What did you do to your MKIV today?

[Andyinchville1]

Oh yes. Fuel economy changed substantially for me!

Well, that and Mk4s never came with rear swaybars.

What is yours? Mine is a 28mm Neuspeed that I got on sale earlier last year from a Neuspeed vendor (cheaper than Neuspeed's list prices).


what did I do today...
@alphaseinor helped me by doing a timesert on the bolt hole for my accessory belt tensioner. We finished up the ALH, I timed it, put new Conti DWS06 on the front, and put what was on it previously (Conti SureContacts) onto mom's BEW Wagon. Then, we started pulling the headliner, flooring airbags, and etc out of the Ute car. We'll probably start cutting and installing next weekend.

Hi

I had though about the shine style rsb but read about some issues with it ( cracking etc) , thought it may be too stiff , and didnt like the idea of having to drill to mount.

I looked at the neuspeed but it was pretty high $$ and again possibility too stiff so I ended up with a whiteline rsb set to its softest setting... seems to work well and car has a good feel to it.

One day I might get adventurous and try a stiffer setting but it feels pretty good where it is so far.

 

[Powder Hound]

...Do springs actually wear out considerably over time? ...

Depends on your definition of 'wear'. Springs can lose their spring, rust, break. They can wear, but usually that verb brings to mind the spring rubbing on something and the metal detaching through friction.

These springs seem to be well made, so losing spring doesn't happen that anybody has reported. Breaking, yes. And there really isn't much warning other than rust. I've had a couple of them break. It is reasonably common to have that happen up in the rust belt (my old stomping grounds). You don't get a warning because the rust sneaks in under the protective paint so you can't see it, not that springs are in a particularly observable place anyway. The insidious part is that the rust happens in a microscopic crack and works along there, and doesn't leave much external evidence you'd see even without the paint.

Cheers,

PH

 

[Judson]

Played with the MFA’s mpg setting. Never really did that before and didn’t really care.

It’s a little old, the LCD, and in daylight you can’t read it too well. But coming back at night it was interesting to watch the values change - about what I’d expect. I am not sure how accurate it is.... i would have to run a full tank through at highway speeds then compare...

Car pulls right from idle these days. Really enjoying driving this car and I look forward to long trips.

 

[BobnOH]

............................ I am not sure how accurate it is.... i would have to run a full tank through at highway speeds then compare...
...................................

IMO, that's the only way, track every tank. Live data is interesting, but not necessary.

 

[03TDICommuter]

I finally have more than 1 working key for my Beetle!

- got 2 key blades cut from KeysInThePost.com. They're in the UK but they were cheaper than local locksmiths, local hardware stores (that didn't have the right vise anyways), and cheaper than the swap meet key cutter guy.
- 2 ebay fobs. Put the blades above into them. Paired the fobs no problem as I already had 1 working fob.
- rented a genuine vag tacho cable and just got done pairing the key's RFIDs

Happy to have 2 spares now.

 

[BobnOH]

Outstanding!

 

[Mozambiquer]

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I did the beef on a budget lift today! With Bilstein TC sport shocks and struts and all new bushings and mounts. It rides pretty well! Now I have another bumper sticker to add on...

 

[pkhoury]

I did the beef on a budget lift today! With Bilstein TC sport shocks and struts and all new bushings and mounts. It rides pretty well! Now I have another bumper sticker to add on...

I need to do similiar on a day when it's not raining. Disconnect my rear swaybar and struts, and swap out my rear Golf springs for my IDparts Golf towing springs. B4's are fun (had them for over 100K on the 2004), but B6 and B8 = more fun.

How did your LCA bushings look?

 

[Mozambiquer]

I need to do similiar on a day when it's not raining. Disconnect my rear swaybar and struts, and swap out my rear Golf springs for my IDparts Golf towing springs. B4's are fun (had them for over 100K on the 2004), but B6 and B8 = more fun.

How did your LCA bushings look?

They were still decent. A few little cracks starting, but they're not that old... I wish there was a bushing that was actually good. I guess the design is what is not as good.

 

[tdidieselbobny]

Put them on! The look is just what I wanted.'

Were those 1854sailor's rims?

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Nope. Came from Peter V. Were on TRed for years and I always admired them.

 

[Corvairer]

Still chasing 360k miles of bare minimum maintenance gremlins with my ALH wagon. Having trouble starting under about 45°F. First time it sat for about a week, experienced lows around 25° during that time, and it lost prime somewhere along the way. Pulled fuel to the pump and all was well for about a week. I suspect the tee, which I have on the way. A week later, it sat overnight and I tried to crank it when it was about 35 out, and nothing. It was cranking noticeably slower, but not slow enough to cause problems I think. I left my obdeleven dongle plugged in overnight. No air in line this time, but I did notice that my gp light didn't stay on beyond the initial couple seconds with the other lights. I suspect my temp sensor is half shot because when I check the live data engine temp, I see a dead steady 205.3°F, but it's definitely not overheating. I want to unplug the sensor and try failsafing to Antarctic temperatures for max gp time, but I can't get my fat mitts around the 's tiara aka the coolant heater plugs. I'll mess with it again this weekend.

 

[pkhoury]

What did I do today? Well, yesterday, carried into today. Not sure if it shows up, but a link to the joke TDI group on facebook. I posted of video of how BAD my passenger side control arm was. Not sure how the driver's side is. Also replaced tie rods, and put in new Bilstein B4 struts... this is on my Ute/2003 Jetta.
facebook video link

 

[WanderTDI]

I replaced my #3 glow plug. VCDS reported P0672 which is glow plug #2 (2nd from the TB), but I remember reading that the order is backwards sometimes (or all the time?) I shot them with a multimeter and all were 0.8 except for #3. Very carefully cleaned the opening, torqued down the new one, and cleared the code. Shot them again and they're all 0.8. Fired right up, but the engine was still a little warm. I'll leave it in the cold 'till the morning.

