What did you do to your MKIV today?

[Nevada_TDI]

Unless you already run your wood stove this way, then please ignore.

 

[P2B]

Unless you already run your wood stove this way, then please ignore.

Mine doesn't have a flue damper. I run the air intake fully closed except when starting a fire or if extra heat is needed.

 

[burpod]

Mine doesn't have a flue damper. I run the air intake fully closed except when starting a fire or if extra heat is needed.

years ago made a fresh air intake with 4" flex duct for my old russo wood stove. wow, what a difference. cut down on the draft from the basement by a HUGE amount. i'd like to think that got me quite a bit more thermal efficiency as its burning air pulling it from the outside directly into the stove rather than puling a draft from all over the house... i don't use the wood stove often, as it puts out way too much heat, so when not in use i plug the intake tube in the wall (which has a damper) with an insulated "plug"

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Just had a bunch of work done on the old Jetta (with the odo standing at 489,6xx as of the work done):

Brakes (front and rear)
Wheel Bearings (front and rear)
Front Struts/Springs/Upper Mounts (struts were old enough that the boots had long-since disintegrated and disappeared)
Ball Joints
A/C Control Panel (the "AC" button stopped making connection back in October, apparently)

I never realized how sagged the springs were - the nose is sitting so much higher how I actually had to readjust my side mirrors up. Whole front end feels "tight" again, no more clunks going over narrow speedbumps, it really feels like a new car again and ready for the next couple hundred thousand miles.

Going to have to do tires between now and the holidays, though - I've just about finished off my RT43s finally. Planning on going with their successor (the RT45), I think.

 

[The Cream Dolphin]

Advanced my timing without using basic settings, but using commencement of injection solenoid N10̷8 readings. It is not quite where I want it, it will be slightly above the blue line into advanced territory, I want it just below the line. But holy moly was it touchy. My 2¢, if you think the shaft moved, you went to far I was back, in, start, forward, in, start, repeat. Took a while to get close which is why I am leaving it for now. I have it set to 1.8°v.OT when the n10̷8 is at its minimum 2%. Also, I am assuming °v.OT is BTDC and °n.OT is ATDC because advancing it made it higher on the v side, and higher n10̷8 duty cycle is higher on the v side too... I kinda answered my own question there whoops. Anyway, I am excited to try a cold start and see how it does. I will likely try a tiny retarding later, when I can get into the shop, along with 4 or 5 other chores I want to do. Did as well as I could working in the car wash.

 

[Zak99b5]

Ordered a new clutch today. Don't want to change it in the driveway in winter, but bigger nozzles & Burpod's tune have got the old one (238k mile) slipping a little. 'Twas bound to happen.

 

[MORTAMIR]

Ordered a new clutch today. Don't want to change it in the driveway in winter, but bigger nozzles & Burpod's tune have got the old one (238k mile) slipping a little. 'Twas bound to happen.

Gravel driveway?

 

[Zak99b5]

Gravel driveway?

It's macadam, at least. I hope it's not too cold and snowy over christmas break.

 

[Nuje]

Watching For All Mankind last night, and while two characters are arguing, an alarm goes off in the background on their Martian base. They pause for a couple seconds, then keep on arguing...pretty much disregarding the alarm.

Only after another ~30sec do I realize the alarm is coming from my 2002 Golf in the driveway.

So, unlocked the car for the night (quiet neighbourhood and nothing in the car, so no biggie), then dug into it today once the ice broke (only after 1pm - 95% humidity and temps dropping just below freezing is brutal for door freezing closed). Saw the hatch was always showing as open, so pulled the rear lower panel for a look - no spare lock module on hand, so just took the alarm wire connector, found an old ABS connector (I think that's what it was from) with a few inches of wire, twisted and sealed the wires together, and plugged that into the hatch lock sensor....seems to have done the trick. Doors and hatch lock / unlock properly and thus far () no more phantom alarms.

