The "What did you do to your B4 today" thread...

Starion_slider

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Location
CT.
TDI
1996 B4 sedan
I try to wipe down my door seals with tire wet or armor all. Usually works for a while to prevent me from flipping out at 5am and ripping the door handle out of the door. Ive tried spraying WD-40 in the handle and latch mechanism and tried the dry white lube spray, graphite lube, lock de-icers…..its a B4 passat and it just literally does not want to let you in the damn thing. Its always a roll of the dice. Luckily I love the car enough to just keep dealing with its downfalls for the last 12+years. My previous cars were all dodge omnis so nothing new to me. I think those handles made a B4 handle look like a perfect engineering masterpiece hahaha.
 

alanack

Veteran Member
Joined
May 10, 2022
Location
Rhode Island
TDI
1998 Jetta
New front tires on the B4V...
Not that it matters I can't drive it because the roads are salted and I REFUSE to drive this car in the salt.

Tried to find wheels for it, but i gave up.
Went with 15' toyos on the 5 lug bottle caps....

Assessed the rot on my MK3 TDI... its bad. Rear most portion of the PS side control arm mount/ unibody looks pretty pookey...

I think i have to fix this car due to the absurd prices of new and used cars.

Drove home 45 miles in a snow storm, man this car sucks in the snow, definitely getting some snowies on stealies next year....

People are asking 2400-3500 for rotted Mk3 tdis that dont run. (I wish this was a joke)
 

CanadianALH

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2023
Location
Canada
TDI
2002 Jetta 5spd 2006 Jetta DSG (wifes)
New front tires on the B4V...
Not that it matters I can't drive it because the roads are salted and I REFUSE to drive this car in the salt.

Tried to find wheels for it, but i gave up.
Went with 15' toyos on the 5 lug bottle caps....

Assessed the rot on my MK3 TDI... its bad. Rear most portion of the PS side control arm mount/ unibody looks pretty pookey...

I think i have to fix this car due to the absurd prices of new and used cars.

Drove home 45 miles in a snow storm, man this car sucks in the snow, definitely getting some snowies on stealies next year....

People are asking 2400-3500 for rotted Mk3 tdis that dont run. (I wish this was a joke)
Saw a mk3 gti for $950 it looked to be in pretty good shape ok facebook
 

alanack

Veteran Member
Joined
May 10, 2022
Location
Rhode Island
TDI
1998 Jetta
Yanked the stupid frost heater out with its corresponding mess of hoses.
Dont need it, I've never had a problem cold starts below 0* F.

Gotta pull the alternator and AC compressor to do the water pump now.
 

alanack

Veteran Member
Joined
May 10, 2022
Location
Rhode Island
TDI
1998 Jetta

Yanked waterpump assembly.
No need to touch Timing belt. Pull alternator, Ac compressor and remove the tensioner bracket. Like 4 bolts and its out.

Need to order more parts to assemble.
Going to do new oil cooler, new thermostat and housing, and all new radiator hoses.
 

thechoochlyman

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2015
Location
Campbellsville, Kentucky
TDI
1997 B4 Sedan
Ordered new Akebono front pads and Fremax rotors. The outer pads still have some beef, but I can't see the insides too well. They're starting to make a scraping noise, but with 60,000 miles on the existing Akebono pads I'm not too upset about it. lol
 

Ajlal24

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2016
Location
California
TDI
98 Jetta TDI, 2012 Golf TDI
Ordered new Akebono front pads and Fremax rotors. The outer pads still have some beef, but I can't see the insides too well. They're starting to make a scraping noise, but with 60,000 miles on the existing Akebono pads I'm not too upset about it. lol
Probably need calipers if you have uneven pad wear. You might get away with regreasing the slide bolts if you can get them out and clean out the bores.
 

thechoochlyman

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2015
Location
Campbellsville, Kentucky
TDI
1997 B4 Sedan
Definitely planning on re-greasing everything. Interested to see how each side compares to the other.
Got my brakes done and ended up doing more than I had planned. The fronts went fine, I just swapped the pads and re-greased the slide bolts. I also swapped on a used front rotor to replace the one that had been scraping.

I noticed the rear pads were getting low so I changed those too. One pad had disconnected from the base and fell out when I removed it. These were ceramic pads I got from ID parts and have been on there for 120k miles. I broke off the bleeder screw on the rear right caliper, which prompted me to just replace both rear calipers. The rear left has been on there since I bought the car (223k miles) and the rear right was replaced 131k miles ago.

Definitely noticing more balanced braking now, and my E-brake is working much better too. I'll probably have to swap the front calipers next time just because I saw one of the piston boots starting to rip. Still, I'm very impressed with how long they've lasted.
 

Starion_slider

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Location
CT.
TDI
1996 B4 sedan
Wow. My B4 eats brakes. Usually 1 bad caliper (rear 99% of the time) will kill a set of fairly new pads/rotors pretty quickly. Im lucky if i get 40k out of brakes without having a caliper hang or a ebrake cable freeze up or just having the face of the rotor rott off. My fronts are currently ok but rears are missing most of the rotor surface and i have 1 rear cable disconnected because the ebrake portion gets stuck. Ive tried probably 5 different caliper brands and I have replaced the cables and filled them with g12 coolant which was good for a few years but the same problems always come back. I just wait until im grinding on 2 wheels to even think of replacing anything…..then pad slap to get a little more life hahaha. Junks.
 

