When you replace that short coolant hose, buy one specifically sold for that location. It's not a normal hose, has some kind of lining in it.

Oil in the timing cover is 95% chance of a can seal leak. You can usually see them through the sprocket. Maybe you didn't get one of them in all the way. Hopefully it's not pinched.

Glad your vibration is gone.

 

Thank goodness that hard line is just water. I was worried it might be oil and the seal was bad.

I guess the cam seal must be the culprit. That sucks cause I will have to remove the timing belt, but it is not an impossible job.

Alex

 

Car is coming along great! I wish I had made a thread like this when I got my car and started fixing it up. I'd probably be on page 128,938 by now. LOL

Once you get this thing daily drivable, you will be hooked. These are rewarding cars to own, drive and repair.

 

I would try to push that cam seal in from the sprocket opening. Worth a try. Beats the heck out of taking the timing belt down.

Actually I once read about a guy that marked his sprocket real good, locked the timing belt on the other cam, removed the tensioner to take pressure off of the cam sprocket, pulled the sprocket, and replaced the cam seal. Tossed the sprocket back on and lined it up with his marks, compressed the tensioner, installed it, pulled the pin, and was done in 30 minutes.

 

Good week for owning this wagon. I finally got it registered and insured, and we took it up to Spokane (~400 miles) for a family reunion.

Ran great. Cleared the codes before I left, and by the time I arrived I am reading a knock sensor code. Also it seems to loose power on the steep hills. I am not convinced that this car is as fast or powerful as it should be. On surface streets it can get up and go but not as much as I would like, and on the steep hills it seems to struggle.

Anyways, finally got all of the Volans on it. Also the vibration is gone, not sure why I had it before but changing out all the tires did the trick. I replaced the rear tires with a $50 set of 215/45/R17 and it fits great. Looks much better. Also found the source of my oil leak.



It was not from the CAM seal, it was from a couple of loose bolts on the top of the valve cover. I must have missed a few while tightening it up, which surprises me, cause normally I catch stuff like that. Anyways, no more oil leak.

Got 23.4 miles per gallon on the trip. I was averaging 65-70 most of the trip up and down hills with a fully loaded car.

Still wondering about the lack of power.

 

I run 91+ which should any need for the knock system and the car retarding the timing. Also, on my recent 4,500 road trip I had 1/2 of our personal belongings in the car and can NOT recall one instance where I lost speed going up hills. It did down shift a few times and maybe lost a couple that it had to gain back (cruise control). These cars run strong. My guess is that timing is somehow off which is easy to do with the cam sprockets off. Four or five degrees can make a big difference.

Those knock sensors are bolted on the front of the block under the intake manifold.

Usually oil on top of the motor is from blocked PCV blow by. Did you replace the PCV system new?

 

I am positive the cams are timed right. Checked and rechecked. I did however bring back the intake advance. Before I had them both at +3 degrees, and now I am running no advance on the intake and 3 degrees on the exhaust. Improved it a bit. Seemed to have more power on the way home.

Also that oil leak was from a couple of loose bolts I missed while installing the cam covers. Oil was coming up through the bolt holes. Tightened them down, no problems since.

 

Are you running 91+ octane?

 

Did you have the A/C on during your trip? On mine at least, the A/C system noticably takes up some power and the car can feel like it's "laboring" a bit, especially on hills and what not. Another issue could be your TCV (Turbo Control Valve), either the valve itself or dry rotted hoses.

 

I can NOT tell if I have my AC on or NOT. When my car knows that it needs to keep the cruise speed and kicks it down to speed up, the AC cuts off for a short time. I'm not sure but my guess would be that the AC compressor is programmed to kick off anytime the car is at 70% throttle.

There may have been a big hill or two that I lost a few mph, maybe 5 to 7 before I realized it. When I have the cruise set, it never looses more than 3 or 4 mph before it's WOT making up the difference. We have a big steep hill about a mile from me. I can actually pick up speed going up that hill without an effort.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=34.79664...65.29,,0,18.92

 

Oh yeah, when I need the power I can get it, I just have to push down on the gas and endure a big jolt as the thing wakes up (i.e. cuts the compressor out, downshifts, and engages the turbo to catch back up). But it doesn't feel as seamless as my '11 GTI does with the AC on.

 

Sounds like nothing more than turbo lag. The R has a big turbo so it'll take a moment to spool-up. I swapped the LPT in my GLT with a 16t and noticed a huge wait time.

 

Yup, always use 91 octane. It's not terribly expensive, and if I have to pay $4/gal for gas I might as well get the good stuff.

Oh to go back to $1.86/gal 6 years ago...

 

I agree, sounds like you are feeling turbo lag. You could try to play with your wastegate settings so try and dial it in a bit more to your likings. Also, contact ARD for a tune and get yourself an OBX downpipe tied into your factory catback. It will make for a beast.

Your GTI is a sweet car. I work for VW, so I am very familiar with them. Get an APR stage 2 tune and Carbonio stage 1 and 2 intake and at least a downpipe, and that car will SCREAM!!!

 

...and go a step further with the IPD turboback. Big bucks but it's a big exhaust system, sounds awesome and its shiny!

 

It isn't turbo lag because it doesn't do that with the AC off. The turbo also comes in pretty fast once I wake it up. This car in fact has very little turbo lag, IMHO.

This is a case of the AC compressor simply taking up some power. As I said, it'll kill the AC compressor and spool everything back up again if you nail it. Unfortunately, it really comes in with a wham. Annoying, but not as bad as that "adaptive throttle" stuff on some newer cars, including a 2002 C32 I had.

The GTI is outstanding, I agree! I love that car. Mine's a 4-door with the 6-speed. The 850R is my second car.

 

I usually do NOT experience any noticeable turbo lag most of the time. Especially when I have S selected.

Having no real power, knock sensor error, and loosing speed going up hills are signs of some other trouble. Like timing being off or weak turbo, blocked caty, etc.

 

I don't know. It seems awfully peppy for a car with those issues. 0-60 on these was, what, 7 seconds and the quarter in 15? Seems from my "seat of the pants" on the fast side of 15 second cars. And with the A/C off, it's zippy even part throttle. With the A/C on it's still fast but you can feel the A/C system taking power until you get on the gas. My guess is it's more a matter of perspective, with me being used to the GTI.

Anyway, mods would be cool but I'm going to pass on that for awhile. The car's already fast, as I said, and was initially supposed to be a Jeep Cherokee. I needed a utility vehicle and ran across this during that search. I remembered admiring them when new so I got it based on that, not knowing a lot of the details. So far, very happy with the choice and it's fun learning about the car. Your videos have been great in this regard!

 

I know when I turn on my A/C, it does slow things down a bit. But, I rarely use my A/C, so I'm ok with it. HA HA

You don't notice the a/c on with the GTi because the compressor runs all of the time, even when you turn the a/c "OFF" the compressor is still running, you just don't know it. Most, if not all new(er) cars are this way.

 

Let's try to remember that this is Alex's thread and he is the one loosing speed up hill and has knock issues. No aggressive acceleration for him.