Stormy the B4V
- Thread starter JordanTr
- Start date
JordanTr
Veteran Member
Time flies. Good news is that head gasket has been replaced successfully. I purchased class M12x1.75 x 160mm Class 12.9 SHCS from our local Fastenal and had a friendly local machinist make up some 4140 washers. 12.5mm x 23mm OD x ~49mm tall. This allows the bolt heads to just poke beyond the top surface but avoid fouling the valve cover. I ended up using Loctite nickel anti seize on the threads and under head and torqued them with the OEM sequence knowing that the extra lubricity would improve preload. After completing, I used a click type torque wrench and the bolts didn’t move at 130ft-lb so I think that they’re TTY which is what I wanted.
I am waiting on hoses for my frost heater install. Once they come in and the heater is in, the pink G12 will go in.
I installed a cheap, clear, 3/8” fuel filter on the coolant return line to catch filings and fuzzies from cleaning the head gasket surfaces. I’m very glad I did as it was quite dirty once it ran for a bit.
Changed the oil and filter after the head gasket job as well.
I mounted my spare front mud flaps but sadly don’t have rears to match.
I took some time and cleaned up the 5th injector hardware and added a resistor.
While it was all apart, I put a cleaned BHW/PD136 intake on. I had planned to weld up a flanged spud to bolt onto the manifold but there wasn’t enough room for that. I had some 2” 6061 tubing kicking around so I welded a barb onto it and had to do minimum clean up on the bore of the manifold before I could insert it and weld it into place. I’m pretty happy with it as it looks mostly factory and the factory piping fits on it as well although a little reluctantly since it’s moved ~3/4” and is at a slightly different angle. Interestingly, the threaded boss for mounting the turbo inlet pipe is still present on the BHW intake so that’s a plus.
I was able to get the necessary cam sensor from the wreckers today (B6 30V) for the 0A4 speed sensor as well as a couple spare transmission plugs so I can adapt them to the kidney loop system for filtering and bench testing.
The 0A4 needs a modern shifter (YAY!) so I collected an 02J shifter box as well as heated black leather seats from a mk4 the other day as well. I routinely miss shifts with the stock setup and I’m sure the old trans with presumably tired shift collars isn’t helping much either.
I put the OEM B4 heated seat harness, switch, and swapped the old cloth MK4 seats from the purple car in but they don’t work yet. Some troubleshooting required still.
I ordered a clearance VR6 Luk 17-036 clutch kit which is rated to 270 ft-lb to toss in while the trans is off.
Now the less good news…
1. Fried the MFA cluster during first start after the head gasket job since I didn’t have a big battery in the car. Laziness pays the price
2. CTS is dead so can’t properly time it but I think it’s pretty close. Ordered a CTS
3. Smoky starts (need to investigate glow plugs, CGPs, timing, injector balance (forgot to look at those fields the other day)
4. Heat is extremely poor despite forcing recirc/fresh air door to recirc. Some investigation required.
5. Rear suspension still very blown
6. Heated seats don’t work
7.The washer pump isn’t working. Time to troubleshoot and upgrade to the big tank that I collected.
8.Fighting with some poor connections on the orb of doom as well.
More to come. Feels good to be mobile again but a little disheartened as well. Hopefully get this list knocked off soon here.
I am waiting on hoses for my frost heater install. Once they come in and the heater is in, the pink G12 will go in.
I installed a cheap, clear, 3/8” fuel filter on the coolant return line to catch filings and fuzzies from cleaning the head gasket surfaces. I’m very glad I did as it was quite dirty once it ran for a bit.
Changed the oil and filter after the head gasket job as well.
I mounted my spare front mud flaps but sadly don’t have rears to match.
I took some time and cleaned up the 5th injector hardware and added a resistor.
While it was all apart, I put a cleaned BHW/PD136 intake on. I had planned to weld up a flanged spud to bolt onto the manifold but there wasn’t enough room for that. I had some 2” 6061 tubing kicking around so I welded a barb onto it and had to do minimum clean up on the bore of the manifold before I could insert it and weld it into place. I’m pretty happy with it as it looks mostly factory and the factory piping fits on it as well although a little reluctantly since it’s moved ~3/4” and is at a slightly different angle. Interestingly, the threaded boss for mounting the turbo inlet pipe is still present on the BHW intake so that’s a plus.
I was able to get the necessary cam sensor from the wreckers today (B6 30V) for the 0A4 speed sensor as well as a couple spare transmission plugs so I can adapt them to the kidney loop system for filtering and bench testing.
The 0A4 needs a modern shifter (YAY!) so I collected an 02J shifter box as well as heated black leather seats from a mk4 the other day as well. I routinely miss shifts with the stock setup and I’m sure the old trans with presumably tired shift collars isn’t helping much either.
I put the OEM B4 heated seat harness, switch, and swapped the old cloth MK4 seats from the purple car in but they don’t work yet. Some troubleshooting required still.
