Wilbur, the ALH formerly known as Knurren

[benIV]

Loving this car.
Snagged the FS posting for posterity and in case it gets deleted.

The Basics:

• 2003 Jetta Wagon
• WVW Germany built VIN
• Reflex SIlver
• 5 Speed.
• 230k miles
• Black cloth interior, non heated seats.

Exterior:

• GTI Nose Swap 10/23/11
• Depo Smoked E-Code Headlights w/fogs, LED City Lights, Glass Lenses
• Very Dark tinted rear doors, tailgate. (20% Llumar)
• Dark tint (35%) on front doors
• Factory VW Steel Skidplate
• LED turn lights on front fenders
• Rear fog light
• Aspherical mirrors
• Rubstrips are painted with black textured truck bed paint
• Shark fin antenna
• Class 1 trailer hitch

Engine/Transmission:

• Brand new complete T4 .216 Injectors - Installed @ 145K
• Malone Stage 3 Custom tune(17.5 PSI with Dynamic idle control, and 1050 RPM permanent idle) (installed on 9/3/11)
• Borg Warner VNT17 (Installed 178k miles 9/15/12)
• South Bend Stage 3 Clutch with 17# Flywheel - Installed @ 145K
• Wavetrac LSD - Installed @ 145K
• 3.16 Final Drive - Installed @ 145K
• Timing belt was changed @ 176k on 9/30/12 full Boraparts Kit (~45k left on this system)
• No EGR Cooler
• OMI
• 2.5" Whitbread Catless Downpipe (2/26/11 153k miles) to 3" catback exhaust with resonator and mufflerectomy installed (5/18/11 158k miles)
• Frostheater
• 10mm rebuilt IP installed at 154k miles to solve hard starting issues.
• 92*C MK2 hotter Thermostat (163,700 miles 11/24/11)

Interior:

• 2004+ Cupholder center console
• Audi Mk1 TT pedals w/Beetle S Dead Pedal
• Aluminum trim set w/ in-dash cup holders
• Original Double-din Monsoon receiver
• Full sized and fully functioning glove box YAY
• McNally A pillar pod w/ EGT/Boost gauge (0-30psi) - EGT probe located between the two RRs in Garrett to read properly (2/26/11 153K miles)
• Euroswitch
• Monster mats front and rear
• Armrest with broken (soon to be fixed) lid hinge.
• Sunglasses holder where driver OS handle goes
• Rear parcel cover

Wheels and Suspension:

• 16" NB (Monte Carlos?) alloy wheels - Fuzion 205 55 16 tires
• Koni FSD shocks in Front
• Sachs shocks in rear (5/16/2014 199K miles)
• VR6 front springs
• Wagon rear springs
• Audi TT front CABs
• New Calipers, Rotors and Pads (2014 at 200K miles)

Part of the deal was this wondrous bevy of parts:

Work to be done:

1. CABs, ball joints, TRE's to be replaced shortly
2. Struts/shocks, springs to be replaced soon
3. Fix the arm rest

As far as maintenance items, oil and fuel filters are done and TB needs a change around 260k

 

[benIV]

I’ve been wanting to add a 5spd 03 alh wagon to the family a long time. Growler was the PO; great guy and took care of Knurren.

The first morning at the new home

 

[Growler]

Needs new front wheel bearing holder to replace the cross threaded/almost stripped carrier bolt. (have to check with Aaron about this)

Ben, one of the caliper slide pins in the drivers front is barely hanging in there, it was on the list of issues with the car in 2010 when I got the car, I never had trouble with it, I replaced the brakes some time ago, and still never had any problems with it.

It can be fixed with a Heli-Coil, I just never got around to it because it never caused me any concern. There is no need to replace the whole knuckle and wheel bearing for an almost stripped slider pin. Yes, if that wheel bearing also needs replaced and you can snag a new knuckle from a boneyard by all means go for it

Knurren looks right at home down there with his new buddy Orville.

Who is Wilbur? (from your car details below avatar..)

 

[cevans]

Ben, one of the caliper slide pins in the drivers front is barely hanging in there, it was on the list of issues with the car in 2010 when I got the car, I never had trouble with it, I replaced the brakes some time ago, and still never had any problems with it.
It can be fixed with a Heli-Coil, I just never got around to it because it never caused me any concern. There is no need to replace the whole knuckle and wheel bearing for an almost stripped slider pin. Yes, if that wheel bearing also needs replaced and you can snag a new knuckle from a boneyard by all means go for it
Knurren looks right at home down there with his new buddy Orville.
Who is Wilbur? (from your car details below avatar..)

