What did you do to your car today?

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
I replaced the valve stem seals on my 4-dr on Saturday (30 Aug). It took me the better part of 7 hours to do it all. After re-timing, on start up I didn't even have to touch the injection pump.

It remains to be seen whether this corrects the start up smoke I've been experiencing the last year or so.
 

oldpoopie

Vendor
Joined
May 14, 2001
Location
Portland Oregon
TDI
2001 golf gl, 2006 jetta, 1981 ALH swapped rabbit pickup, 1998 beetle
I replaced the valve stem seals on my 4-dr on Saturday (30 Aug). It took me the better part of 7 hours to do it all. After re-timing, on start up I didn't even have to touch the injection pump.

It remains to be seen whether this corrects the start up smoke I've been experiencing the last year or so.

I'll be very curious about this.
 

smopoim86

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Location
Knoxville, TN
TDI
03 Jetta Wagon, 11 Sportwagen
I installed puddle lights under the rear bumper of my wagon and tied them to the rear dome light. I was going to install the puddle lights under each door but it was too hot and I couldn't find the wires I needed where I was looking. Going to have to run it to the CCM.
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
I'll be very curious about this.
Yes, me too. I have been puzzling about the cause for a good long time and finally decided to pull the trigger and dig in. Just before I did it, I pulled the valve cover oil cap to test for that same smoke coming out there, and there was nothing. I guess I could run a compression test as well, but I do not believe it would determine anything. And for that reason, I will also post back when I reach a conclusion, good or bad.

And while I was in there: I was going to post up pictures, but my computer decided not to read the sd card from my camera :(. But it showed that having been fed a regular diet of good oil at 10k intervals, the cam lobes showed very little wear (just a little bright spot just below the tip on the leading edge) and the lifters had a small circle (about 1 cm diameter) in the center where a slight amount of wear was evident. The cam chamfers looked new in width the entire circumference of each lobe. The valve stems had very little movement in the guides - hardly worth trying to measure. I felt good about just doing the seals and nothing else. And since I wiped everything off, I added some assembly lube to the cam and lifters when I put it all back together.

It was interesting, and hopefully it won't be repeated on this engine for a long, long time.
 
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nkgagne

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2010
Location
Kitchener, Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Sportwagen 6M, 2006 Golf GLS TDI (sold)
I'll be very curious about this.

Me three. I have start-up smoke and much higher oil consumption than the slight seep at the oil cooler seal would seem to support (only a few drips actually made it down to the plate on the last OCI, but I had to add at least 3L of oil over the course of the OCI and I was down to the ADD line again at the change itself). Keep us posted if the stem seals solve the smoke. I may have to have them done with the next cam.
 

terrydtdi

Veteran Member
Joined
May 16, 2006
Location
Charleston S.C.
TDI
2000 MK4 TDI Jetta 5spd
Well I didn't do this today, but I did do it about 3 weeks ago on a Sunday and Monday.

Replaced my head with a head I ported along with new valve stems, guides, and 3 angle valve job. The head surface was planed slightly.

Changed my 10 mm IP out for an almost new 11mm factory rebuilt pump, and a fresh timing belt.

I went with ARP head studs so I didn't have to worry about lifting the head again......before I was pushing coolant out of the resevoir.
 

CrazyWJ242

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2011
Location
Northern NB
TDI
04 MK4 Jetta Wagon TDI, 03 Beetle TDI
Later today I'll be picking up my new TDI... A 2002 Jetta... Black, fully loaded (even has wing) completely stock car... that I had recently installed alot of new suspension parts onto... only thing it still needs is a new flywheel... Owner decided to pick up a BMW... so I got the car at a really good price (he wants $100 less than I offered)... i miss my old ALH... can't wait to get it home and rip it apart... don't think it's in the 300k club yet...

Now I need to budget some mods for it... I will be going back to school for paint and autobody 600 km away so I need to save as much fuel as possible...

I love my 09... but it's no mkiv...
 

Geobmx4life

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2009
Location
Kananaskis Alberta Canada
TDI
2005 Golf Malone tuned VNT 17, FMIC
Noisy rear passenger wheel bearing... Dropped the car off at Calgary Autoworks to have it replaced today....250000kms isn't too bad considering its lowered.
 

Jettadoor

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2009
Location
Neuville P.Q. Canada
TDI
2000 Auto 419,000Km. +/-(260,000miles)
August was a busy month. New AC pulley bearing, new generator 'cos of bad bearing and new rear brakes. Still found time to wash'n'wax! Oh yes, an oil change as well.
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
Fixed my wife's NB seat belt buckle last night. Now the ECU thinks that she never inserts the key without being buckled in first, and that seat belt is the last thing done on leaving the car, including shutting the doors and arming the alarm. That is to say, the ECU will never see the seat belt as being not fastened. On the driver's side, anyway.
 