I ordered a clearance VR6 Luk 17-036 clutch kit which is rated to 270 ft-lb to toss in while the trans is off.
Now the less good news…
1. Fried the MFA cluster during first start after the head gasket job since I didn’t have a big battery in the car. Laziness pays the price
2. CTS is dead so can’t properly time it but I think it’s pretty close. Ordered a CTS
3. Smoky starts (need to investigate glow plugs, CGPs, timing, injector balance (forgot to look at those fields the other day)
4. Heat is extremely poor despite forcing recirc/fresh air door to recirc. Some investigation required.
5. Rear suspension still very blown
6. Heated seats don’t work
7.The washer pump isn’t working. Time to troubleshoot and upgrade to the big tank that I collected.
8.Fighting with some poor connections on the orb of doom as well.
More to come. Feels good to be mobile again but a little disheartened as well. Hopefully get this list knocked off soon here.
d24tdi
Veteran Member
Always a journey waking up a vehicle that spent a long time sitting. Fixing one thing then immediately finding something else. But great fixes and upgrades, and it looks sharp in the snow which helps too. All worth it for a clean example. 
Looking forward to seeing the different trans go in and how that works. Whenever my Canadian B4V finally hits the road, changing to the 02J style shifter may need to go on the upgrade list. As much as I feel the sloppy shift action of the original 02A setup is right up there with failed door handles in terms of being a part of the essential B4 TDI driving experience (to me at least haha), having the more precise late type linkage would really be an improvement in every way.
Curious for educational purposes -- on the head hardware, what made you decide on the upgraded bolts you used, vs ARP studs?
Looking forward to seeing the different trans go in and how that works. Whenever my Canadian B4V finally hits the road, changing to the 02J style shifter may need to go on the upgrade list. As much as I feel the sloppy shift action of the original 02A setup is right up there with failed door handles in terms of being a part of the essential B4 TDI driving experience (to me at least haha), having the more precise late type linkage would really be an improvement in every way.
Curious for educational purposes -- on the head hardware, what made you decide on the upgraded bolts you used, vs ARP studs?
JordanTr
Veteran Member
Honestly, the SHCS vs. ARP decision was just about value… SHCS = $28, ARP would be around CAD$350.
ARP2000 material is 220ksi tensile/200k yield and 12.9 is 180ksi tensile/160k yield. Keep in mind that the strength is only useful if you’re going to torque the fasteners to a stress that requires it. This is why I bolstered the OEM procedure with a generous thread lube when I torqued mine up. ARP is only torquing to 125 ft-lb and says that their studs are reusable so we have to presume that they aren’t torqued to yield. Their high strength material allows them to neck down the studs to reduce bolt stiffness to yield a more resilient joint. I was able to reduce bolt stiffness by increasing the length which reduces stiffness to about the same numbers as the ARP studs by my rough calculations.
If you look at PD150 head bolts vs standard SHCS, you’ll see extended threads and a reduced shank area on those bolts for the same reasons—they actually want to increase the stretch of the bolts by reducing their area.
To further increase performance of the 12.9s, one could neck them down to 10.5 or 11mm (budget option). Ordering high strength ARP studs or similar AND utilizing the spacers AND torquing them closer to yield would be a whole step up in performance again.
If I have to get back into this engine (hopefully not!), I would reuse these head bolts once but then replace them.
Now, I have upgraded head studs, and 3D printed 0A4 bits, and an 02J shifter, and an oil change/filter and $$ in my pocket still!
ARP2000 material is 220ksi tensile/200k yield and 12.9 is 180ksi tensile/160k yield. Keep in mind that the strength is only useful if you’re going to torque the fasteners to a stress that requires it. This is why I bolstered the OEM procedure with a generous thread lube when I torqued mine up. ARP is only torquing to 125 ft-lb and says that their studs are reusable so we have to presume that they aren’t torqued to yield. Their high strength material allows them to neck down the studs to reduce bolt stiffness to yield a more resilient joint. I was able to reduce bolt stiffness by increasing the length which reduces stiffness to about the same numbers as the ARP studs by my rough calculations.
If you look at PD150 head bolts vs standard SHCS, you’ll see extended threads and a reduced shank area on those bolts for the same reasons—they actually want to increase the stretch of the bolts by reducing their area.
To further increase performance of the 12.9s, one could neck them down to 10.5 or 11mm (budget option). Ordering high strength ARP studs or similar AND utilizing the spacers AND torquing them closer to yield would be a whole step up in performance again.
If I have to get back into this engine (hopefully not!), I would reuse these head bolts once but then replace them.
Now, I have upgraded head studs, and 3D printed 0A4 bits, and an 02J shifter, and an oil change/filter and $$ in my pocket still!
Most likely the standard problem with the foam blown off the blend doors. I used one of these - not the best solution but they work. Used a little RTV to hold them in place.
