What did you do to your MKIV today?

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
You sure it’s not the CTS failing?
 

kennethsime

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Location
California
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GL TDI 5-Speed Baltic Green
You sure it’s not the CTS failing?
Not sure of anything, just seems familiar. I had a similar problem in my 2003 ALH and a new thermostat fixed it.

What's the CTS? Ah, the Coolant Temperature Sensor? Totally could be. Is there a good method of distinguishing between the potential causes, or do you just replace one and then the other if the behavior isn't fixed?
 
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Judson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Location
Cheyenne, WY
TDI
2001 Jetta
Changed her oil and ordered up additional filters and oil and stuff. I like to have a supply handy.

trying to figure out the best solution for loose headlight connectors. Clips are long broken. But even when they feel like they’re on tight I can get weird stuff like the foglights not working, or the high beams deciding not to work. Sigh.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
trying to figure out the best solution for loose headlight connectors. Clips are long broken. But even when they feel like they’re on tight I can get weird stuff like the foglights not working, or the high beams deciding not to work. Sigh.
If you have a scrap yard near you, go there and see if there are any VWs that still have same intact connectors; cut the wires and then de-pin those connectors, then remove the wire terminals from your broken connectors and transfer them to new ones. With the proper terminal-removal tool, it's pretty quick and easy to remove wires from a connector and transfer to a new one.

I was going to suggest buying new connectors (part 6R0973735) but some might not want to spend $20+ea to do the same thing.
 

Zak99b5

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2021
Location
Albany NY
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI
On my daughter's MkIV (gasser) did an oil change, swapped out the MAF (she had P0101 and P0171 codes with no obvious vac leaks), and pulled the muffler off as it was dangling by the front rubber hanger.

On my car I put DDM HIDs in the projectors (don't hate me Krash!). Big difference. I drive a two-lane, unlit rural highway to work before dawn for the majority of my commute. Now I can see.
 

Judson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Location
Cheyenne, WY
TDI
2001 Jetta
If you have a scrap yard near you, go there and see if there are any VWs that still have same intact connectors; cut the wires and then de-pin those connectors, then remove the wire terminals from your broken connectors and transfer them to new ones. With the proper terminal-removal tool, it's pretty quick and easy to remove wires from a connector and transfer to a new one.

I was going to suggest buying new connectors (part 6R0973735) but some might not want to spend $20+ea to do the same thing.
that’s a good idea and one I’m seriously considering. I already have the tool. There’s no good scrap yards near me but I will look on Ebay and post some classified ads on the Tex and here…. I can also inspect each wire this way…
 

06tdibug

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2018
Location
North Carolina
TDI
2006 tdi beetle
Thanks! I wish she was more of a looker - some body damage from the prior owner that's probably not worth repairing. The color was the final straw for me when I saw it was available for sale. Hard to beat a manual diesel wagon in my favorite color! It's got some minor paint issues, I may end up repainting it eventually - but I do love the Baltic Green.

Picked her up today, straight from the sublet tire shop that did the alignment. The shop was going to let it sit at the tire shop all weekend, but worked with me to let me pick it up just before 5pm.

They ended up installing the strut spacers, but not the shock spacers. Here's the final ride height, both at the shop and once in my possession again.





Love that little sticker, IBW.
How much lift did you end up with front and rear?
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
Changed her oil and ordered up additional filters and oil and stuff. I like to have a supply handy.

trying to figure out the best solution for loose headlight connectors. Clips are long broken. But even when they feel like they’re on tight I can get weird stuff like the foglights not working, or the high beams deciding not to work. Sigh.
Stupid question - the connector on the outside? Or the ones on the inside? (of the headlamp). MkIV you could get the harness inside the headlamp if you order the "connector".

Jason
 

kennethsime

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Location
California
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon GL TDI 5-Speed Baltic Green
How much lift did you end up with front and rear?
I still haven't measured, honestly - I think it's 3-4" above stock, but hard to tell since so much was changed and I didn't measure before the lift. It's definitely significant.
 

Judson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Location
Cheyenne, WY
TDI
2001 Jetta
Stupid question - the connector on the outside? Or the ones on the inside? (of the headlamp). MkIV you could get the harness inside the headlamp if you order the "connector".

Jason
outside the lights. It’s the oval one…. Tunemyeuro had new sets of the complete harness, so instead of messing around I went that route.

