My MK6 ramblings _ Project Thread

[steezin_and_wheezin]

Always keep a thread running for my different projects to look back over years down the road (my first gen subaru thread 14+ years running!). Don't see many around here for just general projects threads. Hopefully it's not a WFFF situ I'm getting myself into haha.

I have been searchinng for a decent MK4 TDI to help commute to my new job. Went from working remote for the past 4 years to an office gig that I commute 110miles round trip mon-thurs. Love putting miles on my subaru, but premium gas for the ej205 swap was starting to rack up. Had a friend of a friend that was looking to make his 2014 Golf TDI go away. Has had a time with a shop down around Fort Benning when he wasn't deployed. He just wanted to gone and heard through the grape vine that I was looking for a TDI project.

Back story: Was a dealer loaner car until dieselgate. They stored it and didn't touch until 2019 - did the emissions fix + new tires and was sold to the PO. PO had all service done on time at the local VW dealer. DSG was serviced on time as well as all other preventative maintenance items. He used a non dealer for the last service, but I'm still waiting for the receipt as he's not very mechanically knowledgeable and doesn't know what they did on it. Front what I've gathered - he had timing belt service done at the VW shop (not dealer). They did not do his cam seals while apart. A diesel mechanic friend looked it over while he was up here in VA one weekend. It looked like he was leaking oil from cam seals. Once he got home he took it back to the shop to have cam seals done (I believe). I'll have the whole picture once he gets me the service receipts. Never really got a straight answer if he was driving and it died or if it didn't run right after last service. Either way I did know it was having running issues. He said it would run with oil cap off. Trying to diagnose something without ever touching it had me running in 1mil different directions. Decided I just needed to pick it up, worst case it needs an engine. Even then there would be room left for profit. Originally planned to buy/fix/flip and find a MK4 TDI, as I had bene searching for about 4 months. Been fiddling with it and I'm leaning towards keeping at least until the warranty is out. So after a little chatting we hammered out a deal I couldn't pass up with the current market/book value. I was one pick up/payment away from owning a decent condition 2014 Golf TDI with 81k miles (50k miles left on extended emissions warranty). DSG trans with nav package and sunroof. Would have loved to got the tech package, but beggars can't be choosers haha. My first diesel car and I've been enjoying reading and learning about the new platform!

After realizing I verbally agreed to buy the car before I even saw a photo haha oops. I asked if he had any photo of it. Being a non car guy he had none, but was able to get a friend still on base to nab a couple for me.

Convinced the parents and a family friend to ride with for the 8hr+ each way to pick it up. Luckily one of Mom's best friends that lives in Atlanta let us crash for the weekend to break up the trip. Got there and was looking it over (one small ding on drivers door, but just needs a good cleaning elsewhere. Knowing the PO I'm not surprised it's been well maintained. Had him pop the hood to check oil and look over. Before I realized he cranked the engine and it started right up! Sounded decently healthy, but then died after about 5-10 seconds. He said "watch it will run with the oil cap removed" luckily I was able to stop him there. Said I would rather not run it more until I got to look closer at it.

Pulling onto the trailer worked perfecto. Brought my wheel chocks and a tow rope. Unhooked the trailer from suburban, chocked trailer wheels and pulled the golf onto the trailer with burban. Was so glad he had the full stock took kit with tow hook or we'd been scratching our heads how to get onto the trailer. Unfortunately I left the damn front hook cover on the trailer and will need to replace that eventually..

PO saying goodbye to his old girl haha

On the trailer getting pulled by our ol' reliable 2006 suburban. 230k+ miles and she pulled the load home without missing a beat (as always). Mom's friends dog Rosie looking skeptical of my decision.

I had already picked up a VCDS in prep for pick up. Worked perfecto! Very pleased with the forum and youtube university resources. Ran the codes and just as our diesel mechanic friend and myself were expected to see - p0016 cam/crank correlation fault. Now time to get it back home and dig it to determine if belt jumped or if belt install was botched.

Got it all the way home, unloaded, and pushed into my small single car garage dubbed The Barn. Death Rattle Garage is what I call my little two stroke tinkering area and the single car detached building for the car projects.