JordanTr
Veteran Member
Yep, I’m well aware of the blend door foam woes but I thought I could cheat by just stopping the ambient air coming into the HVAC box. Is that not the case?
I plan to fix the foam but it was more than I wanted to bite off on a week night last week.
I plan to fix the foam but it was more than I wanted to bite off on a week night last week.
prsa01
Veteran Member
If I'm understanding what you did, just forcing the door to the recirculate position, that's not going to help if the outside air is just going thru that door. That did make me think tho. Maybe blocking off the outside air source in the engine bay might be substantially easier than pulling the dash apart for the door fix. I say that having no idea where that air source is or how to access it. Just seeing how time consuming the alternative is.
d24tdi
Veteran Member
Ah, an actual engineering explanation, cheers!Honestly, the SHCS vs. ARP decision was just about value… SHCS = $28, ARP would be around CAD$350.
ARP2000 material is 220ksi tensile/200k yield and 12.9 is 180ksi tensile/160k yield. Keep in mind that the strength is only useful if you’re going to torque the fasteners to a stress that requires it. This is why I bolstered the OEM procedure with a generous thread lube when I torqued mine up. ARP is only torquing to 125 ft-lb and says that their studs are reusable so we have to presume that they aren’t torqued to yield. Their high strength material allows them to neck down the studs to reduce bolt stiffness to yield a more resilient joint. I was able to reduce bolt stiffness by increasing the length which reduces stiffness to about the same numbers as the ARP studs by my rough calculations.
If you look at PD150 head bolts vs standard SHCS, you’ll see extended threads and a reduced shank area on those bolts for the same reasons—they actually want to increase the stretch of the bolts by reducing their area.
To further increase performance of the 12.9s, one could neck them down to 10.5 or 11mm (budget option). Ordering high strength ARP studs or similar AND utilizing the spacers AND torquing them closer to yield would be a whole step up in performance again.
If I have to get back into this engine (hopefully not!), I would reuse these head bolts once but then replace them.
Now, I have upgraded head studs, and 3D printed 0A4 bits, and an 02J shifter, and an oil change/filter and $$ in my pocket still!
Makes sense all the way around, including the reason why you went with the long bolt length and the spacers. Nice inventive solution, maybe you ought to offer a kit. Achieving equal or better results for 1/10th the cost..... That's kind of the whole idea of what these cars are about, no?
I have noticed some of CAT and Cummins' larger engines use somewhat similar sleeve spacers and long bolts for the exhaust manifold hardware. Always wondered if it was some kind of idea like this. Seems like the logic is probably the same, getting a little more resilient installation while retaining the needed strength.
Anyway, good news you got an upgrade out of the unplanned head R&R.
JordanTr
Veteran Member
Stormy has 4 fresh glow plugs and a half installed frost heater I scavenged from a parts car down in Idaho. I need to make up the 1” to 5/8” reducing tee still and finish up the install. Kind of a miserable job actually but I’m sure looking forward to easy starting mornings.
I troubleshot the washer fluid pump and found 3 issues. It seems the pump was flaky and the pump housing discharge had a crack and the hatch washer nozzle was broken so it robbed all the flow. I swapped the pump for a spare and bypassed the hatch piping and all is well up front. Once the frost heater install is done then I’ll put the big kahuna tank in and swap the good pump back into it.
I also pulled the inspection cover off of the 0A4 trans and saw that the selector sleeve clip? (Not sure exactly what it’s called) was loose in the cover. I reinstalled it but it looks like the retaining spring may be a little mangled too. I have to take a peek at my spare 02A. Maybe it will have a good donor spring for me?
It didn’t seem to impede shifter operation but perhaps the reported noise came from the selector sleeve vibrating around in there?
Loaded faces of the gears look to be in great shape so that’s good.
I troubleshot the washer fluid pump and found 3 issues. It seems the pump was flaky and the pump housing discharge had a crack and the hatch washer nozzle was broken so it robbed all the flow. I swapped the pump for a spare and bypassed the hatch piping and all is well up front. Once the frost heater install is done then I’ll put the big kahuna tank in and swap the good pump back into it.
I also pulled the inspection cover off of the 0A4 trans and saw that the selector sleeve clip? (Not sure exactly what it’s called) was loose in the cover. I reinstalled it but it looks like the retaining spring may be a little mangled too. I have to take a peek at my spare 02A. Maybe it will have a good donor spring for me?
It didn’t seem to impede shifter operation but perhaps the reported noise came from the selector sleeve vibrating around in there?
Loaded faces of the gears look to be in great shape so that’s good.
JordanTr
Veteran Member
Made some more progress this weekend...
Got the frost heater install complete and it's working well! Preheat with the frost heater + working glow plugs makes for a much happier cold start. I harvested the frost heater from a B4 I stripped in Idaho but it didn't come with the 1" to 5/8" tee so I buzzed one up from some scrap SS pipe I had around. The first coolant fill showed me pretty quickly that I had wrecked the lower rad hose O ring on installation. Once that was replaced, it proceeded nicely. Once the heater was in, I installed the 8.5L tank and poured 2 gallons of washer juice in.
