Lots of little things to iron out

[mkuiper]

Hey guys hope all is well.

I had purchased a swapped b5.5 not too long ago. The swap was done by VWZTIPS before i bought it. Unfortunately, there was a bit of dishonesty with the sale and I'm here to try and iron out some issues I've found.

Front end shows evidence of a front end collision which wasn't disclosed - oh well i guess. Aftermarket headlights, small dent/crease along the hood/ and too many zip ties holding sh*t together in the front are the biggest indicator. I'm sure it's been resprayed too. Underneath a bunch of the plastic covers are missing. So i'll need to scavenge something from the junkyard or see about getting some aluminum ones. After I iron out the rest of the problems of course.

1st - Found an oil leak. At first I thought it was stemming from passenger rear of engine (tandem pump), however after doing an oil change last night I noticed the front fan area/alternator had oil on it. Took the timing belt cover off, found more oil there.
I'm Guessing?? That maybe this is stemming from camshaft seal? I was told the camshaft was replaced with an OEM one (no records provided). Any help here to diagnose would be good. I suppose there could be more than 1 area, however when most of the swap was done new gaskets were placed for both the Tandem pump (along with temp sensor and o ring/flange) and I believe, but could be wrong, that new valve cover gasket was placed (not on parts list though). Drips on the pavement every night. Consumed about 1qt/liter over the last oil change (7,500 miles - went longer this time than normal due to a trip out west)

2nd - (first i think this is probably 2 problems but i maybe be wrong) I get some pretty bad shuddering/vibration when releasing the clutch, i had a SMF in my old jetta before and remember it was much less forgiving than my friend's however this is a whole new level, sounds like it wants to shake the car to death unless i really slip the clutch a lot. It's worse when cold than after it's been warmed up and running awhile. Furthermore, sometimes finding 1st and reverse is difficult. Also, I get some pretty bad driveline vibration when under heavy load/low rpm. This is most noticeable in 5th gear.
Parts wise this is what was placed for the trans
EEN Trans, Clutchmaster pressure plate and Kevlar disc (02240-HDTZ-X), Whitbread heavy duty single mass flywheel, tune by TDTuning (stage 2 with EGR delete, T program for ceramic GP). Used transmission brackets left and right ( 8D0-399-113-AG and 8D0-399-108R). OEM with new outer joints axles. OEM VW fluid gear oil was used.

Did inspect snub mount - needs replacing
Engine mounts did not show tell tale signs of failure - I also just took a video after changing the oil to see if I can get the engine to rotate with the hood up, as i've seen with load. However there was very minor movement. So I think they are just fine.

other odds and ends

• airbox portion that bolts to fender/frame cracked, missing top portion of plastic
• Brakes are clanking like mad every time i hit a bump or when the clutch disengaging makes all that shuddering - needs new clips i'd assume, easy enough fix, but makes it sound like i'm driving a jalopy
• Rear hatch doesn't open with key (I already grabbed 2 CCM from junkyard to try and see if that fixes the issue)
• Drivers rear window no longer works (pretty sure it's that plastic pin) as i can hear the regulator working, but window does not follow down.
• Drivers door lock sounds like garbage...
• Clear evidence that there was water that got into the car probably from the dreaded sunroof - checked problem areas (drains and airlifter area) and seems like this has been addressed by VWZTips
• Headliner has a bunch of tacks holding it up - lovely. I don't care so much about that though.
• Every so often I notice a noise coming from the rear - I figure I could R&R rear hubs soon as the car is almost to 200k. But will wait for me to rotate the tires first

I need a hitch for a bike rack and I'd like to firm up/ raise maybe the suspension as it sagged quite a bit on my hunting trip to ND with maybe 300lbs of gear including my dog max.

Can't find the stiffer springs I found the write up to for sale anywhere. Would new shocks improve this drastically?