Only got a short time in the shop tonight. Pulled a few things off and studying/digesting everything. I'm in no real rush to get it done, but I would like to have made some progress on it before I have to start commuting again (working remote due to omnicron surge for the next few weeks). I would like to just drop off at the dealership and cash in on the extended emissions warranty, but from what I've gathered if timing jumped or timing belt install was botched - it would be $600 to inspect and $1k+ for timing belt correction. So I'm going to dig a bit myself before getting slapped around with a bill.

First of many parts to be pulled off and stashed to the side. Not use to working on something so clean! My subaru has ~240k on the clock with around 200k on the donor engine/drivetrain. Nice to see something so clean in the shop

Glad I pulled the belly pan.. looked like it had been parked under a tree for a while!

Definitely some oil evidence around

Confirmed there is a timing belt on it and it's tensioned well. Excited to get more time to shift everything so I can inspect timing closer

Still getting thing sorted in the barn. Was looking for something to hand the air hose on.. these old bars are perfect - going to mount them permanently. At least until I need them for a shredped project.

No plans for any wild on this one just yet, but my wife and myself are trying to convince me to keep it for a while once it's roadworthy. If there's profit on the table I will be chomping the bit to sell and cash in on the market. Could always keep it until the warranty's out to have a nice covered car to commute in. Feeling if I keep it that long I'll be DYING to delete and tune it once warranty's out.

I'm definitely green on this platform so any tips/pointers/good thread reads are greatly appreciated! It's no MK4 ALH or BEW, but I've been really impressed with the CJAA common rail setup. Seems really straight forward to work on.

 

[Tujeez]

I've had my mk6 for about 3 years now and it's been pretty solid. DIY write-ups are pretty easy to find along with YouTube videos. One tip that I received from a German auto shop owner was DONT BUY CHEAP PARTS. BUY QUALITY OE OR OEM PARTS.

Look into using fuel additives to increase lubricity to help increase the longevity of your fuel pump, but you should really consider swapping out the original fuel pump for a CP3 pump. Lots of info on that subject on tdiclub and other similar forums.

 

[DivineChaos]

I've had my mk6 for about 3 years now and it's been pretty solid. DIY write-ups are pretty easy to find along with YouTube videos. One tip that I received from a German auto shop owner was DONT BUY CHEAP PARTS. BUY QUALITY OE OR OEM PARTS.

Look into using fuel additives to increase lubricity to help increase the longevity of your fuel pump, but you should really consider swapping out the original fuel pump for a CP3 pump. Lots of info on that subject on tdiclub and other similar forums.

Oe parts is a must. Additives is hit and miss. There's ppl who use them religiously and still have a failure. They all seem to fail eventually, so agreed that cp3 is the way to go. It's much cheaper to do it before it fails.

 

[steezin_and_wheezin]

Good notes, with the plans to keep this one around for a while I'll definitely be going with OE or equivalent for any replacements. Need to look into if the CP3 retrofit will void anything on the warranty side. That's the only thing keeping me from cr170, delete and cp3'ing the monster. Itching to dig into it, but want to utilize the warranty as long as I can if possible

Got a little more time on it. Was able to correct the timing (only a few degrees off) and cured the p0016 code. After attempting to start I still had the same symptoms of start, sounds healthy and dies almost immediately. I tested the PO's note of it running with the oil cap off. Only let it run for a couple seconds and capped the oil next and it died within seconds. So I'm leaning back towards a busted turbo. Thinking is the compressor wheel is clogged the exhaust and exhaust is building the crank case pressure and killing the engine. Going to pull the intake off and inspect the compressor wheel next. PO has the lien cleared off and title is in the mail. So I'm going to read up on the extended warranty to see what my warranty repair options are.

Slowly getting it pulled apart

Whoever was in here last had some strong feelings and wanted to leave their mark haha..

Only a couple degrees off. I believe the tensioner wasn't set right and got the cam slightly off target. I was waiting for the PO to ship me the timing tools he had, but got impatient so I order some cheapo chinese ones from amazon. Locked the crank in and could see the cam was a hair off. Loosened up slip fit the cam, locked the crank back down and reset the tensioner (thanks myturbodiesel . com youtube vid for great walk through!)