I cleaned up the oil pan cover and the engine under tray as they were really oily and grimy and then installed those. I'm hoping they will help preserve some precious TDI heat during these cold days! I also put the top engine cover back on but had to build a bracket to relocate the mount off of the PD136 intake. The bracket moves that mount point over ~30mm and up ~20mm.
Today, I went after the orb of doom and discovered that one of the CGP male ends was folded over and impeding the connector from going together. I bent it back into shape and coaxed the connector back into being fully seated which was more than 1/8" past where it was before! I took the car for a spin and there were no more random stalls from losing the connection to the fuel solenoid at the orb.
I plugged in VCDS and cleared codes and the only remaining code was the temp sensor (it was unplugged) but once the sensor was plugged back in and the orb fully mated, the CTS came back! With the VCDS plugged in, I figured I would go for a little drive to keep an eye on the vitals since the cluster was still down. While monkeying on the computer in the driveway, the cluster came back to life!! What a relief there! I had tried all 3 of my clusters but none of them seemed to work. Maybe the pesky ground from the bad orb messed with the cluster too?
I did a timing and boost log to see how the car was doing and it validated that the turbo is at least in good shape and it can do a good job of achieving desired timing. Finally an indication that this is a better unit than the crusty purple one!! I forgot to look at the injector balance again but one day I'll remember to!
I ordered the majority of the parts to refresh my plus front subframe, new hubs/wheel bearings, TT rear bushings, ball joints, outer tie rods, and boots for a pair of CV axles to mate with the GLX spindles. I'm thinking that the right time to do all this work will be during the transmission swap since all those bits will be apart anyways. I pulled my spare 02A from storage and it's sitting beside the 0A4 so I can do some brainstorming on the mount situation. I have some ideas floating around that hopefully won't be too difficult to accomplish. Ideally I'll be able to use the OEM B4 mounts with supplemental adapters between those mounts and the 0A4.
I'm short a CV joint on my spare axles so I'm off to try to find a spare axle at the yard tomorrow. When I rebuild the axles, I'll swap all the joints side for side so that the more worn zones are on the unloaded side.
Finally, things are starting to look up for the old girl!
Got the frost heater install complete and it's working well! Preheat with the frost heater + working glow plugs makes for a much happier cold start. I harvested the frost heater from a B4 I stripped in Idaho but it didn't come with the 1" to 5/8" tee so I buzzed one up from some scrap SS pipe I had around. The first coolant fill showed me pretty quickly that I had wrecked the lower rad hose O ring on installation. Once that was replaced, it proceeded nicely. Once the heater was in, I installed the 8.5L tank and poured 2 gallons of washer juice in.
I cleaned up the oil pan cover and the engine under tray as they were really oily and grimy and then installed those. I'm hoping they will help preserve some precious TDI heat during these cold days! I also put the top engine cover back on but had to build a bracket to relocate the mount off of the PD136 intake. The bracket moves that mount point over ~30mm and up ~20mm.
Today, I went after the orb of doom and discovered that one of the CGP male ends was folded over and impeding the connector from going together. I bent it back into shape and coaxed the connector back into being fully seated which was more than 1/8" past where it was before! I took the car for a spin and there were no more random stalls from losing the connection to the fuel solenoid at the orb.
I plugged in VCDS and cleared codes and the only remaining code was the temp sensor (it was unplugged) but once the sensor was plugged back in and the orb fully mated, the CTS came back! With the VCDS plugged in, I figured I would go for a little drive to keep an eye on the vitals since the cluster was still down. While monkeying on the computer in the driveway, the cluster came back to life!! What a relief there! I had tried all 3 of my clusters but none of them seemed to work. Maybe the pesky ground from the bad orb messed with the cluster too?
I did a timing and boost log to see how the car was doing and it validated that the turbo is at least in good shape and it can do a good job of achieving desired timing. Finally an indication that this is a better unit than the crusty purple one!! I forgot to look at the injector balance again but one day I'll remember to!
I ordered the majority of the parts to refresh my plus front subframe, new hubs/wheel bearings, TT rear bushings, ball joints, outer tie rods, and boots for a pair of CV axles to mate with the GLX spindles. I'm thinking that the right time to do all this work will be during the transmission swap since all those bits will be apart anyways. I pulled my spare 02A from storage and it's sitting beside the 0A4 so I can do some brainstorming on the mount situation. I have some ideas floating around that hopefully won't be too difficult to accomplish. Ideally I'll be able to use the OEM B4 mounts with supplemental adapters between those mounts and the 0A4.
I'm short a CV joint on my spare axles so I'm off to try to find a spare axle at the yard tomorrow. When I rebuild the axles, I'll swap all the joints side for side so that the more worn zones are on the unloaded side.
