Old Library

I'm with you on the speaker buzz and the shifting. Although the shifting
is really no worse than my 96. I chalk it up to just being an 02A.

My car goes in tomorrow for another speaker. This is the third trip.

I do have other problems, though:

ASR light staying on after start intermittantly. I've gotten absolutely
nowhere with this one. I have them put it on the RO every trip.
Eventually, I'm gonna get some progress on this one.

Creaking doors. Fixed by lubing the latches. Apparently, PDI wasn't
completed properly. I told the service manager about the fix.

Rough running after startup intermittantly. Takes about 20 seconds to
smooth out.

ALl in all, no show stoppers, but minor annoyances.

Oh, BTW, which of you speakers are buzzing, Trish? Mine's the left rear.
Only started after listening to some drum & bass. I suspected that I blew
it first, but now I think I just worked something loose.

Josh

- -- 
Josh Tibbs                  | 00 VW GTi GLX
&#120;josh&#64;one<img src=/i/dn.gif border=0 width=35 height=15>               | 89 VW Jetta GLi 16V
http://w3.one.net/~xjosh/vw | 87 VW GTi 16V
ICQ: 391156                 | 00 Dodge Durango SLT+


- --

Lets see, in 8 months of ownership I broke:

2 Motor mounts
Had constant problems with the drive by wire
Replaced the sunrook motor
Had the central locking go south on me

I'm positive that I would've continued to break motor
mounts.  The straw that broke my back is when it took
the dealer 4 weeks to get in a motor mount that Shine
Racing had in 1 day.

- -josh


=====
Josh Wyte 
Momentum Motorsports
508-833-3024 After 5 pm EST

Yup, I have had no problems with my 2k GTI GLX at all.  Except that dam grin
in second.  I grind it probably once or twice a week.  And it only happens
when accelerating gently. I have had no problems when I am destroying the
local ricers.  Feel free to contact me if you need anyone to bakc you up on
the second gear grind problem.

00 GTI GLX Futura Yellow
Chris

Trish wrote:
>
> Another lister (good idea Shant, thanks!) recommended I see what other
> MK4 owners have had repaired on their cars.

     I have 14k miles on the mk4 GTI VR6 I bought in June.  (I have a 100+ mile
daily commute.)  The car is bone stock, and I don't drive it hard at all.
     I also had a problem with the rear washer.  Actually, one of the hoses
broke, and washer fluid would leak into the hatch door when I tried to wash the
rear window.  It would break the "seal" at the latch, and when I'd try to lock
the car I wouldn't hear the "beep".  (Because it thought the hatch door was
open.)  The dealership fixed that at my 10k check.  The other little problem I
had was that I noticed some oil drips on the bottom of the car when I changed my
oil.  I traced them back to the oil cooler.  The dealership retorqued it for me
- - they said it was a half turn loose.
     I haven't really noticed any creaks or rattles.  No clicking from the
steering wheel, no grinding gears, and my speakers seem fine.  I am worried
about the window regulators.  I have to park the car outside, and I'm afraid the
regulators are going to go when it starts getting cold and icy.  (I live in NY.)
I had to replace both window motors in another car I had - non VW - after the
warranty was up, of course.  Ever since then, I've been very wary of power
windows...
     I have a question:  When there's a drop in temperature of a few degrees,
does the trip computer automatically switch from the clock to the temp?  Mine
does this.  I wasn't sure if it's a "feature" or not.
     All in all, my problems have been minor.  Compared to some of the other mk4
problems I've read - I consider myself lucky!

So far, I've had the following problems with my '99 Mk4 GTI-VR6:

1)    Clicking sound in the steering wheel that was fixed by replacing the
lower right tie rod.
2)    Brake switch failed which caused the brake lights to stay on and the
cruise control not to work.
        After it was replaced the brake (lights) and cruise worked fine.
3)    Passenger side window regulator broke somethin' fierce.  I heard a
loud *snap* and the window         fell right into the door!  I was able to
get it fixed within a few days.
4)    Driver's side heated seat (either a relay or heating element -- forget
which) stopped working after         less than one year.
5)    Passenger side door squeaks, but I think it's from the rubber weather
strips in the door frame.  I         hear the squeaks when the temperature
is in the moderate range (50-65 or 70\260F), but not when         they are more
extreme, say below 45\260 and above 75\260.

I also noticed that when my tranny is cold, it's a little difficult to shift
into 1st and 2nd.  When it's warmed up, though (after about 5 minutes),
everything's fine.  Sometimes my engine has a "whiny" sound when it's cold.
I'm thinking it has something to do with the oil?  For some reason, the
stealership, switched from 10w30 to 15w30 for my most recent oil change
about a month ago.  I think for my next change I'll get Mobil 1 5w30 or
10w30.

Jason Strauss
'99 Futura Yellow GTI-VR6

Josh Wyte wrote:

>Lets see, in 8 months of ownership I broke:
>
>2 Motor mounts
>Had constant problems with the drive by wire
>Replaced the sunrook motor
>Had the central locking go south on me
>
>I'm positive that I would've continued to break motor
>mounts.  The straw that broke my back is when it took
>the dealer 4 weeks to get in a motor mount that Shine
>Racing had in 1 day.

You must've had some sort of lemon with the sunroof/drive-by wire and
locking.  Maybe it was the fact that it was a '99.5 car? My '00 has been
flawless.  I have had it for about 4 months, and put almost 4000 miles on,
most of which are *hard* miles.

I drive the car *very* hard, and have yet to break a motor mount.  There
must have been some sort of other problem to cause you to go through two!
Maybe one of the other mounts was weak, putting more strain on the failing
one?

I'm not attacking Josh, because I don't know him or how he drives, but
driving style has a huge effect on motor mount life.  In my Corrado with the
notoriously weak front mount, I have never broken one either.  And I
autocross the car on R-compound tires, including hard 5k rpm launches.  You
just have to be smooth, yet aggressive.

Historically if you look at race drivers, there are some that are hard on
equipment and others that aren't.  Michael Andretti comes to mind... he is
fast as stink, but abuses the car in the process.  Others are just as fast,
but gentle on the equipment at the same time.

If you are smooth with the upshifts (i.e. don't sidestep the clutch or
power-shift) and use heel-and-toe on the downshifts, your motor mounts
should last.  If you don't heel-and-toe properly, you can kiss your mounts
goodbye.  Nothing shocks the mounts more than dropping the clutch without
matching the revs!

- -Jason Saini  .  Chicago, IL
- -'93 Corrado  .  SCCA ProSolo  .  GS Class
- -'00 GTI-VR6  .  SCCA RoadRace .  SSB Class