You can also get a caliper pin from a GM that is a standard thread, not metric. It is *slightly* larger threads so it will cut some new threads on installation, that can buy you some time with that stripped hole.

 

[benIV]

Ben, one of the caliper slide pins in the drivers front is barely hanging in there, it was on the list of issues with the car in 2010 when I got the car, I never had trouble with it, I replaced the brakes some time ago, and still never had any problems with it.
It can be fixed with a Heli-Coil, I just never got around to it because it never caused me any concern. There is no need to replace the whole knuckle and wheel bearing for an almost stripped slider pin. Yes, if that wheel bearing also needs replaced and you can snag a new knuckle from a boneyard by all means go for it
Knurren looks right at home down there with his new buddy Orville.
Who is Wilbur? (from your car details below avatar..)

I remember that from the list and remember you addressing it earlier before the sale.

Wilbur is Knurren’s new name. Idk proper protocol for car names but I figured; new chapter, new name. I like both names, but also I sort of figured having an Orville and a Wilbur made sense for a pair of Carolina TDI's

 

[benIV]

Well there's one thing I forgot about until today. The A/C. Last Tuesday I bought a can to refill the refrigerant, mainly to see how long it'd last. I was hoping a month, but I guess it's a week and a week only. I have driven Knurren probably 100 miles this week, mostly highway, and honestly I didn't use the A/C all that much, but apparently the leak is big.

So I'm gonna check a few things. Maybe the order is wrong, but it's the order I've deducted from reading through multiple threads.

1. Check twin fan operation. - that was easy. Driver side fan not running in slow mode

2. Check clutch engagement. - Clutch doesn't engage at all....
3. Check the fuses (4 in total i know of, battery: S180, cabin: 5,16,25) - All these fuses check fine
4. Check the pressures
5. Check VCDS (fant test) - not sure if there is a fan test for the a4
6. RCV (refridgerant control valve)
7. Foam on the mix doors

Right now I'm not sure after all that. I find it hard to believe that one of those things isn't the problem.

I also have been told that the drier is something that is supposed to be replaced every 3-5 years. I'm gonna have to search some threads.

 

[benIV]

Had a bunch of white smoke and then a CEL pop today. Finally put VCDS to work.

Wilbur is sitting at 230,759 miles. Gonna drive down the road tomorrow I think and test drive a 6spd 2015 passat tdi sitting in the lot (I’m not getting rid of Wilbur.. just expanding the fleet lol) and then also fill up on B20 since the closest place i can get it is 30-45 min from my town.

I started a thread about the smoke/cel/autoscan here

Autsocan Results:

Wednesday,12,July,2017,21:29:30:00816
VCDS -- Windows Based VAG/VAS Emulator Running on Windows 7 x86
VCDS Version: 17.1.3.0 HEX-V2 CB: 0.4336.4
Data version: 20170320 DS267.7
www.Ross-Tech.com


VIN: WVWSP61J83W580243 License Plate:
Mileage: 371370km-230758mi Repair Order:


Chassis Type: 1J (9M - VW Jetta IV (1998 > 2014))
Scan: 01 02 03 08 09 15 16 17 19 22 29 35 36 37 39 46 47 55 56 57
75 76

VIN: WVWSP61J83W580243 Mileage: 371370km-230758miles
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 01: Engine Labels: 038-906-012-AGR.lbl
Part No: 038 906 012 GN
Component: 1,9l R4 EDC G440SG 4308
Coding: 00002
Shop #: WSC 01266
VCID: 629EA334CD5F82175BD-4B3C
WVWSP61J83W580243 VWZ7Z0C7298552

1 Fault Found:
17056 - Cylinder 2 Glow Plug Circuit (Q11)
P0672 - 35-10 - Electrical Fault - Intermittent
Readiness: 1 1 0 0 1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 03: ABS Brakes Labels: 1C0-907-37x-ABS.lbl
Part No: 1C0 907 379 L
Component: ABS FRONT MK60 0101
Coding: 0004097
Shop #: WSC 01266 785 00200
VCID: 3330167027255B9FE0B-5184

No fault code found.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 15: Airbags Labels: 6Q0-909-605-VW5.lbl
Part No: 1C0 909 605 F
Component: 03 AIRBAG VW61 0202 0003
Coding: 12339
Shop #: WSC 01266
VCID: 2708F220E6FD273F4C3-5160