Finally, things are starting to look up for the old girl!
alanack
Veteran Member
My heated seats dont work in my B4V either 
JordanTr
Veteran Member
I finished the frost heater install last week and plugged it in overnight and it started up great at -15*C so that was nice. Plugged it in all day at work and a shuddery/smoky start ensued. At home I checked resistance and found it open circuited. I pulled open the cover and found that a lead had blown off of the thermoswitch. I bypassed it for now so it gobbles 1000W when plugged in. It looks like there was old corrosion on the connection and some fresh current probably overloaded what was left. I’m very happy now that it’s working.
It was -15*C last night and I was getting really sick of cold commutes and fogged windows so I dove into the heater box to repair the blend door holes. I used the silver foil HVAC tape and it worked pretty well I think. When I opened it up, there was not a scrap of foam or residue of any kind left so that made cleaning easy.
I had wonderful heat today and I can’t believe I spent this long procrastinating that job!
Tackling the heated seats next. They worked in the other car so they ought to work here!
It was -15*C last night and I was getting really sick of cold commutes and fogged windows so I dove into the heater box to repair the blend door holes. I used the silver foil HVAC tape and it worked pretty well I think. When I opened it up, there was not a scrap of foam or residue of any kind left so that made cleaning easy.
I had wonderful heat today and I can’t believe I spent this long procrastinating that job!
Tackling the heated seats next. They worked in the other car so they ought to work here!
Just be aware that the original seat heater elements were recalled because they burned through the seat upholstery and to people as well. Be carefull to check for hot spots when the power is first applied so you don't burn through the seats.
JordanTr
Veteran Member
Not too much to report lately. I’ve been piling some miles on it and it’s been quite cold. Below -20C this morning and she starts like a champ with the frost heater treatment!
I ordered and received some capacitors but I haven’t gone after cluster repairs yet. Thanks to some smart people on the forum that have helped pave the way for these repair procedures!
Help 1
Help 2
The heated seats seem to be intermittent. They began to work yesterday after driving on some rough gravel roads although I did check a few things at home against the print. The switch power feed was not getting power so I changed it to another location on the fuse box that had power. This morning, the heated seats didn’t work but after work I wiggled the ground wires under the dash and the heated seats came to life. Hoping for heated seats and good heat tomorrow as it will be -20C in the am.
I finished rebuilding one CV axle and cleaning and painting the other while I wait for reassembly. The CVs with the fine thread are part of the plus front end plan which I’d like to do all at once with the trans swap.
Took it for a little rural drive to a lake in the Rockies last night.
I ordered and received some capacitors but I haven’t gone after cluster repairs yet. Thanks to some smart people on the forum that have helped pave the way for these repair procedures!
Help 1
Help 2
The heated seats seem to be intermittent. They began to work yesterday after driving on some rough gravel roads although I did check a few things at home against the print. The switch power feed was not getting power so I changed it to another location on the fuse box that had power. This morning, the heated seats didn’t work but after work I wiggled the ground wires under the dash and the heated seats came to life. Hoping for heated seats and good heat tomorrow as it will be -20C in the am.
I finished rebuilding one CV axle and cleaning and painting the other while I wait for reassembly. The CVs with the fine thread are part of the plus front end plan which I’d like to do all at once with the trans swap.
Took it for a little rural drive to a lake in the Rockies last night.
JordanTr
Veteran Member
The Cream Dolphin
Veteran Member
Nice shot, I think I see K.A.R. in the background.
JordanTr
Veteran Member
I didn’t notice but I think you’re right. That is the right aspect to be KAR.
Fired up my free oven yesterday and proved it out by powder coating the VR6 front knuckles.
The old “Lady Kenmore” did not disappoint!
Silver vein does a nice job of hiding the rust pits.
Typically, I would do my powdercoating in my dad’s shop but it’s many miles away and having it in my own backyard is very convenient!
Fired up my free oven yesterday and proved it out by powder coating the VR6 front knuckles.
The old “Lady Kenmore” did not disappoint!
Silver vein does a nice job of hiding the rust pits.
Typically, I would do my powdercoating in my dad’s shop but it’s many miles away and having it in my own backyard is very convenient!
JordanTr
Veteran Member
I collected some fresh dust shields for the GLX bits from Latvia. Got lucky and found them on ebay. Part numbers for those are 3A0615311 and 312.
They fit well and are powdercoated so I can't complain at all.
I got the 0A4 mounts cut out of steel, welded up, and powdercoated. While I was set up, I went through the arms as well and powdercoated them in matching hammertone/silver vein. The arms got the TT rear bushings and standard front ones.
We had some unpleasant weather yesterday so I took the opportunity to go through my clusters and replace the 2 capacitors. Foolishly, I only bought 220 and 470uF caps. The first cluster had these caps in it so the repair went well. After replacing the same caps and testing the second cluster (the MFA one), I realized I had replaced the 68 with a 220, but the cluster came back to life anyways so that was a huge relief. I was very afraid that I had killed it per this post. Once I get the 68uF caps, I will re-replace that one. Oops. The final cluster also had the 68uF cap but I had smartened up and only replaced the 470uF cap and now the cluster works well again. Once I get the 68uF caps, I'll replace the second cap proactively.
