The NARFmobile, My 2001 Golf TDI

Which words in raised white letter for my tire sidewalls? See post #220 for pictures

  • NARFATOMIC BLASTOMIC

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • NARFATOMIC BLASTOMATIC

    Votes: 4 23.5%
  • NARFOMATIC ATOMIC BLAST

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • NARF ATOMIC BLAST

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • NARF BLAST

    Votes: 5 29.4%
  • NARFBLAST ATOMIC

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • NARFOMATIC ATOMIC BLAST

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • NARFATOMIC ATOMICBLAST

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • NARF ATOMIC BLASTOMATIC

    Votes: 2 11.8%
  • EPIC FACEPALM

    Votes: 3 17.6%

  • Total voters
    17
  • Poll closed .

kingkos

Veteran Member
Joined
May 18, 2005
Location
"The Hammer", Ontario
TDI
2003 Jetta wagon TDI
Hey Paul,

We met by chance a few years back at the timmies on king. Nice to see you're keeping the old girl alive. Congrats on hitting 400K and on the new kia. How is the kia anyways?

You are an inspiration to backyard mechanics everywhere.

Steve
 

NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
Hey Paul,

We met by chance a few years back at the timmies on king.
Hi Steve,

Yes, I remember you and your old veg-mobile. I think that is the only dual tank heated system I have ever seen up close. I have spotted your veg-wagon a couple of times on the 403. It was nice to meet you. I especially remember after talking about cars for half an hour your wife got out of your car and one of us started to apologize to her and she said, "Its okay, I'm used to it."

I think the Kia Forte5 handles better than the Golf ever did, I'm not sure how much of this is the 16" wheels vs 15" on the Golf because otherwise they have the same suspension setup macpherson struts up front and torsion beam in the rear. The Forte5 weighs a few hundred pounds less than the Golf somehow, yet it is slightly larger than the Golf with more legroom and hip room in the back but slightly less headroom in the front. The Forte's drivers seat fits me like a glove (I'm 6" 240lbs) but I have the seat height adjusted to the lowest possible. The best thing about the Kia is the styling, I like the oversized Audi style tail lights, swept forward Saab style hood, the seamless doors (no rub strips) and the Impreza WRX style rear bumper valance with the vertical ribs.

I've gotten tonnes of inspiration from the members of this site. I get a lot out of the how-to's written by experienced people, but I have really been inspired by threads where someone attempts a basic repair for the first time and they talk about the learning curve. That is what really inspires me, when someone says, "I wasn't sure if I should attempt this, but I found these tools, these parts and this info and here are the results. It took me this many weeks days or hours but it was worth it." There is nothing like doing it yourself.
 
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greengeeker

Vendor
Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Location
Cambridge, MN
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS
...I got the impression the Valeo was smoother and had less noise/vibration....I haven't heard that the Valeo is any stiffer than the stock clutch, will see.
I went for a test drive tonight. It runs great! The clutch pedal seems lighter that I remember. It seems to engage in the same place it used to. It all seemed very familiar, yet lighter and smoother than before. I... Also I get absolutely no chatter with clutch in or out in neutral.
Seems you've done your research and made the right decision. ;)
I find the same with each and every Valeo I install: same pedal height engagment, same pedal feel and quiet.

(for the love of God, those who have installed the Sachs unit, don't post here why you chose that clutch over the Valeo. We all know it holds more torque. The OP clearly stated he had no intentions of modding past his current setup. )
 

NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
Thanks Greengeeker but actually I goofed and did more research after placing my order than before. Luckily the Valeo happened to be the better choice for me since I'm never going to get anywhere close to 300 NM (220 ft-lbs) of torque out of my ALH. Everything is stock except for the "powerbox" which doesn't directly modify boost and does not smoke but does "wake up" the car compared to stock.

When I talk to people I just tell them, "I upgraded to a solid flywheel and clutch designed for the V6 engine." 'nuff said. :)
 

thevwkid53

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Location
Brantford, ON
TDI
DAS SOOT
Hey Paul,

Glad to see it's back on the road. I will keep my eyes open to see it out and about again.

Happy to hear that the little one is doing great as well as the rest of the family.
 

NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
Hey vwkid53, it was nice to see you and your Golf, it looks awesome!

Thanks for the great deal on your old mirrors! I put them on a few days ago. My car has not had mirrors this nice in years, they are both the same colour! Here is a picture, also installed an extra tall steel antenna:



I can't wait to pick up that used reflex silver front fender...

