The NARFmobile, My 2001 Golf TDI

[NarfBLAST]

Adventures in Lifting a Mk4 Golf Day 3 of 3

Update: fabricated those shock extension brackets!
(inspired by member Shenandoah and pics in this thread: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=3311580#post3311580)

Will leave the 1" spacers out for now and keep the level stance.

 

[NarfBLAST]

I can't wait until I can take pictures of my car beside yours this year. It looks like yours will drive over mine with out a problem.

Haha, I can't wait to take it to VAGKRAFT and take pictures!

 

[NarfBLAST]

2010 Numbers for Tax Time

Just finished totaling up all the receipts from last year and it turns out that even tho I spent $4,700.00 in maintenance on the Golf it still cost lest to operate than our 2006 Mazda5! Not bad for a car twice as old and with over five times as many km.

To be fair I should mention the curb weight of the Mazda is 3500lbs compared to 2700lbs for the Golf.

The Mazda averages 9 L/100km (26mpg), the Golf 5.6L/100km (42mpg).

 

[NarfBLAST]

Every penny well spent...

So I did some more number crunching and came up with this: The cost of owning my car from August 2001 to December 2010.

The graph shows the cost per km steadily declining the longer I own the vehicle.

The biggest surprise is that even though I spent $4,700 in repairs last year, my cost per km is still trending downwards!

Interesting Calculations that are not in the sheet:

$60,000 / 414,000 km = 14.5 cents per km average for repairs. (edit: oops, forgot to deduct the purchase price of the vehicle, see new calculation

Edit: $30,000 / 414,00km = 7.25 cents per km average for repairs

$60,000 / 414,000 km = 14.5 cents per km average for repairs + initial purchase

So if I want to keep this trend, I need to make sure I don't spend more than 14 cents per km on repairs... Knowing this I weigh the cost of major repairs better. For example: say the injection pump needs to be replaced, and I get a quote for $2000, I can say, okay, $2000/$0.14/km = 14,285 km. So if I think I can get 14,285 more km out of the car without anything else breaking then this is a good investment. If more stuff breaks, and I keep putting money in without getting enough km out then the chart will start to trend upwards and it may be time to consider a new car. However, it would take years in a new car to get down to 25 cents per km, so as long as the chart is stable then I happy to spend money keeping this car running like new.

also:

$20,000 / 414,000 km = 4.8 cents per km average for fuel

Using the rule of thumb that diesels use 2/3 the fuel of gassers I might have spent $30,000 or 7.2 cents per km (2.4 cents extra per km). Could I have saved $10,000 in initial cost and repairs on a gasoline powered Golf? Considering I spent only $1600 (after tax) for the diesel engine option and $2200 on one replacement injection pump and $200 two replacement VNT actuators, I am still $6000 ahead, and this gap will keeping growning the more km I put on... even without considering if a gasoline engine could go this long.

Drive more, worry less.

 

[NewTdi]

Nice increase in fuel costs over the years!

 

[NarfBLAST]

Yeah, my fuel economy has not changed, just the price of fuel.

I grabbed my receipts from August 2001: Diesel was 62.9 cents/L in in Kitchener Ontario.

We took a trip to Florida and Hillsville VA it was 1.339 USD/gal or 35.4 cents/L ? Wow.

My last few fillups have been around 120 cents/L

 

[NarfBLAST]

Update on the Lift, put the 1" spacers back in...

1" + 10mm in the front front
1" + Jetta Wagon Springs in the rear

edit: adding a pic from a real camera:

 

[NarfBLAST]

Ordered a set of Ralley Armour mudflaps to replace these:

 

[NarfBLAST]

Some pictures in night mode:

 

[2ManyKMfor1Tank]

Paul, I am really impressed by your creative abilities and your
ability to make something out of nothing. Something I'm still working
on picking up from my Dad.

 

[NarfBLAST]

Thanks for the compliment! It just takes tools, scraps, and tinker time...

