New (to me) Golf, complete with issues

IndigoBlueWagon said:

I agree it happens, my son's '02 needed new calipers this year. But they were original. I think the Autozone calipers were remans. Or not Lucas, who makes them for TRW and ultimately VW.

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Agreed, they are probably not good remans. More things to obtain for the 03 going forward. I also won the Darkside boost plumbing kit (aluminum tubing and silicone hose to replace the OE pancakes) and an Evolution skid plate at the Fest Live Auction so I have more work to do.

It does go on, doesn't it? The steering wheels Aaron had at his booth were tempting. As were the shift knobs and boots. I also want to try and get some undercoating or POR on the underside of the car before winter. It's been inside for 18 months so it probably won't be any drier than it is right now.

And by the way, this was at my detailer's today when I picked up the Golf.


The detailer told me that the guy how owns this one also has a new Rolls sedan. Guess you need 4 doors sometimes.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

And by the way, this was at my detailer's today when I picked up the Golf.

The detailer told me that the guy how owns this one also has a new Rolls sedan. Guess you need 4 doors sometimes.

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Equipped with the retractable hood ornament, if I'm not mistaken.

Yes. He demonstrated it for me. Of course all I could think of was what it would cost to repair it when (not if) it breaks.

Cheaper than replacing when stolen, though . . . that's why they did it . . .

tadawson said:

Cheaper than replacing when stolen, though . . . that's why they did it . . .

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj53HuWBfjE

From the makers of SawStop (tm)

It's Home!

Finally. This week it got a window regulator, Nav out, stereo in, shift linkage adjustment, rear wiper installed, trim put back in, convenience mod installed, front plate bracket, hood latch fixed (washer hose was pinched in the hinge), and a new key remote (had one, surprise surprise). I know I'm forgetting something or things. But here it is in the driveway.


Side view


And rear.


It drives beautifully. Less engine noise than my wagon because of the stock exhaust, less fuel, and less intake noise because of stock airbox, etc. And RC3 AFN drives very smooth, no surprise. It has an odd ABS controller fault that Chill thinks is a wiring issue caused by the Nav install. No sensor faults. We'll see if it goes away on its own (the battery was pretty flat) and if not we can dig into it.

I thought I had floor mats for it and in digging in my garage I found A3, B4, MKVI, and Mercedes mats, but no MKIV. I think I'll go with Monster mats year round.

And here it is safely in the Garage, formerly IDParts world headquarters. Two MKIV = Security.

582K miles combined.

Very nice!

I'm envious!

Now I am thinking I'll move further along with my 2003 Jetta project and do some of the things I considered excessive for it's age and miles.

I just took a hit today to the windshield with a rock that resulted in a second dime sized spider chip. Maybe new front glass is in the future.

Some things I've speculated on but held off on:

1. Refinish stock rims and install,

2. Freshen up a few interior trim pieces and a new headliner (starting to sag in places).

3. Fix a few small dings and repaint the exterior (at least the hood and trunk lid and bumper covers).

4. Upgrade the headlights (E Codes or custom HIDs).

Well, I have all winter here to get going on this. That's the best time to work on cars here as it is never too hot or too cold.

Of course I now see more things I want to do at some point. The B-pillar covers are a bit frayed, rear cup holder is missing as is the coin tray at the back of the console. I think my donor wagon has all those items. I want to get insulation on the engine cover and install that. And I still want the Jetta dash vents from the Jetta Wagon because I like them better, although the interior of the car post-detail looks pretty nice. And at some point it's going to need a clutch. That's original.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

Of course I now see more things I want to do at some point. The B-pillar covers are a bit frayed, rear cup holder is missing as is the coin tray at the back of the console. I think my donor wagon has all those items. I want to get insulation on the engine cover and install that. And I still want the Jetta dash vents from the Jetta Wagon because I like them better, although the interior of the car post-detail looks pretty nice. And at some point it's going to need a clutch. That's original.

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I have a sense these resurrections are an ongoing project until you just give it up.