 

[MORTAMIR]

Picked up a 05 Jetta Wagen. 227k. Needs a new rear a axle and some extra love. Came with two mixed tapes!

 

[Zak99b5]

Took advantage of the 50* weather and before expected rain & snow to change out the parking brake cable. Was going to do both, but did the sticking side first. Rain started so I stopped there.
After I got it all back together, I realized I'd left the 10mm socket and universal on the balancer adjusting nut. Duh.

Also flashed latest revision of Burpod's tune. Quick test drive was very nice.

 

[pkhoury]

What did I do - a somewhat halfass install of a 65 watt PA speaker. The idea was something to scare away the deer, but my audio amplifier (not surprisingly) is a joke, so I need something that puts out more than 10W.

I suppose in other semi-related news - flashed another Burpod tune onto a car I sold a customer - 2005 Jetta Wagon with a BEW. I'm trying to start selling off extraneous projects I don't have time for.

Then I get to take in mom's 2014 NB TDI and Amanda's 2011 JSW TDI to the dealership, both tomorrow, both for dieselgate warranty related crap. Good times. Just had the DPF replaced on the 2011, but they apparently forgot to check the EGT sensor.

 

[dieseldonato]

Haven't done much with the jetta recently. hunting season set in, so I've been driving the truck or expedition. Had to work the late shift Thursday through the weekend, so switched to the car yesterday, did some timing adaptations and had some mixed results. Burpod suggested I play with it and see how the car reacts. Started with +50, which should be about 0.5* across the board. The car definatly ran cooler egt, and slightly less torque under 2k rpm. Did -50 back from work and didn't care for it. Torque was back like the "0" setting, and the car warmed up a bit faster, but it wasn't great over 2k rpm. Decided to try +100. Sub 2k torque definatly suffered, but over ~2.5k rpm car definatly ran better, and egt's stayed manageable. (Lots of hills and I live on top Mt Willson.) I still have to forward the logs to burpod, but it was interesting to see how a small amount of timing affected the cars driving.

 

[wonneber]

Changed the battery in my key fob. Of course I got it upside down the first time.
Now it works! The old battery was getting to the point where I had to be standing
right by the doorlock, or just go old school and put the key in the lock. Not the end
of the world, lol. Nanny electronics, sheesh, Judy's Tacoma is a whole host of gizmos.

Talk about gizmos, I just bought a 2024 Atlas SEL.
It's going to take me a year or two to fully understand all the bells and whistle's in it.
Major changes from the 2021 Atlas SE I traded in.
The heads up speedometer is the neatest feature.

 

[MORTAMIR]

Changed the Oil and filter on the Golf. New thermostat as well. Took it for test drive. It's been stuck open for a long time. Strange to see the temps that high. "Normal"

 

[burpod]

egr delete + intake manifold clean + random problem fixings of another friends car...

i always underestimate how long it takes because of broken bolts etc :/ both studs on the turbo egr port snapped with almost no effort. the nuts on them were so far gone not even an 11mm easy out fit on them. crazy. tried vice grips to get them out, but failed. cut flush with grinder and did best i could to drill them out, but one of them either through my not getting the drill spot on or not, threads were unusable. other one was fine. so reamed that out for a 10mm flywheel bolt (previously used, i always save them to put in my random bolt stash, they come in handy), and then of course had to ream out the holes for the gasket + block-off plate. wish i had a better quality + organized set of bits. lot of time wasted sorting thru drill bits that were dull, or just plain cheap and break...

couple of the egr pipe allen bolts stripped (despite given them a whack with hammer). cut egr pipe out in place with grinder to help access.

an egr cooler bolt stripped. normally those torx/allen bolts i place a bit in and then give a whack with a small hammer to try and "unfreeze" it, but this time i skipped that. maybe it wouldn't have stripped had i done that. with egr pipe out of the way, manhandled it back and forth a bit with that egr pipe cut out and then cut with grinder again on the tab with the stuck screw.

egr was completely nasty:

took a bit of time + mess with paint thinner and brushes on a baking tray after scraping the bulk of it out. then torched it and let it burn itself out as it caught fire then more pipe brush, some more paint thinner, brushing, + brake cleaner, one more torch/burn, then final brushing to get the last bits of dried flaky stuff out. sure environmentally friendly to have that egr on the car, now that all that crap simply has to be released back out into nature in order to clean it so the car doesn't run like crap.