I like to share my joy for making stuff work. I use posting stuff online to motivate me to start and finish projects.

Here are some future projects that I am seriously considering:

- Front Light Bar for the Golf

- Hatch or Hitch Mount Spare Tire Carrier for the Golf (for that 4x4 look)

- Tongue Mount Spare Tire Carrier for the Trailer (mounted vertically with the spare facing left so that when people pass me they can see the Avus alloy rim with the VW center cap floating between the car and trailer.

 

[Louis_TDI]

- Hatch or Hitch Mount Spare Tire Carrier for the Golf (for that 4x4 look)

I have wanted to make some thing like that for so long

 

[ProStreetDriver]

Excellent work, definitely love the look of a raised up Golf... I swear if I didn't know any better, it looks like a factory made suv.

How is the ride quality???

 

[NarfBLAST]

How is the ride quality???

Ride is the same as stock, maybe slightly firmer because of the Bilstien TC shocks? I can not tell the difference in corners no matter how hard I attack the car seems as planted as ever. I have heard that the suspension on the mk4 responds well to a lift because it tends to keep the control arms more level or something. I don't feel any extra rolling sensation after the lift.

The big difference in the ride is when crossing train tracks or hitting big dips in the road I have no fear of bottoming out. It also takes the sphincter clench factor out of speed bumps.

 

[vwjettadsl]

Still running stock tire size? I'm getting ready to put VR6 springs on the front, with 10mm spacer. Jetta Wagon rear springs and Air Lift air bags. Probably go with Bilstein HD rear shocks, and Bilstein TC's on the front like you.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[NarfBLAST]

Hi Ben, yes I'm back to stock tire size and I think I am going to stick with it just because I have 9 tires (include the one steel spare) mounted on rims that I rotate with the utility trailer depending on wear and it is impossible to fit larger tires in the spare tire well.

Good luck with your lift

 

[Torero]

needs a wash!

 

[NarfBLAST]

Rear Running Lights (RRLs)

Latest modification: connected the rear fog lights to the day time running light circuit so that they come on whenever the key is on and the parking brake is off... I know these could be blinding at night so what I did was install AMBER bulbs in them. The 20 watt amber bulbs when put thru a red filter give out a subdued light. Why not use 10 watt bulbs like rear marker lights? The fog light housing reflector is designed for the taller 20 W bulb. When the shorter 10 W bulb is installed you get an ugly dark spot in the center because the filament is not placed at the focal point of the reflector.

Yes, my license plate is poorly lit in that picture because one bulb is burnt and the other was so black that only half the light was getting out. Replaced both license plate lights today:

 

[NarfBLAST]

Finally disconnected the ALARM HORN! Now I can take my time getting around to fixing the broken wires in my hatch. Also, on the days when the drivers door switch is acting up, no annoying alarm horn, just flashing lights! Hooray! It was so easy, just had to take the windshield wiper arms off and reach up under the cowl and disconnect it.

While I was in there I replaced the cabin air filter which was black with soot from my cracked flex pipe!

Also thought I found what was causing P0380 Glow plug malfunction, loose glow plug making bad contact with the block: after tightening it I got a good reading on my ohm meter, but after driving to the beer store celebrate i got another P0380? Have plans to do more testing, maybe more soldering, later...

Also pulled the four ebay Avus hub caps off because they had turned an ugly shade of yellow shortly after installing them. At least the emblems are nice. Will need two hubcaps for a future project involving a free rear axle I picked up.

 

[ProStreetDriver]

Haha, no one seems to like the stock alarm horn... I took mine out and swapped it over to a BMW one. I had to do some custom wiring though considering I switched from 2 wire to 4 wire setup.

 

[NarfBLAST]

Is this The End?

So, just when I finally got my Rally Armour mudflaps adjusted just right...

...the clutch rattle got worse.

