What did you do to your MKIV today?

I replaced the serpentine belt tensioner and fixed the leaky injector lines that didn’t reseal properly after my fuel gelling incident. Also determined that I killed my fuel gauge when drilling out the sending unit

Are you sure you killed your fuel gauge, or did you possibly not line up the arrow on the sender with the mark under the back seat?

Finally got around to replacing original vacuum hoses, replaced brake fluid and new rear rotors and pads.

Well, I spent days troubleshooting one issue with the Pioneer HU (the new 4201NEX): phone would only play through front left channel. Even got an RMA of a brand new unit then switched over the wiring and plugged that in with the same result.

Finally got a smart guy at Pioneer who had me check the front right channel to see if it was operating, and sure enough, it wasn't. I troubleshot that - turned out to be a loose RCA connection at the amp.

However, even after that, my iphone played primarily through only the front left channel, which is absolutely unacceptable for real world use in my car.

So, found out the Alpine ILX-207 does support a choice of ALL speakers for phone output, and ordered that. Looking at the manual, looks like the Alpine is so damn superior to the Pioneer in pretty much every way that counts I'm amazed Crutchfield doesn't have that set out clearly in their list and description: the sound controls are granular to the point of stupidity (almost). Complete level controls over everything, time-delay settings for, like, everything, cross-over controls for like, everything. Control over phone output volume levels to the nth degree.

They even have their own backup camera - the one provided with the Pioneer sucked ass, like looking at a TV broadcast from the 60s - and a custom license plate that the camera plugs into.

So, that'll come in a few days. However, I just put the Jetta in for a major transmission/front brake upgrade with Brandon at Metrick Methodz, which won't be done for a while. Still, progress!

That doesn't look bad, but I assure you that the NEX series from Pioneer plays phone audio through all the speakers. I've had a 4000-NEX in my Mazda now for over two years and I love it.

The good news is that the Alpine does play FLAC files, which is important to me. What I don't know is whether it can handle an SSD on the USB port and work properly with it (the Pioneer DOES), which has turned out to be an ESSENTIAL feature for me since my nice fat 120Gb SSD mounted up above the glovebox means I have my entire audio collection with me (in FLAC format!) plus a selection of MP4 format movies I can watch as well.....

I think you got a lemon -- in addition that Alpine is IMHO hideously expensive on a comparative basis.

Genesis, it sound like he got TWO lemons since the replacement unit for the first one had the same problem as the first did.

Yes, the Pioneer guy said specifically that phone calls only come out the front two channels. I dug into every possible menu option, as did Crutchfield, and there's simply no other setting.

The Alpine is all of $200 more expensive, and based on the user manual and degree of control of literally everything, it's a damn bargain. I'm betting the end-result sound is far far superior to the Pioneer as a result.

This weekend I replaced the coolant sensor and thermostat.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=5372513&postcount=164

For the record, I HATE state inspections. NHTSA's own data shows that an inspection program does not alter one bit the rate of crashes. Ergo, they are nothing but a scam to fleece the public.

Replaced diver's door lock module. All appears to be OK.

door lock module

aja8888 said:

Replaced diver's door lock module. All appears to be OK.

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Where did you get your door lock module? Can you post a link?

mrowens33 said:

Where did you get your door lock module? Can you post a link?

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Got it here:

https://www.germanautosupply.com/

$105 to my door. Genuine VW part.

I replaced my fuel filter today. Runs nice and smooth now

Replaced fuel lines. Did a diesel purge. Put in new filter. Diesel purge was a little wierd. The inline filter was really clean. Ive done a few other purges in the past and each time the inline filter got pretty dirty. Nothing this time. Double and triple checked to make sure i had all the lines coming and going from the right places. I was pretty anxious to see if the new fuel lines would help my random hard starting problems I’ve been having. i didnt have a lot of patience with the purge and kinda cut it short. Car definitely starts differently. Pretty much consistently fires up in about 2 seconds. Had one start that was long and similar to the problem with hard starts prior to new lines. I’ll give it a couple days to see how it goes. Not sure what to check next. Maybe timing...

