What did you do to your MKIV today?

Ahh, steering rack swap...that's good fun isn't it?...lol. Glad you got it sorted.

Welcome to the club.

Ya looks like my memories gone too I posted on here about a year ago. But ya yal got a great site I used one of the how to write ups on the rack replacement since the Bentley has no guidance. Needless to say it was a breeze had the old one out in about 30 mins new one in about 45 had it done off jacks in less than an hour. And on a side note advanced has the greatest deal in town on them racks.

Powerstroke9773 said:

Hey guys first post, iv been a member for awhile now just haven't posted anything. I have a 2002 Jetta and I just did a steering rack replacement and took it to the shop today to get some new shoes and an alignment. Cars been down for 2 weeks while I was getting my parts for the rack replacement. Glad to finally be getting her back on the road and not having to put miles on my other mistress.

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Powerstoke ... did you do the steering rack yourself or have the shop do it? It sounded like you replaced it yourself.
If so, how difficult was it? How long did it take? Did you go with a rebuilt unit of a OEM unit? What did you pay for the rack? Is this something that someone with moderate skills could do?

My problem is that if I were to do this for my poor old 2003, I have to do it in the driveway (no garage) and mid January in New Hampshire is not really the place to do outside work ... your fingers go numb in minutes.

At this point I think I'm ready to sell the old girl (probably luck to get $1,000 for it). The number of things going wrong on it is accelerating fast and I feel I'm throwing good money after bad.

pl4life52 said:

sheesh you paid those prices? ill let the first two slide, but 225 bucks for a rebuild kit is insane. You gotta alot of money my friend

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Yeah I might have overpaid but considering the extra charge I paid for the color alone ($2500) on my Porsche GT4 exceeds my entire recent Jetta clutch and suspension parts costs I'd say it's actually small change in the grand scheme of things.

Can you add an even larger picture of your car please?

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Yeah I didnt even scroll to the side all I saw was the back tire

my bad. I forgot TDIClub was using software older than my very old Jetta. Resized for all you 2400 baud modem users out there.

So to answer those questions first I did it myself. I also completed the job in the shop on the cement floor but I did use a jack no lift or anything however I do have access to impact and a compressor. I like to think I'm pretty handy with a wrench not a pro but like you said moderate. And secondly I paid 178 for the rack 30 for the tie rod ends and then I don't remember the price of the fluid. And its a reman with a lifetime replacement normal price is 338 but advanced will pricematch if you find one anywhere cheaper so I found one online cheaper. There's a real good how to on this website somewhere you can Google steering rack replacement on a Jetta and it should pull up. All in all a really straight forward and very easy just kinda intimidating because you have to drop the subframe. If you have any questions you can pm me I can give you my number and I'll try and answer them.

Very nice... 178 with lifetime warranty, can't go wrong.

I gotta drop the subframe and do the bushings

volksjaeger said:

my bad. I forgot TDIClub was using software older than my very old Jetta. Resized for all you 2400 baud modem users out there.

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lol with my 27" dell ultrasharp the photo barely fits. Don't think anybody requested photos of porsche cayman. You must be such a baller...wowzas!

volksjaeger said:

my bad. I forgot TDIClub was using software older than my 2002 Jetta. Resized for all you 2400 baud modem users out there.

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Just because I've been on the forum since 1999, no need to remind me how slow my connection is in comparison to that GT4 of yours. Nice Ride!

After you get the TDI suspension refreshed, can I borrow the GT4?

Yeah, I know wishful thinking...

Drove my wagon today, low fuel light came on...

Powerstroke9773 said:

So to answer those questions first I did it myself. I also completed the job in the shop on the cement floor but I did use a jack no lift or anything however I do have access to impact and a compressor. I like to think I'm pretty handy with a wrench not a pro but like you said moderate. And secondly I paid 178 for the rack 30 for the tie rod ends and then I don't remember the price of the fluid. And its a reman with a lifetime replacement normal price is 338 but advanced will pricematch if you find one anywhere cheaper so I found one online cheaper. There's a real good how to on this website somewhere you can Google steering rack replacement on a Jetta and it should pull up. All in all a really straight forward and very easy just kinda intimidating because you have to drop the subframe. If you have any questions you can pm me I can give you my number and I'll try and answer them.

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I see the Rack Doctor has a OEM Reman for 179.95 + 30+ for ends (http://www.shop.rackdoctor.net/1999...k-And-Pinion-17995-925576-J.htm?productId=146), my big problem is working outside. Jacking a car up on ice and snow is not the best idea. I'm wondering if there are any TDIClubers out there in the southern NH area that have a garage and help out a fellow TDI'er out.

My other option is to just dump the car (looking at a 2016 Accord 6-speed manual, more room for the family). Who knows what next at 360,000 miles (fuel pump, injection pump, etc...).

Thanks for the info.

where2 said:

After you get the TDI suspension refreshed, can I borrow the GT4?