ASV was leaking a lot of oil (and surely some boost) as usual, so gutted that and reamed out the hole to tap with 12x1.5 bolt + copper crush washer to seal. sawzall to cut the egr valve "piston" out.

tested the tune again, made adjustments.. drove great. then go to bring the car back the next day after some other little adjustments, at first drove great, then seemed to not be boosting. putzed around with numbers for a bit until i realized it had to be the unlikely random hardware error or boost leak or something. did the n75 test with vcds and lo and behold, the n75 valve all the sudden is only putting out 5hg max. ***. swap in another used n75 valve and it gets 24hg, re-log, make couple adjustments and wayyyy better

but had been noticing a odd subtle highish pitched sounds that could possibly be a boost leak, so went over things again, and noticed the lower pancake pip to turbo (which has the o-ring + clip connection) was all wet with oilly sludge. hate those over-priced crappy o-rings. but what i do to fix those is clean it all up, put a few rounds of teflon tape in the groove and then reinstall the old oring over that so now it's a snugger fit and good as new (have done this fix to BEW pipes before and still holding boost years later).

retest/relog, still the odd sound, but it sounds too cyclical to be a boost/exhaust leak, so i think it's just some random belt noise that's cropped up *shrug*. did a bunch of high boost pulls and the boost pipe connection showing no signs of leaks.

 

[burpod]

also installed in that car my latest version of stealth radiator block. this works real nice, and also cheap. used some leftover 1/4 owes corning foam board (i think usually only sold in big bundles, 2x4 "sheets").. cut 3 pieces roughly 8x24" and slipped two down from the top and then tucked behind the radiator support parts, and then pop out the lower grill and slide one more in there behind the two going vertically so they all hold each other in place. takes 3 minutes, can't be seen, and is re-usable (or should last a few winters i'm sure). leaves a little section of flow to the radiator. just tested this today - quite mild ~52F out and coolant temps were good at ~88C at least on this car, and this tune... far as i can tell, t-stat is working perfectly, not leaky-open - have seen a few of these lately, always spotted when taking a log... amazing how many of these i find and nobody has realized just gotta log!

 

[Nuje]

i always underestimate how long it takes because of broken bolts etc :/ both studs on the turbo egr port snapped with almost no effort. the nuts on them were so far gone not even an 11mm easy out fit on them. crazy. tried vice grips to get them out, but failed. cut flush with grinder and did best i could to drill them out, but one of them either through my not getting the drill spot on or not, threads were unusable. other one was fine. so reamed that out for a 10mm flywheel bolt (previously used, i always save them to put in my random bolt stash, they come in handy), and then of course had to ream out the holes for the gasket + block-off plate. wish i had a better quality + organized set of bits. lot of time wasted sorting thru drill bits that were dull, or just plain cheap and break...

Been there....done that. Way too many times. What should be a 1hr job becomes an afternoon....into the evening....into tomorrow as you start fighting for close to an hour with each fastener - both removing and then figuring out a workaround on the reinstall. Good times.

