What did you do to your MKIV today?

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Not today, but yesterday while the forums were down, went to replace the alternator with a brand new one on a friend's car that I've been deemed 'her mechanic' and the one I got had siezed bearings. So I had to go through my spare parts pile, and out of 6 alternators I had lying around, only one was good. On another note I found a fun way to bench test alternators, involving a drill, carbon pile, and a jumper box.
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
Spent some time with my Son's car. Seems it is in need of attention to an IP leak. Looks to be at the pump head end, so a new o-ring( and the IQ bits required to access that ) ought to be enough. Now the question is, can I do it...LOL
cheers,
Douglas
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
I ended up cutting it off after a couple of really frustrating hours since the band clamp wrench jaws go perfectly closed when you try it out, but when you are using it on a band clamp, it leaves about 4mm gap, just enough so that the clamp won't come off. Ugh.
What clamp pliers are you using? I gave up on wrench/pliers-type tools for those band clamps and went with cable-activated ones like this. Never have a problem anymore.
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
They are a cable type similar to that you show. I had one exactly like that cable head, but one of the tabs broke. Still, had a similar problem with those as with the current set. I think I got them from Jegs.

Cheers,

PH
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
I bought a $20 version of those, and had trouble - just like you said, couldn't fully squeeze the tabs of the band clamp together.

That one pictured (that I bought) is from Astro Pneumatic - ~$40, IIRC. Huge difference in performance from the first / cheaper one I bought.
 

carl20320

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 15, 2020
Location
SW WA
TDI
2004 Mk4 Golf GLS TDI 5spd
Painted the two plastic trim pieces on my Golf Hatch. Was originally gray but painted black. Used VHT Plastic Paint. Really happy with the way they came out looking. Hopefully, they hold up.

Next comes recovering teh headliner and taking out and redoing the sunroof cover and plastic "handle".
 

Hawkins2015

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Location
Southern Indiana, USA
TDI
01 Jetta , 00 Jetta
Hopefully found a coolant leak I’ve been chasing for a few months. It’s slowly been getting worse. Took everything apart once and replaced coolant flange O-ring. I saw cracks, but didn’t see anything poking through. It was getting very brittle and part of the ring face came apart pretty easy on the inside part of the O-ring.


After it continued to leak, I took it apart again and looked harder. I did find that a crack went through to the sensor port. You can just see it in the picture below.


Ordered and replaced the flange with a new one from Idparts. Filling the system now and hoping it no longer leaks.

I also replaced my drivers side headlight again while I was working on it. This side will burn through bulbs about 3 times faster than the other. I have always noticed that the connector looked dark around the middle wire, but this time it looks burnt.



Anybody know what this wire is? Power, ground? I’m guessing I have a short, but will just have to check it out.
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
On my way to work today, saw someone else with a silver tdi wagon just like mine. We waved at each other. Good times. Always nice seeing other people with these cars out there and they're taking such good care of them.
 

hey_allen

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Location
Altus, OK
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
Anybody know what this wire is? Power, ground? I’m guessing I have a short, but will just have to check it out.
To me, it looks like your connector has gotten loose and is generating heat due to the poor connection. This then takes the temper out of the metal, making the connection even worse, and the issues escalate.

While I don't know which wire is which in the connector, I purchased the whole connector from NAPA when I rebuilt my headlights. I'm pretty sure they were ~$10 each, but it's been a few years.
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
To me, it looks like your connector has gotten loose and is generating heat due to the poor connection. This then takes the temper out of the metal, making the connection even worse, and the issues escalate.

While I don't know which wire is which in the connector, I purchased the whole connector from NAPA when I rebuilt my headlights. I'm pretty sure they were ~$10 each, but it's been a few years.
I have seen pigtails for sale at any of the chain stores. Get a good crimp tool, and some heat shrink. Straight, un-insulated butt connectors will serve, and the heat shrink keeps all the electrons where they are supposed to be.
cheers,
Douglas
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
Replaced the turbocharger yesterday and today. Yeah, yeah, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm slow.

Anyway, there are some interesting details that I did not research and was stuck with, in addition to not having time to do anything official (read: buy the right parts before you need them) before I take a trip.

Item 1: the oil supply line. The fitting on the turbocharger is a flare type, and it is about as tight as it can get without welding. Sheesh. To get it off you basically have to destroy that cheapie hard pipe VW is so freaking proud of. And with the bends in the tube and the arrangement of the exhaust manifold, you have no choice. Rats. Well, no time to order one from ID parts and I'm out of work so the available funds reserve is rather constrained. Good thing I bought a steel braid supply line lo those many months ago. The only thing I didn't like about it is that it is barely long enough. You don't have much choice in the routing, so you need to make sure you are prepared for the problem of a rough steel braid that could eat right through one or more of the several coolant, electrical, and vacuum lines that are crowded on the left side of the engine. I did get the replacement in place. Eventually. I've got a few strategically placed pieces of "strong" duct tape in place. I'll have to be checking them frequently to see how they are holding up. I really don't want to be in the middle of nowhere with phantom electrical problems or having all my coolant bleeding out on the ground.

