What did you do to your MKIV today?

[Nero Morg]

Installed my Sigma 5 today. Drove around the block a few times. Not sure what I think of it yet, going to take some getting used to.

 

[Nuje]

One thing I recommend is to note the part numbers of your wiper blades. There are a number of different lengths, and if you go into a dealer and say "I need replacement Aero wiper blades," they may come back with the wrong ones. And, putting the wrong size on the driver side may not be that noticeable, but putting the wrong size on the passenger side will cause the blade to hit the rain tray.

Pretty sure these are the part numbers for the aero wipers:
1J2 955 426 A
1J2 955 425 A

 

[Nuje]

What I did today: Discovered that last week, when we had the one break in the weather (rain stopped, sun came out, *and* humidity went below 85%!) and I opened the windows on the parked Mk4 to air it out, when I did the hold/press key fob to close the windows....three windows closed, rear passenger side....not so much - left about half open.

Since then we've had ~200mm of rain, so....yay me.
(And another 150mm in the forecast for the next week...and west coast winter means even on the "dry" days, we're still typically in the 80% humidity and below 10C/50F, so drying this out is going to be a challenge. )

 

[sriracha]

I installed a new cabin filter then changed the oil and oil filter today.

According to my non-scientific perception, installing the R32 Aero wiper arms did reduce wind noise at freeway speed. The car seems quieter.

I should have gotten a decibel reading before and after, but I didn’t think about it until just now.

 

[PakProtector]

Fired the manual swap. Adjusted IQ...and then re-sealed the pump top since it began seeping after it moved...and then re-re-adjusted IQ to 5 again. No seepage now. tying all the bits back down so I can take her for a spin. Hating the new slave cylinder bleed arrangement. But that is taken care of now. Whilst on stands the clutch disengages and re-engages. Fun all around, IOW. blood chemistry is a bit wacky since I ignored a beeping phone/alarm. Will take her for a spin tomorrow I suspect...
cheers,
Douglas

 

[Nuje]

...and then re-sealed the pump top since it began seeping after it moved.

How did you re-seal? With a seal kit? Or just loosened things again, seated them and then tightened them back down?

 

[PakProtector]

How did you re-seal? With a seal kit? Or just loosened things again, seated them and then tightened them back down?

I put in new top and QA seals. Scribed the line and even so it was off, and even when back on I can't see the difference. VCDS and a quieter, smooth idle say otherwise...LOL

Douglas

 

[valvecrusher]

I installed a new cabin filter then changed the oil and oil filter today.

Just changed the oil today on the 1999.5, with a new filter, 2 new O-rings, and topped off the windshield washer fluid...

Mobil Del-vac 1 5w-40, Mann Filter, RainX 0°F washer fluid

 

[PakProtector]

The other thing I did was replace a heater hose( on the manual-swap '02). And that leads me to the next thing I did.

I sucked a blue shop towel right up to the compressor wheel.

I took apart the intake so as to access the clips on the firewall, and to better get at the hose clamp at the other end. Ooodles of ladybugs running around and I did not want any taking up temporary residence in the turbo. In went a square off the roll. Once I got the ball full I fired it up...I did not put the intake back together. I did not remove the towel...

Sooo, off came the intake pipe and out came the towel. i unfolded it and discovered a small tear where it hit the nut...not much missing at all. I had confetti clogging the hot side of the IC, and shreds in the blades pictured. Serious sigh of relief...
cheers,
Douglas

 

[benmarks]

Technically, I didn't do much of this, but yesterday we dropped off my car at Bluewater Performance in Denver to begin the 4Motion project for real. I shipped them my donor backend in advance from Portland, so they had a head start breaking it down:

floorpan1.jpg

• benmarks
• Nov 7, 2021

There's not much info there yet, but I will be keeping track of the project here, if anyone is interested: www.manicsloth.com/4Motion

 

[JDSwan87]

I had a wonky left side brake and turn signal problem....
Flakey brake light
Flakey turn signal
Turn signal would work, hit brake pedal and turn signal stops and no brake light
Sometimes if you hit the brake pedal, the left turn signal would illuminate on the dash.
General craziness...

