What did you do to your MKIV today?

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
How are the quality of the boots on the GKN rebuilds? Oem ones are nice, but some of the aftermarket ones last a year then are toast. I unfortunately know from personal experience...
I have a set of GKN's in my car, quality is practically OEM in my opinion. Nice and snug.
 

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(!)
A follow up to the above. It was the driver's side door jamb where I repaired the canbus twisted wire pair. And I fixed the right side door lock. It wasn't the solder joints on the circuit board inside the door latch mechanism like I suspected. I had previously repaired that. It was a small "cushion" part (that's what it looks like, anyway) on the end that gets moved by the electrical part. I cannibalized another one I had hanging around and fixed it. It's all good now, and my wife is certainly delighted.

I'd like to say I'll visit a junk yard to get that deficiency remedied, but there's only a couple around here, only 1 pretends to have any VWs, and if he has them, he would rather sell a complete door so he won't let me disassemble for parts. Sigh...

Cheers,

PH
 

vandermic07

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Location
West Central Pennsylvania
TDI
01 Golf 5 spd, 03 Jetta Wagon
Any thoughts on the axles sold at ID Parts? They have OEM at ~ $300, and what look like high quality aftermarket (GKN or Febi-Bilstein) for about ~$70. Febi-Bilstein sure makes some nice parts, but I'm not sure about axles. Then again, $70 + an alignment is a hell of a lot more attractive than $300 + an alignment.
I ordered OEM axles from Cascade last winter. $225 each side. They came in a GKN box and have GKN all over them. Put them on my 5 speed golf. work great! I normally order from ID for most everything but Cascade had both in-stock and a good price at the time I needed them. You might get them faster being on the west coast.
 

kennethsime

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Location
California
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GL TDI 5-Speed Baltic Green
Interesting - ID has GKN axles for $250, OEM VW for $330, and then some cheaper options. Maybe GKN is the move.

I've ordered from Cascade before and like them, but man ID's website is a lot easier to use + find what I need. With $15 2-day shipping, I don't usually even bother checking anywhere else. </fanboy rant>
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Dang it, right on the side of my clean engine bay. Guess I'll fix it today.
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Quick edit, apparently when it blew the hole, it pushed so hard on the coolant vent, it snapped it. Guess it's parked again for a bit.
 

GlowBugTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Location
Cambridge, MN
TDI
2001 Beetle GLS TDI (BIODSL). 01 original Glow Bug TDI (sold)
Or just get a good one from the wrecking yard. I've pretty much always had good luck with that. However, for my mk2 gti it was cheaper to get a reman one at O'Reillys.
Ok, ya i don't do remans from oriellys....to many problems for me. They only last about a year before the boots rip and i had one let loose (not entirely sure it was due to the reman). Thankfully at low enough speeds to not punch my trans case.
 

flying farmer

New member
Joined
Oct 15, 2021
Location
Edmonton, Alberta
TDI
2002 Golf IV TDI
There are other similar threads for the B4s, the MK6s and MK7s, but have never seen one for the MKIVs... so I thought I might as well start one. :)

So what did I do to my MKIV Jetta today?

Switched over from my summer tires to my winter tires with black steelies.

Ready for the snow now.:rolleyes:
Are we getting snow this winter? What winter tires did you get?
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
The passenger side pads wouldn't clip in securely without a little finagling - is that normal? The driver's side pads clipped in nice and secure, no problem. I was able to adjust the spring clips well enough for the outer pad, but the inner pad really refused to clip in securely. I figured it would be fine after some spirited braking.

Isn't the pad with the spring clip supposed to go on the piston side?
 

mk116v

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 17, 2018
Location
Portland OR USA
TDI
2001 jetta tdi
Ok, ya i don't do remans from oriellys....to many problems for me. They only last about a year before the boots rip and i had one let loose (not entirely sure it was due to the reman). Thankfully at low enough speeds to not punch my trans case.
It's a hit and miss really. On my tdi, I got one from the wrecking yard. No issues with that. On my mk2 though, I actually had a huge issue with torque steer that took me 3 months to figure out. To give you an idea, my mk2 has a g60 engine from a golf rallye with a twin screw supercharger running 30 psi. Well, they gave me the passenger side drive axle with the smaller shaft, not the bigger oem one. When I discovered that it was actually what was causing the problem, I took it back. The manager then ordered 10 drive axles. We opened up the boxes and 2 of them had the larger shaft. I installed it, and my issues were resolved. It's held up just fine for ten years now.
 

