Frickin Bolts

[gmcinnes]

Guys, I am always stymied on TTY bolts. Whenever I start a project I try and figure out what bolts I need in advance and order them with whatever parts I need.

But it's never right. And I end up waiting days on a few dopey bolts to complete the project.

I assume the VW shop folks just have a variety on hand. I also assume that independent shops who don't specialize in VW just re-install the same bolts, and I don't see many cars with their subframes falling out. How do you guys handle it?

I'm reaching the point where I think I'm going to separate my projects into two halves: Remove everything, literally measure the bolts that are indicated for replacement, order them, and do the full re-install.

Advice appreciated.

 

[lemoncurd]

How do you guys handle it?

by replacing the TTY bolts.. i buy the right ones before i begin the job, it isnt rocket science.

pull up the vw parts website, look at diagrams. pull up FCPeuro (i see youre in connecticut, you should be using these guys for EVERYTHING) and buy the bolts from them.

do extensive research into what youre doing, and get the damn bolts!

dont mess around with this "hmmmm, i think i know better than those german engineers using yielded fasteners, ill just reuse these!"
you dont "see many cars with their subframes falling out" because the ones that DO are generally just dumped. as this is generally the demographic of the kinds of vehicle owners that decide AGAINST OEM standards anyways.

 

[Vince Waldon]

For us earlier-gen guys the Bentley Service Manual is the gold standard when prepping for a job... it shows any required gaskets etc and also clear fastener torque specs which, when they include a rotational component, is a clear sign to order new ones.

That said, not sure a Factory Service Manual is available for your generation car??

 

[gmcinnes]

Ok. So I have a PDF of the Erwin docs that I refer to constantly. But unless the information is buried somewhere that I haven't noticed it gives torque specs, but not dimension specs, for the fasteners.

I can figure out which ones will need replaced from the documentation, and what to torque them to, but what I can't figure out effectively is what size are in advance so that I can have them ordered and sitting on the table ready to go at the start of a project.

I'm stumped at something as simple as the transmission mount bolts.... The procedure is on 10.3.2, pg 24 of the Erwin "Repair Manual" book. It gives the torque and clearly states replace after use, which is fine, but before I take them out I have no idea of their dimensions.

 

[gmcinnes]

You can look up bolts on a free ETKA website. They list the part # and bolt dimensions.

Is ETKA available for mortals doing DIY? I looked, but can't see a way to sign up? That sounds like the right solution.

 

[p.e.fletcher]

Is ETKA available for mortals doing DIY? I looked, but can't see a way to sign up? That sounds like the right solution.

I used to have the same problem so you’re not alone. For which bolts to buy, I like to find a VW dealer site and use the parts lookup diagrams. Once you have the number for one of the bolts do another google search on it. Some companies like fcp, idparts, etc will sell bolt “kits” for commons jobs, but often include more than necessary (go by what your Erwin PDF says needs to be replaced). Sometimes it’s still a better deal to get the kit, but just depends.

Here is a diagram with trans mount (18) and bolts (19) for a MK6 Golf:

ENGINE / TRANSAXLE. ENGINE & TRANS MOUNTING.. Volkswagen Golf

Volkswagen Golf ENGINE / TRANSAXLE. ENGINE & TRANS MOUNTING. Diesel. M10X35. M10X55X32. M10X75. M10X90. M12X1. 5X70. W/AUTO TRANS. W/MANUAL TRANS.

parts.vw.com

 

[gmcinnes]

by replacing the TTY bolts.. i buy the right ones before i begin the job, it isnt rocket science.

pull up the vw parts website, look at diagrams. pull up FCPeuro (i see youre in connecticut, you should be using these guys for EVERYTHING) and buy the bolts from them.

do extensive research into what youre doing, and get the damn bolts!

dont mess around with this "hmmmm, i think i know better than those german engineers using yielded fasteners, ill just reuse these!"
you dont "see many cars with their subframes falling out" because the ones that DO are generally just dumped. as this is generally the demographic of the kinds of vehicle owners that decide AGAINST OEM standards anyways.

I'm about 30 minutes from FCPEuro and I get most of my parts from them and pick them up at their building. Lately they've come to know me there. Because over the last two weeks they've sold me the wrong fasteners 3 times in a row. Wrong as in incorrect parts. And wrong as in after asking their customer service if they are able to specify a parts list for the job they put completely the wrong things in my cart.