Alternator & Tensioner

Last Thursday I was going to go see my old boss. Haven't seen him in a while.

Got about 5 miles from home & the car seemed to shudder a bit and I lost some power.

Then I noticed the alternator light was on.

Pulled over, opened the hood and saw a bit of smoke behind the injector pump. Also the alternator belt was not turning.

Shut the car off, the smoke stopped so I cut the belt off. (not even a year old Gates Green Stripe)

Alternator was seized tight, the clutch pulley working.

Turned around and went to the repair shop I help on the side and had a local parts store deliver a reman AC Delco alternator. The seized alternator also was a Delco unit I installed several years ago at 120K miles or so. Now 257K or so.

They had to get it so it came late day and I installed it. I did notice it had a Bosch regulator.

I decided to try putting the tensioner on from the bottom to see if I could get the bolts easier.

Could not get it in and when I was pulling it down it hung on something, slipped out of my hands and down to the floor.
Pulley had a big dent.
Had to order it for Saturday delivery..

It was faster for me to pick it up Saturday AM. Few miles out of the way.
Started the battery on 2 amp charge while I finished up everything.
Let it charge about 3 hours.
Alternator test was OK, a bit over 14 volts.
It came with the test sheet from Delco, it peaked at 181 amps at 6K RPM.
Ripple pattern nice.
I did a light load test and saw 146 amps from it at about 3K RPM.

On the road again.

I fought with my IP, and found that I'll probably be pulling the pump to send to DFIS.

I'd had a little bit of leakage from the quantity adjuster after the timing belt change and doing some hammer adjustment to correct the IQ.
While doing the re-seal I found a good bit of metal shavings stuck to the magnet between the QA and the lower housing. Afterward I'm finding QA high limit, low limit, and intermittent fault codes.

So, off to find another IP or send this one in and hope for a fast turn around.

Got my car back from Brandon at Metrick Methodz. New used six speed, PD150 clutch, ball joints, spindles, 337 front calipers, new pads and rotors, dieselgeek short shift.

About 1800 RPM at 70, 2200 RPMs at 80, smooth as glass and quieter. Still getting used to the clutch and shift pattern, but WOW. So quiet it’s like a 2015 now. 70db at 70mph, 73db at 80. The heavier flywheel is so much better suited to these cars....

Judson said:

Got my car back from Brandon at Metrick Methodz. New used six speed, PD150 clutch, ball joints, spindles, 337 front calipers, new pads and rotors, dieselgeek short shift.

About 2000-2100 RPMs at 80, smooth as glass and quieter. Still getting used to the clutch and shift pattern, but WOW. So quiet it’s like a 2015 now. 70db at 70mph, 73db at 80. The heavier flywheel is so much better suited to these cars....


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Sounds great!

My MKIV 2001 Jetta now has brand new ECS tuning Poly Bushing control arms, new sway bar bushings and new Bilstein end links! It drives like a new car now and NO more clunking noises! I love it...!

Judson, yes, those 6spds are really nice! Nothing like running up to 80mph and then hitting another gear!

"Tanko" (my car) got a new MAF. I'd done some logging a while back and the numbers looked fine. But, I was struggling to maintain my 50mpg average; and, my Ultragauge was showing lower numbers than I'd once been accustomed to seeing (this is over the course of nearly 3 years that I've used the Ultragauges, so I pretty much know what to see- winter conditions aren't the reason): also had seen dropping FE readings from the wife's Ultragauge prior to the MAF totally crapping on her car. Had a new MAF laying around and popped it in. BAM! Ultragauge is showing higher FE (not like this is the gold-standard of measurement) and it's apparent that my actual FE is in fact higher (looking at tripometer and fuel gauge). Performance is also noticeably better: Ultragauge is showing boost hitting 20+ (not adjusted) vs, 18-ish before. I point this all out because MAFs can be slightly degraded and still be in-spec yet deliver degraded FE and performance. I installed this MAF after a fresh fill-up so I should be able to get a fairly decent idea on impact: it's looking like about 2mpg improvement (funny thing about this is that it's only about 5%- one could say that my old MAF was operating at 95%! [pay-off for new MAF, based on 5% improvement in FE, would be 35k miles!]).