When it became hard to shift gears without matching revs, I knew the transmission would have to come off and the cluch/throwout bearing/flywheel would need to be looked at. The car had given me plenty of warning, and I had driven it for a few thousand km with the clutch rattle. At this point, after 10 years and over 435,000 km my wife and I decided to buy a new car.

On Saturday May 21st we signed a deal on a new Kia Forte 5 EX with a 6 speed manual. We would take delivery of the Kia Monday May 30th. So the clutch in the Golf only had to make it one more week. The plan was that when we got the new car I would park the Golf in the driveway and take the transmission out in my spare time.

In that last week driving the Golf the gears became harder and harder to engage. On Fiday afternoon, I was making what would have been the Golf's last official run before retirement: picking my daughter up from school. Half way there a rumbling started and pushing in the clutch no longer disconnected the drive train properly. I could get it into neutral, barely, and I knew the end was near. I put it in to a few more gears and thought I would make it to her school. I made a couple of right turns, but something was squealing and the whole car was shaking. I coasted down the hill slowly towards the entrance to the school parking lot, but when I got to the driveway, first gear would not engage without bucking and stalling. We never made it in to the parking lot. I found reverse and jerked and shook the car back to a spot on next to the curb.

I had been reluctant to buy a new car, but it turned out the timing was exactly right. While waiting for the tow truck my daughter reminded me that she had told me several times when fixing the Golf that I should just buy a new car. My daughter is 5 years old. I explained that I enjoyed fixing my car and I have learned a lot.

The End?

 

[rrobbiiee]

The exact same thing happened to me when my DMF gave out, luckily I was able to coast in neutral into a parking lot.

Just tro' a new clutch + SMF on and she'll be even better than new, keep the dream alive!

 

[NarfBLAST]

You called it rrobbiiee, I looked into prices of Sachs and LUK DMFs and found it actually cost less to purchase a G60/VR6 upgrade kit.

I did not want to order anything until I had a look inside the bell-housing. It took a few weeks of planning and gathering tools but I got the transmission out today! The 800lbs capacity transmission jack I picked up on sale at Princess Auto for $139 was definitely worth it. Even using the tilt knobs to rotate the transmission as much possible counter clockwise (30 to 45 degrees with this jack) it was still a tight squeeze. Took about 45mins of playing to get the transmission out, but at least I was not sweating, swearing, or sore because all the weight was always safely supported. I added two ratchet straps in an x-pattern to make sure there was no chance of the transmission falling off the jack.

This is what I found inside the bell-housing:

Looks like the throw-out bearing finally let go. I cleaned out all the broken bits and I it does not look like there was any damage to anything other than what is on my shopping list:

- clutch release lever (chunk ground off of it)
- clutch release lever clip (bent)
- clutch release lever ball pin (the plastic tip broke off)
- clutch throw out bearing guide sleeve (scored up and bent slightly off center)
- input shaft oil seal (not sure if this comes with the new guide sleeve)
- Valeo G60/VR6 clutch upgrade kit (got 439,000km out of the original Sachs DMF)
- transmission mount and pendulum mount stretch bolts

I don't really want to replace the rear main seal unless I have to. I have not gotten the pressure plate or flywheel off yet I need to find a 12 point 9mm socket. The pressure plate fingers were clearly worn past their maximum limit of half the original thickness of the metal:

To be continued...

 

[vwjettadsl]

I recommend that you get the Sachs VR6/G60 kit vs. the Valeo. The Sachs has a softer clutch pedal feel than stock, whereas the Valeo has a very stiff pedal. After I put the Sachs into my car, getting stuck in bumper to bumper traffic isn't so bad now. Although I think it would be a nightmare with a Valeo.

How I know about the Valeo is because I have one installed in a project car of mine. Also the Sachs can handle more torque

Cheers,
Ben

 

[NarfBLAST]

I just read some threads on Sachs vs Valeo and I got the impression the Valeo was smoother and had less noise/vibration. I don't intend to add more power than my PSI injection pump signal modifying box. I honestly didn't realize there was a difference in VR6 kits until a day after I placed my order. I find myself buying first and researching later. I haven't heard that the Valeo is any stiffer than the stock clutch, will see.

