2 small primer spots under the rub strip. Not seen, so I'll give it quick spray with some gloss black. I'm not going to break balls...

Pete had actually found another small area of cobwebbing on the passenger door, just under the mirror. I asked him how he believed this rust started, since it didn't start from the inside.

His guesses were bad e-coat, something dinged the paint, letting air through or just a factory paint issue. He mentioned GM had the same issue in the mid 80s.

Need to get the doors back together.

-Todd

I'm new to the TDI group

Still figuring out how to navigate. But if anyone could give me any tipshow to get the maximum performance out of my 1998 TDI Jetta with some minor bolt one and some preventative maintenance/good practices, it would be great. I believe that I have discovered a speed govener I'm not positive, or it could be that the car has nothing left to give. What kind of tuning (ECU) could I do to keep Fuel mileage and wake up some hidden power. And what I should watch out for.
Car has a new water pump and timing belt. 200k
This little car is awesome.
I'm coming from LSX so ik I'm not gonna make ridiculous power but these cars are awesome and it's my first turbo. I want to make it all it can be while retaining the term "stock"

I know others will have different opinions, but with the A3/B4 my feeling is the best thing you can do is get a chip tune and stop there. Perhaps an exhaust that deletes the cat, as that will help the tiny turbo get heat out. But in my experience doing more than that can invite other issues like low speed shudder, high EGTs, and heat soak. These aren't performance cars and the AHU has less headroom for power gains than later cars unless you're willing to change out some significant hardware.

Just my .02.

im gonna go one step up and say chip plus nozzles.

your nozzles are likely original and could use some updating to the modern DLC nozzles.

However, if you go too big you will need an upgraded clutch too so either factor that cost in or tell your tuner you want it conservative enough to use the original clutch.

MPG is mostly a factor of how heavy your foot is, not the tuning - unless you are majorly modded.

I agree on the chip and nozzles.

Just be aware that with 200K on the car, your clutch may be near the end of it's life span. In 2010, I got a tune on my Passat and discovered I would be replacing the clutch very soon.

But with fresh nozzles and a tune, you will be good to go!

Yep, at 200k chip and nozzles will likely find you having a clutch job done in the near term, it will also likely lower your fuel efficiency but that tends to happen when someone does chip and nozzles.

IMO there are other things maint wise to spend the money on but that's just me.

Steve

Todd, you have mis-matched side markers....totally unacceptable .

Steve

Steve Addy said:

Todd, you have mis-matched side markers....totally unacceptable . Steve

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I am surprised the moderators didn't catch that!

Time to put the car back together. Started by digging a lot if the cavity wax out of the doors and cleaning the inner skin. Cleared the drain holes and vacuumed the doors out.




Added some butyl sound deadening to the doors and the door panels. Added some closed cell weatherstripping to keep the grills from vibrating.






Reassembed everything then airbrushed some color on the patches the body shop missed. Aerosol Rustoleum blends pretty well....




I'll install the belt line molding, tomorrow.

-Todd

Steve Addy said:

Todd, you have mis-matched side markers....totally unacceptable .

Steve

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It's a Euro thing. Worth 20 style points....

I may get to swapping them and the B-pillar molding, too. Maybe....

I actually had a bit of a scare, this morning. Pete, left the car in gear... it's something I never do because of the remote starter. I used the remote starter, and I looked outside as I activated it. The B4 lurched into my freshly painted project car, and was pushing it towards the closed garage door. HOLY F**K, I never moved so fast! Thankfully, the car never started.

Amazingly, there was absolutely no damage to either car...

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

It's a Euro thing. Worth 20 style points....
I may get to swapping them and the B-pillar molding, too. Maybe....
I actually had a bit of a scare, this morning. Pete, left the car in gear... it's something I never do because of the remote starter. I used the remote starter, and I looked outside as I activated it. The B4 lurched into my freshly painted project car, and was pushing it towards the closed garage door. HOLY F**K, I never moved so fast! Thankfully, the car never started.
Amazingly, there was absolutely no damage to either car...
-Todd

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Funny story time!