HardToHandle

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 31, 2021
Location
Washington State
TDI
1996 Passat wagon 1z
Wow. My B4 eats brakes. Usually 1 bad caliper (rear 99% of the time) will kill a set of fairly new pads/rotors pretty quickly. Im lucky if i get 40k out of brakes without having a caliper hang or a ebrake cable freeze up or just having the face of the rotor rott off. My fronts are currently ok but rears are missing most of the rotor surface and i have 1 rear cable disconnected because the ebrake portion gets stuck. Ive tried probably 5 different caliper brands and I have replaced the cables and filled them with g12 coolant which was good for a few years but the same problems always come back. I just wait until im grinding on 2 wheels to even think of replacing anything…..then pad slap to get a little more life hahaha. Junks.
Just had bith my e-brake cables stick

Getting them unstuck in the freezing cold at 5:00 in the morning is not what I would call enjoyable :|

Ordered a new pair, in the meantime I'll just leave it in gear without touching the handbrake. It is generally parked on flat ground so it shouldn't be an issue
 

Starion_slider

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Location
CT.
TDI
1996 B4 sedan
Just had bith my e-brake cables stick

Getting them unstuck in the freezing cold at 5:00 in the morning is not what I would call enjoyable :|

Ordered a new pair, in the meantime I'll just leave it in gear without touching the handbrake. It is generally parked on flat ground so it shouldn't be an issue
Hahaha I know the feeling and I currently have a 2x4 that I park the car on in my driveway. My cables are fine right now but the caliper itself gets stuck if parking brake engaged. Im gonna have to do a little exploration into one of the old calipers to see what is actually locking up on them. Mabey some never seize or some grease in the right spot of mechanism will future proof the new calipers.
 

thechoochlyman

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2015
Location
Campbellsville, Kentucky
TDI
1997 B4 Sedan
Hahaha I know the feeling and I currently have a 2x4 that I park the car on in my driveway. My cables are fine right now but the caliper itself gets stuck if parking brake engaged. Im gonna have to do a little exploration into one of the old calipers to see what is actually locking up on them. Mabey some never seize or some grease in the right spot of mechanism will future proof the new calipers.
I've had that problem with the e-brake actuator sticking in the past as well. Fortunately I can typically get a lifetime replacement warranty if that issue pops up soon. I got my calipers from AutoZone this time, they were about $75 each after core refund. I just don't see the point in paying big money from a specialty retailer when they're all just OEM remans anyway.
 

Ajlal24

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2016
Location
California
TDI
98 Jetta TDI, 2012 Golf TDI
I've had that problem with the e-brake actuator sticking in the past as well. Fortunately I can typically get a lifetime replacement warranty if that issue pops up soon. I got my calipers from AutoZone this time, they were about $75 each after core refund. I just don't see the point in paying big money from a specialty retailer when they're all just OEM remans anyway.
If you can wait, Rockauto is the way. Sometimes the cores are $5/caliper and at that point, I dont even send them back.
 

thechoochlyman

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2015
Location
Campbellsville, Kentucky
TDI
1997 B4 Sedan
If you can wait, Rockauto is the way. Sometimes the cores are $5/caliper and at that point, I dont even send them back.
You know, I actually planned on using new front rotors from RockAuto during this job. They came in on the right day, and this is what they sent me:

20250208_125123.jpg

The part number on the box was correct. The photos on Rock Auto's website were correct. Yet somehow, this is what I end up with. I sent them back but I'm pretty sure they're still making me split return shipping cost with them. :poop:
 

Ajlal24

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2016
Location
California
TDI
98 Jetta TDI, 2012 Golf TDI
You know, I actually planned on using new front rotors from RockAuto during this job. They came in on the right day, and this is what they sent me:

View attachment 142343

The part number on the box was correct. The photos on Rock Auto's website were correct. Yet somehow, this is what I end up with. I sent them back but I'm pretty sure they're still making me split return shipping cost with them. :poop:
In over a decade of ordering parts from them, I've had this happen once with an engine part not mapped correctly. They 100% provided me with a free return label, get with the correct CS staff and they'll make it right. IIRC the returns portal self generated the lebel after answering their "Yes or No" questions. There's not phone number for rockauto.
 

thechoochlyman

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2015
Location
Campbellsville, Kentucky
TDI
1997 B4 Sedan
More odds and ends...

My driver door window regulator stripped some teeth, so I tried a new one from eBay. Made in Germany, listed as Hamburg-Technic 1300-321154 Window Regulator. Didn't have any problems with installation, although I had to push the on the track to make it line up with the window. After everything is bolted up it works great though! Never know with the aftermarket ones, but I'm pretty sure I'm out of OEM spares.

20250216_150732.jpg

Had a couple of doors sagging down and hanging when I opened the door, so I found the correct bottom clips for each and glued them in.

20250216_154353.jpg

Finally, bit the bullet and ordered what appears to be a NOS door seal from eBay for $125. My floor has been soaked every time it rains, and only on this side. I can see water dripping off the door sill trim, so I'm feeling pretty confident this is the problem.

20250216_155736.jpg
 
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