Vid of start attempt - no accessory belt, but I put the harmonic balancer back on to be safe. Coolant light flashing as I didn't have any correct coolant to refill and figured I shouldn't button it back up since I was skeptical that timing was the only issue.

New video by Ryan Holcomb

photos.app.goo.gl

Couple things I forgot to mention - motor mount was stripped on the aux fuel pump (correct me if I'm wrong) so I'll be replacing that for sure.

Dropped the aux pump bolt and was fishing everywhere for it. Cleared the whole shop floor and couldn't find it so I knew it was caught somewhere in the car. Found it hanging around, but not before I found this little duder on top of the crossmember. I believe this is the oil return line gasket - so going to inspect closer to see if the gasket was replaced. Hopefully will get all the service docs from PO once he ships everything else (got the full timing kit so everything else should be trickling in soonish)

I miss my top mount intercooler on the subaru to hold all my spare bits, but the German engineers at least hooked us up with this little tool tray

If the turbo ends up being the issue I'm hoping VW doesn't try and loop hole out and not cover that under warranty. I know it states black/white that the turbo is covered under warranty and "Conflicts concerning the warranty are to be resolved in favor of the consumer." I have heard some horror stories of them weaseling out of the deal

 

[Reinout]

Great start! I had almost given up hope on my JSW after it's 3rd visit to VW for warranty work, but my dealer has been awesome about it every time so it soothes the pain of the inconvenience. Keep it up!

 

[MrCypherr]

Sub'd for more. CP3 is the next thing on my list when I do my next TBelt.

 

[turbobrick240]

Far more likely that the dpf is clogged causing an exhaust blockage than the turbo. I'd make use of that warranty before devoting too much time to it. Looks like a nice fixer-upper.

 

[Mrrogers1]

Far more likely that the dpf is clogged causing an exhaust blockage than the turbo. I'd make use of that warranty before devoting too much time to it. Looks like a nice fixer-upper.

I agree, turbo to tailpipe warranty is hard to beat. My 2011 Golf TDI with 204k on the clock has had, in total, 3 replacement DPF and NoX traps put in and I even got thermostat replaced with the last one. I'd be mad, but honestly, I get loaner car every time, my service tech is awesome and the dealership takes care of me. Sure, I could have deleted long ago, I've done a couple CP3 and hybrid turbos for buddies but I'm not messing up a turbo to tailpipe warranty on MY car voluntarily.

 

[steezin_and_wheezin]

Glad to hear some promising stories on dealerships backing the warranty without a big fight! I'm itching to get it dropped off with the dealer asap, PO is calling the bank to see what the hold up is. Title should have been mailed his way already.. If the PO wasn't a friend - I would be real worried about not having the title yet. Just trying to have patience

With the current thinking that it's turbo related - I wanted to be more certain of the problem before dropping it with the dealer. So I pulled the inlet/intake to inspect turbine shaft play. None present and turbine rotates, but doesn't spin as freely as i would assume it should (from what I've read that's normal for cold turbo). So I had the wife start the car while I felt tailpipe to see if I had any exhaust pressure, also recorded the turbine to see what it was doing (shaky vid link below). Felt small amount of exhaust pressure on initial start, but once idling less than I'd assume is normal. Smoked out of the crankcase vent that connects back in at the MAF and with that venting to atmosphere it was idling no problem (venting that mysterious excess crankcase pressure). Was low to no power when gas was applied, no codes thrown except for unplugged MAF. Then I watched the vid.. turbine spun on on start-up, no movement when idling and then a small burst of pressue releases after the engine is off spinning the turbine a bit more.

So either bad turbo, sticky vanes or plugged dpf? Whichever it is I'm feeling more confident that the fix will be covered under extended emissions warranty.

Start and Idle video

I'll post an update once I get it signed into my name and dropped with the dealer. Fingers crossed!

 

[steezin_and_wheezin]

Smalll update, but big news!