I filled up the car again and posted a 5.7L/100km. Not super great but not all that bad either. I know the injectors are tired which I'm sure isn't helping my case. I now have 3100kms on it and confidence is growing somewhat. Once I have the suspension, front end, and trans stuff dealt with, it'll be time to evaluate the injectors... to upsize, tune, and turbo, or just get 0.205s and call it a day. Tough decisions!
They fit well and are powdercoated so I can't complain at all.
I got the 0A4 mounts cut out of steel, welded up, and powdercoated. While I was set up, I went through the arms as well and powdercoated them in matching hammertone/silver vein. The arms got the TT rear bushings and standard front ones.
We had some unpleasant weather yesterday so I took the opportunity to go through my clusters and replace the 2 capacitors. Foolishly, I only bought 220 and 470uF caps. The first cluster had these caps in it so the repair went well. After replacing the same caps and testing the second cluster (the MFA one), I realized I had replaced the 68 with a 220, but the cluster came back to life anyways so that was a huge relief. I was very afraid that I had killed it per this post. Once I get the 68uF caps, I will re-replace that one. Oops. The final cluster also had the 68uF cap but I had smartened up and only replaced the 470uF cap and now the cluster works well again. Once I get the 68uF caps, I'll replace the second cap proactively.
I filled up the car again and posted a 5.7L/100km. Not super great but not all that bad either. I know the injectors are tired which I'm sure isn't helping my case. I now have 3100kms on it and confidence is growing somewhat. Once I have the suspension, front end, and trans stuff dealt with, it'll be time to evaluate the injectors... to upsize, tune, and turbo, or just get 0.205s and call it a day. Tough decisions!
thechoochlyman
Vendor , w/Business number
Running larger capacitors shouldn't do any harm. The main reason smaller value caps are used are typically due to cost and physical space. In fact, using capacitors rated at a higher voltage will typically greatly increase their lifespan. By using higher farad capacitors you're not giving it more power than it needs, you're just giving it a bigger supply to pull from. So I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, if anything it's more bulletproof now.
JordanTr
Veteran Member
Finally bit the bullet and ordered and then installed new rear shocks! I thought I had some Neuspeed springs from the Goblin but all 3 sets of springs I have are green green blue blue stockers.
In the process of tearing the entire rear half of the car apart, I was able to find and secure a couple of panels to cure some rattles so my mental sanity thanks me!
With the rear dampers and no more rattles, it’s like a whole new car. Thankfully I got the shocks done before the rear beam bushings were pounded out. With the newfound handling, I’m wondering how nice a rear sway bar addition would be!
I’ve been having some discussions offline with @burpod and I’ve dusted off my plans to go down the tune rabbit hole. I pulled apart my GTC1549VZ last night in preparation for a V band outlet flange and reclocking the center and remounting the actuator on the cold side. I have my spare engine all mocked up so I can figure out the transition flange required to mount it up. Not sure yet if I will do a bolted transition flange or weld one on with high nickel rod as I have to weld the Vband on anyways. Time will tell… feels good to be inching forward.
In the process of tearing the entire rear half of the car apart, I was able to find and secure a couple of panels to cure some rattles so my mental sanity thanks me!
With the rear dampers and no more rattles, it’s like a whole new car. Thankfully I got the shocks done before the rear beam bushings were pounded out. With the newfound handling, I’m wondering how nice a rear sway bar addition would be!
I’ve been having some discussions offline with @burpod and I’ve dusted off my plans to go down the tune rabbit hole. I pulled apart my GTC1549VZ last night in preparation for a V band outlet flange and reclocking the center and remounting the actuator on the cold side. I have my spare engine all mocked up so I can figure out the transition flange required to mount it up. Not sure yet if I will do a bolted transition flange or weld one on with high nickel rod as I have to weld the Vband on anyways. Time will tell… feels good to be inching forward.
JordanTr
Veteran Member
I did end up opting for a welded flange on the turbo. I used a 5/8” mild steel flange and welded it with high nickel rod after preheating. This way it bolts up just like an OEM turbo and utilizes proper creep resistant fasteners. My friendly local machinist decked the flange after welding and beveled the turbo outlet to transition perfectly into a 2.5” v band.
Spring has sprung so the 3 piece are back on although the car hasn’t had a full proper wash just yet. Definitely enjoying the new handling of the car with the rear shocks in good shape!
Here are some pics of the progress. Haven’t gotten to clocking the cold side just yet.
Spring has sprung so the 3 piece are back on although the car hasn’t had a full proper wash just yet. Definitely enjoying the new handling of the car with the rear shocks in good shape!
Here are some pics of the progress. Haven’t gotten to clocking the cold side just yet.
