Sweet! Time to start ordering stuff.

Drove it to work today. Smooth and straight down the road, no smoke when I parked at work at all coming from the exhaust. Got a puff on startup, but I've never seen a MKIV that doesn't do that. AC works like a champ with the new (old) blower motor, and zero faulty indicators anywhere. The car is gaining my confidence daily at this point.

But, and I've started a dedicated thread with questions and recommendations, it started with some DMF noise when I parked at work. Knew it was going to happen and no biggie because clutch was planned, just wasn't expecting to possibly be doing it next weekend.

Guess I'm in for opening up the fuel tank now too. Drove it to work friday and saturday nights. Noticed......."hey, that fuel gauge doesn't seem to be moving much." Died on me pulling into my development this morning. Got a gallon, got it started and home, going to open it up tomorrow and clean the contacts. I think sitting for the 7-8 months that it sat froze up the sender. Hoping I can get it working rather than dropping $200+ on a new lift pump assembly.

Well, two problems solved it looks like. 1, the lift pump wasn't installed in the proper orientation. The arrow was pointing at about 7 o'clock or so instead of the 6 o'clock position. Previous owner told me after the dealer had it out and back in it never read a full tank, only about 3/4. That would explain that.

Second problem, sender. I don't know WHY you can't order JUST a sender for these, as it literally clips right on to the bucket, and I removed it to clean the contacts. Just a little integrated clip and it was free after removing the two lines. It was BLACK. No wonder it wasn't reading. Cleaned it up good, and used a multimeter to verify resistance was changing smoothly without gaps throughout the range. Should be good.

Bless VW for making it easy to get to the in tank pumps. Them and Toyota. Having been a GM guy my entire life, mainly F-Bodies, cutting a hatch just sucks.

Nice progress

Well, crap. Clutch is out, had to cut the center section of the DMF out because it had shifted and I couldn't get to the flywheel bolts. But that's not the problem. Rear main was seeping, but the main oil leak is from the pan. There's a hairline crack I can't even see but can watch oil seep from. Yaay.

Man, other than the DMF separating and spinning, the stock clutch looked AMAZING for having 225K miles on it. I was SHOCKED when I pulled it.



New rear main seal and clutch are in though. Should have it back together and running tonight. Would have been father along buy my buddy (who has a 2012 Golf R) just picked up a 2008 VR6 4Motion Passat Wagon (unicorn!) and we had to go to a VW meet with it today. Nice car.

Ordered an oil pan (free gasket...nice!) and Speed Sensor (don't ask......just a whoops on my part) from ID parts last night. Going to get it back together today and hope the Speed Sensor that's on there works until my stuff gets here later this week. Knocked the top half of the speed sensor off when dropping the trans, put a hairline crack on the back side of the housing. Anticipating that one will be fubar. Oh well.

Well, my cherry popping first ever FWD clutch job is over and was a success. This has the 14lb flywheel (weighed 15lbs when I checked it) but the chatter really isn't that bad at idle. The pedal is freaking LIGHT though, and my only complaint is the engagement point is really far down, nearly on the floor. We verified before we put the car down on the floor that we are getting full disengagement. Just a personal preference thing for me (my Corvette engagement point is really high for reference). Drives fine, feels fine, a lot more piece of mind now.

Also put all new Rein Motor, Trans, and dogbone mounts in the car while I was at it.

Later this week I'm going to be replacing the oil pan and the speed sensor I cracked the housing on. Should be good to go after that hopefully.

Side note, had the IC to Manifold charge pipe off to do the motor mount today........seems I got the majority of residue from the cold side when I cleaned it. Just a slight oil residue on the inside of the pipes, left a tiny smear on my finger after wiping through it. Seems to be burning very clean. Pretty happy with the carso far even if I'm into it for more than originally anticipated.

Fastbird said:

We verified before we put the car down on the floor that we are getting full disengagement.

Click to expand...

Just curious, how do you check for full disengagement?

wonneber said:

Just curious, how do you check for full disengagement?

Click to expand...

Hanging in the air there are a couple of big indicators. When starting, if there's any disengagement issue, the wheels will tick forward. Then also, just sitting in gear, clutch out (pedal on the floor), check for wheel movement when none should be present. I run through that basic check on any clutch job I do and it hasn't failed me yet.

OK, never tried it up in the air like that.
Have to remember that one.
Thanks

ID Parts knows how to ship fast. New pan and VSS is here. Gonna swap those tonight and car should be good to go.

I had no idea that the pans were so THIN. Why in the heck did VW make such an important piece like that out of such thin aluminum? Makes no sense.

That was easy. Almost too easy. Like something should have gone wrong easy.

New pan is up and on, and VSS changed. The ID parts pan fit ok, but left a gap between the pan and flywheel when properly aligned. Small, like 1/16th of an inch, but still, a gap that had to pull closed.

Oh yeah, noticed today the tires on the stock rims, are SNOW tires! What an excellent excuse for new wheels/tires after this coming winter.

Impromptu clean up. Cleaned up nicely (I did remove the remnants of the "GOLF" logo on the rear hatch right afterwards). Front bumper, hood, and rear bumper need paint. And I need to do side skirts to hid that big dent on the passenger side rocker. But all in all not too shabby.

