OEM+ 2-DOOR MKVII

[aegis]

Update, I'm STILL chasing my start problem. Have a new lambda sensor in my FCP euro cart. Got really bad yesterday with some sensor codes and misfires on all 4 cylinders. Only on hot start. But hey, it looks clean af. 🥹.

 

[aegis]

So, been quiet for a while. The day after I made the above post (and after hand-washing this thing inside and out), the construction company working on my condo building dropped construction material onto the car from floor 12. (Swing stage was directly above my parking spot). Went about 2.5 months back and forth as they wanted to settle outside of insurance.. it's finally scheduled to get fixed in the new year. Wanted to avoid posting pictures or posting about it until it's entirely fixed.

Contractor tried to drag it on and lowball the settlement. Unfortunately for them, I'm an architect by profession and I know exactly how their contract is laid out with the prime consultant/owner's rep. Part of me feels glad it happened to me; someone who can force them to administer the contract, and not someone completely oblivious to being totally fucked over. It has been such a shit show to have all the parties involved do what they're contracted to do in a situation like this..
Bottom line, the body work is getting done at a certified VW shop the first week of January.

In other news, was at the dealer and snapped a couple photos of some cars. Absolutely slammed Jetta (static) as well as a 91 Blue R. Not a big fan of the faux carbon wrap, but loving the paint-matched box.

So, pretty much all the small car projects are on hold until the spring. Might pick up the Euro tails just to secure them and get it off my mind. A few parts I've got waiting to go in and what I have planned for preventative maintenance;

• Camshaft position sensor P/N 04C 907 601 K (Throwing fault code).
• Ignition switch P/N 5G1 959 839 A3Q7 (Current one is peeling).
• Upstream 02 sensor P/N 06K 906 262 CS (Throwing open circuit code).

Preparing the wallet to hopefully fix my 2014/2004/2015 fault codes;

• HPFP P/N 06L 127 025 T (Hot start issue, suspected vapors leaking back into crank case).
• Intake manifold position sensor P/N 06K 907 386 D (Throwing fault code).
  
  

Parking buddy at the mall.

Winters also went on.

 

[mwoodski]

91 Blue is so damn good.

 

[19birel]

Sorry to hear the car got damaged, but glad to hear everything is at least sorted out for it to get fixed!

Eurotails would be a nice addition for sure!

 

[aegis]

Euro tails purchased. Sourced the inners so that they both have the fog light. Lopsided taillight fogs always bugged me, but I get why it's designed that way.

Also, little bit of a score on Facebook marketplace; 20th anniversary edition rabbit badging. Would be a really cool homage to throw it on the car but I almost want to just keep it in the garage.. We'll see this summer.

 

[aegis]

HPFP arrived from @swcrow, will install in the Spring to see if it solves a few problems.
Also having problems with the Helix Sub after we entered -10 Celsius weather (first winter with it). Hasn't worked for two days (car is parked outdoors overnight).
Drove it for an hour last night to see if warming up would fix it, no dice.
Other things I tried;

• restarted head unit
• power cycled the Helix (car off, unplug harness)
• pulled the glove box unit and fiddled with connectors
• swapping amp setting in long coding (internal/external)

Bit the bullet and bought another year of OBD11 pro to try to see if swapping the coding for the amp would fix it, so may as well make the most of it. Found this long list of tweaks, posting for later to read through.
Any anecdotal advice with the Helix for those who have it would be appreciated.
EDIT- Chalking this up to cold weather. Performance comes back when it warms up past 0 Celsius. Will just have to deal with lower performance in the winter.
Note to self, check voltage at HPFP.

 

[aegis]

It has begun; hairline fractures at each corner.

It's getting to that point; still plenty of things I want to do to the car, but I've started pivoting funds to a down payment in Fall 2025 on the last ICE golf R facelift.
Waiting for Spring to put a few remedial parts in to help with the hot start and manifold errors.
Hopefully after one more winter it can sit indoors and await a proper recondition before these things like this become a bigger issue. Car will be 10 years old in August (production date 08/14).

Also, after a few years on and off of searching FB Marketplace, finally found a used pair of OEM 2-door bars this weekend and picked them up for half the cost of brand new.
Will need to find a good solution for protection under the feet (maybe 3m film or some sort of pad?).

Tail lights also came. Will confirm part numbers and follow up with Zero to get a harness made. Getting stoked for the summer months to put all this to use.
Box description has me spooked but I think they ripped off the part numbers on the box since it's specifically a mixed bag. I'll confirm when I get home.

 

[aegis]

Visually inspected the lights. Seems like they did a proper job packaging and sourcing. Everything was double-wrapped with foam and bubble wrap. Will likely throw these on in the Spring.
5G0 945 307 P - LH EU inner fog.
5G0 945 308 Q - RH UK inner fog.
5G0 945 207 G - EU
5G0 945 208 G - EU

 

[19birel]

Nice score on the cross bars! On my MK4, the bars came with small bits of PPF-like material to go under the feet and protect the paint.

That moonroof surround cracking gives me anxiety haha, hopefully that's something VW fixed over the years haha

 

[aegis]

Nice score on the cross bars! On my MK4, the bars came with small bits of PPF-like material to go under the feet and protect the paint.

That moonroof surround cracking gives me anxiety haha, hopefully that's something VW fixed over the years haha

Yeah, it was bound to happen. The Mk8's have a new design, they eliminated the thin pieces that go down the body which was a smart choice... hopefully it doesn't get worse. In the years to come if it get's really bad, I'll set aside a fund to have it replaced. Long term goal will be to keep it cleaned and restored if needed for spots like this (talking like 10 years down the line). The hope is for 2026 this thing can finally sit in a garage for the winters and become a fun project to keep restored.

 

[19birel]

Do we know what causes it? or is it just expansion and contraction from large temp changes

 

[aegis]

Do we know what causes it? or is it just expansion and contraction from large temp changes

It's probably a combination of that plus body flex. I think mine lasted this long (211,000km, prod date 08/2014) because it's a 2-door with not as much flex as a 4-door.
If you're pulling out of steep driveways or uneven speed bumps, the body is going to want to twist the sunroof and push against those two long thin pieces. A relief joint at the front would have been way better..

 

[19birel]

That's a good point. I wonder if some extra chassis bracing would help at all

 

[aegis]

Spoiler alert; I'm not much of a mechanic, but I changed out the fuel pump yesterday. Took longer than it should have. Made the mistake of watching a video and not visually inspecting my own engine bay before I started.. 2.0T video I used must have been a variant, as hard line to the pump was a different route. Mine was much more difficult to release the ball fitting, as the high pressure line goes strait down below the manifold through a clamp that's screwed into the cover. Of course the screw to release the hard line was ridiculous to get a tool to, since it backs out into a bracket for something else.

Made a last-minute run to Canadian Tire that was luckily still open, needed the smallest ratcheting bit tool I could find to release the bracket.

 

[aegis]

After diving in under the hood, I've suddenly started to care about how dirty it is.
Been doing some research on proper ways to clean the engine bay, seems like a spray bottle degreaser/simple green with a wipe-down and low pressure wash is normal. Just bag the alternator and battery.

Also didn't realize this was a thing, might be a good choice for the all black theme and to hide more of the manifold.