Item 2: If you re-use your axle nuts multiple times, you will eventually find that when trying to torque it to the axle stub it won't hold torque. I was worried because it seemed that it wasn't working well, and I was afraid that the axle stub threads were shearing off. But after some consideration (overnight - I needed to clear my thoughts) I realized that the nut will quit before the axle stub threads will. So I replaced the nut on that side where I had removed the axle to get more room to play with the turbocharger. The lesson to me is that while I think you really can re-use the nut, it would not be a good idea to do it more than twice. YMMV. (And let the flames begin! Not that I'm going to listen to them... ;))

Item 3: My turbocharger was the OEM unit from when the car was built in July 1999. It did pretty well, working nearly flawlessly for 283k miles. OK, maybe not so flawlessly - the boost had tapered off so gradually that I never was sure my problem was due to the turbo. But I digress. It was the old style. The difference is that the bottom brace bracket is 90 degrees off from later units. While the new (and much shorter) drain hose was on the replacement turbo, the new style brace was not. Oops. I ended up using my original one anyway (as if I had a choice) and did some back alley work on it to bend it to fit. There was a small penalty to pay in trimming a bit from the CV boot heat shield to make everything fit, but in the end it works, which is the operative verb here. I also retained the original drain hose. It just looks interesting.

Item 4: Since the lug that bolts to the frame on my weird pancake pipe fell off, my replacement needed a new turbo outlet hose. That is the one that caused me such a headache with the band clamp not wanting to play with the rest of the equipment. Well, the joint there with the new pancake pipe won't hold boost. Never had nearly instantaneous underboost limp mode since I found an intake pipe not fastened into place properly last New Year's at the Ho5G party. And that was my first time. I've tried a couple of times to make really really sure that joint is set in place correctly, but boost blows it apart. Like I said above, I don't have time. I'm going to find some super-duper silicone and glue that bleeping joint so I can go on my trip. I'm just ticked that VW wouldn't fix that joint. It's a pretty good idea, but it won't last and is too easy to come apart if some little thing like bending the retaining wire wrong, or even just a bit of wear from normal vibrations of a running diesel will make it fail completely. Poor design.

I'd be fixing this last item right now, but it finally rained (the driest summer I've seen up here in the 12 years I've lived in NH) so everything is wet. Ugh.

Cheers,

PH
 

Fix_Until_Broke

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Location
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, USA
TDI
03 Jetta, 03 TT TDI
Powder Hound - Just a few comments about your turbo R&R experience...for next time :)

With the oil feed line, use some sort of penetrant (WD40, Kroil, etc) between the nut and the tube. You typically need to counter hold the adapter fitting into the turbo. Start by counter holding the adapter and tightening the nut on the tube. As soon as it moves, work it slowly (only a few degrees at a time) back and forth. Reapply pentrant liberally - it'll puddle nicely in the gap between the nut and tube.

How did you find out that the axle nut won't hold torque? Did it loosen up somehow? Maybe you mean that you couldn't achieve the torque in the fist place (rather than "loosing" torque"

The wire clip turbo outlet hose connection is really robust in my experience. I've put mine through hell and back with 40 psi boost, sustained high temperatures (after 2 compressors, pre-intercooler), rust, road grime and over 200k miles and never had it fail on me. Maybe I'm just lucky? Curious to know how the silicone sealant holds up - there's a pretty significant gap to fill there.
 

sootful

Active member
Joined
Aug 15, 2013
Location
Ottawa, IL
TDI
1997 Passat TDI, 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Got a Stage 1 tune and spent a day washing and waxing the car. I also scrubbed out the interior, again. PO was a machinist and I think he commuted with other machinists because every possible surface in this car has a smudge. It's looking pretty decent now and will get better.
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
The o-ring is still there and in good condition. The joint seemed OK when put together, and it wouldn't pull apart with my tugging, but as soon as I hit the go pedal on the road, it hissed like an angry snake and was apart when I next looked. I think the silicone will work. The o-ring will keep it in the joint until it cures, and I'll be leaving it undisturbed until it sets up. There is enough surface area available in the joint that I won't have to worry about it coming apart. The future problem will be how to r&r it off the turbocharger outlet port. I wrote about that fun time above. When that time rolls around again probably I'll need to consider an aftermarket solution. Doing the silicone will cost a day, but save the performance.

On the axle nut: when torquing it, it got harder, then was easier as the threads started shearing. It was pointless to continue - and on removing it I found fine slivers of thread that apparently came from the nut. The threads in the nut were partially sheared off. Ergo, the nut was failing. I suppose that if I carefully measured the tightening torque I'd be able to avoid problems like this, but I didn't. Not that time, anyway. More lessons for the future, if I can remember them...