Ajlal24
Veteran Member
What's the story on these mounts? Plan on producing more? How do they mount?I got the 0A4 mounts cut out of steel, welded up, and powdercoated. While I was set up, I went through the arms as well and powdercoated them in matching hammertone/silver vein. The arms got the TT rear bushings and standard front ones.
JordanTr
Veteran Member
@Ajlal24, the crescent goes onto the diff casing and provides the 2 mounting points that are missing on the modern case for the old mounting. The uppermost point of the bracket is common to both cases. Big perk is that this mount makes it easier to get the lowermost engine mount bolt in and out compared with stock length bolts!
The dogbone mount provides mounting for the 3rd bolt on the front engine mount since this boss is missing on the modern trans. The original 2 bolts are still used by the starter bolts.
The bottom of the dogbone joins to a mount on the modern trans. No pic handy but I’ll take one.
With my life these days, I don’t think I have the time to build them to make it worth my time. Send me a PM and I can help you get it figured out though if you wanted to build some.
One other challenge is that the speed sensor mount from @caffeine occupies the same space as the mk3/b4 rear mount so I used the 3d template to build one from 6061 as I didn’t want to wait to model it and get a print. I’ll help him tweak an alternate bracket for mk3/B4.
The trans is now mounted in the car with a new VR6 clutch, new rear main seal (replacing the original at 490,000kms!), and 3D printed shift box. More updates to come after it’s all buttoned up
The dogbone mount provides mounting for the 3rd bolt on the front engine mount since this boss is missing on the modern trans. The original 2 bolts are still used by the starter bolts.
The bottom of the dogbone joins to a mount on the modern trans. No pic handy but I’ll take one.
With my life these days, I don’t think I have the time to build them to make it worth my time. Send me a PM and I can help you get it figured out though if you wanted to build some.
One other challenge is that the speed sensor mount from @caffeine occupies the same space as the mk3/b4 rear mount so I used the 3d template to build one from 6061 as I didn’t want to wait to model it and get a print. I’ll help him tweak an alternate bracket for mk3/B4.
The trans is now mounted in the car with a new VR6 clutch, new rear main seal (replacing the original at 490,000kms!), and 3D printed shift box. More updates to come after it’s all buttoned up
JordanTr
Veteran Member
I'm happy to report that the trans swap is complete and is running well (finally!). After the initial install, I felt like the starter was very noisy so I requested some dimensions on the 02S thread since I was worried about the axial pinion engagement on the flywheel. Throughout this process, I realized that the 0A4/02S starter pilot is ~79mm and the 02A/J pilot is only 76mm. Because of this, the radial positioning isn't precise. On the mk4 etc vehicles, the 12mm starter bolts pilot the starter relatively close, but on the mk3/B4, the 10mm bolts in 12.5mm holes don't pilot the starter well.
After glancing at the starters side by side, I figured I would do it up all nicely and TIG the flange and then re-machine to the larger pilot so I did that.
During reassembly, I managed the wreck the fiddly little internal clip on the drive unit. Worse yet, is that I didn't actually need to go that far into the starter! I stole the starter from the Goblin to steal guts in order to complete the frankenstarter. The new pilot was machined concentric to the pinion.
After reinstalling, the starter sounded growlier than before!! Sad days
Frankenstarter welded/machined flange:
Modified 0A4 golf club to clear boost lines etc. Its inertia is a little less than original but still feels and works fine.
After re-measuring both the 0A4 starter and the now broken spare 02A starter, I realized that the proper location for the 02A/J starter in the pilot is pushed as close to the crank centerline as possible. I recently pulled the frankenstarter, swapped all the working guts into a stock housing and positioned it as close to crank center as the pilot allows. There are currently no locating features to lock it there but it sounds proper and works properly. I am ordering a new starter bushing and will re-frankenstein the frankenstein starter housing with a new locating pilot that offsets the pinion 1.5mm closer to the crank than the pilot center. For now, I'm just happy it's a driver again! Lesson learned: don't assume things are concentric because they look like they should be!
Filled the trans with Syncromesh and all shifting is smooth and quiet. I think the alleged noise from before was from the deconstructed 5th gear syncro assembly and I bet that fell apart due to improper assembly of the springs when the wavetrac was installed.
Shift box installed fit pretty perfect for a prototype!
Here's proof of the Wavetrac!
It's getting hot up here in the rockies so I tried an AC recharge and was successful so now I am mobile with icy A/C--a luxury I've never had in a B4 and man is it nice!
No progress on turbo/tune yet. I recently dragged the 3rd allroad home and collected a B7V 2.0T 6MT with a blown engine so I made a nice wagon line-up (Silver Allroad not pictured).
That's it for now! Recent fill up was 5.2L/100km and I've put about 5900km on the car now.
After glancing at the starters side by side, I figured I would do it up all nicely and TIG the flange and then re-machine to the larger pilot so I did that.