Anyhow, there's a lot there, I do enjoy the car though, it drives great, it's quick, and have averaged 37.5mpg over the last 10k miles, with a best tank of 40.8

Help me keep this thing going! If she goes down my wife will never let me own another VW.

 

[oilhammer]

Wow, sounds like you bought a real prize. It was probably cheap (I hope!). Just remember, depending on trim, it was a ~$26-30k car when new, so.... you probably got a steal!

I think a DMF works best for these. Not sure which one, though, as they were never sold here and this tends to become the issue with manual swaps in these... they end up becoming a hodge podge of parts that may not work especially well together. Mine are all still well cared for slushboxes and work fine, thankfully, even though I'd much rather have a manual. You may also have some shifter bushings bad/missing.

Oil leaks on PDs... tough to say for sure on yours, but they all like to leak from the valve cover eventually. A new gasket won't fix it, you need a new COVER, that comes with a gasket already on it. But a poorly done cam job can also open up the door for leaks and either end cap, and certainly a botched cam seal itself. The tandem pump can also leak, the pump itself, not just the gasket.

 

[mkuiper]

Good deal? Not so much, but that's my fault no one else's. I like to think the best in most people. Bitten once again. Such is life.

Not sure what the deal is with the vibrations as it's so much worse when it's cold. Once it's (the trans) warmed up its not nearly as bad and much much more tolerable.

 

[oilhammer]

Cold frictions, most likely. Same reason brakes can be "grabby" when first applied cold. At least, if it is coming from the clutch anyway.

I've driven some really nice conversions, they behave and feel just as one would expect them to if they rolled off the factory floor with the proper number of pedals, and I've felt some others that were worse to drive that some old side-loader pickup truck from the fifties.

 

[mkuiper]

Well started slipping in 5th. Getting a hold of whitbread to address that. After more reading sounds like the clutchmasters setup is notoriously terrible. Makes sense as i think it's had 20, maybe 30k of light driving and already giving up. Pretty sad really.

 

[PickleRick]

Clutch masters sucks. Whitbread now uses South bend for his clutches. I'm nearing 10k on the organic dual friction and it was both an easy break in and a very smooth factory feeling clutch.


I have not seen anyone else review it but so far it's great. I drive mostly city traffic.


If you need any parts hit me up. I have one I took the motor out of to power my Toyota. The car is gone but I have spares, I think even an air filter lower box.

 

[mkuiper]

once i get it mechanically sorted i'll be sure to let you know. By all means the car works great. I just don't like having fiddly little bits, even though this is to be my "beater" as i drive 200 miles a day.

I already emailed whitbread, he's only 45 minutes from my house so that's a bonus. I was randomly reading on clutches and literally the next day it surged in rpms on my drive in 5th gear... Manifest destiny there I guess. But, I read through that thread you were in on clutches and figured since I have his flywheel the new southbend of his is the way to go, not sure how aggressive the Kevlar one would be, but I'd consider that since most my drive is 60-75mph if it's thought to have good longevity.

I'm currently trying to fix my hood latch. It latches and opens, but i have to put upward pressure on the hood to get it to release the pull tab. When getting buffeting wind on the highway the hood "bounces" a half inch or inch so that's a bit unnerving.
There's what seems to be a rod that goes 12" or more down towards the ground that moves, so i think something is unbolted, can't find myself a parts diagram of it though.

 

[oilhammer]

The hood latch is also attached to a support that goes down between the fans, and at the bottom has a 90 degree bend with a stud sticking down, that the forward nut that holds the shield attaches to.

 

[mkuiper]

Thanks Oilhammer, that's missing a nut and maybe the whole stud then. Any idea of a PN or photo of exploded view so I can get that replaced?

 

[oilhammer]

3B0-805-489-H

It is diesel specific, I assume because the crossover tube is slightly different on the turbo gas engines (and the V6 and W8 have no crossover tube).

 

[mkuiper]

thanks! Ordered it and a new bolt.