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If I see any of you guys at the next West Coast GTG I'll give you a ride in my GT4. The funny thing is that I decided a few years ago that I wanted to buy another car as I did not want to put any more unnecessary miles on my beloved '02 5-speed Wagon Unicorn that I have owned since new as I consider it a collector's car since it's still in relatively mint condition even though it has 140k miles.

So I had my eyes set on a 2006 Cayman S which you can pick up for $25k with relatively low miles and it has decent power. Long story short I ended up being allocated a coveted GT4 allocation. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would pay $100k for a car. But after having driven the GT4 for a bit I can honestly say my ALH TDI wagon is in the same league as my $100k GT4 in terms of "value" and fun factor. I look forward to driving my TDI wagon as much as I do my GT4. Both have great manual transmissions and both are a driver's car.

The problem I have now is that I am still stuck with my original dilemma of needing a daily driver so I don't put my miles on my Unicorn or my GT4.

Today after returning my core steering rack to advanced auto I saw they had Bosch icons on sale so I picked up a set can't wait to try em out the next rain we get

Opened up a can of diesel purge and the CEL went out. Interesting.

Seems to be starting ok in cold weather. -10 C.... cycle the glow plugs twice and it fires right up. A little stumble in the idle for about 20 seconds and all good after that. Heated seats are nice!

Heater core back in!

Also replaced the a/c evaporator and foil taped the blend doors.
Heater box reinstalled:

I will now get to the hard part and remembering where all the rest of the pieces go.

Well with me being certain that I had a bad wheel bearing as I had horizontal and vertical play in my MK4 wagon....I swapped out knuckles last night and I have the same symptoms, just not as much vertical play.

I have a bad inner tie rod...now to get messing with that in a day or so :-(

The controls will be useless but the leather will be appreciated...

mrrhtuner said:

Well with me being certain that I had a bad wheel bearing as I had horizontal and vertical play in my MK4 wagon....I swapped out knuckles last night and I have the same symptoms, just not as much vertical play.

I have a bad inner tie rod...now to get messing with that in a day or so :-(

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Real simple job, I was preparing myself for the worst reading the threads on forums about people saying its a tough job, need some special tools, and all this bs... took me about 20 mins to do once i had wheels off

pl4life52 said:

Real simple job, I was preparing myself for the worst reading the threads on forums about people saying its a tough job, need some special tools, and all this bs... took me about 20 mins to do once i had wheels off

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I've done a passenger side inner tie rod on a previous car, was straight forward. Both of mine are bad I will be doing them soon. I dont expect anything major, if I break the clamps ill just use hose clamps

Vacuumed both cars and gave the Golf a bath, also both got their feet cleaned.
Also new floor mats in the Golf, hopefully no more wet carpet.

Removed, cleaned and greased my starter - no longer squeals after startup. Also installed my Frostheater and winter front.

Top side oil change on the MkIV.

Ditto plus several other things to the MkV...

FATCAT said:

What did I do on my MKIV? Well, i went underneath it to look at a steering rack leak on the passenger side to assess the situation.
Another problem! This is getting old!
Nothing like lying under the car on a snow/ice covered driveway in the mid 20's trying to decide if this is a job i can do.
I think it is time to put it up for sale. At 360,000 miles it has been a great car (engine and tranny are bullet proof), but the "every other month its something" think is getting old and when it comes to the winter it is nearly impossible to do anything other than oil changes.

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I did this job myself last fall, just before it got cold. It's really not that bad of a job. Just make sure you have the copper washers (4 of them) and the stretch bolts needed. Oh and don't let the steering wheel turn after its disconnected. Screws up the stability control.
I put up with the leak for awhile. Added Leak Stop which turned it into a gusher. Got the rack from Detroit Axel. Free shipping with free return shipping of the core

Changed the left brake light bulb. Kinda of a pain. Ended up cutting up the foam support for the non-existent disk changer to get to the bulb.

In addition to the new heater core and A/C evap the 04 got:
New valve cover gasket
new turbo and EGR pipe orings
3 spoke steering wheel
reprogrammed the new keys.

Disassembled driver door to tinker with the latch, because rolling down the windows and using the handle on the inside got old after the third or fourth time I had to do it... Lubrication seems to have helped whatever was sticking.

fruitcakesa said:

In addition to the new heater core and A/C evap the 04 got:
New valve cover gasket
new turbo and EGR pipe orings
3 spoke steering wheel
reprogrammed the new keys.

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Fruitcake,

where did you get those o-rings?

mrrhtuner said:

Fruitcake,
where did you get those o-rings?

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My bad, they were for the upper and lower IC connections at the EGR and turbo
these from idparts:
OEM Part Number: 3C0145117 Intercooler O-Ring Seal (Small)turbo to IC
OEM Part Number: 3C0145117F Intercooler O-Ring Seal large IC to EGR

Replace the HVAC light in my wagon.....super easy with the write-up on here....wherever it is lol