...but I did get my free wood chips :D



Driving back from Upper Ottawa Street to Dundas pulling a few hundred pounds of perfectly planted trailer across the newly paved Lincoln Alexander Parkway it reminded me of that "Perfect Moment" Lexus commercial.
 

Silver02TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 2, 2006
Location
Toronto, Ottawa
TDI
2012 Golf Wagon TDI Highline
Hey Narf, saw your "why I won't buy a diesel again" post. I wouldn't compare it to a City Golf, but Comfortline Golf to Comfortline Golf, in 2011 it was $2400 difference for the TDI engine plus 6 speed transmission option vs 2.5L 5 speed. I guess those that bought TDIs generally want to the higher trimlines so VW doesn't offer the TDI in a trendline anymore (Trendline Golf 2.5L 5 speed is $3800 cheaper than Comfortline TDI 6MT). Did you ever consider getting a City Golf and doing a TDI transplant into it? You probably have the skills... I always wondered about doing that...
 

thevwkid53

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Location
Brantford, ON
TDI
DAS SOOT
Hey Paul, sorry I couldn't talk to you when I saw you at the show. The judges were looking at my car at that time. I couldn't find you after that even with the tallest car at the show. lol
 

NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
Hey Narf, saw your "why I won't buy a diesel again" post. I wouldn't compare it to a City Golf, but Comfortline Golf to Comfortline Golf, in 2011 it was $2400 difference for the TDI engine plus 6 speed transmission option vs 2.5L 5 speed. I guess those that bought TDIs generally want to the higher trimlines so VW doesn't offer the TDI in a trendline anymore (Trendline Golf 2.5L 5 speed is $3800 cheaper than Comfortline TDI 6MT). Did you ever consider getting a City Golf and doing a TDI transplant into it? You probably have the skills... I always wondered about doing that...
Hey, I missed this post for some reason just noticed it now, sorry. Yes I still think that the new VW Golf TDI is over priced and over optioned and there should be a Mk6 base model with 15inch steel wheels and roll up windows for under $16. That is exactly why we bought the new Kia, allthough my wife ended up spending $4000 extra on power everything and 16" alloy wheels, which I am still not happy about. There is even a option for no air conditioning on the base Kia - that would have been really economical.

YES! I have thought about dropping the TDI into a newer CITY Golf, I thought that would have been hilarious especially if the engine had half a million km on it. But the body on my golf is almost perfect and now that the suspension has been completely refreshed and the door locks mostly work, meh, its okay. Maybe if I found a City Golf in that bright yellow colour with a blown engine then it would be fun to swap and get all new seats, floors, working door locks, working hatch, and keep the original silver Golf for spare parts. I thought about it, but not seriously.
 

NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
The maintenance log on my blackberry is sounding more like a diary. This car needs way too much maintenance, but now that I am doing everything myself it is not so bad. I told my wife the other day, "I can't get rid of it now, this car still has so much more to teach me." Here is just the last 10,000 km.

Aug 4,11 at 441900 CELEBRATED 10th anniversary

Aug 14,11 at 442,000 noticed vibration at 100km/h when road curves to the right: worn tie rods and tie rod ends on both sides.

Aug 17,11 at 443,000 dip stick shows 3/4 hash mark level: good! Also getting fantastic fuel economy 4.7lkh or 50mpg!!!

Aug 24,11 at 444,200 dip stick low? topped up to top of hash marks.

Sep 29,11 at 451,000 new left inner and outter tie rod and new right outter tie rod. Alinged with string and digital caliper to within inverse tan (1mm toe/390mm rim size) = 0.15 degress total front toe in ! Also replaced left side tie rod boot had hole in it probably since accident last year when it was replaced by shop. Shop should have replaced boot. I am pretty sure right side inner tie rod is factory original with original boot and clamp and has no play at all. Also the old left inner tie rod that the shop gave me to show me "how bad I bent it" had zero play and was original. Goes to show how important those boots are! (Steering Boots aka bellows when searching for the part online)

Oct 3,11 bought 4 used winter tires ready mounted on factory steelies. On the way home (200km round trip from scarborough) engine power started fluctuation on the highway, still had boost, but quickly set my Scangauge to show MAF reading and it was way low and fluctuating. Stopped and checked hoses, no problem found, must be maf, will check tommorrow.

Oct 4,11 replaced flakey TDI MAF with old 2.0L Gas engine MAF which I set untwisted: car runs perfect and MAF readings are stable on the scangauge!

