2000 Jetta VR6 - Project Alaska 2K

[Mikewire]

Hmm, ah no worries then. I should at least get it running first

It has the newer La Castlettes with brand new B'stones, so I'll rock those for awhile.

I really should put some $$ towards getting the dings and dents out of it first.

[padroB5]

an the rear bummmer taking care of ohhh an a mirror lol

[Mikewire]

^ yea, no doubt

[MT-Getto]

Talking the guys at A1 the other day. They were convinced your motor was not a "V6".

[Mikewire]

Haha yeah when I picked it up the guy could only find 4 spark plugs Should have gotten some money back from them

Well some major updates:

First off, I'm a - the color is not Alaska green...it's Brilliant Metallic Green...so yeah.

Mated the motor and transmission and found a small clearance issue with a tab on the block and the ouput CV flange:



Pulled the flange off and ground it down with a flap disk:







Ready to drop in:





Pretty much got it in and started working on getting it to run. Hooked up all the sensors, fuel, added coolant and fired it up. It ran fine but something wasn't right. So over the next few days I pulled the upper timing cover back off and found that the upper tensioner wasn't getting any oil pressure because of a piece of gunk that had plugged up in the oil port of the tensioner. Once that was put back together it fired up and ran like a top.





Now that it was back together, I needed to replace the MKIII oil pan with the MKIV oil pan. The main difference is that the MKIII is steel, and doesn't have any protection for the back of the flywheel. The MKIV is made of a zinc aluminum alloy and has full protection for the flywheel.

MKIII pan:





MKIV ready to bolt back up:





And an oil change with Mobil1 and I added the magnetic oil pan bolt for good measure.

Also done was the Jetta trunk fix - the plastic arm on the latch lever breaks off over time and then you can't open the trunk anymore.



The fix is a $40 kit from some forward thinking guys who came up with a simple fix:



This CNC plastic part replaces the original latch arm, and is a permanent fix.



Along with that, I pulled both door panels and replaced the passengers side door lock module and have a new mirror assembly coming. Both door card inserts were broken and loose so I plastic welded them back in place.

Got a few misc parts like a cup holder, and replaced the broken dash pocket. Picked up a new Pioneer stereo and wired that in.

I need a new drivers door panel, because the top of the panel that locks into the door is busted off and the panel is pretty loose. And the switch panel is busted up and loose too.

I was getting a code for a faulty CTS, so I replaced that and replaced plugs, air filter and cabin filter.

It's cleaning up pretty well and drives decent I am getting a stutter and misfire on hard acceleration, so I'm not sure if it's coilpack related or not...anyone have thoughts on that?


Still tweaking it

[MT-Getto]

Mike, you are awesome! Does the VCDS just show a multiple random misfire?

[Mikewire]

I'm not getting any codes in VCDS about misfires, which I thought was strange. But I am getting an occasional code:

Code: Select all

16716 - Knock Sensor 2 (G66): Signal too Low 
        P0332 - 35-00 -  - 

I think that may be related, and I read it has a specific torque value of 20nm. Or it could be bad, which would suck, because it on the front of the motor just above the oil filter housing (and I just changed the oil). I'm not really sure.

[Roadhog]

You should really go back to the steel pan. The aluminum ones like to crack with the slightest bump. Also, change that trans fluid.

Nice work though! You should come do my Corrado next.

[YASHA7FOLD]

You'll be driving it around in no time.

[Mikewire]

You should really go back to the steel pan. The aluminum ones like to crack with the slightest bump. Also, change that trans fluid.

Nice work though! You should come do my Corrado next.

Lol, yeah but without the wafer thin oil pans, I wouldn't have been able to buy this car so cheaply

I would run the steel pan, but I don't like the flywheel exposed, and I don't have a welder to fab up a plate. The steel would just bend, but the alloy pans are actually very stout...unless you plow over boulders and keep driving like the PO did. Also, being that my Audi is low, and my 2.0 was also fairly low and had no problems, this stock height daily should be ok.

I have like 10 qts. of Delo trans fluid left over from my 02A that should good for an oil change.

I'll buy your 'rado for $500