Years ago, as a tech working at a dealership, I was one of the guys installing remote starter kits when they first came out. Put one in the wifes car, relatives, many customers too.

Service advisor stalks me one day asking if I can install one in his car.

"Pete, your car is a standard - they only make them for automatics". (manual transmission remote-starters had not come out yet)

"C'mon - I never leave it in gear, just put it in"

Pete was an Ok guy, so I agreed, on the condition that I do it when we were dead in the shop, and officially, I never touched the car - if anyone came asking about it, I would deny I ever touched it. Pete agreed to my terms.

I did the install a few days later, and Pete was very happy. Remote start worked as advertised, and he always left it in neutral.

Pete enjoyed his remote starter for a good amount of time until... He had one of the lot lizards wash it and park it in a small gravel section of our parking lot.

I happen to be working in a bay, with the door open that has sightlines to the lot, and our drivethrough where Pete works.

The only indication I get that anything is wrong is hearing a car starting, a slight "thump", and Pete yelling and running frantically toward the back part of the parking lot holding his keys (and remote keyfob) high in the air frantically pressing the button.

Turns out that the lot lizard did in fact leave the car in 1st, and the car started in gear via the remote, and idled its way across that aisle into another car. Due to the lot being gravel, the car didn't stall. Rather, the wheels kept turning - digging into the gravel as it mashed bumpers with the car it hit (a Saturn).

By this time I put two and two together and knew what had transpired, just as Pete did the walk of shame back to the drivethrough. As he walked past my bay with me standing there grinning, he looked at me and said simply "not a f****ng word".

He ended up paying $500 or so to fix and paint both bumpers.

Thanks for making me remember!

As planned, I installed the belt line molding and the B-pillar trim that I painted a few weeks ago. Holy crap, that wasn't coming off no matter how much heat I applied! The part I painted had no trace of sealant.






That stuff was incredibly hard. Stripe Off wheel barely budged it.... just made a mess. It laughed at Goof Off and gas. Ended up cooking it with the heat gun until i got a trace of smoke then knifed it off with a plastic scraper.




About 6" of 3M molding tape, and this thing is secure. I didn't bother with the lower rivet. I covered the hole with some black Gorilla tape, and it's barely noticeable.




Vacuumed the car out, then messed around with the amber marker lights in another thread.

-Todd

Spent a little bit of time tweaking (the darn auto correct changed it to twerking the first time, glad I looked at it before hitting post) my driver's door handle & lock. Works effortlessly & is a joy to open the door. After the new starter, it starts like a finely tuned race machine, simple key bump.

Such simple pleasures in life! Now on to the rear shocked & HD wagon springs. I hope the results are as pleasant.

Bob S. said:

I am surprised the moderators didn't catch that!

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I did but cut you some slack since you still have a B4.

I took advantage of my rare Saturday and Sunday off from my job and decided to spend some quality time working on my back up plan B4 Passat. Weeks ago, I had only planned to change my rear rotors and pads but my plans changed when the left rear caliper seized up. Furthermore, to help keep the global economy running, I decided that while I was under the B4, I would also R&R the crusty and rusty exhaust system.

So my stockpiled list of parts for this work was as follows:
- a pair of Zimmermann solid, coated 226mm rotors, 6N0-615-601, 600.1599.20
- a pair of FAG rear wheel bearing kits,WBK5413 and 713 6102 30
- a set of Mintex rear brake pads, MDB1377
- a TRW (Lucas/Germany) left rear caliper, 1H0-615-423D, BHN190
- a Bosal exhaust pipe, 789-491
- a Bosal center resonator, 233-487
- a Bosal rear muffler, 280-781
- three 2 - 1/8" HD exhaust clamps

In hindsight, I should have ordered 4 new 8mm Allen head cap screws for the left and right caliper carrier brackets: M10x1.25x20, N0199123. They certainly are not expensive. I simply wire brushed the threads with the Dremel and coated them with anti-seize compound before reassembly.