Got the car singed over into my name. Called to make an appointment with the VW dealer and ended up having to wait another 3 weeks before they could fit me in. So true to my norm - I delayed on putting the thing back together until the night before I need to take it in. Got it all back together went ahead and put fresh oil and coolant it in. Could have held off, but was worried if the dealer saw fluids were off at all they would try to wiggle out of warranty work. Open the garage door and rolled it out.. she had pissed a sizeable puddle of oil and left a skid mark rolling out of the shop...

Old girl pulled the new girl out of the shop and up into the driveway.

Called AAA for a tow around 7:30. Figured it would be a couple hours to get towed since it was later in the evening. Got word truck would be out around 9:30. No prob, was just chilling at the house. 9:30 rolls around and I get a call from dispatch saying it would be 10:30 before they were able to make it. Getting later (an hour drive to and from the dealer), but I said no prob and continued to wait. 11:30 rolls around and I call dispatch again.. After talking to the rep he just said "I'm going to be honest with you.. they'll probably come in the morning." A little aggravated I called customer service to ask about prorating my account renewal for the hassle and lack of communication. Rep was really cool and said to wait until I get it towed so they'll have a complete record of everything - then call back to inquire about prorate. As I hang up the phone with him I see freaking yellow lights flashing in the driveway! Went out to talk to the guys towing and he said they only got the call 20 mins before they got there.. Oh well, they were there and got the car strapped up and we headed off to the dealer. Luckily I had call to confirm where to drop off because google hadn't been updated to their new building. Finally 1am we dropped off the can at the dealer and I was finally done messing with it until it was fixed.

Hooked up and heading out

Took them a couple days to get it into the shop since they are a service technician short. Service appointment was on wednesday. They finally got it into the shop friday. Unfortunately Thursday on the was home from work a guy pulled out in front of me in the subaru. I was able to avoid T-boning him, but jumped a curb and ended up in a ditch. Luckily he stopped and stayed until the police arrived to an accident report. He took fault so working with his insurance to get it all sorted out. I work from home fridays so that left me with no car to commute the 110 miles on monday. I didn't feel like stressing all weekend how to get to work monday and decided to call and check on the VW. With the subaru needing to be fixed I had already lost all interest in fixing myself if it wasn't covered under warranty.. My guy answered at the dealer and gave me some much needed news! Turbo and DPF were bad and needed to be replaced. DPF is on backorder so I asked about the loaner. He said "No prob! Come by whenever and we'll get you setup with a car". What a relief..

Dropped in today and picked up a nice 2021 Subaru Crosstrek Sport for my loaner. Was chatting with the guy at the service desk and he said he's had cars on the lot before for over a year waiting for DPf.. Hopefully it doesn't take that long with mine, but happy to be in a decent loaner until it's fixed.

All the research and investigating has paid off so far! Fingers crossed the parts make it in soon and I'll be smellin some of that sweet sweet diesel mileage on my 440+miles weekly commute.

 

[steezin_and_wheezin]

Dang.. forgot to ramble on in this thread about the VW ventures

Got a call early April saying car was fixed and ready for pick up! Dropped loaner back off and drove away with a healthy sounding and supposedly oil leak free engine. Ran great and was a treat getting to learn the diesel setup finally. The DSG took and is still taking some getting use to. 20mins into my ride the tire pressure light pings on... flat damn tire.. juuust as it started to rain haha. A nice guy and his kid "helped". Little guy didn't have enough weight to knock the lugs loose, but definitely knew his way around cars.

I finished up and stepped back and realized my friggin pocket knife clipped on my side marked up the rear driver's door and a spot on rear fender.. WELP guess she's all mine now. Got it home, enjoyed a few trips here and there just shaking the cobwebs off it.

(notice to drivers side photos.. still riding that spare haha)

After about 3 days I noticed some serious oil drippage on the driveway.. Take a peep and sure enough it's still pissing oil. Hadn't even run through a full tank and it was almost off the bottom of the dip stick. Closer inspection showed oil all over the belly covers.. Called VW and made an appointment. Got a ok-ish forester for loaner this time.. Service tech calls and confirmed leaking cam seal. I asked multiple times if the seal was covered under the extended emissions warranty. He said no. I even asked with how it was building crankcase pressure could it have damaged the seal? Again no.. So I forked out $1600 for a cam seal replacement and all new timing setup.

