Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

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DaveP189
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by DaveP189 »

The MINI had a double hard line from the heater core supply hoses, across the back of the motor (one of the mounts was to the starter - !), to the oil filter mount - some sort of an oil cooler thingie, but not sure how effective 185+ degree coolant "cools' the oil that much. Over-engineering at it's finest. :rock:
Was starting to leak a little (rust) - plugged and removed, problem solved - 'someday' I'll get around to hooking up a real one.
Dave P. #189 '02 MINI CooperS+ "Elphie"
"People who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music." -unknown
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

That's nuts.

I'm think we should all go back to the old Mini and old VW days (Rabbits with FI or carbs)
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Was very, very busy last night... busy enough that everything seems to hurt. Image

I replaced the seal and half moon under the cam chain tensioner (you know, VTEC Yo!). Thanks to a PassatWorld.com thread on this topic, I was able to easily replace the seals.

I compressed the chain tensioner thanks to Chris Cheeseman who gave me the simple, yet effective, tool.

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It required removing the intake side camshaft (though, I never removed it from the chain so everything was still aligned). Pretty easy from there. Thankfully I did spend the extra time replacing these seals as it was also the half moon that was leaking. The entire valve cover gasket (even around the spark plug holes) was wasted.

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I ordered new intake manifold allen head bolts as the originals were rounded; this means they were rounded from the factor as this was never removed before. The local VW folks gave me hex head bolts. Strange, the EKTA image showed what I had (allen head bolts) while the description stated hex. Every single 1.8T that I have ever taken apart has had the allen head bolts. I guess this was an update… whatever, they worked.

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Borrowed this engine carrier from Chris Cheeseman… one stop visit made my life soooo much easier as the floor jack and engine lift are no longer competing for floor space. In addition, it made it a lot easier to do the clutch assemble. I need to get one of these for my garage. Oh… and a lift.

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A few detail pictures of the flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate installation. Pretty straight forward.

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Those uppity fingers!
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Fingers bowing to the ECS clutch alignment tool… all hail the pretty tool that I hope to never need again.

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This means that the Jetta engine is 100% together with the clutch assemble installed. I just need to install the transmission so that I can get it out of the garage to make room for the Golf.

The what?!??!?!?

Oh… and the Golf is home as if 10:00 tonight. Hopefully buttoning up all the loose ends by Saturday.

Teaser picture of the work by Joey at http://www.KalesCustom.com

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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Since the transmission and engine on the Jetta are all buttoned up (just need to bleed the clutch), it was time to jump into the rotors, pads, calipers, and lowering springs.

Christmas in June....
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The rear rotors looked terrible. The right rear caliper was definitely bad (would not release parking brake).
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Pretty... new rotor, pad, caliper, and lowering spring.
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Stock vs. H&R Sport Lowering Spring (rear)
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The front rotor, pads, and calipers looked okay. I know I am changing the rotors and pads... no question there. Unsure if I will replace the caliper. I'll know once I get both sides apart. Right now just the right is apart... I spent 45 minutes trying to fish out the driveshaft from between the subframe and the engine. It seems it got stuck in there when I was pushing the car back into the garage... I removed it to get the Cabriolet out this past weekend. Surprised a Subaru on the interstate. Image
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Stock vs. H&R Sport Lowering Spring (front)... I'm also replacing the strut bearings while I'm in there. I replaced them a few years ago when I installed the struts, but figure I'm in there anyway, might as well do them.
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Stock ride height before the project. I'll make sure to get an after picture also for comparison.
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Meanwhile, back at http://www.KalesCustom.com (Joey), the Golf is hidden in with a bunch of Subarus. I guess Subaru has the opinion that you can get any color car you want as long as it is blue.
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Next are a number of shots of Joey making the header... looks really nice to me!
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Pretty turbo... and quick spooling!
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Heading home for Joey's....
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He even fixed the section of tailpipe that was crushed in the 2010 off road experience.
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Shots of the engine bay....
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Meth injection sprayer #2 / post throttle body. Joey also had to change the mounting point of the throttle cable bracket as the spacer pushed the adjustment ability of the cable outside its normal operational range.... you know, the cable was now too short with the spacer.
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Meth injection sprayer #1 / post FMIC.
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All done.
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The car now sits at http://www.VEMS.us (Jason) who is looking through the 034EFI wiring harness to make sure everything is proper and functioning. With the issues we have had over the years, we are looking at everything.

Next, the car is off to a fellow hillclimber at Dent Sport Garage (http://www.dentsport.com/) for tuning. I'm hoping to be able to make the Okemo hillclimb on July 7... might be cutting it close. At least I have the option of driving the Jetta.