The biggest challenge for this job is removing those caliper carrier bolts. I presoaked them a few weeks ago with AeroKroil, and sure enough, they did come off with hand tools. The left rear, with the easiest access (no fuel tank) is shown here:



After the caliper carrier is off, the dust cap, cotter pin, tin castle nut, hex nut and rotor come off. But, unlike my DD, the BUP has ABS, and I found a wheel speed sensor coming through the splash guard:



The other component is what Bentley in T 01-85 calls the impulse rotor and in S 42-27 calls the speed sensor rotor. This component is pressed onto the inside of the disc rotor. Challenge number two is: how does the speed sensor rotor come off? Long story short, the easy way is with lube and a pry bar:



Here's the speed sensor rotor cleaned up and reattached to the inside of my new Zimmermann disc with: the outer race installed, the inner race and bearing installed, and the inner seal installed:



Here's the left side mostly reassembled, only missing the parking brake hockey puck bumper:



I used my old DeWalt DW938 18V reciprocating saw with an 18 TPI blade to make 3 cuts to drop most of the old exhaust and finished up the prep with my new Hitachi G12VA 4 1/2" disc grinder.

After the brakes and exhaust were installed, I drove the B4 briefly and got it back in the garage to test for wheel bearing play. Both sides were a little loose. Since the BUP has those 7 spoke alloy wheels (1H0601025R) with the tiny hub openings, I had to pull the wheels to get access to remove the dust cap with my Channellocks and then snug up the wheel bearing.



Looking good for now. We're done here. Jeff

That previous rotor must have had some ultra grip!

I had to google that speed sensor, as I don't remember replacing one before. Looks like its an ABS component.

kooyajerms said:

That previous rotor must have had some ultra grip!

I had to google that speed sensor, as I don't remember replacing one before. Looks like its an ABS component.

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It is. The front has a similar tone ring. I'm replacing one sensor and both rear discs now as well.

http://[/IMG]I_Red is home and the outside storage has not been kind to her clearcoat. Can the carnage be stopped?
Same can be said for the 66, her fuel system seemed to turn into varnish within a month of seeing sunlight after 5+ yrs of storage.

My '96 had this same issue... my '97 did not. When I had it corrected, I think the body shop sanded off all the clear. It only seemed to have the issue on the upper panels that got sun beaten.

Unfortunately, moisture is getting under it and will continue to lift it. Maybe blow all the loose stuff off with an air gun and feather into the good.

You can get 2K clear in a rattle can if you want to do it yourself.

-Todd

Mcgink said:

http://[/IMG]I_Red is home and the outside storage has not been kind to her clearcoat. Can the carnage be stopped?
Same can be said for the 66, her fuel system seemed to turn into varnish within a month of seeing sunlight after 5+ yrs of storage.

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I'll take the Oldsmobile!!

Steve Addy said:

I'll take the Oldsmobile!!

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If you're seriously interested, LMK. It could happen.

Mcgink said:

If you're seriously interested, LMK. It could happen.

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I need another project like I need a hole in the head. I've always loved Oldsmobiles of that generation, I had a bimini blue 65 Starfire that never made it back on the road before it was sold to someone else but I always wanted one. The body was nice condition but the paint was oxidized and the engine was partially dismantled. I was still in love with it.

My father was an Olds owner from 1949 up until the Ninety Eight was discontinued, at which time he went to the Park Avenue. I remember the different ones we had, 64 & 66 Dynamic 88, 70, 72, 74 Delta 88 Royale, the list goes on...lol.

Having something like that is just not in my future anymore, it would be the wrong direction for me I think, but thanks anyway!

Steve

Topped off the AC system in the sedan. Waited until a humid day and I was pretty soaked after 20 min of standing. Yeah, I know it's not the ideal way to do it, but it works....

I'll probably take the system apart this fall and do it the proper way. Static was a lot lower than usual at 40 static. Took about 30oz of refrigerant to get the low side to 35.