Get the supposedly oil leak free car back just before heading on a trip to Williamsburg. Drove it for maybe 50miles and already could tell it was still leaking like a sieve.. Called and made another appointment. A nice passat for a loaner this time. I was getting a little more curious on the EEW so I start sleuthing. Called up the main number, had the rep search my VIN to confirm if the cam seal should be covered under warranty. She replied, YES. I was floored.. why i didn't do this to begin with is beyond me. So she opened a case with regional manager and I thanked her more than 20x haha

Week or so later I get a call from the regional case manager. She was well informed of what was going on and asked what codes were through to warrant the work. I told her there were no engine lights on.. she said without the engine light on it was up to the service tech to determine if the work was covered under warranty.. now I was fully confused. EEW says part is covered and it sounded like they were trying to weasel out. After a million calls I was able to get another regional manager assigned to my case and was very cooperative. I received $600 back on the first service (basically paying for the timing job, which I was OK with) and then the remaining crank seal was covered by EEW.

Grateful for the EEW and the VW staff. I couldn't be happier with the little TDI, well I could if diesel prices would come back down a bit

Ventectomy

Only one sunshade would work for TrinDI

Cargo space is a little tight on some of these hauls.. Need to install my receiver so I can pull my small trailer. Planning to get a DSG tune soon and once the EEW is up I'll be deleting and tuning for sure.

Really wish i could buy/build a receiver stout enough that I would feel confident using a dirt bike hitch carrier for these small bikes. Would be less than 200lbs, but I don't like the idea of that tongue weight on the unibody. Especially with the little class one curt receiver I have to put on.

Got a new plate "S1PNDZL" so all the people passing me on the interstate know why I'm going slower than a granny. I actually got passed by a SUV with the plate GRAMMIE a few weeks back. I'm cheap and getting the best mileage is a game/challenge at this point. It's also got me out of my typical raged mentality. I'm a million times safer and 2x mil less stressed driving with all the nuts on the road. Just plug along at my speed. My best dash read out on my morning commute

Crammed into her usual spot in the parking garage for work.. poor girls already got some war wounds.

Martinsville raceway for some pink weenies and horsepower

My other ****box has been having a intermittent starting issue. After an unsuccessful backwards bump start through the yard.. I had to pull it back uphill with the ol' tractor. FWD and the DSG will take some getting use to. A bit nervous going into my first winter without an AWD daily since I was 17.. Likely will get some winter tire setup as I usually head into the mountain of WV when the snow starts falling

 

[Reinout]

Cargo space is a little tight on some of these hauls.. Need to install my receiver so I can pull my small trailer. Planning to get a DSG tune soon and once the EEW is up I'll be deleting and tuning for sure.

Really wish i could buy/build a receiver stout enough that I would feel confident using a dirt bike hitch carrier for these small bikes. Would be less than 200lbs, but I don't like the idea of that tongue weight on the unibody. Especially with the little class one curt receiver I have to put on.

Got a new plate "S1PNDZL" so all the people passing me on the interstate know why I'm going slower than a granny. I actually got passed by a SUV with the plate GRAMMIE a few weeks back. I'm cheap and getting the best mileage is a game/challenge at this point. It's also got me out of my typical raged mentality. I'm a million times safer and 2x mil less stressed driving with all the nuts on the road. Just plug along at my speed. My best dash read out on my morning commute

For your receiver: I have an Ecohitch on my 11 JSW which is a class III rated at 300# tongue weight. Looks like the model for the Golf is even beefier:

https://torkliftcentral.com/select-ecohitch-style?vid=5354

S1PNDZL: I'm trying to sound it out, but it's escaping me: What's it say? And you're at least driving the speed limit right? There are so many folks that are not participating in the daily drive and they "do their own thing", but are oblivious that they're blocking the fast lane, not using signals, not checking their mirrors. In my opinion, driving slower than traffic can be more dangerous because others on the road won't expect it.

I live on a windy road with a 45 speed limit and it's frequent that I come up on someone doing 25.