My Search for a Clean VR6!

[jono0309]

Well, I called up this morning and cancelled the engine mounts and the serpentine belt, going aftermarket for these.
Going to place an order with ECS tuning this week for mounts, belts, plugs, and more.

So 6L of engine oil? and 10 litres of coolant (is this 5L of coolant and 5L of water)?

[Ben J]

Yeah 6L of oil, and 10L total of coolant and water (so at least 4 liters of actual coolant)

[Defaultuser0520]

Whats the brand of coolant additive? Comes in a 4L bottle, how much, where from etc? Should do mine before summer...

[ffoff]

Go to the stealership and pick up a few bottles of G12+. they don't charge much, should be under 50 bucks for the 2 bottles.

[Ben J]

Yeah, I ran G12++ (and bought so much of it the parts guys would pretty much just go and grab a bottle when they saw my face walk in... stupid leaks) was like $25 a bottle though, and you need like 3 to fill the whole system. If its not already G12 in there, make sure to flush it very thoroughly though. Like get car up to temperature, drain, fill with water, repeat like 5 times until it comes out completely clear.

[jono0309]

Thanks guys, I ordered 4.5L (3x1.5L bottles) of coolant, G12++.
Also ordered OEM engine mounts for $119 from Dub Addiction, VW parts quoted $620!!!

[Defaultuser0520]

Yeah, I ran G12++ (and bought so much of it the parts guys would pretty much just go and grab a bottle when they saw my face walk in... stupid leaks) was like $25 a bottle though, and you need like 3 to fill the whole system. If its not already G12 in there, make sure to flush it very thoroughly though. Like get car up to temperature, drain, fill with water, repeat like 5 times until it comes out completely clear.

Does that method clean out that little expansion type tank thing? Lol, sorry for my crap terminology but used to cars with radiator caps etc :p

[Ben J]

It'll get all the traces of the old coolant out (they don't mix well and form like a brown sludge or something) but if your expansion tank thingy is all stained and "dirty" looking, then no, it doesn't fix that. I bought a new one for mine just to freshen up the engine bay a bit, was only like $35 or something from 1stvwparts and was ordering a bunch of other things from there so figured why not.

[jono0309]

Hey guys.

I am just about to service the car even though it doesn't need it really, previous owner did it a little while ago, but I have ordered the following parts.
-Oil Filters
-Engine Mounts
-Couple of Bottles of Coolant G12++
-Power Steering Fluid
-Engine Oil
-K&N High Flow Panel Filter for standard airbox

I still need to order:
-Spark Plugs
-New coil wires

Any more suggestions to what to replace while I am doing this service?

In other news...

I started off with giving the car a clean and also fix up some miscellaneous issues which were easily fixable.
-Aftermarket gear knob falling off: Originally fitted in my most retarded way, refitted correctly with the right mount to the threaded rod.
-Pedals were wobbly: same as gear shift
-Seat rails were dry, scratchy and sticky: got a tube of graphite lube which fixed that.

I also did the airbox mod, the car came with the standard airbox/airfilter and a stupid K&N, the stock airbox made the car way better, night and day difference, so I threw the POD filter in the garage, and hopefully will never have to use that again.
I got the standard airbox and with the help of the sticky on the forum, I got the old dremel out and hacked away at the standard airbox, I noticed that the 2.0L 8V motors can bog when too much is cut out, but being a 2.8L I thought it could just man up and have a nice big chunk cut out haha. My car is a 1998 model so the airbox was a little different, it has a tube style thingo in the airbox which is glued into position and held in by plastic mould mounts, hairdryer made it piss easy, came straight out.
It is still retaining a crappy airfilter, but I have ordered a K&N airfilter like the sticky said to use.

[jono0309]

[jono0309]

Also, sounds bloody awesome now with the airbox done! haha

[VR28LT]

looking good jono

i like the fact that you are doing your service items and maintenance before anything else

its as simple as this, if you look after her she is gonna look after you

[jono0309]

Thanks mate. Well it is 13+yrs old/220,000km so its the right thing to do. Cheers!

[jono0309]

OKAY! So today I went to replace my broken driver door handle, basically the lock works, the inside door handle works but the outter door handle doesnt? Go figure...

So the guy I bought the VR5 off gave me the big white unit that holds everything together inside the door, the latch and locking mechanism.

I started working on the car, started off with the best tool I could find...



Door trim off...



Inside the door...The ba5tard of a unit to get out!





Put the whole thing back together with a replacement unit from a wreck, the new unit looked good, not rusted and also didnt have bent metal on it like the one fitted to the car originally, door handle felt great, etc.



...and then...I went to pull the door handle thinking it would work, and it didn't! So the unit was not the problem, must be the door handle unit. I am a bit confused as the lock works but the door handle does not? and the inside door handle does?

Any advice?

Here is my cruiser too:
09 VE SV6, 20s, lowered on SSSL springs, full fusion comp sound system, 2.5inch exhaust, Growler intake, debadged, no rear spoiler. Just got a full respray under insurance, Amazing place called Detroit Custom Bodyworks near the City do the best spray jobs, insane restorations, built 60s/70s muscle cars, camaros and the lot.

[jono0309]

So today...

I went to give the old girl a good clean and just made me angry at how tired the paint job is! Ah well, life goes on, but things I do want to give attention to is...

That bloody horrid inside of the gear shift, it feels notchy and just terrible, I opened inside and it looked very sorry for itself, I will try to get a new unit soon for it and give it a good clean, I also think a change of gearbox fluid will help the notchy feel...and yes I have ordered a new gear knob, the carbon fibre ****ter on it now drives me crazy (sorry for the pun) so I have ordered a Mk4 Gearknob which is to arrive soon!





I have been thinking of also painting my calipers, they have a bit of surface rust and just look terrible, would it be easier to just buy new calipers rather than disc and wet sand them and just can spray them?



The car came with a cracked rear tailight, so I got a hold of two rear smoked VR6 lights for $80, soon to be picked up and installed!



Also due to smoke the front bumper lights, they just look tacky! Should I smoke them grey or just completely black them out?



A bit of chipped and terribly repaired paint...jesus christ what were the previous owners thinking!



Thanks guys, I hope some one actually reads this?! haha