I'm surprised it worked this long. I bought the car 4 years ago and the rad support was pretty banged up. Condenser was bent pretty badly, but I was able to bend it back with 2x4s, prybars, etc.. It worked back then, and I didn't want to open the system, lol.

-Todd

Fixed the newly found coolant leak on the wagon. Seems the KHarley short shifter weight wore a perfect notch in the hose from the tank heater.

It wouldn't leak unless the weight was against the hose. Don't recall if I installed the tank heater before or after the short shifter. Either way, it had to get fixed, which was a major pain.

I considered getting rid of the tank heater, but that would have been an all day project.

-Todd

soo after several weeks and a few &+added miles. last tank was just shy of 43mpg. not bad, although, and it took a lot to go -fairly-easy on throttle, and kept the speeds moderate. -going to hit 95 and i ll be 2 states south, with zipp. but the other tank i was noticeably faster, actually not bad, 70-75+mph up to ~80mph mileage wasnt a big change(for all dat pedal) came out to about 41mpg apx.
right now kind of scratching my head, hard to figure how to get 46mpg at this point, its a minor issue, jus kin'of a fetish or like. with everything being stock. normally, esp on the highway i ll settle for ~42mpg and 'extra pedal'. i have to find cetane boost, had to look around and found some purple(royal? or whatever), dont know if the kind of hefty $17 per bottle paid off/worked out. refuse normally to put that industry std.sludge stuff in my tank, what the PS crap. other than that can be kind of hard to find specific bottles for diesels.(in local stores that is,,).

iluvmydiesels said:

So after several weeks I've added a lot of miles. My last tank was just shy of 43mpg. Not bad, although I had to go rather easy on the throttle and keep the speeds moderate. This was driving down two states on I-95. But the previous tank I was noticeably faster, driving 70-80, and mileage didn't take a huge hit but still went down to about 41.

Right now I'm kind of scratching my head trying to figure out how to get 46mpg, which shouldn't be difficult with everything being stock. Normally, especially on the highway, I'll settle for 42 mpg and drive as fast as I want. I tried some Royal Purple for the cetane boost, and don't know if the investment of $17 per bottle paid off. I normally refuse to put that "industry standard" sludge in my tank, but decent alternatives can be kind of hard to find in stores.

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That's about 10% less than what a healthy car should get, I think. Here are a few things I'd look at:

• Tire pressure
• Brake drag
• Intake clogging
• Air/Fuel filters

As for additive, I always run Howe's and it does me well. Put about 2 ounces in each tank. I seem to notice a slight MPG drop if I don't run anything in it.

yea i kind of remember a good some years ago, getting closer to 45mpg on a light foot. then again thats some time ago, for one i just got this one back on-the-road full time. even the fuel has changed since i pulled that (higher)#. i do believe.
anyways,,.
a run down.
so tire pressure should be ok, have pressures high esp for hi-way speeds. like around 35psi in the rear, some more maybe closer to 40 in the fronts.
just about all-100% of both the front & rear suspension are new, and quality parts. top-notch alignment(he does all 4 corners there). brakes are as well all new, pretty sure no-drag. oh tires are ok, some ok BFgoodrichs.
so the fuel filter should be ok, probably will last one more year, on that. the air filter is getting close to half-life, change her later in the fall. intake should be clear, for one thing i cleaned out the intake, manifold and runners as it were, and im the guy who has now blocked my egr, so should be no-0- more soot in intake, so if anything id be now getting more air flow, so that may hit on the mpg some.
yea i dont happen to have an additive problem, as a matter of fact for the fuel lube i use amsoil, i may plan to buy their separate cetane booster. as its separate iirc. its just in local stores specific diesel bottles you have to find. found what looks like some better anti-gel, dont need it until it gets back to winter tho.

35-40 PSI sounds pretty low to me, I run 45 in mine all the way around and they're 205/70/14s. The stock sized tires I ran about 48 PSI.