2002 Golf - I'm back in a TDI!

[wonneber]

Make sure to buy vintage vacuum tubes, modern ones just don't last

I knew 2 people that said their tube stereos had warmth (iIrc) to the sound that newer transistor stereos did not.
I do have an old HEATHKIT short wave receiver that has tubes.
Haven't used it in years.
Can't put an antenna on the roof.

 

[J_dude]

BRM intake manifold is also a good option that has improved flow.

 

[J_dude]

I knew 2 people that said their tube stereos had warmth (iIrc) to the sound that newer transistor stereos did not.
I do have an old HEATHKIT short wave receiver that has tubes.
Haven't used it in years.
Can't put an antenna on the roof.

I was sorta thinking about vintage tube guitar amplifiers

 

[P2B]

I knew 2 people that said their tube stereos had warmth (iIrc) to the sound that newer transistor stereos did not.

Tube amplifiers distort signals in a way that's difficult to duplicate with any other technology. Some ears find it pleasing, so they call it warmth

 

[spifflifkin]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I'm keeping a list of them. I have to admit it's a bit overwhelming deciding what to change.

I got this car for the fuel mileage. It'll be mostly city traffic with a little freeway driving. Power isn't a big concern. Figuring out what mods that would improve mileage is a goal. I'll keep googling and asking questions.

One question for now. The guy I bought it from said that the previous owner chipped it. Do people use that term loosely? Do people say they chipped the car if they tuned it? Or is chipping an EEPROM?

 

[P2B]

One question for now. The guy I bought it from said that the previous owner chipped it. Do people use that term loosely? Do people say they chipped the car if they tuned it? Or is chipping an EEPROM?

It could mean a tuning box was installed to fool the ECU (bad - remove it if so) but more likely means the ECU maps were rewritten, aka tuned.

Tuning older TDIs required swapping out the PROM chips in the ECU (hence chipped) but the EEPROMs in your ECU can be reprogrammed via the OBD port.

 

[burpod]

well, technically the 2000+ ecu's have flash chips, which are obd-flashable. older one have eeprom chips which must be taken out and written with a eeprom programmer. with an mpps v18 you can read/write the flash, so you can read in your current tune and see what's in there. if it as tuned, the nozzles might be larger than stock. larger nozzles can get just as good or even better IMO than stock, if things are done right

 

[spifflifkin]

Pulled the engine and transmission today. It wasn't too bad!

I was going to pull the front end of the car off then I realized that the A/C connects to the radiator. I didn't want to disconnect that in case it's still charged. I took the transmission out, then the engine.

 

[spifflifkin]

well, technically the 2000+ ecu's have flash chips, which are obd-flashable. older one have eeprom chips which must be taken out and written with a eeprom programmer. with an mpps v18 you can read/write the flash, so you can read in your current tune and see what's in there. if it as tuned, the nozzles might be larger than stock. larger nozzles can get just as good or even better IMO than stock, if things are done right

Tuning is something I probably should be screwing with myself. To get the ECU back to stock would you buy a used one or send it to a tuner to un-tune it? I know next to nothing about tuning so forgive me if I sound like an idiot when I talk about it.

 

[spifflifkin]

It could mean a tuning box was installed to fool the ECU (bad - remove it if so) but more likely means the ECU maps were rewritten, aka tuned.

Gotcha. I'll look for a tuning box in the car.

 

[CanadianALH]

Gotcha. I'll look for a tuning box in the car.

Likely will be inline with the injection pump. Or maybe plugged into the OBD2 port.

 

[pkhoury]

Tuning is something I probably should be screwing with myself. To get the ECU back to stock would you buy a used one or send it to a tuner to un-tune it? I know next to nothing about tuning so forgive me if I sound like an idiot when I talk about it.

If an ECU is tuned and you want to go back to stock, you can also accomplish this with an MPPS cable. I know @burpod and I both have stock tune files for various EDC15 ECUs. For whatever reason, there are different part numbers, but it's mostly the same thing (immo2 for 2000-2001 and immo3 for 2002-2003).

 

[spifflifkin]

Well nuts. The wrecking yard that has an ALH engine left me message that the compression was low and that it ran poorly. Gotta keep looking for an engine...

 

[burpod]

nothing more satisfying than rebuilding a tdi engine yourself for the car you're rebuilding and save one from likely getting melted down never to be seen again :/

 

[P2B]

nothing more satisfying than rebuilding a tdi engine yourself for the car you're rebuilding and save one from likely getting melted down never to be seen again :/

Sure, but rebuilding one with a hole in the block?

 

[csstevej]

That’s when you know your good

 

[burpod]

Sure, but rebuilding one with a hole in the block?

lol no, an engine with low compression, if it were sold cheap, rebuild it in the garage

 

[spifflifkin]

nothing more satisfying than rebuilding a tdi engine yourself for the car you're rebuilding and save one from likely getting melted down never to be seen again :/

I called them and asked how much they would sell it to me for. Turns out I'll be driving right down by that junkyard in the next week or so so I could toss it in the back of my truck on the way.


I also emailed that guy in the Netherlands to see if he has one and how much that would cost.

It's been a while since I've rebuilt an engine. And all I've ever rebuilt were air-cooled vws. If I go that route I'll be asking a lot of questions!

