Making a Project out of my Jetta

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
My gates kit came with a lithe tensioner. The emblem will be stamped on it. You'll probably be fine.
 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
Just a quick update: I remastered the sway bar bushing video, because the audio wasn't that great. I will do the same with the axle beam bushing video.
 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
As promised, the axle beam bushing video has been remastered. The original voice over was terrible, so I re-recorded it. And I balanced the audio levels. I also updated the video links to reflect that.
 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
I recently had to replace the fuse holder on top of the battery. The fuse for the fan relay literally melted down, and took part of the fuse holder with it. According to Humble Mechanic, this is a common problem. Weird.



I'm guessing the bad fan motor had something to do with it. When the fan motor seized up, it probably drew a lot of current and damaged the fuse. I decided to replace the fan relay as well, since it's part of that electrical circuit.

Here's a quick video:

 

black_slug

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2019
Location
HI
TDI
2004 Golf
I was thinking of doing the very same thing with my rear axle beam but wasn't sure of the front sway bushings you did. I've to reading and asking people their take on sway bars. I think I might just do the front busbings like you did here and call it a day. I definitely want to do the rear beam but I'm not sure if I will go poly or stock. I'm leaning towards poly and passing (for now) on the rear sway.

Tdiclub turned me onto the idparts rear sway, have you considered it?

Personally I'm pretty happy with my bilstein HDs but may do stiffer springs in the future. My ride isn't too harsh at all, but that's all I've ever known on it. I'd rather replace the bump stops and dust covers and keep running them then replace them.

Anyway, glad I found your thread, we seem to both be in about the same place wrt our cars. Good luck!
 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
I did consider it. But I prefer to improve what's already there. That's just how I do things. Plus the bushings needed replacement anyway. Currently, the oversteer/understeer balance is in a good place. So I decided not to add a rear sway bar.

That said, if you want reduced body roll but don't want stiff axle beam bushings, the rear sway bar would be the way to go.
 

black_slug

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2019
Location
HI
TDI
2004 Golf
I did consider it. But I prefer to improve what's already there. That's just how I do things. Plus the bushings needed replacement anyway. Currently, the oversteer/understeer balance is in a good place. So I decided not to add a rear sway bar.

That said, if you want reduced body roll but don't want stiff axle beam bushings, the rear sway bar would be the way to go.
I'm slowly compiling my list of parts. I like the idea of the axle beam bushings over a sway bar--especially after taking a peek at the condition mine are in. I didn't think of doing the front sway bar bushings but that seems like the route for me as well.

I'll be replacing my front upper mounts but I've thought of replacing mounts at all four corners with HD mounts from UROTuning. Have you thought of this or had any experience with these? I'm gonna have the rear apart for the bump stops and what not so I figured it might be worth doing--but maybe not. Just curious what your thoughts are.
 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
I have the HD upper strut mounts, can't really tell the difference. Some people swear by them; guess it depends on the person. I haven't messed with the shock mounts, so I can't offer an opinion on that.

I'm also looking at Sachs dampers, because the existing ones are pretty worn-out. The previous owner put some no-name dampers on it, and they have not held up well. My Jetta is a daily driver, so the suspension can't be too crazy. On a daily driver, I tend to upgrade the tires and sway bars, maybe some of the bushings, and leave the rest stock.
 

KrashDH

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Location
Washington
TDI
2002 Golf
I don't know if this applies to Uro's upper HD strut mounts, but I purchased ECS Tunings HD mounts. I used a set of Billy TC's on them. There was an engineering design flaw in them. They stated that they would work with all shocks when in fact they didn't work with the TC's because of the "circle" clip that the TC's use on the shaft as the mount "stop". The HD mount had a chamfer that would "roll" on the clip and it would cause clunking when the mount would roll over and then hit the shaft. They worked fine with the HD shocks from Billy because they use a washer and a shelf on the piston shaft as the mount stop which has a flat surface so the mount couldn't roll over.