 

[burpod]

Been there....done that. Way too many times. What should be a 1hr job becomes an afternoon....into the evening....into tomorrow as you start fighting for close to an hour with each fastener - both removing and then figuring out a workaround on the reinstall. Good times.

that pretty much sums it up, yes. its especially awesome in the winter when you start at 1pm thinking oh, i got this in a couple hours and before you know it tools are scattered all over the driveway and your running back and forth into the house, in the basement where i have all the rest of my tools, nuts/bolts n other stuff, trying to find that one odd thing i now realize i need, and of course can't find.... then all the sudden its dark and you're not even anywhere close where you'd thought you be at. hahhahaa... too funny

 

[The Cream Dolphin]

Been there....done that. Way too many times. What should be a 1hr job becomes an afternoon....into the evening....into tomorrow as you start fighting for close to an hour with each fastener - both removing and then figuring out a workaround on the reinstall. Good times.

that pretty much sums it up, yes. its especially awesome in the winter when you start at 1pm thinking oh, i got this in a couple hours and before you know it tools are scattered all over the driveway and your running back and forth into the house, in the basement where i have all the rest of my tools, nuts/bolts n other stuff, trying to find that one odd thing i now realize i need, and of course can't find.... then all the sudden its dark and you're not even anywhere close where you'd thought you be at. hahhahaa... too funny

I was so prepared for this when I pulled mine a month or so ago, but everything went amazingly smoothly, I thought something must be wrong... First time doing it and it only took a couple hours, all fasteners easy in and out. I felt pretty lucky for sure. It only has 244,0̷0̷0̷km, in mostly salt free Vancouver, but still - what a treat.

As far as what I did today, I swept it off, and listened to the sweet sound of a slightly advanced ALH start in the cold. Been waiting 2 years for that. I drove to work, I love that car. I will have to take an after video, setting the timing is probably the most satisfying thing I have done to the car yet.

 

[Zak99b5]

I

egr delete + intake manifold clean + random problem fixings of another friends car...

i always underestimate how long it takes because of broken bolts etc :/ both studs on the turbo egr port snapped with almost no effort. the nuts on them were so far gone not even an 11mm easy out fit on them. crazy. tried vice grips to get them out, but failed. cut flush with grinder and did best i could to drill them out, but one of them either through my not getting the drill spot on or not, threads were unusable. other one was fine. so reamed that out for a 10mm flywheel bolt (previously used, i always save them to put in my random bolt stash, they come in handy), and then of course had to ream out the holes for the gasket + block-off plate. wish i had a better quality + organized set of bits. lot of time wasted sorting thru drill bits that were dull, or just plain cheap and break...

couple of the egr pipe allen bolts stripped (despite given them a whack with hammer). cut egr pipe out in place with grinder to help access.

an egr cooler bolt stripped. normally those torx/allen bolts i place a bit in and then give a whack with a small hammer to try and "unfreeze" it, but this time i skipped that. maybe it wouldn't have stripped had i done that. with egr pipe out of the way, manhandled it back and forth a bit with that egr pipe cut out and then cut with grinder again on the tab with the stuck screw.

egr was completely nasty:

took a bit of time + mess with paint thinner and brushes on a baking tray after scraping the bulk of it out. then torched it and let it burn itself out as it caught fire then more pipe brush, some more paint thinner, brushing, + brake cleaner, one more torch/burn, then final brushing to get the last bits of dried flaky stuff out. sure environmentally friendly to have that egr on the car, now that all that crap simply has to be released back out into nature in order to clean it so the car doesn't run like crap.

ASV was leaking a lot of oil (and surely some boost) as usual, so gutted that and reamed out the hole to tap with 12x1.5 bolt + copper crush washer to seal. sawzall to cut the egr valve "piston" out.

tested the tune again, made adjustments.. drove great. then go to bring the car back the next day after some other little adjustments, at first drove great, then seemed to not be boosting. putzed around with numbers for a bit until i realized it had to be the unlikely random hardware error or boost leak or something. did the n75 test with vcds and lo and behold, the n75 valve all the sudden is only putting out 5hg max. ***. swap in another used n75 valve and it gets 24hg, re-log, make couple adjustments and wayyyy better

but had been noticing a odd subtle highish pitched sounds that could possibly be a boost leak, so went over things again, and noticed the lower pancake pip to turbo (which has the o-ring + clip connection) was all wet with oilly sludge. hate those over-priced crappy o-rings. but what i do to fix those is clean it all up, put a few rounds of teflon tape in the groove and then reinstall the old oring over that so now it's a snugger fit and good as new (have done this fix to BEW pipes before and still holding boost years later).

retest/relog, still the odd sound, but it sounds too cyclical to be a boost/exhaust leak, so i think it's just some random belt noise that's cropped up *shrug*. did a bunch of high boost pulls and the boost pipe connection showing no signs of leaks.

