[AndreasPassat]

View attachment 106758

That is living life on the edge my friend.

 

[khnitz]

That is living life on the edge my friend.

It wasn't me!!! I'm just glad I double-checked and found it before something catastrophic happened.

 

[furcifernova]

View attachment 106758

We did not start the Jetta again until the new timing belt kit arrived and was installed.

I also like to live dangerously.

Sitting 2 decades I can only speculate on the condition of my timing belt, but my gut tells me it looks like this but slightly more thread bare. Perhaps a family of mice has also taken up residence living large in camshaft 1 and 2.

 

[George & Whistling Death]

Yes, it's a 5.5.

I tried a ss shifter cable and a length of stiff plastic tubing, basically hollow trimmer wire but a little stiffer with no success. I can only get two fingers in the hole and try to grab at it like a crab. I think the way it's routed in the A pillar it's closer to the body and out of my reach. And because the silicone tubing is still pliable it's pointing straight down.

So frustrating. I just want to cross all of the potential water leak problems off the list. It seems to have had all of the recalls performed; the nipplectomy, the cabin filter seal, the drain plus in the firewall. But water still seems to be getting in, the carpets are wet and there's no point drying them until the leaks are taken care of.

Is your carpet wet on both sides?
Have you determined that water is not coming in via the door itself? That happens when the door drains are blocked.
Back to the grommet port area, Maybe make a coat hanger wire hook or loop to capture the line after it has exited the end of the tube? Solid .95 trimmer line is my recommendation. You can feed an excess amount of it down into the body, and it will eventually curl up to where you can grab it with your hook.
Or, you could go full drastic and block the drain hole up in the moon roof gutter that seems to be the source of the leakage. You'll still have three other drains assuming they are all flowing freely out of the car. I'd use something like rubber cement, make it into a small tacky ball first, then push it into the drain hole. It will be easy to remove since it's just a stopper, when you get around to revisiting the drain issue.

One last thought- both drains in the battery section are free of debris, correct?

 

[furcifernova]

Is your carpet wet on both sides?
Have you determined that water is not coming in via the door itself? That happens when the door drains are blocked.
Back to the grommet port area, Maybe make a coat hanger wire hook or loop to capture the line after it has exited the end of the tube? Solid .95 trimmer line is my recommendation. You can feed an excess amount of it down into the body, and it will eventually curl up to where you can grab it with your hook.
Or, you could go full drastic and block the drain hole up in the moon roof gutter that seems to be the source of the leakage. You'll still have three other drains assuming they are all flowing freely out of the car. I'd use something like rubber cement, make it into a small tacky ball first, then push it into the drain hole. It will be easy to remove since it's just a stopper, when you get around to revisiting the drain issue.

One last thought- both drains in the battery section are free of debris, correct?

I have to check but I'm pretty sure it is. The CCM is working so I'm hopeful.

So yah, in the process of drying out the car I left the windows cracked a bit. And of course I forgot. We've been having scattered random showers and so I woke to find my windows open. I'm pretty sure it was light rain for a couple hours at most and that rain usually stays on the carpets so I don't think it did much but that rain would have mostly went in the doors. So yes, I found water around the doors but I'm not sure if it's a leak or my stupidity. Just the passenger door though. I'll tear off the door card today or tomorrow maybe, although we have rain in the forecast and I might wait a couple days. The sunroof drains are clear in the front, I'm still trying to figure out the back (based on the shape of the roof water would have to run uphill to test them so I'm fairly confident they're not the cause of the problem). I cleaned out the battery compartment and it's draining well. But just 1 drain, I'm not sure where the second one is?

One of the failings of modern convenience is fancy velvet covered hangers and the like. I don't have a single "coat hanger" in the automotive mechanical sense. I need to get some dry cleaning done or something because they seem to be the only people that have them these days.

 

[furcifernova]

Pulled out the CCM today and it's looks like the day it rolled off the line. I was freaking out at first because whatever they use for snow melt around here has crystalized in the footwell. I think it's calcium chloride.

 

[George & Whistling Death]

I have to check but I'm pretty sure it is. The CCM is working so I'm hopeful.

. I cleaned out the battery compartment and it's draining well. But just 1 drain, I'm not sure where the second one is?

There is the one beneath the battery, (center) and then one over towards the steering column area, if I recall, it's beneath some fuse module boxes. You can reach your hand in there, run it flat along the bottom of the area. I removed both of my drain plugs in that trough, I know that defeats fine German engineering, but it keeps any water flowing OUT of that area.

 

[furcifernova]

There is the one beneath the battery, (center) and then one over towards the steering column area, if I recall, it's beneath some fuse module boxes. You can reach your hand in there, run it flat along the bottom of the area. I removed both of my drain plugs in that trough, I know that defeats fine German engineering, but it keeps any water flowing OUT of that area.

I'll take a look. I don't even know what that box is exactly. It appears to be magnetic to maple leaf keys. People talk about how green Ev's are but can they make compost like a Passat?

I dried out the front passenger carpet but when I got my hand on the other side of the seat member it was wet. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pull front and back seat and get the carpet up properly. smh. I've got so many things ripped apart already I have more fasteners than I know where they go. I fixed the rust around the license plate lights and painted. Ordered the lock tools to do the timing belt. Forgot to get the thermostat though...

