going back to my vw roots...

[Sijray21]

ok, up from the grave with this one

it's been my DD without another vehicle, so i've needed it to be reliable and it's done its job. mostly preoccupied with bicycles and racing them i haven't really paid much attention to the vw (and have showed little interest in modding it) until i had to make a fix to a failed fuel supply line.

i replaced my fuel filter in early september. It was LONG overdue since they're supposed to be changed every 40k miles and it was around 82k when i made the change. i was hoping this will help with the rough cold start idle, but it had little effect on the driving of the car. a week after i made the fuel filter change the fuel supply line (from the low pressure fuel sender in the tank to the filter) decided it didn't want to stay attached to the fuel filter any longer and dumped about $5 worth of gas in my work garage...wonderful. i fix it with zip ties that my wife delivered to me and drove it home. after ordering the part i figure out a way to replace the line without dropping the fuel tank (a vw tech online said that i had to drop the tank, so i was very relieved that i didn't actually need to). This event got my wrenching thoughts turning again.

Later that month i suspect that the carbon build-up is the cause and with the winter approaching i knew it needed attention. I borrow my mom's spare car to use as i dive into removing the intake manifold and cleaning the intake ports by hand, knowing it wouldn't be a short ordeal and that i would likely need to make trips for parts or tools. i heavily rely on youtube DIYs and forums for advice and tips when i got stuck. what i found appeared so much worse than anything else i've seen on the internet. onto the pics:

ports 1 & 4 were the worst



the port inserts had the gunk caked on them...


couldn't get it in focus, but they looked pretty clean after a few rounds of chemicals and scraping...


two injectors came out with the manifold, 1 was partially pulled, and 1 was left in the head. since i had all four injector seal kits i pulled the other two and cleaned the tips for all of them.





if anyone else with a TSI or FSI needs to do this i highly recommend using the T10133(A/B/C) fuel injector puller/sealer kit to handle the injectors. it really made pulling them and replacing the seals a cake walk. i now own the kit, so if you do need to use it we can work something out for you to borrow it; no point it someone else spending $200 or more on this kit.

After i did the cleaning i still had a MIL on the dash, so i ran the codes and found that my intake manifold needed to be replaced...(P2015 intake flapper module error). Luckily i call the dealership and my VIN is under an extended 125k powertrain warranty. i bring it to a local dealer and it's taken care of at no cost to me.

This whole ordeal has got me thinking about mods again, so i've started the small mods. I bought and installed an APR Stage 1 intake, removed the 2010 noise-pipe, installed a Diesel Geek Sigma 6 Short Shifter, and the Black Forest Industries Schwarz heavy weight shift knob. The throttle response is so much better and the spool time is reduced. The shifting is nice and notchy. i wish i did these mods sooner as it feels so much better to drive now.

More mods to come, but i've got to dump more money into bicycles and the house.

Next on the list for mods:
Unitronic Stage 1+ tune (waiting on a sale)
VWR springs / Koni Struts (likely when an existing strut blows or needs replacing)
HPA motor mount
OEM LED tails (there's a little ricer in all of us)
Euro Light switch