What did you do to your MKIV today?

wonneber said:

Will check the classified forum, Thanks.
The "over at the ‘tex." didn't come out right.

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Careful about A-pillar pod mounting if you have airbags there. I run microphone wires up my A-pillars, but my cars are all 2000s (no airbags in those pillars).

I run only one pod, and this one is fairly short, so to speak, so it's mounted down low and out of the way, even of the air vent. It's the best location in the car for a single gauge, in my opinion. The airbag doesn't extend down to the bottom of the a-pillar, fortunately. It stops above the pod. Should be fairly safe, but I agree that anything higher up would get blown into the driver's face!

Winter's coming

A few pre-Winter chores completed today:
-replaced the air box filter (Mahle)
-changed gearbox oil (Motul Motylgear 75W90)
-Liqui Moly Diesel Purge treatment using my short-circuit bottle
-chafe checked wiring for oil pan and coolant heaters
-checked all connectors: hoses, pipes, vacuum, wiring harnesses and turbo oil lines
-buttoned up Panzer Plate Full Metal Jacket

Installed intercooler drain. Drained 60 mL = 4 US tablespoons. Probably never done before.

Put the snows on IBW last night.


And it's snowing today. Also replaced the battery. Old one was nearly 8 years old and was making about half as much cold cranking amps as it should. Car starts better now.

Well yesterday I plugged in my ecu - from back from Jeff at Rocketchip - hooked the battery back up and started checking on my work:

Foglights work! For the first time on this car I have working fog lights. Been wanting to figure this one out for a couple of years.

MFI works except the reset button doesn’t. i think I swapped a wire. Again, first time since I installed the cluster how many years ago?

Heater control bulb is working! Another multi-year little niggling issue. I had replaced the bulb earlier this year to no avail, bought two more Sylvanias and mare sure to align it right and voila!

OAT sensor works! Yay! I got the mounting clip from the dealership and will put that on today.

Seat airbag is working, and no warning light. Yay!

However, boost gauge does not work. Have the troubleshoot that. Horn isn't working, just need to bend the tabs just right. Still have to tap into the fuse box for the heated seats and still need to install the stereo (new double din).

Won't get a chance to drive the car until everything is buttoned back up. Also using my new mitivac still need to test the N75. But great progress so far. This is fun!

Thanks to everyone on these forums. It's just a fantastic source of info that gets me through jobs my blunt mind can't fathom.

I finally got around to buying a Frostheater last week and I installed it today; it was fairly easy with good instructions to follow during the install. I have not yet tested it but I will early am tomorrow, IIR, I will post. It is supposed to be 15*F for the overnight low tonight, so I will start with the 4 hour recommended run time and see how warm she is in the morning when I start her up.

EDIT: After setting the Frostheater to run for 4 hours early this morning, when I went to start my engine she lit right off the bat. The air coming out of the heater vent wasn't hot right away but after 10 minutes of idling the interior of the car was quite warm; what a nice change from the usual cold cabin first thing in the morning.

Turns out the MFI stalk was wired correctly and the reset button does work. Yay! It just doesn't reset miles to empty, but does the time and other stuff.

The recirculation button is now lighting up and working. Why? I have no idea, just happy it does.

The boost gauge is working. With no load I wasn't getting into boost, but this morning I used enough accelerator to do so. Lights up and looks pretty! Perfectly matches the other interior lighting. So cool.

Since everything is apart under the dash I got to the brown connector with the clear remote antenna wire and attempted to strip that to connect a much longer wire that will run up my a-pillar and back, as recommended in a different thread on these forums. Stripped it wrong and now need a repair wire, but I have one handly, so this little project should be done soon enough.

Picked up the clip for the OAT sensor and will install today.

Also checked that the heated seat buttons light up correctly. They do.

So, the last, final three items are to wire up the heated seats into the fuse box, which I haven't figured out yet (there's a green release for the pins to go into, but I'm not seeing how those release yet), the double-din stereo, and install of additional firewall insulation.

The new/used DRW 6-speed is going to have the limited slip installed this week or the next, as well as the forks strengthened by Darkside, then probably shipped some time thereafter. I went with a PD150 clutch and dual-mass flywheel - the engine and tranny should be much much quieter, which is a huge deal for me. God I hate that G60/VR6 rattle.