Fastbird said:

Taking things apart already. Can someone tell me what this sensor with the cut wire is? I didn't find an end to the wire

yet........and no CEL's tripped, but I'm curious.

Click to expand...

I checked my car, the harness for that heater enters the boot / connector just to the north east in your photo. Slide the boot off that connector and you should find the other end of that cut harness.

About your intake, how thick was the buildup ?

Thanks for that! I'll take a look. Didn't throw any notification using a VCDS Autoscan....not terribly worried.

Intake build up wasn't NEARLY as bad as expected. It had a layer, but it was pretty thin. Absolutely nothing like any of the ALH intakes I've seen.

So, topped off the tank for the first time yesterday and set it to duty. Sold our Chrysler Pacifica in one day (listed it Wednesday afternoon, showed it and shook hands Thursday afternoon, accepted payment this morning) so ready or not it's go time for the Golf (it's ready).

Driving impressions of the Sachs G60/VR6 setup with the 14lb flywheel. Not bad. Smooth, idle clatter is NOT that bad (noticeable from within the car but just sounds like the dieseling gets louder), the light pedal and low engagement make for easy driving.

If you ever need to the oil pan again, they make a hybrid oil pan with a steel bottom on it. I believe you can purchase one at ECSTUNING or Darkside Developments.

Found the links for anyone interested.
Darkside Hybrid oil pan
ECSTuning Hybrid oil pan A
ECSTuning Hybrid oil pan B

Otherwise nice progress on the car thus far.

Fastbird said:

Thanks for that! I'll take a look. Didn't throw any notification using a VCDS Autoscan....not terribly worried.

Intake build up wasn't NEARLY as bad as expected. It had a layer, but it was pretty thin. Absolutely nothing like any of the ALH intakes I've seen.

So, topped off the tank for the first time yesterday and set it to duty. Sold our Chrysler Pacifica in one day (listed it Wednesday afternoon, showed it and shook hands Thursday afternoon, accepted payment this morning) so ready or not it's go time for the Golf (it's ready).

Driving impressions of the Sachs G60/VR6 setup with the 14lb flywheel. Not bad. Smooth, idle clatter is NOT that bad (noticeable from within the car but just sounds like the dieseling gets louder), the light pedal and low engagement make for easy driving.

Click to expand...

G60/VR6 clutch with a VNT17/Stage 4? Your going to get to do your 2nd FWD clutch job real soon, lol....

Kevinski4 said:

G60/VR6 clutch with a VNT17/Stage 4? Your going to get to do your 2nd FWD clutch job real soon, lol....

Click to expand...

I don't think so. We didn't buy the car to drive it hard. The Turbo made sense because it was literally $75 more than a factory replacement and the tune pairs well with the turbo. Doesn't mean we're going to be running around at WOT all the time. It's going to last just fine with what we're using it for and how we drive it. No reason to go and pay 2-3x as much for an overpriced clutch when you're not going to utilize it.

So car has been GREAT since last update. Gives a small puff of start up smoke (never seen a MKIV that doesn't at this point), but other than the small factor, is doing my wife just fine. She's probably going to see over 500 miles on the tank which I'm ok with considering hers is exclusively city driving at this point. Just wish diesel would stop going up in price.

I thought I'd try something tonight since I was bored. Glad I did. Color me surprised. This was using Menzerna IP by hand (if I broke out the polisher it would look TONS better). I'm VERY pleased with how it came back given it's prior state. Top pic was after doing a single pass on the right half. I did another then two on the left. Bottom is after.

Well, after a few weeks with the car.......we're viewing it as a semi-failed experiment, lol. Car is fine, but it's just too small for the family to really be usable for anything other than in town stuff, and that's marginal at best. I REALLY enjoy driving the car myself, but that would mean giving my 12 Passat up for it and I don't enjoy it THAT much, lol.

We're on the lookout for a "right car at the right time" 15 TDI Sportwagen. Looked at a few already and have narrowed down what we want to get, just waiting on one to pop up that's close enough (Found a SWEET one, loaded SE with 36K miles for $16.5K, but it's in Southern Cal.....not optimal for me due to work scheduling). Anyone interested in a nice 05 Golf, lol?

Well, this changed quickly. So.........

Selling it to a co-worker tomorrow or Thursday for $4K (just a LITTLE more than what I've got into it, but definitely NOT taking a loss), and I dropped a deposit on this tonight, and will drive with a friend on Friday up to Minneapolis to pick it up and bring it home (the one I mentioned in CA sold quickly):







A fully loaded 2015 VW Golf Sportwagen TDI SEL. Every available option, was a dieselgate buyback currently on the Stage 1 Fix (software). 31K miles, one owner, got it for $18K flat. It popped up in my search this morning and I pounced on it. Turns out the dealer IT guy mispriced it, was supposed to be at 20K, but they're honoring the $18K. Deal as for the mileage this is the cheapest SEL I've come across. The ONLY drawback is it's not a CPO at a VW dealership. A risk I'm willing to take.

We test drove one locally and found it to offer exactly what we need in terms of size without being too big.

It's a shame about the 05 Golf. It's actually a fun little car and a hoot to drive, and got solid mileage for a Stage 4 VNT-17 BEW. My wife just went to Delaware and back over the weekend, and averaged 48.6 MPG at 70 with the cruise control and air conditioning both on the whole way. Hopefully the 15 does a little better.