Ive been thinking about deleting the EGR cooler now that it’s tuned out, but leave the valve in place so it will pass visual inspection. This gives me pause.

 

[csstevej]

Do they actually look for it in NY?

 

[wonneber]

I just asked the owner of the repair shop I helped in and he said they were suppose to check but if the state computer scanner indicated pass he never looked.

 

[Zak99b5]

Do they actually look for it in NY?

It would depend on the guy doing the inspection. I doubt anyone would look behind the intake mani for the cooler and all (or even know to do so) but the egr valve is sitting right there and obvious so.

 

[tdidieselbobny]

Couple weeks ago noticed low beams delaying coming back on after turning off high beams. Last time I drove when I got home turned highs off and the lows didn't return. Ordered a turn signal lever switch from IDParts(on sale for $30). Switched it out tonight, hopefully all set with that. Flex pipe is broken, also got new downpipe, but will work on that in next couple weeks....

 

[csstevej]

It would depend on the guy doing the inspection. I doubt anyone would look behind the intake mani for the cooler and all (or even know to do so) but the egr valve is sitting right there and obvious so.

You can still keep the EGR valve , just do the stealth mod , remove the valve portion , make some block off plates and still keep the ASV portion of the EGR valve.

 

[burpod]

You can still keep the EGR valve , just do the stealth mod , remove the valve portion , make some block off plates and still keep the ASV portion of the EGR valve.

you don't even need to buy block-off plates, if you have any decent gauge aluminum flashing scraps around, just cut out a piece the shape of an egr port gasket + drill couple holes for the bolts. it's strong enough for the boost/exhaust pressure. use a grinder to cut off the flanges of the egr pipes. if you make just the right cut in the larger heater core hose, use a 3/4-3/4 male-male barb to splice it together. one of the smaller hoses you can re-purpose (without cutting) and it fits perfect, and you get rid of that small Tee.

if you don't think anyone will notice, for stealth race pipe... couple small holes drilled to bang out the butterfly valve, sawzall to cut out the rest of it + egr valve. then drill/tap the hole from the butterfly valve with 12x1.5 (or was it 12x1.25) bolt + copper crush washer to seal that up. the butterfly valve is almost always a source of a boost/oil leak anyway.

 

[The Cream Dolphin]

Changed my oil, new fuel filter, replaced my cracked LH headlight lens, and installed new park brake cables. The ones I ordered were not the fat "upgraded" ones, but they arrived anyway, sigh. So I bent all the hangers to take them. I put them in the holder in the back seat, tightened it, and pulled the brake to test it. It pulled the right side one about two cm longer, anyone have any idea why that would be? They are the same part number, and from what I have read should be the same length, but this is the reason I replaced them, because I figured it was broken in the housing. It was longer and would not engage the back right wheel. I am a bit frustrated. I left the ash tray out for now because it is a pita to take out and I just want it to work.

 

[Zak99b5]

I wouldn't worry so much about the equalizer being even. So long as the car won't move with the pb applied and the wheels spin easily with it released, you're good.

 

[The Cream Dolphin]

I wouldn't worry so much about the equalizer being even. So long as the car won't move with the pb applied and the wheels spin easily with it released, you're good.

Definitely. Things were getting late and I was frustrated so I left it for another time, I should have attached it before I posted I was just exasperated because it was the exact same gap the previous ones had, but my back right wheel did not get brake applied, only the left. Next up, finish it off