Oct 4,11 Finally got the last Goodyear Allegra FuelMax Tire OFF the car and onto the utility trailer axle with its buddy the other Allegra FuelMax with the runout problem. Car is so much quieter and smoother on the highway now running matched pair of old style Goodyear Allergra tires up front and Uniroyal Tiger Paw touring out back. Front 4/32 tread left on Goodyears Rear 5/32 tread left on Uniroyals Will put the used winters with 6 to 7 /32 tread on at the first snow fall or when temperatures stay below 7 degree daytime high.

Oct 4,11 at 451,775 oil change and dip stick has oil up to the upper bend. Got to check oil more often as it had fallen just below the lowest hash mark before I started. Just realized I am overdue for air filter. I have two on hand but will do it another day.

NEXT oil change 467,775 km (every 16,000)
NEXT air filter 442,500 km (every 32,000)
NEXT fuel filter 468,200 km (every 32,000)
NEXT timing belt 556,000 km (every 160,000)
 
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NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
Over 400 wonderful kilometers today. Got paid overtime and mileage to drive to Southampton, Ontario. Haven't been there in years. I was told they were just rated number one sunset spot in Canada, and at one time National Geographic rated them number two behind only Madagascar. Wow. Who knew? Took some pictures between service calls.



 

NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
I like to save things that I think I might be able to use later. Today I re-discovered this cardboard backdrop from a box on one of kids toys came in. With only a small amount of trimming it fit perfectly into the top of my tool box. I added the caption "Welcome to my Happy Place".

 

NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
Found a 10 year old photo of my car, from a road trip to Florida in August of 2001 before the car's first oil change! Taken just outside the Kennedy Space center. Probably my favorite photo of this car ever. On the way out of Cape Canaveral, after a day of having my mind blown (first visit), I found this back entrance with a perfect place to park and get these full sized models in a picture with my new vehicle.


Pictured here: Space Shuttle, Solid Boosters and Liquid Fuel Tank, and VW Escape Pod
The sign on the gate says "Do Not Enter" and beneath the car large clear letters read "NO PARKING"
 
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NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
Mk4 Golf Lower Grille Delete...

This summer I was trying to decide how to mount a front brush guard when I decided to delete the lower grilles.

I trimmed out all the extra bits (that were mostly broken anyway) from the openings using x-acto blades.



I touched up the areas where I cut out the vertical bars with duplicolor VW reflex silver touch up paint.



I also sprayed some black bed liner on the silver bits of the frame that normally are visible.




I was going to put some kind of protective mesh in there but never got around to it. A quick survey of some other vehicles factory grilles says that stone protection is optional. In order to make the opening as clean and straight as possible I trimmed away all the places where the stock grilles clip in, so there is no turning back! :D

Anyway, I've been driving around like this for a month and I am still loving it, also, I had time to wash the car today.



Now normally I run a winter front and plug all this stuff up, but this year I think I may just leave everything open and rely on the Frostheater to heat everything up. Other than aesthetics another reason to leave everything open thru the winter is that I have an exhaust leak from the flex pipe and damp injection pump seals. I have to close the vents (recirculate button) any time the vehicle is not in motion else I get a mix of diesel exhaust and raw diesel fuel smell in the cabin. I am not sure when or if I will be fixing either of these two issues so I might as well keep the engine bay well ventilated. :eek:
 

NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
Less than forty four megameters until I reach half a gigameter on the odometer!



Eliminated two sources of check engine light (P0380 glow plug and P0402 EGR) today and restored power to the rear de-fogger. I am looking forward to driving more and working on it less. Here is the log entry:

Nov 3, 2011 at 456,000 km
- Soldered glow plug wires to glow plugs (removed harness).
- Twisted the 2.0L gas MAF which I had been running straight. MAF reading on Scangauge went from 16g/s to 13g/s at idle, made a video of how to adjust.
- Checked injection pump leak: very wet.
- Checked Oil Dip stick is just above highest hash mark.
- Extended wires for third brake light and reconnected rear window defogger that had been disconnected since repairing frayed hatch wires.
 
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NarfBLAST

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 3, 2002
Location
Waterdown, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2001 Golf 5MT
First time in 10 years, winter wheels and tires!



I wasn't sure if I like looking at the slightly rusty black wheels, but last night I returned to my car in an underground parking lot and thought it looked really sexy:



So naked black steel wheels are going to stay that way.
 
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