Oh, I still need to get in and clear the fender wells of debris and spray on some rust treatment, then spray on my 3M sound insulation. A big job for another time.

I had the chance to drive a buddy down to Fort Collins to check out a 2015 TDI with a dual-clutch tranny, along with a GTI with the same. I really, really liked the TDI but the dual-clutch was poorly programmed to work with the diesel, but egads, that thing was smooth, quiet and strong. I actually liked it better than the GTI, which tells you how old I'm getting.

Drove him down Saturday morning and said buddy bought the GTI - a 2016 Autobahn - from Adolph Zoch in the VW/Porsche/Audi dealership in Fort Collins. Adoph is, without a doubt, the best, most knowledgeable, honest, straight-forward salesman I've ever met. If you're in the area, buy from this man. I've never in my entire life recommended one before, but he's the real deal. And, oh, by the way, he used to drive for Audi. How cool is that?

Update: extended remote wire works! Heated seats wired into fuse box and working! OAT sensor clip installed. Still some cleanup work to do.

Frost Heater - first test

good first test of the season for the Frost Heater coolant heater (until this Winter, our TDI Wagon was our non-Winter drive - now it's our only drive, so our Frost Heater sat on the bench for a number of years).

-16*C (3*F) last night: 1000 W Frost Heater + 100 W silicon membrane oil pan heater on for 4 hours, outside, still air, engine cover not installed … had us at 190*F (don't actually know when coolant reached that value). we have a switched outlet, so i flip that on when i'm doing the 04:00 wood stove check
my install experience was the same as Nevada_TDIs.

routed my wiring through the lower grill. install instructions caution to not run your engine with the FH operating. as i am a tad forgetful in the AM, i run a "remove before flight" streamer from the plugs up to the windshield.

Put her half back together, cleaned things up, and went for a drive.

RC4 is perfect. Thanks again to Jeff! The off-idle bogging is gone, and I am hitting the occasional 24psi of boost. Full throttle is smoky but not horribly so. Engine is very, very happy.

Still little things to do. The next big project is the new head unit.

Today: Re-routed exhaust a bit (in three places) to eliminate all rattling. And using dielectric grease I'm hoping I permanently fixed the recurring driver's airbag warning. Researching how the new head unit goes in - it requires tapping into the emergency brake switch and the reverse switch, and mounting the camera in the trunk and running the wires. A lot of work! Also have to find a good place for the USB connection to live. Phew.

That's a great setup! I don't think you'll have a problem with towing. My setup, with rc3 and the stock turbo, pulled a 5x8 trailer stuffed to the gills, along with the car stuffed to the gills, without a problem from northern Virginia to Cheyenne, Wyoming, which includes some of those Appalachians. I just made sure to downshift going up grades, and still got 25 mpg.

Bled the rear brakes with a one way valve, it almost felt like cheating it was so easy! Before that I pumped my hand off with a mityvac with marginal results.

Today's task will be to install my new passenger side mirror.

Did the oil cooler seals as I was leaking pretty bad down there, which was running down the front of my new hybrid pan. I've been losing a bunch of oil lately, so hopefully that's one step closer to solving the leaks. The next one I'm attacking is the turbo drain line. The crimped connection at the turbo side is failed and that thing is all oiled up. Will try to get to that sometime this week if it gets to me before I leave for AK

Today I replaced some fuel lines, and the thermostatic T-fitting on the fuel filter. The rubber hoses were starting to dry-rot, and fuel was seeping through the rubber in several places. There was diesel fuel pooling on top of the fuel filter. Plus, I saw lots of little air bubbles in the fuel line while the engine was idling. It looked like the fuel was carbonated! And sometimes the engine would take awhile to start, presumably because of air in the lines.

I recently replaced the pre-filter hoses, because they were deteriorating also. I also replaced the O-rings on the old T-fitting and gooped it up with plumber's paste, in an attempt to stop the fuel collecting on top of the filter. But the T-fitting still leaked. So I decided to replace it.

Here's the before shot. You can see the return hose is wet with diesel fuel. That was fuel seeping through the rubber. Plus you can see the fuel collecting on top of the filter. The pre-filter hoses had already been replaced at this point.