Hopefully, that will be the end of that pesky CEL

…right?

 

[STDOUBT]

^I just did the same thing Monday. Same cylinder, too! Yep, VCDS told me cyl#2, but it was the 3rd that was "∞"
Your harness will be the next thing to go. Advice is keep it clean of oil/fuel drippings. If it's soiled, de-grease it.
I read your post in the welcome thread, Welcome! I was raised along the Wasatch front - looks like you might be in Southern Utah?
I went to college in Cedar City!
Yep, these are amazing cars.

 

[Pancake Slap]

I finally fixed my CEL for the glow plug harness (just had a bad connection) and put in a new fuel filter. I’m happy to have my dad wagon back to how it’s supposed to be!

 

[pkhoury]

What did I do today? Got rid of my s#!tty old pads/rotors and put on new Zimmerman rotors and Akebono pads on the rear. Then went to the junkyard to get some more various VW odds and ends.

 

[STDOUBT]

^Freaking coated Zimmermann rotors!
What a time to be alive! LOL

 

[carl20320]

Couple weeks late but went to do the timing belt, water pump, etc.. Found the turbo was beat all to heck. Got a VNT-17 and PD150 intake on the way and got everything installed, including the timing belt that started it all. Couple days later, car was down at Cascade German having a Stage 4 Malone tune installed.

 

[PakProtector]

Carl, details on what you left of the EGR, and other turbo plumbing please. I have an '04 Jetta that is just itchin' for the same treatment.
cheers,
Douglas

 

[Andyinchville1]

HI,

Don't know if this qualifies BUT I bought a Hex Can cable for the car so I am looking forward to getting it to make tweaks to the car , run logs and whatever other magic it can do !

I guess I'll need to start reading up on it ....

Andrew

 

[KrashDH]

Well, I've been doing a lot more HID research lately since I'm doing another retrofit on the truck (and eventually finishing up my V2.0 for the Golf...) and I got curious about ballasts. My research led me to the Hella Gen 3 ballasts:

These came off of early 2000's Audi's, Benz's, as well as BMW (and maybe a few others). It was a ballast that was way ahead of its time honestly. The igniter is built into the ballast which is great...all of today's ballast has the igniter external which just means more wires. They are also boostable if you are handy soldering and de-soldering small things (which I don't think I am). Boostable means you can run them OEM (35W) or in increments of 2 or 3 watts all the way up to 55W, depending on how you do it. If you're clever enough to, you can mount an in-cab switch that can give you the wattage you want on-demand (say if you tied the 55W setting into your highs, when you turn your highs on, you would get the 55W boost. Off, and it would go back to standard 35W.

It's a bit of a power pig though so you def want to be running these with an aftermarket harness. They, to this day, are still probably the fastest firing ballast out there (Even compared to new Morimotos, etc). They draw something like 12A each on start up and get up to temp in a couple seconds. My Mori's took 7 or 8 sec probably. Once they settle in it's a pretty standard 5A draw, maybe a tad less.

I decided to mod mine for the car and truck and remove that D2S connector because it's an awkward version that has the kink. Wouldn't work with my car or truck retrofits because it interferes with the housing. So I just added standard amp connectors to it:

They then got seated in their home with some industrial strength velcro. Stuff works great for mounting things like ballasts:

Not TDI related, but this is the setup that I installed in the Cummins as well. Everything nice and tucked away. My lenses for my D2S projector retrofit are with the clearcoaters, so I should have my new lights for the ole truck installed early this week:

I couldn't pass up the ballasts, I got a killer deal on them and bought 5. Probably going to pick up some more and maybe try my hand at boosting them, but for now I will just be running the standard 35W which is plenty and bulbs should last damn near forever!

 

[PakProtector]

Krash, the Hylux A005 is a self contained beast just like the Hella( it is likely a close copy ). Just a caution; it is bad practice to face connectors upwards. Risk of pooling water, yes?
cheers,
Douglas

 

[KrashDH]

Krash, the Hylux A005 is a self contained beast just like the Hella( it is likely a close copy ). Just a caution; it is bad practice to face connectors upwards. Risk of pooling water, yes?
cheers,
Douglas

Yeah they look like a copy. Are they OEM?

As far as water, both sets on the car and truck are out of the elements, never seen water in those areas on the car or truck. it may be bad practice, but I've never been concerned. The ballasts are fully sealed, I do put a dab of dielectric grease on the contacts, and the harness plugs have the gaskets on them to seal them. You actually kind of have to wiggle them into the 9006 connection to get that gasket stuffed in there. The ballasts on my truck have been living there for around 7 years. the car ones have been there for a while too (mounted to the front of the battery).

I've only had 1 ballast fail (between the cheap-o and the nicer ones I've used) and it wasn't from moisture intrusion. For my setups it's the best orientation and location I could find for them.

 

[jlav0330]

Went around and put in... last 1/6th (?) of the bottle of Redline gear oil after I had to take it out when I changed the seal on my right flange last week. Noticed that it was leaking several months after I had to remove it so I can put back in my transmission when I did the clutch around a year ago. Reason why I couldn't put all of the gear oil in at once was that, Bentley really doesn't tell you this, but if you got an 02J or something similar, you have to have the car tilted up if you're going to fill it. When I did it last week, I got in around 5/6ths of the second bottle, and it started to pour out of the drain plug. I had it on a lift, and I was in a rush to get done, so I just told myself I was going to have to do it later. So, have your front on jacks (aka tilted up), and you'll be able to put in both quarts no problem. It calls for 2 liters, but meh, I think it will survive. Also did front right noisy wheel bearing last week, love the lack of noise coming from that area now lol.