Swapped in a different bulb tray and all the above problems went away.

 

[Nero Morg]

I installed my rear sway bar, set it to medium for now. Also replaced both my HID bulbs, one was starting to go out, turning pink and such. Went from 450k to 600k, definitely a lot more white than the tint blue it was before.

I also replaced the drivers window regulator on my dad's car, took out the board holding the glass up.

And I know it's not tdi related, but neat. Spent some time today getting an rx8 running that's been garaged for the last five years. Dorito engines are so weird.

 

[KrashDH]

Well, I started installing my lift pump this weekend. Got all the wiring ran, relay installed, etc etc. I realize how much I don't like running wires. I ended up stopping because I still have a half tank of fuel and didn't want to make a mess. But everything is ready to go.

I do have one question for those of you that have added a lift pump to your ALH.

The cover for the relay box under the hood is seen below:

Now, in OEM form, there is no relay in the third position. That changes when you add the lift pump, but the cover doesn't have a spot to accept the relay. So for the time being, I cut out that spot so the relay fits through the cover. I don't want to leave it like that though, I don't like having that relay exposed under the hood.

Does VW make a relay cover that accepts ALL the relays? I did a quick search and came up empty. They seem to all not have a spot for that relay. I suppose I could put some sort of material over the cover or something. What have you guys done when you add that relay?

 

[benmarks]

Yes, VW made a relay cover with space for all four relays. No, you will probably NEVER find it. I have been looking for one for years. From what I understand, this version of the cover only came on 1999.5 GLX Jettas. The part number is 1J0941385 (i.e. no A.) It is one of the few items I have never been able to find for my Jetta. I don't have an answer for what other people do, though. I don't need it, I just wanted it as a completion-ist since my BEW already has the left pump. If you do find one, please let me know how/where.

 

[KrashDH]

Yes, VW made a relay cover with space for all four relays. No, you will probably NEVER find it. I have been looking for one for years. From what I understand, this version of the cover only came on 1999.5 GLX Jettas. The part number is 1J0941385 (i.e. no A.) It is one of the few items I have never been able to find for my Jetta. I don't have an answer for what other people do, though. I don't need it, I just wanted it as a completion-ist since my BEW already has the left pump. If you do find one, please let me know how/where.

Will do, the search is on.
If I can't find one I'll probably just 3D print one.

 

[benmarks]

I believe they made the change to make it easier to remove the MAF.

 

[Nero Morg]

When I installed mine, I put the relay in the Thirteenfold in the dash. Also, with a half tank, that's plenty low enough to change the sender.

 

[03TDICommuter]

I had a wonky left side brake and turn signal problem....
Flakey brake light
Flakey turn signal
Turn signal would work, hit brake pedal and turn signal stops and no brake light
Sometimes if you hit the brake pedal, the left turn signal would illuminate on the dash.
General craziness...

Swapped in a different bulb tray and all the above problems went away.

bad ground will do that, and it was bad at the bulb to socket connection. I had something similar (though not 100% the same) on my bug.

 

[03TDICommuter]

Cleaned the intake, torch style - crazy hot temperatures. Intake is now discolored on the outside but the mating surface still was flat.

Then cleaned the vanes on my turbo. Vane block side for each vane was pristine but there were decent cuts on the manifold side from the vanes for a few of the positions. The vanes themselves did not have corresponding wear, so not sure how that happened. Cleaned it all up and the motion is nice and smooth now OTHER than where the lever connects to the ring. The ring pocket and the lever has some wear.

I went ahead and adjusted the actuator rod 1/2 turn longer as I'm overboosting (22psi) regularly. Hoping the cleaning and adjustment brings it down to where it's supposed to be.

 

[KrashDH]

When I installed mine, I put the relay in the Thirteenfold in the dash. Also, with a half tank, that's plenty low enough to change the sender.

Good to know about the tank, maybe I'll try to get it done tomorrow then

 

[KrashDH]

Yes, VW made a relay cover with space for all four relays. No, you will probably NEVER find it. I have been looking for one for years. From what I understand, this version of the cover only came on 1999.5 GLX Jettas. The part number is 1J0941385 (i.e. no A.) It is one of the few items I have never been able to find for my Jetta. I don't have an answer for what other people do, though. I don't need it, I just wanted it as a completion-ist since my BEW already has the left pump. If you do find one, please let me know how/where.