Finally found the source of the faint fuel smell I'd get after the car was parked inside for a while. An injector return line had gotten spongy and was damp. Replaced all of them, smell gone. I love how simple some fixes are on these cars.

Oh, and I filled it up. 748 miles, 16.25 gallons. 46 MPG. Not bad for short trips in the dead of winter.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

Oh, and I filled it up. 748 miles, 16.25 gallons. 46 MPG. Not bad for short trips in the dead of winter.

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Was this the Passat or the Jetta?

Upgraded my Malone tune for a VNT delete and today I changed the CPS; topside. While fiddling around down there I realized that the lower half of my engine needs a good cleaning.

wonneber said:

Was this the Passat or the Jetta?

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'02 Jetta Wagon.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

'02 Jetta Wagon.

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I didn't know the Jetta would hold that much vented.
I was barely getting 600 miles on a tank.
Now using the car mostly local I barely get 500.
Maybe time to de-ventinize.
Thanks.

wonneber said:

I didn't know the Jetta would hold that much vented.
I was barely getting 600 miles on a tank.
Now using the car mostly local I barely get 500.
Maybe time to de-ventinize.
Thanks.

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Some say that the total vented capacity including the filler neck, topped up to the brim, is about 16.9 gallons. The most I have ever added was 16.44 gallons -- I know it is safe to go about 80 miles beyond the point when the "low fuel light" is lit, but I get nervous when I've gone 40 miles, as I worry that someday the fuel gauge will, for the first time, be less than accurate.

TornadoRed said:

Some say that the total vented capacity including the filler neck, topped up to the brim, is about 16.9 gallons. The most I have ever added was 16.44 gallons -- I know it is safe to go about 80 miles beyond the point when the "low fuel light" is lit, but I get nervous when I've gone 40 miles, as I worry that someday the fuel gauge will, for the first time, be less than accurate.

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Max I've gotten in MY vented Golf is 15.375 gallons: I show higher numbers for the wife's car but am unable to discern whether they were multiple fills (pumping a couple of gallons in order to ensure making it to the station for a complete fill-up). I am wanting to say that I once got close to 80 miles post-fuel light, but that was a long time ago and when I was first trying to hit 700 miles on a tank (not-vented then): vented I've gotten 800+ mile tanks out of all three of my Golfs. Now I limit myself to about 40 miles as all sorts of things could happen to kill the 80 mile range (never fails that some odd traffic issue will pop up and then all of a sudden one is going going from doing 50+mpg to 30mpg!).

My fuel gauge lost calibration at around 350,000 miles. So i dont even believe it anymore. I have vented 15.6 on my 03 jetta but i always try and fill up at 725 miles. My average is around 47mpg at 75 mph. This was before my new egr intake and ic cleaned and with fresh fluids all around.

I'm hoping that I'll be getting better fuel economy after today, as I just got done putting in a new IP, filter, and doing an oil change while I was at it.

I mentioned a few days ago that I'd started to re-seal my IP due to a faint amount of fuel leakage from the IP after hammer modding it to get the IQ down to ~4.
When I opened the pump, I found a large amount of metallic debris stuck to the magnet below the Quantity Adjuster, and after resealing and reassembling it, had it fall on it's face a couple of times, once requiring a tow home.

So, a new IP from Cascade German was ordered and installed, and amazingly enough was dead on the timing, halfway between median and upper limits with no adjustment required.

I did have to adjust the IQ, but this pump was able to adjust down to 4.0 with just the electronic adjustment, so I'm going to leave it alone for now, instead of breaking the paint marks from Bosch, on the new pump!

Put it up for sale, well, actually yesterday.