They even have a fantastic video on this job (flywheel replacement) where they specify tool sizes (16mm socket etc) and torque specs for each fastener (which I always cross check with Erwin) but to my original difficulty, they *don't* specify the fastener dimensions, so there's no way to buy it from them!

 

[gmcinnes]

I used to have the same problem so you’re not alone. For which bolts to buy, I like to find a VW dealer site and use the parts lookup diagrams. Once you have the number for one of the bolts do another google search on it. Some companies like fcp, idparts, etc will sell bolt “kits” for commons jobs, but often include more than necessary (go by what your Erwin PDF says needs to be replaced). Sometimes it’s still a better deal to get the kit, but just depends.

Here is a diagram with trans mount (18) and bolts (19) for a MK6 Golf:

ENGINE / TRANSAXLE. ENGINE & TRANS MOUNTING.. Volkswagen Golf

Volkswagen Golf ENGINE / TRANSAXLE. ENGINE & TRANS MOUNTING. Diesel. M10X35. M10X55X32. M10X75. M10X90. M12X1. 5X70. W/AUTO TRANS. W/MANUAL TRANS.

parts.vw.com

So, yes I have tried that, but I've run up against a couple of things.

First, like in the link you kindly gave, only some of the bolts are identified. In this case the weirdly shaped ones in the rear center of the subframe.

But worse, when looking for MK6 SportWagen parts I often end up with parts diagrams that look like this:

ENGINE / TRANSAXLE. ENGINE & TRANS MOUNTING.. 2013 Volkswagen SportWagen 2.0L TDI DIESEL A/T TDI Wagon

2013 Volkswagen SportWagen 2.0L TDI DIESEL A/T TDI Wagon ENGINE / TRANSAXLE. ENGINE & TRANS MOUNTING. Diesel. M10X35. M10X55X32. M10X75. M10X90. M12X1. 5X70. W/AUTO TRANS. W/MANUAL TRANS.

parts.vw.com

You can see that many of the numbered parts in the diagram are not in the list below. The missing ones are almost always the bolts

I do try this often. Thanks for the help!

 

[Vince Waldon]

Wow, that is *super* annoying, hey?

When I simply switch that same drawing over to my 2006 Jetta Wagen I get pretty much the exact same diagram, but suddenly it includes all the bolts and all their part numbers:

 

[gmcinnes]

google "free etka". there's more than one website.

I clued in before you replied and I found a few, but they don't recognize my VIN and the Jetta sportwagen isn't listed directly. I know it's a Golf in some markets, but I didn't find anything obvious there either. Do you know what it would be off the top of your head?

 

[BarnyardsTDI]

Bentley Service Manual lets you know which bolts to replace (Always Replace). Review that when buying parts.

 

[DrGERTol]

For example, from the "Repair Manual - Golf Variant - Suspension, Wheels, Steering", p 15:

tmp-N40-10141x.png

• DrGERTol
• Mar 18, 2025

And one of the "free" ETKA sites: https://nemigaparts.com/cat_spares/etka/volkswagen/gov/685u/407000/

Shows that item -5- "bolt" (always replace if removed) is M10x76 N10579702 .. Isn't this the kind of thing AI tools like ChatGPT are supposed to save us from having to do ourselves ? --g

 

[gmcinnes]

For example, from the "Repair Manual - Golf Variant - Suspension, Wheels, Steering", p 15:

tmp-N40-10141x.png

• DrGERTol
• Mar 18, 2025

And one of the "free" ETKA sites: https://nemigaparts.com/cat_spares/etka/volkswagen/gov/685u/407000/

Shows that item -5- "bolt" (always replace if removed) is M10x76 N10579702 .. Isn't this the kind of thing AI tools like ChatGPT are supposed to save us from having to do ourselves ? --g

Yes thanks to the help here, this is my algorithm now. Identify replacement parts in Erwin docs, look up part numbers in nemingaparts.com, look to buy the parts at FCPEuro or elsewhere.

My biggest issue here was not realizing that it wasn't normal for the VW parts websites to not show bolts on the diagrams as Vince pointed out. Or that there were alternative places to find that info. Now that I know how it shouldn't be too hard. Still seems harder than it should be though, you're right.