@benmarks , I may have found the elusive cover by chance. If it's the right one, it's all yours if you want it...

99 - 05 Volkswagen Jetta Fuse Relay Box | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 99 - 05 Volkswagen Jetta Fuse Relay Box at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Even harder to remove the cover when you have a PD150 MAF and a strut brace.

I've been fortunate to score two of these over the years. My Golf has a lift pump, too.

 

[KrashDH]

Even harder to remove the cover when you have a PD150 MAF and a strut brace.

I've been fortunate to score two of these over the years. My Golf has a lift pump, too.

I'm thinking of just printing a low profile version of that. I wonder why they decided to make it so dang tall??

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Good question. It could be shorter.

 

[KrashDH]

Good question. It could be shorter.

Thinking something like this could do the trick:

 

[gmenounos]

Yes, VW made a relay cover with space for all four relays. No, you will probably NEVER find it. I have been looking for one for years. From what I understand, this version of the cover only came on 1999.5 GLX Jettas. The part number is 1J0941385 (i.e. no A.) It is one of the few items I have never been able to find for my Jetta. I don't have an answer for what other people do, though. I don't need it, I just wanted it as a completion-ist since my BEW already has the left pump. If you do find one, please let me know how/where.

I just looked through my parts stash and I have one, but the single prong on one side is broken off and I don't have the broken-off piece. I think this is from my 99.5 ALH Golf (so perhaps there are other models besides the '99.5 GLX Jetta that came with the big cover). I must have replaced it with a good one a long time ago and never threw this one out. Anyone who wants it can have it for the price of shipping.

 

[benmarks]

Hmmm, I remember reading recently that it was 99.5 VR6 GLX's, but I just did a site search with Google, and an older thread says it's 5-speed 99.5 models, so maybe that it's it. I ended up buying that eBay one after verifying that KrashDH didn't want it first.

I did this on purpose though, using the word "NEVER" so that inevitably someone would immediately find one

Now, my list of parts I am still trying to find is down to: Lexan Jetta headlight protectors, aspherical Audi auto-dimming sideview mirror glass, the cold weather version of the R32 DSG snorkel/airbox and the S3 engine covers.

 

[03TDICommuter]

Head gasket done. . . boy what a job. So glad to be finished. No more foam in the coolant ball but I could have lived with that for a long long time.

 

[Rrusse11]

Even harder to remove the cover when you have a PD150 MAF and a strut brace.

I've been fortunate to score two of these over the years. My Golf has a lift pump, too.

Peter,
So is that strut on your IBW wagon? Love mine, I actually had a slight problem installing mine with clearance on the
plastic housing on the right in your pic. A little work with a half round file and it fit. From what I've read, the upper tie bar strut coupled with a hard skid plate really tightens the front end, top & bottom. An internal cross bar connecting the top 2
rear seat belt mounts made a big difference to my Golf body flexing.

In the throes of having my TB done by my guru. Dwayne was astonished what I'd paid for the TB kit from Idparts.
"That's cheaper than I can get it!" Unfortunately we've run into a hiccup with the turbo to intercooler hose, the original
hose was split at the turbo end, and we're waiting on an OEM hose from his supplier. Could have got a Gates hose from you
guys cheaper, but Dwayne recommended an original, hell, after 20yrs of service life, and I'm planning on keeping the car,
I went with his suggestion. I had an old original hose in the parts bin, but unfortunately over the years it had lost enough of
it's flexibility to go over the 17/22 outlet.

It wasn't leaking yet, but I just repaired a very similar split on my CRD. Even old silicone hoses and untold number of hot/cold cycles can lead to failure.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

It's been a long time, but I do recall it was a tight fit for that harness housing. But I don't think we modified anything.

Thanks for the feedback on the timing belt kit. May be time for a price increase.

My mechanic says that if you use a VNT-15 hose on a 17/22 you better put it on before installing the turbo, because you won't get it on there when the turbo is in the car. A little lube and heat on the hose may help, however.