I know it’s not the inside connections as this was happening to both my old e-codes and now my newish ones.

BTW whomever on these forums said that the trick to fixing the underseat wiring for the side airbag was to spray contact cleaner on the connector was exactly right. Cross yer fingers but it hasn’t come back in over two months. Yay!
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Installed a new group 31 battery in my car, went from 790 CCA to 950, don't know what the original r was, but new one is 195. Hope it takes care of my hard starts overnight
 

Midwesthick

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Location
Denver
TDI
A3, GSW, 02-Golf
Dropped off my 02 TDI(214k) to Anuthee at Diesel Land here in Denver to put on all the emission parts.

Selling our 15 Q5 TDI with 86k miles to a dealer for $22k this weekend(insane right?) and want my Golf to pass for the winter time before buying another car.

Im currently on a straight pipe from turbo, no EGR/EGR cooler, larger injectors and Kerma tuned. Going back to stock downpipe, EGR equipment and basic Kerma tune.
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
Installed a new group 31 battery in my car, went from 790 CCA to 950, don't know what the original r was, but new one is 195. Hope it takes care of my hard starts overnight
Where did you put it? H8 are also 900-950CCA but not as tall as 31's.
cheers,
Douglas
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Where did you put it? H8 are also 900-950CCA but not as tall as 31's.
cheers,
Douglas
In the battery tray. Dropped right in. Was a little taller but it worked.
And oddly, the group 49 h8 they sell at my work was only 750 cca
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
hmmm...I have a 31 AGM in Lurch, I shall have to see how this fits... :) I figure if it can light the 6GT-5.9 it ought to have no issue with the wee TDI.

Douglas
 

Judson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Location
Cheyenne, WY
TDI
2001 Jetta
Just as a lesson learned for me and passing it along to you guys….

most battery chargers on its default setting will not charge an agm battery. Both my mechanic and I made the same mistake. Once I set the charger for an agm-type battery it charged up just fine!
 

Midwesthick

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Location
Denver
TDI
A3, GSW, 02-Golf
Not about my MK4 but we sold our 15 Q5 TDI w/ 86k miles on it for $22,000. Last I looked several months ago it was worth like $17,000 or something so this was pretty cool.

Wife works at home and it saw like 1,000 miles in the past 6 months.
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Not today, but really late last night, replaced the left ball joint on a friend of my wife's tdi, it was about to fall off. Also found it has a death shimmy when accelerating still, so checked the cv shafts, and both inner joints have a lot of radial play, was quite surprised. Sucks that it's an auto and you can't buy just the inner joints. So I ordered a pair.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
Replaced the badly leaking power steering rack for a guy a few weeks back and he got back to me that it was still losing fluid - not as quickly as before, but it was definitely leaking somewhere.

So, lowered the subframe again and sussed it out: Made the mistake of not realizing that, with two different-sized banjo bolts for the power steering line connection to the rack, there just might be two different-sized pairs of sealing washers. 🤦‍♂️
The parts guy at VW is usually really good, but he just gave me four identical washers and I didn't notice that there were two smaller ones that came off the M14 bolt. Back together with the proper washers and all is good.

Also replaced hood and hatch struts on that same car (2003 Jetta wagon) - is there an easy way to deal with those C-clips? Out of the six of them on the new struts, I lost two as I was trying to slide them up out of the way when they wouldn't move...wouldn't move...wouldn't mo..and snap - there it went.
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
On my 2002 Jetta, began the suspension refresh; TT LCA bushings, and new ball joints and tie rod ends. It already had new touring Bilsteins, and next up is Cupra R rear bushings. For now...I's tired. This after getting boosted Friday evening. Saturday was a pure recovery day.
cheers,
Douglas
 

PakProtector

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
So it has been a bit since I last did rear axle bushings...and am feeling a bit stupid 'cause I remember it was a pain to jackstand the beast by its lift points so I could do the job. wishing I had a lift... :)

Douglas
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
So it has been a bit since I last did rear axle bushings...and am feeling a bit stupid 'cause I remember it was a pain to jackstand the beast by its lift points so I could do the job. wishing I had a lift... :)
I have a set of these that I use to jackstand the pinch welds: https://safejacks.com/
I ordered it with the universal pinch weld adapter but I think the Subaru adapter fits the MKIV pinch welds better. There's a VW/Audi adapter but I think it requires that you've installed the VW lift pads on your car.
 
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