I ran this up the ladder to their team and it sounded at the time like they were going to re-design them. Not sure if they ever did or not. I went back to the "stock" style mounts with the TC's and the clunk was gone. I wrote up an entire thread about the scenario on here.
 

black_slug

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2019
Location
HI
TDI
2004 Golf
I don't know if this applies to Uro's upper HD strut mounts, but I purchased ECS Tunings HD mounts. I used a set of Billy TC's on them. There was an engineering design flaw in them. They stated that they would work with all shocks when in fact they didn't work with the TC's because of the "circle" clip that the TC's use on the shaft as the mount "stop". The HD mount had a chamfer that would "roll" on the clip and it would cause clunking when the mount would roll over and then hit the shaft. They worked fine with the HD shocks from Billy because they use a washer and a shelf on the piston shaft as the mount stop which has a flat surface so the mount couldn't roll over.

I ran this up the ladder to their team and it sounded at the time like they were going to re-design them. Not sure if they ever did or not. I went back to the "stock" style mounts with the TC's and the clunk was gone. I wrote up an entire thread about the scenario on here.
I skimmed your thread and boy it seems that I should just go with standard oem replacements, especially gvien blacktree didn't notice any difference with his.

I'll also probably go with the Cupra R rear beam bushings. Initially I had been looking at whiteline poly's, like blacktree did, but these are cheaper and will get me closer to what I'm looking for I think.

Thanks for chiming in!
 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
It's been awhile since I last worked on the Jetta. In a way, that's a good thing. It means things aren't breaking. Plus I've been busy working on the 'real' project car (the BMW).

But here's a quick update on the catch can in the Jetta. I've been driving the car for about 6 months since installing it. Curiosity got the better of me. So I opened it up, to see what's in there.


Long story short, it seems to be working. It's collecting oil that would have ended up in the intercooler, or as black sludge in the intake manifold.
 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
Just a quick update...

About 6 months ago, I installed Hella headlight bulbs in the Jetta. One of them burned out already. I was careful not to touch the bulb during installation. So I don't think that's the problem. Maybe I just got a bad bulb?

Do any of you guys use Hella bulbs? If so, what are your experiences with them?

 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
The front brakes on the Jetta were getting pretty bad. A couple years ago, I installed PowerStop coated rotors and ceramic pads in the rear, and am very happy with them. So I did the same for the front.

Also, Super Clean sent me some cleaning supplies free of charge. So I tried it out, on the brake calipers and the wheels.

 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
It's been awhile since I posted anything about the Jetta. In a way, that's a good thing. That means the car has been reliable.

However, I decided to check the catch can again, to see if it's working. I checked it a few months ago, but forgot to check the intercooler to see if oil is still building up in there. This time, I corrected that mistake. And I got a nasty surprise.


So... are the turbo seals going bad? That would suck. But considering it's the original turbo with over 250k miles, not really a surprise.
 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
The Jetta was overdue for new shocks and struts. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy bump stops for the shocks. So I could only install the struts. I'll be installing the shocks tomorrow. I used a couple shortcuts to make the strut replacement easier.

 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
And here's the rear shock replacement. This was super easy! I think it took longer to fiddle with the camera gear than to do the actual work.

 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
Well, this is disappointing. The transmission mount only lasted about 30k miles. To add insult to injury, the replacement was also a little loose. Not gonna lie, I'm thinking about getting a tube of urethane window sealer. :cautious:

Anyway, here's a video of the mount replacement.

 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
The valve cover gasket on the Jetta was leaking. Instead of replacing the whole valve cover assembly, I decided to try the BEW gasket retrofit. Spoiler Alert: it was a hassle. But it saved me some cash.

A couple photos:






Here's what the valve cover looks like, with the gasket removed:



There was one spot where the new gasket had to be modified. The gasket has raised sections, that fit into the grooves in the valve cover. One of those raised sections needed to be trimmed back.



The job was quite a hassle. But I got it done. Now my engine is grime-free!



I should have a video up in a day or two, with more details.
 

Blacktree

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Location
Central FL
TDI
'02 Jetta 5-spd
It's been over a month since the valve cover gasket install. I was curious to see if the gasket was working. So I popped the engine cover and took a look.


SPOILER ALERT: The gasket is holding! Nice. :cool:
 
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