1 Fault Found:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
07-10 - Signal too Low - Intermittent

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 17: Instruments Labels: 1J0-920-xx5-17.lbl
Part No: 1J0 920 906 L
Component: KOMBI+WEGFAHRSP VDO V11
Coding: 04432
Shop #: WSC 00000
VCID: 313C1C78D839698F927-5160
WVWSP61J83W580243 VWZ7Z0C7298552

No fault code found.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 19: CAN Gateway Labels: 6N0-909-901-19.lbl
Part No: 6N0 909 901
Component: Gateway KCAN 0001
Coding: 00006
Shop #: WSC 01266
VCID: 70BAD97C13B32087DD9-5160

No fault code found.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 46: Central Conv. Labels: 1C0-959-799.lbl
Part No: 1C0 959 799 C
Component: 8A Komfortgerát HLO 0003
Coding: 00259
Shop #: WSC 01266
VCID: 37282260365DB7BFDC3-4B1E

Subsystem 1 - Part No: 1C1959801A
Component: 8A Tõrsteuer.FS KLO 0009

Subsystem 2 - Part No: 1C1959802A
Component: 8A Tõrsteuer.BF KLO 0009

Subsystem 3 - Part No: 1C0959811A
Component: 8A Tõrsteuer.HL KLO 0009

Subsystem 4 - Part No: 1C0959812A
Component: 8A Tõrsteuer.HR KLO 0009

1 Fault Found:
01299 - Diagnostic Interface for Data Bus (J533)
49-10 - No Communications - Intermittent

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 56: Radio Labels: 3B7-035-1xx-56.lbl
Part No: 3B7 035 180 E
Component: Radio NP2 0008
Coding: 00031
Shop #: WSC 01266
VCID: 221EE3348DDFC2171BD-5160

No fault code found.

End----------(Elapsed Time: 07:54, VBatt start/end: 14.1V/14.3V)-----------

 

[Growler]

I do believe I sent a 4 wire glow plug harness along with the car. If not, I would start there.

I tested those glow plugs and did change one of them before you came and got the car. I think it was either cyl1 or cyl 4.. they are easy to check with a simple ohm meter reading.

I do know that the GP harness was looking kinda crunchy in its old age.. the 2003s with the 4 wire system are easy to replace by just overlaying the entire harnsss up into the wire chase behind the battery.

with the white (whitish blue to me) smoke, I am thining that 230k miles and at least 100k of those being tuned might have caused some wear on the valve guides allowing some oil to drip past the seals when the car sits. the longer the car site, the more can build up, the bigger the plume. if it sat for a week it would put out an impressive plume when first started.. but it always went away after driving. if it is still smoking at idle after moving down the road a bit then that is new and likely should be investigated further.

 

[benIV]

hey. yeah i found the harness. I'm gonna check all the plugs to start and replace the harness at the same time. I was reading through some of the posts about valve guide wear, so I"ll keep reading and see what I can do. I need to drive it more and as soon as I get this AC fixed it won't be as bad to drive it around lol. I did drive it again the other day and although a lot of smoke came out it did stop while driving.

Thanks for your help, again!

 

[kooyajerms]

Congrats on the wagon! Love a good fly in roadtrip to pickup a wagon.

Nice looking house, is there any history to it? You know us California types and our nostalgic ways.

 

[benIV]

Sorry kooya, guess I never saw your post. No special history to it. It sat vacant for a couple decades and was gutted and completely redone with a small addition. We moved in the summer of 2016 and were the first actual inhabitants of the home since the early 80’s apparently.

I had been planning to do some work but several months ago hurt my back and I can’t do much of anything, let alone wrenching.

I don't have any pictures yet of the completed work, but I'm going tomorrow or Tuesday to pick Wilbur up.

In the shop (East Coast Eurowerks in Wilmington NC)

I lost power steering right before I injured my back, so that was my main concern at the time. While I had them fixing that issue we saw that both front springs had fractured and several other components were very worn (which Growler had told me that they needed to be replaced, so I wasn't surprised by any means). I had them go ahead and replace the front suspension components Growler had as part of the purchase deal.

I want to do the back myself, and since the back wasn't as bad, I decided on waiting til I could do that in a month or two.