During reassembly, I managed the wreck the fiddly little internal clip on the drive unit. Worse yet, is that I didn't actually need to go that far into the starter! I stole the starter from the Goblin to steal guts in order to complete the frankenstarter. The new pilot was machined concentric to the pinion.
After reinstalling, the starter sounded growlier than before!! Sad days
Frankenstarter welded/machined flange:
Modified 0A4 golf club to clear boost lines etc. Its inertia is a little less than original but still feels and works fine.
After re-measuring both the 0A4 starter and the now broken spare 02A starter, I realized that the proper location for the 02A/J starter in the pilot is pushed as close to the crank centerline as possible. I recently pulled the frankenstarter, swapped all the working guts into a stock housing and positioned it as close to crank center as the pilot allows. There are currently no locating features to lock it there but it sounds proper and works properly. I am ordering a new starter bushing and will re-frankenstein the frankenstein starter housing with a new locating pilot that offsets the pinion 1.5mm closer to the crank than the pilot center. For now, I'm just happy it's a driver again! Lesson learned: don't assume things are concentric because they look like they should be!
Filled the trans with Syncromesh and all shifting is smooth and quiet. I think the alleged noise from before was from the deconstructed 5th gear syncro assembly and I bet that fell apart due to improper assembly of the springs when the wavetrac was installed.
Shift box installed fit pretty perfect for a prototype!
Here's proof of the Wavetrac!
It's getting hot up here in the rockies so I tried an AC recharge and was successful so now I am mobile with icy A/C--a luxury I've never had in a B4 and man is it nice!
No progress on turbo/tune yet. I recently dragged the 3rd allroad home and collected a B7V 2.0T 6MT with a blown engine so I made a nice wagon line-up (Silver Allroad not pictured).
That's it for now! Recent fill up was 5.2L/100km and I've put about 5900km on the car now.
Ajlal24
Veteran Member
Be careful, you might end up with a junkyard - 3 spare vehicles to keep 1 on the road. haha
Do you think part of the starter engagement issue is also because of the flywheels position closer to the engine(I read the bushing issue you found)? I noticed the 02S specific lightweight flywheels had a spacer on the back to push it deeper into the transmission bell housing.
Do you think part of the starter engagement issue is also because of the flywheels position closer to the engine(I read the bushing issue you found)? I noticed the 02S specific lightweight flywheels had a spacer on the back to push it deeper into the transmission bell housing.
garciapiano
Veteran Member
Can you explain the dogbone mount? Is that because there is nowhere for the 02A style trans mount to go on the 02S?
What are highway RPMs?
What are highway RPMs?
JordanTr
Veteran Member
I don’t think it’s correct per se, but according to my measurements, there’s still about 7mm of axial tooth engagement. After the 3rd install of the starter as close to the crank center line as possible, it’s nice and quiet. As far as what could be eating our lunch on starters, the radial misalignment is much worse than the axial effects I think. From the dimensions I took, and assuming the designed centreline of the starter bolt holes is the same across generations, even when the 02A/J starter is mounted tightly in the pilot on the crank side, it’s still ~0.5mm further out radially than the original application.
Again, I don’t think it’s much of an issue on the newer models since the starter mounting bolts are 12mm. On the newer ones though, I would definitely try to mount the starter as close as possible to the crank center line as well.
JordanTr
Veteran Member
@garciapiano, the dogbone style mount is for the front engine mount and makes up for the mounting pickup point that isn’t there on the 0A4… if I did it again, I would tig a boss on the the trans but it’s too late for that now. I say that because it’s a chore to re/re the starter when that 3rd bolt isn’t helping to keep the front motor mount bracket located properly.
On rpm vs speed, 5th is 6% taller than an 02A CTN so with 195/55/16, I am at 2002rpm at 65mph.
If I had a 6speed 3.39 02S, that’d be 1895rpm
If I had a euro 3.16 02S, that’d be ~1761rpm.
The end result of this is about the same as a 0.717 5th in an 02A.
I had contemplated getting a plain 3.39 02S (no wavetrac) but then I stumbled upon the wavetrac and couldn’t resist it! And if I was going to commit to a wavetrac, I figured I’m probably best to get a 3.16 euro 6 speed for the bit of incremental cost!
On rpm vs speed, 5th is 6% taller than an 02A CTN so with 195/55/16, I am at 2002rpm at 65mph.
If I had a 6speed 3.39 02S, that’d be 1895rpm
If I had a euro 3.16 02S, that’d be ~1761rpm.
The end result of this is about the same as a 0.717 5th in an 02A.
I had contemplated getting a plain 3.39 02S (no wavetrac) but then I stumbled upon the wavetrac and couldn’t resist it! And if I was going to commit to a wavetrac, I figured I’m probably best to get a 3.16 euro 6 speed for the bit of incremental cost!
JordanTr
Veteran Member
Here are a couple pics of the CAD for the front mounting dogbone. The lower boss is on the trans.