Cheers,

PH
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
not 'my' mk4, but I assisted with the pump head reseal on my Son's. Thanks to the forum, there was much good info there. Like the post on setting up the timing without breaking into the qty adjuster covers. Only an o-ring needed replaced, so we never had to break into the dog box. Now there was some discussion after we got it on the injector cam; make sure the wrench is gone before we crank her, or There Will Be Trouble...LOL
cheers,
Douglas
 

zaeli

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2005
Location
North Carolina
TDI
99.5 golf 175k (totaled, sold) 2000 golf tdi 375k (Malone 1.5) 2002 green diesel bug
Had the golf detailed, clay barred, 2x sealer and wax. Looking good *utilitarian imperfect. Passed 375k. Getting 49.7mpg *if I drive normal, 45mpg speed racer with the Malone 1.5

 

Fix_Until_Broke

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Location
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, USA
TDI
03 Jetta, 03 TT TDI
A/C decided to stop working all of a sudden - went through the excellent troubleshooting guide here and it was the first thing on the list...Bad fuse connection.

Key and A/C on, but no fans spinning - as soon as I touched the fuse the fans kicked in. Fuse was discolored and some melting on the block.

Was surprisingly difficult to get out (hence the green shell broken off). New fuse went in nice and snug and made good marks on the blades when I pulled it back out so hopefully the connection maintains.

Probably a good preventative maintenance process to physically wiggle the fuses every year or every timing belt or something like that so they don't get fretting and loose/poor connections. I've never touched this one in 320k miles/17 years.



 

hey_allen

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Location
Altus, OK
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
I finally fixed the bulb warning that came with the LED "no fault, CANBUS" brake light bulbs I bought a bit back.

I didn't want to cut into the harness to install a resistor or two, so I ended up sticking one on the back of the tail light bulb holder with some outdoor velcro and plugged the wires into the brake light connectors on the reverse of the holder.
It took a bit of probing to find the two pins I needed, but once I did it was easy to crimp a pair of small spade terminals onto the resistor leads and add a bit of heat shrink to prevent shorting against nearby pins.

The car only required one resistor to defeat the warning light erroneously flashing, so if anyone else around the Seattle/Tacoma area is interested, I have another two or three available.
 

KrashDH

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Location
Washington
TDI
2002 Golf
I finally fixed the bulb warning that came with the LED "no fault, CANBUS" brake light bulbs I bought a bit back.

I didn't want to cut into the harness to install a resistor or two, so I ended up sticking one on the back of the tail light bulb holder with some outdoor velcro and plugged the wires into the brake light connectors on the reverse of the holder.
It took a bit of probing to find the two pins I needed, but once I did it was easy to crimp a pair of small spade terminals onto the resistor leads and add a bit of heat shrink to prevent shorting against nearby pins.

The car only required one resistor to defeat the warning light erroneously flashing, so if anyone else around the Seattle/Tacoma area is interested, I have another two or three available.
Those resistors get REALLY hot, I would check and make sure, even with the tape, they don't melt any plastic.
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Helped a friend adjust his iq after he tried to do it without VCDS.... Changed it from 14 to 2... Because his stupid butt wanted to roll more coal.... Smh guess it's a good thing it's his car.
Yeah he had me change it back to 4.2 on our lunch break. He started getting some crazy slow down shudder with the iq set so low. Oh and he needs to learn to drive. His South bend stage 2 is already slipping.... At 25k miles. Smh that poor car.
 

csstevej

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Location
north nj
TDI
2001 golf tdi 4 door auto now a manual, mine, 2000 golf 2 door M/T son's,daughters 98 NB non-TDI 2.0, 2003 TDI NB for next daughter, head repaired and on road,gluten for punishment got another tdi 2001NB,another yellow tdi NB
Replaced both of my out door mirrors and cleared my abs/asr message on the dash.....a lot of oxidation in the abs connector to the pump..... no more lights......
 

hey_allen

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Location
Altus, OK
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
After KrashDH's comment about the heating from the resistors, I grabbed a 25 watt 20 ohm resistor from some junked hardware and gave that a try.
I don't know what the threshold is, but 20 ohms is still within the range that the lamp monitoring circuit is willing to accept.

This means that instead of dumping ~33 watts of heat behind the tail light housing (calculated at 14v) it's instead only wasting ~9.8 watts.
I can live with that, and the little 1/8" spade terminals that I used grip the pins on the housing firmly.

If anyone is fighting this and wants a free resistor for their tail light, I have the 6 ohm resistors (though wouldn't suggest them!) and probably a dozen of the 20 ohm resistors. Cost would only be postage, but Amazon might be cheaper.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Location
United States
TDI
2002 1.9L Jetta TDI
The tire shops I've dealt with have inflated the tire on the rim then put it in a large tank of water to looks the leak. This even finds stem leaks.
I used to work in a tire/exhaust/alignment shop but forget the big tank, all you need is a liquid solution that bubbles when sprayed on the leak. Much more space efficient than a large tank of water, especially when it comes to tractor tires ?
 
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