Steve
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Almost done. Need to bleed the brakes again due to the four new calipers. There is a clunk in the front with quick turns to the left (sway bar hitting something?). Unsure if clutch feels correct... seems like it doesn't have a very long throw. It seems to work fine.

Strut assembly with new H&R spring and bearing....
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Driver's side together. Don't get excited. While that is an axle bolt for the 6-speed transmission, it is just there to make the car mobile while the normal 5-speed axle is out of the car.
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I replaced all the plastic rain/dirt shields under the car. This includes that short piece that goes from the lip back (the shield you need to remove to do an oil change) and both side pieces. I actually purchased them for the Golf, but most everything matched up for the Jetta. I did have to drill a few extra holes for the mounting points to match it perfectly.
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Speaking of that belly pan. It really seems to me that there should be another plastic shield that covers the entire remaining opening under the car. I have highlighted the mounting holes that are presently built into the side shields. Unsure if the holes in the front could be mounting points, but clearly the sides are. So.... why the mounting points but not shield? I do see that European TDIs have the metal skid plate, but that wouldn't be mounting to these plastic side shields. Buller? Anyone?
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Tightening the axle nut. (148ft/#, 180-degree loosen, 37ft/#, then plus 60-degree)
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How the car sits after a few mile drive to bed the brakes, test out the clutch, and settle the suspension. End product should be around 1.5" lower. I definitely like how these springs feel with quick turns.
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Yawn.....

Up at 6AM, left the house by 6:20, fought crazy traffic on I-93/I-95 in Massachusetts, got to Dent Sport Garage (DSG) at 11:15.

http://www.dentsport.com/

There isn't a lot to report... I went there to tune the Golf (034EFI IIc with 4 bar) with the new turbo setup. Here is the children's book version of the day.

It wasn't too hard to find.... I'm guess it is to the right.
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Very cool old mill...
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Knock knock... I think this is unit number 26. Could be....
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Well, hello! Lot's of very nice projects.
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Let's get mine in there.
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Added some fans and stuff...
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Can you spot Waldo?
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Matt from DSG who did all the tuning.
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The unit that removes exhaust from the dyno and brings it outside. I would guess some small animals also made a quick exit if they got too close to the sucking end.
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Heading home.... went from cold and rainy in the morning to hot (switched to shorts on the way home). Got home by 7:30PM. Stupid GPS was trying to send me down some very questionable roads on the way home, though it did help me avoid some really bad traffic on I-95 north.
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For those of you with forum ADD, that is the pictorial version. It is okay to stop here and go watch videos on youtube. Now with words... small words as it is late and I really need to head to bed as it was a long day.

Old setup
GT2871R
25psi of boost (if I recall correctly)
Internal 36mm waste gate (I don't recall the exact size)
Race fuel
350 wHP

New setup
GTX2863R
New sweet header
External 42mm waste gate (larger than before)
Race fuel (didn't have time to swap out the race fuel for pump gas... maybe later... and then retune)
Meth/water injectors
353.2 wHP

Matt determined that the timing advance was very high.... I think he said 28 degrees at full boost. He brought that way down. He also changed the rev limiter so that there was a softer limiter at 6800 RPM (someone in there) and then the hard one at 7200 RPM. I will enjoy this change as whenever I hit the hard limiter, I have to wait a few seconds for the computer to recover so I get get in it again. Now I get a warning!

Water/Meth starts spraying at 8psi and continues through boost range (22psi max).

I will post up the dyno chart after I get it from Matt.

Big thanks to Matt at DSG. He did a very thorough job before jumping into the tune and was professional with my baby. Plus, he races with me so he understands the demands on the car. I love the old mill shop and the guys down there are building/working on some seriously cool performance cars.

Looking at where I am now, it seems that I should not have purchased a turbo kit as everything ended up being custom anyway. Just needed injectors, FMIC, turbo, wastegate, pump, EBC, BOV, etc. and everything else could have been built by Joey at http://www.kalescustom.com

I just need to finish installing the gauges (thanks to Jason at VEMS.us, all the lights in the gauges work and are working off the dimmer switch), change the oil, install the skid plate, and put some miles on it. Okemo hillclimb in July.... I think I'm ready for it!

I brought the Cabriolet down to Jason (VEMS) to take a look at a running issue. It happened once before. Car runs 100% perfectly and then has 0% power (literally, it can't get over a speed bump) when it gets hot. He was able to determine that the fuel pump was losing pressure when the engine gets hot. Or more specifically, the pump itself gets really hot. Unsure of the reason. This is a new Bosch 044 pump that I purchased at the end of last summer. He is poking around to determine the cause.
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Some graphs.

Dyno Dynamics Dynaometer at DSG.... say that three times at any speed.
353.2 wHP at 22psi
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Boost pressure and air-fuel ratio.
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

More on the Cabriolet running issue.