My engine is OE and the head has never been off. After the car sits for a while (a couple of days), the camshaft followers (lifters) empty their oil and when I start the car, it sounds like marbles rattling in a tin can for a few seconds until the oil pressure builds the lifters back up. On a daily basis, no bleed off.

Fortunately, the PO installed a new South Bend Clutch and a new cat converter. The downpipe looks fairly newer also. Robbie looked the underneath over and said all was good except for the rear calipers, which were AutoZone remans. I have freed the sticking e-brake arms.

My interior is all good except for the bolster on the driver's seat being worn (leather) and the headliner droop in places (very unnoticeable). All plastic parts including the armrest cover and glove box door are original and working fine.

It's always something, even with new cars.

aja8888 said:

Some things I've speculated on but held off on:

1. Refinish stock rims and install,

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I don't know if any would interest you,but that VW Parts clearance site put a bunch of rims on there,most are priced at $99. There's a couple that may fit....

Peter,that Golf looks very nice. Are you going to re-badge the back?

tdidieselbobny said:

Peter,that Golf looks very nice. Are you going to re-badge the back?

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I have a TDI badge. I was going to put that on, didn't think about the Golf badge. But I was in Germany this week and there were so many cars that are badgeless there I thought I'd give this a try for a while. I haven't had any badges on my wagon for years. And the Passat doesn't have them, either.

tdidieselbobny said:

I don't know if any would interest you,but that VW Parts clearance site put a bunch of rims on there,most are priced at $99. There's a couple that may fit....

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Thanks, I looked but most are for later models. I have 8 OEM rims in the garage and four of the roundest are probably going to be sand blasted and painted rather than buy more. Now if I find a real deal on some great looking VW rims (local), I may buy them.

Last night I lubricated the shift linkage and the clutch pedal and pivot. It was creaking. And the shifting is a little more difficult than my wagon. I don't know what gear oil is in there, so it'll get some Pennzoil Synchromesh at the next oil change in 500 miles. After an engine refresh Chill likes to change oil at 50, 500, 2000, and 5000 miles. Good thing I have a lot of dent and scratch bottles of oil around.

Tonight I swapped out the small glove box with a broken latch with a large one from the '03 parts car. There's a couple of braces in the '99.5 I had to remove to get the larger box in, didn't anticipate that. But it's in there and it works, except the light. I'll have to swap the connector at some point.

I checked the owner's manual and the car was originally purchased in March of '99. It was assembled in October of '98. So I think it's a pretty early ALH.

Looks great, Peter. I drove a customer's red 2dr '99 Golf into work today. Such a great color! This one only has 108k miles, always garaged, never driven in winter, it is almost like new really. Jealous.

108K miles is nice. My car is amazingly tight with 244K. The glove box replacement eliminated some creaking in the cabin. Driver's door is a little more difficult to close than it should be, might need adjustment. And reception for the new stereo is terrible. I wonder if the antenna is attached properly. Good thing I don't listen to it much.

You know what is funny? I am "fixing" the VERY FIRST THING that broke on this '99 Golf today: the Japanese A/C compressor died.

I think I am going to replace the relay 109 while it is here, just because. Low mileage, but it has been a while since it left Wolfsburg in September of 1998.

My goodness....the car.....so red....it can be seen from satellite. Its actually frightening to have it....always concerned something is going to get near it and scratch it. And I dare not keep it outside as the birds will make a handy target of it. But what a nice car. Its rare to see one so clean....and assembling a car properly is always refreshing. Every little clip and screw. No cutting corners. We still have some little bits to rob from the parts car...but overall...its incredible.

mrchill and his team at Kraftwerke deserve a big shout out for their work on this car. Chris and Elwin (and Max and Charles) have put more hours than I'm sure they want to count into this project, and their skill and effort shows. This car runs as well or better than it did new, because it's set up perfectly, as are all the engines Chris assembles. No leaks, no odd noises, it just runs, shifts, brakes, and handles like it should. Everything works.