They also replaced the valve cover and vacuum pump seal to stop the leaks. The leaks weren't horrible, but the price wasn't bad and it was something I wanted done before they noted. The guys were very thorough and aren't pushy by any means. I am glad it's getting done, Wilbur deserves it. lol

Valve cover leak

Vacuum pump leak

Will have some more pictures after heading down to get Wilbur tomorrow. Finished work and what they took off. I've been told the struts looked like they were on the bottom of a boat .. lol. Guess Ohio DOT likes to use a lot of salt.

 

[Growler]

Yes, I would say that Ohio LOVES the new Brine solution.. however, I also got those struts USED from a guy in Michigan in 2010 they werent in that great of shape to begin with... KONI FSDs are nice dampeners, but can only do so much with the road salt.

Sure glad I sent all of those suspension bits along with you.

Glad to see the old wagon is getting taken care of.

sorry to hear about your injury. I hope you continue to mend up. I bet it feels like a whole new car after all the new suspension bits.

 

[benIV]

Thanks growler!

I drove it home today... I can’t explain how much smoother everything felt, especially in the turns.

When I pulled into the parking lot, the front end didn’t look like it was dragging on the ground. (I thought back to my driving it home from Columbus to NC and wondered if I had damaged the suspension on the way through WV.)

Some of the old

The new stuff on

Some other pics while it’s up on a lift
I was a little more concerned about the rusty components, but the mechanic said it’s replaceable parts, that the wagon itself is in great condition, and nothing is so bad it needs replacing right now. So I’ll just add it to the list in case I have the time/money to do those bits.

I’m saving the back for my own job.

The mechanics asked if they could drive it to the alignment shop to test it out. I gave the go ahead, and they said they were surprised how quick it was. They were quite enamored with it. lol.

 

[Growler]

Yeah, I do miss how fun that wagon was to drive. you stomp on it, it hesitates for 1/2 second or so and it just takes off and pulls and pulls.. that Wavetrac LSD is sooo nice.

 

[benIV]

Replaced back calipers/rotors/pads on 10-27-18. Afterwards, what a difference!

 

[benIV]

On 02Nov idk if I hit something or what, but caliper broke, the bolt was sheared off and half still in the threads, jammed the caliper up into the rotor and wheel, carving a nice crack around the circumference of the rim. Got it fixed and found a perfect replacement wheel down the road at a pick and pull.

Broken caliper. Broke the casting and guide pins.

 

[Growler]

Was that pin not tightened fully? they don't have to be he man tight but snug plus a little more should have been sufficient.

the part that broke off was the cup that this pin slides into right? shown in this picture here:

On the rear beam and the front K member, a wire wheel on a drill is cheap.. do you have a way to get the car off the ground to scrub away the loose paint.. then just spray/brush it with POR-15 or something to help it to survive longer and look better.

I know that when you do the front brakes you will want to be extra careful with the front drivers side caliper mounting slide pin/bolt. those threads weren't very strong the last time I was in there so don't go reefing on it fully, or perhaps plan on putting in a heli-coil to repair the threads.

 

[benIV]

Thanks. I will be trying to get to that asap.

In regards to the front brakes:
I've actually wondering if the thunking sound might have something to do with the driver's front brake as it's becoming intermittent and sometimes it doesn't crop up until I hit the brakes for the first time in the drive. I'm putting it up on the lift this weekend, I think, so I'll be checking multiple things.

 

[benIV]

About 233,400 miles ... Got another fill up, averaged about 44. I haven’t been keeping track of the mileage well (i’ve got all the receipts, just need to put them in fuelly) so I’m not sure if that’s normal or not. Been driving mostly city though.

Anyway, main event for today was replacing the front rotors and pads. The pads ended up not being too bad but the rotors i’m not sure if they’re worth holding onto. They didn’t look too thin but they were well rusty, so I’m going to try to get them turned down and cleaned up. I think there is a lathe for rotors at the hobby shop on base so I’ll do it there.

Unfortunately I found out how badly the front knuckle is where the guide pins bolt into. The threaded holes are basically not threaded. Front what Aaron’s told me before I bought it and afterwards, there’s a couple things I can do... helicoils or replace the knuckle.

I looked around for evidence of the source of the clunking, no idea.

 

[benIV]

Replaced the front knuckle, bearing, hub, ball joint, rotors, pads, ... forgot to order the cv boot kits but will do that later when the other side's parts arrive (same thing + new calipers). Couldn't get the speed sensor out of the old knuckle so had to buy a new one (i think I might've broken it anyway trying to get it out, so much rust..)

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