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Killabee228

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Location
Shelby, IA
TDI
2013 Sportwagen manual
I have heard that before! Is something wrong with coding? Or, something wrong with the replacements?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
The problem with mine was that there are 2 switches in the buckle, and the one that completes when the buckle is engaged goes south. It is not repairable; the only dealer solution is an exhorbitantly priced new part. Well, the actual buckle is simple, robust, and works just fine. So rather than mess with an unrepairable switch, I decided to fool it. Check out my thread under the MK IV-A4 threads: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=422821

I have seen a thread where one guy had a pinched wire, and it is always possible to have a finicky plug (which mine was not). The above fix side steps all of the problem types and fixes it. Done.
 
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CrazyWJ242

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2011
Location
Northern NB
TDI
04 MK4 Jetta Wagon TDI, 03 Beetle TDI
I put my factory head unit back into my 09, wiring up the aux jack was a bit of a task as i modified it to work with the aftermarket, and well lost my original connector... but ofcourse a lovely use of the search told me pin 2 for ground and 8&9 for left and right... just hacked up a USB header from a old junk computer and im in business again...

I probably will end up replacing it all yet again, but for now im just going to be happy having a AUX again for my Sirius radio and phone...
 

mposey519

Active member
Joined
Aug 20, 2014
Location
Louisville, KY
TDI
Black 2001 VW Golf GLS
Went to the junk yard to search for my fair long laundry list....ended up walking away with only two sway arm bushing brackets...the new ones I bought didn't come with brackets(dumb me). Junk yard laughed and didn't charge me for them.
 

smopoim86

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Location
Knoxville, TN
TDI
03 Jetta Wagon, 11 Sportwagen
^What are puddle lights? Pics?
Normally the little LEDs in the bottom of the mirrors. I'm putting led strips under the car pointed out. Only have the rear done so far. It's powered from the side trunk light. The sides will be tied to the interior light timer circuit.
 

romad

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2011
Location
Prescott, AZ
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS Wagon "Cranberry"
Normally the little LEDs in the bottom of the mirrors. I'm putting led strips under the car pointed out. Only have the rear done so far. It's powered from the side trunk light. The sides will be tied to the interior light timer circuit.
Looks good. Have any pictures, part numbers, source for the LED strips you're using? Picture of the installation?
 

dremd

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2007
Location
South Louisiana
TDI
06 sprinter. 03 jetta wagon premium with 6 speed ALH swap, 14 JSW
Built a hitch for the '14 reflex silver TDI Jetta wagon, as opposed to the 03 reflex silver TDI Jetta wagon that already had one.

Notes: 2 3ft lengths of 1 3/4" angle iron (1/4" wall), 4ft 2" square tubing (also 1/4" wall), shortest receiver tube, 10 1 1/2" long 7/16" grade 8 bolts + flange nuts. I made full side/ bottom washers out of 1/4" plate on my plasmacam, but if you don't have one, biggest flat washers you can find.
My steel yard was out of 1 3/4" angle so I had to make my own out of plate added a ton to the time.
 

mposey519

Active member
Joined
Aug 20, 2014
Location
Louisville, KY
TDI
Black 2001 VW Golf GLS
Replaced my Sway Bar end links Was going to replace the bushings as well but I couldn't get my wheels off(lugs wouldn't budge with my 18V DeWalt torque wrench) and was too hard to maneuver around the wheel to get to that bolt.

Going to go to the brother in-law's garage this weekend and use his air wrench to get ti done.
 

MikeS_18

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Location
Bow, NH
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, '13 Passat SE, '64 Ford Econoline
Dude, don't use the torque wrench to loosen. Bad for the wrench. Get a breaker bar - they are cheap
 

mposey519

Active member
Joined
Aug 20, 2014
Location
Louisville, KY
TDI
Black 2001 VW Golf GLS
Car didn't come with a lug wrench, I've not had a chance to get a replacement yet. Torque wrench is all I had. Also, it's the only reason I bought it, was on sale, and easy(usually) in a pinch on the roadside.
 

Craneguru

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2010
Location
Richmond, TX, USA
TDI
2002 New Beetle (sold), 2014 BMW 328d
Replaced two tires. Even though they had 5/32 tread left, they also had 49,000 miles on them when one had a belt separation (as indicated by a whump-whump-whumping while driving.)
 

nkgagne

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2010
Location
Kitchener, Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Sportwagen 6M, 2006 Golf GLS TDI (sold)
I couldn't get my wheels off(lugs wouldn't budge with my 18V DeWalt torque wrench)


Going to go to the brother in-law's garage this weekend and use his air wrench to get ti done.

I've had good luck with a long breaker bar on an impact socket, with (I know) an 8 ft long piece of iron gas pipe slid over the handle (and even then a good amount of force on the pipe). Techs and tire shops tend to way way overdo it when fastening with the impact guns...
 
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