If you look at my signature you'll see a bunch of old TDIs, mostly ALHs. They all run beautifully, all the time, because Chris and his crew care for them. If it weren't for him I wouldn't be able to, or certainly wouldn't enjoy, driving these cars. And my sons agree. Thanks, Chris.

I've driven this about 1,000 miles since I got it back, and it's doing great. I changed the oil last weekend and it had a minor leak, the nut on the top of the turbo where the oil feed line connects was loose. Tightened that up and all's good.

I replaced the belly pan with a sound insulated one, installed a bunch of missing body plugs, put in monster mats, changed the gear oil, lubricated the clutch pedal, adjusted the headlights, replaced the missing caps on the caliper guide pins for the front calipers, and replaced the wiper blades. All minor stuff.

First tank was 45.5 MPG. Engine is breaking in. From the looks of it second tank will be similar, despite running at 80+ today on a trip to western MA and back. Car is smooth, solid and quiet. I was concerned that the Koni Yellows would be too harsh for me, but with the stock 15s they seem fine. And it poured rain today, no leaks. Guess that's fixed.

Sounds good. Explain the sound insulated belly pan? Did you add sound deadening material to a metal skid plate or use something else?

I actually installed an OE plastic belly pan. The aluminum one I had was covered in oil from the previous turbo failure and was also pretty banged up. I was going to clean it up and add sound deadening, which is what I have on my wagon, but I decided to give OE another go. The original plastic pan on my wagon lasted 12 years, so this one should be OK for a while.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

I actually installed an OE plastic belly pan. The aluminum one I had was covered in oil from the previous turbo failure and was also pretty banged up. I was going to clean it up and add sound deadening, which is what I have on my wagon, but I decided to give OE another go. The original plastic pan on my wagon lasted 12 years, so this one should be OK for a while.

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Peter, what did you use as sound deadening material on your old metal skid plate if you don't mind me asking? I am installing the Evolution plate I bought at the Fest on my Jetta and may add something for sound deadening. Thanks!

We have high temperature sound insulation from Wurth that we use on our aluminum skid plates. Lots of people used to install the Evolution plates with the plastic pan behind it for sound insulation, too.

There's lots of stuff out there, search for car stereo install insulation or sound deadening. eBay is a good place to look.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

We have high temperature sound insulation from Wurth that we use on our aluminum skid plates. Lots of people used to install the Evolution plates with the plastic pan behind it for sound insulation, too.

There's lots of stuff out there, search for car stereo install insulation or sound deadening. eBay is a good place to look.

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Thanks!

Since I got the Golf back I suspected the brakes were dragging a bit. Not much, and not always, but I'm pretty sensitive to that stuff. When I noticed last week that the front caliper guide pin boots were missing their caps, I decided to lubricate those pins.

However, yesterday (after washing the car last Wednesday) I noticed significantly more brake dust on the right rear wheel. Sure enough, the lower caliper guide pin was frozen. Finally got it out, lubricated it, cleaned the bore in the carrier, and it seems OK now. The inside brake pad was pretty well worn, but I discovered a good pair of TRW pads on a shelf in the garage. Must have taken them off something. So on they went. That's the joy of having a bunch of MKIVs.

In the spring it'll get new brakes, pads and rotors. I really prefer ceramic pads. Dirty wheels bug me. And I may replace that carrier. The PO did the other side.

Update

Changed the oil yesterday, last of the short interval changes before going on to 10K intervals. I've driven the car about 3K miles since I got it back, and it continues to improve. Still getting around 46 MPG: I hope that gets better, but I do so many short trips maybe it won't.

I've been chasing an electrical problem. I thought the main interior light (near the mirror) was faulty, as some mornings it would be out, and on the '99.5 when the fuse for the interior lights blows the starter won't work.

I got the light out of the donor wagon and put it in last Saturday. But I blew another fuse this AM. Noticed the trunk light didn't work, so thought that was the culprit.

Wrong on both counts. Took the car to Chill's today and he discovered broken wires in the hatch hinge.


Pretty common. He repaired them and so far, so good.

Yeah, the CCM is on that fuse, and the CCM has authority over the starter interlock for the anti-theft.