 

[KHedges]

Any shop up here would easily go 1.5 or 2 hours for that… So, you would have saved at least $150 (everything up here is $100/hr)

I wish I could get labor at $100/hr. I'm getting a great deal at $140/hr over the hill in Santa Cruz instead of in the South Bay at $190/hr.

 

[KHedges]

I changed the crankshaft speed sensor on my 2.8L V6 and the difference is amazing.

Not too hard a job and a new Bosch sensor was under $30 via Amazon Prime. (Bosch is selling through Amazon.) The only trick was that I didn't recognize the spacer on the old one until I'd installed the new one and scraped it on the crankshaft. (Not listed in the instructions in the Haynes manual!)

It only threw a code ONCE even though it had been running poorly for a while and kept running poorly after I cleared the codes in case it was just the loose battery cable (oops) making trouble. But that code tipped me off to the problem and I ordered the part.

Now it runs like itself again--nice smooth idle, plenty of power, no longer threatening to overheat at the drop of a hat. I am super relieved! I just hope it didn't wasn't running badly enough to hurt the catalytic converters.

Makes me wonder if that was one of the things ailing my old Sentra back in the day... though I don't know if it's as easy to access on a Sentra as on the 2.8L. (Sensor is on the driver's side of the transmission about 10 o'clock from the axle. Unscrew one 10mm bolt, pull it out, pry off spacer to transfer to new one. Best to drop the new one down from the top end, where the connector is next to the O2 sensor connectors under the coolant reservoir.)

 

[furcifernova]

Pulled back the covers to inspect my timing belt and it's not like knitz's. No cracks at least, which was a bit of a relief. I can only see a couple inches of the belt so who knows.

Doing some touch up paint around the fenders and stuff. I realized I don't like metallic paint. Between the fade and the uneven appearance at different angles my OCD is tweaked. Wish I had a booth and a gun to paint the whole car, trying to do spots is a pain.

 

[Airkewld38]

Oooh, just got this in the mail today. Thanks to VAGguy for this one, now let's hope nobody backs into the damn car again. It's had a rough go, I just put 4 new tires on, and my buddy blew the two on the right side, at least he bought new ones two replace them, but they were only 2 days old.

 

[AndreasPassat]

I gotta ask, how did your buddy blow two tires?

 

[furcifernova]

Rockauto is crazy. $89 for a complete timing belt, waterpump and actuator kit. And a Gates kit to boot. Of course the water pump gasket had to be folded in half. I'm not sure it's worth risking it and Rock doesn't have them so it's off to the stealership...

 

[AndreasPassat]

Rockauto is crazy. $89 for a complete timing belt, waterpump and actuator kit. And a Gates kit to boot. Of course the water pump gasket had to be folded in half. I'm not sure it's worth risking it and Rock doesn't have them so it's off to the stealership... View attachment 106800

That's kinda janky. I wouldn't chance that either.

 

[Airkewld38]

I gotta ask, how did your buddy blow two tires?

Both right side, went off the road, in a lowered car with coilovers and hit an aggressive "pothole" that is the bad pavement outers of the road. Even bent the rim, and they're the BBS 17s. I fixed the rim, but still.

 

[AndreasPassat]

Both right side, went off the road, in a lowered car with coilovers and hit an aggressive "pothole" that is the bad pavement outers of the road. Even bent the rim, and they're the BBS 17s. I fixed the rim, but still.

Yikes!

 

[furcifernova]

That's kinda janky. I wouldn't chance that either.

I put it in a physics text. If it goes flat and the fibers aren't damaged I might chance it. The only reason I'm considering it is because it's getting some Permatex, and $15 for one from the dealership is a kick in the stones. lol, I don't even want to do the waterpump ala' "If it ain't broke don't fix it." but I got the full kit for cheap and I'm already in there. smh one little paper gasket...

 

[furcifernova]

I got the whole passenger side carpet pulled up. There was an inch of water in the back, and another inch slowly drained out of the sound damper pad. On the plus side if you have that much hot salty water it doesn't grow mold.

Anyone got ideas on what to do with the airbag side impact sensor? It must have sat in an inch of water for a year or so. The mount screws are rusted but the sensor itself is plastic. I was thinking of pulling it out and cleaning it up, but it works and isn't throwing codes. My other option is to give it a shot of corrosion inhibitor and button it back up.

 

[jengineer]

After 275000 plus miles, and a few mods the 2004 GLX V6 manual transmission went to the pick a part shop. Tranny was making some squeeling noise for the last 50K (mechanic said wait for it to get worse as it occured at certain speeds, driver axle was leaking again - darn near replace it every 2 years, the connection to the heater core disentegrated 4 years ago - for a $200 part the whole cabin interior comes out from the steering wheel to the firewall to replace this "plastic" part. The full size spare tire was never used. What killed it? a stud sheared on the tensioner at 65mph. Engine and tranny rebuild would cost more than the car was worth. And the wife has just put in a full tank of fuel - bummer and 2 weeks ago I had changed the oil. Sure glad I was waiting another 5K before putting new rubber on it. What did I keep? the memories, the horns and the Thor skid plate - saved the wife a few times.