 

[jayb79]

 

[NarfBLAST]

Well I picked up a 9mm 12 point 3/4 inch drive socket at Napa, cost $4.09 and the pressure plate came off easily. The clutch was down past the rivets, here is a pic just before the friction material slipped off of what was left of the rivets.

The DMF was siezed up. I can get it to move about a quarter inch but I can not get it back to center to get the holes to line up with the bolts:

So I start cutting, and find out that, yes, the center hub it not attached so it will fall right out with six cuts. Ofcourse I found this out after I had made 8 cuts slowly removing the four little chunks, and decided to make two more cuts to see if the hub would fall out. Not hard to do with a 4.5 inch angle grinder and a fresh cutoff wheel, just need to rotate the flywheel so the sparks are always pointing down. You should always rotate counterclockwise from the flywheel side, correct? (clockwise from the timing belt side?)

Now for the crank bolts I did need a flywheel holding tool, so I made one, sorry no picture of it installed on the block, I was too eager to get the flywheel off, will grab a picture when I put the new flywheel in.

I re-installed the crank bolts to keep dirt and moisture out. I am just waiting until I get the new parts and the time to put them in:

I should probably replace the rear main seal but it is dry and I hate dealing with fluids and seals, I am afraid I will do more harm than good. Besides that thing looks intimidating. It reminds me of the "Stargate".

 

[phucking-low]

The same thing happened to my throw out bearing, and when i put my clutch in my 194k miles old main was dry and 8k miles later when my throw out bearing took a dump it was leaking. So i suggest replacing it.

 

[NarfBLAST]

New flywheel and clutch are in!

I might have gotten the parts sooner if it were not for the Canadian postal workers going on strike. I have slowly been putting the car back together over the past week whenever I could get time to work on it. It has been tricky to sneak away from the family, I should mention my wife gave birth to our third child last Friday July 8th... luckily I had gotten the transmission and motor mounts back in and bolted up before she went into labour.

On the weekend My father-in-law and I went straight out to the garage when my mother-in-law came to visit and we got everything else needed to make the car run hooked up and test fired on the jack stands within a couple of hours.

Today, all three kids were in bed at 8pm and my wife seemed well rested (baby is doing great and two kids were out of the house with me most of the day) so her highness allowed me to finish cleaning and torquing the axle bolts and take it for a test drive!

Here is my flywheel holding tool on the new Valeo G60 Flywheel:

And the new clutch and shiny new pressure plate:

Finally I could thread the transmission back through the eye of the needle. I guess it would have been easier if I had removed the axle flanges but dealing with all that grease and pressing the springs back in and possibly damaging the seals did not sound like fun.

This transmission jack played a pivotal role:

After the transmission mount went back in it was nice to finally remove the support bar:

I went for a test drive tonight. It runs great! The clutch pedal seems lighter that I remember. It seems to engage in the same place it used to. It all seemed very familiar, yet lighter and smoother than before. I had been running with a seized DMF for a while but the giant Valeo clutch springs seem to do the same job that the DMF used to. Also I get absolutely no chatter with clutch in or out in neutral. Its like a new car. The shifter is bit notchy, even with new Motomaster Synthetic gear oil from Canadian Tire but I suspect that is just due to the age of the transmission.

I got finished and did my test drive at 10pm to a local car wash. I washed the car and sprayed on some tire shine in the dark, I can't wait to see it on the ground and drive it in the daytime tomorrow!


Looking forward to:

- towing the trailer to pick up a nice heavy load of free wood chips
- installing a new looking set of side mirrors from an '04 Golf
- picking up a used drivers side front fender
- hitting 500,000 km with this car

 

[schwarze Käfer]

Congrats on the new baby and getting NARFmobile going!
What's the weight of your new flywheel?