03TDICommuter

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
Location
So. Cal
TDI
01' NB, 5spd
How are the quality of the boots on the GKN rebuilds? Oem ones are nice, but some of the aftermarket ones last a year then are toast. I unfortunately know from personal experience...
They seemed to be fine. Didn't have issues with them and they were still good when I sold the car. Forget how many miles later.
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
GKN publishes torque tolerance for these CV joints. It pains me greatly that I can't easily get the 108mm joint on the inside.

As far as tires go, Michelin CrossClimate2 for me. And a bit earlier, a set for my Son's car.
cheers,
Douglas
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I replaced both original axles in my Wagon with GKNs at 385K miles after one broke. Literally. Now at 437 and they're totally fine. I think they're a good middle ground between budget axles and OE or Raxles.
 

sriracha

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2014
Location
805
TDI
2005 Jetta Wagon 5mt, 1982 Rabbit truck (gas)
Speaking of CV boots... I recently noticed that all 4 boots on my drive axles were split. One boot had broken apart and has chunks missing, exposing the bearings.
Rather than take a chance rebuilding these 200k axles with unknown wear and tear. I just ordered new OEM replacement axles.
I’m in it for the long haul with the mk4. Hope y’all like me on the TDI forum, because I’m not going anywhere for a long time.
 

kennethsime

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Location
California
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GL TDI 5-Speed Baltic Green
Isn't the pad with the spring clip supposed to go on the piston side?
Nice catch! I missed that on the first glance

Jason
Mmm.... maybe I have to get back under there, but I remember the two spring clips being identical - I think I even tried both pads in both positions. Did I miss something? I have to get back in there in the next day or two to take care of the CV boot, so I can try switching them up. This photo is from the passenger side.

On the driver's side, one pad has the wear sensor so it's a clear difference.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
The spring clips are different sizes on most pads. The smaller one goes in the caliper piston. You can tell because it's the inner pad that has the wear wire on it. Most manufacturers put wires on both inside front pads because it's cheaper to manufacture and package that way.
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
With some interior work needed for the manual swap I ordered the DSP blend door plugs. I will be very close to having that bit apart anyway, and I can't see it not needing The Fix. Trans is buttoned up to the engine and timing belt is next. And yes, I am moving slowly...LOL

Douglas
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Hey slow and steady wins the race, right? Plus you'll get it done right for extra reliability!
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
Nero, slow and steady only wins when the competition acts like the rabbit and slacks off and gets caught napping.
cheers,
Douglas
 

kennethsime

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Location
California
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GL TDI 5-Speed Baltic Green
The spring clips are different sizes on most pads. The smaller one goes in the caliper piston. You can tell because it's the inner pad that has the wear wire on it. Most manufacturers put wires on both inside front pads because it's cheaper to manufacture and package that way.
Roger, I'll take a look soon. Thanks IBW!
 

krazykipa

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2015
Location
GTA
TDI
2003 Golf TDI (RIP), 2006 Jetta Wagon TDI
Replaced passenger rocker panel. Still need to paint, and then do the driver’s side. Just driving it primed and with some rubberized undercoating for now.

Lots of salt-cancer, as well as some rusted out aftermarket drilled holes (meant for shooting in undercoating?) that I filled with weld.

I left the middle portion of the original panel for alignment and because it’s slightly thicker, and in decent shape. I also cut the front section down a bit as I was worried about the spot welds at the door sill, and figured the plastic sticky protector thing would hide the weld at the “lip”. That was a big mistake, it was almost impossible to smoothen out that ridge. I did the rear section differently.

Here is a selection of photos:







 

csstevej

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Location
north nj
TDI
2001 golf tdi 4 door auto now a manual, mine, 2000 golf 2 door M/T son's,daughters 98 NB non-TDI 2.0, 2003 TDI NB for next daughter, head repaired and on road,gluten for punishment got another tdi 2001NB,another yellow tdi NB
Nice job !
How hard was it to get the rocker off?
 

kennethsime

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Location
California
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GL TDI 5-Speed Baltic Green
Had the car up on jack stands to look at the leaking CV boot. At first I thought the boot just wasn't seated all the way, but eventually I was able to confirm that the boot is torn.

Unfortunately, I ran out of time before work, and realized I didn't have a 30mm 12-point for the axle nut. I tried to install the new locking ring/clamp which secures the boot to the hub for now, but - and this is embarrassing - could not for the life of me figure out how to get both tabs locked to secure it. FML. Hit it with a 1/4" zip tie and called it good enough to drive home on.

I think the right axle is aftermarket, and was replaced after a collision by the PO. Debating replacing the whole thing at this point - a few bolts seems a lot easier than getting that little metal ring closed!
 
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