 

[spifflifkin]

I found an engine! It's out of a 2001 Jetta, manual transmission, same 5th VIN digit as my Golf.
They told me it has 300-350psi compression. I didn't get a per cylinder compression. That was most likely when the engine was cold. It will be here sometime next week.
Does that sound like a rebuild or should I toss it in the car and see how it runs?

 

[burpod]

I found an engine! It's out of a 2001 Jetta, manual transmission, same 5th VIN digit as my Golf.
They told me it has 300-350psi compression. I didn't get a per cylinder compression. That was most likely when the engine was cold. It will be here sometime next week.
Does that sound like a rebuild or should I toss it in the car and see how it runs?

i think you're old enough to know the answer to that

it would be painful to go thru all this effort though and not install a decent clutch...

 

[spifflifkin]

i think you're old enough to know the answer to that

You're right. I'll tear the engine down when I get it.

 

[spifflifkin]

Quick update on the Golf. While waiting for the engine I'm cleaning up the inside. It wreaks of smoke. There is a lot of pet hair in there, mold or mildew too. That rubber coating on the control panel surfaces is all scratched up. I'll look for some non-rubber coated ones. Hopefully someone makes them.

The headliner is sagging so I pulled it and sunroof slider.


They are getting recovered by a local upholstery shop. They did the seat in my '59 single cab VW so I know they will do a good job. I found 2 sunroof drain tubes disconnected too. That's probably the cause of the stain on the drivers side of the headliner near the sunroof. I will replace all 4 tubes.

4 of the floor pan seals are damaged. It looks like someone tried jacking the car up under one. The floor pan is pretty bent.


In the back right and left corner there was a bunch of the wax sealant sitting there in chunks.


Here are some removed. They were loose.


I pulled up the carpet a bit and it didn't smell too bad under it. It smelled like an old canvas tent in the summer. I've been scrubbing and steam cleaning. I'll probably pull the carpet to clean under it and to see if there are any more damaged floor seals.
It's cleaning up nicely!

 

[spifflifkin]

Tonight I discovered that the insulation under the carpet on the passengers side is soaked! It must have been from that unplugged sunroof drain! I pulled the carpet and the insulation out to let it dry. Luckily it's not too musty smelling. I cut the center of the carpet and insulation so I didn't have to remove that metal brace. The cuts will be hidden.

 

[spifflifkin]

Still plugging away cleaning this. I'm having a hard time finding an engine. A junkyard had one, then they didn't. Then they had another one, then they didn't... I'm not in a huge rush, but it would be nice to get one sooner than later.

 

[BobnOH]

Try car-part.com for one close to you.

 

[spifflifkin]

Try car-part.com for one close to you.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[spifflifkin]

I had to push the Golf outside today because I needed some space in the shop. It was raining hard. I had a small tarp covering the open sunroof and the tops of the doors.
After 8 or so hours I pulled it back in to the shop. The passenger floor was soaked! I forgot to put the cover over the cabin filter. I can't see where there was a path for the water to get in the cabin unless it was splashing in to the filter. The filter was soaked.

The insulation on the firewall is pretty wet.


The cover with the blower resistor was full of water.


There's a fair amount of rust under the dash too. This is the side where the sunroof drain was unplugged.


Below the blower fan there is a bit of a crevasse. That was full of water too. The recirculation flap covering (very thin rubber) is coming off and the foam below it was soaked.

When I get a chance, I will install the cabin air filter cover and squirt the car with a hose to see if that was indeed the cause of the leak.

A couple questions.

1. Does anyone know if there is supposed to be drain in the blower box?
2. Does anyone know where to get a new HVAC recirculation flap? Or, is that part of the HVAC unit case? I've googled this a lot but am possible asking the wrong questions.

Thanks!

 

[spifflifkin]

It was a great day! I got an engine! It's out of a 2001 Beetle and has 130,000 miles on it. I wasn't able to get the entire VIN, but the 5th character is correct. Thanks for the tip BobnOH. I found it at a junk yard about 1.5 hours from me.

Try car-part.com for one close to you.

I also scored some dash parts in decent shape.


And, I got a air distribution housing too.


I'm waiting for a few more body plugs and some sunroof drain hoses then I'll be able to put the interior back together. In the mean time I will order some replacement parts for the engine. Timing belt, seals, clutch kit, hoses, etc.

 

[spifflifkin]

Working my way in to the air distribution housing. I got the dash out. Now, I’d like to remove that crash bar, clean it up and paint it.



Both tabs on the instrument cluster are broken. Does anyone know if the mileage info is stored in the cluster? I’ll google it….
The front is cracked too.


There must have been a lot of water in this car! In addition to the rust, some connectors are corroded. Off to the scrap yard again!!


I can’t get the 2 front sunroof drain tubes out. There isn’t a ton of info on the internet about getting them out. Does anyone have any tips?
Thanks!

 

[spifflifkin]

Got the crash bar and the 2 front sunroof drain tubes out today.


To get the drain tubes out I had to pick out the expandable foam from the a-pillars. There is expandable foam in the green area. I removed the a-pillar cover clips (red circles). All of them broke (p/n 6N0 867 276). Then using the openings in the red and green circles I used a wire (see below) and a little pick tool to pick out the foam. I used air to blow it out as I was picking.
The driver side took me about an hour and the passenger side took 1-1/2 hours. Both tubes were in bad shape.


This is what I used to pick the foam out. This is about Ø.060".


Tomorrow I'll get the air distribution housing removed.