A quick shot of the new lines and thermostatic T-fitting:



And last but not least, the new parts installed:



After installing the new parts, I pulled fuel through the lines with a MityVac. The engine started instantly, and the "carbonation" in the fuel was gone!

The new hose clamps (fuel injection clamps) were purchased from AutoZone. All the other parts were purchased from IDParts.

Good job Blacktree! ......thanks for posting!
This is becoming a more common problem on these "aging" vehicles....all too often overlooked.
I assume that you sourced the new parts from the dealer, what did they cost you?

IDParts sells stock-replacement filter-to-pump fuel lines, and the thermostatic T-fitting. But they don't sell the pre-filter hoses. However, they do sell bulk fuel hose that can be used for that. I bought 3 feet of it, and had some left over.

The only thing I didn't buy at IDParts was the hose clamps. I bought an assortment of fuel injection hose clamps from AutoZone. It would be cheaper to buy just enough for the Jetta's fuel lines, but I needed them for other cars as well.

I cleaned the inside of my Golf and put down some adhesive backed, plastic carpet liner. It's the stuff used by contractors to protect the carpet. I do this to keep salt off the carpet. Worked great last Winter.

Caddy 16v said:

Bled the rear brakes with a one way valve, it almost felt like cheating it was so easy! Before that I pumped my hand off with a mityvac with marginal results.

Today's task will be to install my new passenger side mirror.

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What does the one-way valve look like? Where did you get it? Is it something specifically designed for bleeding brakes?

Nuje said:

What does the one-way valve look like? Where did you get it? Is it something specifically designed for bleeding brakes?

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It's basically a clear hose with a valve at one end, got it from NAPA, part number is: USE 62074

Removed my rain tray yesterday to investigate the smell of death and after some poking around found a dead mouse wedged in between the metal and firewall liner.

Hope the smell will be gone quickly, sprayed ample amounts of Ozium and febreze around and laced the engine bay with dryer sheets. That should do the trick!

Caddy 16v said:

It's basically a clear hose with a valve at one end, got it from NAPA, part number is: USE 62074

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The NAPA website says "Sorry, no results found for USE 62074"

Have a better description, part number?

Is it like this: http://tinyurl.com/y8w5nqho

i developed a starter grind, i removed, cleaned, and lubed it and it stopped! also put my skid plate back on (was waiting to clean the starter to do it) and put some cardboard over the rad due to not being able to keep the car at temp in -20C.

it heats up way faster now, and will hold at temp, i'm sure the cardboard helped but also putting the skidplate back on helped too.

romad said:

The NAPA website says "Sorry, no results found for USE 62074"

Have a better description, part number?

Is it like this: http://tinyurl.com/y8w5nqho

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Apparently the one I bought is only available in Canada and the US equivalent is this number, coincidentally also $20 cheaper BK 7769089

AND it is cheaper than the one on Amazon!

Purchase an install new battery today from dealer.
I've been putting it off but having to jumpstart one of my tdi's twice in 3 days was the last straw.




Bajan

First stage of soundproofing wheel wells is done. Phew! Both rear wheels didn't want to come off. Took me all day to get the right rear one off.

In the meantime, I got the front wheels off, removed the liner, cleaned and cleaned, prepped the area, then sprayed the 3M stuff on. It's 3M 03584 Professional Grade Rubberized Undercoating. One can was used on each wheel well.

Before:


After:



Really needed to get this done, as it's the last warm day I'll have in quite a while, based on the weather report. Winter is coming!

Next, after it's all dried, I'll be cleaning the liners, then gluing on some material to suppress high frequency noises, which I got from sounddeadeningshowdown.com. Oddly they no longer have it listed, but oh well.

Note: this is just closed-cell foam. I'm not sure it'll do anything at all. So, I'm open to suggestions.


Hope the pics are big enough. If not, I've got "medium" sized ones to put in their place. Oh, someone wanted to see the boost gauge. Here's a pic:

Blew out the nuts!

Vacuum lines

Finally took the time to replace the original vacuum lines (ordered kit from IDParts) and the fuel lines between the injectors (got fuel line from parts store after putting on vacuum hose material and realizing my mistake). Hose to the turbo actuator was a pia because of the small clamp. Had to take metal pan off to get at it.

Next up will be to replace the brake fluid.