In a nutshell, I drove it and everything worked perfectly. About 20 miles into the trip the car stopped running properly. It would idle fine, but zero power like there was a huge leak in the intake system or zero fuel getting to the engine. I could free rev it, but as soon as I tried to move the car did not have enough power to get over a pebble in the road.

The first time it happened, Jason at VEMS.us replaced the O2 sensor; that fixed it. When it happened again, we determined that the only reason the O2 sensor seemed to fix the issue is because the next time we drove it (and it ran perfectly again!) it was actually running properly because everything cooled down. We have the effect, but not the cause at this point.

Jason was able to determine that the new Bosch 044 fuel pump was getting hot. This could be an issue with the pump (bad pump) or a restriction in the line pre or post pump. Jason mentioned a second fuel filter next to the fuel pump; that ended up being the fuel accumulator. He then mentioned the in-tank pump… didn’t know these had in-tank pumps. Well, guess what… it does have an in-tank pump and it had some issues. The real issue was that the hose in the tank was deteriorated so bad that only the webbing was left. Since he was in there anyway, he is going to replace the in-tank pump. This means we will have the in-tank feeding the external pump.

Hopefully everything will be golden after this. It is hard to find all the issues with dealing with an old car (1989) and one that was owned by someone else (you never know the history of the car). At least when I get around to selling the Cabriolet, the buyer will know exactly what we did to the car based on the lovely internet. Big brother is watching.

All Volkswagens are created equal but some are more equal than others…
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Just realized that I was way behind on the post. Nothing exciting going on with the projects as we have been working on the house.

Okemo #1 and Okemo #2 hillclimbs have come and gone... still need to put together the video.

2012 Wolfsgart car show in Essex Jct, VT was fun.

Brought the turbo Cabriolet on Saturday...

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And the Golf on Sunday.

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Prior to the Okemo #1 (2012) hillclimb, I had to get everything buttoned up for its first event this year. All that was left to do after the dyno was to install all the gauges in the center console. Jason (http://www.VEMS.us) did the wiring as that is not by area of expertise.... I don't think I have an area of expertise, but I know where my limitations lie.

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Little green light is when water/meth on (8psi+), red light is low level sensor on water/meth tank, large red light is low oil pressure warning.

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Looks pretty.... plus, this setup gets the gauges out of my field of vision that was previously blocked by having them installed on the A-pillar.

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I still need to put together the video for Okemo #1 with the Golf.... lots of interesting camera angles this time including a view of the console gauges during the run.

Artsy fartsy... and a little blurry.... Golf in parking lot at midnight. That is the moon in the background. 3 second shot.
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Photo during bring down at Okemo #1.
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Okemo #2 (2012)... Julie at the starting line with the Jetta.
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New bulkhead, thanks to http://www.KalesCustom.com, around the water/meth tank as required by New England Hillclimb Association (NEHA) rules.

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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

I wanted to do a little tweaking to the tune on the Golf based on Okemo I experiences, so off to VEMS I went. It is really nice having a dyno so local (3 miles-ish from the house) so it doesn't have to be a day trip when tweaking is in order.

Jason was able to squeeze me in between 7:30pm and midnight. I installed a new set of plugs that were two steps cooler than stock and one step cooler than what I was running at Okemo I and we put it on the dyno.
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Tune.tune.tune.tune....
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Water.water.water.water....
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All dynos are a little different in terms of the numbers that are produced from one to the next. The VEMS DYNOmite dyno showed that I started with approximately 346wHP prior to making any changes vs. DSG's 355wHP. Pretty much the same. We ended up with 333.8wHP by the end of the night.

I did notice that at Okemo I, my mechanical boost gauge said that we were hitting 30 psi of boost; the tune is good to 22 psi. So, we have to figure out the reason and a solution for Ascutney II.

We also noticed that there is a boost leak between the Snow Performance intake manifold (#2 injection nozzle) and the intake manifold... I will address that sooner or later. All the bolts are tight so it is a matter of either a bad paper gasket or imperfect mounting surfaces.

The modifications to the tune included:
1. Changed the overboost safety from 30 to 25
2. Changed the voltage to the wastegate (based on RPMs and manifold pressure) from 22% to 0% to avoid overboost situation
3. Jason made some preference changes to the timing advance

So, I consider this a very good year for the Golf between Matt (DSG) getting the car to run great and Jason (VEMS) doing some tweaking in preparation for Ascutney II.

Will post dyno charts when I get them.

And.... still need to do the video of the Golf at Okemo I. Been a bit busy with life (paint, carpet, digging holes, etc.).

Until the next update.

Steve
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It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway. - Evan Esar
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